Brrrr! It is so cold!

This was the favorite of the two older boys. Zach and Logan had a blast playing in the snow and riding snow mobiles! Thanks Uncle Marc and Grandpa!

Surprise Christmas Gift

So the boys received an extra special gift this Christmas. They had a hard time figuring it out. We actually just had to tell them. They have talked about the gift ever since and are soooo excited.

Christmas 2008

Christmas was so fun this year! We had the chance to go to Grandma & Grandpa Crump's for Christmas. When I say chance, that is exactly what it was, the road to Idaho opened Wednesday morning at 8:30. We made it to Burley with great roads. Christmas Eve was spent with my mom's sisters at the Wrigley residence. We ate soup and had some awesome appetizers. It was nice to catch up and visit with everyone. Our little family left early and went back to Grandma's house. We talked about the Christmas story and everyone told what they knew. Then Brian told them really what happened. The wise men were very popular with the boys and had much more to do with the Christmas story according to them. They went to bed really well. It was very surprising. The surprise ended at 12:39 AM when Zac woked up and asked if Santa had come yet. The answer was "Nope. Go to bed." Over the next three hours he and Logan took turns coming in and asking. They were given the same answer, "Nope. Go to bed." Brian and I woke up Christmas morning around 7:00. No kids were stirring. My mom and dad were up, we had some hot chocolate, sat around and talked. No kids stirring. Around 8:00, I went down and woke the boys up. It was awesome to just watch them sleep. We had a great Christmas. We kept it small. The boys made each other gifts and I think that was the best of all. They were so excited for each to open theirs. They were so proud of their creations. Each was simple.

Zac, Zac The Baker Man

Zachary is having a wonderful year at school. I think that his teacher is just wonderful. We were invited to attend a Christmas play which was fantastic. They sang, danced and did a little acting. Everyone had a line and everyone did great. It was all centered around the gingerbread man who got lonely and ran away. So what could be done? They made gingerbread friends of course. It was cute!

Preschool Christmas Program

Hayden and his preschool class have been practicing the entire month of December for their Christmas program. It was great! Hayden sang and did all the actions. I was very, very impressed with his hula dancing. He was able to discuss his Christmas present with Santa again. Again he asked for a race car. When he got off of Santa's lap he asked him, "So where is it?" Hayden wanted his race car. He had talked to Santa 3 different times and obviously was ready for Santa to produce the race car.

Snowman! Sno,oh,oh man!

Logan participated in the annual kindergarten "Snowman Dance" He was awesome. Here are some pictures of my snowman and I will post the video later. Lookin' good Logan!

December has flown by, I really don't know where the time has gone. Thank Giving should have been given its due diligence... sorry that it was neglected. We had a great time at Grandma and Grandpa Andrew's house over Thanks Giving. Everyone was there and we all got to go to Ryan's baptism.

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Now this won't get me Mom of The Year. I forgot to tell about my Logan's birthday! Logan is finally six! Yeah!!!! He is loving kindergarten and can't seem to get enough of reading and doing his homework! I got to go to his class and read them his favorite book, "Cat in the Hat" and then he passed out some treats he picked out. It was fun to see him enjoying his special day! We actually celebrated his birthday on Thanksgiving Day. Why? Cuz that's his birthday! it was fun. Grandma bought the traditional ice cream cake from Dairy Queen and we put a great big # 6 candle on top.

These are just cute pictures!

After a round of haircuts today, we walked down the road and took some fun fall pictures. I do have pretty cute boys.

This was pretty funny to watch first hand. Hayden is supposed to hit the ball through the pictures on the floor. If you watch, he keeps kicking it with is foot. Grandpa Andrew, watch his form. He has a wicked backswing on one of the first shots. In the end he finally he putts it through--with his hand.

Our elementary school has a Halloween Parade. We got to watch Zach in the morning and Logan in the afternoon. Hayden's preschool party was too much fun! There were blowup toys, a spook alley, ghost golf and so much more fun stuff!

Halloween 2008 was so fun! I love having bigger boys. Their costumes were fun and they really played everything up! Zach was Red Yoshi, Logan was Green Yoshi, and Hayden was Mario!

We had the chance to go to Burley over UEA break. The boys had a ball and I was able to help my mom get ready for a craft show she was going to. Grandma Andrew took Logan and Zach to Boise and surprised the O'dell boys on Friday. I think they had a great time. I was really surprised at how much snow Burley had. The pictures are of Kelly, Nikolas, and Logan with the horses, Doc and Lucky.

We hiked to the waterfall in a canyon just above our neighborhood. We had a great time. This fall has been so nice! This is Hayden, Logan and our friend Nikki!

So, school has been going for over a month now. Every so far seems to love school. Zach is in third grade this year. He can tell that everything has stepped up a notch. More homework, more reading, more expectations. He is rising to meet everything thrown at him. Logan is in kindergarten. He attends the afternoon session with most of the kids in our ward. He loves school and he brings home something to show me everyday. Hayden is attending Funshine Early Learning Center. He really does love school. He is so excited to go everyday. He loves to wear his backpack!

The falls were so pretty when we went. I just wanted to post them. Brian and Lillian shared their memories of picnics and such while we were down there. It was fun to hear those stories!

I just had to put these pictures on! Camping was fun but exhausting. These are the boys on the way home. I bet they were asleep as soon as we hit pavement!

This is a picture of the fence that my Grandpa Elison built. It was a story that was always shared when my grandpa went camping with us. He as since passed away but we all remember that story as we play among the rock and look at that fence.

This is the little mud lake left after the huge thunderstorm. The boys played in this for at least 3 hours. They were sooooooo muddy when they came to get changed. I think Logan still has mud in his ears. They had a great time. Isn't that what it's all about?

We went camping at Twin Lakes on Mount Harrison for the Elison Family Reunion. Everyone was so excited to go. Brian took Friday off so we could leave early. We were making final preparations when Hayden threw up. Round number three for Hayden. We have been sick all summer. We decided to take our chance. He got a pill so he wouldn't throw up and an Immodium for, well you know. We had a great ride. We turned off of the interstate and took the old road through Malta. Just before Malta we went through the biggest thunderstorm ever. Thunder, lightening, hail and torrents of rain. After about 15 minutes it was done. Our drive up the mountain was so nice. We all rolled down our windows and just enjoyed the fresh air. Our stuff was damp when we arrived but we figured it would dry out if we just go everything unpacked. We got our tent set up and beds made for everyone. Camp was set. Next was to set up the kitchen and get dinner going. I guess we were too busy to notice the dark clouds rolling in. It rained a good little rain for 15 minutes or so and then quite. Dinner prep resumed. Next was unreal! For a good hour, it rained, it hailed, it thundered and it lighteninged (is that a word??) It was terrible. I put the lid on the dutch oven and we all huddled under the easyup and a tarp. After awhile everyone was set and freezing. Marc and Amanda took their family and ran for the tent trailer. Brian and I took our boys and headed for the tent. Once inside we noticed the nice little lake forming under our tent and then it started dripping from above. Everything went onto the cot so that it could be off the ground. Oh, I forgot to mention that Logan followed Marc and when we got to our tent.... no Logan. Brian went to find him and Zach helped me get everything off the ground. We changed into dry clothes and waited for the rain to stop. It rained forever! I have never been so close to lightening in my life. As the rain tapered off, Grandma and Grandpa Crump pulled in with their trailer. Thank goodness! The rest of the trip was really uneventful. Everything dried and we had a great time.

The new Twin Falls Temple. It is so awesome to have a temple so close to home. Yeah!

Over the 24th of July we decided to visit Grandma Andrew in Kimberly. It was a lot of fun. We sat out on her patio and enjoyed the day. We listened for planes to fly over from the air show, Molly really liked that. No one would ride out toward the airport though to watch the planes with her. Zach got sick on Thursday night. Not too much fun for him. Grandma Andrew was sick the next night. We went through the Twin Falls Temple on Saturday. It was awesome! The boys loved it and were so reverent and quiet through out. NO, I'm not making that part up. On Sunday, we went to church with Grandma and Grandpa Andrew. After church, we went with Grandma down to Twin Falls and Shoshone Falls. The boys loved every minute!

Today totally reminded me that I am older than I think. We had a stake coed softball tournament. It was a lot of fun and everyone had a great time. I don't think that I am alone in saying, my brain wanted to do so many things that my body said, "Oh my heck. Are you kidding?" Now I know that I can still do somethings, I really don't think I need to do it again for a while. I am really grateful that Brian would stay home with the boys so that I could have my fun!

So it seems that I am a "nature hater" whatever that is. Thursday morning a bird slammed into the living room window. I thought it had just been stunned and flown away. Oh no... we got the bird who flies into windows and breaks a leg. The boys attended to the chirping bird all day. Every time anyone went out the door the dang thing started squawking. I told the boys, "Do you know what it is saying? It's saying put me out of my misery." This made me the bad mom. I explained the circle of life, even offering to watch the Lion King with them. No go. They gave it water and apricots to eat. Friday morning I walked outside to set the water, "squaaaaawwwkkkk" as soon as I step out the door. This bird is a survivor! I took Hayden to the dentist and when we came back, the Johnson's cat was carrying away the bird. The circle of life. What can I tell ya!