Another Birthday

We made Grandma Elaine's Ice Cream Pie for his Birthday. Rice Crispy crust and candy bar topping. I should have called for the real recipe but I don't think you can go too wrong with this one. YUM!

Ben is such a tease. He sure loves to laugh and make others laugh. He is also extra sweet and I think it is cute that he is very protective of his sister Paige. He really is starting to talk and his is catching up to Paige in his coordination and abilities. His hair is still thin and blond so it looks like he doesn't have much and I think that is what makes him seem like a baby. I can't believe he is already two. Not really a baby anymore.

Every fathers dream to play catch with his son. What a great dad, what a happy boy.

I think Ben surprised himself by catching it.

I can't believe how fast time flies. Ben is "one year older and wiser too..." What a blessing it is to have sweet BEN in this family. We sure to love him. Thanks for the video Mom. Daniel in the Lions Den is everyone's favorite now.

Craft Time

Merry Christmas!! So this is my coolest Christmas present. Justin gave me my own room. This was our spare bedroom/box collecting/junk pile room. But Justin had visions of a far better place. I kept telling him I just needed legs to a table top I had, and wanted to just go with that but this is what I got instead.

I am way impressed. He even got some nice perks to go with it all.
I love this wall hanging. It holds the prettier crafts. :)

And this was another huge perk. A scrapbook organizer. So even though I thought it was impossible to fit my boxes and boxes of paper and stuff in here, he did it with room to spare. As you can see it also has his paints on the top as he finally unrolled his huge painting he started years ago. So we can paint when we want and lock to door for when we have to be away from it. We also decided in this room we can hang up any art work. It is fun to finally get to hang up a few things.

This is also our new music room and Avery and I think we want to learn to play the violin. I am sure I will regret telling anyone my plan, but then I am still very excited to be learning something, even if I never get very good at it. We found cheap violins on ebay and both got one (mine isn't purple though).

Here is the board I made with Jeanette's help back in Washington. I love it. Sadly it is about the only cool thing in Avery's room but I love how the picture went with the saying. Below the board hangs the beautiful clips Anneka taught me how to make. I just love things like this.

Thanks to my amazing husband for making my dream come true (only much bigger and much much cooler)!

Winter Wonderland

Here are a couple more pictures from our trip to VA. Justin and I wanted to see how "the creek" was in the winter so we hiked down and left the kids with Grandma. It was so pretty so we thought we would take pictures but realized hanging the camera on a tree branch and turning on the timer is harder then it looks. We would find a good branch but then the camera would turn and when it finally took a picture it would leave us out of it or get too much sun, zooming in was impossible, not to mention setting the timer and trudging back to the spot in the deep snow before time was up wasn't working out too well. This was the best shot we got so finally we decided we would have to take individual shots.

I sure like this one of Justin.

Visiting Grma & Grpa at the North Pole!

We decided on the spur of the moment to drive up to VA and surprise Justin's Mom 2 days before Christmas. Here are a few pictures of our fun times.
I guess I should probably start with the quote of the whole trip.
Payton- "Grandpa, why are we still awake if we are not playing the wii?"
Mom- "Oops time for bed!"
I am sure he was trying to find a way to tactfully ask if he could play the wii but boy did we all get a laugh out of that. Of course it was probably only five minutes after we walked through the front door when he asked it.

The Night Before Christmas reading


I loved FROSTY's twinkle in his eye! It must be snow right?
I must say he was the cutest snowman I have ever seen.



The snowballs got bigger and then they turned to snowmen.

Justin picking people off from his vantage point at the top of the driveway.

The kids were so greatful for a white Christmas. They were praying and praying for one and I guess this counts. (When we pulled into our driveway in NC we realized it was still 62 degrees, not much chance of a white Christmas. The kids went sledding down the hill, went for a walk, played in the snow and then a few little balls tossed in fun turned in to an out and out war of snow. What a perfect way to enjoy the snow, I only wish we had more snow gloves, burrr.

Zag chasing stray snowballs

Helping out a brother

I was just about to type I have no idea where this kid got his great balance but after looking at the next picture I decided that probably answers it. Payton has always been very coordinated and fearless, so I shouldn't have been so surprised when he hopped on this board with no straps or instructions and took the sled hill to the next level.

Christmas morning.

What a Cute Couple!
(Santa's helpers)

Check out the young ones conspiring and sneaking around the back.

All in Good Fun!

Payton say hello to the ice burg that sunk the titanic!

Family Picture with FROSTY
Thanks Grandma and Grandpa for the Fun Christmas!

Yesterday

Sorry this isn't a very good picture but the girls wanted a picture with the roses Justin brought home with him.

Here is Avery. She has seen a few versions of the Nutcracker in school this year and someone said they were going to do the Nutcracker in music class so she was soooo worried about her being the Sugar Plum fairy and wanted a tu-tu to wear to school. This was the compromise.

Yesterday we had a scare. Justin was coming home after being in the field all week and we were going to make brownies for him. Well while I got distracted I came back to this. Ben and Paige opened the box of brownie mix I had left on the counter, and they chewed a hole in the corner and were sucking out mix. I wish the mix all over the wall and counter were more visible. It was all over. So I cleaned them all up and pulled them off the counter. Well later after making the brownies and while they were cooking I started working on dinner. I guess Ben and Paige climbed up on the counter while I was turned around trying to get to the mixer to lick the bowl. Well I turned around to see Ben fall from the counter onto his head. I guess he had used the microwave handle to help him walk and it opened making him lose his balance. Well he landed right on his head. It was a sick sound and a terrible thing to see and just makes me sick. I was so upset. Of course this was just 2 minutes before Justin walked in the door from not seeing or hearing from us for a week. He walks in to find me bawling putting ice on Ben head. He was so calm and gave him a blessing. He then offered to drive him to the hospital. Ben fell asleep right away but the side of his head felt squishy which made us fear the worse. So Justin went to the army hospital and sat in the ER waiting for over 2 hours just waiting to be seen. Finally I called as I couldn't wait any longer to hear how he was and asked him to ask if he could go to another hospital. They ended up taking him back and with in a few minutes got x-rayed and finally got some good news. What a relief, what a blessing. Poor Justin hasn't slept all week and then he spent a few hours last night at the hospital. What a good dad. I am so grateful for my family and for the Priesthood.

Mostly Paige

Best friends

This picture with the soap is the only shot I could get of Paige's new trim. She really gets camera shy.

Christmas dresses

I found Paiges dress with a matching doll dress for like $8 I thought it was a great deal.

Avery is excited to have a super long dress.

Happy Day!

Justin's sister and her husband adopted this sweet baby and were sealed over Thanksgiving in the LDS Temple. All of their family were able to go for the special occasion.


Being sealed for time and all eternity, that is what family is about. That is what the gospel offers.
We are so happy for you guys and so grateful that everyone had such a great time together.
I have to say my favorite pictures that Justin returned with were of this cute kid and his cute faces. He sure makes a lot of them.

Chilling with his bro.

Well Justin had a great Thanksgiving. He was pretty excited to spend time with family and friends and do all the things he loves. Turkey Bowl I think was high on his list. I would have posted a picture of him there, but I didn't see any of those.

But seeing family was awesome. Good food is also nice but I think the company and the occasion is what makes a person smile from the inside out.

Congrats Lukas, Jess, and Jared. We love you and wish we were there!