The Batson's

January 2012

2012-02-17T08:37:00.002-07:00

Baby Coco born January 12, 2012 @ 6:47pm

6 lbs. 9 oz. ~ 18.5 inches

The birthing coaches . . .

Daddy, Karen and Stephanie

Day 2 . . .
The proud big brother & sisters.

Christmas ! ! !

2012-02-08T07:41:00.005-07:00

Christmas Eve in their new pajamas.
Christmas morning with their presents from Santa.

Getting ready for a surprise Mom and Dad had planned.
The first clue is up in the tree . . .

Zach found it.

After a few clues they found the surprise.

An XBOX 360 with Kinect ! ! ! (Elizabeth was hoping for something more exciting . . . )

Santa

2012-02-07T17:38:00.005-07:00

Seeing Santa at the annual Flegal Family Christmas Party . . .

Haylee's Christmas Performance

2012-02-05T12:37:00.005-07:00

For Haylee's first "voice" performance she sang "Brighter Than the Sun" by Colbie Caillat and "The First Noel". She did AMAZING!!!

Her voice teacher, Belinda, giving her flowers.

Dead Ducks

2012-01-10T08:24:00.003-07:00

Chris's last hunt of the season . . . 2 big Drake Mallard's. Delicious!

(And no, Elizabeth isn't sad about it. She's mad because she was told to wash her hands after touching the dead animals.)

DECEMBER 2011

2012-01-10T07:36:00.009-07:00

Decorating the Christmas Tree . . . This year we decided to buy a fake tree. We were sick of dealing with the constant watering and constant vacuuming up of pine needles.

Haylee's turn to put the angel on the tree . . . (It barely fit!)

Goofy Batson Kids . . .

Wrestling

2012-01-10T07:29:00.001-07:00

After football this year we put Zach is wrestling.

He took 3rd place in the tournament. Way to go Zach!

Random

2012-01-07T11:42:00.004-07:00

NOVEMBER 2011

2012-01-07T11:08:00.004-07:00

Lauren's new room....Haylee's old room. This started out purple with dark purple painted around the window trim (ugly). The one wall is white becasue we had leakage problems in the bathroom. It ended up getting part of the wall and carpet wet int his room. My dad tore the wall out to figure out where the leaking was coming from. We finally thought we had the problem fixed, but it's leaking again. Luckily it hasn't hurt this wall again. And we're still trying to figure out what the problem is. We know it's coming from the shower, so until it's fixed that shower has been off-limits.

Basically, we just did the same thing with her room that we had done in her upstairs room. Finished pictures to come in the near future. =)

Halloween

2012-01-06T14:08:00.008-07:00

Our annual carving of pumpkins . . .

Halloween Night ready to go trick-or-treating . . .

Zach: Ninja . . . Lauren: Dead Queen . . .Elizabeth: Witch . . . Haylee: Fairy

Eating the loot . . .

Chris watching the Charger game that was on Halloween Night . . .

Great Neighbors

2012-01-06T13:54:00.005-07:00

Some of our favorite neighbors that have been here since before we moved in, recently moved away. Our family was heart broken to see them go.

Here's Zach with his best friend, Noah.

Lauren with her friend, Lucy.

Flag Football

2012-01-03T15:26:00.007-07:00

Zach played flag football for the first time this fall. Him and his team did great, only losing a couple of games!

Haylee's New Room-OCT. 2011

2012-01-03T15:14:00.005-07:00

We did some room-changing over the last few months. The first room to be done was Haylee's. She chose for the bottom of the walls to be black and the top half to be green! It turned out great. I don't have any completely finished pictures with all the furniture moved in and stuff on the walls. I'll do that on a later post.

Pinewood Derby

2011-10-29T14:15:00.002-06:00

Zach's car is in the #4 slot. Black with silver racing stripes . . .
He took 2nd place overall. Great job, Zach!!!

SEPTEMBER 2011

2011-10-27T08:31:00.003-06:00

Chris's 38th birthday.

Happy Birthday, Babe. I love you with all my heart!!!

First Day of Kindergarten

2011-10-26T10:52:00.003-06:00

Elizabeth and her friend, Anna, walking to the bus stop.
Waiting patiently...

Elizabeth, Anna and Carter waiting on the curb.

Bye, Mom!!!

I miss my baby when she leaves me everyday. =(

Cheerleading

2011-10-24T08:37:00.003-06:00

Lauren has been really wanting to do cheerleading, so this summer we finally signed her up. The following pictures are of her mini performance at the end of the session.

August 2011

2011-10-21T13:21:00.005-06:00

DISNEYLAND . . .
This summer we took Zach, Lauren and Elizabeth to Disneyland for three days. On the way there we stopped in Vegas and stayed at the Bass Pro Shops casino and hotel called the Silverton. After that we headed to L.A. to stay in Disneyland's Grand Californian Hotel & Spa for 3 nights. This was there first time to Disneyland and they loved it!

Lunch at Pirates of the Carribbean.

Waiting in line for Big Thuder Mountain.

Their first time to Disneyland!

Elizabeth, Minnie Mouse and Lauren (Zach was too cool to have his picture taken with a girl.)

Waiting in line to see Mickey.

The Batson's and Mickey Mouse.

New Boat

2011-08-08T08:56:00.005-06:00

Lauren's Baptism

2011-08-07T10:02:00.002-06:00

Lauren was baptized a member of The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter Day Saints on July 2, 2011. Lauren, we're so proud of you for making this choice and hope you'll continue to make good choices for the rest of your life. We love you!

I'd love it if anyone who views our blog would like to make a sweet comment to Lauren in this blog posts comment section. That way when we print our blog off into book form she'll have those comments to see for the rest of her life. Thanks!

JULY 2011

2011-08-05T08:09:00.005-06:00

We took Haylee, Zach and Lauren to Vegas for a weekend to see the Rush concert. I'm not such a big fan but Chris and the kids definitely are. We stayed at a really nice and NEW place on the very south end of The Strip called South Point.
Elizabeth stayed with Grandma Maddy for the weekend and was totally fine with it. She had SUCH a good time!

That night we went to the Rush concert.

Before the concert we had to eat dinner, of course.

At the concert! The kids absolutely LOVED it. Three hours was too long, though. I think 2 hours would have been perfect. Both the kids and I were ready to go home. Plus it started pretty late in the evening so we were all up way past our bedtimes.

Saturday was spend doing a lot of sight-seeing. I think we spent most of our time in the arcade at New York New York. Haylee was bummed because she wasn't tall enough for their roller coaster. She was seriously only an INCH too short! The kids loved the virtual roller coaster, though! So it all worked out.

My New Niece!

2011-08-04T07:11:00.004-06:00

Mommy Chantelle and Baby Olivia. Born June 20, 2011.

Maimai and Grandbaby.

Painting the Kitchen

2011-08-03T08:17:00.004-06:00

Last year our master bathroom bathtub leaked and we had to tear the kitchen ceiling down because of it. But....that meant we got a new ceiling, and better yet, new lights! But it also meant we had to repaint the kitchen. Ugh. It sat unfished for months. I usually like to paint, but painting the kitchen with all the edges and stuff just seemed so daunting. I finally got Chris to agree to help me with it. This may be the only time I see him with a paint brush in his hand!

Here's the semi-finished product. I really like the color, the pictures don't do it justice. Now for new cabinets and countertops! =)

Princess Elizabeth

2011-08-03T08:03:00.005-06:00

The last couple of years I've signed the girls up for the Lehi Princess Party. Lauren was too old this year so Elizabeth went alone. She didn't seem to mind. They have lots of fun princess activities there and lots of pretty older girls dressed as Disney Princesses. Elizabeth loved it! I'm not sure where she got her cheesey smile for the day, but she was doing the same thing at the party. Silly girl!

Lauren's Birthday Party

2011-08-02T07:13:00.006-06:00

JUNE 2011

2011-08-01T09:37:00.002-06:00

Zach and his crazy friends.

Happy 8th Birthday, Lauren ! ! !

2011-07-29T10:05:00.003-06:00

The kids love giving each other birthday presents (from their own special things).

On their 8th birthday Maimai Donna gives them their own set of scriptures.

A pedicure!

Happy Birthday, Lauren! We love all eight years of you! =)

My New Deck ! ! !

2011-07-28T09:04:00.005-06:00

The before . . .

Just getting started . . .
Zach helping out . . .

My dad's friend Kevin, my Dad, Chris and Zach all working on it.

Making progress . . .

Looking like a deck . . . !

Clark and Ross over helping too.

Chris working on the railing . . .

My New Deck ! ! !

Thanks everyone for helping out! I love it ! ! !

Elizabeth's Pre-school Graduation

2011-07-25T08:27:00.003-06:00

Mrs. Daniel's Butterfly Class

Receiving her pre-school diploma...

Her best friend River.

Mrs. Daniel's, Mrs. M&M, Elizabeth and Mrs. Sullivan

Little Cowgirl Lauren

2011-07-13T08:36:00.002-06:00

MAY 2011

2011-07-13T08:23:00.006-06:00

Hope of America

Every year the 5th graders participate in a program called Hope of America.

This year, Haylee got to be part of it. It was awesome!!!

Easter 2011

2011-07-11T06:44:00.006-06:00

For Easter we have gone to the rendezvous at Fort Buenaventura every year since we moved to Utah. This year, the rendezvous got post-poned (and then canceled all together!) due to heavy flooding. We had had our hearts set on camping for Easter this year, as had the kids, so we went camping last minute just down the street. It was a good time.

Haylee and Zach Easter morning. The first ones up . . .

Lauren and Elizabeth still sleeping.

Ready for the Easter egg hunt with their cousins!

Elizabeth

Lauren

Zach

Haylee

The final result . . . happy kids!

Happy Easter!

Lauren

2011-07-09T08:41:00.002-06:00

Lauren waiting.
(For what . . . I don't remember. Guess I should keep up on my blogging. =) )

New Carpet! Finally!!

2011-07-09T08:32:00.004-06:00

Here's Lauren vacuuming the old carpet before we ripped it up. Why we vacuumed it . . . I have no clue.
The backside of the DISGUSTING carpet we have lived on for the last 5 years.

It's finally gone!

My wonderful daddy laying the new carpet.

Apparently I didn't take any "after" pictures. Oops. Well, it looks and feels wonderful. And it's clean! I absolutely love it and now want to recarpet the whole house!

APRIL 2011

2011-06-24T06:37:00.001-06:00

A spring day in Provo Canyon . . .

Bridal Veil Falls

Party Time!

2011-06-23T09:39:00.003-06:00

Since this year was Elizabeth's 5th birthday, she got to have a party. She had a few of her friends over from pre-school and the neighborhood.
Elizabeth LOVES horses, so, of course, she had a horse-themed party. Our awesome neighbor brought one of her horses over for Elizabeth to enjoy!

Pinata!

Happy Birthday, Little Miss Horse Lover!

MARCH 2011

2011-06-16T09:51:00.004-06:00

Elizabeth's 5th Birthday!
Crazy Girl!

A Barbie!

A purple pillow pet Unicorn! She loves horses (we couldn't find one), but found her favorite color instead. Close enough!

Twinkies instead of birthday cake since she gets a party this yearand will have cake then.

Happy Birthday, Elizabeth!!!

Random

2011-06-08T12:27:00.002-06:00

My Kitty . . .

Silly Lauren . . .

FEBRUARY 2011

2011-06-03T08:59:00.003-06:00

Zach's 9th Birthday . . .

A gift certificate to go snowboarding with Dad for his first time! Woo Hoo ! ! !

The kids and Zach's best friend since we moved to Utah, Noah Mills.
Birthday dessert of choice . . . Creme Brulee, of course!

Crazy boys!

Happy Birthday, Zach! We love you more than you will ever know!

JANUARY 2011

2011-06-02T10:24:00.005-06:00

My old office! There used to be a flowery (ugly) border above the maroon paint.
After priming, picking the paint color, ripping up the old nasty carpet and tearing off the baseboard.

After painting. If I could go back in time, I'd pick a darker blue. But this will do, as I am NOT painting in here again for a while!

My dad and brother, James putting in my new walnut floor.

My awesome dad who does so much for me around my house!

Floor laid and puttied.

After sanding and finishing. It's so glossy because it's still wet.

My new office!

Close-up of my beautiful new hardwood floor. I love the detail of real wood!

Random picture. But I thought it was so pretty. Too bad the houses and telephone wires are there to block the true view.

Christmas Morning!

2011-05-24T10:27:00.004-06:00

Zach's "Santa gift". . . a guitar.
Haylee's . . . a ripstick

Lauren's . . . an American Girl doll.

Elizabeth's . . . Littlest Pet Shop.

Haylee's first time on her ripstick. Although, she had been practicing throughout the summer on Jordan's.

Littlest Pet Shop freaks. =)

Merry Merry Christmas and Happy New Year ! ! !

Love, the Batson's

Christmas Eve

2011-05-19T08:17:00.005-06:00

Christmas Eve day was spent at Maddy's house for lunch, presents and fun. She made all the grandkids, her kids and spouses aprons for Christmas.

Crazy Kids...

Every year the kids draw a name for the sibling that they'll buy a gift for. Christmas Eve we have a tradition that the kids get to open their presents from each other. I think this gives them an opportunity to really enjoy and see what their brother or sister really took the time to pick out for them.

Our beautiful tree...

SANTA CLAUSE!!!

2011-05-17T11:35:00.005-06:00

Our annual Flegal Family Christmas Party . . . Santa is always there!

SiLLy kIdS

2011-05-14T09:29:00.003-06:00

Zach made him and Lauren a peanut butter, banana and raisin "sandwich" on a tortilla. And now he's measuring it to make sure that they spilt it exactly in half for the two of them. And yes, they came up with this on their own. I would never eat something like that myself. =)
Lauren's turn to help . . .
The finished product. Doesn't it look delish!

DECEMBER 2010

2011-05-14T09:10:00.005-06:00

Mothergoose Pre-school Christmas Program.
Elizabeth is on the far right.

Mrs. Daniels, her pre-school teacher.

Santa Clause!

NOVEMBER 2010

2011-05-11T08:07:00.006-06:00

Musical Express Performance....The students who were interested, had to try out and Haylee made it!

"Do-Re-Mi" from The Sound of Music.

"Lonely Goatherd" also from The Sound of Music.

Haylee as Aunt Eller in "The Farmer and the Cowman" from Oklahoma.

Haylee letting her emotions run away with her... =)
Good job, Haylee! You did awesome!!!

HALLOWEEN 2010

2011-05-10T08:31:00.006-06:00

The Friday before Halloween...dressed up for school. Haylee's a dead Hermione (from Harry Potter-I think she just wanted to wear make-up, lol) and Jordan is a Zombie. Jordan did his own make-up.
Zach's also a Zombie and Lauren was.....hmmm.....I don't remember exactly. Guess that's what I get for not blogging in a timely manner. I believe she was going to be a vampire queen, but didn't want to wear the teeth and is just a dead queen?

And Elizabeth is a beautiful (not dead) Snow White. (Costume courtesy of my mom, it used to be Dani's when she was 4.)

Pumpkin carving the Saturday before Halloween. Although, Halloween was celebrated this day...the 30th, because Halloween was on a Sunday...and we live in Utah, so if we had celebrated it on Sunday, we would have been alone in it. Not that that's a problem!

Elizabeth and her Jack-O-Lantern. By the way, all the pumpkins came from our garden this year and last! Awesome! Savings of probably $50+!!

Lauren's......

Zach's......

Haylee's......

Jordan's......

I carved one too but accidentally deleted the picture I uploaded on blogger and I'm too lazy to do it again.

Just before trick-or-treating. Look at these cute, I mean scarey, kids!!!

Rain on Halloween!

Happy Halloween from the Batson's!!!

Wrestling

2011-05-07T10:53:00.007-06:00

Zach was in wrestling club for a couple of weeks and had a mini tournament at the end of it. A friend from high school is the wrestling coach at American Fork High School and he was the couch for the kids. Him along with some boys from the HS wrestling team. They did awesome with the kids!At the end of it, all of the boys received a Gold Medal and got to stand with the American Fork Caveman.

OCTOBER 2010

2011-05-06T06:24:00.002-06:00

Raingutter Regada...Daddy Daughter Date

"Most Detailed"

Pinewood Derby

2011-05-05T07:31:00.003-06:00

September 30, 2010...The Pinewood Derby!

Zach's car is in spot #4 on the track.

He had 7 turns. The places he received in the races...in this order, are: 5th, 5th, 4th, 3rd, 2nd and then 1st! Way to go Zach!!!

SEPT. 2010 ~ Beautiful Fall Day

2011-05-03T17:01:00.003-06:00

Chris took the day off work and we drove up to Silver Lake. The lake was mostly gone, but it was still beautiful with all of the changing colors.

The Consitutional Convention

2011-04-25T07:21:00.005-06:00

Haylee as David Brearly...representing New Jersey.

Signing the Constitution.

SEPTEMBER 2010

2011-04-25T07:10:00.003-06:00

Zach getting his car sanded for his first Pinewood Derby.

SEPTEMBER 2010

2011-04-21T08:02:00.004-06:00

1st Day of Pre-School for Elizabeth...

Elizabeth

2011-04-20T12:22:00.002-06:00

After the kids go to school.........

1st Day of School 2010

2011-04-19T08:22:00.003-06:00

First day of school for Jordan and Haylee at Lakeview Academy charter school. Jordan starting 8th grade and Haylee starting 5th. A week later....First day of school for Lauren and Zach at Meadow Elementary. Lauren starting 2nd grade and Zach starting 3rd.

These girls are such posers.

Waiting at the bus stop.

AUGUST 2010

2011-04-14T12:12:00.009-06:00

Our drive down to San Diego for 1 1/2 weeks of sunshine! Haylee wasn't with us because she was already down there visiting her grandma linda and daddy brandon. She'll be driving back home with us, though and be spending the last week with us. My hot hubby!

Taking a picture of myself...otherwise there will be none of me. =)

Hanging out with Cecily at the beach house that Lowell and Coco rented and let us use most of the time. Thanks Coco & Lowell! You're awesome!!!

CHhris and his little sister, Cec.

Lauren on the boogie board in the bay.

Haylee on Chris's board from when he was a kid.

The beach house. We only rented the bottom floor. The family of the owners stayed in the top 2 floors.

Elizabeth covering herself in dirty bay sand.

Zach and Jordan building sand castles.

Haylee, Cameron (Cec's daughter), Jack (Cec's son), Elizabeth and Lauren eating popsicles.

Our view from the beach house.

Yum!

Cute kids!

Really, we did go to the beach too. I just wasn't very good at taking pictures this vacation! We had an awesome time riding our bikes on the boardwalk and eating out a lot! I heart San Diego.

Just cute

2011-04-14T11:32:00.002-06:00

4th of July 2010

2011-04-13T16:21:00.003-06:00

JUNE 2010

2011-04-12T21:42:00.004-06:00

We finally did something fun with Lauren's room. It started out completely white (no pictures of that!). Then, as you can see, we painted the bottom 1/2 black. Then came the pink...

Here's goofy Lauren and her cute friend Savannah.

New bedding and book shelf. And we painted her night stand white. Her bed will eventually get painted as well. Should we paint it black or white?

Grandpa Kurt putting up the chair rail.

And Lauren helping him.

Finished! OK, not completely. Still need to paint the bed and dresser (color?). She needs curtains. There have been some cute things hung on the wall since these pictures. When I'm all caught up on blogging I'll post some more recent pictures of her room. Who knows, by the time that happens, the dresser, bed and curtains just *might* be done!

New Baby Kittens!

2011-04-12T00:31:00.004-06:00

Cute baby kittens born to Missy last June. 3 tabby's and 2 black ones. So dang cute! The kids loved it. Sad for them, we had to get rid of them all. Even Missy. She seemed to have gone a little crazy after having the babies. Sad. It was a fun experience for the kids having new baby kitties, though.

Isn't just so sweet how they all sleep together!

MAY 2010

2011-04-10T16:43:00.003-06:00

At the end of May 2010, my Grandma Maxine Winsor passed away in San Diego, CA. I was lucky enough to be able to drive down for her funeral. I'm so happy I was able to be there for it and able to see so much family that I don't regularly or very often see. It was a good trip.

Buried next to her, my Grandpa Vic. I love you and am so lucky to have known you both! Grandma, you were and are such a great example as to how I want to live my life!!!

The last day there James, Becky, Kayden, Gavin and I headed down to the beach to hang out at the tide pools for a bit. It was an awesome and sunny day out. Oh, how I love San Diego and miss my home.

Happy 7th Birthday, Lauren!

2011-04-10T00:42:00.002-06:00

My adorable little Lauren Paige turned seven on May 30, 2010.

I love and adore you always and forever!!!

Lauren Mosaic2, a photo by jdb3177 on Flickr.

Willowcreek 5k

2011-04-02T22:12:00.002-06:00

MAY 2010 -- Look at these cute 7th graders! Jordan and the girls...typical. =) At the end of the school year their middle school held a 5k and Jordan and the girls wanted to be a part of it. Such great kids! I love them all four!

Hogle Zoo

2011-04-02T21:54:00.003-06:00

May 2010 -- I know the previous post was June, but whatever. I'm allowed to skip around as long as I' m posting. Lauren's 1st grade class took a trip to Hogle Zoo. I came along and brought Elizabeth. Elizabeth had an ok time, but Lauren absolutely loved it. It was a fun day. And I just LOVE Lauren's smile! I need to remember to cherish these days when they're so young and sweet.

Random

2011-04-02T21:19:00.004-06:00

JUNE 2010 -- Lauren and I took a road trip out to my mom's last June together. We spent the first night at my mom's and then the three of us spent the weekend in Flagstaff playing. Danielle was out on a "dig" and Chantelle was in Spain so we didn't get to see the two of them, but we had fun nonetheless. Unfortunately, we BOTH forgot our cameras! The only picture we have of the weekend is this one with Lauren and my mom playing with her webcam. We spent the weekend eating delicious food, seeing the sights, checking out a meteor crater near Winslow, viewing the rings and moons of Saturn through a telescope at the Lowell Observatory, having breakfast with Dani's Adam and Chantelle's Shelby, going to the awesome used/new bookstore called Hastings and reading lots and lots! Lauren too! It was a really fun weekend and worth all 22 hours of driving!

This is just a cute and random picture I found of Elizabeth and Lauren. I love my girls!

And, of course, Haylee and Zach! Don't you just love it when kids are so sweet to each other??

Bobcat

2011-04-02T20:34:00.003-06:00

APRIL 2010 -- Well, apparently, this is the ONLY picture I have on file for April 2010. I have a feeling 2010 will be pretty scarce as far as pictures go. I don't know what my problem was last year, but I didn't take many pictures. This is Zach after receiving his Bobcat in scouts. Way to go Zach!

Home Sweet Home

2011-04-01T14:29:00.008-06:00

MARCH 2010

Chris and I took a trip out to San Diego and left the kids back in Utah. Jesse and his wife Kaylee planned to be there the same weekend Chris and I were. While we were there, we were also able to attend the funeral of an awesome guy that I was so lucky to have known, Dennis Asprey.

While Chris and I were there we tried to do some touristy stuff that we never did while we actually lived in San Diego. You can either afford to live there or play there, but not both!

Sea World...I absolutely love the ocean and I think Sea World is an awesome place to see ocean life that you wouldn't otherwise see.

Seaport Village...

Dudley's Market in San Ysabel... (delicious bread!)

Just checking out the San Diego coastline w/Jesse and Kaylee...I love seeing the fearless squirrels hanging out in the ice plant.

Wow!

2011-03-30T07:52:00.002-06:00

Has it really been a year since I posted last? That's ridiculous. And I promise to do better. I really have no excuse. Well, at least not a good one. I plan to get caught up on all past-posts and then try and stay caught up. Hopefully I can get a post up today. It will be today or tomorrow. I promise!

Happy Birthday, Miss Haylee!

2010-03-25T14:27:00.002-06:00

This year for Haylee's birthday I packaged up all her snow/ski gear and wrapped it up in a box along with a gift certificate stating that she gets a day of skiing with Mom and Dad. In case you can't tell by the look on her face she was super stoked!

Happy Happy Birthday to My First Baby Girl!

I Love You Forever and Ever!!

Seeing Green

2010-03-17T13:52:00.005-06:00

Zach built a leprechaun trap yesterday in hopes that he'd catch a leprechaun. When the kids got up this morning there was no leprechaun but he did leave a few treats!

My Two Sons

2010-03-17T12:37:00.001-06:00

Birthday Skiing!

2010-03-17T11:10:00.003-06:00

Haylee has been bugging me since we moved to Utah to take her skiing. Every year that's what she tells me she wants. So finally this year I relented. We brought her to Brighton and put her in 2 hours of ski school. THe rest of the day was ours together. We let Chris tag a long too. Although, he boarded. We still love him, even if he's not a cool skiier like us.

We weren't sure how she'd do, but turns out she's a natural! She really did awesome and picked it up quick. She definitely did her share of falling, but she would immediately get back up and try again. Good job, Haylee! Looks like we'll be having to take you skiing every year!

Happy Birthday, Elizabeth!

2010-03-17T08:27:00.003-06:00

Elizabeth turned 4 last Thursday. We celebrated with just the 7 of us.

She LOVES horses and ponies!

Acting Crazy...
Goofy Girls!

Afraid of the sparking candles!

Mommy loves you baby girl!

Happy Birthday, Elizabeth!!!

Good Friends

2010-03-16T22:18:00.003-06:00

(Keith Abraham, Dad and Denis Asprey)

A good friend of my dad's passed away just a few days ago after a losing battle with cancer. Denis was one of the sweetest, kindest guys I've ever had the privelege to know. Denis, you will be greatly missed by so many people, but I know you're in a better place.

For those who are interested in attending:

Funeral Services are Saturday, March 20, 2010 @ 10:30am

LDS Chapel, 1634 Hillsdale Rd, El Cajon, CA

Across the street from Vahalla High School

Birthday Shopping!

2010-03-10T15:18:00.005-07:00

Heather and I took Izzy and Elizabeth to the mall for their birthdays. Izzy turned 3 today and Elizabeth turns four tomorrow. They had a ton of fun running through the mall hand-in-hand. It was so cute!
We brought them to Build-A-Bear and they both picked their favorite animal. Elizabeth LOVES horses... Izzy filled her kitty first by pressing on the foot pedal. When it was Elizabeth's turn Izzy was pointing out to her how it was done. Elizabeth had absolutely no interest in touching the pedal that caused loud noises....

...so Izzy helped her out while holding her hand so Elizabeth wouldn't be afraid. Too sweet!

Izzy picked out a heart for the inside of Elizabeth's horse and instead of Elizabeth refusing it and wanting to pick her own, she accepted.

After kissing the heart she placed it inside her horse and the nice lady sewed her up.

After their horse and kitty were sewed up they got to "bathe" them.

This is very serious business.

Of course the girls wanted to pick cute little outfits for their new friends. Who are we to say no when it's their birthday???

After the mall we went to Zupa's and had lunch. The girls love it there, especially the chocolate strawberries.

Happy Birthday Girls!!!

New Glasses

2010-03-10T15:08:00.002-07:00

It's official. Haylee is blind. OK, not really. But her eye sight is definitely worse than mine. Poor thing has been suffering for quite a while. The girl is pretty dramatic about everything. So when she told me about a year ago that she really needs glasses I brushed it off as another one of her many complaints. And then this year her teacher sent home a note stating that Haylee was insisting she couldn't see the blackboard. Then the school nurse called me to tell me she failed the school vision test. So I FINALLY took her into the eye doctor. Turns out she really did need glasses! lol

Reminiscing

2010-03-10T04:02:00.004-07:00

These were the days...

Nothing Like a Packing Peanut Bed

2010-03-06T11:50:00.003-07:00

There's nothing like curling up with a good book in a box of packing peanuts...

Zach's Baptism Day

2010-03-05T14:06:00.004-07:00

Zach was baptized a member of The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter Days Saints on Saturday, February 27th, 2010. We are so blessed to live in a country where we have the freedom to worship as we please and that we have the Gospel in our lives. We are so proud of Zach for making the decision to be baptized. We love you Zach!

Zach's Pirate Party

2010-03-04T17:03:00.002-07:00

Our kids only get big friend birthday parties when they turn 5, 8, 12 and 16. Since Zach turned 8 this year he got a big party and we went all out. He chose to have a pirate party. We had a treasure hunt, pin the X on the treasure map, bobbing for apples with fish in the tub and "cannon pop" where the kids had balloons tied to their ankles. Instead of more cake we did blue jell-o (ocean) with gummy fish and cool whip (waves) on top. The kids loved it and all the junk food!

hApPy BiRtHdAy, zAcH ! ! !

2010-03-03T13:10:00.006-07:00

Zach turned 8 this year. On his actual birthday we had a small family celebration with his choice of dinner, cake and ice cream. He also got to open his present from us...a Tony Hawk skateboard!

Playing outside after dinner and opening presents.

Happy Birthday, Zach!

I Miss My Mommy...

2010-02-26T10:12:00.001-07:00

Me & My Mom ~ Summer of 1992

Old School

2010-02-17T08:15:00.002-07:00

I found this picture on my mom's blog and I stole it from her. Aren't me and my sister's the cutest?

UPDATE

2010-01-25T13:21:00.002-07:00

Here's an update regarding the orphans in Haiti (taken from Lori's blog):

We have a plane, we have a plane, we have a plane!!!!! Please stop and say a prayer of thanks.

A group that would prefer we don't mention their names has arranged a flight going into Haiti with humanitarian supplies. They have been given a slot to land on Thursday. They will unload their cargo. They will check off and load the kids. Then they are coming home to SALT LAKE CITY UTAH.

They have some doctors and nurses going down on the plane to return with the children to make sure everyone is getting everything they need as soon as possible. I told them, "They all look really healthy" and he said, 'Then they'll snuggle the children who are scared".

And then I cried a little bit more.

Chareyl is at the Embassy now. She will be there all day long picking up Humanitarian Paroles. I will notify you as I get confirmation that she has your child's paperwork in her hot little hand as the day progresses.

They're coming home, ladies and gentlemen! They're coming home!!

Still issues in the "Finding Jessica" department. All the other children have been rounded up. We've had so many miracles, I have to trust that the Lord knows what is best for my daughter and put this in His Hands. He has a plan for Miss Jess. I hope it's the same plan I have for her.

Funds are no longer needed for jet fuel but the orphange is still in desperate need of money to provide for the current orphans and new orphans (created by this catastrophe) and to rebuild the orphanage.

Thanks to everyone who has donated thus far! To continue to make donations I would suggest making it through the Red Cross or through Lori's blog if you'd like to donate directly to the orphanage "Hope for Little Angels of Haiti". This is a 501(c)3 charitable organization.

Help is Still Needed

2010-01-24T14:29:00.005-07:00

Brent & Nathan (I hope you don't mind that I stole this picture from your blog, Lori!)

Lori's husband Brent is in Haiti right now. They've found their baby Nathan but are still searching for Jessica. About 70 of the orphans that are in the middle of an adoption with American families will hopefully be flown out of Haiti and to the United States this week. Help is desparately needed to pay to get those children and babies home to their new families. Can you help? $1, $5, $10. ANY amount helps. It all adds up. Please click on this link to Lori's blog to find out how to donate and to get updates about Haiti and the children. Please forward her blog or donation information to anyone you know.

Please help?

Help for Haiti

2010-01-14T21:34:00.003-07:00

If you'd like to help Haiti in some way, please consider making a donation to Hope for Little Angels of Haiti creche in Port-au-Prince. Someone I know has 2 adorable children there waiting to be adopted. As of right now she has no word on her children. Go to this link, her blog, and click on "Donate" on the right-hand ...side. Imagine the difference if millions of people even donated $1 each!See More

Christmas Morning

2010-01-09T08:33:00.005-07:00

4 days of snowboarding!!

Christmas Eve Tradition

2010-01-08T12:43:00.004-07:00

Every year each of the kids draw a name of their siblings and they buy a gift for that person. This year we took them to the dollar store and they were able to buy 2 items and 1 candy. They open their presents from each other Christmas Eve. The kids are always very excited about what they got for each other. It's so sweet.We spent the evening watching Christmas movies, eating munchies, talking about the true meaning of Christmas and just hanging out as a family. What made it even better was that Grandpa stayed the night!

Christmas Eve

2010-01-06T12:07:00.002-07:00

Christmas Eve day we went to Grandma Maddy's for lunch, sledding, hot chocolate, penguin cupcakes, and presents.

An Early Christmas

2010-01-02T12:03:00.002-07:00

Coco and Lowell came out the weekend before Christmas to spend some time with us. While they were here we went to see Christmas lights, had dinner at Tepanyaki (which the kids always LOVE), had Cafe Rio (something Coco loves to do everytime they visit), did some Christmas shopping, had the Moreau's over to watch the Charger gave with all of us and the last morning they were here we had an early Christmas. The kids got to open the presents from Grandma Mimi (Coco's mom) and from Maimai Coco and Grandpa Lowell.

Jordan was stoked with a new cell phone, even if it is pre-paid (get to work, Jordan, so you have money to keep it going!).

Haylee, Zach and Lauren were all excited to get their own boomboxes.

Elizabeth got her very own Barbie horse. This girl LOVES her horses!

Christmas Party

2010-01-02T10:00:00.003-07:00

The kids telling Santa what they want for Christmas. Elizabeth wants "presents and candy". Jordan, apparently, is too old to sit on his lap.

Here are just a few of the cousins...Actually, children of my cousins. What would that be...second cousins?

Coco and Lowell were down the same weekend of the Flegal Family Christmas party. So they were able to join us. Fun!

The School Christmas Sing

2010-01-02T07:52:00.003-07:00

Haylee's Choir Performance

2009-12-17T15:25:00.002-07:00

Every Child has to do it Just Once...

2009-12-16T14:17:00.000-07:00

...Right?

A Night Out

2009-12-14T12:12:00.002-07:00

Every year DeltaValve has an awesome Christmas Party. So far this year was the best. It's always at the Downtown Marriott and always has delicious food (except for the desserts). This year Johnny Biscuit was the entertainment. He was pretty funny, most of the time. DeltaValve, of course, gave away awesome prizes. Some were better than others. We walked away with a free night out...Dinner & a Movie. Not bad.

Annual FMT Christmas Party

2009-12-11T11:35:00.002-07:00

Me and my hubbie. Not sure what's up with the goofy grin on his face. But it was either a goofy picture of him or a goofy picture of me. Of course I chose him. =)

Me and my daddy!

Have I mentioned I LOVE Christmas time!

Christmas Traditions

2009-12-09T12:16:00.004-07:00

Every year (almost) as a family we've gone out to buy a Christmas Tree together. On the way home we stop and buy donuts and the kids all pick the ones they want. We then come home, have donuts (and sometimes hot chocolate) and decorate the tree together. OK, I hand-out ornaments...the kids put them on. Take a close look at the tree and you'll see how evenly spaced everything is (not!).

I love Christmas time!

Provo River Falls

2009-11-25T08:21:00.002-07:00

Chris decided to take the day off work a couple of weeks ago because the weather was "too nice to go to work". Chris, Elizabeth and I went up to Heber and had breakfast at a cute little cafe called The Hub. It was pretty good. Thanks for the suggestion, Dad! After that we decided to drive up to Mirror Lake. The weather wasn't quite as nice up that high. It was still sunny skies but freezing cold. So cold that there was ice all the way down the road that leads to the lake. We have 4 wheel drive but it still seemed a little sketchy so we headed back down the mountain until we came upon a place we never knew exsisted, Provo River Falls. It was beautiful! We got out of the car and checked the place out. Elizabeth thought it was pretty cool. It was a bunch of little falls cascading gradually down the mountain. I'm so happy we found this place!

hAlLoWeEn

2009-11-17T08:38:00.002-07:00

For Halloween this year Haylee was a "Dead Queen", Zach a "Ninja", Lauren a "Vampiress" and Elizabeth "Snow White". The only kids Chris and I had to take trick or treating this year were Lauren and Elizabeth. Haylee and Zach both went with friends.

I'm not sure what Jordan was supposed to be. Dead, maybe? He hung out at the neighbors house all night as part of their "spook alley".

It was a fun Halloween!