Friday, January 26, 2018

Miss Zoey

Shayne kept suggesting and suggesting that getting another dog would be so great for our boys.  I was skeptical - and Danny would beg and plead and tell me all the things he would do if we got a dog.  I finally agreed to "look" at dogs - well, 4 hours later we had a puppy.  
A BRAND NEW TINY PUPPY PUPPY!
She came to us when she was only 6 weeks old and it was like having a baby - except she did sleep through the night starting on the 3rd night.  Having older kids though has been helpful - they did the all-nighters for those first few nights and I do love seeing how much Danny loves and plays with Zoey.  In the last 11 weeks, she has grown so much - we aren't so sure they told us the truth about her mix but, oh well - she's ours no matter what.






Zoey has a 2nd home - when I told my friend Becky that I had a brand new puppy she BEGGED me to leave the puppy with her while I went to work.  She has become Zoey's other mom and her 5 dogs are Zoey's best friends.  Today I stopped by and took a few pics of Zoey attacking/playing with her friends.  And before I realized it - she had climbed up on Becky's back to play in her hair - oh that silly puppy LOVES Becky.  But I know she also loves her boys here in our home.





This is a favorite video of Zoey playing with a bell - it was so funny!  She had a similar reaction to a balloon.  She cracks us up.



And she sings each morning when Danny starts his piano practice - she's a better singer than a guard-dog!



Potty-training is the worst - but I feel like we've taken a huge leap forward this week.  No accidents in the past few days and I am thrilled.  She loves to chew shoes (not good), paper, bite Skyler's jeans and play basketball with Danny (mini ball and mini hoop in the family room).  She has definitely been a fun addition to our home.  Hopefully the potty-training process is nearly complete and we'll work on the running out of the front door manners next.

Sunday, January 7, 2018

2017 Part 3

August

Attending a BYU devotional to listen to Papa!  He was amazing.  Of course, we didn't expect any less than that!



Hunter did the MTB team with the high school.  He attended practices 3 times a week and Shayne and I tried to always have one of us go too.  It was a great summer of riding.




I took Hunter and Liam with me to tour the new MTC facility. I had to do the MTC map pix!



More biking...



Cole and his friends decided to make a restaurant.  Cole supported it financially.  They just asked for donations for anyone who came to eat and they ended up making $, which Cole gave to all his friends.  He just got the money back that he had spent and gave all the proceeds to his friends.  He's a sweet boy.



Preparing burritos, doughnut holes, spanish rice and drinks.  I ended up helping a lot in the kitchen so I didn't get any pics of the boys serving the customers (neighbors).  They dressed up in their finest clothes (suits and it was a hot day) and had determined serving expectations.  It was really awesome.  It was their idea and they rocked it.  The next day Cole started planning an Italian restaurant, I said I needed a few months to recover.









Annual neighborhood Lego Gallery















Back to School!  It's 7th grade day - Here's Cole with Adam, Chris, & Connor


and ME!!  It's MY 1st day too - I'm teaching at his school now!


It was also the day of a total Solar Eclipse  - well it was 97% in our area, and it was awesome.


9th grade


3rd grade


Hanging out at Grandma and Grandpa's - look at all those boys!



My garden produced a LOT of tomatoes this year.



Finally, Kindergarten starts!





More soccer




Danny won the Zucchini boat race - and he WON MORE ZUCCHINI!


September

I attended Tower of Power with my parents.  Yup, we're HIP!



Next project - shiplap on this wall.  Love it.


more tomatoes


More biking (went back to Sundance without Cole this time)


I think school is wearing him out.  I ran into the Jr. High and within minutes this little guy was OUT.


Doing the Goldilocks with Chanin and Cherae - 60 miles!  We didn't start off thinking we'd do 60, but we did it!!



First race - at Powder Mountain (it was FREEZING)







And now he's 15





All about Hunter
He loves The Office
He is the family artist and amazing at it
He is a saver - if he gets money, he waits patiently for the perfect opportunity to spend it
He is enrolled in every honors class possible at his school.  And he never asks us for help with his homework (go figure)
He has determined he is an introvert, we knew that. ;-)
If he tells you a fact about something and you wonder if he's just making it up, turns up he knows what he's talking about - every time.
He loves to read
And he's extremely funny
When he grows up he wants to be a Graphic Arts Designer, maybe

I guess this guy is tired too


Devri and I having a little (late-night) fun getting ready for October!



More biking - we found this bridge!



Neighborhood Pumpkin Festival - Danny and Ben did the pie eating contest.



October!

We did the BYU Cougar run!  Kids did the kid races and Brian, Jenny and I did the 5k.  








Couples date night!  We went to BYU Spectacular and then bowling on campus.  My parents couldn't join us since my dad was in charge of hosting guests of the music dept.



A highlight of Ben and Jenny's visit was doing Halloween Caroling - (they lost the bet when we were bowling)!  Nikki was a sport and gave the kids a bag of marshmallows for a treat.  Sooooo spontaneously fun!


Playing at Cornbelly's together.


We DID IT!!  WE conquered the Vertigo trail!  I was so excited I went back the next day to do it again with Hunter!



He decided to bleach his hair!


Race #2, in Moab.















Girls Trip to Moab. Oh glorious days of biking.  We did over 21 miles of trail riding and it was so fun to be with these amazing women!  I love these women so much and I can't wait to make this an annual tradition.  I wish it could be a monthly thing - wouldn't that be grand?! 




There were some technical and steep parts - I decided to take a pic of this one.  But the pic just doesn't do justice to how steep it was!


The slick-rock experience (not the Slick-rock trail though)



And would you believe if I told you we went back to Moab AGAIN the following weekend!?!  Just Shayne and I - we did all new trails and I have one pic of evidence.  I loved having an adventure with my sweetheart - it's been a lot of fun to gain a love for mountain biking and now I'm enjoying with Shayne.  He can outride me any day - but hey, we're out there on the trails together!


Carving pumpkins with cuzin's






Halloween

Cole is Dustin, from Stranger Things




We went retro for the morning school parade.


Our house


Cole with his friends


Danny and Grandma sorting the loot


November

We surprised the boys with Zoey



Danny won his school Turkey -Trot (AGAIN!)







Thanksgiving at Chris & Cherae's home




December

Skyler's 6th birthday, at Classic Skate


Bronx, Ottley, Skyler, Chase, Grey, Corban, and Rachel


All about Skyler:
Skyler is an amazing reader for his young age.  (maybe I'm biased)
He is EXTREMELY social, constantly looking for a friend to play with
He loves to play the I-Pad - it worries mom quite a bit
His favorite things are Lego's, friends, friends, and making creations (drawing, cutting, taping, gluing)
He is funny!
He told me he doesn't want to play an instrument in the band, because he wants to work at Walmart where the people give him money.
He makes his own cereal every morning and is constantly on the hunt for something else to eat
He loves showers - he'd take one every day if I let him (or maybe twice a day)
He loves his big brothers - and you can often catch him letting them know their current rankings

This is a favorite spot for Skyler in our house.


This is a spot where Zoey would stay (until a month later when she figured out she could jump down!)


Skyler eats his shirts.  sigh.


I learned how to make beans and rice the Brazilian way, plus she taught us to make Coxinas. 
 YUM YUM



Cole's final art project that exemplifies himself.  


Making cookies for Santa on Christmas eve at Nana and Papa's house



Christmas!







It was twins!


Cole got spoiled rotten - a computer.  This kid LOVES to code and now he has a computer dedicated to coding rather than dominating our home computer.  He was shocked.



I was confused when I opened this - he later explained it includes dance lessons together - YAAAAAY!!!  I've wanted this forEVER!!!




Hunter got a season pass for Snowboarding at Sundance - no pic though - but he's excited!

Skyler lost his first tooth.  sniff, sniff - he's so big


Tyler and Tucker came to town again - here they are trying SEAWEED.  Danny likes it!









A chance to catch up with a former roomie - Sabrina


More cousin time - at the Nickelcade




Whew!! YOU made it to the end!  And now for the resolution to stay current and post monthly.
Good night!