Christensen Family

Stranger

2012-01-03T21:12:00.000-08:00

Garret was talking Katie's ear off and he asked her why she wasn't talking back. She said that she doesn't talk to strangers. Garret replied that he wasn't a stranger. Tanner then pipes in "You're stranger than anyone I know."

Boise Trip

2012-01-03T15:30:00.000-08:00

We decided last minute to go to Boise to to see uncle Ryan and aunt Angie and cousins Kathleen, Brandon and Cody. We had lots of fun playing games, tetherball, Wii, spy training, bowling and seeing Pus and Boots the movie.

Katie in her cute new Christmas dresses

2012-01-03T15:29:00.000-08:00

Christmas Morning 2011

2012-01-02T15:21:00.000-08:00

Waiting at the top of the stairs to open presents

Garret got everything Star Wars-ships, PJ's, light sabers, action figures

Katie got a Kindle

Tanner got a Wii game

They all got a ping pong table

Christmas decorations

2012-01-02T15:18:00.000-08:00

Christmas Eve at Grammy and Pompas

2012-01-02T14:57:00.000-08:00

Kids in their new PJ's

Wise Men visiting baby Jesus

Sheppards visiting baby Jesus (they kind of look like the Wise Men)

Joseph and Mary riding the donkey

Mary and a shepard boy

We had Christmas Eve at Grammy and Pompa's house with them and Cameron and Rachelle. We ate and ate and ate, then played Bingo, had a little talent show (Katie played the piano, Tanner played the guitar, I played the piano-I am accompanying Karen Hawkins on Christmas in church, and Cam played the guitar while Rachelle sang), acted out the Christmas story and opened our PJ's. Kind of a quite year since no other cousins were there.

Sitting on Santa's lap

2012-01-01T15:27:00.000-08:00

Katie's Dance Recital

2012-01-01T15:12:00.000-08:00

Katie's 1st piano recital

2012-01-01T14:40:00.000-08:00

Katie has been taking piano lessons from Karen Hawkins for about a year. She just loves them and Karen. She had her 1st recital right before Christmas. It was my kind of recital because it was just Katie. She played 12 songs and it was about 15 minutes long.

YM campout

2012-01-01T14:36:00.000-08:00

The deacons went on a winter campout. They went cross country skiing too.

Gingerbread Houses

2012-01-01T14:28:00.000-08:00

We had our friends the Hawley's over to make gingerbread houses. The kids went a little crazy with their house. I don't see cake decorating in any of their futures.

2nd grade Prehistoric Christmas Play

2012-01-01T14:23:00.000-08:00

Katie's grade at school put on a play called "A Prehistoric Christmas". Katie was a reindeer. Santa and his reindeer get in a time warp and go back to the time of the dinosaurs and teach the dinosaurs about Christmas.

Tanner's cello concert

2012-01-01T14:19:00.000-08:00

Tanner has been playing the cello in the 6th grade orchestra. They had their 1st concert in December. He is doing really well for only playing the cello for about 3 months.

Turkey Trot

2012-01-01T13:44:00.000-08:00

Nixon with his "medal" (a ding dong with a licorice rope)

Crossing the finish line

On you mark, get set, go!

So I got this crazy idea the Monday before Thanksgiving that I wanted to do a Turkey Trot. I sent out an email about it to 50 or so friends of mine. There were about 50 people who showed up. There was a 1.5 mile race and a 3 mile race, either 1 loop around the neighborhood or 2. Most people only did the 1.5 mile race. It was fun and the weather was good, so I would say it was a success, especially since the medal for the kids was a ding dong and licorice rope. Who doesn't like candy?

Indiana Jones

2012-01-01T13:14:00.000-08:00

Garret is really into Indiana Jones. He found an old cowboy hat, a binoculars case (for his satchel), and a shoelace (for his whip) so that he could dress up like Indiana. He has to wear his costume when he sits and watches the movies on the iPad.

Bunker Bear

2012-01-01T13:04:00.000-08:00

Teacher Barbara let's her students take turns bringing Bunker Bear home with them. When you bring Bunker Bear home, you are supposed to write what you do with him while you had him. While Garret had him this time, Bunker's leg accidentally got torn off. So we wrote about how Bunker had an accident and had to have Garret's mom who is a nurse fix his leg.

My husband is clueless

2011-12-03T16:37:00.000-08:00

I wasn't feeling well the other day so Kirt was nice and took Garret to school. He has taken him to school several times before, so I didn't give him directions figuring he knew where he was going. Unfortunately there is another preschool right next door to the preschool that Garret attends. It starts 15 minutes after Garret's preschool does, and since Kirt was late taking Garret to school, there were lots of people dropping kids off at the time Kirt was taking Garret. So Kirt dropped Garret off at the wrong preschool. Garret knew it was the wrong place, but all he would say to Kirt in between his whining, was "dad you are supposed to pull up more". So the nice preschool teacher at the wrong preschool, walked Garret over to his preschool as Kirt sat in the car and watched. At least he made it to the right school eventually.

Halloween 2011

2011-11-03T18:57:00.000-07:00

Garret and I trick or treating at the High School. This is the only way to trick or treat. The high school kids bring tons of candy and invite preschool aged kids to come and trick or treat. You walk up and down the halls in the warm school and get a bucket full of candy in about 20 minutes. My kind of trick or treating.

Michelle, Nixon, Sadie and Susie came with us too. Nixon was Batman.

They both did not love their masks.

Garret was Darth Vader. He told me one morning last week,

"Darth Vader is not a bad person. He's actually a good person who made bad choices."

Katie was a witch. Surprisingly I am good at doing witch hair.

(I'm not so good at doing normal hair. Maybe it's not a surprise.)

Tanner was a football player again. He wasn't really into the dressing up, but he was into the getting candy.

Katie's pumpkin, done all by herself (I did cut the top off)

Garret's Pumpkin (cleaned out by Pompa and carved by me)

It was an eventful Halloween as always. I am always ready for Halloween to be over long before it actually is. Friday night was the school dance party in Halloween costumes (we danced the Thriller and the Monster Mash) and the ward 1st annual Chili cook off and Trunk or Treat. Saturday was carving pumpkins at Grandmas. Monday was trick or treating at the High School (preschoolers aka Garret only), Katie's class party and then trick or treating at our house. Our friends the Clarks and the Skimores came and went trick or treating with us. I think this is the 1st year since we lived here that we have actually gone trick or treating in our own neighborhood. It was also the 1st year that we carved our own pumpkins instead of just carving the ones at Grandma's house.

Crazy Hair Day

2011-10-21T13:02:00.000-07:00

It was crazy hair day at Katie's school today. We decided to do a trial run for her Halloween hair-do. She's going to be a witch. Perfect witch hair, huh? Who cares that it looks like rats ran through it all night.

Family Pictures

2011-10-02T14:59:00.000-07:00

My friend Taraka Pyper took our family pictures last week. She did a great job. If any of you want some pictures taken, let me know and I will give you her info. Thanks Taraka!

Katie's 2nd grade school picture

2011-09-29T09:41:00.001-07:00

Garret's photos

2011-09-26T08:55:00.001-07:00

My friend's husband happens to be our Dr. too. She is remodeling his exam rooms and wants to put pictures of his patients on the walls. So now Garret is a famous model. His pictures will be available for all to see on the walls at our Dr.

Tanner's 6th Grade School Photo

2011-09-21T20:14:00.000-07:00

Garret's 1st day of Teacher Barbara

2011-09-17T13:17:00.000-07:00

Garret is going to Teacher Barbara this year. We have to call it preschool because he's not going to preschool (that's what we called it last year when he went to Miss Lexie), he's going to Teacher Barbara. If people ask him if he's going to pre-school, he says no. He loved his first week.

Katie's 1st day of 2nd grade

2011-09-08T17:09:00.000-07:00

Elise and Katie

Katie was so excited to go back to school. She says that she likes school better than home. I think that I like it better sometimes too when she is in school:) She has 2 teachers this year. Mrs. Cole (on the left) and Mrs. Tesky. They job share. Mrs. Tesky teaches every Monday and Tuesday and Mrs. Cole teaches every Thursday and Friday. Then they teach every other Wednesday. They are both great teachers.

Tanner's 1st day of Middle School

2011-09-08T17:03:00.000-07:00

Notice his new braces. He got them on the day before school started.

Tanner is a 6th grader. I can't believe that I have a child in middle school. That makes me old, doesn't it? I wanted to walk him to school and go in with him and make sure that he could open his locker and find his class, but he wouldn't let me. My baby is all grown up. The only thing he really had to say about his 1st day was that it was boring.

Christensen Family Pictures 2011

2011-08-31T19:40:00.000-07:00

Whole Family

Grandkids

Original Christensens

Grandma and Grandpa

Cindy, Sam, Nicole, Megan, Brooke, Travis

Kirt, Emily, Tanner, Katie, Garret

Kari, Cayden, Trevor, Riley (Dave couldn't make it)

Marci, Brad, Bryson, Sienna, Davis, Evan

Tami, Ben, Mason, Camden, Avery

Aaron, Kim, Jayna

Brett, Kristie

Lindsey, Kyle

Lacey, Mark

Utah trip

2011-08-22T12:10:00.000-07:00

We went to Utah this August to see some friends and for the Christensen family reunion. Here's what we did day by day. We drove down all in one day Thursday August 11th. That is such a long drive. Thank goodness for electronics.

Friday

2011-08-22T12:03:00.000-07:00

On Friday we went to Temple Square. We took a tour of the conference center and went to the the visitors center and the Tabernacle. The we went down to the gateway Mall and had lunch. Tanner and I did some school shopping while Kirt took Katie and Garret down to play in the sprinkler pad.

Friday Night

2011-08-22T12:02:00.000-07:00

We got together with some old friends, the Willis family. When we lived in Provo, Steve Willis was the Bishop that Kirt served in the Bishopric with. We went to the Provo Beach Club and did the ropes coarse. The kids loved it. Then we went to the park and caught up with the doings of the Willis Family. It was great to see them

Saturday

2011-08-22T00:01:00.000-07:00

Digging for dinosaur bones

The kids swam at the hotel pool this morning while Kirt worked a little. You think that they would have had enough of swimming, but they don't seem to be able to get enough. Then we went to the Dinosaur Museum at Thanksgiving Point in Lehi. We went through the museum and watched an awesome 3D movie about paleontologists. After the movie we went to visit the Enloe's. They moved from Spokane to Alpine last summer. We went to the Pizza Pie Cafe for dinner (this is managed by our friend Kory Holding). Then we went and visited the Beckwith family. The kids love their animals. They have chickens, goats, a cat, a dog, etc. Then we went back to the Enloe's. They were having an outdoor concert in their backyard. A few of the band members are in their ward. They have been doing the concert in their backyard for years, so when the Enloe's moved in they band asked if they could keep doing it there.

Sunday

2011-08-21T23:59:00.000-07:00

Sunday we went to church with the Peterson family. Kirt has done some works projects with Joel Peterson. They live in Saratoga Springs. After church we went to dinner with the Tolley family. Kirt went to high school with Travis Tolley. Travis and Stephanie were some of our 1st friends after we got married. They live in Sandy. It is fun to see them and catch up on their lives.

Monday-Wednesday

2011-08-21T23:58:00.000-07:00

These are the cabins we stayed in

Playing volleyball

The kids loved starting fires

Garret and Davis waiting for their turn on the rope swing

Playing games

Cindy did a treasure hunt and the kids are all gathered around the treasure they just found

Cousins

Davis, Garret and Camden

Minute to Win it game. You had to pick up the paper bags with your mouth without any part of your body but your feet touching the ground.

Katie couldn't quite do it. She kept putting her hands on the ground.

For one of the Minute to Win it games we used 4 pedometers and the kids would run as fast as they could to see who could get the most steps in 1 minute. Mason was the grand winner.

Another Minute to Win it game. You had a bounce a ping pong on the table and try and get it to land in the cup that was floating in a bowl of water.

In this Minute to Win it game, you had to blow up the balloon and then try and blow the cups over with the air in the balloon.

Challenge course-you had to get your whole group through the web without touching the rope.

Challenge course-you had to climb up the telephone poll, slide across the tight rope and then go down the zip line. Katie was so funny when she was doing this. She kept saying "I don't want to do this, I don't want to do this," but she just kept doing it and never stopped.

Katie climbing up the poll

Sliding across the tight rope.

Tanner climbing up the poll.

Sliding across the tight rope. It was about 30 feet in the air.

Tanner going down the zip line.

Garret on the rope swing. He didn't want to go very high so we just pushed him like he was on a playground swing. The rest of us were pulled really high by a bunch of our group pulling our rope. Then when we got to the tree, we let go and flew.

Katie

Tanner

Challenge course-we had to figure out how to get out into the middle of this circle to get some water without touching the ground.

Challenge course-there were 2 wires attached to 2 trees. The wires kept getting further and further apart and you had to lean on your partner and try and keep from falling off the wires. This is Tanner and Cayden

Katie and Sienna

Me, Garret and Kirt in the paddle boat

Grandma, Sienna and Grandpa canoeing

Trevor and Tanner in a canoe

Riley, Kari and Katie in a paddle boat

On Monday we drove up to Heber Valley Camp. This is where we had our family reunion. Everyone was able to make it except Dave. We had so much fun there. We went canoeing, played volleyball, did some challenge courses, played tons of games (the favorites were Minute to Win it and Werewolves), ate and visited. The kids had a blast with their cousins.

More from the mouth of Garret

2011-08-21T21:00:00.001-07:00

In primary sharing time 2 weeks ago, they were teaching the kids about the Word of Wisdom. My friend told me that Garret raised his hand and said "My mom drinks caffeine at Costco". He's telling all my secrets.

We were on a family walk/bike ride the other day and Garret was tipping his hat to everyone that he rode by. How does a 4 year old learn to tip his hat?

Tanner's 1st court of honor and scout camp

2011-07-21T22:28:00.000-07:00

Tanner earned his Tenderfoot and his 1st aid merit badge at his 1st court of honor.

Pinning the mom's pin on me.

Tanner got to go to scout camp for the 1st time this year. They went to camp Grizzly. He got 6 merit badges. His dad got to go with him. Usually 11 year olds don't get to go to scout camp, but Tanner got to go since his dad did. He also finished his 2nd class and 1st class at camp so it was well worth his time. It better have been since they were gone over the 4th of July.

Star Wars

2011-07-11T19:16:00.000-07:00

Garret has been on a huge Star Wars kick. He just loves it. It all started when he learned how to play the Xbox and his favorite game is Lego Star Wars. For his birthday he got a build a bear with a Darth Vader outfit and the Star Wars theme song in his foot. We have been watching the Star Wars movies as a family. We started with 4, 5 and 6 then watched 1,2 and 3. He was watching 5 and it finished and he came running up and stairs and said "Dad, dad, did you know that Darth Vader is Luke's father? and Han Solo kissed princess Leia again?" We had told him over and over again that Darth Vader was Luke's father, but I guess it didn't sink in until he heard Darth Vader say it in that deep throaty voice "Luke, I am your father". When we watched 2 (so the 5th movie we had watched) the words at the beginning of the movie started going across the screen and Garret started right in "A long time ago, in a galaxy far, far away" (and no he can't read, he's just watched the movies too many times). He carries his light sabers around everywhere and tells us what color light saber every character has. Needless to say, he loves Star Wars.

Trek

2011-06-27T15:22:00.000-07:00

Kirt and I had the privilege of going on Trek with the youth in our stake last week. We left Monday morning and drove buses down near the Tri-Cities. We got there and set up camp and did pioneer dancing that night. Tuesday we got up and Trekked about 6 1/2 miles. It was really hot. We did the hard rope pull that day. We pulled all 29 of our wagons up a very steep hill. Unfortunately our bodies were not used to the heat and we had about 30 people that day have problems with dehydration. We camped that night on the top of a hill with no shade and no running water. It was miserable. Wednesday we got up and walked another 6 1/2 miles. We did the "Sweet Water" crossing. After that we walked across some very rough terrain. We went back to the main camp that night because it had shade and running water and we had more sick people. I'm so glad we did. It felt so good to wash my feet and hands with running water. Plus that night it was so windy that I think our tents would have blow away if we had camped on the top of the hill where we had planned to camp that night. Thursday we got up and trekked 10 miles. It was still so windy that the dusk was blowing everywhere and we were covered in it. We did the women's pull where the women pull the handcarts without the mens help. We had a testimony meeting that night. Friday we got up and cleaned up camp. The kids had a solo experience where they wrote in their journals and read letters from their parents. Then we got to go home. I am so grateful for the pioneers and all they sacrificed. I am also so grateful for all of our modern conveniences. A warm shower has never felt so good.

Cute Photo's of Garret

2011-06-08T21:40:00.000-07:00

Riding the elephant outside the White Elephant store

Garret loves to fall asleep in any warm spot. Here he is sleeping out back on the pool cover.

Brushing his teeth with his goggles on. We all do this, right?

One Sunday morning Tanner was very bored and he decided to draw on Garret's face.

Cute Photo's of Katie

2011-06-07T21:28:00.000-07:00

Riding the elephant at the White Elephant store.

Katie and Tanner have been playing in a tennis league this summer.

Playing around with the umbrella.

Katie was a butterfly for her school play.

Garret's recent doings

2011-06-05T13:13:00.000-07:00

Kirt always jokingly tells Garret that if he doesn't obey he is going to give him a wedgie. The other night when Kirt was tucking Garret in Garret told Kirt that he had a secret. When Kirt leaned in to hear the secret Garret said "I actually kind of like wedgies." Now Kirt gives them to Garret when he does stuff well.

I was watching Nixon and Sadie last week and Sadie was being a little fussy. I was trying to get a few things done, so I asked Garret to dance for Sadie because it was keeping her happy. After he had danced for her for a few minutes he said "I'm done, I retire."

Everytime there is music with a dancing beat playing anywhere in the house, Garret immediately starts dancing and tearing his shirt off. I thinks he thinks that he is Billy Idol. He cannot seem to dance with his shirt on. I don't know why he thinks that dancing and taking your shirt off go hand in hand. I definitely don't take mine off when I dance:) (Thank goodness, right?)

Katie's Dance Recital

2011-06-05T12:47:00.000-07:00

Katie's friend Allison

Katie had her dance recital yesterday. She loved her jazz number. Her class wore glow in the dark bracelets on their wrists and ankles and danced the beginning and end of the dance in the dark. Thanks Miss Michelle for another awesome year of dance!

Camping at Naborlee

2011-06-03T22:01:00.000-07:00

The water was 70 feet lower than normal. This area is usually covered in water.

Cleaning the camp.

Katie was reading one of the Diary of a Wimpy kids books and read the whole time.

Roasting marshmellows.

We went camping over Memorial Day at camp Naborlee which is where our stake goes to girls camp every year. The Clark family came with us. We got to camp for free if we helped clean up the camp.

Garret's 4th birthday

2011-05-28T12:09:00.000-07:00

Garret's Build a Bear "Beary"

Blowing out his birthday candles

Garret got to have his 1st friend birthday party. He had it at Chuck E. Cheese. He was in heaven. He had a family party on Sunday, a friend party on Monday (his actual birthday) and then they had a party for him at school on Tuesday. I had a baby shower for my friend on Wednesday and he thought that that party was for him too. Garret got a Build a Bear with a Darth Vader outfit on and Legos Pirates of the Caribbean for the XBOX.

My 3rd Half Marathon May 14, 2011

2011-05-27T14:42:00.000-07:00

We hadn't really trained for the run this year, but decided that it would be a nice Saturday run along the Centennial Trial and that we would just run/walk the race. We started and felt pretty good so we just kept going. We finished in just 5 minutes slower than we had done in last years race. That is great for this year, but what does it say about last year when we had trained a ton. I like the idea of just running it without training because if I'm not going to get any faster why run so much every weekend. Last year before the race I think we ran at least 8-8 miles runs, 4-10 miles runs and 1-12 mile run. This year I hadn't run more than 5 miles since before Christmas. Oh well. At least I am out there running, but I am definitely not fast.

Build a Bears (that are not bears)

2011-05-15T16:03:00.001-07:00

Katie got a Build a Bear for her birthday, the bunny, and named her Alex. She saved all of her birthday money plus her allowance and just bought the dog from Build a Bear and named her Lauren. They go everywhere with her.

Swimming in the green pool

2011-05-15T15:57:00.000-07:00

Kirt told the kids that if they were good helpers with our cleaning projects yesterday that we could take the winter cover off the pool and they could go swimming. We took the cover off and the pool was a lovely shade of green and probably about 50 degrees. Did this stop the kids from swimming? Of course not. They are absolutely crazy.

Easter egg hunt and coloring easter eggs

2011-05-14T17:08:00.000-07:00

Counting the eggs so we could make sure that we found them all.

Grammy had a cool Easter egg hunt in her back yard.

Acorn Award

2011-05-09T21:52:00.000-07:00

Kirt made me put this post on. He says I have to blog my life too. I have been the PTA president at the kids school for the past 2 years. The members of the PTA at the school gave me a PTA award called the Acorn Award for my years of service.

Have some sass

2011-05-08T21:37:00.000-07:00

This morning I hear I trying to get Katie to help him do something. He says to her "Katie I love you." Katie's response "That's not going to work Tanner."

New York Trip

2011-05-08T20:09:00.001-07:00

For Spring Break this year, we went to NY to see my sister Jessy and her family. We fly into Albany on Friday April 1st. We spent Saturday, Sunday and Monday in Albany. Saturday morning we went to the park. We played basketball at the church and attempted to watch a little conference. Sunday we attempted to go geocaching, but did not find the cach. We enjoyed watching more conference and visiting. Monday, Jessy and I took the kids bowling and in the afternoon Kirt took the kids to see the movie Hop. (Kirt's new personal favorite by the way.)

Tuesday morning we got up and took the AmTrak down to NY city. Jessy and Will came with us. Josh had to stay and work. After we got there, we checked into our apartment (we sublet a 3 bedroom apartment on 49th street right near Times Square). We went to lunch at a fun NY pizza parlor. They were playing Michael Jackson videos the whole time we ate and the kids were jamming while they ate. Then we went to the Empire State Building. We got to go to the 86th and the 102nd floors. The view was incredible. After that we took the kids to the famous toy store, FAO Schwartz. We walked back to our apartment through Rockefeller Center and saw the ice skating rink.

Wednesday we had an adventure. Garret somehow managed to lock the door of the room that he and Tanner we sleeping in. I had taken out their suitcase to get them dressed that morning, but their shoes were locked inside the room. We called the management company and they said that would probably not get it unlocked until later that afternoon. So Jessy took Will and Katie to a playground in Central Park while Tanner and I went on an adventure through NY City to find new shoes for Garret and he. (Tanner wore Kirt's shoes on the adventure while Kirt and Garret stayed in the apartment.) We finally found shoes. Then we ventured up to the Natural History Museum. Afterwards we took a pedicab and had a tour of Central Park. We played in a playground. We also did some geocaching. We found a cach that had something in it all the way from Germany. Jessy and Will took the train home that night. They had had enough of us:) Kirt and I went to dinner with some friends of his, Yorg and Alena at a Moroccan restaurant.

Thursday we went downtown to the financial district. We saw Ground Zero and walked part way across the Brooklyn Bridge. Then we ventured into China Town and had some great Chinese food for lunch. After that we went to the Statue of Liberty. That night we met some friends from College, Matt and Kendra Cope and their 2 girls, in Central Park. It was great to catch up with them. Tanner, Garret and I went back to the apartment while Kirt and Katie had a date in Times Square. Katie wanted to go souvenir shopping. They also had hot cocoa and found a Toys R Us that had a ferris wheel inside it.

Friday we got up and took the train back to Albany. We hung out with Jessy, Josh and Will for the rest of the day.

Saturday we made the long journey home.

Tuesday

2011-05-08T19:33:00.000-07:00

Rockefeller Center ice skating rink

more rink

Rockefeller Center

FAO Schwartz Toy Store. You could view the whole store from here.

The famous piano from Big

Katie and a Lego Chewbacca and C-3PO

View from the Empire State Building

Pizza Parlor listening to Michael Jackson

On the train. Garret was being a worm. He was sitting by Kirt and driving Kirt crazy. Kirt told Garret that he would give him a dollar if he would close his eyes and take a nap. Garret laid down and immediately fell asleep. That is by far the best dollar I have ever spent.

Wednesday

2011-05-08T18:47:00.000-07:00

Garret in Central Park (can't get the image to rotate, just turn your head sideways)

Geocach

Pedicab ride

Natural History Museum

Thursday

2011-05-08T15:56:00.000-07:00

Riding the ferris wheel

The ferris wheel inside Toys R Us

Katie and Kirt were on the jumbotron in Times Square

Kirt and Katie on their date to Times Square

Kids in Central Park

Kendra and I in Central Park

The Statue as we were leaving the island on the ferry

Garret the Statue of Liberty

The Statue of Liberty

Looking at Manhattan Island near the financial district

Looking up inside the Statue of Liberty

Up on the platform base of the Statue of Liberty

Statue replica

Actual size of the Statue's foot

Inside the pedestal of the Statue

Eating in China Town

Katie and Garret didn't want Chinese food so we bought them a hot dog from a street vendor.

The Empire State Building is in the background. For some reason Garret decided that he wanted to be a "Statue of Liberty" in a lot of these pictures.

Brooklyn Bridge

Katie was so grouchy, we just had to capture the moment

Ground Zero

Other Random NY pictures

2011-05-08T14:34:00.000-07:00

I need some underpanties

2011-04-26T14:38:00.000-07:00

Garret is a little confused. His sister wears panties and his brother wears underwear. He apparently wears underpanties.

Sing the punish song

2011-03-30T15:08:00.000-07:00

I was tucking Garret into bed last night and he said "Sing the punish song". Now before you jump to the conclusion that I sing a specific song to him as I punish him, let me clarify that he was referring to the 2nd Article of Faith song (We believe that man will be punished for his own sins....). We have been learning the Article of Faith songs in Primary. Apparently this one made a big impression on him.

"Fancy Words"

2011-03-30T15:07:00.001-07:00

Katie came home from school the other day and told her that her teacher was teaching them to use fancy words. She said "you know instead of saying it was fun, we should say it was wicked awesome." What exactly are they teaching my child in school?

Tanner's guitar

2011-03-19T20:06:00.000-07:00

Tanner played the guitar for our ward talent show.

5th grade Math is Cool

2011-03-18T19:59:00.000-07:00

Tanner's school competed in the Math is Cool competition again this year. They got 7th place in the team competition and Tanner got 2nd place in the individual competition for his school.

GU basketball game

2011-03-04T17:20:00.000-08:00

Tanner and his whole Basketball team got to go to a Gonzaga basketball game. It was senior night and was Steven Grey's last home game. The boys got interviewed by the news as they were leaving about Steven Grey. They were surprisingly very knowledgeable about his career at GU.

More pictures on the white wall

2011-03-04T17:16:00.000-08:00

It is impossible to take pictures of my children. They won't hold still, they won't be serious, they won't smile. What's a mom to do?

Katie's 7th birthday

2011-03-04T17:11:00.000-08:00

Her beautiful birthday dress.

Alex

For Katie's birthday she and I had a special date. We went to Build a Bear and she built her rabbit "Alex" and got 2 outfits for her. Then we went shopping with some of her birthday money and she got an outfit for herself. We went to McDonald's for lunch and then went and got pedicures. It was quite a day. We had Sunday dinner at our house and it was Katie's birthday dinner. She had chicken pillows and chocolate cake. The next weekend Katie had a date with Grammy and they went back to Build a Bear and spend more of her birthday money on more outfits for Alex. Alex will be the best dressed bunny.

Tanner's 11th birthday

2011-03-04T17:08:00.000-08:00

His dad bought him a Swiss Army Knife.

Tanner is 11. I can't believe it. He got cinnamon rolls for breakfast and corn chowder and cake for dinner. He had some friends spend the night and they played video games all night.

Recent Garret comments

2011-03-04T15:55:00.000-08:00

Garret brought me a dress and asked me "Can you help me get into this beautiful dress?"

We went to Utah the end of February to see Jessy and Will. My mom came down too and we all went to Price to see Granny, Marsha and Jim. While we were having craft day (thanks Marsha) I overheard Garret saying to Will "You want my hand? How bout my butt? How bout my other butt?" Not sure I want to know what he was doing, but I am sure it involved him sticking out his butt cheeks as far as they would go.

Tanner gets his Arrow of Light

2011-02-26T19:55:00.000-08:00

My mother's pin!

Katie's Basketball

2011-02-05T19:50:00.000-08:00

Katie had another great basketball season. Her team name was the Ladybugs. Her dad and Stew Drews were her coaches.

Things you don't want to hear your children saying

2011-01-30T19:09:00.000-08:00

"Mom, I just pooped on the floor and stepped in it." How does one 3 year old manage to be such a terror?

Age of innocence

2011-01-30T19:08:00.001-08:00

Tanner was reading a book the other day and asked "what's an ashtray?" I'm so glad that my 10 year old doesn't know what an ashtray is. I love our sheltered life.

Boat Show Heaven

2011-01-27T16:55:00.000-08:00

We took the kids to the boat show. Garret was in heaven. He had to climb in every boat.

Screaming Garret

2011-01-24T12:55:00.001-08:00

Garret has a screaming problem. He is always screaming. We were on the way home from church yesterday, and he screamed a very high pitched scream. I slammed on the brakes and told him that screamers could not ride in my car and that he had to get out and walk home (we were only 3 blocks from home and Kirt got out with him, plus it was a warm sunny day-I'm not that mean of a mom). When he and Kirt started walking I guess he looked up at Kirt and said "Do you think mom is mad at me?"

When they got home, I started talking to him, telling him it is never OK to scream like that. I told him that it hurt everyone's ears. He said "I know mom, dad already talked to me about that." What am I going to do with this kid?

Kirt and Tanner's Cruise

2011-01-15T12:35:00.000-08:00

Carnival "Miracle"

Fort Lauderdale right before setting sail.

Tanner and his friend Sterling.

Kirt and his friends Dave and Joel.

Tanner and Kirt in the hot tub.

Towel elephant.

Tanner and his waitress. He was taller than her.

Tanner reading on deck.

Eating dinner (Tanner's favorite). He tried all kinds of new foods.

Playing Wii

Playing mini golf on the ship

1st port Grand Turk

2011-01-15T12:32:00.000-08:00

Pictures of the island from the ship.

Look at that crystal clear water. They went snorkeling and said they could see forever.

North side of the island

They rented a golf carts and drove around the island.

2nd Port Catalina Island (small island off of Domincan Republic)

2011-01-15T12:29:00.000-08:00

Souvenir shopping.

More beautiful water. They snorkeled and enjoyed the beach while on Catalina Island.

3rd Port Curacao

2011-01-15T12:24:00.000-08:00

The weather was not good on this day. It rained and made the water very murky. It was still fun to swim and play in the sand when it was not raining.

4th Port Aruba

2011-01-15T12:15:00.000-08:00

Riding the bus back to the ship. Very tired.

Tanner went to a water park in Aruba.

Playing basketball on the beach.

Scooby Doo helmut

Climbing down the stairs into the water.

Having a drink 25 feet under the sea.

Helmet dive.

Garret's 1st day of primary

2011-01-10T16:49:00.000-08:00

So I know you're not supposed to take pictures in church, but Kirt took them and they were way too cute not to post. Here's Garret on his 1st day in primary with his buddy Tucker. He loves primary.

Before church pictures on the white wall

2011-01-10T12:01:00.000-08:00

Like a Cheese Stick

2011-01-04T19:47:00.000-08:00

I was listening to that lovely song Like a G6 (lovely song all about drinking) in the car the other day. Garret starts singing along "like a cheese stick, like a cheese stick". That would be a much nicer version of the song don't you think?

Christmas Morning 2010

2010-12-26T15:21:00.000-08:00

We had Christmas morning at our house. Grammy, Pompa and Cameron came over at 6:30 for the opening of presents. My kids, at least Katie and Garret, are always up by then. Of course they were not this morning and we had to wake them up. Grammy, Pompa and Cameron then went to Jon's house for presents there, then they all came back including Jon and his family for our traditional breakfast of cinnamon rolls, egg casserole and orange Julius's. We had a very informal Christmas dinner at my parents house that night.

Christmas Eve 2010

2010-12-25T16:42:00.000-08:00

Christmas Eve jammies

Acting out the birth of the Savior.

Gingerbread houses

2010-12-24T23:19:00.000-08:00

Our friends the Dickinson's

Sledding

2010-12-24T11:21:00.000-08:00

So much fun!

Katie got worn out trying to pull Natalie up the hill.

Katie and Elise

They still managed to fly down the hill even though there seemed to be more grass than snow.

A train!

A train crash!

Garret smiles much better for Kim than me. If you enlarge the picture you can also see the nice bugger he has.

Natalie held on to Garret for dear life when they went down on this sled together.

We went sledding with our friends the Clark's yesterday. The kids had a blast. Kim took some awesome pictures that she was so nice to share with me.

Hot sauce, coal, and can I touch myself?

2010-12-24T11:13:00.000-08:00

Garret has been saying a lot of bad words lately (like shut up and stupid). I told him if he said another bad word that he was going to have to eat hot sauce. Of course he immediately said another bad word so I got the hot sauce out and made him eat a spoonful. His response "that was yummy". Who thinks hot sauce plain is yummy?

Garret was misbehaving the other day and Kirt told him he better be good or he was going to be on Santa's naughty list. Garret asked what it meant to be on the naughty list and Kirt told him that if you are on the naughty list you get a lump of coal instead of presents. Garret said, "A lump of coal, that doesn't sound so bad." I think I'm going to return his presents and get him a lump of coal if that doesn't sound so bad.

I took Katie to the Dr. a few weeks ago and Garret came along too. When we went back to the exam room, there were instruments all over the room. I told Garret not to touch anything. He looked at me and said "can I touch myself?", and started poking himself in the forehead.

Katie's Dance Recital

2010-12-24T11:11:00.000-08:00

Halloween dance recital/party. Katie was a vampire.

Katie and Miss/Aunt Michelle

Winter dance recital.

Katie has been taking dance from her aunt Michelle. She loves it.

Order Up!

2010-12-10T19:28:00.000-08:00

Garret has been begging me to make meatballs. So Tuesday I told him we could have meatballs, but that he had to help me make them. He helped me measure everything out for the sweet and sour sauce and put the meatballs in (I am not my mother and I do not make meatballs from scratch). Then I had him stir the meatballs. He had been stirring them for a few minutes when he said "order up". I never say that so I asked him where he learned it and of course he said "Spongebob". He was so excited about making the meatballs and told everyone at dinner that he had made the meatballs and that he knows how to cook now.

Sitting on Santa's lap

2010-12-08T08:58:00.001-08:00

We went to my mom and dad's ward Christmas breakfast because we heard a rumor that Santa was going to be there. They were so excited to sit on his lap.

Cameron and Rachelle's Wedding

2010-12-07T16:02:00.000-08:00

Reception

All the Siblings

Cameron and Rachelle and all their Spear neices and nephews.

We love weddings!

One of Rachelle's beautiful Bridal photos.

Wedding Invitation Photo

The day has finally arrived. My baby brother Cameron was married to Rachelle Bond on November 26th 2010. We are so excited for them. Welcome to the family Rachelle.

Sadie's Baby Blessing and Pictures of us with Sadie

2010-12-07T15:50:00.000-08:00

Katie and I went to the hospital the day Sadie was born.

She was so excited to hold the new baby.

Garret loves holding Sadie too. He held her for about a half hour this night and sang her a song that he made up about her the whole time. He sang "baby Sadie, baby Sadie" over and over and over again.

Since all the family was together for Thanksgiving and Cameron and Rachelle's wedding, Jon and Michelle decided to bless their new baby girl Sadie. She was born on October 22nd. Isn't she beautiful.

Katie looses her 1st top tooth

2010-12-06T19:54:00.000-08:00

Is that how you Bowl?

2010-11-15T18:47:00.001-08:00

I took the kids bowling last week and Garret was an absolute crack up. He would roll the ball back in forth between his legs several times and then push it down the lane. It would roll with barely enough speed to make it to the pins and the whole time it was rolling down, he would dance. Usually he would fall down at the end of his dance since the floor is so slippery.

Halloween Pictures

2010-11-15T18:38:00.001-08:00

Tanner-Soccer player

Katie-Vampire

Garret-Spiderman

Time for a new costume?

2010-11-15T18:31:00.001-08:00

I was taking Tanner and his friend Max to scouts the Tuesday before Halloween. I asked Max what he was going to be for Halloween and he told me that he was going to be a Mad Scientist. Then Garret said "my mom is going to be a witch" to which Max quickly replied "as usual". This is my 8th year being a witch. Apparently it is time for a new costume because even the neighbor boy knows that I have been a witch for the last few years.

Trick or Treating at U-high

2010-11-15T18:28:00.001-08:00

I took Garret and Nixon Trick or Treating at U-high, the high school by our house. The students bring candy and stand outside their classrooms and hand it out as the kids go around the halls. Nixon refused to wear his costume, but he didn't refuse the candy. He was in heaven. It was hard to keep him walking to the next classroom because he wanted to stop and eat his candy. We met up with Garret's friend Tucker and he was Spider Man too.

Pumpkin carving at Grandma Greats

2010-11-15T18:26:00.000-08:00

Funny things the kids do and say

2010-10-22T17:47:00.000-07:00

Garret was out on a nature walk with his preschool class. His teacher gives them a brown paper bag to pick up things they see along the way that they like, like pine cones or leaves. Guess what Garret picks up on his walk? Garbage. I think my OCD for cleanliness is rubbing off on him.

Katie and Garret were playing in Katie's room the other day. Garret was dressing like and princess and twirling around. Katie said to him "You know you're not a princess. You're actually just an ugly little boy." Such sisterly love.

Tanner broke his thumb

2010-10-14T17:04:00.000-07:00

Tanner broke his thumb playing football. Luckily it was his left one. He was out for half of the football, he did get to play in the last game of the season. He was still able to play soccer. He just had to wrap a towel around his cast so he wouldn't hurt anyone if he hit them with it.

First Day of School

2010-09-09T15:05:00.000-07:00

Back to school. I have mixed emotions this summer. It just flew by. I wasn't quite ready for them to go back (I'm sure I would have been after a few more days). Katie is in the 1st grade and going to school all day for the first time. Her teacher is Mrs. Snider. Tanner is in 5th grade, big man on campus. His teacher is Mrs. Admire. This is the last year Tanner and Katie will ever be in the same school ever again. Garret is going to pre-school with Miss Lexie again.

Priest Lake Camping

2010-09-09T14:59:00.001-07:00

This is the sunken ship at Lion's Head camp ground. It has been there since I was a kid. We had to drive by on the boat and see if it was still there.

We went camping over labor day weekend with our friends the Clarks and the Skidmores, and my brother Jon and his family. It was lots of fun. We went boating (even though it was quite cold), on a beautiful hike to some natural water slides, geocaching, on a scenic boat ride to upper priest lake, and we ate and ate. I love camping food. The kids had a great time playing with each other. They played murder one night in the bunk house and the next day Garret was walking around yelling "Murder, Murder, Murder" at the top of his lungs. He was also very fond of "shut your pie hole" this weekend. He needs a big bar of soap.

Tanner's baseball

2010-08-29T11:11:00.001-07:00

Tanner had another fun season of Baseball. He pitched and played 1st and 3rd base.

Hatch family visit

2010-08-29T11:07:00.000-07:00

Kirt's sister Kari and her kids from Texas came to visit us. We had lots of fun. We went to the Lake one day, went for a ride on the Centennial Trail on our bikes and swam in the Spokane River, swam in the pool, and played lots of Wii. Thanks Hatch family for making the long drive to see us.