Thanksgiving 08 (yes I realize it is January now:)

This year we spent Thanksgiving in Jerome. it was great to be "home" and have everyone there. We helped mom with the big dinner and just relaxed, it was great. Lacee and her family were there, and Lacee thought it would be funny to "jazz" up taylan's long hair. He is pretty cute!

Logan and Jen came home too...along with their Wii. BIG MISTAKE! We were hooked, it was fun to play, or attempt to play; and it was great to watch the kids play too. They loved it.

Over Thanksgiving we also drove to Shelly to watch Logan coach his first game (he is the JV coach at Rigby.) The boys love going to watch Logan, but don't understand why they can't "play with Log." We also got to see their new house. I must say I am quite jealous of their little rural subdivision surrounded by little ranches. Their house is cute and reminds me of our first home in Caldwell and how excited we were to have our own spot.


Oh yes, Logan's team did win in a last minute attempt, it was a great game!

Weekends on the Farm

We love when we get to go to Jerome for the weekend. It is so nice to be out of the city in such an open space. I especially love early fall as the crops are about to be harvested and it is still warm enough to drive the 4-wheelers and watch the kids play outside.


Pa always takes the boys on the 4-wheeler, horse, and tractor. He is such a champ...they must exaust him.

This particular weekend Logan and Jen were around too, so Taylan doesn't go too far from Uncle Log.

Mommy and Taylan

Triton with Pa's now pup, Rusty.

Taylan sitting on a ball looking out at the beet field.

My angels....Notice they are asleep!

I was thinking the other day how much I love to sneak in and kiss my kids when they sleep. First of all because they are still, second because they are clean from a nightly bath and smell good and finally because they are so beautiful when they are just snoozing so calmly.

So we decided to take a few pics of their funny sleeping comforts!

Taylan loves that black gorilla my mom got him at Busch Gardens in Florida this summer.

Yes, Astronauts have to sleep too:)

Taylan keep taking his pants and diaper off so when I go in to get his sippy cup, this is what I find.

Logan and Jen's Wedding!

Logan and Jen were married on the 16th of August at the Double Tree Riverside in Boise. We all stayed at the hotel with them which was so nice to be close and have a place to nap the kids and and be close to everything going on.
We had rehearsals on Friday night, which Triton (one of the ring-bearers) did well. He thought it was a lot of standing but got to be quite good friends with the bridesmaids and Megan the little flower girl. Saturday was full of getting hair done, doing Jen's makeup, dressing kids, pictures and all the last minute things that come with the big day. We were so excited to see everyone in their outfits. We had spent the Thursday before the wedding trying to get the right sizes of suits, finding bow-ties that matched, shoes that matched, ect. So we were glad to see it all come together nicely. THE BOYS LOOKED SO ADORABLE! As you can see.
Taylan of course was not crazy at all about standing still for pictures but it turned out cute. They were married by one of Jen's coaches, Coach Erin, and my parents sang. Triton decided last minute to not go down the isle so when he didn't walk down with Houston and wasn't with us when Logan came down the isle, I was in a panic. Needless to say we found him in the back just hanging out. I guess it beats a total meltdown on the stage during the ceremony. The whole night was great. It was so nice to see all our friends and family that had traveled for Logan's special day. It made me feel old to have my little brother finally hitched...but we warned him after we met Jen that if he didn't marry her we would take her and get rid of him! Just kidding, we are so proud of Log, and my boys have had a hard September not having him around. Triton still wakes up some days and asks in if Log and Jen can have their new house be with us. He misses teasing with Logan in the morning as Logan got ready to go to BLM this summer.
The reception was by far one of the most fun receptions I've been to. They had a band from Logan, UT come play and they were a hit. All of us were dancing, yes I even got Tor to dance (three proms and our wedding later and he danced, half enjoying it:)) Taylan ran all over and Triton found that he and Megan were quite the partners.
The next morning, we showed him a picture of him and Megan dancing and he just rolled his eyes and said "that's not me that's Hagen" We figure it won't be the first time he blames something on Hagen.
We love Jen's family, they are very laid-back and so fun to be around. We couldn't be prouder of Logan and Jen. I love this last picture because I always knew that whoever Log found to be his Only One, he would cherish forever. He does love his Jen!

Mary Kay Seminar 2008

The last week of July I got to go to Dallas for the annual Mary Kay Seminar training. This year it happened to fall the same week as the Cabin week. So I was a bit sad to leave while the family was still at the cabin...but it didn't take me long to get use to only having to take care of myself. I love going with all my friends and especially love having a week to learn new things and focus on my business. We got to tour manufacturing, which is one of my favorites because I love to meet and thank the people who work such long hours to make my job easier.

Plus it amazes me how they make each product. This year we also got to go to the corporate office for a special invitation dinner and tour Mary Kay's office, which is not open to the public. It is always an honor to get to do that.

Another honor for me this year was that I earned the chance to sit in the arena. In the past I had to sit in Hall A which is just an overflow room where we watched the speakers and performances on a screen. But this year i got to sit in the arena with Shelly (my director.) It was great to get to spend time doing something I love and get to see all the new stuff we have coming out.

However I was ready to go home to my boys and was so grateful to all the Roberts family for helping Torrey with the kids at the cabin and to Lacee for keeping our kids after the cabin.

When I got home the kids were at Lacee's in Carey. I didn't get in off my flight until 11:30pm. Torrey and I actually got to be alone in our house. We slept in til 10, which was great, then went to breakfast and got to drive to Carey just the two of us. We realized that we still have a great time together and actually enjoy our conversation time...especially when it isn't interrupted.

Cabin Week 2008

Every summer, we get to go to "Pappa Rick and Nanna's cabin house" (according to Triton.) We love going there and look forward to getting some fresh mountain air. Usually it is in the high 90s or 100s in Boise by the end of July so we enjoy the cooler temperatures of the mountains. This year we enjoyed some of our favorites which include:

1. Motorbike rides in the Mountains (Triton and Torrey)


2. Going to the lake. This year the girls took the smaller kids to Redfish Lake; which is a better beach for kids and Lana's personal favorite because this is where she use to camp with her family each summer.

3. Play with all the cousins. We don't all get together as often anymore so it is fun to watch all the kids play together and see how fun each of their personalities is. It is a total switch from being with the Browns. The Brown's have all grandsons, and the Roberts' have mostly girls. So Triton totally grosses out most of his girl cousins with his total obliviousness to germs and dirt.

4. Late night "adult time" when the kids go to bed and all the adults sit up and play games and tell stories, many of which include Torrey stories, everyone's favorite, about how funny he was as a kid. We didn't do our annual Karaoke night, Donivan must have such a special musical number prepared that he needs two years to practice:) (Just kidding Don!)

5. Not-so-diet eating. We all try hard but can't resist ice cream, nancy's homemade bread and jam and junk food. Although we did better than years in the past where everyone use to bring two dozen cookies to share.

6. Last but certainly not forgotten the "family bedroom." Yes we always loose lots of sleep from having to sleep with both kids and Trooper in our room. Just when we think Triton is asleep he starts a new conversation. Lets just say by the end of cabin week we very much enjoy our own beds, bedrooms and the kids in their own room...down the hall.

Needless to say, we love going to the cabin and always make lots of fun memories.

Florida 2008!!!

Every year we travel to Merritt Island, Florida to visit Nanny and Pappa (Joyce and Butch Hall.) To make a long story short, a week after we booked our non-refundable tickets, Nanny and Pappa sold their home and moved back to Idaho a week before we left for Florida. Don't get us wrong...we were delighted to have them back home but it was weird to go to Florida without them. We ended up getting a condo on the Cape Cannaveral beach (very cheap, perfect place to stay) and it all turned out great. We were just yards from the beach, just a short walk down the pier. We did some of our favorites, like eat at Grills, (this is Taylan eating a lemon at Grills)watch the boats go out, tan, tan and tan some more:) and of course TJ Maxx, which believe it or not is different than Idaho with much better stuff. Including suitcases to haul all your new stuff home:)

This year was wild of coarse with the four boys (Houston 8, Triton 4, Hagen 2 1/2, Taylan 1 1/2) Me, Lacee and of course Granny B (LaDeane) We really thought "B" would run away on a cruise boat or try to drown in the ocean having to live with us and our crazy boys for two weeks but she was great.

Over the 4th of July weekend Torrey flew in for a few days which was great to have a man part way through to "kick butt and take names" no actually the kids were good. Torrey flew in to take Triton to NASA which was a big 2 day ordeal. It was definitely worth taking him. He is a huge "space shuttle" fan and knew everything that was going on. It was fun to watch Torrey teach Triton and Houston about things and I got to just follow along and actually enjoy reading the signs and getting to learn something new. I must say I would have been fine with one day at NASA but someone needed to take pictures:) Torrey was a great sport having to take care and deal with all three (me, mom and Lacee) of us women for four days. We were reminded that he "hates Florida" but really it may have been the humidity talking!(hence the happy picture)

Our condo was so perfect, but Logan had convinced us that we needed to see more of Florida than Cocoa Beach, so we took his advice and the last three days we drove across the state (all seven of us in our happy van) to Treasure Island. It was nice to see a different part, however we will save our touring to when we don't have little kids in the car for three hours. But we did welcome Logan to take them back to Treasure Island next year and us girls will stay at Cocoa Beach...we haven't heard from him on that yet!

The good part about Treasure Island is we went to Busch Gardens a day, which was great. Lots of animals to see and the boys loved that.

Overall, we had a wonderful time. We always make lots of memories that we laugh about all year. We are so blessed that Nanny and Pappa shared that lifestyle they so much enjoyed with us. We love the atmosphere, people and memories of Florida. We all leave crying but enjoy coming home to our own beds. One final picture is classic of Granny B. SHE WAS AMAZING!! To travel will grandkids and her girls, using all her vacation time means so much to us. We never could have done it without her. This picture is the final morning in Orlando, we had left the motel at 4;30 am to make our 7 am flight and the boys were roaring to go...needless to say we were tired. Hagen (Lacee's little boy) is a wild 2 year old and very loud. But he is so full of life. this is him screaming "airplane" in B's ear. it is so priceless!