Christmas Time

We had a great Christmas this year. My parent's house was full on kids. There were all 7 grand kids there. Ethan was the oldest and only boy. Then there are all girls 3 of them are 2, well Teagan turned 3 on Christmas Eve. But it was a lot of fun. Here are some random pictures of the festivities.

This first on is a picture of Ethan He got a Storm Trooper Helmet and blaster from his Grandma. He loved it he played rescue princess Lea (who was played by his cousin Kaylee) for hours. Nathan and I think he kinds looks like a Storm Trooper bobble head. Here is a picture of Nathan and Amie playing the Wii. They men in the family were getting pretty competitive playing it. Amie thought she should be able to join in the fun. I thought it was pretty darn cute.

Here is a picture of Ethan and his cousin Kaylee, They are putting together the Gingerbread house. Ethan loves when he gets to play with Kaylee. They are so cute together. And of course Uncle Ty Ty is there to help. All the kids just adore him, he is so good to play with them.
Here is a picture of all the Grandkids in there brand new Jammies from Grandma. I was sad when I got home and realized all the pictures of them were out of focus. Oh, well this is the best one I had. From left to right there is Teagan, then Ethan who is holding Paige, Kaylee is holding Brookley, then Ashely and Amie.
Here is a picture of my LARGE belly, and of course you have to catch the prego when she is eating. So what do you think? Will I make it another week? I will keep you all posted.
Here is Ethan and Amie makeing cupcakes. For Teagan's brithday we had a cupcake party and the kids got to make and decorate cupcakes. It was really cute and the girls didn't make too bad of a mess. They had so much fun.
Sorry the pictures were so random. But it was a busy week and looking back it was a complete whirlwind. Hope everyone had a great Christmas also and Have a great New Year!

Military Holiday Party

So we had our unit's holiday party yesterday and I think it went pretty well. We had a great turn out and there were about 15 kids there. So much more than last year I think we only had about 4. The Coleman's came and did a great job as Santa and Mrs. Clause. The kids loved it, and they also loved the toys they got that were donated. It was amazing how much was donated for this event.

Amie and Ethan had a blast. Amie of coarse found lots of friends. She insisted on holding this little boy's hand and led him all around the Armory. It was actually really cute.Here we are with Santa. Nathan wanted to take a picture of me and the baby with Santa. I am so grateful that they Coleman's donate thier time every year to play Santa for the kids. They do an awesome job!

I was so impressed that Ethan actually sat on Santa's lap. He even asked for something. Of, coarse it was a Star Wars thing. Amie freaked out as soon as Santa entered the room. She wanted to go home. And went and hid in one of the classrooms. She wouldn't come out into the drill hall till Santa was gone. That kinda shocked me.

Putting up the Christmas Tree

We got the tree put up tonight and the kids had a blast decorating it. After we got all the ornaments on the tree Amie asked if we could take them off and do it again. She sure had fun. Ethan of coarse was the director and was right there to tell Amie where to put each ornament.

Costumes and Pumpkins

So I am sure from Ethan's birthday party you know that Ethan is obsessed with Star wars so he thought it would be fun for Amie and him to dress up as star wars characters. Amie turned out to be the cutest Princess Lea. Ethan was a sweet Jedi. We had a lot of compliments on their costumes. Here are our pumpkins. Ethan's is on the left, Nathan's is in the middle, and Amie's is the princess. Bet you couldn't guess that one. I was the designated seed and gooey stuff remover. The kids wouldn't touch the stuff. I tried to get Amie to and she just gave me an extremely disguised look.

Why did the chicken cross the road?

So I have to admit I am a listener of Dr. Laura and yesterday she read this and I thought it was pretty funny. I hope you enjoy it.

Why Did the Chicken Cross the Road?

SARAH PALIN: Before it got to the other side, I shot the chicken, cleaned and dressed it, and had chicken burgers for lunch.

BARACK OBAMA: The chicken crossed the road because it was time for a change! The chicken wanted change!

JOHN MC CAIN: My friends that chicken crossed the road because he recognized the need to engage in cooperation and dialogue with all the chickens on the other side of the road.

HILLARY CLINTON: When I was First Lady, I personally helped that little chicken to cross the road. This experience makes me uniquely qualified to ensure right from Day One that every chicken in this country gets the chance it deserves to cross the road. But then, this really isn’t about me.

GEORGE W. BUSH: We don’t really care why the chicken crossed the road. We just want to know if the chicken is on our side of the road, or not. The chicken is either against us, or for us. There is no middle ground here.

DICK CHENEY: Where’s my gun?

COLIN POWELL: Now to the left of the screen, you can clearly see the satellite image of the chicken crossing the road.

BILL CLINTON: I did not cross the road with that chicken. What is your definition of chicken?

AL GORE: I invented the chicken.

JOHN KERRY: Although I voted to let the chicken cross the road, I am now against it! It was the wrong road to cross, and I was misled about the chicken’s intentions. I am not for it now and will remain against it.

AL SHARPTON: Why are all the chickens white? We need some black chickens.

DR. PHIL: The problem we have here is that this chicken doesn’t realize that he must first deal with the problem on this side of the road before it goes after the problem on the other side of the road. What we need to do is help him realize how stupid he’s acting by not taking on his current problems before adding new problems.

OPRAH: Well, I understand that the chicken is having problems, which is why he wants to cross this road so bad. So instead of having the chicken learn from his mistakes and take falls, which is a part of life, I’m going to give this chicken a car so that he can just drive across the road and not live his life like the rest of the chickens.

ANDERSON COOPER, CNN: We have reason to believe there is a chicken, but we have not yet been allowed access to the other side of the road.

NANCY GRACE: That chicken crossed the road because he’s guilty! You can see it in his eyes and the way he walks.

PAT BUCHANAN: To steal the job of a decent, hardworking American.

MARTHA STEWART: No one called me to warn me which way that chicken was going. I had a standing order at the Farmer’s Market to sell my eggs when the price dropped to a certain level. No little bird gave me any insider information.

DR SEUSS: Did the chicken cross the road? Did he cross it with a toad? Yes, the chicken crossed the road, but why it crossed I’ve not been told.

ERNEST HEMINGWAY: To die in the rain, alone.

GRANDPA: In my day we didn’t ask why the chicken crossed the road. Somebody told us the chicken crossed the road, and that was good enough.

BARBARA WALTERS: Isn’t that interesting? In a few moments, we will be listening to the chicken tell, for the first time, the heart-warming story of how it experienced a serious case of molting, and went on to accomplish its lifelong dream of crossing the road.

ARISTOTLE: It is the nature of chickens to cross the road.

JOHN LENNON: Imagine all the chickens in the world crossing roads together, in peace.

BILL GATES: I have just released eChicken 2008, which will not only cross roads, but will lay eggs, file your important documents, and balance your checkbook. Internet Explorer is an integral part of eChicken 2008. This new platform is much more stable and will never crash or need to be rebooted.

ALBERT EINSTEIN: Did the chicken really cross the road, or did the road move beneath the chicken?

COLONEL SANDERS: Did I miss one?

Pumpkin Patch

Ethan's Preschool had a field trip to a pumpkin patch. The kids had a ton of fun there was a giant slide that didn't phase Amie she thought it was so much fun climbing up and then getting to slide all the way down. Grandma was able to come with us and the Ethan and Amie were so happy to have her there.This is the slide Ethan and Amie went on it over a dozen times. Amie would giggle the whole way down the slide.
Here is Ethan and Amie showing off their pumpkins. They had fun searching through and finding their perfect pumpkin.
Here is our little princess, she loves to pose. Her favorite thing to say whenever she sees the camera is "take my picture mommy!"
I had to get a least one picture of them together in their Halloween shirts. Ethan wasn't too happy about it, he wanted to go check out the pumpkins.

Happy Birthday Ethan!!

I can't believe it has been 5 years since Ethan was born. I was looking back at some pictures and thought it would be fun to post some of him growing up. This first one he is one a few minuets old.

This picture was taken just before Nathan left for Iraq. He was about 8 months old. He was always such a happy baby.
This is one of my all time favorite pictures of Ethan. He is about 18 months, I don't know what it is but I really like it.
Here is Ethan with his Uncle Tyler. Over they 2 years we lived with my parents while Nathan was gone Ethan and he really bonded. This was taken just before Tyler left for his mission in Brazil.
Here he is 5 years old. I still have a hard time saying that. He is getting to be so big. I am glad I still have this year with him home before he goes off to Kindergarten. We are so glad he is a part of our family we love him so much!

Ethan's 5th Birthday Party

Ethan had a Star wars party. He has been really into Star Wars, especially after watching the movies. He wants to know everything about the Jedi's. Who trained who, what ship belongs to who, and how everything works. It is pretty entertaining to Nathan to hear some of my answers. I have pretty much given up and not tell Ethan to ask Nathan. I guess we are working on the next generation Star wars nut.


We had a lot of fun. We had the kids practice using their light sabors. They had to pop bubbles with them and move balls from one line to another with them also. Luckily the weather was fairly decent which allowed us to do some things out side.
Here is the birthday boy standing in front of Yoda. He didn't want to stand in front of Darth Vador. this was a game of pin the badge on Vador. I told the kids in order to turn Darth Vador good again they had to get the badge in the right spot.
Here is the "cake." Since we are going to have a real cake for his birthday on Monday I opted to make cup cakes which for a kids party is pretty darn good.

Amie's been tagged

Name/meaning: Amie Lynn. Amy and Annie are family name's on my mom's side we liked both so decided to combine them to make Amie. Lynn is also a commonly used middle name from the same side of the family.

Age: Turned 2 on July 28th

Nicknames: Sissy boo, princess and, Mamie (nickname from grandpa). Those are the ones I can think of off the top of my head.

Favorite Activity (ies): She loves to torture Ethan. She also likes to watch Elmo, she loves to play dress up. She likes to read books and sing songs. She is really enjoying going to story time. It is a special thing she gets to do without Ethan, just Mommy and her. She also loves shopping and trying on shoes. (typical girl!)

Favorite Food: She is actually a really good eater. But If you ask her what she wants for dinner or lunch she will say Chicken nuggets every time. She also loves cheese, fruit, bread, and of coarse chocolate. Oh and a newly acquired taste is raw fish. For some reason she loves sushi.

Least favorite food: She will pretty much eat anything unless Ethan says he wont then she will take his lead.

Favorite music: She loves all kinds of music. She will rock out to anything on the radio, It is so funny to see her dancing in her car seat.

Favorite toys: Her favorite toy is whatever Ethan is playing with at that time. She loves to play with lego's, guns, and the lightsabors. She also really likes her babies and her princess tea cups.

Favorite books: She really doesn't have one in particular. She does prefer the princess, Thomas the train, and Curious George books.

What makes her happy: She loves to get out and go places. She is so ready to head out the door we have to be careful on when we say we are leaving till we are ready to walk out the door or she will be bugging us to go. She also loves it when daddy comes home. Or going to Grandpa's house. She will wake up in the morning and ask to go to Papa's house. Also taking in the phone with her Uncle Tyler.

What makes her sad: Not getting to go when daddy or mommy has to go somewhere. Not getting to see her Papa. And not being able to see her Uncle Tyler.

We tag: Kaylee G., Ashely G., and Lily S.

Amie's first hair cut

We finally did it. Amie had her first hair cut and I think it turned out really cute. She did such a good job sitting very still. I had my good friend cut it and now Amie tells everyone, "Bekah, cut my hair with scissors." And to her it is not just a hair cut Amie says she now has "Princess hair."

First day of Preschool!

We finally got Ethan into a preschool. He is going to a real cute preschool here in town that is a lot of fun. The get to go on field trips once a month! There are quite a few where they are traveling to Seattle to go to the museum, zoo, and even the science center! Amie is feeling a little left out and had to bring her lunch box with us when we dropped Ethan off this morning. Once she realized she had mommy all to herself she got over not being able to play with Ethan.

It's going to be a.....

Well we had the ultrasound today and we found out we are having another girl. I was wrong in my thinking I was pretty sure this was going to be another boy seeing how similar this pregnancy was with Ethan's. We are excited, well Ethan is a little bummed he was hoping for another boy. This makes the grand total of grandkids on my mom's side 1 boy 7 girls. Hopefully we will get another boy sometime.

We are still here!

So I know it has been a while since we last posted something. Sorry about that. We have been up to a lot. Nathan finally finished school! Yeah, he did miss the deadline for graduation his summer so he will officially graduate this fall. We are currently applying to several agencies around the state so we are hoping to hear from one soon. Right know Nathan is working over on the west side on a construction job for the Army. I will be happy when he is done doing that. It is for a month and he will be gone pretty much all month. The kids are having a hard time not having him home.

Anyway that’s what happing in our lives. This past week we went on a little Vacation. First we went toe Priest Lake with my family then we went to Idaho and visited Nathan's grandma and his brothers. Then we went to Utah and saw my grandpa and grandma. It was a lot of driving but we are lucky and our kids don't mind the car much. Ethan had a blast playing the Play station Portable, Nathan got his Lego Star Wars so that kept him pretty much entertained. And for Amie she had all her new birthday toys to play with. Here are some pictures of few of the things we did.

Ethan playing the PSP.

My brother brought Rock Band to the lake Amie and Ethan thought it was pretty cool.
Here is Ethan and Amie on the boat Amie loved every second of it. She still asks to go out on Papa's Boat.

On our way to Idaho we stopped at the Montana state prison and car museum. The kids really enjoyed the time out of the car and it was fun to see the neat stuff. Nathan really liked the cars.

Ethan thought this was Bumble Bee.

Nathan and Amie locked up in a cell.

Enjoying Popsicles at Nathan's grandma's house.

Here we are feeding the ducks in Idaho Falls.

Visiting Temple Square in Salt Lake. Ethan and Amie had a hard time trying the stay out of the fountains. They thought they were there to play in.

Starting our trip back home. I thought this was a cute picture of Ethan with his special Army bear.