Christmas Time!

As usual Christmas was busy and wonderful at our house. Ayana is old enough this year to understand about Santa Claus this year, so it was fun to see her get so excited about meeting him and telling him her gift request (5 trains, some train track and a train table). Our Christmas season officially started at our church Christmas party where Santa Claus made an appearance. Asher was not fond of him at all and decided he would fill the role of the screaming kid on Santa's lap, though he cheered up pretty quick when he got that candy cane!

Of course we got a real Christmas tree, we found a real pretty Frasier Fir and Trever got some large LED lights for it. I just love Christmas trees, they are so fun! The kids had a blast decorating, though I now understand why Mom had to "redecorate" every year after we went to bed when we were young. The kids sure liked to hang all the ornaments in one spot.

Christmas morning was it's usual mix of chaos, excitement and happiness, here are a couple of pictures of the kids in their new Christmas pjs before all the craziness began. Ayana got so excited to see that Santa had come and filler her stocking and left her some gifts.

They got many wonderful and well-loved gifts, but their favorite was their gift from Santa of a new train set. They could hardly contain themselves as they climbed all around that big box trying to get all the wrapping paper off. Trever got to spend most of his morning playing the typical Christmas morning Dad and putting it all together, but the kids have already spent many fun hours playing with them, so it was well worth it.
No Christmas would be complete if the kids didn't have at least as much fun with the packaging as with the presents, and Ayana and Asher were no exception. Here they are trying to pop some of the air pillows.

All in all, a wonderful Christmas season. I got a really nice, new viking sewing machine for Christmas and I can hardly wait to start my creating. I think my first project will be new aprons for the family along with Chef hats for the kids. Trever got mostly practical things, which is a switch for my kid-like husband, but he is excited to have a new backpack and shoes as well as a few video games.

I hope that all of you had a joyous season as well and that you took the chance to remember the Savior's birth along with all the other things that fight for your attention. Hope your new year is filled with adventure, fun and success in all you undertake!

Spelling Bee

We are so proud of Andrew,...he won first place in the Spelling Bee for the whole school. He will be competing in the district competition in January. He had totally forgot about it being on Friday until he got to school. Way to go Andrew!

St. Jude Half Marathon

We did it!!! Nathan and I both completed the St. Jude Half Marathon in Memphis on Saturday, December 4, 2010. Yep!...that is 13.1 miles!!!! What an awesome experience! I have been training for the past 4 months with my two awesome friends and running buddies Vanetta and Stacy. I couldn't and wouldn't have done it without them. And Nathan is Superman, for completing it with minimal training! :)

Cream Wafers

Mom asked me to send this recipe to Shannon, but then we decided to post it here instead so anyone who wants it can get it!

Cream Wafers

1 cup soft butter

1/3 cup whipping cream

2 cups flour

     Mix thoroughly - chill about an hour.  Roll 1/8" thick and cut into rounds.  Transfer rounds to sugar and coat both sides.  Prick with a for 4-5 times.  Bake at 375 on an ungreased cookie sheet 7-9 minutes, until puffy but not really brown. Cool. 

Makes cookies into sandwiches with creamy butter frosting:

1/4 cup soft butter

3/4 - 1 cup powdered sugar

1 tsp. vanilla

I hope everyone is doing well!  Good luck with the cookie making!

Happy Thanksgiving everyone! We had our dinner on Sunday and are off to Disneyland tomorrow, so I want you all to know we are thankful for you! Enjoy your day.

So, I promise, we do still exist!!!! Things have been kind of crazy, but I know that it really just comes down to me being absolutely horrible about keeping in touch! A lot has been going on. First off, as I am sure you all know by now, I am pregnant. We are having a boy this time, due January 4th, and the girls are really excited for their baby brother to make his appearance! I'm a bit nervous, but it will be fun. I am subbing at the day care as needed, but I am mostly home right now, which is really fun to get to have more time with the girls. Nathan is working in Anchorage at Schlumberger, and he seems to be really enjoying his work. I don't think I could do that commute everyday, but he claims that he actually likes that bit of time to himself each day. The girls are doing great! Kyrie is in kindergarten this year and loving every second of it!! Shes been working really hard a learning a ton, and we are so proud of her! She also is doing a tap/ballet dance class at sonjas studio, and getting very excited about their Christmas recital next month! She had her first daisy scout meeting this past monday, and is excited for that as well. They all colored their own dolls that they are hoping to send around and get pictures of their dolls around the country for their traveling pedal, so if you get her in the mail, please take a picture and pass her on! Arianna is doing great also. She is doing preschool at headstart in Palmer, and she does really well in a classroom setting like that. She is in school almost as much as Kyrie, and shes loving it too! She also qualifies through the school district to get speech therapy at preschool, so 2 times a week she has one on one practice with a speech therapist. There is the possibility of having her spot on her lip removed as well, but we haven't decided for sure on that yet. Medically, it wouldn't hurt her whether we leave it or remove it, but there is the possibility of her speech improving slightly without it since without it she may be able to close her mouth easier. Halloween went well, Kyrie was tinkerbell and arianna was ariel. Even though Halloween was on Sunday, they definitely got there fill of halloween fun before that! They both had parties in their classrooms, and both of their schools had fall festivals for the whole family in the evening different days that week. And of course we did trunk or treat at the church. All in all, they definitely got more candy than they will ever eat! I hope all is going well for everyone, I love reading about how you all are doing! I think Amber is right on who has who for christmas (at least I hope she is because I have been trying to plan for scott and yvonne!) and Meg, we are looking forward to seeing you soon! Love you guys!

I was making some dessert tonight since the missionaries are coming for dinner tomorrow and thought you might like to try this sometime - especially if your in the mood for a really rich chocolate treat. Make a brownie as directed on the package but instead of a pan, fill cupcake pans about 2/3 full of batter. Then press a mini reeses peanut butter cup in the middle of each one just level with the top. Bake at 350 for about 20-25 min. I also saw a similar recipe where they put a little batter in the bottom of a the cupcake pan then put a regular size peanut butter cup and put brownie mix on top. Either way sounds yummy.

Well, I bugged Dad about doing a post so I suppose I better get busy also. I finally realized that Christmas is sneaking up on me and I have at least a thousand projects I had hoped to do so I have been spending as much time as possible in the garage. I really love the time I spend out there so I don't know why I put it off.
I really like Amber's recipe exchange idea and hopefully I will come up with something new to post soon. I decided to try a chocolate peanut butter cheesecake recipe that looked delicious but when it cool it was so hard I couldn't even break it. Cassie managed to cut through the very middle but it didn't even break when I dumped it out in the garbage. I guess I won't share that recipe.
I am again teaching Sunday School ( 15 year olds) and trying to be excited about it. They really are pretty good kids and I am learning alot.
As Dad mentioned our trip was great. It was fantastic to spend time with Nate and Sharolyn and the kids. Grandma seems to be doing pretty well. She did end up in the hospital right after we left there but she is back to Manor Care and seems to be doing ok. She really does love getting emails so please drop her a line as often as you can. Uncle Chickie is doing very well. He continues to have dialysis 3 times a week and says he takes it pretty easy on those days but he gets out and cuts wood and does things around the yard and house with no problem.
I hope you are all doing well. Love You All!!!!!!!!!!!!!
Mom

Christmas Exchange?

Am I right that Christmas this year we are all back to one person younger than us, Megan has me, I have Cassie, Cassie has Scott, etc. Anyone know for sure on that one?

Amber

Surprise!!! I do exist. I just have been lazy and not writing. We had a great trip to St Louis and then to visit Grandma. Barbara and I had a lot of fun one day when we were doing some family history digging. Barb and I went to visit our Aunt Evie (my mom's sister). She did not know that we were coming and was very surprised. In fact, maybe a little too excited. We visited her on Wednesday, and on Thursday she had a heart attack! I just talked to her and she is fine. Her speech is a little more slurred than before but is doing well.

Here is a picture of one part of the City Museum in St. Louis. You can see the "tunnel" that people can climb through. It is made of rebar welded together and is up about 30 feet in the air.

The last 2 people are the boys. You will see the school bus that is hanging off the roof. Y

ou can climb in and even open the door to look down. Of course there is a cage areound it so

you can't fall out. The next picture is Nathan and Kaylee climbing through the "tunnel". I am not sure what I did, but it looks like they are climbing through the sky.

There was only one problem on the trip. When we were leaving Grany's Farm, our car got attacked by a grossing arm.. I was waiting to pull out onto the road when it decided to come down on the car. Here is a picture of the result.

Luckily, the guy at Enterprise did not get excited about it, when I returned it.

On a another good note, there are only 791 days left!!!

Love you all,

Dad

Catching up!

I keep meaning to post and then think of all the things that have been going on and feel overwhelmed, but Amber pricked my conscience. So, here are at least a few pictures to update our lives. All continues to go well. All the school kids brought home perfect Straight A report cards Friday, so we are very happy about that. Elijah is playing soccer and loving it- Mark is his coach, enjoying having Saturdays off after 8 years of coaching debate. Christian is loving preschool and loves telling everyone that he is 4 now. We had a fun Space Ranger Party and even had the Burdicks here for the day! This morning we finished reading the Book of Mormon- we took the challenge from our stake president about 3 months ago to finish it by today and we are happy we did it! It has been a great strength to our children and us to do this together. Tonight, we started it again!We had a fun Halloween week. Tonight w

e had a spooky dinner and covered our dining room with spider webs. I won't share the details on our food as I know mother will not appreciate it! We had a girl scout party on Thursday and school parties and trunk or treat on Friday. Everyone had a great time. Much more to share, but here are a few pictures for now and we'll update again soon.

Catching up!

Halloween Fun

So is this another Stewart Family Blog or what? Do any of you read this anymore? Hope to hear updates on all of you soon!

We had a great Halloween! On Tuesday our ward youth hosted an awesome kids carnival, Ayana and Asher had a lot of fun playing the games and seeing their friends. Then on Friday we went to a place called Trick or Treat Street in Idaho Falls. It is an event where some of the local RV dealers loan the use of their RVs for local businesses to decorate and pass out candy from. We went with our friends the Lewises, they have 2 kids close to Ayana's age so they have a lot of fun together. After the trick or treating we all went out for dinner and had a great time. Then on Saturday night our complex had a dinner/Trunk or Treat. I made some peanut butter balls that looked like eye balls and won the award for best presentation, so that was pretty fun. The kids got so much candy at the Trunk or Treat that Asher couldn't even carry his bucket anymore because it was too heavy! All in all it was a great time. Trever and I did decide that we need to dress up next year, we felt lame at all the events in no costume. I made Ayana's with costume, and am pretty pleased with how it turned out. It is the first time I have ever done sleeves or a zipper in clothing. It was far from perfect, but she was the cutest witch ever. We bought Asher a hamburger costume at Old Navy and it was sure a hit, everyone commented on it and thought he was so adorable. Hope all of your Halloween's were as wonderful as ours! Here are some pictures of our little monsters!

New Video of Ayana

So Ayana loves to sing the Five Silly Monkeys song for us, and it always makes us laugh. We love the really loud SNAP and the inflection at the end. Here's a short video of it, hope it makes you smile!

Recipe Exchange anyone?

I have been really getting tired of the same old recipes and htought it might be fun to do a recipe exchange on here. If you have a recipe that your fmaily likes please post it for the rest of us to try. Here is a recipe we like for Mac and Cheese, it is not the healthiest recipe in the world, but hey the best ones rarely are. Here it is:


Spicy Jack Mac & Cheese with Broccoli
Ingredients:

• 2 cups (8 oz) dry elbow macaroni
• 2 cups chopped frozen or fresh broccoli
• 2 cups (8 oz) shredded sharp cheddar
• 2 cups (8 oz) shredded pepper jack
• 1 can (12 fl oz) evaporated milk
• ½ cup grated parmesan, divided
• ½ tsp ground black pepper
• 2 tbsp bread crumbs


Directions:
1. Preheat oven to 350°. Lightly butter 2 ½ quart casserole dish.
2. Cook macaroni in large saucepan according to package directions, adding broccoli to boiling pasta water for last three minutes of cooking time; drain.
3. Combine cooked pasta, broccoli, cheddar cheese, pepper jack cheese, evaporated milk, ¼ cup parmesan cheese, and black pepper in large bowl. Pour into prepares casserole dish. Combine remaining parmesan cheese and bread crumbs; sprinkle over macaroni mixture. Cover tightly with aluminum foil.
4. Bake covered for 20 min. Remove foil; bake for additional 10 minutes until lightly browned.
Makes 4-6 Servings

So I haven't posted in forever...You all know how summer is. Ours was great. The highlight of our summer was our week long camping trip to Zion National Park. It was hot, over 100 every day, but wonderful. THe kids did great and had a ball. Mom also came and visited for about a week. It was great to see her. Ayana still talks about Grandma, and asks when she will come again. Ayana's 3rd birthday was celebrated while we were camping and then again while Mom was here. Hard to believe she is 3 already. She started Preschool up at the University this year, and loves it so far. Asher finally decided to make his grand debut as a walker while Grandma was here to witness it, and is now working on the running. He is an amazing little boy with a smile that will melt your heart. That is lucky for him, because he is quite a trouble maker and sometimes he can really set his Mom's blood to boiling, but then he gives me that smile and I remember why I love him so much. We are attempting to potty train our daughter and not having much success. We have been at it for 3+ months now and I really don't feel like we are any closer than when we started. Any ideas/tips/tricks for me? I am still working overnights hwich keeps me busy trying to squeeze in sleep any spare minute, but hoping to cut back to 3 days a week in about a month, so that will help. I have started couponing and am really enjoying it and saving a fair bit of money at it too. I am no Sharolyn, but it is nice to see the savings adding up. I am currently working on a witch costume for Ayana for Halloween. Hopefully it turns out well, we shall see. I will post pictures as long as it is not a major flop. Trever is back in school after an enjoyable break. His semester is very busy (he only has 14 credits, but in class/lab time is 28 hours a week) but he seems to be enjoying it. As his classes get harder they also get more interesting as they get more hands on experience in designing and building things. He did great again last semester and has maintained his 4.0 GPA, he is truly amazing to me that he is able to do that. He puts in long days at school and then his evenings are full with the kids since I am sleeping, then he stays up late finishing all that homework. I really believe both of us are getting a little extra help from our Heavenly Father to make this crazy schedule we keep work as well as it does. In October he will start a GRE prep course. Keep your fingers crossed for us that when the time comes to actually take the test he will do well. The plan is still to go straight to Graduate school from here (though we don't know where, any thoughts?) So we are hoping he will do well enought that between that nad his GPA we can get some scholarship offers to help out with the cost. He wants to do a degree in either Mechanical Engineering or something related to alternative/renewable energy.

On other notes, am I right that Christmas this year we are all back to one person younger than us, Megan has me, I have Cassie, Cassie has Scott, etc. Anyone know for sure on that one?

Anyway, love you all, Amber

Well, we are finally getting summer in Alaska and really enjoying. The past week has been sunny and bright and relatively warm (high 50's) Yesterday Dad and I and Rosculp's took our kayaks and went from Cottonwood Lake to Mud Lake and then across Wasilla Lake. It took a couple hours and with perfect weather it was really enjoyable.
Dad is still working on cabinets but I think the end may be in site. A couple weeks ago MEA went through and chopped up all the woods between our yard and ranch road. They really made a mess so whenever Dad has been home we have been hauling the bigger stuff away, burning and raking.
We are now at the point where it will wait until spring and we will have to rent a bulldozer to get rid of all the stumps and then get a bunch of top soil and eventually have a lawn all the way down to the road. I definitely preferred the trees but I guess they could have become a problem for the power lines.
I think you all know that Cassie and Nate are moving back here so I have also been busy clearing out as much as possible downstairs. They should be able to be pretty settled down there and have everything they need except for a kitchen . It will make it easier for us to come and go without finding a housesitter, etc.
We are anxiously awaiting our next trip. We are flying into Chicago then meeting Nate and Sharolyn in St Louis for a few days. We will then drive up to Grandma's and spend a few days before driving back to Chicago to fly home. It will be somewhat rushed but we will get to see everyone and that means alot.
Shannon, I love your idea of getting together with everyone on Skype. We will definitely have to try to work that out.
Well, I am going to get busy on some family history.
Love You All!
Mom

Never Ending

It just seems like the projects around the house are Neverending!!!But, I know, that is no excuse for not being more faithful on keeping in touch. Here are a couple pictures of the demolition process... What a stud! Thoroughly enjoying operating his "mini" Jack Hammer! Not really!, but he was glad to be able to accomplish that dream of playing with one. He felt it for a couple days later though, so that part wasn't so fun.



It's still a work in progress. Hopefully won't be too much longer. We figured we might as well knock out both downstairs bathrooms at the same time. Now, not so sure that was the wisest,...considering all of us have to use the upstairs bathroom since there are no accessible toilets or showers on the main floor. As you can see, the toilets are IN the showers.
Makeila, being the one home during the day has been an extra big helper. She is the assistant tool helper and tile handler. Although a lot of the work now has been after all the kids are in bed, and Nathan has left for work,..so after 10pm.

A fun Idea!

I came across this article -LDS Living Magazine- and thought it would be fun for us to do once in a while...not necessarily Family Home Evening, but choose a time like every third Sunday afternoon that we can all meet on Skype or something and actually talk and see each other. I know we are all busy, but it is important to stay connected....Thoughts?

Happy birthday, Toby!

It’s been one year since our newest family member joined the team and we can’t imagine life without him. We feel like Toby makes our family complete. Our little Toby is growing every day and his personality is really starting to show. We always thought he was the sweetest, most laid back baby. Well, that sweet little baby has grown into a very vocal and determined toddler. That’s right. Our little Toby now bullies his big brother and has an iron grip when it comes to grabbing a toy or piece of food that he wants. It’s so fun to watch him learn new things, or new techniques to get his way. He is a determined guy, that’s for sure. We had a birthday party for him the last Saturday and he had a wonderful time. He got to play with his cousins and a couple close friends and then eat his first piece of cake. Toby went to bed happy that night, and I think for the first time in a couple weeks, he actually slept through the night, all night, in his own bed.

As for his big brother, Xavier started preschool about two weeks ago. He LOVES it. Let me just say, on his first day of school, he was so brave and ready to go. Bottom line, I cried, he didn’t. He didn’t stay still long enough for me to take a good first day of school picture, but I do have one from the open house. Xavier’s teachers are really nice and, since it’s a co-op, I go in to volunteer about twice a semester. It’s really nice to be involved, but still be able to let him go and see what school is like without mom around. Toby apparently loves preschool too. During open house, I couldn’t keep him from playing with all the big kid stuff and when I went to drop Xavier off on the first day, Toby managed to tackled one of Xavier’s classmates and swipe his toy. I think Xavier may be our little thinker, while Toby is just a bully already!

Scott and I are doing well. We’ve just been incredibly busy! During August, Scott’s segment was going through an audit and several people from headquarters were up to go over everything. There were several trips to the slope and a lot of business meetings and dinners. Now that it’s over, it’s nice to have Scott back to his normal schedule. As for me, filled in a bit for the Morning and Newshour editions, which was fun, but made me realize, no matter how much I think I miss work at times, I would so rather be with my boys. It makes me remember how lucky I am to be able to stay home with my boys and just fill in, get a taste of what it’s like to work in the newsroom again, and then get out before getting burned out. Scott is content with the current situation at work, so it looks like we will be in Alaska for at least the winter, but transferring is still an option in the future.

We’ve been plenty busy since I last wrote. We’ve been on playdates, hikes, berry picking, to the state fair and I took Xavier to a special show called, “Walking with Dinosaurs.” Xavier loved it. It was a little spendy and we didn’t think Toby would sit through it or really care about is, so Xavier and I had a mommy and me date. The dinosaurs were amazing! Basically a “paleontologist” describes what the world was like when dinosaurs roamed the earth and they were all life sized. Of course, some of them were baby dinosaurs so they would fit in the arena, but it was still incredibly impressive. I was blown away! Xavier couldn’t stop talking the whole time. He kept saying, “mom, mom, mom! There’s a dinosaur! Mom! Hey, hey mom! Do you see that dinosaur..” He was shouting and oowing and awing the whole way though. It was fun to watch. When Scott came to pick us up and he asked Xavier if he liked the show, Xavier said, “no dad, I didn’t like it. I LOVED it!” That was pretty funny.

We’ve had a lot of fun this summer. Between soccer, playdates, family visiting and the start of school, we’ve been booked. I can’t believe that I am saying this, but I just may be ready for winter to set in. Just so we can have a set schedule and I can have the routine down again.

We love you guys and we will be sure to check in and write more in the weeks to come!Yvonne, Scott, Xavier and Toby!

1 Year Old

We can hardly believe that iswas 1 year ago ( almost to the minute!) that we met our sweet Caleb. He has brought us so much joy! We love his easy smile and sweet personality. Today was really the first time at church that he fussed to be able to get down and go, he is usually happy to sit on my lap and look around. We had a fun little party with just our familytoday. Caleb loved grabbing his cake the first time, but once he tasted it, he was not impressed! He is almost walking and says mama....still a tiny guy, but so much fun!

We are finally home to stay for a while. We got home from a two week trip to Lake Tahoe and Idaho last Tuesday and snuck in one more trip for a day at the beach and our nephew's baptism yesterday. This week we have to get back into routines and ready for school next Monday. Elijah was thrilled to find out this week that he will have the same kindergarte

n teacher Aubrey had. Courtney and Aubrey are still anxiously awaiting their assignments. Mark even has a new schedule this year teaching seniors for the first time. It should be a fun new challenge for him. Christian has a preschool group set up for two days a week. It is 6 three year old boys, so all the moms are a bit nervous about keeping all that energy going the right direction, but is should be fun!

Well, I have certainly been horrible about writing. I guess my every week plan didn't quite work.
The last few weeks have been very enjoyable. It was great to have Shannon and family here and then head to Idaho to see Amber and her family. It also worked out to meet up with Shannon on our way through Idaho Falls so I got to see them again for a little while. It was also good to have Nathan here for a few days - it would have been even better to hakve the whole family but I certainly know about the cost of airline tickets so I can't complain. Dad and I will be heading to Chicago in October and we will be meeting Nathan and his family in St Louis for a few day and then head up to see Grandma for a few days before going home. My goal is to see everyone of you at least once a year and so far I have pretty well managed that. I sure wish it could be a lot more often. Dad is still working most nights on that cabinet order so he sleeps about 4 hours a night. It will probably be a good thing when the fish are gone for the year. I have been really enjoying my kayak and hopefully I will be able to get out several times before the weather gets too chilly.
Dad just got home so I'll stop for now. He has to head out again in an hour or so for a seminary meeting.
I Love You All.
MOM

Busy Summer

Now that summer has officially ended, I have figured out a way to get pictures off my camera. Apparently my SDHC card can't be read from the computer I have, so I finally got my camera cord back that was left in Virginia.
Yes, that is right, our summer is officially over! The first day of school was last Thursday. The kids have been dying to go back to school, since right after they got out at the end of May. Not to say that they haven't had all kinds of fun over the past 2 months, but they do love school.
Shortly after school got out, we headed up to Virginia for several weeks. It was fun to be able to spend time with my family, especially that first weekend, since we were ALL able to be together, for the first time in several years. As we all know, it's not easy to get EVERYONE together at the same time.
Nathan flew back to attend the Stake YM High Adventure, and had a blast for 4 days, white water rafting, rock climbing, golfing, hiking, camping,...and all the other fun things that boy scouts like to do. He managed to get a little bit of work in over the next couple weeks, but also helped to carry out Youth Conference. Meanwhile the kids and I tried to find fun things to do while in Virigina. We made several trips to Washington D.C., and I think the kids had a blast. The finale of our trip was first greeted by Dad coming to get us, and then spending the 4th of July downtown at the Capitol watching the fireworks.

Our Alaska visit 2010

We just got back Tuesday night from a great two weeks in Alaska, spent the night in LA and finally made it home Wednesday afternoon. We are very happy to be home, but not too thrilled about the 105 degrees it has been the last couple of days. Luckily we have friends with swimming pools! We will be home for about another week, then head to Lake Tahoe for a few days and on to Idaho Falls. If only we could swing by Mississippi, we could see everyone!! I guess Nate and Sharolyn need to plan a trip out here!

Anyway, here are a few pictures from our trip. We loved mom and dad's new kayaks and the kids are still talking about how fun itwas to use hammers and nails while building the treehouse. Even Aubrey and Prince became the best of friends. The boys made it to the top of the Butte and the girls to the top of Twin Peaks trail in Eklutna. Thanks again mom and dad, Scott and Yvonne and Cassie and Nate. We love and miss you guys!

See... this is not elaborate!!

I can't believe so much of our summer has gone already. They have been predicting rain just about everyday but it really hasn't been too bad. Shannon and family got here on the 30th and we have been enjoying our time with them. Over the fourth of July weekend we worked on a tree house of sorts. When I suggested making a treehouse I was thinking of a couple pieces of wood stuck up in a tree. Of course, once Dad started thinking about it, it got a lot move elaborate. Anyway, it is done and hopefully the kids will have fun playing there. Shannon and Mark headed for Girdwood yesterday and took Caleb with them. Elijah went to Scott and Yvonne's to spend some time with Xavier so I just have the girls and Christain here. Last night Cassie and I took the kids to see Toy Story 3. I only slept for a few minutes so that was pretty impessive for me.
I hope you all had a fantastic fourth. I wish everyone could be here.
I Love You All
Mom
I planned on attaching some pictures but apparently the SD card that they are on doesn't work in my computer so I will have dad post some pictures.

Just a quick note to tell you all that I miss you and love you. I am feeling a bit "homesick" for all my family of late so I figured I would remind you all that even though we are spread far and wide, I love you and think of you often.

Love you tons
Megan

So summer finally arrived in full here in Rexburg. Less than a month ago we were still having weird snow flurries, but now we are in the 80s everyday. It is hot, but fun. We are definitely missing our old apartment with the air conditioning. Right now in our apartment it is 84 degrees, that is with the windows open and the fans running 24-7. Oh well though, we'll survive. We have been enjoying the summer sunshine and having lots of fun. There is a program that provides free lunch for kids at a couple of the local parks 5 days a week. So almost every day we either walk or ride the bike to the park for the lunch and to play for a while. At Porter Park there is the splash park that some of you played at with us last summer. The kids love it. There are a lot of different size fountains and a few water slides. Ayana finally got brave and now goes down the water slides on here own. Ayana is still in toddler lab at the University and she enjoys all the different activities they have there. The teachers are very creative and there is always something new to try. Her favorites are playing at the sensory table (usually has water or rice in it), playing outside, and the role play area (mini grocery stores, etc.). Today while Ayana was at class we brought Asher's little push toy that helps him walk and he LOVED having long hallways to walk down instead of crashing into the walls all the time like at home. Our other summer activity is the library reading programs. We go to story time every week and Ayana loves to get stickers in her program book for being read to every day and get her prizes like passes for the carousel at the park, etc. I am in a reading program too and have been able to earn some fun certificates like free ice cream and a swimming pass. We are excited for when Trever is done with school in another month so he can join in more of the fun with us. Other than that we just hang out at home and try not to melt. Last Saturday we went with some friends to some local caves and had fun walking through them. Asher got a little bothered by the dark toward the end, but Ayana loved using a flashlight and did really well walking on the uneven ground and scrambling over the rocks. Anyway, here are some pictures of our latest adventures. Love you all!

Ayana and Asher with their friends at the caves


Splash park fun







Ayana enjoying the country girl lifestyle at a local stores anniversary celebration

It has definitely been a quiet rainy Sunday. Dad and I are both sitting here looking at pictures on the blog. We loved seeing Jonathan's entry. It sounds like you had a great trip. Cassie and Nate are getting settled in their apartment and we are now anxiously awaiting the arrival of the Olsen's. I wish everyone could be here. When I talked to Keilee a while back she said she wanted to come visit Grandpa and Grandma at our big log house where she could see all her cousins. Unfortunately that won't happen again but hopefully in another 2 or 3 years we will be able to figure out a place for everyone to get together again.
Dad is back from his fishing trip. He had a really good time but not quite as many fish as he had hoped. They definitely put in a lot of time fishing. Their "lodge" left much to be desired but it was a place to sleep and get in away from the rain and mosquitos.
The weather has been pretty rainy this past week but even with the rain my garden looks pretty pathetic. The friendly neighborhood rabbit has so all in all it hasn't had much chance to grow.
I have been doing some woodworking projects with the kids at the center and that has been really fun (usually). The only power tool that they use is a small drill but a couple of the kids can be a little scary even with that. When grandkids come to visit it will be fun to do some of the projects with them.
I have scheduled a few days visiting Amber in August and we are hoping to see Nathan's family in October. I feel like grandkids are growing up so fast and I am missing out on seeing them so I am trying to get to see everyone at least once a year. More often is always better.
I hope you are all doing well. I Love You All!
Mom

Jonathan's Adventures

I had tons of fun at Disneyland. One of my favorite rides at California Adventure was the swings. I was a little scared and nervous when I first saw it but it was fun after all. We spun really fast on the teacups.And Midway Mania, the toy story ride, was sooooo fun. It was also in 3-D. I liked the Indiana Jones ride but I did not want to do it again. On the Dumbo ride, I was spinning around and going down and up and it made me bounce of my seat. It was pretty fun! We saw lots of characters at Disneyland. My favorite ones were Goofy and Mickey and Pluto. We went to the Turtle Talk show. We talked to Crush from Finding Nemo movie. I got to ask him questions. My question waswhat is your favorite color? He asked me what my favorite color was and I said silver. He made me guess and his favorite color was green but then he said purple. Katelyn was making noise so Crush called her a crying baby dolphin and said she was hungry for a Churro. My favorite ride in Disneyland was a rocket ship ride in Tomorrowland.

The Olsen cousins came to play with me yesterday and it was super fun. I wish all my cousins could come and play. I love you.

Jonathan