We are the Whitney's!

Worst Blogger EVER!!

2012-01-26T10:39:00.000-08:00

Ok, so for the 1st time this year (and probably 10th time total) I am going to make a goal of blogging more often! I have really been bad about it! I didn't have a camera for a while which resulted in no pictures, but Joe got me an amazing camera for Christmas and I have no excuse rather than pure laziness! So, I am going to summarize the last four months of 2011!

September -

Joe and I had our 4th anniversary! Joe turned 27. I started going back to school, currently a student at LCSC studying Earth Science and back to work full time (I'm crazy)!! I think thats all!

October -

Halloween! The kids went at Princess Ariel and Batman! They had a great time! I did not have a camera so not a lot of pictures of Halloween!

November -

Thanksgiving! We went to my parents house in Asotin for Thanksgiving. It was awesome! Mom made a BUNCH of delicious food and we spent 3 whole nights down there enjoying good movies, company, and left overs!!

December -

I don't have many but I do have pictures from December (I'll put them on after this)!! December was a BUSY month for us! We had Christmas and Kaleb's birthday! We went to my parent's house for Christmas, it was awesome! The kids made out like bandits and Joe and I didn't do too bad ourselves!! We took the kids to the LDS Nativity Show were we got to dress up like our favorite characters and take pictures! It was soo much fun! We also took the kids to enjoy walking through the magical forest of christmas lights in Lewiston! Kaleb's birthday was big and small! We decided not to do a big celebration and instead invited some of our favorite family members over and had a great time celebrating his 6th birthday with family, oreo ice cream cake, a cheeseburger buffet (we had avocado, bacon, mushrooms, lettuce, tomato, etc) and overall it was a huge success. unfortunately I don't know how many pictures of this I have!! I was doing the food preparing and didn't get to my camera. Now I am a bad blogger and cameraman!! I will be better! Lastly, I finished my first semester back with all A's, a GPA of 4.0, and made the Presidents list (not to brag or anything)!!

Here are some pictures I do have!

ok - JUST KIDDING! Blogger won't let me upload pictures for some reason, so I will upload some more tonight if it will let me then!!! Love you!

Kaleb's FIRST day of school!

2011-11-11T11:00:00.000-08:00

So apparently I have more pictures on my computer than I thought! Kaleb started school on August 30th. He was so excited and proud! We got up, ate a big breakfast, picked out his school clothes and made sure we had his backpack and all the little items he was supposed to have! Joe stayed home from work that day so our entire family could go be apart of Kaleb's first day of school! I would be lying if I said that I was happy most of the day, I wasn't, I was sad! I just couldn't believe that my boy was already going to school! When we got to the school, we joined the crowd of proud parents taking pictures. We snapped several shots in front of his school sign with the awesome "wolverine" mascot. After a dozen or more shots he was anxious to go inside - so we put the camera away and walked through the front doors! Well almost put the camera away, I had to get a picture of him opening the doors for the first time! We sat down with all the other kids as we joined the standing parents on the other side of the foyer. The kids all looked so nervous, smiling slightly at their parents for reassurance. Kaleb was nervous but also very excited, luckily the excitement outweighed the fear and he didn't cry or fight going at all! When his teacher came to get his class and walk them to their classroom, we hugged and kissed him one last time and watched him walk down the hall. He had a moment of panic cross his face when they started leaving but we told him we'd be "right here" after school and he happily walked away. Once he was out of sight, I turned, nearly bulldozing a small child and ran to my car! I jumped in quickly and cried and cried and cried! Joe got to the car and after laughing at me but as he climbed into the car he had big tears welling up in his eyes and we just sat there looking at the school for 20 minutes. Finally we drove off, I was sad so naturally I felt creative! We went to MBS and bought 6 plants to plant next to the walk way at our home! I loved the plants but I really loved picking Kaleb up from school! He had a blast!!

New Thanksgiving Background...

2011-11-11T10:21:00.001-08:00

Ok, so a new Thanksgiving background on my blog is not exactly new posts. I made a goal of catching up my blog before Halloween and I failed miserably!! I only have 2 or 3 pics of the kids on Halloween (my little Cameron hid my camera)! I will try to get them up and the summer pics up ASAP! I am out of town this weekend but will try to upload the pics on Joe's laptop onto mine so I can do it while I am at work! Ssshhh!! :o) I WILL get these dang pictures up before the end of the year! I have too or my blog book will be all messed up!! I CAN DO IT!!

Ok, well while I am here, I do have a few pictures on my computer. I will go ahead and get "CAMERON'S SECOND SELF-HAIR CUT" out of the way!

About 3 weeks ago, I was doing homework while Kaleb was at school. Cameron was coloring at the table, the house was in order, all was well! About 30 minutes goes by and I realize the house is super quiet. I look up to see what Cameron was doing and she was gone! My heart sunk and I instantly knew what she was doing! I flew over the couch and up the stairs to her bedroom, sure enough, as I walk through her door she hides her hands behind her back. The proof lay all around her though, her beautiful hair was covering the floor. Last time she cut to her shoulders, it was heartbreaking but it was ok once we got it fixed. There was NO fixing this, she had to get it completely chopped off! When I saw it I just plopped down on her floor and started crying! I was sooooo sad! She was so proud though, she looked at me and said "I cute my hair mommy, I beautiful!" She is beautiful hair or no hair - but I prefer hair!

(And if you are asking yourself why I don't just hide the scissors - I DO! I hide them so good I can't even find them anymore! But, she somehow stumbles upon them!)

Biking the Hiawatha Trail

2011-09-29T16:35:00.000-07:00

This summer we got together with my parents, sister, uncle russ, aunt lori and cousin riley. We all met up in Spokane and headed to Look Out Pass to ride the 15 mile Hiawatha trail. We started by riding through a 2 mile pitch black, ice cold tunnel. It was awesome! The whole trail is where a railroad once was, we crossed several HUGE bridges, tunnels, and the most spectacular views! This kids loved it and did wonderful too!! Kaleb was afraid at first because of the cliffs, but ended up enjoying it greatly! Cameron loved that she got to sit back and relax!!

Cameron Turned 3!

2011-09-29T15:49:00.000-07:00

June 30th - my baby girl turned three years old! On the 30th we stayed home and celebrated with the family. We let her choose what she wanted for dinner (McDonalds) and then I came home and made her a little cake. We gave her one little present but waited for the actual party over the weekend.
The weekend of the 4th of July we went down to Asotin. We met up with mom and dad, katie, grandpa smith, uncle russ and carlos and his family. We had a delicious dinner cooked by my mom and then celebrated Cameron's birthday AGAIN with ice cream cake for Baskin Robins. Then we opened presents! She had lots and lots of presents from family that was there as well as Grandma and Grandpa Whitney in Ohio!! We had a great time with family in Asotin, ending the summer with a BBQ at Chief Timothy park and a great 4th of July fireworks show!!

Oh my!!

2011-09-27T21:07:00.000-07:00

Ok, two things -

1. My spelling in my last blog was retarded!!! How horrible! I must have been tired?!!

2. I have been the worst blogger ever this year. My goal this week is to get caught up with the following things:

* Camping trips this summer

* My vacation with my sister

* Kaleb's first day of school

* Misc. pics and stories

Then I am making a long term goal of blogging once a month (MINIMUM). I figured if I wrote it on here that I might hold myself to it!! So - here comes some new stuff!! (tomorrow! -Oh I'm horrible!!) hehe :)

Girls Day Out/Farewell Callister Family

2011-06-06T09:29:00.000-07:00

One of the members of our primary presidency, and best friends Shera Callister, moved this last weekend. Before she left town we were able to arrange an amazing day out on the town (Spokane, WA) without children!! We got up bright and early, all piled into a mini van and headed to Spokane. Once there we went shopping at the mall, at Target, ate out of The Olive Garden and the went to a session at the temple together. It was a very tearful temple trip as we all sat there truly appreciating the amazing women we were surrounded by. What a blessing to have such great friends.

(Baby Easton, Michele Applehans, Shera Callister, Halli Hemingway, Tera Stoner, Me, Debbie Blazzard)(Tear, Me, Debbie) (Michele, Shera, Halli)

(us 6 at the Spokane Temple, just after a session!)(A nice man helped us take a photo so we could get Moroni and the whole temple in the shot!)A week before she moved, we threw her family a farewell bbq. We all met at Tera's house, ate delicious food, had great company (the Stoner's, Callister's, Applehans', Leman's, Scott's, and Blazzard's), and after we ate we got to watch a beautiful slide show that Shera made for Neal (her husband) as a graduation gift. It was a beautiful insight to their life for the last 4 years of living in Troy, Idaho. I dont think any one of us girls made it through it without tears in our eyes. Afterwards, blankets and chairs were set up outside to watch "Napoleon Dynamite" in honor of the fact that they are moving to Preston, ID (where the movie was filmed). The movie was played on a projection tv outside!! It was a pretty cool set up! As I said our goodbyes, I hugged Shera in tears. Its hard to say goodbye to someone you cherish and love, but it does make it a little easier to let go when you know that they will be loved and cherished anywhere they go. We will miss you Shera!

(our outside tables to eat at!!)

(all the kids playing around the house!)

(Shera Callister + baby Madison Blazzard!!)

(some of the kids eating their food)

(Tera Stoner)

Time for FISHING!!!

2011-06-06T09:17:00.000-07:00

Now that the weather has gotten so much better, we find ourselves fishing A LOT!! We have been going out to Spring Valley almost every weekend. We have caught all four of our limits everytime and our freezer is looking beautiful with our fish supply! We are saving up to have a big fish fry with family and friends soon! What a blast it has been though - Joe and I have been catching fish left and right, the kids cant seem to stay out of the water and end up waist high every time! Grizzly has been loving it too, we throw the stick out and he plays and plays and plays in the water! AND THE BEST PART: We got to watch a bald eagle on several different occassions swoop down into the water so close to us and grab a fish! I'm assuming it is the same eagle everytime, and he is HUGE!! His wingspan has to be 6 feet or more! Its amazing, I keep telling myself to get a picture of it, but everytime he comes around I just stand there staring! I will do better to try to get a picture! But, I do get pictures of the kids and fish, here are just a few:

Cameron's....um...haircut...

2011-06-03T22:33:00.000-07:00

I have a ton of things to blog about that should come before this, but I wanted to share this sad story first. Then tomorrow or Sunday I will get to the good stuff!

Cameron was cutting some paper at the table, being a good little girl. All of the sudden, I got distracted for all of 10 seconds and she disappeared. I look up and shout "Cameron, where are you?" and a little voice from behind the couch says "I'm cutting my hair mom"! I fly over the couch, almost landing on her. She is sitting there with her little red scissors, just hacking away! There was little red hair EVERYWHERE. I stood there for a moment not knowing whether to laugh or cry. She was so proud of it, "look at my pretty hair mommy". I cleaned her up and put the scissors up.

Not more than an hour later, all of the sudden she's like "mama, I gotta go potty" and runs to the bathroom, shutting the door. I give her a few minutes, but after being too quiet I check on her. The little twirp had found my bigger black scissors and went to town AGAIN. This time much worse. I immediately called the salon and asked to get her in. We went in at 6:00 pm, she got her first unofficial and official hair cuts today, June 3rd 2011. The stylist was Darryl Murphy - and she did VERY good. She sat still while he bobbed her hair. I wanted to cry as it got shorter and shorter. My poor little boy...er...i mean, girl!
After her hair cut I took her to Claire's and let her pick out lots of little pretty bows for her hair. Hopefully that and the pretty dresses she wears will deter people from looking at her hair! I just have to keep telling myself, "it grows back, its grows back....it really will grow back!" Oh the joys of parenting!! (below is her new hair cut:)

Easter Weekend

2011-04-25T14:24:00.000-07:00

Easter weekend couldn't have been better!! The weather was AMAZING ans the sunshine was out!! We got up Saturday morning and went fishing out at Spring Valley for a while. Came home, went to Walmart, and then went BACK OUT to go fishing!! Sunday morning we woke up, checked out the Easter Bunny brought us, had an Easter egg hunt, wore our pretty clothes - then went fishing again out at Spring Valley. When we came home from fishing we had an excellent fish fry with fish, baby red potatoes, some chips and BOY WAS IT GOOD!

I should do some bragging for Kaleb really quickly - HE CAUGHT THE MOST FISH!! Of the 16 we caught, Kaleb caught 9!!! Mom/Cameron caught 2 and dad caught 5 - Go Kaleb! BUT - a not so highlighted moment - Kaleb was standing next to me, I had a pole in one hand and Cameron in the other. All the sudden I see Kaleb slowly bend forward over the dock to see something saying "hey mom look at that" and "PLOP" he went right over the edge of the dock! I threw my pole in the hand with Cameron and managed to grab Kaleb by one foot and pull him back up to the dock! He managed to get his entire head and shoulders under water when he fell. He cried at first because it scared him, then he goes "man mom, it was DARK down there!" haha...Dad did good to strip him down out of his wet clothes, wrap him in a warm coat and sat him in the car under the heater! Before too long he was begging to fish again - thats our boy!!

Grizzly Got A Bath!!

2011-04-25T14:18:00.000-07:00

Grizzly got his very first bath!! It was messy and wet mingled with hair and soap! haha...the kids LOVED IT! Afterwards though, I made the decision NOT to wash him in my master bath again. Next time he gets the good old fashioned hose! I used half a bottle of drano to get my drain unclogged - YUCK!!

Food, Fun, and Good Times

2011-04-25T13:55:00.000-07:00

Where to begin?!!! Its been a while since my last post and I have a hundred photos to filter through and try to blog. I'll try to get several done today!

So - Food and Fun - over the last few weeks we have made lots of little crafts and food projects...I will show a picture and just do a small description!! We have been having so much ooey gooey fun!!

First things first - PAINTING!! I got these great little real canvas paintings from Michaels. They had several different pictures to choose from and were only $3!! I got Cameron a little butterfly girly one and Kaleb a pirate one...Arrgh Matey! They had a blast painting - they especially loved their trash bag paint smocks I made them! haha, they say necessity is the mother of invention!! :)

The night Grandma and Grandpa Whitney came to visit we decided to make a BIG chef salad. We put cucumber, celery, lettuce, tomatoes, eggs, broccoli, cheese, and more into it! It turned out great and we made so much that we got to eat off of it for two days!! I snuck into the bathroom after slicing some eggs and cheese. This is what I cam back too!! The kids had pulled a chair up and laid claim to the food. Cameron carefully piled egg into her mouth while Kaleb not so carefully shoveled cheese into his!! You gotta love the little munchkins!
Daddy and Cameron made brownies! The first brownies Joe has made EVER in our family!!! He came home from work and was craving brownies so him and Cameron snuck into the kitchen to make some! They also snuck some into their mouths!! They turned out really really good too!! Goop!! Joy School last time had a small discussion on magic - what better way to see "magic" then corn starch goop!! We used food coloring to make purple, teal, pink, and blue goop! The kids loved it - one minute its liquid, touch it and its a solid!! I'm still getting the goop out of the lines on my dining room table! haha...but boy was it worth it to see the curiousity in the kids' eyes as it ooozed over the table and yet the could just pick it up!?! haha Amish Bread!!?! I have only ever gotten this Amish Bread or "Friendship Bread" one other time before and I didnt complete it - so this time when Michele brought me some dough I decided I was going to follow through and make this bread. I mushed and mushed my bag each day and then added the ingredients as the time came. I wish I would have gotten a picture of the finished product, it was beautiful, but eaten too fast! haha...it was SOOOOOOOO good! I passed out 3 more bags to my sister and her friends and kept one more for myself to be able to make it again! Sooo good! The kids LOVED it! It is almost like a coffee cake or something, very tender and has lots of cinnamon and sugar! Yes, good!!

Grandma & Grandpa Whitney

2011-04-25T13:27:00.000-07:00

I have no idea how they managed to come, stay with us for an entire week and still get away with only one picture each on my camera! I guess we were having too much fun doing things that pictures were forgotten!! They got here late the first night so we just talked and talked until bed time. The next day we ordered pizza and Geoff and Maria came over and we all enjoyed eachother's company. While they were here we got to get together again with the grandparents, Geoff & Maria, Claire and Grandma Dott - we went to the Super China Buffet to celebrate Grandma Dott's birthday! I cant remember how old she was turning but it was 90 something...

Then they went and got a hotel room for one night before they left so that we could go swimming (namely Kaleb, he associates them visiting with "their" pool!) They didnt want to disappoint so they got him his pool!! haha...We went and played all afternoon in the pool. It was a lot of fun (even though Cameron tried drowning - she slipped and fell in the big pool) but all was well and she still loves water!!

Oh - while they were here they got Cameron a little dress - or should I say a big dress...a big white poofy girly dress that she just loves!! Ok, I think thats the highlight of the visit and the pictures I have!!! We miss them always and wish they lived closer to have more time with them! Joe and I think they should just move to Moscow again!! :)

Oh - and one more thing - we got to go inside their old house! Its for sale and the door was unlocked so we walked through it. Its big and empty but beautiful. No wonder they all loved it so much. They had so many memories still clearly printed on the house (writings on the wall from Will, old campaining signs from Doug, etc..) it was awesome.

THE LEPRECHAUNS CAME!!

2011-03-20T22:01:00.000-07:00

What a day! On St. Patricks Day we got up early and went to the Troy Library for story hour. We listened to the "library hour book lady" (as Tanner called her) read several books about little birds and springtime! Then we made little birds by coloring a paper bird and putting it on a popcicle stick and flying it around the library. WE GOT OUR FIRST LIBRARY CARD! We, the Whitney's, finally got a library card! I let Kaleb pick our four books to celebrate! He picked three for himself and one very nice butterfly book for Cameron. We've been reading them for our bedtime stories! We will go back for story hour on Thursday and get some new books, Kaleb is LOVING this idea!

Anywho, then the kids got to go to two friends' house (Tera's and Miriam's) and got to play while Michele and I did our visiting teaching. Then we went to Michele's house and played and played and played! We were there several hours while the kids played like crazy and me and Michele ground wheat and made homemade wheat bread!

Then we came home and ate dinner and went to bed!! BUT we were the only ones asleep in our house that night!! A few little leprechauns snuck into our home and PLAYED! They made a HUGE mess! They throw our clean clothes out of our dryer all over the floor. They lost money out of their pockets ($4) and lots of coins! They also spilled a bunch of green and gold chocolate all over the floor! They played with our shoes (put Kaleb's on the TV) and even snuck upstairs and colored with green marker on the kids! Those mischevious creatures!!

These are the kids setting their traps (which unfortunately didnt catch one this year!)

This is what the house looked like the next morning!

This is what Kaleb looked like colored on!

Joy School

2011-03-20T21:48:00.000-07:00

The day before St. Patricks Day we had Joy School at our house. To keep with the fun of St. Patricks Day I planned all of our school work around the little holiday. We made leprechaun catchers (we gave them to Andrew and Tanner since we had made some different ones the week before). We made a color wheel with pain to learn the colors of the rainbow! We did some counting worksheets, and make shamrock cookies with homemade bright green frosting!! We had a lot of fun! The kids loved it and it set up some more excitement about St. Patricks Day the next day!

Kaleb made this color wheel, He did an AWESOME job!!

Our two leprechaun catchers! (Made out of oatmeal canisters!)

Our bright green homemade frosting!! Perfect for our shamrock cookies!

Cameron Rolling her dough!

Cameron using the Shamrock Cookie Cutter to make her cookie!

Cameron learned the hard way...

2011-03-20T21:38:00.000-07:00

not to jump out of grocery carts. Joe had Cameron in the cart at Walmart when she decided to stand up. He reached over to pull her back to sitting and before he could reach her she head dived out of the cart. Landed about 3 feet down onto hard concrete. It was the loudest "thwack" you've ever heard. I was an isle over when I heard Joe shout "no" once he realized he wasnt going to reach her in time. I ran around the corner and she was still in the "silent scream" - I know it must have hurt horribly. All night long we checked on her, throughout the night I went in and made sure she was still breathing while sleeping. Overall, one of the most scary things thats ever happened to us. Now she gets buckeled in and tightened up. No more squiriming out of the seat. Ugh - the worries of parenting. I didnt get any pictures of her the night it happened (I was too busy worrying to take pictures, but these are from a day later. As you can see it didn't make a HUGE lump, and the bruising didnt even get that bad. We think its because she managed to get her arms under her just enough that they took some of the shock away from her head.)

We got a PUPPY!!

2011-03-20T21:26:00.001-07:00

The Whitney family has a new member: Lord Grizzly Bear River Raider! "Grizzly" or "Gizzly Bear" for short! He is a beautiful chocolate lab. He has been a wonderful new addition to our home. He is learning quickly about potty training and kennel sleeping. He loves the side yard and gets to visit his Brother "Kody" (short for Sir Kodiak Ice Water King) often since my dad bought him!! We actually got to dog sit Kody this weekend while my parents went to Spokane. We got some pretty fun pictures, although they are not all clear as the boys didnt quit wrestling pretty much the whole time!

Grizzly and the kids are priceless! They run back and forth in the house like crazy beasts! Grizzly plays fetch as of recently and the kids have LOVED throwing his stuffed animal ducks around for him! He is a great dog! Joe is looking forward to hunting with him this year and me and the kids are looking forward to river play time this summer! Overall, we couldn't have picked a better dog to fill the shoes of our "third" child! :)

St. Patricks Day Reminder!!

2011-02-26T19:57:00.000-08:00

For those of you who were thinking about joining me in our homemade St. Patricks Day tradition, I wanted to remind you of what we did last year!

We made up a story to Kaleb about how leprechauns have to watch over the gold and rainbows all year long and that one night a year (St. Patricks Day) they get to leave their duties and go play!! Last year we created a leprechaun catcher (at Joy School, it was a decorated shoe box lid) and set it by the door. We did not catch one, but boy did they come into our house and play! When the kids woke up the house was DESTROYED! Dirty laundry was everywhere, high heels were hanging from the TV, a few dollars fell out of their pockets onto our floor, some green and gold hershey kisses were on the floor and more! Kaleb giggled ALL DAY about the mess that leprechaun made!! Hope the leprechaun makes it to your house too!! :)

Kaleb is going to be in Kindergarten!!?

2011-02-26T19:35:00.000-08:00

We recently received the information concerning Kaleb and his up and coming school year. As I looked through the registration dates and school supply lists I sat on my couch, teary eyed, wondering how it is time for school ALREADY. I just had him yesterday. Or so it feels, but indeed, it has been five years and apparently school is important - so off he will go.

Name: Kaleb Whitney

Registration Date: March 31st, 2011

School: Lena Whitmore (he is SUPER EXCITED he is going to be a Lena Whitmore Wolverine!)

First Day of School: August 31st, 2011

First day that mom really sits around and cries all day because her first born baby is growing up too fast: August 31st, 2011

KINDERGARTEN CLASS
Please label with student’s name
o 1 backpack large enough to hold 11 x 13 inch folder, shoes, snow pants, library book,
etc.
o 2 bottom pocket folders
Following supplies will be collected by the teacher and shared as a class:
o 1 boxes of tissue
o 1 box LARGE size Crayola Crayons
o 1 Pink Pearl eraser
o 1 dry erase fine tip marker – blue
o 6 Elmer glue sticks
o 1 box Crayola Washable Markers – Classic Colors
o 1 box Crayola 12 or 24 count long colored pencils
o 1 boxes regular size 24 color Crayola Crayons
o 1 set of washable watercolor paints (8 colors)
o 1 box fine tip Crayola Markers
o 1 ream white copy paper
o Hand Sanitizer
o Collage Materials: Please choose 1 or 2 items to donate for class projects – glitter,
pipe cleaners, feathers, sequins, pom-poms, foam shapes/letters, buttons, ribbon,
yarn, etc…
Extra (your choice if you would like to donate any of the below items)
o White Napkins
o Large white paper plates

Family Home Evening - The Creation

2011-02-26T19:06:00.000-08:00

I had a primary lesson to teach on the Creation this month and came up with the idea to do a visual of each step. Unfortunately both of my kids were sick and unable to attend church with me that Sunday - so I saved it and used it for Family Home Evening. This is how it went (and let me brag for a minute that the kids LOVED IT!) hehe -

The beginning - darkness

Day One - "Let there be light" (from the darkness came light)

Day Two - the firmament was created, then He separated the waters from the firmament to the earth
(at the time a big ball of water)

Day Three - The land was brought up from the seas and beautified with plants and trees and flowers of all kinds

Day Four - The Sun and Moon and Stars were created

Day Five - The creatures of the sea and air were created

Day 6 - All other creatures of life were created, the bugs, the cows, the dogs, the cats, and most importantly Adam and Eve!!

Day 7 - I had the kids sit down quietly, fold their arms, close their eyes and take a nice, deep relaxing breath "And on the seventh day, He rested".

It was a great primary lesson but we had such a good time doing it for FHE. The kids loved adding the correct pieces to the display, and now Kaleb can identify EXACTLY what happens on each day of the creation! Dang that kid is a sponge!

Cabela's Store!!!

2011-02-22T11:40:00.000-08:00

One friday afternoon we decided to go check out the Cabela's store in Post Falls - IT WAS AWESOME! Joe bought a Glock 30SF which we his VERY proud of! But the kids and I mostly loved seeing all the animals! They have a huge aquarium there with lots of big fish in it. Then the cent of the store is this "mountain" mounted with tons of animals! The kids and I walked around the mountain several times talking about all the animals, if they were dangerous, pretty, big teeth, etc...it was a blast! I love that store! And ladies - it is not just a mans store! They have great prices on girls clothing and the cutest (outdoorsy) house stuff! I got my mom and dad a little wooden wall decoration for their anniversary from there, it says "an old camper lives here, with the best flame of his life!!" Pretty awesome!!

2010 Christmas!!

2011-02-22T10:23:00.000-08:00

2010 at the Whitney house! It was AWESOME!!! My family, my parents, sister, and Uncle Russ all came to our house for Christmas. What a great time we had! Joe and I made our world famous steak and shrimp k'bobs! They were delicious and NONE were left over! haha...

The kids got to stay up about an hour later than usual, they were just too excited to go to bed. The kids and I made cookies and set out a glass of milk for Santa. Then we put the "Santa Key" on the front door so he could get inside since we dont have a chimney. Then they reluctantly went to bed after Joe read "The Night Before Christmas". And, of course, having to explain to them that Santa wont come if they are awake!

Once they were down, us adults watched a movie (I cant recall which one) and went to bed.

5:00 AM - "mom, mom, mom, mom, mom, mom, mom, mom, mom, mom, mom, mom....get up mom." I slowly rolled out of bed as the kids walked to the other side of the bed:

5:02 AM - "dad, dad, dad, dad, dad, dad, dad, dad, dad, dad, dad, dad, dad, dad, dad...get up dad." haha...Joe and I got up and sent the kids to go jump on grandma and grandpa. We all headed downstairs - OH MY GOODNESS!!! Santa came!!! And he brought A LOT of stuff with him! Kaleb's eyes grew to the size of saucers as he noticed the brand new bicycle fully assembled and waiting to be ridden! The kids woke up Uncle Russ and Katie and we began the opening!! It was a blast, they got soo much stuff!!

Kaleb - a new bike, a leapfrog with some games, a new learning letters laptop, movies, an outdoor vest with all sorts of bug catching items, a buzz lightyear snuggie, a new comfy little chair, a big buzz lightyear doll, and lots and lots more!

Cameron - a little girls dream doll set up (3 dolls, a crib, a swing, a play pen, a high chair, play bottles, and more), she got a little mechanical "lifelike" baby bear, play costume jewelery and high heals, fake make up, a learning laptop, a comfy little chair, an indoor/outdoor play tent, and much more!

After the opening of presents, came the OPENING of presents. Poor Joe and my mom sat there patiently unwiding twist ties, and biting all forms of plastic to open the items, the kids had a blast! Then I began cooking dinner! We had prime rib (cooked to perfection if I do say so myself), dinner rolls, potatoe cassarole, salad, deviled eggs, cheese cake, pumpkin pie, and more! It was DELICIOUS!

Then - Joe and I were talking about how disappointing we remembered the evening of Christmas being, because there is nothing left to "wait for", well not for another whole year - so we let the kids have a slumber party. They set up their tents in Camerons room, each made a bed in one (with a tent tunnel connecting the two) and all their toys. They were told they had to go to the bedroom at 8:00 like normal but didnt have to sleep until they passed out! And we let them play until they couldn't play anymore! At about midnight Joe and I went and checked on them, like little angels they were both tucked into their beds fast asleep!!

PHOTOS: So, I did really bad at taking photos! We were hosting and cooking and opening presents and I didnt get to taking as many pictures as I would have liked, but I did get some:

Kaleb's 5 years old!!!!

2011-02-22T10:15:00.000-08:00

MY BABY IS 5 YEARS OLD - WHAT HAPPENED?!!!!!

Kaleb turned 5 on December 31st, 2010. We had a great birthday party with 3D party decorations, delicious chocolate cake and lots of family and friends to spend it with us!

The guests were: The birthday boy, Mom, Dad, Cameron, Alicia, Jay, Addison, Aunt Katie, Grandpa & Grandma Smith, Grandpa & Grandma Zerbe, Andrew, Tanner and Chandler.

We started at 1:00 pm - everyone arrived in their winter's best bundled clothing and we headed to the hill behind our home to go sledding! It turned out to be a HUGE hit! We had several sleds, a great hill, and some wild daredevils that really liked to fly!! Kaleb got a snowboard sled from Grandpa Smith and Kaleb LOVED going down the hill with it! He did really good too! He will be very excited to know that Grandpa Smith and Daddy are taking him to the real mountain next year!!

Then after about 1.5 hours of sledding, we went over to the house, got out the snack foods, ate cake, opened presents and visited. The kids played and played and played!! Then that evening Kaleb got to stay up late, play with his toys and watch "How to Train Your Dragon" with mom and dad (and have an extre "bed time" piece of cake!) Lucky ducky!! I cant believe he's 5, I just had him yesterday :( - Oh, how time flies too fast.

Christmas Time!!!

2010-12-25T17:52:00.000-08:00

So - I brag about finding my camera and then continue to slack on getting pictures up!! Well - I will get a few up tonight and more up tomorrow! First I will start off with some pictures of our Christmas decorations and some crafts that we spent time making this year! It has been a very fun and crafty winter thus far - and the treats - OH! The treats are good!! :)

We will start with my homemade cards this year! Thanks to Michele who provided the wonderful materials for most of these!! Heres what they looked like:

Here is our Christmas tree and some of our house decorations: (the wood projects are homemade!) -

Catching Up!

2010-11-30T20:01:00.000-08:00

I should definitely start off with a loud: "I FOUND MY CAMERA!" Yay!

I wanted to get the Halloween pictures up here a while back, but I lost my camera in the move and just found it yesterday! So here are some of the things we did the week of halloween:

We had joy school and made some halloween decorations:

Then we carved pumpkins:

Then we made homemade pumpkin pie:

End of Summer Pictures...

2010-10-12T12:41:00.000-07:00

So, theres no story behind these pictures....me and my sister took the kids to the wildlife preserve behind my apartment and took some pictures on what seems like may have been the last warm day of the year!! Here they are:

WE MADE AN OFFER!!!

2010-09-27T14:25:00.000-07:00

So...we made an offer on a house!! I dont have many pictures, but a few that I will add to the end of this post! Its a 3 bedroom, 2.5 bathroom home. Two storied (all living spaces downstairs, bedrooms upstairs) and its perfect! It has a great side yard that is privacy fenced already that the kids would LOVE!! Hardwood floors, brushed nickel hardware, built in 2006 so everything is current/modern. We love it! We walk by it EVERY NIGHT on our family walks!! Here are some pics (these are from their pictures on the real estate website):

Cameron and her many faces of coloring...

2010-09-12T16:18:00.001-07:00

Joe just sort of took random pictures of Cameron coloring up at the table. Nothing is happening, but they are cute so I will post them!

Funny Faces...

2010-09-12T16:09:00.000-07:00

Really theres nothing more to say...

Dad Caught TWO Prize Fishies...

2010-09-12T15:56:00.000-07:00

Once upon a time, a daddy went fishing several times. To his dismay he did not catch anything. Then one night, far from any river, stream, or ocean he caught two prize fishies...how you ask...take a look for yourselves:

Cookies!!

2010-09-12T15:52:00.000-07:00

The Blazzards had gotten us a sugar cookie kit a while back (for Christmas I think?) and we had never gotten around to making them. Finally one day while Cameron was napping I pulled out the stuff and asked Kaleb to help me make some sugar cookies! We found some great multi sized cookie cutters and went to town! When we they were done cooking, we searched for ALL of the sprinkles and frosting we could in the house and decorated them! This was what our final product looked like:

License to Drive...

2010-09-12T15:47:00.000-07:00

Over the fourth of July weekend, our family (Me, Joe, Kaleb and Cameron) joined up with Aunt Katie, Grandma and Grandpa Smith and spent all day on the boat. In the evening we all nustled up in our seats with a blanket and watched the fireworks in Clarkston. What a view we had! They fireworks felt like they were RIGHT above our heads! The kids loved it. We spent so much time swimming, eating and playing that I really didn't get many pictures - but I got a few of Kaleb driving the boat! He had a blast! He took us all over the place, spun us around in BIG circles and figure 8's (all with Grandpa's help of course!)

Fishing, Fishing, Fishing

2010-09-12T15:34:00.000-07:00

So I feel like I have neglected to blog all summer! So much has happened! So lets start with fishing. Joe has awakened Kaleb a few times before dawn (about 4:30 am) to drive to Clarkston to climb in the boat with Grandpa and get on the morning bite for steelhead! They end up fishing from 4:30 in the morning to around 3:00 in the afternoon or later! Can you imagine a 4 year old doing ANYTHING for that long and being content? Well he is! Completely and utterly content sitting in the boat! Kaleb caught a steelhead too (with dad's help) on their last trip. Now he tells me, "mom, I need some man time, so me and dad are going to leave you girls at home and go fishing. Ok?" hahaha...How could I say no to something like that! It's really adorable! Apparently there are fish swimming in his blood too (just like dad's and grandpa's!)

Gold Mining with the Valiants!

2010-07-21T17:00:00.001-07:00

We had a service auction this Spring. Joe and I decided to auction off a gold mining adventure with the valiant boys and girls! Zachary and Gracie won for the boys and girls and were able to bring two friends each! Yes - 6 kids!! We ended up with Zachary, Colton, Isaac, Gracie, Kylie and Christian! It was a blast!

When we first got there we showed them the area, the tools, the bank we were going to be digging, and taught them a little about how to fill your holes so we can continue to gold mine in the future! Then we began to dig...and dig....and dig....after a while of digging, they kids got restless and began to explore the other side of the back road (where there is a little gimey pond!) There they found 27 snakes, 3 frogs, and 1 lizard! It was a lot of fun watching them run around with the coolest expressions of "awesomeness" on their faces! And it was a lot of fun for Joe and I when Sunday at church they all were begging us to go out again! here are some pics:

Camping in Oregon

2010-07-21T16:09:00.000-07:00

We recently decided to go camping in Oregon. It was a last minute trip, we packed for it Thursday night and decided to take off after work on Friday. One thing led to another and we just COULD not get off early that Friday! It seemed like we were NEVER going to get out of Moscow! Then finally by about 6:00 pm we had everything we needed and were headed to Oregon.

When we got to Colfax (to take a back way) Joe realized that we didnt have the map! So we ended up driving about an hour loop outside of Colfax and ended up exactly where we started! So, we ended up back tracking and heading down to Lewiston and going through Walla Walla. We drove and drove and drove. By about 1:00 am we made it to a rest stop about 30 minutes from our destination. We stopped and all slept until about 6:00 am in the car! It was cramped, but we knew that we wouldnt make camp at 1:00 am! It turned out to be much needed rest! By 6:00 am we found the most perfect spot (same one we used last time) for us, the kids, and gold mining! There we were in the middle of Heaven!

We made camp, got some food in us, and began getting the gold mining gear out! It was a blast. We stayed until Sunday evening. While there we saw a giant herd of Elk, we saw antelope's, some big bucks, a bald eagle, and two hawks had a "sky fight" right over our heads! It was AWESOME! And much to our pleasure, the evenings were not cold and none of us had problems staying warm! Also while there, we madea a "pool" out of a tub, made special s'mores sticks, sang loud songs, ate lots of fattening snacks, and had a TON of fun! Here are some pictures:

Fishing Fun!!

2010-05-29T15:18:00.000-07:00

Twice this last week we took the kids out to Spring Valley Resevoir to go finshing! It was a BLAST!! Kaleb is getting SOOOOO good at fishing, he's got a bit of his Grandpa's and daddy in him (although Kaleb hasnt fished in Belize...yet!!) He Has learned how to cast his own pole, land his own fish, and even got the fish off the hook once! It is great to see him out there getting the hang of it. I like nothing more than to hear my little man BEG to go fishing today!! :) And I know daddy loves it too!

And Cameron on the other hand, who cares nothing of fishing yet, does like to throw rocks in the water! She throws them in and then jumps for joy and claps her hands like she just did something amazing! Its pretty dang funny! She loves being outdoors and having fun so its really a win-win situation for everyone! I cant wait until the weather is a little bit nicer so that we can all really enjoy some long hours under the sun with a fishing pole in hand! (or rocks!!) Well, I have some pictures from both trips, I'll let them do all the talking! (but I will add - we caught 6 the first time, and caught 12 today)...Yahoo!!

Joy School

2010-05-19T16:50:00.000-07:00

Today was my day to teach Joy School and I just had to share the fun! We are learning about confidence uniqueness...A fun lesson. Part of each lesson has some art activity - Kaleb usually whines and cries and hates doing art activities (at least when I'm teaching!)...BUT NOT TODAY! Today, he was happily painting and coloring and drawing. He started to say "I cant" at one point and Andrew and Chandler (his friends) jumped right over to him and said "I think I can, I think I can, just like the little train, Kaleb, you can do it!" It was adorable. They cheered him on while he drew pictures until he felt comfortable doing it. My little man is getting so big! And he has great friends! Here is the painting he painted (we outlined their little bodies and then let them paint them in with water color):

The perfect weekend...

2010-05-10T11:19:00.000-07:00

Friday May 7th:

1. Went to work

2. Got a lot done - got to spend some time with my dad

3. My mother kept the kids over night for me

4. Went home, changed into pj's

5. Joe and I (kidless) went to the Applehans

6. Me and Michele drove to the church for a relief society activity

7. We had a "slumber party" thrown for mothers day assisted by the Valiant girls

8. they cooked up breakfast for dinner

9. I won a door prize for having a funny birthing story!

10. Then Tera saw me and decided that I was the "bride-to-be" and needed my names french tipped!

11. She did my nails - they turned out beautifully!

12. Then we went back to Michele's and helped Michele and Jesse pack up kits for her company "Paper Posies"

13. Then went home and went to bed

Saturday May 8th:

1. Got up early, got dressed

2. Went to McDonalds for breakfast

3. Drove to Spokane to meet up with Joe's parents

4. Hung out at the hotel with Donna and Doug for a few hours (Joe's parents)

5. Got dressed into church clothes

6. Went to the Spokane Temple

7. Had a ton of great friends and family come to join us

8. Got endowed and seal to my husband for time and all eternity

9. Cried out of joy a lot

10. Took lots of pictures with family and friends

11. Went to Timbercreek Buffet for dinner with lots of friends and family

12. Went to Asotin and picked up the kids

13. Went home and went to bed!

Sunday May 9th:

1. Its Mothers Day!!

2. Got presents: rice/veggie steamer, shiatsu neck massager, vinyl for my cricut, pink breast cancer snuggie!

3. Went to church.

4. Taught our CTR B class
5. Conducted primary closing exercises

6. Went home

7. Took a nap with my neck massager!!

8. Ate dinner, a big salad with all the fixings!

9. Got a back massage from Joe

10. Kaleb vaccuumed the floor for me!

11. Put the kids down and had some quiet mom and dad time
12. Watched a cute movie with Joe

13. Went to bed!

It was a great weekend! I feel so blessed and loved. Joe and I were so happy to see so many faces there at the temple with us as we journeyed through for our first time. And it was a blessing to us to be able to be sealed together for time and eternity with so many loving people surrounding us. Overall, I learned what the phrase "my soul delighteth" truly means.

Cameron's Boo-boo

2010-05-10T11:01:00.000-07:00

The pictures really say it all, but Cameron fell inbetween the couches a few weeks ago. She was crawling from one to the other and fell right off. We aren't certain what she hit her head on (we have big coushiny couches) but the box on my computer cord was on the floor near by, so possibly that?! Either way, we knew it was bad when she didn't make a sound. She just got up took a breath and screamed without noise. The quieter she is the more it hurt her. So we quickly picked her up and cuddled her. My poor baby girl. :(

The Circus

2010-05-10T10:37:00.000-07:00

A few weeks ago we went to Spokane to see family and purchase out temple clothes. While there I noticed a big tent in the mall parking lot in the valley. We were on our way to Target but curiousity got the best of me and I had Joe turn around to see what in the world was going on! Turns out it was the circus and the current show had just started!! So we quickly found some seats and watched it! There were dog tricks, mime shows, elephants, pig tricks, and all sorts of crazy talents!!! Kaleb and Cameron both were glued to it all! They sat there in awe just staring! Cameron LOVED the elephants!! She screamed and pointed and laughed. Kaleb "liked" the elephants so long as "we dont have to get close right mom?" :) Overall, it was a blast. I was excited to share with the kids their first, and my first, time at the circus!!

Our first planting project!!

2010-04-14T14:51:00.001-07:00

So this is probably a really bad idea as I have managed to kill EVERYTHING I have ever tried to grow, but it has been a while and me and Kaleb decided to take on some plant projects. I will keep you posted on how it goes - hopefully soon I will have goon news that we have flowers and veggies! And hopefully we will be able to get some more things planted soon!

Today at school Kaleb got to plant a veggie - he picked a radish! I have no idea why, he probably doesnt even know what a radish is?! BUT, Joe and I like them so it's perfect! And hopefully they are hardy growers! He brought it home and it is now basking in the sunlight outside.

Funny enough, while he was at school today, I went to Walmart and picked up some lily bulbs to plant! Apparently we are bitten by the spring bug! So we came home, ate lunch, then got to work. We put his plant outside, then gathered our supplies to plant our bulbs. We got a long 24 inch planters box to plant it, some potting soil, a spoon (our shovel) and some bulbs!

Kaleb did a FANTASTIC job at pouring the soil into the planter! Then we used our spoon to dig out five deep holes to put our bulbs in. Then we got out our BRAND NEW watering can and watered his radish and our lilies for the first time!! We had a messy, muddy blast!! I already want to get more planter boxes to plant more flowers, Kaleb had such a good time - we just have to do it again!!

Here are some of our pics!!

Melchizedek Priesthood....

2010-04-11T22:24:00.000-07:00

The time has come! We officially have the priesthood in our home! Joe and I are so excited, he was ordained on Easter Sunday and sustained today (April 11th)...What a blessing it is. I am so proud of him! We have so many things we want to do now! We just cant wait!

And to make an even great moment great - ALL of Joe's brothers and sister were in town to partake in the joyous moment with Joe. Which mostly, was just a bunch of us Whitney's crying! But it was great! I look back on even a year ago and cant believe we are where we are! We are lucky to have such wonderful family and friends who kept cheering us on and helped us to find our own ways. We love you!

And while I am already here - I have to tell you the funniest thing that Kaleb came up and said to Joe and I today - it was simple poetic beauty!
"Mom, Dad, do you know how much I love you?"
"oh how much?"
"I love you like the moon loves the dark, like the sun loves the day, like the stars love the night, like the cars love to drive, like the dragons love to growl, like the wind loves to blow, like the rain loves to fall, and like 10 times!"
I couldn't help but to laugh and hug him! Out of the mouths of babes!! And he drew out all the words as he said them, truly like he had spent the time to write it and practice it! He is truly the greatest little squirt in the whole wide world!!

Easter Sunday 2010!

2010-04-11T21:35:00.000-07:00

We had an amazing Easter Sunday! We woke up bright and early racing to the front door to see if the Easter bunny came! And guess what? HE DID!!! He brought Kaleb and Cameron all sorts of cool toys and chocolates! They pretty much thought their easter baskets were awesome! Kaleb got a game, cars, books, chalk, and candy! Cameron got a hammering toy, a barbie, books, and candy. They loved it!
After that portion of the morning - we headed over to the Gold Room at the Best Western to join the family for a celebration of our Grandma Dott's 90th birthday! We had a TON family there: Me, Joe, Kaleb, Cameron, Joe's sister Elizabeth, his brother Will, his brother Geoff (his wife Maria), and his brother Matt (and his wife Patricia). Joe's mom and dad (Donna & Doug) were there. And most of the grandchildren: Brett, Tyler, Christian, April (and her bf Chad), Claire, Amanda (and her husband Richard and nb son Bradley), Katie, and...I think that might be it! I am sorry if I forgot someone! We had a great feast of all the sausage, bacon, fresh fruit, eggs, and french toast you could eat! Then Grandma Dott's 5 grandchildren (Joe, Matt, Elizabeth, Will, Geoff) each stood up to tell Grandma Dott about all the reasons they loved her and the memories of her in their childhood. It was beautiful. Matt and Elizabeth did a BEAUTIFUL duet together and all the grandkids sang "I am a child of god" to her. Also very beautiful! I could hear little Kaleb loudly singing all the right words!! Then we went outside for an Easter egg hunt!

Me, Kaleb, Joe, Cameron, Will, and Elizabeth dyed about 4 dozen eggs on Saturday. Maria dyed 5 dozen eggs, so between the 5 younger grandkids there were 9 dozen eggs to find! It was blast!

We would love to take this small moment to thank Donna for getting us all together for this special day. Joe and ALL 5 of his brothers and sister had not been together at the same time in 12-14 years! It was a very special day and Donna planned it all! She got the birthday party together, the people together, etc...It was such a special day and we are all so thankful to have been able to be apart of it and spend the time together! I am just about the luckiest "junior" daughter-in-law in the whole world! We love you! xo

Run, run as fast as you can - you cant catch me, I'm a.....Leprechaun?!?!

2010-03-18T09:41:00.001-07:00

Kaleb made this great "Leprechaun catcher" at school yesterday so Joe and I decided to run with that idea. We set up the catcher and explained to him the "St. Patricks Day Myth" - Its goes sort of like this:

All year long little green, happy leprechauns create beautiful rainbows for us. And at the end of each rainbow, of course, there they are - little leprechauns and all their gold. But one day a year, on St. Patricks day, they get to leave their sacred rainbow duty and go play! They can go wherever they want. We explained to Kaleb that one would probably come into our house and play! They usually make messes but they dont mean to - they just get so excited and play so silly! And by the time their little watches tell them its time to go, they dont have time to clean up! So we took pictures of our house before we went to bed:

Then this morning - I get woken up by a screaming 4 year old bursting into my room: "Mom, get up! Get up mom!! He came, he came! He made a mess, MOM HE CAME!" haha...I secretly jumped for joy that he was happy and not terrified - we worried it could go both ways!! haha...So of course I jumped out of bed and ran with him into the living room: THIS IS WHAT THAT LEPRECHAUN DID TO OUR LIVING ROOM!!

That silly little leprechaun threw shiny green and gold chocolate candy ALL over the living room! THEN - he jumped on all the couches and knocked all the cushions right off! Then he got into our sock basket and threw socks all over the living room! He even lost a dollar and some coins out of his pocket that Kaleb got to put into his piggy bank, he got our certain stuck in the back door, made our window blinds look crazy, and stood our ottoman up on end! But Kaleb's favorite thing he did - he hung one of my high heels on the corner of the TV - Kaleb thought that was the funniest thing ever!!

Water Babies!

2010-03-18T09:28:00.000-07:00

These are just some cute pictures of the kids from last night!

Shaving Cream FUN!!

2010-03-18T09:21:00.000-07:00

We have been working with Kaleb on his letters and numbers - NOTHING has been working. So I we decided to try something new. We brought in our old table from storage and covered it with shaving cream and let him write his letters and numbers in it! Unfortunately, I don't think it helped with his numbers or letters at all - but it was a lot of fun! And this is what happens to mom - we had just cleaned up and I had gone in my room to change clothes. In runs Kaleb and Daddy with a handful of shaving cream! They both came up and gave me a nice gentle pat in the face!!! haha....Those boys are lucky I love them so much!!

The Birthday Boy...

2010-01-14T20:05:00.000-08:00

So Kaleb had one heck of a years end! First there was Christmas, then a week later his birthday, and then a week later his big birthday party!! And he got presents at all three events!! Lucky boy! So, as mentioned before, my little man is now 4. (slight crying!) My baby is getting sooo big too fast! gahhh!! It has been a blessing to raise this boy and watch him become such a strong, intelligent soul. He is so smart, and caring, and loving - he's perfect...can you tell i'm partial?!! I love him so much.

Anywho, on to the birthday party - 5 pepperoni pizzas, 1 half sheet of cake, 8 3-4 year old kids, parents, and games later - my little man had his first birthday party! A few weeks ago he came to me and said "mom, i want a party for my birthday. with presents, and cake, and transformers, and friends. Can we invite my friends?" and I melted! So, i took on the challenge of entertaining several 3-4 year old little boys (and one sweet little girl who also braved the party)!! It was a blast! The theme was transformers (who could've guessed that! haha), we had blue, yellow, and white streamers everywhere - including his doorway to his bedroom which we did while he was sleeping so he would wake up to it! We posted a mini photo gallery on the wall of pictures of Kaleb from when he was in my belly up to his current pictures! It was great!

The kids did transformers bowling - i took toiletpaper rolls and taped transformers figures to them, set them up like bowling pins at the end of a long work out mat and let them bowl! They had a blast and did so well, and the little siblings got to joing in too! Then they played pin the tail on the donkey - some were way too good, and others pretty dang funny! Kaleb had a blast. His eyes tripled in size when we started singing happy birthday to him!

All that were here in our little apartment were: The Applehans (Michele, Jesse, Andrew, Tanner), The Zerbe's (Grandpa Greg and Princess Sindy), The Smiths (Grandma & Grandpa Smith, Aunt Katie), The Huff's (Mercedes, Josh, Annika, Sammy), Chandler Blazzard (mom, Debbie and sister, Morgan came later), and friends Alicia, Addi, Eli Stoner and Sy Callister! Talk about a house full!! It was a blast though! I hope that everyone had as much fun as we did, and i hope you all know how much Kaleb loved that you all came to see him and how much he enjoys all the gifts. We love you all!

One, two, three....FOUR?!?

2010-01-04T23:48:00.001-08:00

My baby boy is FOUR. He is not really a baby anymore...he is a little boy. He is a handsome, smart, witty, clever, little boy. This makes me sad!! hehe...It went by so fast, there are still a thousand things I want to do when he is a "child" but I feel like it goes by so fast that I'm going to wake up tomorrow and he's 40...and we wont discuss what that will make me!!
Joking aside though - he is a beautiful little boy. He just started his CTR A class and really loves it. He has great friends and a great assortment of people to be around! I am thankful for the many influences he has in his life - all of you help him to be the amazing boy that he is becoming!
Well, as most of you know, his birthday is New Years Eve...but because everyone usually has their own family traditions we are celebrating it next weekend. So for now, I will tell you what we did on his actual birthday day - despite the fact that it wasnt a birthday "party", he had a great day ALL ABOUT HIM (and as he says his "four year old muscles")!!
First, we woke up and got to spend a few hours and Grandpa Greg and Princess Sindy (just for you Sindy!!) - Kaleb loved it! They brought all sorts of presents for him to open, a really cool dragon kite (which dad took him out to the park today to fly and he LOVED it!), a little gun that shoots little foam saucer things, magic coloring books, a gumball machine, a safari night light, and more! He hit the jackpot!! Not to mention, he absolutely loves playing with them so it was a perfect way to start the day!
Grandpa Greg and Princess Sindy also got Kaleb little light up sticks that could be made into bracelets! Kaleb proudly proudly made us all one - Daddy got the bright pink (slight chuckle), I got the bright orange, and Kaleb got the blue (of course!) He loved them! He made us wear them ALL day, and we did!! Dad even wore his hot pink glowing bracelet into walmart for all to see! :)
Then we went to Walmart and got Kaleb his "big boy" present!?! He got a brand new 8 inch portable DVD player! Mostly for the car because we drive SO much! So we thought it was a good gift for everyone! While dad ran in, me and Kaleb stayed in the car and were fast race car drivers! He was the main driver, but every now and then he would let me drive with my "pretend" steering wheel!Then we went to Grandma and Grandpa Smith's and had CUPCAKES!! And Kaleb did NOT have a limit - it was his choice, so I believe he had about 4 mini cupcakes and 2 regular ones before he stopped! lol...great idea for a 4 year old late at night, aye!?! BUT - the real treat for him, he got to count down his first NYC ball drop at midnight! We let him stay up until midnight and enjoy new years eve with all of us! It was a blast...right at midnight he ran over to me and gave me a big kiss, then over to grandma and gave her a big kiss! A perfect way to start off the new year!!

Santa Came to Visit Us!!

2010-01-04T22:56:00.000-08:00

Hello all! Sorry it has taken me SOO long to get this thing updated! Everytime I get on, I start messing with the backgrounds and main pictures and by the time I am satisfied, its midnight!!

So, background and picture is updated...we are happy with it - and its only 10:58 pm, which means I can get to a post!! So here goes...

CHRISTMAS!! I have never seen a better boy than Kaleb the two days following Christmas Eve! Every time we would think about doing something "naughty" he would ask me, "mom, is Santa coming soon?" and I would say, "yes, he'll be here tomorrow night" and he would go "oh, ok!" and stop whatever he was about to do!! The little stinkers learn early!!

We went to my parents house for Christmas eve. We spent it with Grandma and Grandpa Smith, Aunt Katie, Uncle Russ and all of us of course! It was a blast, Christmas Eve day we snacked and just lounged around and watched movies. We watched "The Nativity Story" before bed Christmas eve to remind us all why we have Christmas - although to Kaleb, its all about the presents!! Kaleb went down surprisingly easy that night! Although he kept telling me that he was going to wake up when Santa was here because "mom, Santa needs to talk to me". It was great!

Christmas MORNING! At around 5:00 am Kaleb was tugging at my cheek, "mom, mom, mom, mooooom, mooooooooooooooom" haha...finally I open my eyes giving him full reign to scream "SANTA CAME!" at the top of his lungs to make sure that I was awake! Joe rolled over and we grudgingly crawled out of bed. Before anybody woke up, we walked out to the tree with Kaleb - watching his eyes light up when he saw all the gifts under the tree was the highlight of the day. Nothing is greater than seeing the magic and wonder in the eyes of a child. Next we got Cameron up, who was less than enthusiastic to be up!! She nuzzled up to dad and stayed there for a while! We got everyone up and gathered in the living room for the REALLY good time to start! Around 5:20am everyone was up and gathered around as we started passing out presents. Kaleb went crazy! It was a blast seeing him tear into everything, have to open the box and see it before he could move on to the next toy to unwrap!! Cameron didnt really know what was going on at first, but once she watched brother a few times, she ran all around dragging wrapping paper here and there!

After we opened all the presents, we gathered around a few of the big ones and began tinkering away at them! Kaleb got a little "helihog" helicopter that flies by remote control. We all had a blast flying it through the air! Then as the boys cleaned up, me and mom started preparing Christmas dinner! Dad made a huge prime rib, cooked to perfection! We had delicious baby red potatoes baked in butter and seasonings (that I ate MORE than enough of!) and asparagus, and rolls, and CHEESE CAKE for dessert! It was a great dinner! The kids devoured the toys, the food, the environment! They loved it. I remember loving Christmas so much as a little kid, its just as exciting to me now, watching them take it all in. I love it! I love them!

Church Christmas Party!!

2009-12-16T21:45:00.001-08:00

Well it is that time again of all the Christmas parties, fun family times, powerful thoughts and prayers, amazing hopes and dreams, etc...at least for a gushy ball like me! Tonight we had our church Christmas party, it was a blast! Santa came and gave all the kids a bag of candy and a stuffed animal. Kaleb just about jumped out of his skin when Santa walked through the door! He literally lit up like a Christmas tree! Cameron on the other hand tried climbing over my shoulder as I held her and walked towards him...Her screaming and crying rang through the church hallways!! hehe...But they both got candy and stuffed animals from him and despite Santa, Cameron loved her little teddy bear! Kaleb got a large poo bear! They had a really good time! We sang Christmas songs, read a story about the birth of Jesus Christ, and enjoyed each other's company. It was a great party! Here are some pictures!

Christmas Time is HERE!!

2009-11-30T11:50:00.000-08:00

Yay! Our favorite time of the year is here - CHRISTMAS! We got together and decorated our house last night. It was a blast. The kids helped as well, they loved all the lights! Kaleb is talking about all the things he wants from Santa non stop, Cameron has no idea whats going on but likes the tree ornaments (or to take them and run rather)! Joe got us a classic christmas cd with all the best songs sung by folks like Dean Martin, Bing Crosby, Frank Sinatra, and Louis Armstrong! It is awesome! I love the christmas atmosphere, there is something magical about walking into a house full of christmas spirit. Christmas lights, yummy candles or scents, santa clauses, snow mans, everything just brightens the mood! Anywho, I am sure that there will be lots of opportunities to bring out the camera this December so I will keep this short and just throw up some pictures!! Once more - YAY FOR CHRISTMAS!!!

After all the wreaths, the tree, the lights, the ornaments...then we had some dinner - this is not usually a photographic moment - BUT I said "its time for prayer" and Cameron folded her arms and closed her eyes...soI had to jump up and find the camera and snap a picture - this is my littlest one getting ready for her prayer... Then after dinner - we all sat on the couch being silly...we played, jumped around, sang christmas carols, etc...It was a beautiful Sunday evening in the Whitney house. Church was great, the evening was great - and we made it to made early enough to be ready for Monday! GREAT!!!

Let it Snow, Let it Snow, Let it Snow!

2009-11-23T16:01:00.000-08:00

Last week we got our very first snow fall of the winter. It lasted about half a day, so I was unable to get out there in time to get the kids pictures in the snow! BUT - It snowed Satruday night and there was still enough to play today. So all three of us (Me, Kaleb, Cameron) dressed up in our snow gear (resembling large marshmellows!) and went out played in the snow. We made snow angels, we made "whitney family snowmen" (a daddy, mommy, big brother, and little sister snowman!) Then just had a good old fashioned snow ball fight - which consisted more of me running and Kaleb throwing!! Cameron really loved it. She would stomp through it, then stop, sit down, and shove her hands in it to her wrists! It was great watching both of them play and get a little bit more prepared for a long, cold, snowy winter!!

Here are some pics of our day today...

The Giving Tree

2009-11-18T18:23:00.000-08:00

In light of Thanksgiving and service being the main subject of both primary and joy school this month, I thought I would share one of my all time favorite Shel Silverstein masterpieces! (Not that ALL of his work isn't amazing!)

THE GIVING TREE

Shel Silverstein

Once there was a giving tree who loved a little boy.

And everyday the boy would come to play

Swinging from the branches, sleeping in the shade

Laughing all the summer’s hours away.

And so they love,

Oh, the tree was happy.

Oh, the tree was glad.

But soon the boy grew older and one day he came and said,

"Can you give me some money, tree, to buy something I’ve found?"

"I have no money," said the tree,

"Just apples, twigs and leaves."

"But you can take my apples, boy,

and sell them in the town."

And so he did and

Oh, the tree was happy.

Oh, the tree was glad.

But soon again the boy came back and he said to the tree,

"I’m now a man and I must have a house that’s all my home."

"I can’t give you a house" he said,

"The forest is my house."

"But you may cut my branches off and build yourself a home"

And so he did.

Oh, the tree was happy.

Oh, the tree was glad.

And time went by and the boy came back with sadness in his eyes.

"My life has turned so cold," he says, "and I need sunny days."

"I’ve nothing but my trunk," he says, "But you can cut it down

And build yourself a boat and sail away.

"And so he did and

Oh, the tree was happy.

Oh, the tree was glad.

And after years the boy came back, both of them were old.

"I really cannot help you if you ask for another gift."

"I’m nothing but an old stump now.

I’m sorry but I’ve nothing more to give"

"I do not need very much now, just a quiet place to rest,"

The boy, he whispered, with a weary smile.

"Well", said the tree, "An old stump is still good for that."

"Come, boy", he said, "Sit down, sit down and rest a while."

And so he did and

Oh, the trees was happy.

Oh, the tree was glad.

Trick or Treat

2009-11-11T09:56:00.001-08:00

This Halloween was fantastic. Joe and I had a great time taking our "kitties" out for a few hours, Kaleb was a tiger, Cameron was a kitty cat. They had a great time and were EXTREMELY excited to see the candy stashes they had when they were home!! We walked all around a great neighborhood. The kids loved to see all the decorations and costumes around them. Kaleb got a little scared about a few houses, but we talked him into realizing everything was just makeup and decorations! He did a great job, our big brave boy!

Joy School!!

2009-10-20T16:12:00.000-07:00

Me and three other women from my branch do a pre school program called "Joy School". Each week one mom takes two days a week to teach two lessons from the curriculum. This week is my week! Yay! It is so much fun, we are in Chapter 3: Honesty and Candor. We read some stories about how lying can affect us and others, and how it doesn't make us feel very good. We learned about words to help us express how we feel (instead of the simple sad, mad, happy). Then we made a pumpkin head and each kid got to pick between a variety of noses, eyes, and mouths to tape a face onto a real pumpkin!!

Annika ChandlerAndrewKaleb (and Annika peeking in back there!!)Then each kid got a little pumpkin head guy to color and draw in the faces. They were asked to draw in a face that showed how they felt! They all did wonderful smiling faces! Then it was snack time, and in the spirit of Halloween, we made a cup of dirt and worms and ate it!! Mmm!! Of course everybody loves gummy worms, Oreo's, and chocolate pudding though! No matter what it looks like mixed together!! After snack time, and clean up time, we started our craft project. Next week we are having a Halloween party, so I decided my craft projects were going to be decorations for the party! The kids are a little angry with my that they didnt get to take them home with them yet, but after the party - I PROMISE you can have them!!

Annika making her dainty ghost!

Chandler's Cat!Kaleb's Bat!!Andrew's Bat!It is such a great and wonderful time spent to teach these kids. All of them excel in very different areas, have such different personalities, and are just great, unique kids. I think this will prove to be a great experience for each child (and parent), both educationally and emotionally! I cant wait until Thursday to do my next lesson!

Pumpkin Time!!

2009-10-15T20:33:00.000-07:00

The other night while Joe was out fishing with my dad, me and the kids decided to go to the pumpkin patch. Grandma Smith, Aunt Katie and her friend Nick all came with us! We had so much fun! There was a "bagoon" (part badger, part racoon) that my sister was dying for me to see - as I slowly ease my way up to the cage, the ranch owner taps the cage and a large ball of fur comes flying through the top of the cage right at me!! Needless to say I screamed and grabbed the kids. Turns out that there is no such thing as a bagoon, ha-ha-ha, jokes on me!! But, it was funny once my heart started beating normal again! Then we walked all through the GIANT pumpkin patch, over to the small pumpkin patch - let the kids pick put one pumpkin each. We also got some homemade honey sticks (basically straws melted shut with honey in them) they are super good! They have regular honey, strawberry/honey, raspberry/honey, peach/honey, etc...and man they are addicting! Me and Kaleb had several of them! mmmmm! Anyhow, I did not have my camera with me, but I took some pictures with my phone...here they are!

Kaleb and Cameron

Cameron playing in hayKaleb in the hayCameron and her little sideways glare!Kaleb was trying to be patient while I took pictures!!Cameron had a blast! She found a small green pumpkin and chewed on it the whole time!Kaleb in the sea of pumpkins

Kaleb Got Bit By A Spider....

2009-09-20T17:52:00.000-07:00

Kaleb woke up Thursday morning yelling at me "mom, my bone is sticking out of my leg and its hot?!!!" Of course I jump out of bed and run into his room...to find that he has a large lump (bigger than a golf ball, smaller than a baseball) on the side of his leg. It was really swollen and really hot. I gave him some benadryl and tried to contact a nurse! By 4:30 I still had not heard from a nurse, but his bite started getting little water blisters all over it? I sort of freaked out and called Elizabeth, I told her everything that had happened....luckily, there were no "red flags" about the bite and we were told to just watch it...

Well, it is now Sunday and it looks great. It hasnt been hot since the first day, and the swelling went down altogether...it looks great and he is great! YAY!!

The picture I have isnt that great, but it does show the red spot as well as the blisters!!

Black Mail..

2009-09-08T23:47:00.000-07:00

You know all those times your parents said "You just wait"....well, it all boiled down to one defining moment for Joe and I - POOP....

Kaleb woke up about three weeks ago complaining that his room stunk. So of course we flick the light on to find this....

I am not going to lie, it was a disgusting mess! I had to take a picture of course, so you could all share in my self pity!! But, we managed to get her up, bathed, bed changed, all in a short matter of time and while not making her too angry at us. I am pretty sure she was content sleeping right where she was! What a little terd!!

Pool Accident :(

2009-09-08T23:33:00.000-07:00

Our favorite Grandpa and Grandma Whitney were up visiting from Ohio last month and they happened to get a hotel with a pool! YAY!!! We spent a few days playing in the water, splashing, and spending good, quality time with them! We really wish they lived closer, the kids really love being around them and are always so sad to learn that they are gone. They dont quite get good byes yet, so it takes them a sad day or two to realize that they are father away now then they were when they were visiting! (Got all that?! hehe)

Anywho, while on our visit to the pool we were all enjoying ourselves (Will, April, Grandpa and Grandma Whitney, Me, Kaleb, and Cameron) when all of the sudden Kaleb steps out of the pool to sit down. He makes it about two steps (he was even walking) and hit a slick spot. His feet shot backwards out from under him and he landed face first on his cheek and chin. Amazingly he cried for about 30 seconds, as soon as I mentioned it was time to go, he was like "no, mom, I'm ok, I dont want to go!!!" So he got a few more minutes of play time, then we finally had to say fairwell to the pool! Despite his little accident, we had a great time swimming! We cant wait until Grandpa and Grandma Whitney can make it back this way!! We love you guys!!

Here are some pics of Kaleb's boo boo...

Pretty in Pink!

2009-09-08T23:15:00.000-07:00

So I had a defining moment of proudness the other night - Cameron let me paint her finger and toe nails! I painted them hot pink to match her little outfit! I was so excited, she looked so dainty! Here are some pics I managed to get while they were painted! (Dont mind the fact she is eating, she pretty much is always eating - I dont know where she hides it!)

Unfortunately, she ate the nail polish off her fingers the next day but her toes are still pretty in pink!

Private Getaway!

2009-09-08T22:49:00.000-07:00

There is a small park on the backside of Moscow by a water tower. It is always empty and quiet and sits on a hillside overlooking parts of Moscow. We love this park! It is the perfect place to bring a pizza and enjoy some family time! We play on the toys, the benches, the grass...anything our goofy, silly little hearts desire! This is our small piece of moscow magic!!! (I know, its surprising there is such a place in Moscow!!) But, we love it!

The pictures are from my cell phone so some of them make the kids look digital and some seem like their heads are elongated, thats what I get for using my cell phone to take pictures!!

Pasta!

2009-09-08T22:16:00.000-07:00

We had pasta for dinner the other night and Joe managed to get the cutest pictures of Cameron once she was done eating! This is a regular occurance around our household, as she is the messiest eater IN THE WORLD!! She refuses to learn or try to use a fork or spoon, no matter how many times I give her one - she looks me square in the face, picks it up, and tosses it onto the floor! She's lucky she's so stinking cute!! Anywho, words wont do her justice so here she is!!...

Chalk Time...

2009-08-08T11:35:00.000-07:00

We had a ton of family come visit this last week. It was great! Joe's parents, Donna & Doug came to visit, as well as our neice April and Joe's brother Will and his girlfriend Rebecca! We had a lot of fun while they visited.

We had a fish fry at my parents house (with VERY fresh caught halibut from Alaska), a BBQ at East City Park, the boys went shooting and fishing, we all went swimming, etc...it was great. We were really sad to see everyone leave. We are happy that Will and Rebecca will be coming back to town at the end of August to visit again...they have a wedding to go to as well as a birthday party to attend (April's)...it will be great...

Anywho, while all the boys went shooting and the kids were just put to bed, me and April decided to play with the chalk outside. She made stick poeple of all the family visiting, and I wrote the names of the people staying with us at our house...we really are just a bunch of goof balls!!

The stick drawings are of Donna and Doug (with a rockin' motorcycle!), Me, Joe, Kaleb and Cameron, Will and Rebecca (she's the pretty dancing one), Geoff, Maria and Claire, and April and Chris!!!!! They pretty much Rock!!

While April did a fantastic job of drawing everybody...I wrote out Will, Rebecca, Kaleb, Cameron, Joe, Emily, and April on the other side of the front walkway! We had a beautiful display of family fun!

Daddy Duties!

2009-08-08T11:24:00.000-07:00

There are a lot of things that make me happy. But none more than watching Joe be the amazing father he is with the kids. I truly am blessed with such a great man, he loves being a husband and a father - and is perfect at both...what more could a girl ask for?!

He recently gave the kids a bath, I managed to get some great pictures of my three favorite people in the world!!

Okay, I admit it....

2009-07-11T14:11:00.000-07:00

So I was told a while back by several people that I should really read the Stephanie Meyers "Twilight Series" books. Joe remembering that I had mentioned something about it - ended up buying me first book in the series "Twilight". It sat on my desk for a little less than a month. One day, as Joe abandon his family for his xbox 360, I decided to pick up the book and give it a try? After all, I did like the movie. Within 2 pages I was hooked! I couldn't put it down! I fell in love with all the characters very quickly! I ended up rushing to the store at the end of each book to grab the next one in the series! I read all four books and the 5th book draft in 11 days (thats something like 2400+ pages!!) It was an amazing read. I would definately recommend them to anyone young and old. There is a little romance (well it is a love story after all), some action, great story lines and past tales, just a little of this and a little of that! The books are:

"Twilight"

"New Moon"

"Eclipse"

"Breaking Dawn"

and the 5th book's draft copy was leaked onto the internet - Stephanie Meyes decided that she would never finish and publish the book...However her website offers the draft copy to read. The 5th book "Midnight Sun" can be found at

http://www.stepheniemeyer.com/midnightsun.html

"Midnight Sun" is a repeat of the first book through Edwards eyes! The fifth book made me appreciate the movie "twilight" much more!!

Anywho, if you havent already - ENJOY!!

oh - I thought I would throw up some pictures too...this is Kaleb bored out of his mind taking pictures of mom reading her books and dad playing xbox 360!!!

4th of July!

2009-07-11T13:37:00.000-07:00

What is better than a day to celebrate the greatest country in the world! And what better way to celebrate than to come together with lots of great family and food!!

This year (as is slowly becoming a tradition) we all went to Chief Timothy park in Clarkston, Washington. We brought stuff to BBQ, swim, play in the sand (we got Kaleb a big sand castle kit with bridges, towers, shovels, the works!) and lay in the sun!! It was a GREAT day!

A happy mother - As most of my friends know already, Kaleb spent many little boy years scared of little things, one including water! My parents brought him water wings and we excited him by talking about the swimming area the entire way there! When we got there, it was the first thing he wanted to do! So Joe and I walked him down to the roped off area of the river and he jumped right in!! We didnt act scared or anything!! He was all the way to his neck in the water, he fell down at one point, and still he just kept on playing! There was another little boy he found a friend in and they played and played splashing eachother in the face and rolling over laughing! I stood in the water (standing back enough to give him his "I'm cool" distance) watching him with wide eyes and trying not to cry. I knew the day would come when he would realize things weren't really scary - but what an experience to watch my baby turning into a big boy! Gahh!

Here are some pictures!

Another Storm!

2009-07-11T13:13:00.000-07:00

The last time I took some lightning photos, I have to admit I just got lucky to get any of them! The storm was rather far off in the distant and I had to to a lot of cleaning up and blowing up to even see some of the actual lightning.

On June 19th (my birthday) we got an awesome lightning show in Spokane! It was directly above us and very close! It seemed as though the thunder was roaring through the sky before the lightning had even finished lighting up the sky! My poor friends sat patiently on the front deck with me while I "geeked" out trying to get pictures of it!!! Hehe..great friends! These are the pictures that I got:

These last two pictures were taken at 11:00 pm or later! The light is from the lightning only!! Otherwise it was pitch black!!

and some more cake!!

2009-07-01T15:45:00.000-07:00

one more!!!

more cake!!

2009-07-01T15:32:00.000-07:00

Here is some more footage!!
(again, not so great - but all these were taken on my little camera!!)

Cameron is ONE!!

2009-07-01T13:46:00.000-07:00

I can't believe that Cameron is one year old now! It feels like just yesterday I was holding my little 6 pound 5 ounce, 21 inch baby girl at 3:02 in the morning! Then all of the sudden my 18 pound, red headed, blue eyed beauty is ONE!! She is so small that its easy to forget how old she is. June 30th, her birthday was a blast! I woke her up and brought her into bed with me and Joe early in the morning, we sang happy birthday and I gave her a long back rub! Then we got brother up and sang happy birthday again! Then we got dressed and went to my parents house and hung our for the day with Katie. One my parents were off of work, they came home and we celebrated her birthday with presents, cake, and ice cream! TALK ABOUT SUGAR RUSH!!!

A year has gone by - So I thought that I would mention a little bit about her and her favorites. She has red hair, blue eyes, she is 18.2 pounds, has the whitest skin, and no teeth! She LOVES the bathtub, her brother, snuggle time, cell phones, teething on anything, food (she's a bottomless pit), cartoons, remote controls, getting in cabinets, magnets, she is enfatuated with the toilet, and she loves her mom and dad! The HATES milk (not breast), her crib (if she's tired), people eating and not sharing, when we take anything from her, etc...the usual stuff! She has the funniest little "red headed" temper tantrum scream ever! If you do something she doesnt like, you will hear it!!! She is our pride and joy. She is the greatest little girl we could have ever asked for! She is amazing! (just like her brother!!) xoxo

Here are some pictures of everyone hanging out....Me, Joe, Kaleb, Grandma Smith, Grandpa Smith, Cameron (of course), and Aunt Katie celebrated the big O-N-E!!! It was a blast, there were lots of laughs, cute faces, etc...Cameron didnt really know what was going on, but every now and then it looked like she knew that it was a special day for her!

BIRTHDAY PRESENTS!!!! She got a bracelet from her cousin Samantha, clothes and a remote control car from Grandpa & Grandma Whitney, clothes and a cell phone from her Grandpa & Grandma Smith, a nursery rhyme CD player from Aunt Katie, a singing nigh night glow worm from Kaleb, and sippy cups, clothes, snacks, and misc. toys from Mom and Dad!!!

To Kaleb's surprise a small package mixed in with sisters presents read "To Kaleb - for being so helpful with your sister and such a great big brother!" He got some foam bath letters and numbers!!

Cake tim! It was delicious! We had chocolate cake with neopolitan ice cream! Cameron ate a lot of both and was VERY VERY wound up by the time we got home! We ended up letting both the kids stay up to play before bed for about an hour!! But it was so worth it!!

CAKE FOOTAGE!!
(sorry its not the greatest but you'll get the idea!)

A big THANK YOU to Grandpa and Grandma Smith who got all the food for the birthday dinner and purchased the cake and ice cream! We had a blast!! "THANKS!!"

Alicia, Woody and Addison...

2009-07-01T12:55:00.000-07:00

So I am a doofus and the entire night that we stayed at Alicia's house I didnt get a single picture of her? I have a ton of Addi and some of Woody and Joe playing "I am man, hear me roar" in the living room!! Here are the pictures I got...(I promise I will get better ones next time Alicia!!)

Quarters Anyone?

2009-06-21T22:40:00.000-07:00

My dear sweet (slightly weird) husband drove almost all the way to Moscow like this before I realized something was "off" about him!!! Take a looksy....

btw - this is for me and you to laugh at (dont tell him these pictures are on here!!!)

Sweet Home Alabama

2009-06-21T22:21:00.000-07:00

We were very excited to spend 10 wonderful days with my grandparents and cousin visiting from Alabama! As always, they spoiled us with good meals, happy birthday cards, and lots and lots of love! I would have liked to have spent more time with them - if only we lived closer to where they were staying! But, we got several good visits in and lots of quality time! One day we will get our act together and go visit them in Alabama (one of my favorite places to visit ever!) Anywho, just wanted to share some pictures - these were taken at my parents house! xo

Grandma and Grandpa Zerbe + BBQ

2009-05-26T07:20:00.000-07:00

On the way home from camping, we decided it would be nice to go see Kaleb's Grandma and Grandpa Zerbe! The weather was great, it was fairly early in the day, so we stopped by - only to find that they were having a get together and a BBQ! How could we pass that up (especially since Sindy is an amazing cook!) From the moment we got there Kaleb was attached to Grandpa Greg's leg! They ran around in circles, playing with the dogs, eating snacks, meeting people, and being silly! Kaleb had a great time! Everyone doted on Cameron and her red hair and fair skin, saying she was just adorable! Joe and I met and mingled with everyone and just enjoyed being outside and eating amazingly good food (especially these little "poppers" - peppers with cream cheese and sausage filling!!! AWESOME) I was able to finally get some good photos of them with Kaleb, and quite a few of them! Long overdue! Here are a few...

Kaleb sitting with Grandpa

Silly faces with Grandpa!

"Smile!" with Grandma

Daddy with Grandpa's sunglasses on - "Musical Glasses!" Although, Kaleb held on to these for a long while!

Slapping game with Grandpa, YIKES!! Kaleb was excited to be there and VERY wound up! Luckily Greg and Sindy have the energy to keep up!! Espeecially Greg, he is a big kid himself!!

Silly Faces! (Kaleb took these pictures!)

Kaleb helping in the kitchen

Grandma and Kaleb racing to the creek to throw the ball in for the dogs!

Kaleb outside by the grill (and Grandpa!)

1st of Many!

2009-05-25T22:57:00.000-07:00

Well we have officially started off our summer of camping! As always our annual summer kickoff camping trip was a blast! We headed up to Sprague Lake for a fun weekend of camping, fishing, smores, tanning (burning), and good old fashioned fun! It was a blast! Me, Joe, Kaleb, Cameron, Katie, Dad, Mom, Grandpa Smith, Uncle Russ, Aunt Lori and Riley all made it up to spend time together and play games (we even got Grandpa to play pickle ball!!) Although the fishing was slow, we spent many hours on the boat trolling and managed to catch a few very nice sized rainbow trout! Both kids had a blast, Cameron ate lots of goodies and Kaleb enjoyed fishing, Grandma, treats, Grandma, the sunshine, Grandma, no naps, and GRANDMA!!! hehe...here are some pictures... (I will get more up later but its late and I gotta get to bed!)

OH! And Kaleb learned the joy of painting rocks this weekend! I have an awesome selection of ladybug rocks he painted for me!! Aunt Lori brought all the stuff and showed him how to do it! I remember when I was a kid and she would let me paint rocks with her!!! It was great!

Thunderstorms!!

2009-05-19T21:47:00.000-07:00

Monday night we had an incredible thunderstorm come through Troy! Joe and I loaded the kids up in the car to watch "God's fireworks"! We took the opportunity to explain the lightning and thunder to Kaleb. To teach him of the beauty as well as the dangers of lightning. We ended up seeing one of the most amazing lightning shows I have ever seen! I had my digital camera (so the photos arent spectacular) and we were able to record some footage that I was able to extract some photos from! Here they are...

Potty Trained!

2009-05-18T12:26:00.000-07:00

So it has been a little while - he hasnt had a pull up on in a little over a month! He has done so good - so long as he has boxer briefs "just like my daddy" he says with a huge smile! It is AWESOME to be down to one child in diapers and one that takes care of his own business!! I really really appreciate having only one child in diapers now, so does our bank account!! lol....

Well, being potty trained is awesome - but we recently encountered a problem that we really never thought about?! On our way back from collections the other night, our ever patient Kaleb pipes up say "Mom, I gotta go peeeeee"! Me and Joe in a slight panic, on the middle of the little highway, still 12 miles from home, find the nearest side road and explain to Kaleb that sometimes its ok to pee outside!! lol....

Here is how it went:

He knows he makes his daddy soooo proud!

Kaleb says "OUCH"

2009-05-18T12:04:00.000-07:00

I am begining to think that Kaleb is my "aware" child gone "accident" child. Just last year he was so aware of his surroundings. Scared of everything that could or seemed like it could cause him potential danger/harm! He seemed so calculated in his stepping, how he held things, how he played, all trying to make sure nothing hurt him! But I think that we can officially say that that phase is over - because now, he trips, stumbles, falls, and runs into everything!!!! Sometimes on purpose, sometimes on accident! lol...I have always scrapped his little "boo boo's" with funny little notes commenting on them, and this is no different:

A couple days ago, Kaleb and his little friend Sy were outside playing. Sy is a little younger than Kaleb but he is very unafraid and Kaleb tries his best to keep up. Sy and Kaleb were walking on this little (maybe 12 inch) cement curb by the end of our yard (not in the road!) like a balance beam! Next thing I know I see Sy jump off and roll down the hill into the yard, Kaleb went to do the same and caughthis flip flop on the ledge and ran his shin down the whole curb. :( He got up quickly and seemed ok, but when he looked down to see how his leg was, he lost it! He started crying and running/limping over to me, screaming he hurt himself. I have to admit, of all the boo boo's this one was the hardest to see him get. He had the most pitiful look on his face and was so concerned that he just got his first "big boy boo boo". I picked him up and carried him to the couch to rest his battle wound! I bent over and spoke to Kaleb trying to make a bad moment for him a little better. Once I had him giggling, I ran to get my camera to take a picture of him! Here is the boo boo:

Sunshine!!

2009-05-15T21:45:00.000-07:00

Today was absolutely beautiful! We had what felt like 70 degree weather with a nice little cool breeze, it felt wonderful! Me and Kaleb both woke up with the itch to be outside, so we loaded up at about 8:00 this morning and headed into Moscow to play at the East City Park. We played there for a few hours then came home. Once we were home, we still didnt want to waste the beautiful weather so we set a blanket down in the side yard, and soaked up the sun. Kaleb loved it, he explored the yard and surrounding areas while Cameron and I played on the blanket! We finally came inside at 3:30 in the afternoon! A nice long day outside! It is nice, Kaleb loves being outside, and it seems as though Cameron is most happy under the sun! Here are some pictures of our outting today!

Mother's Day!

2009-05-13T09:24:00.000-07:00

So I forgot my camera so I dont have any pictures, but I thought I would still write a little bit about my wonderful mothers day. First, this sounds kind of funny (especially for Joe) but he got me an orbital sander! I know, most of you are thinking, "he got her a power tool for mothers day?" hehe...BUT - I needed it for my wood crafts! I kept borrowing Michele and Jesse's! He also got me some new scrapbooking papers and items. Once he gave me these, we got up and got the kids dressed for church. Church was great, we had great speakers, and then the young men gave all the mothers flowers! During primary we had all the mothers come in and the jr and sr primary sang a couple mothers day songs to their moms! It was adorable! Then, after church we took two loafs of bread (the last of our bread!) and drove down to Asotin, Wa. We went a little park where we came across 6 mother/father geese, and about 50 goslings! Me, Joe, and Kaleb (cameron watched from a blanket) threw bread at them until it was gone. Some were very brave and would get closer and closer, but most of them stayed about 6 feet away at all times! It was neat to see the mothers "honk" at the other geese when they tried to beat the little ones to the bread! Good mothers! Then we met up with my parents. Joe gave me his big pouty lipped, blue eyed sad face as he said "Em, can I go fishing with your dad? Please, but i wont if you dont want me to..but i - well i want to, if you will let me." hehe...So him and my dad went fishing for a little bit while Me, Mom, Cameron, Kaleb, and Katie went to the other park to play on the toys! It was nice, letting the kids play...as I watched them I thought, those two little children are what makes me who I am...I am not just a mother, I am their mother and I am so thankful for that. Then we went back to my parents house for some dinner. After dinner I gave my mother her presents: 5-6 new frames for her new house (and an IOU for some pictures of the kids), the movie: Australia (see it if you havent, its great), and the perfume "Halle" by Halle Berry. She loved it all! Then we watched "The Curious Case of Benjamine Button" and I must say it was not the ideal way to end mothers day! I cried and cried and cried at the end, I could hardly breathe! But, that aside, it was a great movie, very well done, the CG in it is amazing! Then we drove home and crawled into bed at about 1:00 am.

THEN....

Just when I though Joe was done - he cleaned the house, did the dishes, and did all the laundry! I couldn't believe it! He knows me all too well! I am one of those people that could do without gifts..I love it when he offers to help me with the house or kids!!! I love breaks! OH...and also, Monday night - I got an awesome long back rub! I am the luckiest woman in the world! :)

Storm Drive...

2009-05-06T22:09:00.000-07:00

Earlier today there was a beautiful rainstorm moving through town. I say it was beautiful because the clouds where thick, the rain was hard, and the sky was the most beautiful mixture of blues, greens, browns, oranges, and blacks. So we decided to go for a drive, just get out of the stuffy house. We headed out of Troy, towards Deary, then on through to Helmer, and on still to Bovil. On our way back (just past Bovil) Joe turned onto a small dirt road and said he had a suprise for me. We seemed to go back further and further, through extremely thick forest! Then it opened up to the most beautiful two lakes. He said they were called the "blue lagoons". The kids were sleeping so we stepped outside (the rain had stopped) and once outside, we witnessed what has to be one of the most beautiful views on the planet. Joe summed it up quite nicely "if anyone ever questioned a higher power, they haven't seen this". I didnt have my camera with me, although I dont think a picture would have done it justice. To start off, the green fields and pine trees were so green it looked as though they had been brushed with a light green highlighter. It almost looked fake, like out of a fantasy movie! And the sunlight shining down seemed to shine on everything with a delicate ray, bringing life to everything it touched. Then we looked to the sky, we had made it to the storm front, to the east was beautiful crystal clear blue sky. To the north and south was the richest blue (almost aquamarine) sky you'd ever seen. It carried directly over us to a dark black/blue color. But to the west was the most beautiful array of clouds. They were light brown and looked as though someone had taken the time to hand paint giant pillows of perfectly smooth block shaped clouds. I dont really know how to explain the shape, I have never seen clouds like this before - they beat out the sky in Montgomery Alabama in 2000 when 5 tornado's surrounded the city we were in. It was beautiful. Joe and I just stood there looking all around in awe. There was even the remains of a vibrant rainbow to the north. BEAUTIFUL. And the lakes, they were this deep bright green color, stirred up from the rain, they just seemed to come alive. I wish everyone could have been there to see this. Then on the way home, not that this view wasnt enough already, we came across a wide variety of animals. We say several herds of deer (mulies and white tails), a little bunny rabbit, an otter (which I thought was so neat, I made Joe stop the car and watch it swim across the lake), a blue heron, an owl, a hawk, and a herd of 53 elk. What an amazing drive! Sometimes its hard to believe there could ever be somewhere more beautiful than this little town we call home.

An Afternoon at the Park!

2009-04-16T21:52:00.000-07:00

The weather has been soooo beautiful lately that we had to take advantage of it! We took Cameron and Kaleb into Moscow to play at the park (the one by the water tower thing?!) Anywho, the kids absolutely loved it! Cameron got to enjoy her first swing and she thought is was so cool! Kaleb went down the slide a few times but found his heart content in the little train they had! It was cool, it had a bell and a "thing" that made choo choo sounds (this little stick thing?!!) I dont know, toys are so much more than they were when I was playing at the park! Well, I had my phone on me so I was able to catch some pretty good photos of the kids playing. Enjoy!!

EASTER!!!!

2009-04-12T22:09:00.000-07:00

Being married we learn to take family traditions from both sides of the union, as well as the creative fun of making up our own traditions. Easter is no exception. Last night before bed we explained to Kaleb the reason for Easter one last time (we knew it would be pointless once candy was in front of him). Then we told him to go to bed so that the Easter bunny could come bring him a basket of candy and toys! When he woke up in the morning he came into our room and woke us up (although we were already awake and had already taken care of the baskets!)...We went into the living room and watched as Kaleb tried and tried to get the front door open - he just knew that there was something special on the other side. Finally, VICTORY! The door swung open and sure enough there were two baskets sitting there for him and his sister. We brought them in and slowly went through them! They both took to their toys with great enthusiasm! Kaleb got a pair of flip flops, some cool sunglasses, some swimming trunks, some matchbox cars, a "go diego go" bathrub bike, and some candy! Cameron got a big chain of links in all sorts of different colors, some had animals on them, others had different textures. She got a book with chew tabs and crinkle pages, squeeky pages, and fuzzy pages! She also got these three animal boxes that fit inside one another that make different sqeeky noises and textures...and candy of course, for me and Joe to eat! We had to limit Kaleb to 4 pieces of candy as we still had to go to church and a sugar crash wouldnt be fun! Then we dressed in our best for church! When we got home from church we (me and Joe) changed clothes real quick and then headed down to my parents to celebrate an Easter dinner with them. It was a lot of fun. On the way to my parents, Joe and I stopped by the building where we had our ring ceremony after our wedding and took some pictures of the kids!It was a beautiful day, full of love and beauty. A real reminder as to why we are striving for the blessing we are, no matter the struggles or temptations...at the end of the day our eternal family is the greatest choice of all.

Troy Branch Easter Activity

2009-04-12T21:45:00.000-07:00

This Saturday the primary presidency put on an Easter activity for the Troy branch. We started off the activity with some visiting with friends and family and getting things ready! The kids gathered around on the floor and anxiously awaited the Easter story! Mercedes (Sister Huff) then used props, the scriptures, and pictures to tell the story of Easter and help the children get a good understanding of the importance the resurrection - hopefully they were able to walk away with a good understanding (or at least a better one) of why we celebrate Easter and how great its importance is to us! Easter is one of my favorite holidays and it is such a great time to reflect on our lives and really think about how blessed we are to know that we will be together forever!

THEN...we all went outside and had an Easter egg hunt. The little ones went out to one side of the yard, and the bigger kids went to the other. It was great fun to watch them scurry around picking up all the eggs and anxiously opening them to see what candy they got!! It was a lot of fun!Silly little Kaleb only went after the blue eggs, rushing around to beat anyone to them!! He didnt end up with a lot of eggs, but they WERE blue!! We had a great Saturday.

We continued to have a great day once we left the church. Afterwards we drove into Moscow and picked up the movie "Underdog" and watched it together as a family that evening. If you haven't seen it yet, you should! It was a great family movie and Kaleb was GLUED to the TV as we watched it! Then we all went to bed, afterall, the Easter bunny was coming in the morning!

PaNcAkEs!!!

2009-04-01T14:03:00.000-07:00

I woke up this fine morning and decided I needed to cook the kids a giant plate of pancakes! As I finished up, I placed Cameron in her high chair excited to give her her first taste of awesome! I cut them up nice and small and put them on her high chair! Kaleb and I sat next to her at the table eating our own food. Only a short while later she was screaming in a frantic manner something that sounded like "I want more"!! So I cut up one more and put it on her table. Kaleb and I went back to eating and talking about Yo Gabba Gabba on nickelodeon having Jack Black as a guest star?!! THEN, the frantic screaming again "more!"...After 3 pancakes, she was finally ready to be done! Kaleb and I ate the other 10 pancakes!!! YIKES! No wonder the pounds keep coming! hehe

2 Boys and a Blue Marker!!

2009-04-01T13:36:00.000-07:00

Me and Michele are scrapbooking away last monday. Good conversation, lots of laughs, struggling to come up with ideas, glue here and there, ribbon, pictures, etc....and two quiet boys both ------Wait a minute, 2 quiet boys?? Riiiight, whats going on you ask? hehe...they found a blue marker and went to town. Luckily the walls, tables, etc...were untouched. Everything was in tip top shape, so what did they color on? Hmmm...lets see:

Rub A Dub Dub Cameron in the Tub!!

2009-04-01T13:29:00.000-07:00

The other night we were giving Cameron a bath and she was sooooo cute we had to take some pictures! She is the funniest little {fish} girl I have ever seen in the tub! She splashes, stands up and down and up and down, tries to eat it of course, and sometimes just stares at it in wonder! Here are the pics...

Vinyl Crafts...

2009-03-22T17:26:00.001-07:00

When I first got my cricut machine, I had NO IDEA I could cut vinyl! Thank goodness for the early morning infomercials! I saw one at about 2:00 am on the cricut machine and all the AWESOME things it could do, including cutting vinyl! I have done quite a few different projects, here are a few! (some are in my house, some are crafts I made for family, etc....)

I made two of these, one for my parents and one for my grandpa Smith in Spokane. They turned out really well (thanks to Joe's good eye for a straight line!)
This is in my bathroom! We have a fairly good sized bathroom for our litte apartment so I wanted to add something to break up all the WHITE! I really liked this, I think it gives our bathroom the perfect little amount of charm!! Another little quote I almost used was "We aim to keep our bathroom clean. Your aim would help!" Perfect while having a little man learning to aim! But it was too long and I didnt have the patience at that moment!!
This is Kaleb's room, he asked if he could have some stars! I cut them out pulled the backing off and said have fun! He has a cute little banner around his bed! Luckily he did a pretty good job and I only had to fix and replace a few!

When you walk into our apartment there is a white wall that seems to be the first place your eyes go to, so I filled it with something important to us! "Families are Forever" perhaps to remind us of the great blessings we are striving for.
Well, this I thought was just a funny quote for the kitchen!! He he...I must admit, it fits our family/kitchen well! :)

I will add some more later!

My First Calling

2009-03-22T16:46:00.000-07:00

I have been meaning to mention this - I have a calling! This may sound kind of lame to some, but I have never had a calling and I am very thankful to have one now. I always wanted a calling in Primary so I am happy to say it is primary secretary! It is a lot of fun and the women in the presidency with me are wonderful ladies and I am greatful to work with them. It is nice (as a stay at home mom) to be given tasks that can allow me to be a little creative!

Kaleb is a little sunbeam too so as soon as Joe and I are done with our temple prep class I will be able to see him participate in Primary sharing time and singing! It has been a blast learning all the little songs and practicing them with Kaleb. He is learning so much! Joe has been very very very understanding with me as well as I make papers and prepare projects by laying them out all over the floor (messes on top of messes)! I love him to much! I am thankful for the opportunity and feel very blessed that I have been surrounded by such great and understanding women. And branch, they are all wonderful! What an amazing difference it makes when coming back to the church to really feel love from the family within. Blessings come in all different shapes and sizes, silent and loud! We love you!

My Pringles..

2009-03-18T20:38:00.000-07:00

Things moms have to do to get our kids to share!

"Hi Kaleb, can I have a pringle?" Mom asks nicely.

"NO you cannot mom, they are mine!" says the little terd (Kaleb)

"Excuse me?" Mom says. "I cant have one?"

"Nope, Dad said these ones were mine!" He says proudly

Mom begins to cry (pretending of course!!)

"Oh Mom! Don't cry, I will give you one. I will!"

Mom gets the pringles!!!! Muah ha ha!!

Mohawk!

2009-03-18T19:39:00.000-07:00

After Camerons bath we decided to play with her hair a little. She doesnt have enough to really do much, so I decided I have to play with it however I can!! Mohawk it is!! She was great sport and let me comb it without getting angry at all! She is getting so much personality and is so beautiful, I cant believe me and Joe did such a good job!!!! (mostly me) hehe

Grandpa & Grandma Whitney's Outfit

2009-03-18T19:28:00.000-07:00

We had this box in the post office forever and when we finally got it, it was awesome little gifts for Kaleb and Cameron from Grandpa & Grandma Whitney. Kaleb got this cool transformers hat with gloves. Cameron got a little pink and white outfit. I haven't gotten any pictures of Kaleb in his cool stuff, but I did manage to remember to take some picture of Cameron the last time she wore her outfit. She wore it to church last Sunday!! Enjoy!

Lysol vs Kaleb

2009-03-18T00:08:00.000-07:00

So yesterday Kaleb decided to throw on his angry face and fight the lysol spray. Unfortunately I think that the lysol won. About 10 minutes after I told Kaleb "do NOT play with the spray bottle" comes a cry of sheer pain and begging for mercy! Kaleb decided he was going to disobey his mother and spray the walls, which somehow ended up being his face?! He will learn one day that his mother is usually right and has reasons for things!

He is ok now, but I think we scared him pretty good when we held him down to put drops in his eyes. Poor little man, next time I think he will pick on something his own size! xo

Mobile...

2009-02-21T21:56:00.000-08:00

Not that its a BRAND new thing - she has been getting around by rolling and such for a few weeks - but she hasn't started full on crawling yet. She can crawl for a second or two and then she is back to the belly! Or she tries to get on her feet!? Doc said she's got some red ear drums and has her on amoxicillin, but she has been very happy and cheerful against the odds! Kaleb was sick as well, but his cold is starting to go away (other than the never ending faucet he calls his nose!) but that too is getting a little better! Other than that, all is well! xo

Sorry if its a little shaky, its a little digital camera I'm recording on and its not always the best footage!! hehe...we do what we have to!

If Only, If Only...

2009-02-16T23:40:00.001-08:00

If only there were two of me...

Kaleb has recently discovered he can open the front door, he's been opening doors forever but he never seemed to care much for the front door until now. Cameron found out that she loves to hide under things like the coffee table?! So what happens when mom goes to the bathroom, grabs a drink out of the fridge, steps away to grab something, etc...THEY GO MISSING!!! My children are out to make me go gray before my time!! And this is supposed to be the easy time - I thought gray hair came in their teens!! hehe...Oh well, I will have to sleep with one eye open (little boogers what even know I was looking!) hehe...I love my crazy little babies!!

Puffs and Play Time!

2009-02-10T12:42:00.001-08:00

Cameron is getting so big so fast! I can hardly believe it! recently I left the kids home with Joe while I went to work and he took some pretty cute pictures! First we have Cameron in her highchair for the first time! She is munching down on some fruit puffs!! She really loves them!
She also loves her play time! The floor is her playground! She is getting soooo close to crawling, she can get up on all fours! Now she just needs to learn how to move her arms and legs!! hehe...But she is giving it great effort and will have it down soon! xoxo

I Can Dress Myself!

2009-02-10T12:31:00.000-08:00

Kaleb is at the point in his life where he is capable of doing EVERYTHING by himself! Usually it is a good thing, he can pick up his own toys, clean his room, get his own thing out of the fridge, put on his own shoes, etc...But occassionally is it a GREAT thing - he can dress himself! Nothing is more precious than seeing him walk in the room fresh, pressed and ready to go in the silliest outfits ever! Here are just a few:

That Darn Cat...

2009-02-10T12:22:00.000-08:00

Poor Joe was given the task of keeping the cat occupied while I put Cameron in her bed so that the cat didn't get in the room with her. Sure enough, as soon as I walked into the room the cat bolts towards me - Joe reached out to try to stop her and got scratched. Turned out to be more of a single puncture..hitting the vein and slowly filling a pocket of blood underneath the surface of his skin! CRAZY!! But the cat did not get in the room with Cameron! Instead she got the outside treatment - and it was COLD!! Joe still is planning the many ways to make that kitty "dissappear!" But you didnt hear that from me!! hehe...

Superbowl XLIII

2009-02-02T20:50:00.001-08:00

Whoo hoo its that time again! Cardinals and Steelers...what a shame those dang Steelers won, but it was a good game!

We had a full house this year: Grandpa Smith, Aunt Lori, Riley, Uncle Russ, Mom, Dad, Katie, Conner, Me, Joe, Kaleb, and Cameron!

We took lots of pictures, ate lots of good food, goofed off, and enjoyed good company. It has been a while since we have all gotten together to do anything! I really enjoyed it! We were all split in who we wanted to win!

Well sort of...Katie, Connor, my mother, and yes I hate to admit this but my own husband (the traitor) was going for the Steelers.

The rest of us were for the Cardinals. I just wish I could be the one bragging right now! Nothing is worse that your most despised team winning! I have to admit I hold a grudge from the Steelers-Seahawks game (as I am an avid Seahawks fan!). But its ok!? Here are some pics...

We really did have a great time! Between the AWESOME food, good company, loud screaming and shouting, it was a really fun experience (as it usually is)...

Uncle Russ pretty much took over Cameron holding and loving on her the entire time!

Riley kept Kaleb pretty much preoccupied the whole time playing with a batman mask and guns!

Me, Connor, and Katie took lots of pictures and goofed off!

Joe watched the game ignoring me as I continuously snapped 100's of photos throughout the game!

I was actually kind of sad to see it end as we all prepared to go our separate ways :( Hopefully we will have many more events in the future to spend the quality time together!

Love you all!

Splish Splash...

2009-02-02T20:42:00.000-08:00

"splish splash were taking a bath!!"

Kaleb and I had a great time taking pictures of his awesome hair in the bathtub and I thought we should share to coolness!! Enjoy!