Christmas Eve

These are the pictures from my phone. I actually took out our REAL camera during Christmas this year - but haven't uploaded the pictures yet. I'll update with those pictures later...probably much later!

My 1st cousins (+sister).



Love her so much...



...and love that she makes me laugh, hard!



Cousins Mardi & Keli



I said "saves" when I got up and he sat in my seat anyway...look hard - Jason's under there!



My sister sticks her tongue out when she texts.



Mommy & Maddie



This was our first year with a Christmas Elf. I had never heard of this tradition until this year when we watched Elf on the Shelf! It is stressful in the same way the tooth fairy is stressful - but holy cow...it was so much fun watching our little kiddos keep an eye on our elf!!! 5 Stars for sure!


(I recommend "Christopher Pop-in-kins" at Amazon.com, if you're interested!)

And finally - this is what happens when I leave the 17 yr old and the 5 yr old alone for a few minutes!!!

Megan turns 13...Sprinkled with a little Misc

Megan had ANOTHER birthday! She turned 13 in November! She is turning into such an amazing young woman. Beautiful, smart, kind, funny...you know how a mother can go on, and on...We love you Megan!



Megan also had a great Volleyball season this year! (#12)



Jacob's basketball season has started. He has such a love for the game! Mom is doing better at not yelling as much...but only a little bit better! (Seriously, I don't know how people do it! How do you sit at a game and NOT yell something at someone???)



Ok, this guy is a complete stranger at one of Jacob's games - but if you know my dad, it's incredibly FREAKY how much this guy looks like him!! I tried to take several pictures of him with my phone (from behind Brandon) and none turned out as well as I hoped - but well enough that even my sister thought it was our dad when I texted a picture to her!



Melanie's Christmas program! (Back row, 2nd from your left)



Joseph's Christmas program! (Front row, smack in the center, blue & red stripes)



And last but not least, Joseph's Ranger of the Month assembly!

November Came & Went

Lame attempt to get the blog all caught up before the New Year...then I can do better next year, possibly...maybe...well, don't bet on it!


The Saturday following Thanksgiving we invited Brandon's extended family out for lunch and a good old fashioned visit! I believe the count was 57!



Thanksgiving Day - Shiela's extended family joined us. A much smaller count - only 25'ish or so.



Happy Thanksgiving from Cousins.



Don't blink! Meredith let Mardi within 8ft AND she smiled about it!



My mom and her girls!



Mom & Joe watching the Thanksgiving Day Parade!



Malorie (3rd from your right) receiving her Principal Pride/Student of the Month Award (I can't remember which it's called.)



Long story short - Meredith enjoying a Strawberry Belgian Waffle at Perkin's!



Meredith as Sully (Monsters Inc) for Halloween!



How cute is this? I painted them all by myself...shaky hands and all!



Melanie's Ranger of the Month assembly.



Can you tell that Gracie is the only kiddo at home now? We do a LOT together!

Grandpa = Fun Toys

The bigger kids and I spent the afternoon with Aunt Lindsay & Grandpa last weekend...and our guns! Jason's up first!



Jacob's turn. G just can't let himself get too far away! Not sure if that was for Jacob's safety, or the safety of his gun??



That's my girl! She's a natural!



In this picture Madilyn learns that when you shoot with grandpa you don't remove your plugs until you are in the car driving home! He doesn't always think to warn before he fires! Apparently you are supposed to just know!



Yes, that is MY target! Not bad for an old lady!



The sons our father never had.

Sweet 16

This year Maddie Belle turned 16! Since her birthday was on General Conference weekend - she started the day with a candle in her Costco Muffin (our traditional conference breakfast).



Mom pulls of yet another fantastic surprise! Maddie's most favorite part of Disneyland this summer was the World of Color display we saw the last night. My friend Tiphaine posted on FaceBook that her family was at Disneyland a couple of weeks before Maddie's birthday - thanks to the world of technology, Tiph and I were able to text pictures of hoodies, sizes and color back and forth until we found the perfect gift! Whew!



What birthday isn't sweet when your sister gives you a peach pie??? Mmmmmmm!

SMILE

Sometimes I impress even myself! For Maddie's 16th birthday I emailed our dentist and asked him abt timing the removal of her braces with the appointment she had just 2 days before her birthday. He was totally on board - and so was his staff! Nobody breathed a word to her - she went in totally thinking it was just a routine check up!



Our first glimps of her new smile!



Here she is! I think all of her misery paid off nicely!

BSA in the blood

What a bunch of scouts! The cousins got together to celebrate Tony's Eagle Court of Honor! Jason completed his Eagle Board of Review the same week...(more to come on that later).



A Scout is: Helpful???



Tony is about to join his Dad, Uncle Brandon, cousin Jason, (some guy I don't know), and Uncle Rick in the Eagle's Nest.

No longer wise!

Jason had his wisdom teeth removed just before school started. I'm sure now that it's been over a month ago he won't mind having his picture shared (we'll see)! :) Lots of Jell-O, soup, mashed potatoes & pudding that week!!

First Day of School 2011

And so it begins! Madilyn has a zero hour weight class so she had to leave before the bus riders.



Joseph started Kindy this year! That just leaves mom and Meredi at home during the day! Whatever will we do with our time?



Jason started his Senior Year at DPHS and his 2nd Year of Running Start. This June the boy will be holding his High School Diploma & his AA Degree! However, for pictures on this day - he was still in bed! School for him started 3 wks later.