{Our Girl is 3}

Here is our 'I Want Fabulous' girl! Grandma dolled her up with the glasses and accessories (purse, feather boa, fancy nancy tutu-more pics of that coming!) But here she is the night before her third bday.

Ashtyn loved opening up her presents all by herself; very carefully! Grandma wrapped everything for her so fancy and girlie. She loved it! And she couldn't wait to dress up!


Here she is in her new Cinderella dress up clothes (too bad those were the shoes that broke when she was dancing & stomping so hard on our tile floors, it broke right in half!) Dad got her a Sleeping Beauty make-up set with earrings, necklace, glitter hair gel; and Ash was wearing it all.

The Castle cake!

...and of course, it was pink inside too! Strawberry cake and strawberry ice cream.

We loved having everyone over for Taco, Taco Soup & Cake. It was good to see Caitlyn and get to know her hubbie Matt more! And we always love having Aunt Pam & Uncle Joe with cousins Zachy & CP over...Harley was in AZ playing soccer, but we know she was thinking of Ashtyn!
Happy, happy birthday Ash! We love how you keep us laughing and entertained with all your singing and dancing! Our favorite right now is when she gets in trouble, and Ash will you, "You not being nice to me!"

Guess who's a brace face?

Yes, we're already paying for braces. Here's our cutie patootie looking like a teenager in his new braces! Beautiful smile Hayden. (Of course, it couldn't last long. The second night of having them, Hayden & Jantz bonk heads and are both in tears. I rush downstairs to find Jantz with the top of his head sliced open, and Hayden's top brace popped off. All Jantz can think about is if he's gonna have to pay for Hayden's braces to be fixed. Guess we enforce the 'you break it, you pay for it' theory a little too harsh sometimes :) They both survived.

Bowling Over with Laughs

Over the Christmas break, we took the kids bowling finally. They'd been beggin for weeks, and we hurried over one morning before it got too busy. We didn't want their balls rolling into other lanes, and only one of us fell down over the line landing on her bum (no, not me, but poor Ash was running after her ball and those slick bowling shoes didn't hold her up once she crossed the line. Down she went in one quick swoosh-she didn't know what to think. Hmmm, maybe I should obey my mom & dad). Needless to say, we had many laughs that day; especially at my bowling score!

Stylin' in the bowling shoes! Even Ashtyn wore them when they weren't in pink. Must've been a good color for her though, since she's the one who kept getting strikes! I'm using the bumpers and kiddie rolling thing next time! The boys loved it, and Ash just loved her ICEE and playing with the pretty bowling balls.

We definately should've done boys against girls...at least we got the last of the tator tots.

Christmas Celebration

OK, I better hurry and post some pics so my family can see. We spent the holidays away from them, and it was hard but we had the better end of the deal with having the kids excitement to see. Grandma and Papa had just the older 'kids' to watch open gifts, and their excitement wasn't much to get up for Christmas morning (sorry Amy & Kelly). I know you missed Hayden's waking us up at 1:00 A.M. when he saw Santa had brought Ashtyn a kitchen, so he has to go in and wake her. Then we make her go back to bed and her screams wake us all up (poor Uncle Randy had only been asleep for a few minutes anyways!) So glad you were with us though!! Even Indi was glad too!

Thanks everyone as always for spoiling the kids (and showing up mom & dad with your presents). Somehow, your gifts are far better than shirts and socks-NATHAN! Not to say I don't love meat grinders either!


We also got to act out the nativity the best we could on Christmas Eve, and then spent Christmas Day rocking out with Aunt Pam, Uncle Joe, Harley, Zach, and CP. Getting stuck in the fresh snow was fun too when we went sledding, but I was too cold to take pics then! Thanks for the memories Nath and pulling our car out Spiers!

December Snow

We've been spoiled with a real Fall this year, and the snow has been just piling up and waiting to fall out of the clouds I guess, 'cuz this week we got pounded with 3 storms in a row! Luckily, it came Monday morning, our first day of Christmas break. So, we didn't have to drive in it (although I had made a trip to Toys 'R Us at 6 a.m. and I beat the storm by minutes!!) The kids are enjoying it and ready to get all the snow gear on. I'm not ready for the sore back though...you can see the shoveling was tiring as it goes up to the top of the mailbox behind Hayden (no, you can't see it because it's covered in snow!) More coming!

So, here we are enjoying the foot or more of fresh snow right before Christmas. It came so fast that we could only get up our street with four wheelers (and the neighbors all came out to help push everyone home into their driveways while the ladies shoveled the driveways). Glad Nath and I got our Christmas early so I could deliver goodies without getting the jeep stuck-like it would get stuck. That's only when Nathan's driving! We had to make a path for Indi...the snow was as tall as she was.

Indiana Hayden's Birthday Crusade

The day was finally here for the adventure. Hayden's 10th birthday was celebrated in Indiana Jones style!! All was set up for our Egypt, India, China, and Peru destinations as they boys set out in search of the Holy Grail and treasures gallore! Hayden donned his outfit and awaited his guests out front...

Here is where it began; Dr. Jones's office. The brave boys received their adventure bag for collecting loot, and a compass to help them lead the way. The first clue was to be unraveled (from a roll of toilet paper) as the searched for where mummies knew best .What a brave bunch as they raced to be mummified, shoot darts at evil villians, and dig through monkey brains for the most eyeballs.

Then came a feast of monkey brains and racing boulders, alligator eyes, poisonous drinks (with antidotes of course) and chocolate covered beetles...or what was left of the chocolate covered raisins. Ashtyn thought she'd be nice and share them with our dog Indi...who was throwing up chocolate covered 'beetles' all night long through the party. After feasting, the boys practiced their whip skills...and started to get chilled!

Lastly, with torches in hand, the boys brave the spider cave and snake pit for the last clues. One by one, they searched the cave for the 'grail' and retrieved a ruby spider for safe keeping. Later the boys disclosed how spooky the cave really was; saying they heard things moving around in there too!

And of course, Indi's favorite; a diamond back snake cake that was pink inside so when cut open it was like a real snake. We sure love Hayden and are so proud of who he's becoming. He has great friends and we appreciate the neighborhood we live in where our kids can play and live so freely and safely! I hope this was a crusade to remember; because mom was sure tired after...

October Whirlwind

Whew! Let's see if I can cover the rest of the month as it blew by way too fast! The annual ward Halloween Party. Ashtyn was all ready to be Little Miss Muffet, but due to a late nap, wouldn't wear that costume and had to be Minnie Mouse with a spider. Then here's the duo from Indiana Jones & the Temple of Doom! Here's the 80's couple rockin' out! (and no, Ashtyn is not eating toilet paper. She's waiting to wrap us up mummy style!)Then, of course I let Nathan go shopping alone at Wal-mart on a Saturday afternoon with the kids the week before Grandma & Grandad come. What does he come home with? A new addition to the family...yes, one that must be fed, walked, and potty trained (AND live IN the house!). Needless to say, the kids have fallen in love with India ("Indi" as in Indiana Jones). We almost loose her amongst all the stuffed dogs in the house!

So, Ashtyn had to change her costume AGAIN and be Tinkerbell (last year's costume!) You'd think after she wears this every day, that she'd dress up as something else...Boys are sure a lot easier to please!Then the day after Halloween, Jantzen was baptized. Granddad and Grandma had flown in from North Carolina; and my Uncle Waylon and Aunt Janet also joined us. Aunt Pam, Uncle Joe, Harley, Zach, and Grandpa Earl came also to support Jantz. We missed everyone else too far away who couldn't make it!We are so proud of Jantzen and his decision to be baptized! He was so handsome in white; and he says he wasn't nervous at all. Dad baptized him and granddad got to confirm him. He couldn't stop smiling when he stood in front of the congregation as the newest member of our ward.And the proud, happy family (yes, that's a growl on Ashtyn's face; she was having a blast running around the church and hiding from us! So much for the perfect family picture!)