Dad's Little Helper!

Brian finally broke down and bought us a riding lawn mower, Last year I begged and begged for one because I was the only one who mowed the lawn week after week, Brian kept saying it was a waste of money. This year since I'm pregnant Brian had to mow the lawn. One week after mowing the lawn with the push mower he went out and bought a riding one! Cooper's new favorite hobby is riding around with Dad on his new "TRACTOR" as Coop calls it!

Memorial Day Campout!

Over the Memorial Day Weekend we went camping. When we left our home it was 67 degrees. As we headed up to our camp spot, I watched the thermometer in Brian's truck drop lower and lower. When we finally arrived it said 36 degrees!! Man was it cold!! When we got out and started to unload things it started to snow. This is what it looked like. We brought up the fourwheelers on a trailer and after Colby saw the snow, He told Brian "We brought the wrong trailer, We should have brought the snowmobile trailer!

The Kids didn't seem to mind the cold weather! Cooper and Mckinlee couldn't wait to get the bikes out and ride around in the snow and mud!

Thankfully the snow didn't last too long. The sun did come out every now and then. It was still fairly cold, but not as cold as it was when we first arrived!

Chase and Colby had a blast riding the fourwheelers around in the mud and racing each other.


On Sunday morning Glen & Kathy fixed us a big breakfast. Kathy brought Chase his very own syrup for his pancakes. Chase stayed over at Grandma and Grandpa's house a few months ago and Kathy fixed him pancakes for breakfast. When she set out the syrup it was Mrs. Butterworths. Chase asked Her if She had any "Regular ol' Log Cabin?" When she told him no, he asked if he could call his mom and see if she would bring him some Log Cabin over. (It is the best you know) Here he is posing with his log cabin. He could literally drink this stuff! He was sure glad Grandma remembered!


Roasting Mashmallows is always the highlight of our camping nights!

Even Grandpa enjoyed roasting a mallow!

I brought some crafts for Chase, Colby, and Cooper to do outside, but since it was so cold we had to do it in the trailer. They had so much fun painting!



We had a great time, but I think we will wait til Summer before we go camping again!

Tagged - Oh Yes He Will Be!!!!!

Well, I think Brian is going to regret starting this. The biggest difference between his list and mine is that the one about him is all true - not just embellishments of minor flaws :)

1- I will not pay for a haircut! I can blow $20 on the most useless crap. I will pay Michael $25 to shovel all of our walks after it snows. I will pay Brad $50 to wash my truck inside and out. Yet I expect my wife to cut my hair for FREE.

2- I have a special blanky that I use when I sleep. Her name is Ol' Blue and she is the only one that keeps me the right temperature when I sleep. I got her after my previous blanket, Pinky was laid to rest. She was getting a few holes in her, but still doing a fantastic job. I went to get her one night for bed and could not find her anywhere. After much turmoil, I found out that she had been murdered earlier that day by my wife. I don't know if I can ever forgive that woman for what she did.

3- I also have three special pillows that I sleep with and I know when I do not have the right combination of each. If Brandy accidentally mistakes one of hers for mine, I throw a royal fit. It doesn't matter to me if she's already set up or almost asleep. I have to have those pillows!

4- I love to watch infomercials on Sunday morning. Last year I bought some swords off the TV. They were such a good deal that I just could not resist. I was really fascinated with the whole collection, so I bought the whole set for $200. Brandy thought it was a big waste of money, so I decided not to tell her that I bought them. But Unfortunately, the stupid UPS guy doesn't understand what C/O Shade's Diesel means. I told her that I will get lots of use out of them, but I don't think that I've used them yet, so if anyone wants to play Dungeon's and Dragon's, Please give me a call?

5- I can dish it out, but I don't care for it too much when the tables are turned. I'm talking about teasing. I love to tease my boys, and especially McKinlee, to the point of tears. I have a real knack for finding peoples personal defect and weakness and then using it against them. I always do it in fun, but people can sometimes be more rude than I when they tease back.

6- I litter in my own yard. I know it sounds bad but let me explain. I don't like my Truck to have any trash in it and sometimes I'm a bit too lazy to walk over to the garbage can, so I just throw it on the ground or in the yard. Thankfully Brandy cleans it up!

I really could keep going but I think that's enough. I think it's funny that Brian didn't think I could come up with any, let alone 6. I guess I won't say how many I left out! (Some were pretty embarrassing)

The Broken Window!

Saturday night, Brian went into town to pick up some stuff for Mother's Day (Not for me, He was in charge of the Mother's Day Gifts for the women in our ward.) and the Boys and I stayed home. While he was gone, Chase thought he would practice his pitching skills in the house and throw a few fastballs against the couch. Actually I guess he only threw one against the couch and the other one went a bit high. Suddenly, I heard this cracking crash sound that scared the heck (actually it was worse, but I'm keeping the blog clean) out of me, I ran into the living room just as Chase was running out. He figured the best thing to do was to go and hide. Well after about 10 minutes, and the testimony of two very powerful witnesses, He confessed to throwing the ball at the couch and he missed and hit the window. It was Pretty dramatic. Even Cooper was crying and saying "Chase broke our house!" I called Brian while he was at the store so he could have some time to think about it (actually cool down) before he got home. He was still pretty mad when he got home, but he actually handled it more calm than I thought he would. I called Glen & Kathy's later that night and told them what had happened. Glen had the exact opposite reaction from Brian's. In fact, I don't know that I've ever heard him laugh so hard. He quickly recapped all the things Brian had broken in his house while growing up and suddenly one broken window didn't seem so bad. I guess that's Karma for you! ;)

Super Saturday!

Last Saturday, Baseball season started for Chase and Colby, They have a blast playing baseball. Colby is on the Colorado Rockies and Chase is on the Los Angeles Angels of Anaheim. (Brian could have swore it was the California Angels - But I checked it online and He was wrong.) Cooper would love to be on a team, but He's still to young. Next year He will be able to Play Tee-Ball, He is so funny. I love the face He's pulling in this picture. He was waiting for me to throw the ball, but first I had to take his picture and I guess He didn't want to wait!

They even got sponsored by Shade's Diesel. Grandpa was a bit shocked to realize he had sponsored both teams. He'll be even more shocked if he ever finds out how much it cost ;)

Mothers Day!

I just love this picture of Brian with our boys. They are so cute together. They sure love spending time with their Dad. He's so much fun to be around! He knows just how to cheer me up when I'm down! He's so thoughtful and always does the nicest things. Yesterday (Mothers Day) I woke up to let our dog outside and I noticed this flower hanging stand on the porch it was so cute and I love it. He's the best. Chase and Colby made me the nicest cards and Cooper went out and picked flowers out of my baskets to give to me. They are the best Kids ever! I'm so thankful to be their Mom!
(These are My Cards on the fridge, so Cute!:)

Digital Scrapbooking!

Well I'm not sure what Lorraine is talking about with digital scrapbooking being no mess! My house looks like a tornado hit it. I didn't get any housework done yesterday. We even had to get take out for dinner! It took me all day to figure it out. And once I started I couldn't quit. It's fun, but if you have wild kids like mine, don't expect the "No Mess Philosophy!"

Cowboy Cooper!

Mama's don't let your babies grow up to be COWBOYS!

Fun at the ZOO!

Just For Fun!

Raccoon Spotting!

Well, I just have to tell you this story that happened Yesterday, I picked up Chase and Colby from school and since there was road construction going on, I decided we would take the other way home so we didn't have to wait too long (bad Idea:) Anyway, as we were driving, I noticed a raccoon right next to the road. I have never seen one so close, so I pulled over to the side of the road so that the kids could see it up close. I said" look kids, it's a raccoon, how cute!" The kids jumped out of there seat belts so they could get a better look. We were about 5 feet away. The raccoon looked like it was dancing and jumping and twirling around. I took some photos on my camera phone to show Brian how close we were. Then Chase said" Mom, It's bleeding." And sure enough it had blood coming out of its mouth. There we were, watching this poor raccoon die, and I was telling my kids how neat it was. I'm guessing it had just gotten run over. I quickly told the kids to stop looking and I hurried and sped off. I kept trying to change the subject, but Cooper kept asking what was wrong with it. It was a bad experience.
So the moral of the story is... If you see raccoon on the road, and he doesn't run away from you, it doesn't mean that he wants to have his picture taken. And by all means - DON'T STOP! I won't post the pictures, they're a little morbid!

Best Buddies!

Grandma Kathy bought the cutest matching outfits for the boys, and I could not resist getting them dressed up to take their picture.
(My kids hate this about me, but they better get used to it. I love playing Photographer!)
Aren't they just the cutest! Not to mention so photogenic:)
Cooper loves to give Hugs. He always runs up to Chase and Colby
when they get out of school and the first thing he says to them is HUGS. It is so cute!

Roughing it Outdoors!

OK - So it's not really Roughin' it, But it's the only way to camp and truly enjoy the outdoors. Actually, I have been begging Brian for a long time now to trade our camp trailer in and get a new one. We lived in our old one while we built our house, and after living in it for so long with three boys you can imagine what it must have looked like. It actually wasn't that bad. (I can be a bit dramatic) We did have a few problems with it though, like the heater not working properly and water leaks on the outside drains! So he finally gave in and we traded it off for a new one. We wanted a pop out bedroom and one that was not a bunkhouse. We love the new trailer. Some of our fondest memories are spent in the mountains sitting around the campfire with our kids roasting marshmallow's, so much fun! Our first trip is planned for Memorial Day weekend, hopefully I won't go into labor while we're in the mountains!