Grandpa's Truck

Since it is the last day of February, I decided I should post our last real "winter" activity. Besides normal sledding over the holidays, we also got to have fun being pulled behind Grandpa's truck which is always a lot of fun.
Grandpa pulling the kids out to the pasture for some tubing fun!
Ashlee riding with her cousin, JaCee.











Derek and Jaxon riding a tube together.

Ashlee took her little cousin, Abi for a ride.
Derek sharing a tube with his cousin, David!











Derek looking cool and relaxed on his tube.

The truck pulling tubes full of cold but excited children.
When Derek was tired of riding the tubes behind the truck, I let him practice driving. It was a big open field of snow and he did great! He had lots of fun and can't wait to get back to Grandpa's big open fields to do it again.


It was lots of fun and ended with a beautiful sunset.

Holiday Sledding

Sorry about all the pics, but I have lots of cute sledding pictures I've been meaning to post. We went sledding over the holidays with the Lovell family and it was so much fun (at least until Troy made me go with him and he landed on me and smashed my head into the snow). All of my kids really had a great time. I left Emilee napping at Grandma's and Adam was with Jen, so unfortunately, they weren't in on all the fun!
Derek had a lot of fun on the sleds. Isn't he a handsome boy?





Ashlee was our little trooper. She crashed a lot and didn't care a bit. She laughed and giggled the entire time. She even climbed the mountain carrying two tubes, one for her and one for Jordan.


Jaxon had lots of fun, too. Isn't he cute all bundled up? His hands got cold a couple of times and he had to fix his sleeves to keep the snow out, but he didn't let it get him down. He had a great time anyway.


Jordan had a good time, too. He didn't even want to wear his coat. He thought his sweatshirt was good enough. He loved taking the tube up the hill a ways and then jumping on and going down a little. He is always fun to watch.

I think Troy had the best time of all. He doesn't get to play much, so when he does, he plays hard. Troy and Ashlee spent more time sledding than anyone else. They were the first ones to start and the last ones to quit. He is such a fun daddy!









These are a couple of shots of the people who did trains. I had to include the shot of them cheating, too. Sure, they climbed the hill a few times, but they also got some help from the truck:)!





These last two are shots of Easton and Kadee. They were all bundled up and John pulled them around on the sled. It was so cute and funny! I was proud of everyone, especially the kids. It was a really cold day, but everyone was in good spirits and no one really complained. It was lots of fun!

Picture Tag

This is an easy tag that I think I can handle. Joe and Celeste sent it to me.

Rules:
1. Go to the Document/My Pictures site on your computer.
2. Go to your sixth file.
3. Go to your sixth picture.
4. Blog about it.
5. Tag six people.

This is my swimmer, Derek, with his buddies at a swim meet last summer in Springville. I loved watching him swim. It's always great when your kids find something they really love to participate in.

I tag Tammy, Catherine, Amy Kent, Amy Petersen, Deanna, and Kathy Johnson.

Happy Valentine's Day, Sweetheart

This post is for Troy. I love him so much and I want to tell him how much he means to me for Valentine's Day! He rarely looks at our blog so I have no idea if/when he will see it. I do, however, want everyone to know what a wonderful man I was lucky enough to marry.

Troy is a wonderful husband: he loves me unconditionally, he helps me with anything I need, he works very hard to provide for our family, he helps out at home whenever he can, he puts up with me, he compliments me all the time, he's fun to be around, he's always positive, did I mention how much he loves me?

Troy is a wonderful father: he loves to play with his kids, he spends all of his free time playing with or watching his kids in their activities, he teaches them to work hard, he teaches his boys to respect women and especially to love their mother, he teaches his kids the importance of serving, he encourages them in their activities and he encourages them to do well in school and church.

Troy is a wonderful man: he is a hard worker, he honors his priesthood, he loves to serve others, he loves his parents and treats them with respect, he has a strong testimony, his family (including mine) is very important to him (extended and immediate), he is honest, he is dependable, he is reliable, he is trustworthy, he is smart, he really is everything a girl could want.

I love you, Troy! Thanks for loving me, too!

Monkey Face

Emilee loves her monkey jammies.











Sometimes we can even get her to make a monkey face when she wears them.

Ashlee and Jordan wanted in on the "Monkey Face" fun.

Adam's Kenyan Samosas

On a very busy day (I think they are all like that at my house), Adam came home and said he was over the food section of a group report due the next day on Kenya. He had it all typed up and ready, but asked, "Do you think you could help me make something from Kenya tonight, Mom?" Food was not a requirement, but he thought it would be fun and he could get extra credit (that he didn't need). I had never made anything from Kenya! So we got on the internet and found a recipe. Between all the normal running around, I stopped to get a few things we would need at the store and while I was gone I had Adam make the dough. It required lots of kneading and he wasn't so sure he liked that. It was crazy hectic, but a fun bonding experience for us as we cooked up a new recipe together. Adam and Troy ate a bunch that night. I fried some up the next morning to take into his class and it was a hit! Even though I thought my night was already over scheduled, I fit it in and enjoyed it. It was a great learning experience for me. I learned that when we take the time to do something that's not necessary, but important to a child anyway, we can make time and have a great experience. Adam and I both had a lot of fun..

Derek's Science Fair Project

Derek, of course, chose to use duct tape as part of his science fair project. He tested how sticky it was after soaking a piece in water, milk, vinegar, and lemon juice. The best part about it was that he got 225/225 and all he asked me to do was develop his pictures. It was the easiest science fair project I've ever been asked to help with, I loved it!