our life...

Family photos....

2009-12-02T08:49:00.000-08:00

It was quite the ordeal having our family photos taken. I was pleasantly surprised with how good they ended up turning out. Here is a sampling of some good ones.

Halloween 2009

2009-11-18T17:16:00.001-08:00

We love fall and Halloween...the cooler weather, the colored leaves, the candy, the parties, the costumes. What more could you want?

Nice owl carving

Pack Pumpkin patch with the Lloyd cousins.

Halloween carnival with the little kids at the park.

Halloween party at the Caldwell cousins house.

Barb's 36th Birthday

2009-11-18T17:13:00.001-08:00

October 11th - Another year has come and gone. I can't believe I'm on the downside of the 30's now. I better enjoy it...before I know it, it'll be the dreaded 40's.

Work on the yard has begun...

2009-11-18T16:45:00.000-08:00

It only took the entire summer to get the walkout, concrete work, sprinklers and grass in. It took two months just to get the walkout and concrete work done. What a relief to have it done.

Backyard - BEFORE

Front Yard - BEFORE

Front yard - Concrete pouring

Backyard - Walkout

Side yard - Concrete walkway

Front yard - Concrete walkways

Back yard - Concrete pouring

Front yard - ready for grass

Backyard - ready for grass

Front yard - AFTER

Back yard - AFTER
Next year we'll start planting in all those flowerbeds.

Trip to So California

2009-11-04T16:50:00.001-08:00

August 2009
Has it really been 20 years?
The main reason for going down to California....Rob's 20 year high school reunion. It was fun to see the gang.

We were able to pack in a lot of fun while we were there.

Family fun center with some cousins!

A day at Knotts Berry Farm!

A day at the beach!

Playing in the tub Grandma used to bathe in...serious antique!

Rob is 38!!

2009-11-04T16:44:00.001-08:00

August 03, 2009
We surprised Rob by showing up at his office with cupcakes and balloons.

Be careful, you're going to blow me over. Happy 38th dad! We love you tons...

Lagoon Fun

2009-11-02T15:21:00.001-08:00

July 29, 2009
Fun at Lagoon for Luke's birthday

Luke's 9th Birthday

2009-11-02T15:03:00.000-08:00

You would have thought it was Brooke's birthday. She was so excited to help Luke open all his presents. Luke's birthday festivities lasted about two weeks. We celebrated with Grandma & Grandpa Caldwell in Canada, with the family when we got back, a day at Lagoon, an afternoon with the Lloyd cousins and a pizza & movie party with some friends. FUN TIMES....

Baseball 2009

2009-11-02T14:40:00.000-08:00

Cole's first year of T-ball was a success. It was so low-key, played at a makeshift field at the Fruit Heights City Hall park. He had a lot of fun and couldn't wait for every game to happen. It was a huge contrast from the competition in Luke's league.

AND THE CHAMPIONS ARE....
Luke's team went to the championship game. They were just a group of cute kids having fun playing baseball...and kept winning their games. The team they played was intense and the coach was in it for serious business. They were ahead the whole game and then lost it in the end by 1 point. It was so disappointing for the boys, but they did such an awesome job. Way to go Yankees! Way to go Luke!

14th Anniversary...WOW, has is been that long?

2009-08-30T10:31:00.000-07:00

July 21st @ Cardston, Alberta Temple. It was fun to be at our wedding spot on our anniversary. It doesn't happen too often. Lots of good memories and years behind us and many more to come.

Cameron Lake @ Waterton National Park

Town of Waterton

Prince of Wales Hotel

Anniversary tradition to take a picture at the restaurant during dinner.

Trip to see Grandma & Grandpa in Cardston, Alberta

2009-08-30T10:08:00.000-07:00

Glenwood Ice Cream Shop. Seth is such a good brother to share with little sis. Open WIDE...

Park, park and more park...

Horseback riding at Uncle DeRay's farm.

Swimming at the Cardston Public Pool.

The gang - Grandpa, Grandma, Aunt Cari, Mom, Brooke, Dad, Seth, Cole, Luke, Ava and Bella.

Pine Valley 2009

2009-07-27T13:33:00.000-07:00

Another year of Pine Valley has come and gone. Happy 4th of July! We love the USA...

Cole turns six!

2009-07-27T11:59:00.001-07:00

June 25, 2009

It's a Ben 10 Party! It was held at Barnes Park in Kaysville. There were games, food, a pinata and lots of fun. Just as the party ended a black thundercloud rolled in and started to pour. What luck. It's hard to believe Cole is six years old. Thanks for being a part of our family. We love you!

June Enrichment

2009-07-27T11:36:00.000-07:00

This was our quarterly Enrichment night. It was titled 'Take Time for Yourself'. It was a night of stress management and pampering. Our dinner was chicken salad sandwiches on croissants, green salad and fruit. The decorations were in a 'beach' theme. We had light blue tablecloths with silver chargers and vases in the center. I bought a couple bunches of white flowers from Costco and made small hand-tied arrangements for each table. The charger was filled with sand and shells. We placed a couple battery operated tea lights on every table and a couple glass dishes with mints and kisses for dessert. I made a larger flower arrangement for the food table. After dinner we had a great speaker on 'Stress Management'. Then we had four mini-classes to attend. Everyone could attend two of the classes. There was a class on yoga, shoulder & neck massage, nail care and makeup tips. It was a fun evening and everyone felt stress free and relaxed by the end of the night...I hope.

Brooke is one year old!!

2009-04-29T12:00:00.000-07:00

Is that a ladybug?

Can I have a taste?

I loved my birthday cake!

I can't believe Brooke is already one year old. Where does the time fly? It has been so fun to have a little girl in our home. She is such a great addition to our family. She says, "Mom", "dad", "yes", "hi", "bye", "uh-oh", and lots of baby talk. She is walking along furniture, but not quite on her own. She is very cuddily and will go to anyone, except for maybe Cole. I don't think she likes how much he wants to hold her. She loves to wave at everything, especially her own reflection in the mirror. She has seven teeth and will only eat table food--no baby food ever. I hope this doesn't mean pickiness in the future. She was weened on her birthday (Yeah!) and is drinking whole drink from a bottle. This was not her idea, but was forced to because I was going out of town. Rob was a trooper. This has been such a busy year, but we have been so blessed. We love our little Brookey.

Easter Egg Hunt 2009

2009-04-20T15:16:00.000-07:00

Annual hunt at the Lloyd's house with the Lloyd and Fewkes cousins. Thank goodness we had a little break from the rain.

"I love candy!"

And the winner is...

2009-04-20T08:39:00.000-07:00

Pinewood Derby - March 2009

Luke won first place out of his den. Nice car!

March Enrichment is over...

2009-03-24T16:33:00.000-07:00

I guess I didn't have enough time in our previous ward as the Enrichment Leader, as they called me to that same calling in our new ward. I can't complain. I do enjoy the calling.
Our March Family, Home and 'Purse'onal Enrichment was a success. We went with a 'purse' theme. It was a black, white and pink 'Diva' color scheme. I found gift bags at the Dollar Tree that looked like a purse with a zebra print on it. I placed a small box in the center of the table over the white tablecloth. A pink square plastic tablecloth was thrown over the box on the table for color. I placed the zebra purse gift bag on top of the box and tied a pink ballon to the handle. I put some black tulle around the base of the purse gift bags. I borrowed about 40 purses and placed 4 to 5 at each table on the black tulle around the center purse gift bag.

As everyone entered the gym, we weighed their purses to see who had the heaviest and lightest. I was in contention for the heaviest at 6 lbs. The winner's purse was 6.5 lbs. The lightest didn't even register. They both got a little bottle of lotion for a prize. We had a 'Get to know you game' at every place setting. The sisters went around talking to each other to find out who had done what from their list. Once everyone arrived, approx 55, they had spent some time getting to know each other a little better. We had Mexican sweet pork salad (Cafe Rio style) for dinner and chocolate dipped strawberries, brownie bites and cream puffs for dessert. The food was a hit. Then we played a 'Purse treasure hunt' game. We had them find things in their purse that started with a certain letter of the alphabet. It was funny to see what people would come up with. The first person to find something that started with that letter would raise their hand and item and yell it out. They would get a candy bar for a prize. To conclude the night we had a speaker on the different roles we have as women and the different 'purses' we carry. We ended on a spiritual note and left feeling nourished physically, socially and spiritually. We sent everyone home with a magnet handout in the shape of a purse with the Relief Society Declaration printed on it. I think it turned out pretty nice, if I say so myself, but am glad it is over.

Seth turns three years old...

2009-03-03T14:14:00.000-08:00

I can't believe our Seth is three years old. He is such a cute and fun boy. He is talking a lot now a days and you can actually understand him, well at least I can (most of the time). He says some pretty funny things. He loves calling everyone by name - 'Lutey', 'Toley', 'Brootey'. He is always there to wave goodbye when you leave and come give a big hug when you get back. He tries to be like his big brothers and can come pretty close because of his size. Can you believe a two year old wearing size 10 or 11 shoes? He wants to play all the video games Luke and Cole are playing, but he's not quite there. He'll give them a run for their money real soon. Everybody loves Seth because of that white blonde hair, light blue eyes and good nature. We love our Seth and are so happy he is part of our family.

Seth spent the day running around in some of his birthday gifts - new underwear (for potty training real soon), new Crocs and new sunglasses. What else do you need?

I made a strawberry flavored baseball cake. It had strawberry slices and strawberry flavored whipped topping between the layers. YUMMY!

We took the kids to Chuck E Cheese's for a family birthday party. They had a blast. Seth couldn't get enough of shooting balls into the clowns mouth and knocking over his teeth. He also loved the Spongebob bowling game.

Traditions...Guys trip to Afton Canyon

2009-03-03T10:44:00.001-08:00

The guys had their yearly Afton trip over President's Day weekend. Rob's dad started going to Afton about 35 years ago. It is located in the Mojave Desert in California between Barstow and Baker. They would go out on family trips, guys biking trips and scouting trips when they were younger. But it grew into this yearly tradition about 15 years ago. It includes all of Rob's brothers, uncle, cousins, friends and their boys. There is a campground there, so everyone is in trailers or tents for about five days. They like to go over President's weekend because the weather is usually just perfect for riding. It is in the 60s to 70s during the day, but pretty chilly at night. Rob, as well as the rest of family, look forward to these trips every year. It is a time to get away with just the guys, riding, camping, bonding, playing games and doing things they could never get away with in front of their wives. We have decided our boys can start going on these trips once they turn five years old. So it was the first year that Cole was included. Luke has had a little TT50 dirt bike for a couple years now, so is getting quite good at riding. Cole doesn't have a bike yet, but had fun just fooling around and playing with his cousins. Seth, Brooke and I were able to go to St George to visit my parents who are there in their fifth wheel for a couple months to get away from the harsh Canadian winter. Rob is very tradition oriented and I love having these traditions become a part of our family. I have set a goal to try to create more fun traditions this year.

Knotts Berry Farm

2009-01-17T16:46:00.001-08:00

Rob took the boys to Knotts Berry Farm for the day. It is only five minutes away from Rob's mom's house. The kids loved it. Cole wanted to go back every day.

Cerritos Library

2009-01-17T16:41:00.000-08:00

This library in Cerritos, CA is very cool. It looks like the new Disney building and famous building in Spain that are curvy and made out of metal. The grounds are cool too. We spent New Years Eve afternoon here.

Christmas 2008

2009-01-17T15:14:00.001-08:00

We spent Christmas and New Years in warm Southern California with Rob's family. Everyone was there, so it was a crowded house. Grandma dressed like Mrs Claus before handing out all the gifts. The kids loved it!

My First Try at Blogging

2008-12-03T16:03:00.000-08:00

Well, I finally got with the times and started a blog.