Christmas Jammies 2009

Cousin Fun

Because my sister's graduation was so late on Thursday night I figured it would be easiest to just stay the night at her house and then go home the next afternoon. My kids were so excited to have a sleepover with their cousins.
It was such a gorgeous afternoon that we decided to take the kids into Rexburg to go to the park. I had Landon bring a basketball so that all of us could play HORSE together. {Um...I totally beat EVERYONE!}

Actually, it was Landon who ended up giving Stephen all of his letters. He made some pretty amazing shots that could not be duplicated. This boy's got some skills. :0)

Mackenzee was just so excited to be outside {as usual}. I think it took her only just a couple of minutes to fall asleep once we hit the road to go home.

Thanks for putting up with us Melanie! I promised the kids we'd go back and visit again this summer. So, get ready!

Giggles and Grins

Landon and Talon....

Mackenzee and Riley....

crazy kids!

Shelby Welby

My neice, Shelby {whom I lovingly refer to as Shelby Welby and have since she was little}, stayed here in Twin for a little over a week after her family came to visit for my mom's birthday. Where she lives, they let school out for a couple of weeks for potato harvest. And, since she wasn't planning on harvesting any potatoes :0) she got to hang with my mom and me for a while. We just love Shelby Welby and had so much fun having her here. Especially little Mackenzee. She adores her older cousin and ate up all the attention that Shelby gave her. Honestly, when it was time for Shelby to go home, I'm pretty sure that Mackenzee had decided that she was 12 years old too. She became quite the little diva during Shelby's stay. :0)

Even though I was able to steal her from my mom for a few days already, her last couple of days in Twin were with me as well. Her last night we stayed up till the wee hours making these adorable hair ribbons. Shelby loves to do her hair and looks so cute with the sassy little ribbons tucked in her beautiful red hair. She made one in every color and then some...and I made oodles for Mackenzee too.

The next day I made her get all dolled up so I could take a snap of her with one of her ribbons in her hair. She decided Mackenzee needed to get dolled up too, and, amazingly, Mackenzee actually let someone curl her hair. {Like I said, she thought she was as old as Shelby} They both looked super sassy. :0)

Mackenzee bawled when my mom came to pick Shelby up to take her home, and cried the next day too. It's hard to say goodbye to cousins when they have to go home because we miss them all so much when they're gone. We can't wait until Thanksgiving when we can all get together again! :0)

Father's Day Weekend

I know, I know...I'm a little later than usual getting this post up. It's finals week, yet again...so I am busy as a little bee trying to get my work done. Sigh. In fact, I should be finishing up one of my papers now instead of posting this. But, if I don't get it up now, it may never happen. :0) And, since this blog will go down in history {once I get it transferred to a book} I need to make sure that I keep up.

On Saturday morning we went over to my mom's house to visit as my sister, Melanie, came to visit for the holiday. My kids have been dying to see their cousins. Dear Shelby humored my Mackenzee and read her story after story. This is one of Mackenzee's favorite things to do now. All of the books on the bookshelf in the playroom end up on the floor as she "reads" through each of them telling her own little stories based on the pictures. It's awesome.
As it was Father's Day weekend....golfing was on the brain {also because the US Open was on}. Jaysen bought a package of spongey like golf balls so that he and my dad and Stephen could play a little "yard" golf. They set up fake holes around the house and played 9 holes.

I set up the slip and slide for the kids and they had a grand time racing each other to the end.

Kenzee just loved following Savanna around and had to do whatever Savanna did. She just idolizes her cousin.

That afternoon we took the kids to see 'Kung Fu Panda'. It was such a cute movie. Of course, afterwards the boys only wanted to play Kung Fu and sing 'Kung Fu Fighting'...but what can you do?

And to end the night....we helped Papa plant his Father's Day present. I won't go into details...but big trees are heavy. Just so you know. But, we did it! And now my dad has his big oak tree in the yard. Though...we tied a blue ribbon around it...not a yellow one. :0)

Pajama Party Time!

But not the kind you are thinking of. Though there was a screaming girl {Mackenzee}, music {from a movie}, dancing {to the music in the movie}, and popcorn...there was no dress up, or painting nails, or any such things that happen a GIRLY pajama party. This was strictly for BOYS.

Except for me and Mackenzee of course. Who else was going to fix dinner? :0)

Landon has been impatiently waiting for school to get out so that he could have his cousins come over for a slumber party. So, we had them over last night. It was crazy!

We had air hockey tournaments going on. After a while, the boys thought that one puck was too boring, so they played with two....and then added a third one. They are crazy!

And then, of course, there was much playing of the video games. Jaysen was awesome and went and got a fourth Wii-mote so that all the boys could play, and also brought home a second guitar for our Guitar Hero game. We've been wanting one of those for a while now. Mackenzee was thrilled to see that we could put a pink cover on it, and it has now become "her" guitar. She did share, though the boys weren't too thrilled to have to play on a pink guitar. :0)

Mackenzee loved having the boys here just as much as Landon did. She clung to Kaden and they were such good playmates for each other.

I don't know what time they ended up going to bed last night. They were given the "final warning" at about 11:00, and then Jaysen and I went to bed. I'm too old to stay up later than that! :0) They camped out in the tv room all snuggled up together on the floor. And, of course, woke up at the crack of dawn. I am one tired mommy right about now...but they had so much fun playing together. It's so fun having cousins that live close! We only wish that all of them could!

Family Bonding.....

My older sister, Melanie, came up from Rexburg for Paige's baby blessing.

It's so fun when they all come to visit. Especially for my kids. They miss their cousins SO much. What was even better, my nephew Austin was able to come and stay with me for the weekend too while his parents went up early to help out Crystal. So, the boys especially had a good time. There were two birthdays in our family in March, and so I was able to pass along the presents in the actual same month as their birthdays. Last year, I think poor Emily got her present in September. :0(She was so cute about the present too. I got a great big hug from her for it and she immediately went off to play with her new Blendy Pens. {by the way, they are nifty little pens!}

No hug from Nathaniel, but that's ok. He's 16 now....hugs aren't expected. :0) He did get excited over his iTunes gift card. Please use it on GOOD music Nate. Please? No screaming songs....for at least a couple of them. Try out Jack Johnson or even Panic at the Disco. Good stuff there! Just some suggestions anyway.....

Mackenzee ate up all of the attention that she got from cousins and her aunt Melanie. She actually fell asleep in Melanie's arms as she was read to. I was grateful as otherwise there would have been no nap for my little girl and it made the night bearable. She was getting pretty whiney :0).

The last time they came to visit, I took our Wii and Guitar Hero over to my mom's house for the kid's to play with. Nate and Jon were amazed at my wicked awesome guitar playing skills {I can only play on the Medium level} and so they went home and bought Guitar Hero for themselves to practice up. My sister prepped me before they came, letting me know that Nate was going to BRING IT so I better be ready. I rarely play the game, but figured it was all in good fun anyway. So, I took over the Wii again this last weekend with our Guitar so we could battle it out. They brought their guitar and so this time two people could play at a time.

Austin was really uncertain about playing it and wouldn't for a while. But Talon said he would help him, and after that first song, he was hooked. He didn't need any help.... ;0)

Landon got crazy with it. He was dancing and singing along. He does think he's the expert at the game....but then again....he thinks he's the expert of everything.

The little girls wanted to join in on the fun, but couldn't play it by themselves. I helped Savanna and Stephanie play...and actually sat Kenzee on my lap and help her strum along to a song as well. Emily was finally talked into playing and had Stephen push the colored buttons while she strummed. She did pretty good!

Stephen got a little hooked on the game as well. {Melanie, you're really going to have to buy one now!} Here he is playing against Nate. Don't they look fierce?

Stephen nabbed a shot of me as I was playing against Nate. He wasn't content with me just playing on the medium level against him, so I told him I'd give the 'hard' level a go. {He plays on the expert level} Do you see the concentration on my face. The hard level really is HARD! All those buttons to worry about! But, I will let all of you know...that I am still Queen of the Guitar Hero around these parts. Which is saying something since I never actually play the game. :0) I'm pretty impressed with myself. I barely beat Jon though...by only about 600 points {which isn't very much in this game}. Next time they come I may have my work cut out for me.

Talon got pretty good at the game as well. He played a couple of songs on the medium level by the time the day was through.

All in all it was a fun weekend. I love hanging out with the family, and playing around with the kids. Even if they do think they can take me in Guitar Hero.

Wuv you

So, my brother is moving his family away. They just barely moved here last May and are already leaving. He found a new job back in Utah and so they are packing it all up. They have actually already been down in Utah for the last month as he started his job a while ago. They are selling their house here, so had to come back yesterday to keep that going. Anyway...needless to say, we missed them. Cousins are so fun to have close by and now we don't have any at all.



But, we did get a call yesterday afternoon from Austin asking if he could come and spend the night. So, of course, we said yes. Austin is a couple of years younger than Landon, but they are best buds and always have been. So, you'd think I would be posting a picture of the two of them right? Well, silly you! Mackenzee also loves Austin. He has a little sister the same age as Mackenzee and so he is very good to her. This morning, she tackled him and smothered him with hugs and kisses. He humored her. It was adorable. How could I not get a picture of it?