Trumania

Truman Family Vacation!

2011-09-30T18:48:00.000-07:00

Hey!Sorry I haven't blogged in a while,anyways we had our family vacation and I have a ton of pictures!Well I'll start with the day we decided to climb and search the red (well there really orange) rocks, Enjoy :)

Me and Micah on the rocks

Grace and Liam decided to climb with us to

We found the opening!

Beautiful scenery

Grace Micah and Liam

Liam

Me and Micah found a little way out so we thought of trying to get out that way (I'm in the back behind Micah and we did make it out)

This is my favorite!

Me and Micah

Also our good ole van broke down on the way to Utah so we bought a new one there! Here is our new van if you haven't seen it yet:

Beautiful.Well next time I will show you some pictures when we went to Zions National Park!We got to hike the narrows and I got some beautiful pictures! Till next time bye!

Liams Birthday!!

2011-08-08T22:03:00.000-07:00

As most of you know its Liam's Birthday!! I'm sorry I haven't been blogging but my camera broke.Well today we had a party with my Aunt Ashley and my cousins Clair,Lauren, and Max. We also invited some of the neighbors Shayah,Bree, and Devon Liam's best friend.Here are the pictures from the party:

Liam wanted his theme to be SPIDER MAN!

We ordered a cake from Costco and we decided to get a baseball cake

Liam's getting ready to blow out the candles.....

Bending down!

Here he goes!

All gone :)

My dad cutting the cake

Everyone anxious for cake!!

Finally!!

Liam got mad cause someone put frosting on his nose

Me and Lauren with frosting on our nose :)

Don't forget about MAX!

This is Liam's first present.A remote control truck! From Mommy and Daddy

Next LEGO STAR WARS!Also from Mommy and Daddy

Liam got alot more presents but my camera died after this one.I also got Liam a present,a green hot wheels motorcycle.Micah got Liam a "gold" motorcycle.Liam also got squirt guns,bubbles,and a bug catcher and more.Liam had losts of fun with his friends and family and is now 5 years old.So "Happy Birthday to you!"Happy Birthday to you!"Happy Birthday dear Liam, Happy Birthday to you!" <3 u!

Easter

2011-04-24T14:25:00.000-07:00

Happy Easter everyone! Yesterday my Aunt Emily and Mark came down and they brought Elizabeth and Mark(they are as cute as ever!!) and I got some pictures.And I also of us making Easter eggs and our Easter outfits, here are some pictures from this morning and last night:

Elezabeth is such a cutey pie!

Mark is a handsome cutey pie :)

All of our colors to dye our eggs in

(red)

Micah's egg

(green)

Liams egg

(pink of course)

Graces egg

(Orange my new favorite color)

My egg

We made our eggs sparkly and went to bed

We got up and after eating almost all of our candy got dressed in our Sunday clothes.This is Micah in his suit

Grace in her Easter dress

Liam haha he look like a little man in this! He is so cute!

The two handsome "men" in there suites

This one is my favorite (not just cause I'm in it) Well HAPPY EASTER EVERYONE!

Lots of New Pictures

2011-04-22T22:34:00.000-07:00

Sorry, I haven't been blogging for a while.I've been lets say "lazy" for the past few weeks.BUT! it gave me lots of time to take lots of pictures!We went up to my uncle Jake's house and there back yard is BEAUTIFUL!First the trip there......

Liam

I t was a game that we played,i had to take pictures of semi trucks this was my best

Clouds

After we got to Jake's I took some pictures of there AWESOME and BEAUTIFUL back yard :)

These were my favorites

Graces favorite

Pretty backyard

The car ride home

On the car ride home we stopped by our old house.I miss it.Anyways sorry for not blogging for a while.Hope to blog again soon!

Park

2011-03-23T17:49:00.000-07:00

Today we went to a fun park next to the columbia river,it was such a nice day and its confrence week so me and Micah get out at 10:45.Soo we spent 2 hours playing and capturing them! :D

(i was on top to)

Micah decided that even with a hurt foot to climb a 15 foot rock climbing wall...

Grace loved jumping off this thing that sent you flying down this is her way

Liam played and hade fun in his ways :)

(these are my favorites)

We sit to look at the river

It was pretty cool this goose came pretty close to us!

Skipping rocks

This is a movie that I made that has a twist at the end :) enjoy

SLEEPING BEAUTY

2011-03-20T20:13:00.000-07:00

On Saturday I was in the sleeping beauty, I didn't get any pictures of me in costume but I got some while I was back stage with my bffs:

Me and one of my bffs back stage waiting to go on stage

Both of my bffs together

After the show we all waited outside for our parents

Perfect picture of them jumping

Failed picture jumping

I stepped on a goat head first,but I refused to put on shoes this is what I get...

This is my fake crying while they pulled it out

Finnaly we hade to go home, this picture shows our freindship :D

Play dough creations

2011-03-16T19:00:00.000-07:00

My mom bought a whole new tub of playdough so we decided to make some creations...

Grace busy at work

Liam busy at work

My hambuger

Graces icecream (strawberry)

Liams Oreo

Liams uhhhhh creation......

My gingerbread man

Graces kitty (this is her favorite)

All together

After we ate our creations we wait for american idol

Soccer!!

2011-03-12T13:10:00.000-08:00

Soccer season has started up and Grace loves it.I took some pictures with my camera enjoy :D

Grace getting ready for her game

While Grace was getting dressed Liam went outside with his new scooter

Grace(left)Gaby(center)Gracie(right)

Yes Grace isn't the only girl on her team with the name Grace

A few action shots of Grace

After the game Liam and Grace both went in the backyard and played in the sand
after there long day

Monica is now in charge of TRUMANIA!!!!

2011-03-12T09:12:00.000-08:00

I've decided to use my camera and keep everyone updated on the Truman's.

Swimming Lessons

2010-08-26T13:39:00.000-07:00

The Truman family decided to take swimming lessons this past 2 weeks.

Monica & Micah had fun, but it was super easy. Just a lot of swimming laps and such.

Grace is really learning how to swim alone...I have even seen her doggy paddling and back floating alone. She also took her first few jumps off the diving board to the instructors.

Love the air she got on this one!

And Liam...what can I say about Liam? First off all the lifeguards LOVE him. As he walks into lessons he is greeted by at least 5 of his lifeguard peeps saying, " Hey Liam! Cool Shorts, or how's it goin? Followed by "I love that kid.."

Liam is a little daredevil. He LOVES the water and loves learning how to swim. He pretty much has to be constantly watched in the pool at lessons because of this, so I think they bring over an extra teacher just for him. This year he decided it would be cool to do a front flip off the diving board many times too..and the Lifeguards were so in shock! They couldn't stop talking about it! Here are the pictures..enjoy.

And I saved the best for last...Liam's front flip!

BBQ with Trooper Truman

2010-08-07T22:31:00.000-07:00

Today we were invited to Jake & Angelas for a BBQ.

Jake: grill master!!

Grace swimming...

Liam trying to relax...until.....

Fun in the sun...

Cool in the pool....

Trying to beat dad at hockey, when will they ever learn. He beat them both like rented mules.

Catching up on State Patrol life...

Angela gets a little crazy and goes airborne with her Bergener backflip which she nailed.

This face says it all, it was a fun time!!

Birthday Boy turns 4

2010-08-06T17:25:00.000-07:00

Today we had a little party in the park for Liams birthday.

Wonder what he's wishing for??

He really really wanted black frosting for his Batman theme party. Here's the result.

One of his good friends showed up to play with him.

Its 97 degrees outside so the playing in the water was awesome. He loved chasing everyone and shooting them with his new water gun.

Aloha from Hawaii

2010-06-02T10:43:00.000-07:00

Here is a preview of pictures ...with a promise of more to come. We are having such a great time!

Matt looking out over a beautiful coastal bay..

Matt in the ocean!

Grace..poor thing

2010-01-05T08:36:00.000-08:00

As if breaking her leg on her 5th Birthday werent enough...Grace now has "Fifth Disease". Its an awful rash that covers pretty much her entire body. It will go away in 5-10 days, but yeah... Poor Poor Grace!!!

But through it all Grace still gets around, and has a smile on her face. :)

Ballet Class

2009-12-11T09:34:00.000-08:00

Monica and Grace have been doing Ballet this year at the TriCities Academy of Ballet. They LOVE ballet. Enjoy these pictures of them having fun at class.

Grace:

And Here is Monica. By the way, she is in the Nutcracker Ballet performance this year as a fairy. The Show is tonight-through this weekend! I think Ballet is monicas favorite thing to do, even though she looks serious in these pictures. She works really hard and her skills are improving every week!

Superman

2009-12-10T16:04:00.000-08:00

Oh yeah, this kid is all BOY. You like his homemade slingshot?
How about his backwards shorts tag hangin out? Oh yeah, and by the way he wants to wear those Superman pajamas like everyday... *sigh..to be 3 again.*

By the way, its Karrie again..yeah, thats right!! (Matt had high hopes..but it didnt happen.)

Things to come, Emily

2009-10-16T23:34:00.000-07:00

Just think Emily in a few days this will all be yours. This is what we came home to tonight with our babysitter. Emily has agreed to take on Liam and Grace for a week. They didn't break her last time, but this time they're coming back bigger and brattier. Just kidding, I'm sure they will be little angels.

I'm the new king of the bloggesphere, all hail Matt

2009-10-06T22:23:00.000-07:00

Comet thinks he's a human, he like to sit in the chairs in the back yard now. From now on I'll be running things in Trumania.-- matt

Canned Grape Juice

2009-10-06T22:11:00.000-07:00

This was my first experience making grape juice this year. I was given free grapes so I had some fun -- nevermind my grapejuice looks pink..I am hoping it is good to drink. We will see.

Fair FUN with Ashleigh!!!!

2009-10-05T20:25:00.000-07:00

My sister Ashleigh and I have a tradition of going to the fair in Tri-cities, WA. Its our one day to spend as much money as we want on greasy food and to act like goofy teenagers again. Last year Ashleigh was pregnant and couldn't make it so I had been looking forward to this for 2 years. We always have a dare that we have to do and this year we got them on video. Those are at the end of this post. Now On to the FAIR!!!!

The freaky cow girl lady. Her hand was so big and warm.

Ashleigh curled my hair this fun way before we left. It looked kinda cool.

.

We went to look at the pigs. We got in the pin and the pig was biting Ashleighs leg! We couldn't stop laughing, we were trying to be brave and although you cant tell, we was pretty scared.

NICE PIGGY....

This year the Truman Family entered in lots of stuff this year. Here I am showing off my blue ribbon for a scrap book page I did..fun fun fun!

Mmmmm.... Funnel cakes. This was both of our favorites.

Look who we ran into. Jordan and his good friend Justin. These two were our toys this year. We had so much fun playing with them. Whenever we got bored we just looked for them and somehow found something fun to do.

Ashleigh went on the trampolinie thing - and said it very fun! Check out Ashs Matrix pose..lol!

Silly faces

OK, this time just smile. (ahhh.. that Justin!!! He made us laugh so much.)

Then onto the concert. Clint Black. A country singer.

We ran into my aunt, my uncle, my gramdma and all the other weirdos that we are related to. It was lots of fun.

We grooved big time at the concert. One lady kept glaring at us because she thought we were being rude.... but COME ON!!!

After the concert we got bored and couldn't find the dream tellers so we decided to go spy on Jordan and his friends. Here I am walking all "sneaky like".

We spotted him. We had to be velly velly sneaky.

He was totally flirting with this girl. It was fun to watch him. Yes we are creepy.

Then they spotted us. Here he is with Justin and Mackenzie.

This kid is hilarious!!

By the way, we got sham wows!!! (Or shall we say SCAM wows)

and yes we LOVED them (that night anyways)!!

When we headed out to our car to go home this is the scene we fell upon in the parking lot. They were surrounded by sheriffs on horses. It was Jordan and Justin! At first I thought they were in some sort of trouble, but I guess Justin just left his lights on and needed his battery charged.

The next morning Jordan comes home with a henna tattoo. This is like a week before his mission. He is such a dork! I think they last for at least a few weeks. This is such a Jordan thing to do though.

THE DARES:Our Tradition of Stupidity- - but its hilarious! We all dare each other to do something hard. Enjoy.

We dared Jordan to kiss the girl he was flirting with earlier. Here is a picture of it. It wasnt just a peck either. Poor girl! Just look at the expression on her face.

Justins Dare was to dig through the garbage cans and look for bottle tops. This one may have been my fav.

We tried to find a hideous girl for Jordan and this was the best we could find. His dare was to go up to her and flirt with her. His was pretty lame, we should have had him do something else because he was MORE than willing.

My dare was to ask for a free bracelet for rides. This was kinda scary for me..but I did it!

Mackenzie is big into drama and acting. So we thought long and hard on this one. I wish I would have gotten a better video of this because it was hilarious!!! He had to trip in front of this "hot" girl.

Ashleighs dare was to ask the stage people if I could see Clint Black (This was after the performance and the stage hands were cleaning up). The creep was totally hitting on Ashleigh. Gross!!

We had so much fun if you cant tell. Love you ASH!!! Until next year.....

Summertime- Mann Clan has arrived!

2009-08-18T20:52:00.001-07:00

This summer has been so much fun. I have missed out on lots of great picture taking opportunities because my camera broke! Last weekend we went camping with Jake & Angela and this week the Mann troup has arrived. Kids are everywhere. 8 Children, 4 Adults and one dog= a BUSY house!!! Its been really fun. Next week The Ashbys will be coming along with my little brother Jordan (who is going on a mission to Las Vegas in a few weeks!) . We will be going to the fair then too..cant wait!!!!!!

Here are some of the pictures thus far of our many adventures this week. On Saturday: Yard Sales!!!! Tiffany showed Micah how to do his first real "bartering." Yard Sales are an art ya know..she had Micah offer the lady .50 cents for some relaxtion balls. He didnt want to do it..he was scared, but eventually Tiffany helped him out and he got them for .50 !

The next morning I woke up to some little singing mini Jonas brothers.. Trevor and Liam . We should call the band "Under-Jammers."

We then went to visit Grandpa Billy in the nursing home. Here are some pictures of that visit. Tiffany sang while Kyle played the guitar. It. Was. AWESOME!. I really miss hearing Tiffany sing..I dont think there is anything more beautiful than her voice and I have forgotten that.

Grandpa loved it! Vivian came in to hear the tunes too.

And then the next day the kids decided to take a bath with these cool tub crayons and they had a blast -- a messy messy blast. Here is what that looked like:

More to come this week...stay tuned!

5K..Ohhh Yeah!

2009-06-29T14:48:00.000-07:00

We did it! It was so awesome.. Matt, Me, Angela, Jake, Emily, Mark, Anna, Meg and Cassandra all went running in the Raymond race. Anna & Meg did the 10 K..and the rest of us did a 5K.

My thoughts: it was harder than I thought only because I went a little faster in the race than I do for my "normal jog". But it didnt kill me:) I felt so good afterwards.
Here are some pictures of all of us from the big day.

And here are the finishers!! Coming in at the finish line.

Mark came in at 28:18

Matt came in at 30:36

Jake came in at 32:56

Angela came in at 36:08

I came in at 36:13

Emily & Cass came in at 38:17

And for our 10K ladies: They came in at 1:04:55 (1 Hour 4 minutes...WOW!)

It was so much fun...and I am so glad to have accomplished one of my new years resolutions. :)

For my fellow Twilighters

2009-06-05T14:58:00.000-07:00

Maybe you have already seen this, but I didn't want you to miss this. It looks like a photographer was snapping a lot of shots while they were filming for New Moon.
Rememer when he thinks he is dead..in heaven? *awwwweeeee*

And this one is for you Ang..always a fan of Jacob! Oh man..drool!

Slip n Slide fun

2009-05-31T21:17:00.000-07:00

We brought out the slip n slide this weekend! The kids had tons of fun. I only snapped a few pics before my camera ran out of batteries. I will do another post because you have to see these kids on this thing..it was hilarious. But here are the few I did get!

Liam: Living Free

2009-05-31T20:59:00.000-07:00

I might have to make my blog private after this post. Liam is 2 1/2 years old. He loves playing outside more than anything in the whole world next to peanut butter sandwiches. I let him explore, dig, jump on the trampoline and play with the dog in our backyard all the time. Half the time I come out and see the little dude buck naked jumpin on the trampoline. Or buck naked playing with the hose. Or buck naked just living free and runnin wild. He loves to take off all his clothes! It drives me crazy..but I have to laugh.

A few days ago I walked outside and saw this..so I grabbed the camera. Hope you enjoy as much as I did..hahaha.

And I will leave you all with this parting image..(yes pun intended..lol) Dont you miss being a kid?

Take me out to the BALL GAME...

2009-05-31T19:25:00.000-07:00

Micah has been doing his first year of Little League Baseball. He's pitched, played short-stop, third, and catcher. He loves baseball and has had a great season. In fact Micah says Baseball is his very favorite sport of all time. We have all loved watching him play as well. Here are some pictures of this season.

Stay tuned for some posts!

2009-05-31T10:21:00.000-07:00

Yes, I know I need one of these: A big ole fashioned spanking.

I havent posted any posts for so long!! I suppose I could say I have been having too much fun. Anyways, stay tuned for a long stretch of catch-up posts. :)

Home!

2009-04-24T19:43:00.000-07:00

I was never happier to see this as I drove home. The US border!! I didnt have my ID, so I had to go inside and talk to them this time. But they let me in..yes! I love the good old USA!!!

Home sweet home. To see my beautiful children whom I have missed dearly!!!

sigh Day 3

2009-04-23T22:30:00.000-07:00

So today was quite the day. It started out great! We went to the Vancouver Aquarium! Parked the car, paid for the parking and went inside.
We watched the birds show and the dolphins show first. They were fun.

Then wandered through all the other cool sealife areas. My favorite sea creature has always been the beluga whales. They are like angels..so beautiful. We also saw jellyfish,birds,seahorses and even saw the sharks getting fed. It was fun! Here are some of the pictures.

Well, when we saw all that there was to see, we went out to the car. Lo and behold we came and saw this:a broken window with a note on the car to come back inside to see Aquarium Security.

I was so upset, had to wear my sunglasses to hide the tears. I left my purse in the backseat, and it was stolen with the window broken. This just really really stinks! Went inside, called police and they just did an over-the-phone report. In my purse are my ID , credit cards and oh yeah, $300 cash! Not to mention tickets to the dinosaur show coming to Yakima and some coupons..grrrr!

The security says they have been hit up with robbery a lot lately but most of the time the purses or bags are found in the forest/park. So Dad and I searched the park for a few hours. We came upon quite a few spots where other purses had been stolen...with all their stuff strewn about. Dont forget the drug needles..always a fun find. yuck.

No purse. So dissapointed. It was now after 5pm and we were hungry so we gave up the search and drove into town to look for something. We had been walking all day long and were so tired. My feet hurt so much. We went into a downtown area walking and looking for dinner. We asked a shop owner where she would recommend eating, and she said just up the street and a few blocks is the best place in town. So we walked.
And walked.
And walked.
walk. walk. walk.
Finally we got there about a mile later. But the food was soooo good! I had never had Greek food before and I was so impressed. Here are pics of us eating dinner.

After dinner, we walked (I limped at this point) back to the car. Went back to hotel and finally relaxed. Look at our tired feet! We cannot walk anymore.

What a rough day. Tomorrow..I drive back and I cant wait to get back to the US. Home..I miss Home!!! But I am also gonna miss my daddy. I love my daddy!!!

Day 2 in Vancouver!

2009-04-23T10:20:00.000-07:00

So day 2..We went to eat breakfast at the Hampton..added to Dads apple stockpile. We are sporting like 8 apples I think now..oh and two oranges. Plus dad came back with a massive quantity of candy from his convention...he says he just poured the whole bowl in!! HOARD ALERT!! He may have gone too far that time..lol!!

But you know what was cute? Dad says he always takes an apple on his walk to work to hand to a homeless person on the way. There are a lot of homeless people here ..tons. Anyways, I thought that was really cool. So today he took one of the "breakfasts to go to give to one of them..it has apple,muffin,snack bar ect. My dad has the best heart.

So Dad went off to work..and I decided to go run on the treadmill. I ran a mile and then sat down to the computer. Skyped the kids, did some blogging and just relaxed! By the way, Dad LOVES this skype thing..here is a pic of him talking to Grace and Liam!
At lunch time dad called and wanted to meet me half way, and have lunch. We found this really cool little diner with DELICIOUS food! We both had paninis..they were fancy. This was the best meal we have eaten on this trip thus far. By the way I am horrible at trying to get a picture with both of us in it..see?

Later that night, we started on our way to Chinatown. It was probably a mile walk there..but we were excited to eat some "real chinese food".
AT first it looked okay..but sooner than we thought..we were in the ghetto.
Oh my!!!! Nearly all of Chinatown here was dead..empty, barred windows.. the BAD side of town. I was totally freaked out! I was too scared to take any pictures. The only people around were scaries, druggies, homeless, or gangster looking ones. We were like fast walking ducks.. I am serious..we were lucky we werent mugged or stabbed. I was stepping over drug needles here and there, and I even saw a drug deal. We had read about this one Chinese restaurant that was supposed to be good..but by the time we got there it was 7:00 ish or so..and we figured that we better not stay as we have to walk back in the dark.

Look at that in Chinatown..nothing says welcome to Vancouver than a big pile of toxic waste!

We decided to try to find dinner on an island..but it was waaay far away. Probably like 5 miles or something..but we started on our way. Dad noticed that he had been to Vancouver for the 1986 World Fair. So we took a few pictures of the big silver building for memories sake.

Then kept on walking.. It was a nice path along the inlet. We stopped for some fun pics here and there. Look how beautiful the city scape is!! Amazing!

Then we found a place with a small ferry boat that would take us to the island..woo hoo!!! Here we are on the ride!

Arrived at the Island, and went to this really nice restaurant for dinner. Food wasnt the greatest, but the view was AMAZING! I tried for a picture in the dark..but it was blurry. It was so gorgeous though. Afterwards we took a taxi (my first taxi ride ever by the way..) and got back to the hotel. We went hot tubbing, sauna-ing, and then got back to watch the re-run of American Idol. I fell asleep in the middle of it. It was a fun day!!! Tomorrow..the aquarium!

I"m in Vancouver BC!

2009-04-22T10:23:00.000-07:00

My Dad came to Vancouver , British Columbia Canada for a business trip and so..
I took a drive, dropped off Grace & Liam at Auntie Emily and Uncle Marks house and continued up to Vancouver to spend a few days with my DADDY!

If you would like to see what Grace & Liam are up to while at Em & Marks house..Click HERE for daily posts!

When I arrived at the hotel, my dad was still away working so I came into the room. Upon arrival I saw this on the bed:

I laughed in spite of myself as anyone who knows my dad..knows he loves to go down to breakfast at the hotel and bring back a weeks supply of everything he can every day. He is a hotel supplies/food HOARDER...and I love that about him. I am sure by the end of the week I will come home with a bag full of mini shampoos, lotions and shower caps too.. LOL!!!

When he came back from work we hugged!!! It was so great to see him!!! Then off we went on a long walk through Vancouver downtown. He bought me 2 swimming suits as I couldn't make up my mind on which one I wanted (an early birthday present).

We looked all over for a good restaurant, and while we were looking at this one particular steak house menu..the chef came out and talked us into eating at his restaurant!! We shared a fancy version of POUTINE (french fries with cheese and gravy poured on top), and steak. I talked my dad into trying real Canadian Coke-a-cola...he liked it! By the way, my food had a hair in it and my steak was rare, so they had to take it back..by the time it was cooked, it was chewy. So food wasnt too great. But the time spent with my dad was wonderful.

Tonight we are off to more adventure -- and possibly Chinatown! I will keep you posted! By the way, here is the view out our hotel window!

Red Door

2009-04-17T08:00:00.000-07:00

Lookie Lookie!! I was given a nice little gift this week. Something to smile about whenever I walk in my front door!

Grandpa & Grandma Truman decided I needed a door-lift.Thank you so much. I love my new red door! And I am throwing in the cute picture of my popcorn poppin looking tree..its so cute!

Easter Weekend

2009-04-16T08:00:00.000-07:00

Grandma and Grandpa came to visit for Easter! Jake & Angela came down as well as Emily and Mark! We all hung out and enjoyed each others company. Here are pictures of Grandma and the twins making Easter eggs!

All the while Grace and Jena dressed up as princesses and danced around.

Happy Birthday Emily!

2009-04-15T16:03:00.000-07:00

Emily came down to our house this Weekend and we were able to celebrate her birthday!

She turned 29! That is so funny because that is how old I am! :) And holding..

Can I tell you a few of my favorite things about Emily?

--She is someone who is so easy to talk to..a great listener.

--She is one of the most thoughtful people I know and always remembers everyones birthdays.

--A great baker..her cookies are world class. Seriously Em..need that cookie recipe.

--She is so sweet and innocent - and I think its so cute she cant watch movies with ANY violence in them. I am sure Heavenly Father looks down and smiles at your pure innocence.

--She is very crafty! Have you seen this quilt she made my Liam?
--She is amazing with all her nieces and nephews..she spoils them, loves them and brings back souvenirs from her many travels.

--We all love her more than she will ever know.

Here are some pictures of her birthday at our house. The cake is first..Ice Cream Cake -- YUM! Can I just say thank you to you Emily one more time for having a birthday..mmmm.. I tried to make a 29 out of candles..didnt really work out all that well.

Sing with me.."Happy Birthday to you..."

Make a wish..Liam wanted to get a closer look at that cake.

Present time!

Happy Birthday Emily!! We wish you the best year ever!

Spring Break - First Stop Zillah

2009-04-08T14:17:00.000-07:00

So, for sping break we decided to go up to Bothel to go see

Auntie Emily and Uncle Mark.
Matts brother Jake was having an awful migraine and needed a priesthood blessing so we decided to stop in Zillah on the way. When we got to Jakes house, we read online that the pass was closed so we decided to stay the night. We let the kids play!

In Uncle Jakes back yard..adventure awaited for the kids. Liam loved the trampoline..we call him a little rabbit. He can hop a foot high or so continually. That is pretty good for a 2 year old..he has no fear.

Also in the back yard is a mass quantity of broken trees. It became a major fun zone for the kids, crawling over and under..just look..I almost wanted to get in there and explore.

Then some more trampoline fun..Jena did not want her picture taken..so I had to chase her with the camera..till she was giggling. All the while Shaylynn happily watched out the sliding glass doors.

Oh and Grace has something to give to you!! lol. This is her newest favorite thing ever..to pick yellow dandelions or bush flowers and give them to people. It justs melts your heart.

On the Road

2009-04-08T14:16:00.000-07:00

In the morning we checked the pass. It was still closed, so we hung out a little longer. Then when we were thinking of going back home..we checked the pass report again..and it was OPEN! So we quickly packed up and hit the road.
This was by far the best car trip ever! Monica and Micah slept..lol. Grace and Liam happily played together. Liam said he looked cool in my sunglasses.

Grace took pictures with her "REAL" (old one of ours) cell phone. Liam loved it.

We made it to Bothell--plus had Zoo much fun!

2009-04-08T10:10:00.000-07:00

We arrived..and it was so beautiful! Em and Mark live in such a little paradise. Big trees surround them and it is so green. Here is a little corner of their house, look at those cute little purple bushes..I loved those.

Not long after we arrived, Mark took Matt & I to one of their favorite restaurants called Pen Thai. Seriously the BEST food I have ever eaten.. If you ever go there..get the Garlic Crispy Chicken..oh man..it was so scrumdidlyumtios... Yes, I used that word.lol.

Then we came back and had lots of fun hanging out, and enjoying each others company. Em made Pizza and we sat down with the kids to watch Marley & Me. We all thought it was a kid movie(I mean look at the puppy on the cover) However,it was NOT. Very adult..lol. We had to fast forward quite a bit of the movie. But at least we got to enjoy Marks homemade famous "Kettle corn" and Em made these super-soft-and-delicious homemade cookies. Mmmmm..still thinking about them. Seriously Em..need that recipe.

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The next day we went to the Zoo..and had a blast!! Here are the pictures from our fun. We were so lucky, the lion came out and roared, the hippo moved and chewed on a branch,the orangutan was up by the window, and the elephant..well ...took an enormous elephant dump while we watched. The kids liked that one..lol.

Can you see the Orangutan in the picture? Look closely!

We went into this cool bird habitat where you can buy bird feed sticks and birds will come down and eat right off your stick! The kids all loved it. Even Liam and Grace held a stick with a bird on it. I of course forgot to charge my camera batteries..but Em brought hers! Here are few pics.

And we stopped for a couple of some fun pictures all along the day. Here is our family, and below is a picture of some monkeys..I mean the kiddos.

We stopped for a snack in the afternoon and Liam decided to chase a squirrel. He wanted to give the squirrel "a poundin" I dont know where he hears these things..lol. He is such a funny kid.

We drove home after our zoo trip. But this is something the kids will remember for a long time. They loved it.

Blog design giveaway

2009-03-26T09:29:00.000-07:00

Wanna win a cute custom blog? This blog is giving away her super great design work. Go there and enter!! Good luck. Click on this button to enter!

Liams Haircut

2009-03-13T14:52:00.000-07:00

Laim went to Dads Barber shop for his first buzz cut.

I was a little worried that he might look ...well...like a cancer patient or something.

But it turned out great! Love it..and looks like daddy will be doing more haircuts to save us more money. Yeay!!

Visit from an Alaskan

2009-03-11T20:40:00.001-07:00

Last week my sister Bethany came down from the chilly north to spend a few days with me.

I was so excited!!

I got to see her kids Trey, Morgan and Mattie. They have grown so much!

I had just barely ended my month long sickness when they came, so I still didnt have too much energy. I was probably a real bore. We sat around a lot to watch the kids play together and ate.

I forgot to take lots of pictures. But here are a couple of Morgan and Mattie.

They are so cute and fun!

I miss you all so much already! Thanks Beth for coming to see us all, it meant so much to me.

I need my family so much!!

::Our 2009 Basketball Season::

2009-03-11T20:23:00.000-07:00

There are a lot of pictures here. If any of them look good its because my sister Bethany took them. The fuzzy ones are from my camera.

For the past 6 weeks Matt has been "Coach" to Monica and Micahs basketball teams.

I am not complaining one bit. Matt is an excellent coach. The kids really like him as a coach, and he loves doing it. Plus he takes the twins to practice and home again. Bonus for me! :)

Here are pictures of Coach Matt. The girls team never lost one game--undefeated! The boys games were 3 wins, 2 losses, and one tie. Here are Matts words about coaching this year: "I had reservations about coaching both kids at once, but it ended up being a fun time. I had a great bunch of kids to work with. "

......................................................................................................................................................

Here are pictures of Micah and his team playing basketball. Micah worked hard this year and had a lot of fun. This is what he had to say about basketball this year: " This year I learned to do a lay-up. I got 8 points this year. Half of them were lay-ups. My favorite part of basketball was doing plays this year."

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And these are pictures of Monica and her team! These girls were fierce!! This is what she had to say about basketball this year: " It was fun having my dad as a coach. I learned how to do a lay-up and how to work together as a team. My favorite part was that my best friend Mackenzie got to be on my team."

At half time of each game all the girls would gather together to "pump" themselves up! It was awesome. These girls had some serious teamwork.

Gracie Dialogues Part V

2009-03-10T23:01:00.000-07:00

This was also one of the first videos we had taken..it
still kinda makes me laugh watching it sometimes.
Notice near the end when Grace gets annoyed when Liam sings with her.

Great Day

2009-03-05T15:54:00.000-08:00

It has been the past 5-6 years now that everywhere I go people call me MAM..

Thank you MAM..

Come again soon MAM...

Can I help you find anything MAM?

MAM, can you have your child sit down in that cart..lol

At first it was really really annoying..I knew I must have been getting older being called MAM all the time. It bothered me a lot.

Well ..today I was at Costco and when I was checking out..the checker said

"Thank you MISS...have a great day!"

MISS?!? I was thinking..oh my goodness! Could it be because I was wearing my retainer today..lol. I didnt care..I was thrilled to say the least. So on the way out I had to write down a nice note in the customer opinions box..to tell Dave how happy he made me.

Yes..today I feel like the:

okay, maybe not that great..but still pretty good!!

Gracie Dialogues Part IV

2009-03-04T20:58:00.000-08:00

Crinkle Crinkle Little Star..

Gracie Dialogues Part III

2009-02-26T22:54:00.000-08:00

Gracies sings "Families are Forever" as only Gracie can..Look out Motab!

The Gracie Dialogue's Part II

2009-02-14T13:10:00.000-08:00

Happy Valentines Day!!..that is what she is saying here.. in part 2 of the Gracie Dialogue's
(Grace is taking speech therapy and is working hard at saying her words.- But you may still not understand a whole lot of what she is saying.)

Mommy & Liam time

2009-02-13T15:30:00.000-08:00

About 3-4 times a week Grace goes off to preschool and the twins head off to school as well. So Liam gets special alone time with mommy. Yesterday we went to Dennys and enjoyed pancakes--the real deal..special one on one time. Normally though I do a lot of shopping with him during this time. He does pretty well too. Other days I will watch him ride his scooter, or jump on our trampoline. He is constant smiles outside. I cant tell you just how much I love spending time with my little Liam. He is 2 years old, full of energy, talkative, and just plain ole cuteness pours out of him all the time. I love my spoiled baby!

Oh and here are a couple pictures of Liam dressed in his Sunday Best -- such a little man!

Valentines Boxes and Cards

2009-02-13T10:30:00.000-08:00

With Valentines day coming this week all Monica and Micah could talk about was "THE" Valentines school classroom party. Do you remember those days? The anticipation almost too much to bear? Yeah, that would be the twins all week long.

This year they were to design and create their own valentine box as well as bring their valentines. So we brainstormed, searched online and got to work. I told them they could choose to either do storebought or homemade valentines. Monica chose homemade and Micah really wanted 3-D ones so we storebought his. Heres what they made:

Monica:: designed a purse-shaped box. She got the idea after seeing a gift bag shaped like a purse at the dollar store (where candy was purchased for the valentines.) Her Valentines were homemade..I found the idea for those here. She colored each one (this took some time) but the results were cute. She put candy inside each one. Here are the pictures:

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Micah:: Micah and I found this cool locker valentine box online here, and he decided he loved the idea. He wanted 3-D Starwars valentines and found the ones pictured below and added a candy.

Today was the big day and they came home with lots o goodies!

Hope you all have a wonderful Valentines Day!! We love you all!

The Gracie Dialogues Part I

2009-02-09T19:54:00.000-08:00

This week we figured out the little camera on our laptop.
And Grace wanted to have a moment to herself on film.

Should I have cleaned up the room a little before doing this?
Yes. But it is too late now isn't it?
You will have to just get over the fact I am a lazy person on Sunday mornings.. (okay, yeah, its all the time..)

Hope you enjoy this first video in the Gracie Dialogues.

My newest pastime

2009-02-06T17:21:00.001-08:00

And no, its not making cupcakes...

Its reading my new favorite blog. Its what I have been looking at for 2 days straight now..that is one of her blog pictures that makes me hungry.

Its called The Pioneer Woman and I seriously could read her posts for hours.

She also does awesome giveaways, has photoshop tips, and food that makes me want to lick the screen.

Thats all.

Just had to share.

Her blog is great -- be warned.

You may get addicted too.

Photoshop fun

2009-02-04T15:56:00.000-08:00

I just learned a new skill today -- woo hoo!! I learned how to turn a pic black and white and add a little color back in. Yeay!!! This is my first project..so its not that great..but this photoshop thing is AWESOME! (Ash, you must call me so I can tell you how to do this.)

More Organizing

2009-02-04T13:35:00.000-08:00

Hello everyone..happy Wednesday! I am feeling so good....this organizing going on over here is contagious. Last week I did a small organizion project and this week I tackled my pantry. It took a little while - but I love it!

Behold the before...(yes I am embarrassed to say I have been coming home from shopping & throwing it all in..just looking for a spot somewhere..)

So I started working...then realized I needed to organize all my other food cupboards too..because I wanted things Juuuuust right.. So Behold another BEFORE...

And Behold the AFTERS:

And the After of the other cupboards:

Now everything is neat and tidy and I can actually find things! Sweet!!! Off to find somewhere else to organize.

Pinewood Derby Fun

2009-02-02T12:17:00.000-08:00

Micah is a Bear this year in cub scouts.

It was pinewood derby time so Micah

:designed his car :

this took many sheets of paper to get the design just right

:picked his paint colors:

burgandy and gray

:drew the pattern on the wood block:

:helped dad cut it out:

Dad did most of this with Micah watching

:Sanded it:

lots of wood shavings on my floor

:painted it:

chose where to put the gray stripes

:added the wheels:

:and finally raced it:

His car was not a winner..[boo hoo]..but the real fun lies in making the car! His car was probably one of the least fastest..but we didnt know you are suppost to grease the wheels..so maybe next year we will have the fastest car ever. But as you can see Micah still had fun!

All the cars in the derby competition...Micahs is #3 --and he got a certificate that says his car is the most futuristic! Check out this cool Wii remote car someone made -- it was soooo coool!!

My Sweet♥

2009-01-29T13:46:00.000-08:00

My little sister Ashleigh tagged me for this cute Sweet♥ Tag.

This is my first time being tagged & I think this will be fun.

1. Where did you first meet your sweetheart?

My Sister Tiffany was living down in hot & beautiful St. George, Utah and had been asking me to come and stay with her for awhile. Now, there was also this missionary out on a mission I really liked and he was due to come home in a few months..so I thought, okay I will go down and stay with Tiffany for a bit..see if anything happens there. So I moved down there.

Tiffany was dating this fellow and they asked me to come over to his apt and watch movies one night. I was bored, so I came.

Her boyfriends roommates came to watch the movie as well--and Matt was one of the roommates. I was so shy and sat down on the sofa feeling a little uncomfortable. Matt sat down next to me and said hi. We all watched the movie, and I think I was nervous with someone I didnt know sitting right next to me (especially a goodlooking guy), and so I didnt look around at all during the movie. My hair covered my face so he couldnt see me..

So after the movie..we all decided to play cards. Tiffany was feeling silly so she suggested we play poker, and winner gets our $2 of bread money we had with us. We all had a lot of fun and I remember Matt calling me "cutie" once while we played..and I thought.."what a flirt.." The guys all beat us at poker and took our bread money..LOL. But I instantly liked Matt - thought he was a fun guy. We asked the guys to come out to our trailer the next day and from then on hung out nearly everyday for a month as friends.

2. What do you remember most about him/her?

I remember thinking Matt was REALLY cute/gorgeous/handsome..(still is) and his personality was almost too good to be true. One day him and I as friends went on a walk around the St. George Temple and I asked him a lot about what he wanted in life, and I was surprised that what he wanted was what I wanted. He was always full of humor and wit, and was super fun. Did I mention I thought he was really cute? LOL..one of my memories is of him coming out to our trailer and he was wearing this gray sweater...I was like drooling.. seriously.

3. Who asked out who first?

This is up for debate.. you will have to decide.:)

So we were just friends for about a month..but I was crushing on him a lot. But Tiffany was telling me she didnt think he would go out with me..like I might not be his type. So I hadnt tried anything.

So this one summer day we all got up early and went on this AMAZING hike called "The Subway". It is part of Zions national park. This hike was an all day hike, full of swimming through rancid pools of water, climbing through canyons, rapelling, swimming under water and following a stream through a high canyon wall. Matt was the smart one and brought this huge 2-Liter bottle of water, and we were all making fun of him at first, saying.."that is A LOT of water..LOL" The rest of us only brought one bottle of water. By the end of the day, I was begging him for a drink, and of course he shared. Matt tried to show off once during the hike by sliding down this rivermade waterslide, but landed on a rock at the bottom, which had to hurt like heck. Noone else ventured on the waterslide to say the least. At once point during the hike, somehow Matt and I became separated from the group. We found this little tiny waterslide into a pool of water and I thought it would be fun, so I slid on in. But much to my surpise, there were all these little black leech type critters that lodged themselves all onto me. So I immediately got out..and was trying to get all these things off of me in a panic. Matt was picking them all off as well...all in my hair and face. When they were all gone Matt had my face in his two hands tenderly..like he was gonna kiss me...but shyly I looked away. We chatted the rest of the hike and went home to shower/change. We were to meet back that night to watch a movie.

It was when I got home I made a decision. I was going to make a move (and I had it all planned out...) at the movie that night I was going to do the LEAN ON HIS SHOULDER move..and if he didnt like me I could claim..oh, sorry, I am so tired..LOL. Perfect plan right? :)

That night Tiff and roommates put CONGO the movie on..I sat next to Matt, and did the lean..he put his arm around me, and held me the entire movie. To this day I cant remember a word of that movie..I was just so happy. After the movie he asked me If he could see me again..(and I was like..of course silly, we have only been seeing each other every day for a month..) We were after that night spending every day together.

4. What did you do on your first date?

Our first official date was to Mesquite,NV. We went to a magic show and dinner. We were double dating with Rob and Tina. It was really fun.

5. What were your favorite things to do together when you were dating?

We loved going to Mesquite Nevada..for the all you can eat buffets..and shows. Other than that we loved just hanging out, studying, going to movies and enjoying each others company.

6. When was your first kiss with your sweetheart?

The very next night after the lean move I made..we went on a late night drive. I promised myself I would not kiss him for the first time in the dark, as I wanted it to be in the daytime for some reason. ? Anyways, we went up and sat on this big cliff overlooking St.George and looked at the stars.. he put his arms around me and when I was pointing out a certain star he sweetly kissed me. It was a beautiful night and a really sweet kiss.

7. When did you first realize you loved him or her?

We had been together for about a month or so maybe..Tiffany had moved back to Washington, and I was alone in my trailer out in the middle of nowhere. So sometimes I had Matt come and sleep over because I was scared a little. We slept together (but we were good little mormon kids - really just sleeping..no worries). One night, we were lying there on the pullout sofa sleeper, and he had his arms around me, and soft music was playing. It was quiet, and still, and I was looking at the beauty outside the window, these beautiful cliffs..and I felt so much love and peace and happiness. I just knew then and there that I was so totally in love with him.

8. Who said it ( I love you) first?

Matt did. We were going to sleep in each others arms...and after about 15 minutes or so..I heard Matt whisper.."I am falling in love with you." I didnt say anything, pretended I was asleep or something..but inside was so very happy. I told him the next day that I was falling for him also.

9. How did he/ she propose?

I pretty much knew the night he was going to ask me, since he asked me to dress up nice. He brought me roses when he picked me up..and we went to this REALLY FANCY restaurant up by the airport in St George. We ate, enjoyed each others company, and then..

He took me to the place of our first kiss, up to that cliff overlooking the city. He got down on one knee, proceeded to share his feeling for me (which made me cry) and then proposed. I of course said yes.

10. What are two things you remember most about your wedding day?

Feeling like I had been apart from Matt for too long (we were apart for 2 months during our engagement..) as I had only been able to see him the night before. I was nervous about the temple, but it was beautiful in and out. But I remember looking at Matt across the alter and knowing this was the right choice. To be married forever with my sweetheart and bestfriend.

The second thing I remember was Matt forgot to bring black socks..so he wore white ones and looked like Michael jackson..it was soo funny!Also my dad speaking at the reception.touching and silly..eh? LOL.

And do you know the best thing? Our relationship keeps getting better. Its been 12 years now and he is still by bestfriend and sweetheart .

Matt, I love you more than words can say.

Love Karrie

I now TAG::

Emily, Sara and Dandee :)

Ahhhhhh...simple joys.

2009-01-29T13:17:00.000-08:00

This week someone inspired me to finally organize a much needed cupboard/throw-all area.
It feels soo good now! So I wanted to share..
The BEFORE::

And the AFTER:: *sigh* soooo much better.

This little task took about an hour(but I organized all my medicines too..and packed tons of them away in another area) and it makes me smile now whenever I walk by. Now off to find another area to organize..to work on some more NewYears Resolutions.

Home from school

2009-01-23T10:14:00.000-08:00

Martin Luther King Jr. Day means the kids are all home from school.
Normally we just have a bunch of the neighbor kids come over and play all day here, but I was having some cabin fever and needed to get out.

So we all went Roller Skating!

One word: FUN

We had soooo much fun!

::Liam:: first timer on skates - just walked on them the whole time. About 2 hours in he wanted his skates off. His little legs were tired.

::Grace:: Her first time on skates as well. She caught on quickly, went out on the rink, stayed close to the sides and went around again and again. Then, worn out, would come to my table and exhaustedly fall down. After a short rest she was back at it again.

::Micah:: Started out with reg roller skates, and changed to Roller blades after the first hour. He pretty much looked like that scarecrow from the wizard of oz trying to walk..all wobbly and such. It was funny. He had a good time though.

::Monica:: She started out a little scared to skate, but by the first hour was skating very well. She could often be found holding Graces hand out on the rink. What a great big sis!

::Karrie:: Standing next to either Grace or Liam the whole 4 hours. Picking them up as they fell down. Enjoying my kids happiness!

To finish off our fun we stopped at DQ for some dipped cones. Great day :)

For the Twilight Fans out there..

2009-01-22T15:00:00.000-08:00

Yes, I know..

PERFECT, right? Would you like one for your sweetie?

Get them here.

These are HANDMADE by a sweet girl in my

ward - she is just way too talented!

You may like her blog too - she is so creative and crafty.

Enjoy!

My Couponing Brag

2009-01-12T08:01:00.001-08:00

So earlier this week I did an awesome couponing deal. I bought all this for $10.56! I saved $261.81. Can you all believe it? I love couponing..(I dont have to do it, I do it more like a hobby/for fun). When I first started couponing I was confused and embarrased, but now I feel like an old pro. I have a coupon blog to list my savings budget and the deals in the Pac Northwest.

Heres what I bought for $10.56:

3 packages of Pampers Pullups

20 Kashi GoLean bars

10 Soyjoy bars

4 Betty Crocker Blueberry muffin mix boxes

2 FiberOne muffin mix boxes

4 Yoplait Kids yogurst

4 Yoplait GO GURTS

2 Boxes Bisquick

7 boxes Betty Crocker Fruit Snacks

2 boxes FiberOne Pancacke Mix

15 boxes Betty Crocker Au Gratin Potatoes

5 boxes Hamburger Helper

1 french bread

14 1/2 lbs of butcher block meat: 12lbs chicken, 1.5 lb pork chops, 1 lb hamburger

One of my best deals!

2009 Resolutions!

2009-01-10T11:25:00.000-08:00

Here are my 2009 Wishes, Dreams, and Goals.

::Physical::

*Work out 5 times a week - get strong.
* Run a 5K with Matt this spring/summer.
*No more fast food - I am really bad about this..

*Really think about the food I put into my body. Eat healthier.

::Personal::

*Get my house organized - go room by room!!
*Finish the childrens rooms - I have painted them, just need to finish all those cute accessories.
* Finish up my years supply of Food Storage.

::Spiritual::

*Read scriptures daily with the children. This might be a great idea with my busy kids. *Continue going here to renew and connect.

::Creative::
*Make lots of cute hair bows this year. Just something I put off doing all the time.
*Perhaps work on some new blog headers too.

Learn more about Photoshop.

::Monetary::
*Continue [Couponing] and try a family grocery/food budget for $1200 for the year!

::Family::
*Make and keep a family schedule!

*Grow things in our backyard - we need to plant grass in the spring and fill our flower beds.
*Build a family firepit for roasting marshmallows in the back yard.

*Family trips - I would like to go camping and hiking as a family at least once this summer.
*Take a family trip to the beach and/or silverwood this summer.
*Potty Train Liam --get my last child out of diapers!!

I used this cute format for NewYears Resolutions on [dandees] blog. Thanks for the cute idea!

Happy New Years!

2009-01-08T14:45:00.000-08:00

We had waaaaay too much fun for

:: New Years Eve ::

We started out the night with Pizza provided by Cory & Ashleigh..

Put all the little ones to bed.

Cory, Ash, Matt and I Played a long game of Settlers of Catan

-- I won (giggle)

Emily & Mark arrived...

We all ate Strawberry shortcake --mmmmm

Chatted and visited with each other

- put on our hats and necklaces...

We brought out the individual sized Martinellis

And waited till the Countdown began..

10-9-8-7-6-5-4-3-2-1

HAPPY NEW YEARS!!

Song and Kisses

-- Shortly thereafter the Martinellis started kicking in...

and we all got really loopy and

::SILLY::

We even had a dance off..

CLICK HERE TO SEE ALL THE VIDEO CLIPS --HILARIOUS!

Hope 2009 is a great year for all of you out there!

FUN TIMES!!!

Changes...

2009-01-07T20:10:00.000-08:00

First of all I wanted to mention that my computer and phone were not working since January 1st. My modem broke and I had to wait for the company to mail me a new one. Thus no posts for so long...sorry!

So...During the holiday break I had a

::HAIR MAKEOVER!::

I went from [blonde] to [brown] baby!

Woo hoo! It is still a little shocking to me some days, but I really do love it a lot.

My sister in law Emily is great at everything, especially hair! She is by far the best hair dresser I have ever had. So, thanks again! Click here to see the before and after pictures she took.
Some pictures of my new hair -- can you tell I like it? [hee hee hee..]

::And here is the back of my hair::

So, what do you think?

~By the way, stay tuned for my posts about the New years!!

Hope you all had a Merry Christmas!

2008-12-26T14:27:00.000-08:00

We had a great one. Christmas Eve we all sat down and listened to the Christmas Story read by Dad..and had Liam and Grace each holding their own baby Jesus..it was so cute. Then we sang some songs while Meagan played the piano - I cant tell you how much we love to hear her play. Emily and Mark arrived and we sat down together to watch the GRINCH..and afterwards put the dear little ones to bed. Christmas morning was full of happiness and cheer with everyone so happy with the treasures they were given. Hope you all had a wonderful Christmas!!

Grace turns 4

2008-12-18T15:36:00.001-08:00

Grace turned 4 years old today! HAPPY BIRTHDAY to my sweet little girl.

I took her to Costco today to pick out a birthday cake, and wouldnt you know her favorite one was this one with a Christmas Tree and bear on it. They had rainbow and princess themes, but it makes me laugh that she wanted the Christmas one..She is so funny!! And of course before we got the cake home she had poked a hole in the package and put her finger in the cake, she is a sneaky one..But we all love her. Jake & Angela came down for the party and we all had good times!

Let me tell you a little bit about Grace.

My dear little daughter is just full of love, life and energy. Her sense of humor often has the whole family laughing. She is a SILLY SILLY GIRL - Can you tell from the pictures?

She is always trying to help everyone with whatever they need, a very hard worker.

Grace can often be found in her room playing with toys while humming or singing her favorite songs. She is so happy most of the time, but still has a little firey temper too. She goes to Head Start Preschool for trouble with her speech, but she is improving every day. She loves bringing us all home paintings and artwork, and loves to tell us about her letter of the day she just learned.

She is so much of a joy to our whole family.

We love you our dear little GRACE! Happy Birthday!

Here are some video clips from today - enjoy!

Holiday Lights

2008-12-17T22:40:00.000-08:00

Our Little Cozy Home - All decked out

Can you believe this was our first year we have ever put up Christmas Lights? Moving every 2 years or so has kept us so busy and we havent had the time or energy to do them. Well this year when Liz came down she inspired us by putting up the bush lights for us...
and we couldnt stop there..
so I went down to Walmart, one thing led to another...
and I brought home a bunch of lights!When Matts mom left he got to work on putting them all up. We all know how men love a new project right? heehee..

Well, Matt put up all but one of the red rope lights for my other pillar. I am still thrilled. I love my sweetheart-and appreciate all he did to make our house so cute on the outside!

snow.

2008-12-17T22:33:00.000-08:00

*Sigh*.. the snow is gently falling down and it looks so beautiful and peaceful.

Big Huge white fully flakes.

I love looking at white thick snowflakes in the light from the street lights , perhaps it reminds me of childhood Christmas past.

I love when everything is blanketed with snow.

Beautiful.

Tonight while the snow was falling, we all got super cozy and sat down to watch the movie "Fred Claus" together. Made some warm popcorn and enjoyed some family time.

Its nights like these that I sometimes wish would never end.

Grandma Time

2008-12-10T13:49:00.000-08:00

Grandma Truman came all the way down from Canada to spend time with her grandkids. She spent the first week with Jake and his family, the second week with Emily & Mark and the last week and a half with our family. We all had so much fun with her we didnt want to give her back to Grandpa!!
Some of our memories of this week,

*Liam calls her Grampa (I think on purpose.) he would say "Grampa HOLD me!!"

* Grace running to hug Grandma when she got home from school to show her her newest painting! Grandma always has the biggest compliments for Graces artwork.

*Micah recieving some very needed socks from Grandma..she is too thoughtful!

*Grandma and Matt trying each night to get off to a movie (and it never happened..)

*All of us SICK! Liam was up the first 2 nights Grandma was here all night every hour. We didnt get much sleep at all, then after some antibiotics Liam was feeling much better. But all of us were not - Colds, Flu and just plain old tired all week.

*and last but not least, Liam running to Grandma as fast as his little legs could carry him when Mommy said, "Time for Naptime!" He ran and said, "Hide me Grandpa!"

We will miss having you around. Please come and see us again soon Grandma!

A Box of Food

2008-12-08T07:45:00.000-08:00

Recently I read a blog of a mother who has 8 children. She was talking about what to give her children for Christmas. The two things that are most important to her as a mother are time and teaching her children something useful (a life lesson). She decided to combine the two and come up with a gift that would allow each child to feel completely special even though there were 7 others who needed their mom as much as they did. What she came up with was so awesome that I knew I had to share it with all of you.

A BOX OF FOOD

WHAT YOU WILL NEED:
*paper
*pen
*the ingredients of your child's favorite meal/dish.

HOW TO MAKE IT:

Write out the recipe for your child's favorite meal on the piece of paper.
Box up the ingredients to make that meal.
Wrap it all up.
Include a date that you will make the meal together.

The idea behind the box of food is that when it comes time to make the meal that your child received for Christmas, that child is the only one who will get to help out in the kitchen making that meal. They not only learn a lesson (how to cook their favorite meal) but they will also score some really awesome one on one time with you while you cook. It's a memory I guarantee they won't forget.

New Blog Header!

2008-12-06T11:27:00.000-08:00

Hey everyone!! I bought Photoshop elements 7 this week and have been busy learning how to make a blog header -- I thought I would make a cute Christmas one -- what do you think of the new header?

Funny Video Clips of my kids

2008-12-02T15:54:00.000-08:00

On the Right hand side of this blog are some links to some of my blog buddies.. You absolutely HAVE to check out Emily & Marks and Meagans Blog (videos on Nov 12 I think..) for some HILARIOUS videos and pics of my kids.

December is here!! Up goes the TREE

2008-12-02T14:57:00.000-08:00

I am so glad its this wonderful time of year! Full of traditions, parties, sweets and fun! The day after Thanksgiving, Matt worked really hard at putting up our tree..we have a fake one that we use every year and it saves us money. I do miss the pine smell..so maybe next year we will do real. Our poor trees lights this year werent working anymore.. so Matt went to work adding new colorful blinking ones.... Here is the finished product, not the best..but its our little tree and we LOVE it!

Under the tree is our Christmas books! We have 25 of them, so each night one of the children gets to unwrap a book and we all read it together! Its one of our favorite tradtions.

All the children helped place bulbs and ornaments on the tree - they love that part. We are currently in search of the perfect star.

Emily and Matt hard at work..slaving away getting our tree JUST RIGHT!

Jena's Birthday Fun

2008-12-02T13:42:00.000-08:00

So Jake, Angela, Jena and Shay all came to our house to celebrate Jenas 3rd BirthdayParty! What fun we had. Before we had the party we let Grace and Jena outside to ride bicycles. They had a blast and we watched them warmly from inside. But we did manage to snap a few fun photos of them on their bikes. Then after that we sang Happy birthday and ate yummy cake! Then Jena opened her presents and squealed with delight with each present. It is sooo funny!!

Happy Birthday Jena!

Double Dating!!

2008-11-22T22:34:00.000-08:00

*Double DATE!* Woo hoo - we had some fun! First we went out to dinner at Cousins restaurant and ate - it was great! Then we went and stood in line to see Twilight the movie. We were there a half hour before show time..and we still ended up in the front rows at the movies..darn it all!Twilight was good, but also a bit of a dissapointment -- there were some cheesy moments in it. And Matt was nearly attacked by all the teen girls when he started giggling at the meadow scene..and his giggling got Angela giggling too!..I had to give him the stare of death..to get him to knock it off. We all thought the movie was just okay - but had a great time all together. I hope we can all go out again sometime!!

Launching my NEW BLOG!!

2008-11-14T17:56:00.000-08:00

Hey everyone -- I am launching my new COUPONING BLOG!!!

That address is www.FistFullofCoupons.blogspot.com

Please check it out and post a comment to be entered into a drawing!!

Halloween Costumes

2008-11-14T10:19:00.000-08:00

Sorry - My camera card had a virus or something, and I had lost the cord to my camera too - so I couldnt upload halloween pictures of the kids. I know, late late late!! But better late than never, right?

Liam was a pirate - and did a few houses trick or treating. He says "trick or treat" really well!! Its really cute.

Monica wanted to by an Egyptian this year...cleopatra.. :)

Micah was a boxer -- he has boxing gloves that he didnt wear for the picture. Also please note that this is the outside of our house. I purchased my first REAL Halloween decoration this year -- the BIG BLOW UP BLACK CAT!! ALL the kids in the neighborhood loved it!! We used it on top of our trunk for trunk or treat too..LOL!!

Graces newest passion is the Doodlebops. She wanted to be Dee Dee Doodlebop. So she wore a pink wig and had a blast!

And now for the fun part -- look at the massive quantities of candy they got -- TONS!!!

TWILIGHT!!!

2008-11-01T21:19:00.000-07:00

Soooo...Yeah I will probably be embarrassed looking back on this a year from now...but I am totally obsessed with Twilight!! The movie comes out in less than 20 days and I am so excited!! I want to go opening night! These series of books by Stephanie Meyer are about a vampire falling in love with a human girl. Now, I am not usually a big reader at all (indeed never even read Harry Potter books)-- and I dont ever read vampire or scaryish books..But These books are not scary at all - it is truley a LOVE story - and I love it more than I like romeo and juliet! The author paints a picture of true love and it is sooo beautiful. Thanks to Emily Bleazard who recommended them to me!!
I know many of you who read my blog have read Twilight and would appreciate some EYE CANDY for the movie -- so here ya go!!

And here are the links to some trailers!!

This one is from the Penelope DVD:

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=o_hSNELxpXM&feature=related

This is a make fun of twilight spoof -- really funny!

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=dompotjTeIA&eurl=http://latimesblogs.latimes.com/entertainmentnewsbuzz/twilight/index.html

And this one is one of my favs

http://perezhilton.com/2008-10-28-what-if-hes-the-bad-guy

HAPPY HALLOWEEN!!

2008-10-31T14:35:00.000-07:00

We went to the Pumpkin patch last friday and of course our camera ran out of battery power after the first picture - but here it is!

I hope you all get LOTS of CANDY!!

Happy Halloween!!

Monicas Photography talent

2008-10-30T15:29:00.000-07:00

My little lady Monica is so much fun these days. She is 9 years old and such a big help to me! She has such a beautiful heart - and this girl is FULL of talents! From soccer star to writing stories, to dancing...and piano...and introducing her newet talent --- PHOTOGRAPHY! Last month we went to the park and Monica asked if she could take some pictures..I said "Sure!...Just be careful!" So then when I got home and looked at her pictures I was amazed. Sure there were a few junkers in there..but as you can see some great ones came out. Enjoy! Every picture except this first one Monica took with my cheap-O digital camera.

Fun at the FAIR!

2008-10-29T10:46:00.000-07:00

Every year its our tradition to take the kids to the fair - this spring we just moved to the Tri-Cities so I took the kids to the Benton Franklin County Fair this year. Highlights of the day --
- Purchased Monica & Micah bracelets for rides
- within 1 Hour of riding Rides Micah was SICK and didnt want to ride any more rides - he went home with his friend Danny as Danny was also sick from the rides.
-Took Grace, Liam & Monica to see animals - as pictured

- Went to the kiddie section of rides and let Grace go on them with Monica... Grace at first was a little scared of rides ...

But Monica helped her get into the fun...

Then I let them all go on a pony ride--they all LOVED it - especially Liam!

More Rides with Grace and Monica!

This donkey did NOT want LIAM near him -- he was a grumpy DONKEY!

All in all a fun day - I just LOVE the fair!!

Micahs Football Days

2008-10-27T14:39:00.000-07:00

Just added these 3 actual GAME Pictures --- micah is #11 -- or shall we say number ONE ONE!

This fall Micah has been enjoying his first Football Season = his team is called the DRAGONS..He played Defense most of the season and Kicker! He loved hanging out with all the guys and playing rough.. The season has now come to an end...but he had a blast! Micah is in the red jersey #5 for practicing in...

My Micah is just about the funnest kid around - He has been the best big brother to Liam and just a side note - they sleep and snuggle together in bed at night on purpose -its so sweet. 9 years old and full of joy. His singing voice....like an angel too!!

Uh-Oh CHERRIOS!!

2008-10-27T13:25:00.000-07:00

I was upstairs getting ready for the day..and when I came down Liam, Grace and the little girl I babysit, Laiken, had the whole box of cheerios poured out and were eating,dancing and playing in it...They were having a CHERRIOS PARTY!! It was so shocking I had to run to get the camera!! Yes this is just a typical day in the Truman household. I am sure someday we will miss having TODDLERS around!!

Truman family Blog

2008-05-27T13:32:00.000-07:00

My goal is to keep everyone updated with the Truman family happenings. To start this off - I wanted to post our family picture we just took this weekend.