Performer in the fam

Last Saturday was the ward talent show.
Josh told some jokes.
He was very brave, spoke clearly into the microphone, and remembered them all without any help.
We were very proud of him.

Here is his material:

What do you call a cow with a twitch??
Beef Jerky.

What is blue and smells just like red paint?
Blue Paint.

What kind of key doesn't open a door?
A monkey.

Why do you put candles on the top of a birthday cake?
Because you can't put them on the bottom.

P.S. I would have pictures, but our camera randomly stopped working.
So sadly I don't have any.

Visitors

On Jan. 17-20, Grandma and Grandpa Morris came to visit. We had tons of fun!!
The boys loved Grandpa and followed him around everywhere! They played basketball, played golf at the park, read books, and just had a great time being silly!


On Monday we went to Chuck E. Cheese to play games...

and then to the Cheesecake Factory to eat dinner.

Thanks Grandma and Grandpa for the fun times. Please come back soon!!

My Daddy is stronger than your Daddy.

Growing up

This cute little boy

can do this
{I know what you're thinking. Sideways again?

I know. I didn't learn the first time.}

and this.

Isn't he getting so big??

Learning to Read and Write

Sometimes I get "mail" like this.

It makes my day.

Other days I get messages like this.

It makes me smile.

Happy Birthday Darrin!!

On Jan. 2 Darrin had the most awesome birthday ever! Here's why:

1. He didn't have to go to work...in fact, the whole company celebrated his birthday by taking the day off.
2. I let him sleep in for a long time.
3. He got 2 more games, a cool pair of shoes and a watch.
4. I made a german chocolate cake equipped with homemade coconut pecan frosting...just like his Mom used to do=).
5. We got a baby-sitter and went to Outback Steakhouse kid-free!!

Hope you had a great day babe!

Happy New Year

For new year's eve we got together with some friends: the Masons and Hansens. We all ate tons of pizza, the kids watched movies, the adults played games and watched the ball drop on TV. We celebrated the new year early with the kids, so they could go to bed. We had a great time and wish we did things like that more often!

(Thanks Kristen for the pics)

Christmas 2008

I know I'm like the last person on the planet to blog about Christmas, but oh well. I've been busy. Give me a break.


Christmas was very fun this year! Because of the snow, we spent lots of time together as a family. Many of the days Darrin worked from home, meetings were cancelled, and I was too scared to drive anywhere. Periodically Darrin would brave the roads to get some groceries or go to work for the afternoon, but for the most part we stayed home. I thought I would go crazy and get sick of being home, but surprisingly, I loved having no where to go and nothing to do. Darrin and I stayed up late, slept in late, played lots of games, and lots of Rock Band. Now we're back to the norm...one of us is gone every night doing something, and we hardly get to hang out. It makes me sad that life can't be more laid back with more free time. I really enjoyed it while it lasted.

Christmas eve we made a nice turkey dinner and tried to help our kids use their very best manners while we ate it. We then read Luke 2 from the Bible and talked about why we have Christmas. It was a special night. The kids finally got to bed about 10pm. They were very into Santa Claus this year. They wrote letters, left cookies, and when Josh woke up Christmas morning, he said he heard Santa come in the night.

On Christmas morning, Josh woke up first around 7am. We had to wait awhile for the other kids to wake up. I thought Josh was going to die waiting for them. He thought so too. Finally around 8am we headed downstairs to open presents. Both kids were very into it, and said they loved everything they got. Luke loved playing in the wrapping paper.
Here's a small rundown of what we made out with:
Darrin--Board games, soccer shorts, a cell phone!!, mp3 player
Kim--New expensive vacuum and waffle iron that beeps
Josh--Tonka helicopter, Monopoly Jr., cement truck Transformer, Light Bright, fleece blanket,
Andrew--Tonka street sweeper, bowling set, Cranium Cariboo, fleece blanket
Luke--Train ball popper, vibrating cow toy, and teddy bear

Darrin's family has a tradition to hang your stocking on your ear and take a picture on Christmas eve. Here we're passing on these very important traditions. Andrew wasn't big on the idea, and Luke was already in bed.

What the Christmas tree looked like on Christmas morning

Andrew and his street sweeper

(In the beginning Andrew liked Josh's helicopter better than his street sweeper. He was pretty sad and disappointed. I told Darrin to help him think his toy was fun, and in a matter of minutes he was happy with it! Whew!

My little Luke

The kids got electric toothbrushes in their stockings...they were a big hit!

Grandma Hancock always gives the kids new PJ's every year...here's a picture in their new jams.

The making...

of our Christmas card picture is never easy.

Because of all the snow this year, we decided to use it as our theme.

Did you get one?

I hope so.

Here are some outtakes.

Don't worry no one was hurt in the taking of these pictures.

Not even Luke.

{click on the pic to enlarge}

I know.
I am a slacker.
and I'm okay with it.
But don't worry.
more blogging to come.

(picture of boys in their PJ's from G. Hancock)