Happy Halloween

This year for Halloween Garrett wanted to be Mario. He has this thing with mustaches so he was more than happy to be able to wear one! We decided to make our own...I think he turned out to be one of the cutest little Marios around...

Wyatt told us the other day that when he comes home from his mission he is going to be The Black Ninja and help Uncle Bryan catch the bad guys...too cute! At least he is going on a mission first, right! I went to Wyatt's school party. It is always fun to see him in other settings. He is a good kid with a lot of friends. This year he was chosen to be on the Student Council. It has been an awesome thing for this little guy. Tomorrow he is going with the whole Student Council to help fill boxes with food for the Food Bank. What a great experience! We love Mrs Boyce!

I love his serious look...

Here Kitty, Kitty!

I am so pleased with Alyssa's costume this year. I was going to have her wear the pumpkin suit that Wyatt wore, but she hated it! So, I thought and pondered and tried on a black fleece one-piece and she loved it! So...What does a kitty say?

Alyssa really got into Trick or Treating. She had it figured out from the first door. She also wouldn't let anyone hold her. She wanted to walk and carry her bag.

We had a fun night...The boys are already planning next year!

A Josey Wales Party!

Garrett really wanted to give Travis a Josey Wales birthday party this year. You might be thinking "Who is Josey Wales?" Wyatt would tell you "He is a tough cowboy that never dies." Josey Wales is a Clint Eastwood movie...one of Travis' heroes.

So, we bought Dollar Store cowboy hats,

wrapped Travis' new jean quilt in brown paper, and...

...went hunting! It was such a fun day.

The wind was blowing, so we helped the boys make a hide-out with a bunch

of branches that had been cut down. Can you see Garrett in there?

Happy Birthday, Travis! We love you!

It's Great To Be Eight!

We are so proud of Wyatt for making the decision to be baptized. He is growing a testimony of the gospel and it is so fun to watch him learn. He does a super job on talks for primary. This is the talk that he gave last week.

"Jesus was born into a family because he needed help getting food and being taut the gosbol and learing how to walk and talk. He also leard how to work and where to find food and water. Jesus was an enzapol what are famils would be like. I know that families are inportent. I'll like to bor my testumny that are families love us and care for us and they proted us. In the name of Jesus Christ. A men."

What a special day to be baptized! Nanny gave a talk on Baptism. Wyatt had so many people that were here to help him feel especially loved on his baptism day! Thank you to all who were here or sent well-wishes to Wyatt.

Doesn't he look sharp in his new suit?

The Entire Crew

Travis, Bishop Coleman, Julie, Seneca, Rick, Ashless, Bryan, Tony, Grandma Kris

Alyssa, Leah, Kate, Lisa, Jack, Keri, Keisha, LaZell, Nanny

Ryan, Samantha, Wyatt, Aliera

Gage, Micah, Emily, Garrett

Notice how I had to literally hold Garrett in place...

Special Agent Training

For some reason my internet hates me! I have been trying to upload these pictures for a few weeks...Any suggestions would be greatly appreciated...So I will post what I have and try again!

Wyatt's birthday was so much fun! We had a Special Secret Agent Training day and completed a Secret Mission.

After receiving special instuctions and breaking codes...the boys were ambushed by the Rogue Agents. Here are some great photos from it...

This cute little guy just got done telling his dad that he didn't get hit, when one of the Rogue Agents came up and sprayed him down!!

After the ambush, the boys had to make their way through laser beams to get to the case which held the code to defuse the bomb.

Defusing the bomb...

This was such an exciting day! Thanks to all of our Special Helpers: Mrs. Boyce, Specialist Trainer; Nanny, the Chef; Keri, Assistant to the Chef; Keisha, the Aftermath Clean-up; Ashlee, Assisstant to Commander-in-Chief; Rick and Bryan, the Rogue Agents; Poppy, the Photographer; Randy, the Translator; and Dad, the Pilot!

Summer Fun...Long past and gone!

I hope that this post is successful! I get pretty frustrated with our internet sometimes...It seems to hate uploading my pictures! So...We had a busy, fun-filled summer and I just wanted to add some fun pictures of the kids and some of their activities.

Wyatt had a fun T-ball season. He is such a good little player. The only bad thing about this year was the color of the team shirts. Wyatt was terribly disappointed...Pink...Come on! So, the coach told everyone to think of a cool team name. Wyatt wanted to be called The Legends, but one of the moms thought it would be funny to name them The Pink Panthers. Ha Ha Ha...Wyatt was not impressed. Poor kid. He did not put on his shirt during the first game until he saw that all of the other boys were wearing there's too. There were only 2 girls on this team...not a cool color for a bunch of 6-7 year olds!

Garrett went to swimming lessons with his best buddy Micah. They are too cool! They enjoyed playing Mr Shark, Mr Shark What time is it? And, Garrett loved going under the water. He learned a lot and lost pretty much all of his fear of the water...Garrett is one crazy little man!

One of our friends gave us a cute little playhouse. Alyssa loves it and, even though it is pink and purple, the boys have fun with it as well. We spent the WHOLE day outside the day we brought it home! Thanks so much, Olsons!!

We had a HOT...I mean fun 4th of July! We spent the day in Boise at a car show...not a usual event for us, but it was a lot of fun. A few of the highlights were seeing Mator from the movie Cars, Bumblebee from Transformers, and catching a glimpse of the Fonz from Happy Days! "What Momma don't know..."

Later that evening the boys decided to have a mud bath! Yikes...They started out like this...

and ended up like this...

We then went to see the Mtn Home City Fireworks...It was a lot of fun!

And, what better way to spend your summer time than by eating watermelon!

We are very grateful for the liberties and freedoms which we enjoy being here in the Grand Ole US of A!!

Random Acts of Kindness

Last night we went out to eat for Travis' birthday at Smoky Mountain Pizza. We really like the food, and we love Kids-Eat-Free Tuesdays! We were sitting next to a family having a little birthday party for their 5-year-old. While we were eating one of the other patrons went over, on her way out, and wished the boy a happy birthday and handed him a 5-dollar-bill. I thought that was so cool. How often do you see people doing nice things for others?
So, the little boy turned to Garrett and offered him some birthday cake. Garrett didn't really know how to accept the kindness. But, the mother handed us a huge plate of G.I. Joe birthday cake and we all laughed as the boy opened his gift and played with it!
What a fun night! Travis got some birthday cake and my boys got a great lesson in Random Acts of Kindness!

Random Cuteness

Our lawnmower gave up this summer....needless to say the grass did not! There was one strip that daddy managed to cut before the untimely death. The kids would run up and down, and they enjoyed finding all of the interesting bugs.

Look at this girl!! Hard to guess why we love her so much!!
Wyatt says the only bad thing about Lis is that she climbs on chairs...and everything else!!


MORE TO COME...

Detail in Washington

In June, Travis had a work detail for Pasco, Washington. We all decided to go with him...to keep him company and sneak in a little vacation. It was a super long, but fun week. While Travis was at work we busied ourselves with crafts, walks, an adventure on the city bus, and a day-trip to Yakima where we met up (eventually) with Aunt Keri and cousin Jack.

We tried to be super frugile by making lots of delicious meals at home and then reheating them at the hotel. The kids loved the pool, especially since we always managed to have the whole pool to ourselves!

We found a super cool park with a tugboat playset and a zipline. I think most parks in the Tri-Cities area are pretty cool. They are mostly themed with water fountains galore!

We rode the bus to a Childrens Museum. It was so cute! They had an ambulance, train engine with a hamburger joint inside, a castle, a playhouse, a workshop, a store, a bank, a pizza parlor, a treehouse, and a reading area complete with lots of cool chairs! It was fun to watch the kids go from place to place.

In Yakima, I took us on an adventure trying to find a U-Pick farm with petting zoo...Nope...didn't exist! But, we saw some nasty chickens and turkeys, spent a lot of time in parking lots, and got eaten up by mosquitos! It was fun spending time with Keri and Jack, and the boys cried when we had to leave! They love Aunt Keri!

I am glad that we were able to explore WA...but so glad that we don't have to say goodbye to Travis for any more work details as he is now permanent!

Happy 1st Birthday, Alyssa!

It is hard to believe that Alyssa has been with us for over one year! She is such a sweetheart, and we are all so glad that she belongs to us. Alyssa is a daddy's girl...Complete with the pouty face and all! She is incredibly intelligent...She is an excellent communicator (I am an advocate of teaching baby sign language.) Alyssa has these huge, georgous blue eyes and a smile that melts my heart. She loves to sing, to be outside in the mud, to push her baby doll Eva, and to wrestle with the boys! She is a joy and a pleasure! Happy Birthday, Lyssa. We love you!

ps. we are having technical difficulties...I will try to add more from her party.

Camping with Nanny and Poppy

This summer Nanny, Poppy, and their dog Koda came up with their trailer and my sister's dog Reese. We spent a couple of nights near Bruneau. We cooked dinner on the Cobb, went on walks, fished, and we even got to go 4-wheeling with Poppy! It was hot! But we all enjoyed a nice break from the everyday routine. Nanny made sure that every one had a camp shirt...The kids still ask for their camping shirts! Thanks Nanny and Poppy for a very relaxing, fun trip! We love you!

One match fire!

We brought our christmas tree to burn...It was awesome!

It's about time!

Catch of the Day

The official examination

Lissy had fun playing on the ramps...She would not climb on the rungs,

but climb over each one...It was so funny!

It took sooooo long to find this place and it was sooooo hot!

The ride was down a river bed, the breeze was perfect...The boys had a blast!

Alyssa was exhausted when we finally left!