Band Man

Last night we were able to see Elijah play the tuba with his school band for a Christmas concert. Over the summer Elijah decided to play the trumpet, but when school started, his Band teacher asked for volunteers to switch to the tuba. Elijah likes to raise his hand...we were renting the wrong instrument for a couple of months before we found out he switched. He is really loving the tuba though, so we are thrilled. Look at those hard working cheeks!

Snow Day...still have to go to school.

Winter is here, in case you've not noticed. Our kids have played in the snow a ton this year. Everyday this week the kids have had their heart set on a school closure, only to be given a 2 hour delay. (Bummer!) This morning I got in our little car to take them to the bus stop...we missed the bus, even with a 2 hour delay. I wasn't thrilled about driving them all the way to school in the little car with the current weather...with no license....and no shoes. But I did have a cell phone...but I would be driving in an area where I may or may not have service. Ugh. I braved it out. (Roar) We caught up with the bus, so I only had to drive a few blocks. Then I came home and saw how beautiful the snow looked on our house, and I went back out (in our little Kia car that happens to be awesome) to snap a few pictures. Eldon came home at that same time, after dropping Elijah at school. He thought I was crazy when I told him what I was about to do, but he let me be. I took this one picture of our house and my battery died. I charged my battery for a few seconds, just in time to snap this picture of Eldon. He has been so cheerful with the snow work this year. I'm just so impressed. He went over and helped a few people clear their snow, and Tuesday I had an appointment to show a house and he went over to that house to clear a path for us. Way to go Eldon! I love ya!!!

Jacob is 8!

Jacob was baptised by his dad soon after his 8th B-Day! Jacob was pretty excited for this day to come. He chose Hannah to give an opening prayer and Elijah to give a talk on the Holy Ghost. Elijah was more than happy to help until the morning of the baptism. He became a lttle nervous late in the game. He delivered a terrific talk on how the holy ghost can bless us with warmth and comfort inside as well as be a guide, like a map, which can lead us throughout our lives. He then presented Jacob and his friend Ryan with a warm blanket and a road map so they could remember how the Holy Ghost can help them from that point forward. (Ryan is pictured here, also getting baptised by his dad on the same day). Eldon and I were proud parents on this day!

He's a Deacon!

Elijah celebrated his 12th B-day. He is now passing the sacrament and collecting fast offerings. He takes this new reponsibility very seriously. We are excited for him! It's fun to see him grow.

I'm excited even if no one else is.

I'm pretty proud to show you my new walking path. Eldon and I laid it ourselves. The cool thing is, I can now go all the way around the house on a hard surface. Okay, that sound's lame. You'll just have to experience it for yourself. We were still getting our grass to grow in. That gets better with time. But seriously, come see my walking path!!!

Male bonding & some monster trees

Eldon took the boys on a quick camping trip...the trees are big there, right?

Sibling ties

I am always amazed at how close Jacob and Hannah are. I think Jacob realizes how lucky he is to have such an awesome sister. She is always reading with him, playing games with him, helping him find his socks...in return he makes his unique recipies for her... Simply sandwich 10 pepperonies between two saltines and enjoy! Too precious!

Sunsets are hard to ignore...

We get the most amazing sunsets at our house! This is taken right from our back patio.

Hannah's 10!

Hannah had a great 10th birthday party with her friends. They played on our water slide in the back yard, ate yummy food and went to see Wall-e.

Swim Team

All three of the kids had a great Catfish Swim Team season over the summer. They learned a ton and swam their little hearts out. At this particular meet, Hannah swam the butterly stroke with girls 2-4 years older than her. Her coach said that he hated doing that to her, but said she had a strong butterfly and she was the best fit for it. It was 50 meter swim, but in her practices she had only ever swam a 25 meter butterfly. By the time the race was over, she had to rest before she had the energy to get out of the pool. She did an awesome job and gave it everyhthing she had.

Too much fun!

T
Our kids love their cousins. They just can't get enough of them. These photos were taken at the Portland Zoo and OMSI were we had a mini-reunion with just Eldon's siblings' families. We followed it up with a full blown Monson Reunion at Eldon's Uncle Scott's in Woodland, WA.

Haunted? I think not.

Eldon & I stayed at this B&B. It was supposed to be haunted. We were disappointed that it wasn't.

Family Fun in CA

So, in March '08 on the same trip as Disney Land, we visited Sea World and Universal Studios. My guys love to get wet. At the Universal Water War show, this show guy was squirting people with water as they walked by to get to their seats, then pretended not to do anything. It was pretty funny to see the reactions of the people. Jacob really enjoyed this, so much in fact that he started to be a show guy, too. He was egging on the real show guy, so the show guy sprayed Jacob. Jacob yelled "Is that all you got?!?" So the show guy grabbed a bucket and asked the audience if he should use it, the audience cheered and so did Jacob. You can see from the photos that Jacob was thrilled to be a part of the show and get wet. He's crazy!

We went on a white water ride and got totally soaked at Sea World. There was no one riding it because it was too cold for saine people to get wet. I think we rode it like 5 times. No one was waiting to get on, so we just went around and around. You can tell from Eldon's picture that Jacob is truely his boy. They are both crazy!

Disney Land Rocks!

We visited Disneyland in March to avoid the crowds. While we didn't have huge lines, we were buying ponchos and sweatshirts at every opportunity to stay dry and warm.

I was most looking forward to the roller coasters. It had been decades since I last rode one. I was excited to see if the kids would enjoy them, because Eldon supposedly wasn't a fan. So, would they be more like me, or more like their papa? It turns out they were more like me than Eldon. Elijah was a wild man! He has never had an ounce of fear in his entire body and roller coasters were NO exception. He wanted to ride in the front of every ride and he wanted to ride by himself with his hands up. (Dude, not even I can do that.) Eldon was an excellent sport. The funny thing was that his favorite rides were the ones where you get wet, because he loves water. I don't love the water so much, so those were the rides he revisited with the kids. I revisited Space Mountain with Elijah and he sat it out with Jacob aand Hannah. It turned out to be a great system! We visited the charactor breakfasts and a ton of the YUMMY-churro stands. If you ask the kids how Disneyland was, they'll tell you that they loved it and Mommy didn't like the first hotel, so they had to roll their luggage to a better one.

It's true. All of it, and it's good for them to roll their own stuff around sometimes. ;o) I can't wait to plan our Disney World Trip...maybe the kids will pack less?