Our Funny Farm

Academic Effort Award

2010-03-09T22:55:00.000-08:00

Morg....proud of herself. She said she "really works hard ALL the time though." LOL

Two weeks ago, I got a letter in the mail saying that Morgan was getting an award. We went to the awards ceremony and we were both very happy to hear that she got an Academic Effort Award. Which means....she has shown excellent growth and hard work in 1 or more subjects. We don't know which subject it was, but it just goes to show what kind of girl she is. Always working hard and trying to be her best. The awards went to 12 students out of over 100 in the 5th grade.

Morgan and her Principal

Proud Mommy!!!!

I love you Morg and I am always proud of your hard work and determination. You inspire me!!

My Sweet Valentines

2010-02-17T21:41:00.000-08:00

This year for Valentines Day... my nephew Jaxon called and let us know that we could have the best HEART shaped pizza from Papa Murphy's. So we did (thanks Jax). They all loved the shape and it actually tasted really good.

When the kids woke up on Sunday morning, I had them a stuffed animal, candy and a special card for each of them on their beds. They LOVE them. It is Wednesday and they still carry them around and sleep with them every night. I am glad that they can feel how much I love them when they hug their bears/tiger. B named her bear, Timaree LOL, Keegan's tiger is Chester and I think (not positive) Morgan's is Michelle (from Full House)

Happy Valentines Day to you 3. I am so blessed to have such wonderful people to share this special day with. I am proud of each of you and I want you to know, how special I felt to have been woken up to you saying..."I love you Mom, you are my Valentine".
NOTHING BEATS THAT!!!

2010-02-13T17:01:00.000-08:00

Go Strikers FC

Morgan had her first Competitive Soccer tournament this weekend. This is her and her friend Abi. Abi came with to cheer her on. :) :)

Morgan and her biggest fans. We were all really excited (even though Keeg doesn't look it), to watch her play again.

Stretchin......She is #17. She got this from her favorite softball pitchers...#7 Hillary (ASU) and #10 Katie (ASU-World Champion 2008)....together = 17. Kinda funny that she picked softball pitcher's #s for her soccer # LOL

Look at her go!!!!!

I love to see her happy :)
Yup, that's right...captain. Her and Shelby, we won the toss.

I love that they are learning sportsmanship. They all have to take a knee when a player is hurt and remain there until they are off the field. This is not a new thing in sports, but it is for a young division. I am very glad about that.

So in the end...they did not win any of their 3 games...BUT, they played well and learned a lot. They had only 4 practices before the tourney because of all the rain we have had. So I really think they did good. At the end of this month their regular season will start and then they will have another tournament...Utah Summer Games. I am glad that out of the 3 teams that asked her to play, she chose Coach Pascal, who is French (Morg really likes that cause "they know a lot more about soccer there" LOL). He is great and is really determined to teach them the game and not just win (although, he wants that too haha).

B Takes Dance :)

2010-02-12T23:10:00.000-08:00

So as if we didn't have enough going on in our lives LOL...Breckyn started dance class. This was her first day. Can you tell she is excited?

This is her "pose". Thanks again, Aunt Chey and Mags :) She is tooooo cute!!!

These are her friends that she "car poles" with :)
Makena, Dotti, Sophie, Sidney and Breckyn
They are all in our ward. It makes it nice because I only have to drive every 5 weeks (yeah me!)
As you can see, they have to wear pink (glad the girls gave B all of it for her Bday back in July). At the end, they will get new outfits and have a recital :) She absolutely loves it and she learned "The Swan"??? she showed me her "moves" and said that the teacher told her she did it "just right". Too funny. I'll record her sometime and post it. I have to say, I never thought of my Breckyn liking dance and wanting to be a cheerleader...that's right, you heard me. But it's all good. As long as my kids are happy...I'm happy. And as you can see.....she is happy!!!!

CHILE....Here Comes Sister Nikolaus

2010-02-04T18:09:00.000-08:00

SISTER NIKOLAUS

almost

This is the video I took of Chey opening her call. I have never been good at shooting action footage....and it shows here LOL. I am sure you figured out that, Cheyanne will be entering the MTC on April 14, 2010, to begin her mission to be served in Santiago East, Chile (Spanish speaking)

I am so proud of her. A year ago, she would have never even thought of taking this on. But since being home from Honduras and missing the service she was able to give....she changed her mind. They will be so happy and blessed to have her there.

My kids are all very excited for her. They haven't come to terms with the "gone for 18 months" thing yet. That will be hard but it will be something we will face when it arises.

Here are some pictures of the "Call Opening" night :) :)

Chey...holding her call

Chey and our proud Mom (after the tears)

Shauna, Chey & Dad (also very proud)

Chey pointing to her Mission...Elder Nikolaus is serving above in Mexico City South. AND by the way...I guessed where she was going. That's right, I'm the WINNER LOL

Ok, this is actually the night before...but I love this picture of Chey and Tinkerbell. It was definitely a Kodak moment :) :)

Winter Fun!!!

2010-01-10T16:35:00.000-08:00

Our First Time Tubing!!! YEAH

Let's just say that Chey's friend Mike and us are not to great at strapping things down LOL LOL . Notice the "NO SNOW, MOM" behind us :) Thank goodness the white stuff was only about 30 minutes away.My handsome Little Man...Keegan

Keegan was the first to go down of the 3. I almost didn't get him on tape. We also didn't get the chance to see how far someone so light would go... i.e. "the bush" It was actually a bunch of thick branch like things and as you can see in the video....he went right into it. He would have been hurt but there was a small hole that he landed in. We were all laughing and that is when I went down (yes, on a tube) to stand in front of the hole.

My growing to fast...Morgan

Morgan was unsure about how the tubes would work out. I assured her that I grew up on them and that it would be fun. After answering her a million times...I invited her to stay home. She chose to go with us and after the first time down, she was hooked. AND man is she good :) As you can see on the video :)

My Baby...Breckyn

(under her is the hole that Keegan landed in)

Breck was afraid to go at first. So Maggie's friend Chad took her down. She only went down twice and the rest of the time she played in the snow and hung out with everyone. She loved every minute of it. We were there for two and a half hours :)

Morgan was even brave enough to go down the "BIG" hill. She giggled all the way!! Keegan wanted to go to this hill...but once he got there he was afraid. Knowing my Boy like I do, I put him on the tube and sent him down. He was mad at me, but I knew that if he didn't go, the moment we left and forever more he would ask to go back and go down it. :) He isn't mad anymore LOL. And they all can't wait to go again.

After we were done, we walked on a frozen pond. They want to go ice fishing as you can see, Morgan tried to make a hole LOL. These are the 3 cutest sweetest kids in the world. I am so lucky to have them in my life.

Love You My Sweet Three

Here is Chey, Chad, Keeg, Mags & Morg. They found the top of a dumpster someone had left in the trees....so they used it as a sled. (Mags is explaining what kind of a sled it is to some guy)

Sing. Sing, Sing

2009-12-19T08:13:00.000-08:00

Getting Ready!!!

She LOVES it!!

Morgan has now had her first real concert. They stood on risers and everything. Their group is really big. You can't see them all on these videos but believe me...they are all there LOL. On the videos you CAN see Morgan our cousin Jarron and her Friend Roxcy (standing on her right, her brother Keegan's friend Jonah is in front of her).

After Christmas, they will start new songs and Morgan has talked at least two more of her friends into joining. These clips do not to them justice but you can get the idea. They sang about ten songs I think. She had a lot of supporters there and she loved being in front of a crowd :)

Bring A Torch Janette Isabella

I Believe In Santa Claus

The Perfect Christmas Night

This was Morgan's favorite song, you can see by her smile!!!!

Morgan and cousin Jarron

It Is Now An Official Christmas Tree

2009-12-13T21:14:00.000-08:00

Well we FINALLY decorated our tree. The kids had a lot of fun and were very happy with the outcome. Morgan picked out and helped pay for our new angel. It was a great night.

McKinney's friend Chad came over and helped too. So we had lots of hands :)

I love being with my kids...they bring me so much joy!

Maggie, Morgan & Chey LOVE to poseThese are the ornaments my kids painted this year. We started letting them make their own last year and they loved it. So I decided to keep it up again this year. They did a great job!!

~Ta-Duh~

Oh Christmas Tree...

2009-12-09T21:20:00.000-08:00

On Sunday, my Dad and his wife Shauna, took us all out to pick out our Christmas tree. This was the first time that Keegan and Breckyn had ever gone "tree hunting". Morgan had gone once when she was tiny, so she obviously does not remember it. We had so much fun and it brought back so many memories of living in Taylor and yelling "I found one.......oh never mind it is a CEDAR" LOL

The kids (including Chey & Mags) were really excited to ride in the back of the truck.

Here we are, all ready to go :)

This is a small pond that was frozen over....the kids thought that it was so cool and wanted to skate on it ha ha

Keegan said he had the best recliner ever...he just chilled on Chey's lap all the way up the mountain.

Here is Maggie, Chey and Morgan looking for a tree.....they are such good friends :)

B found a tree just right for her (to bad we didn't have enough permits)

Keegan got cold and bored so he took a little rest...I love this picture of him

This is our tree. It only took us about 2 1/2 hours to find it (we are a little picky)

Keeg, B, Morg, Mags, Me & Chey

As you can see, it got soooo cold. Morg doesn't know I took this picture LOL

Chey, Maggie & I rode with the trees on the tailgate. My Dad had a good time pushing on the brakes and hitting every rock. He loved watching us fall, smash each other and hold on for dear life :). Thanks Dad and Shauna for a fun day and for the hot chocolate, doughnuts & cookies.

This is Erin (Chey's friend) also known (lovingly lol) as Mountain Goat.....he was nice enough to come over and help us girls put up the tree....Thanks Erin!
Maggie was in charge of the hedge clippers (not a good idea). She loved them, even using them to cut the wire that they used to tie up a few branches in a bald spot. Here she is, being a reindeer LOL (what a doof)

Well now that it is up......we wait. We will decorate it when we are all together (which is a hard task). Hopefully soon. Morgan picked out and helped buy a new Angel and they have ornaments to paint too. Pictures of that, to follow....stay tuned LOL LOL

All good things must come to an end

2009-12-04T19:10:00.000-08:00

LAST SOCCER GAME

This is my baby girl....she ended up loving soccer and was so cute to watch. Her facial expressions are priceless.

Perfect snack to end the season.....HOT CHOCOLATE AND DOUGHNUTS!

This is the 5 Red Stars

Sidney, Sara, Breckyn, Kate & Brooklyn

Chad (Sidney's Dad) helped me coach (THANK GOODNESS)

Here are my soccer stars. They are both very good and love the game. Morgan decided to try out for a competitive league and made the Dixie Strikers FC team. She will start playing in January and basically go year round. I am not sure I am ready for all of that, 2 practices a week plus games and tourneys AND she wants to play softball too. Glad I got a job so I can pay for all this LOL. BUT, as long as she continues to get good grades, do her chores and be respectful as she is doing now....it will be a great reward for her.

Morgan's Big Day

2009-11-13T20:07:00.000-08:00

It was a great day!!!

So today Morgan had her first school choir performance. They sang 5 songs at Lins grocery store. I guess it is a tradition each year. This is a video of one of the songs. You have to look for her.....she is by her Friend Roxi, who is wearing a flower Morgan made her. There were about 50 kids in a very small space. My cousin Jaron was there too. It was really cute & I could see how much she loved it. :) :) They are all 4th & 5th graders.

***Make sure you turn MY music off, so you can hear the video!!!

This is PART of the choir :) :)

Then tonight, my Morgan sang her very first solo EVER! Our ward had a Dinner Theatre. We all ate as the primary kids entertained us. I was amazed by how many kids signed up. It lasted nearly 2 hours. She was so scared, she couldn't eat....she wanted to back out a few times and her friend Abi was unable to come. But after Marion (our friend) to the rescue...she sang and did amazing. You would think she had been doing this forever. She asked if we could see her knees shaking LOL..but we couldn't. After she was done, she got a roll and said "now I am done & can eat" :) I am so proud of her.

She got a lot of compliments and I got one too. I was told by the Primary President, that she was proud of the way I have raised my kids. That I was one of the "about 4" parents that kept there kids sitting and being quiet during the talent show. That was a great compliment to me, & made me proud of my children.

Random Photos

2009-11-10T09:25:00.000-08:00

Since I didn't have my Blog up and running for a few months...I thought I would put some....ok a lot of pictures on here so you could all see SOME of what you missed. Hope you enjoy them.

The "Bra"

It is actually called Sand Hallow, but it is 2 dome buildings ie the name. This is the kids' favorite place to go for FHE or birthdays.
Morg, Chey, Mags, Ryke, Keeg, Jax & Breck LOL

Good form Morg

Queen of the Frog

Breck and Ryker

1st Day of school for Morg and Keeg

Morgan's new haircut and favorite outfit

Keegan's favorite outfit

So Cute - 2nd grade

Growing toooooo fast - 5th grade

My little Kindergartener

Breckyn's 5th Birthday

Her new bike

On the way to the mine

A Huge shovel

Shauna, my Dad, Lindsay, Britto, Me, Breck, my Mom, Morg, Raylee, Jill, Ryk, Mags, Keeg, Jax, Chey & Willie

Cousins under the crane

Me & my Three by the little truck

HUGE HOLE

So Cute

We love to go driving on Sundays. The mountains are beautiful. This day the kids were a little tired, as you can see.

It was so cold on this trip

a little warmer

Keeg, Maggie, Breck, Chey & Morg

Little Boy.....Big Rock

My Three at the creek

SOOOOO COLD at the lake

COVE FORT

We went to visit Papa Dan and Gramma Geri on their mission. The kids were so happy to see them.

On top of the fort

So Sweet

Soccer....this is the first year any of the kids have played. They LOVE it. Especially Morgan.

Morgan started piano lessons....yeah

The Spinning Park

Cheyanne spinning the kids. I couldn't find the one of them going really fast, but you get the idea.

Morgan is 11

She designed her cake on the computer...so her

Morg's friends at her "Late Night" party watching a movie on the tramp

Beautiful girl

My little Man

Always posing :)

Pouty faces...Keeg just looks mad LOL
right where she would love to be....nature

My Mom and the kids on one of or Sunday drives.

FHE Dance

2009-11-10T08:52:00.000-08:00

You go girl!!

My Morgan goofing off, trying to do a "pouty" pose...so cute

So around our house, we like to sing and dance. Everyone gets into it. Morgan has learned to shake her "booty"....seriously she is a little Hula Dancer. I had a video, but she doesn't want her butt on the computer LOL....I agree. Especially with all the boys that are liking her these days and are even brave enough to tell ME they like her (SCARY!!) I just tell them, it is ok if they like her as long as they are good boys....but they CANNOT TOUCH HER!!! and she can't have a boyfriend hehe Apparently I am intimidating, but I find that to be a good thing when it comes to that.

I caught her dancing, she just makes you smile right....

Keegan participating....he usually dances but "the music didn't fit his moves". LOL

Anyway, here is a video of Breckyn dancing. She loves to dance and wears her dance clothes often. Now I just need to get her in dance class. You will also see Jax make a few appearances and Keegan is behind her.

And B's pouty pose...notice Jax laughing :) :)

I love our dance nights. Everyone gets to goof on and no one feels out of place. I love my family.

Trick-or-Treat

2009-11-03T22:38:00.000-08:00

We love Halloween

This year, my kids had 6 different Halloween events. It was fun but I am glad it is over :) Keegan is Jengo Fhett (sp?) the "bad guy" from Star Wars the Clone Wars, no surprise there...Breckyn WAS a Twisted Witch for the first 4 events, then changed her mined and became a Ballerina (thanks Aunt Katie for the tu-tu). She won a $10 gift card to McDonald's in the costume contest at my work. She LOVED getting to wear make-up and glitter....Morgan as you can see was Pocahontas. It was time consuming to paint her, but she sure looked cute and very different from her normal blonde look :)

Isn't she beautiful? Yes, yes she is!!!

My little Trooper

Breck with her "tude"

My sweet 3...yes, I see Keegan's rabbit ears. He thought he was so sneaky.

Here is her with make-up and glitter. Gorgeous!

We went Trick-or-Treating with Jill, Jax(skeleton) and Ryker(turtle)...By the end of the night, only Morgan and Jax (plus Jill & me) were left. The others got tired and went home. There were soooo many people in our neighborhood. In fact, I was told that a lady in our ward had 750 giant Pixie Stixs (sp?) and ran out!!! It was insane, but sooo much fun.

Thanks Jill and boys for going out with us. It was a great night. And thanks for helping with the kids by getting them to the Trick-or-Treat at the High School and Breck to the school parade (twice)....I am glad it was you & not me. LOL

Morgan's winning video

2009-10-27T21:11:00.000-07:00

Beauty is.... My Morgan

Morgan with her Trophy and DVD

Abi (Morgan's good friend) and Morg, both won in their category :)

Me and My Girl. I surprised her at home with a rose and balloons. the school had called me earlier in the day to let me know she would be getting an award. so I made sure she had lots of support and some of her biggest fans.

Uncle Willie, Aunt Jill, Aunt Chey, Grandma Lu, Aunt Maggie, Papa Bill, Shauna (my Dad's wife) and Me holding the winner!!! Keegan, Breckyn, Jaxon & Ryker were there too (just not around LOL)

Well I have a lot to post and all happened before this...but I have tried to share this video with my friends and family in many ways and they have not worked. I decided to go this route instead. I feel it very important to show off Morgan's talents that she clearly got from me LOL. This was a "Reflection" assignment. I am not sure what it is all about. We have never done it before..but the theme this year was Beauty is...
Morgan of course chose Nature, which is no surprise as she LOVES the earth and animals. There were 190 students that participated in her school and I think about 25 are going on to Districts, which includes Morgan. I am so proud of her and her hard work. She took over 200 pictures for about 2 weeks. They are mostly from around our home, Southern Utah and also Arizona. She was careful in putting the pictures to fit with the words. It was a great night!! Love you Morg!!!!

*make sure you turn off my music on the blog so you can hear Morgan's

~Enjoy~

Poor Keeg

2009-10-27T20:45:00.000-07:00

My Poor Little Boy!!

So, the same hour that I got a phone call about Morgan's award... I got another one from the school about Keegan. They told me that he had had an accident on the playground. Sinking heart instantly. But Miss Caroline told me he was ok and that he had ice on his eye. I asked if i needed to come and she said she didn't think so. I called back an hour later to check on him and she said that he was very tough and had gone back to class. Apparently while playing Wall Ball, he and another kid collided and Keegan hit the boy's head with his eye. She also asked if I was going to take a picture of it. I said of course. She giggled and said "he told us you would. He said you had ruined him when he was little with all the pictures." I laughed so hard. Keegan LOVES pictures of himself, USUALLY. Today not so much.
This is the first picture, the only way I could get it was by getting in it with him. He has a very pretty shiner. Hopefully he is not so upset about it tomorrow :)

Someday

2009-09-02T08:20:00.001-07:00

Okay, so I have not had my computer up and running for THREE months now. I spent one day doing the posts that I did in July, but it was ALL DAY. With just an SD card it takes a lifetime to upload pictures and really don't like blogging without them (they are the best part).
So as soon as it is up and running again, I will play catch up. Until then, be patient and know we are still here :) :) Maybe barely, but we are alive. LOL

Learning to Swim

2009-07-30T13:46:00.000-07:00

My Little Fish!

While Keegan was down and out, the girls got to go swimming a lot.
Morg learned to swim and dive

Breck of course is fearless and we have to watch her constantly

So proud!!!

Number 9

2009-07-30T13:04:00.000-07:00

On June 29, Keegan went in for his 9th surgery (that averages out to be more than 1 a year). This time was for his tonsils & adenoids to be removed......pretty standard right?

Because he is Keegan...they decided to keep him in over night "just in case". As you can see he looks good and got to get out on time.

But that was short lived. Morgan is helping take care of him too. He was in a lot of pain and to no surprise, he refused to eat or drink. We didn't see a problem because we can feed him through is G-tube....BUT NO, because he wasn't eating or drinking, he started to grow bacteria in his throat and his muscles started spasming. So.....

Back to the hospital we go, for 4 more days. UGH!
The girls got to come and go to the playroom to paint bird houses with Keegan.

Now he is out and doing great. Let's all pray that "Number 9" will be the last!!!

BIRTHDAYS

2009-07-30T12:54:00.001-07:00

WOW! HOLY BIRTHDAYS, BATMAN

With Keegan's on May 3, Brant's on June 14, Mine June !8, Tracy June 19 & Dad June 21.....
That equals 154 years of age between us!!!!
The kids enjoying PIZZA....always a hit!!
Jax, Morg, Pey, Rai, B, Madi

Keegan's Baptism

2009-07-30T12:01:00.000-07:00

On June 20th, we had a very special day for our Keegan. He was baptized.

My Boy & Me
Breckyn, Keegan & Morgan

He was baptized by his Dad

Keegan & Grandma Lu

Shauna, Keegan & Papa Bill

Grandma & Grandpa Atkinson w/Keegan

Gr. Grandpa & Gr. Grandma Taylor w/Keegan

Gr. Grandma Amy & Keegan

Gr. Papa Nikolaus & Keegan

There were so many people there to share this special day with us. We had both friends and family. There were so many that we could barely fit in the room and it was HOT!!

Half of the room

Other half...and it hadn't started yet. Many more came.

But it was amazing to see all that love in one room for just 1 little boy. But that 1 little boy is the most special 1 in the world. "Keegan, I am so proud to be your mom. You bring me joy every day and the strength that I have received from just being with you is irreplaceable. Thank you for being YOU."

Bagels, Muffins & Fruit at the park to celebrate

Peyton, Morgan & Tiffani enjoying their time together (and the food)

Some of our friends & family. Thanks for coming, WE LOVE YOU!

Coming Soon

2009-07-14T10:00:00.000-07:00

OK.....well my computer is still not up and running and I don't have the patience to download pictures the other way so I will update my blog as soon as I can..I have many great pictures from Keegan's baptism, his hospital stay and our party at Grandpa Nik's.

Remember good things come to those who wait :)

Fun in the Water

2009-06-27T09:56:00.000-07:00

Splash Park

and

Papa Bill's Water Slide

On Grandma Lu's day off we all went to the Splash Park. Brant, Katie & Ali were also visiting from Minnesota. We had alot of fun except that whoever built it doesn't think about parents.....WE NEED SHADE! :)

No words needed LOL. Keegan & Jaxon having a great day together.

Ali pants loves the water.

Breckyn wanted to get water dumped on her....but she missed.

Morgan is having a.......shower?

Ryker does NOT like the water, he got in just before we left :)

My Dad and Shuana have a HUGE water slide. We all went over to their house and the kids played for hours. We laughed so hard especially when Morgan would slide down and come completely out. haha

Morgan, Keegan & Jaxon climbing up AGAIN!!!

Morgan

Keegan

Breckyn

Ali & Jaxon
Raylee & Ryker eating Creamies and both hating the water.

These 4 LOVE the water...it is tourture getting them out!

My Bobcat

2009-05-21T08:13:00.000-07:00

My Cub Scout

Last night was Keegan's first Pack Meeting. He has been to scouts 2 times and has had a huge desire to sign stuff off......he even got to "Present the Colors".

This is all the Cub Scouts getting divided into teams. He is always around younger boys and now seeing him stand in a group where 3 are his same age, just shows how tiny he is :( can you pick him out?
The boys had to gather things up to build a "fire". Keegan has had experience in this before :)
Keegan & his friend Lane judging their work

These boys got a Belt Loop for "Compass and Mapping"

Well, he did it. He got his Bobcat. He was so proud and I got a little teary when I got my pin to show of my son's achievements. The paint on his face was cute (he wasn't sure about it) but I didn't like the orange nose to much either :) :)

I am so proud of my tiny Bobcat!

My Boy is 8

2009-05-16T16:25:00.000-07:00

Well, on the the 3rd...my little boy turned 8 years old. Sad I know.

Climbing the "mountain" very fitting of his life I'd say

I look back on his short life and see how much he has endured. He has had so many medical problems that continue through today. But he is always strong and most of the time happy.

This is Jude, Keegan, Koltin and Tanner. Keegan's friends from baseball. Since he can't get baptized until June (due to family/work schedules) we took them to Amazing Jakes. They had so much fun and kept us.....ok Troy moving.

The boy's getting ready for Laser tag

Most of them were afraid of this ("heights"), but they went back for seconds

He is a strong, loving young man. He talks ALLOT....but he has a bigger heart than most anyone I know. All the adults he meets talk about his "eagerness". He can make friends faster than anyone I know and is always quick to find the good in someone. Difference in others does not phase him. He truly is an amazing little guy and I am so proud to be his mother.

On his birthday, all of Troy's family came out and Tacen, Keegan & Dad blew out candles for their birthdays. He had a lot of fun playing with all the cousins.

Dad, Tacen, Devyn, Drake, Kylyn, Morgan, Breckyn, Keegan, Jaytin

Keegan you are my sunshine, you bring a light into my eyes different than any other and know that without that light, I would not be who I am today. Stay strong, kind, loving, understanding and tolerant all of your days and you will go far in your life.

"I'm Rich"
I LOVE YOU BOY!!!!!

(don't mind the gold digger he he)

Sunday in the Mountains.....

2009-04-27T07:25:00.000-07:00

Breckyn, Tyler, Bannon, Kena, Ashlyn, Keegan, Morgan Love them!

Cooking

Yesterday, we left around 1:00 and went up to Pinal Mountain and met our friends Anissa, Mike, Tyler, Makena, Ashlyn, Kayle, Cara & Bannon, in Globe and headed out. About 30 minutes and we went from Globe (ugh) to PINES.

It was so pretty up there. It reminded me so much of Young i.e. SlideRock, where we used to go with the Taylor family every year camping.

Morgan

Keegan

Breckyn

The kids had a great time running around and playing ball. They also went EXPLORING and Morgan and Makena went for a walk and recorded it.....that will be fun to watch :)

Kayle & Keegan

The girls & Keegan (falling down the hill)

Bannon too cute

Our food was sooo good. I love doing outdoor cooking....mainly because Troy does all of it and even cleans it up :) :) :) We had steak, fried potatoes, salad and of course Cobbler and S'mores.

My Kids

Morgan is a natural, Keegan so serious & Breckyn HAD to climb the tree :)

It was a beautiful day and it was fun to sit and visit. I got to know Cara a lot better and that was fun... Ok, 1 funny thing that happened to me......there are no flat spots where we were so when I went to sit in my chair, I fell backwards/sideways. I was laughing so hard. Mike and Cara helped me, well I actually had to do a volleyball roll (over my shoulder) to get out, but they were very supportive. LOL

Troy better get a bigger gun!!

All in all it was FABULOUS!!!!

HOME RUN!!

2009-04-18T18:29:00.001-07:00

Morgan started playing ball last year and she got 1 hit all year....a dribble to pitcher. She has a beautiful stance, and swing, she is just afraid to do it. She gets on base allot and can run them like a devil. She is soooo fast.
Well we took her to the batting cages to help her with confidence (to the point her hands hurt) and help her to quit swingeing under the ball.
This morning, she told us she was going to hit a "Grand Slam". I said to just go for a hit. Well first swing...miss. second swing over the fielders heads and all they way to the fence...
HOME RUN BABY!!!! She ran so fast and I was waiting for her at home plate and she ran the other way...until I yelled at her :)...THEN I got the hug of a lifetime.

I love her smile!!

This is her Friend Karlee

(her brother Tanner & Keegan have been on the same team for 2 years)

Is she drinking Ketchup??? :)

The only thing she missed about it was that her Dad wasn't there, he was watching Keegan on the other side of the world (ok Queen Creek).

ENDOSCOPY

2009-04-18T18:07:00.000-07:00

Keegan w/his free bear "Ben" & excited because he has never worn THIS color of gown :) LOL

Keegan trying to wake up

Awake...kind of

Troy showing Keegan the pictures from his "insides"

Yesterday, Keegan had his 4th Endo. He did really well and even felt well enough to play in his game this morning.

Good Grades

2009-04-18T17:59:00.000-07:00

This awards assembly I went to... my kids both got awards as always. This Quarter was a little different.

Keegan made Honor Roll (even with 14 absentees. We were very proud.
Morgan for her first time EVER, due to struggling in math...worked very hard and made High Honor Roll. We are all so excited. She also got the Pride award which is a citizenship award voted by the students.

(Please ignore Kyle in the pic....he is always picking on her & he was at it again)

Easter

2009-04-18T17:30:00.000-07:00

Here are some pictures from Easter

They are all dressed up because we have 8:00 church. But aren't they are beautiful.

Coloring Easter Eggs!!

Aren't They So Cute & Talented?

They love this each year and this year Troy joined us....they were very happy about it.

My Little Man

Shoes!! (she loves them)
Breckyn and Pink!!

His bunny racer

They both got bat bags (can you guess what color?)

Coach Pitch

2009-04-18T17:10:00.000-07:00

My Sweet, Sweet Ball Player

8 out of the 13 are returners from last year (that is awesome, well minus 1 or 2)

What a stance!!

WOW...What a hit!!

He is so FREAKIN cute!

He loves catching!!!

Get that butt down boy :) (he did get it)

And then got him out!

THHHE BRAVES!

Go Sun Devils!!

2009-03-30T17:36:00.000-07:00

I made these little cards for the girls to put on their mirrors (I was bored)

Morgan's softball season has started and they have played 3 games. The 1st game Morgan pitched for her 1st time in a game or off a mound. The first inning she pitched to 6 batters and struck out 3. Then when she went back in it was like she was a different girl (me) throwing all over the place. We took her out and when we got home I talked to her to find out what the change was and she said that her "mind just starts wandering". LOL So we worked on staying focused and in the 3rd game she started again.

Stance

She did amazing. She pitched 3 innings (the whole game), faced 19 batters. She hit 2 (in the foot), walked 7, picked up 2 grounders and got 1 out at 1st and then struck out 8. Each time she came off the field she was beaming. She hugged Coach Eric & I and all the girls jumped around her...it was so fun and a little silly too.

Windmill

She is the oldest on the team and the girls really look to her and like her "to smile" while she pitches. She figured out how to stay focused and it worked. She was also very happy when the Blue said that she was faster than some of the girls in Majors and she heard the coach from the other team say "I know she is really fast, but you can do it. Just touch it and it will fly".

Release (it was a strike)

Her team is the Sun Devils which of course is her dream come true to wear the ASU colors AND to be #7 like Katie Burkhart, the championship pitcher. She loves to play which obviously pleases me. Now we just have to get her to SWING the bat. She is not "comfy" in the box. :)

Here is a pitch and an over throw?? Since I coach, I can't get a lot of pictures. I'll try to do better......by the way, this pitch was a strike. Turn off the music to hear it.

For Those of You Who Ask....

2009-03-24T09:51:00.001-07:00

As you all know, Keegan has a Mickey Button which he is fed Nutren Jr, (formula) through in order to get the nutrition and calories that he does not get because HE DOES NOT EAT...ugh.

We have been asked many times how it stays in and how it is "fixed" when it pops out. Well when we took the kids swimming at Aunt Noodle's on Sat. Keegan kept complaining that his button was hurting (not normal). The next morning we checked it and saw that the stem was discolored and decided we needed to change it. Keegan was VERY unhappy but we explained that it was going to pop and we didn't want that to happen at school.

So....Morg and I took pictures while I assisted Troy in changing the button and Breckyn did her part by rubbing his head and talking so sweetly yo him. Enjoy :)

Ok, hopefully you can see that the stem going into the stomach is a brownish color.

On the side of his button is a little "hook up", where we use a locking syringe to put water in or take it out of the "balloon" type part of the button inside his stomach that keeps it from coming out.

Here you can see the syringe attached to the old button and the pee colored water that came out of it...the other syringe has clean water the same color that was originally put in. This shows that there WAS a hole somewhere and his stomach "stuff" us getting in.

This is Troy pulling out the old button.

Here is the hole....it looks like a pink bellybutton.

Sorry for the weak stomachs of some of you....but this is the old button. You can see the grouse color of it and it looks a little like a raisin. This is caused from his stomach acid and whatever else is or is not in that tummy of his.

This is the NEW button (see how clean & pretty). To put it in, we get his kit that has it all. We use KY Jelly to make it go in easier so it won't pull on his tummy since the hole immediately starts slowly closing and the longer the time the more it hurts him. We also use one of the long wooden cotton swabs to put in the stem to keep it firm. Since it is like rubber, we would not be able to get it in.

Pushing it in.

After it is in, we get the locking syringe and add between 4 & 7 ml of water. We usually add 4 and check it about 1 a month. If it is pulling to far out, we add more and then we can see if it is leaking.

IT IS IN!! All better & prettier.

Last step is to put water in through where he is fed and listen with the stethoscope to make sure I hear gurgling sounds which will tell us that it is in the right place.

This is his "trying" to be brave smile. He likes this picture only because he thinks it looks like he has 4 arms. LOL

He has done this sooooo many times, yet it is still scary to him. I don't blame him. This boy has been through more in his short little life than most do in a lifetime.

And just to update you on surgeries...The Endoscopy will be on April 17 and he will have his tonsils and adenoids removed on June 1. We pushed this one back because they told me it could be up to a 2 week recovery due to pain and he already has 15 absences due to being sick or Dr. visits.

They're Home

2009-03-15T10:40:00.000-07:00

True Personalities Show

For Spring Break, we were not going to be able to do anything due to a FEW oppositions in our lives. On Friday of last week my sister Jill called and asked if she could have our kids for the week. We thought that with all that is going on it was a good idea for them to have a break, have fun and ultimately get SPOILED.

Saturday we met Jill & Chey at Cameron and handed over my 3 most prized possessions with only being hesitant about 1 thing........missing them.

Jill took great care of them and even though I am sure they were a little trouble....I never heard it from her. She text me often and let me know of the funny things they said and the games they would play.

My mom had the kids a few nights also and on Thursday (her day off), they ALL went to the Spin Park. I guess it is an amazing park with all kinds of spinning (go figure) rides. The kids had a blast.

They also went to my dad's to see his new filly Ember (name suggested by Morgan). They had fun although I hear it was very windy. Morgan played with Ember (the only kid she liked) and the rest threw rocks in the "Alligator Pond" and found some bones.

Morg & Ember

Keeg & his coyote bones (which he brought home)

They got to spend time with Jaxon, Ryker, Chey, Maggie, Britto, Lindsay, Raylee and Willie had them for a morning too. They had a girls night and watched HSM3, painted nails, braided hair while the boys watched StarWars (surprised?).

Morg's braids

I did miss them A LOT but I know that they had fun and were loved as much as possible by anyone other than me (of course). Thank you guys so much. All of you, you will NEVER know how much this past week has proved to me what an awesome family I have. Although hundreds of miles away, you were able to take a little off my shoulders when I needed it without me even asking. You never cease to AMAZE me. I love you all.

A little extra shout out to Jill, maybe not by blood...but in EVERY way that counts, you are my sister. I love you so much and I am so blessed to have you as a friend too. Thanks Willie for giving me another amazing one to add to the others. Jill without your insite the past few weeks, .........I am not even sure what words could explain. Thank you, I love you.

Yes I Am!

2009-02-19T07:15:00.000-08:00

Well I finally went private, which I guess you know since you are reading this. I decided I'd better update since it has been a while. SO I AM.....

When Chey and Maggie came down to visit and to celebrate Ajax's 18th B-Day....Chey, Troy and I went to the Renaissance Festival. We only had a few hours, so we didn't get to see or do as much as we would have liked too. But the ONE thing we wanted to do was to ride an Elephant. We honestly didn't know that Troy wanted to ride too, so we rudely handed him our things and asked him to take pictures. The guy on the back?????We did not know him(even though he does look a little like my brother-in-law Aaron). Our elephant started to POOP and the trainer told him to wait (don't recall exact words) and he did. Then the trainer ran and got a wheel barrow and told him it was ok and he did his business. It was so funny. We were on the back of him so we had to get the full story from Troy.

This is inside of the elephants trunk hehe, he liked Troy and kept grabbing his arm so Troy snapped a pic. Gross.

Troy turns it and Ajax doubles awwwwww the crowd goes wild hehe

That night we gave Ajax his gifts....Maggie had my Dad make him a small roping dummy, Chey gave him a "little" blue rope to go with it and we gave him a rope bowl made by my Grandpa Taylor #188. Also, he once had made the comment that he didn't like new ropes because they look plastic and he liked the rough, old look....so my Dad sent down the rope we gave him for Christmas last year (which is now very used & has won a pretty penny). Ajax seemed to enjoy all of them. I guess it looks like we are trying to make him a country boy...but I think he always has been one at heart.

Our kids had gotten one for Christmas from Papa Bill, so we got it out along with their ropes and everyone (minus me of course) took turns with the dummies.

We ended his birthday around the fire and of course had candles on Troy's cobbler.

As a side note...a few days after his birthday, Ajax got his letter of acceptance to

Westpoint Academy, New York!

We are so proud of him, as well as EVERYBODY else in our fam. It just goes to show what an amazing guy he is (even if he does still call me mam). It takes A LOT to get in and he did it.

We had so much fun with the girls here and I hope they had fun too. We also learned/realized a few things: Johnny Rockets is yummy(as long as they don't sing & dance A? Ajax), the "celebration" was safe & hilarious, flying is soooo much better than driving, the "twins" are so funny, PB&J sandwiches are just as good as Subway, fires make you smile, Troy's cobbler rocks and Chey,......

WE HAVE THE PRETTIEST TOES EVER!

Come Back Soon!!!!

Final Warning!!!

2009-01-30T09:42:00.000-08:00

Ok, so I told you I am going private. Well I have put it off because I want to get some more email addresses. So if you haven't given me your address yet, please do and if you know others who would want to see my blog, please let me know.

(one of my all-time favorite pictures. Spike/Ryker loves his Keegan.)

Again, I will not post any of you addresses. Only I will be able to view them.

Love ya all

GOING PRIVATE IN 1 WEEK!

Family, Family, Family & Friends

2009-01-30T07:47:00.000-08:00

We have been very blessed this past month to be able to spend so much time with family that we seldom see.

Devyn

First we had Troy's family Christmas party and all but Tonya's family was here. It was at our house and we let the kids play outside, borrowed Fancy Britches, opened presents and ATE.

Tiff and Morg, Tamara, Devyn, Fancy, Morgan & Kirk, Devyn & Drake

Then my family cam for my niece Madisen's baptism. It was fun to see everybody although it was a short visit.....well with my family it usually is.

Lil Derek, Raigan, Peyton, MADISEN, Keegan, Morgan, Breckyn and Uncle Kinney

Chey and Madi, the 2 girls playing with the cellphones (favorite toy of the day) & the boys chit-chatting away

Madisen's yummy cake. Made by her aunt Shey (sp?) on Derek's side.

Then my nephew Lil Derek turned 12 (a day after McKinney reported to the MTC). He was ordained a Deacon and my family once again made a trip to AZ. This time it was a little longer YEAH, my sister Jill and her boys came AND they stayed at my house 1 of the nights (thanks for the trailer Kandi & Adam).

All Dressed Up....Our Missionaries in Training

We were also able to plan a day of fun. The morning didn't go quite as planned....Chey, Jill and I were going to have brunch at H....well never mind where hehehe. But after we went to our good friend Lane Tebbs' baptism, we had them all out for some fun.

Cowboy Spike

Smarty Pants on Fancy Britches :)

We once again borrowed Fancy Britches (thanks Anissa and Mike) :) We rode the golf cart, four wheeler and the horses. Even Chey rode...this is important because she does not like horses.

Chey on Moon, attempting Fancy j/k and she even rode Too Tall

Uncle Troy...always a hit with the kids. hmmmmm wonder why???

Another very important family that came was that of a good friend from high school. David Mowers and his wife Tamara and little girls, Addy & Elle came. It was so great to see him, it has been about 9 years. I got to meet his girls and Tamara whom I have been visiting with for a while through Facebook. LOOOOVE IT! THANKS FOR COMING!!!

Daddy & Addy (i love that)

We had our traditional bonfire, roasted hot dogs and yes, Troy mode cobbler. 3 kinds and to my dismay, the Blueberry was a huge hit....ugh. I'll stick to Apple and Peach.

It got cold and we were tired. Maggie, Chey, Morgan and RaRa decided to sleep outside. RaRa's allergies got to her and since she had to sing the next day...she skipped out. Mike and Anissa came around 10:30 - 11:00 and by the time they left, Chey and Maggie were asleep. We made Morgan go sleep in the trailer with my mo, Jill, Breckyn, Keegan, Jax and Ryker. Troy and I went inside...oh poor us.

The next morning we all had a few hours before we had to get ready. the little kids played outside some more and the older girls went on a trail ride with Troy and Jim.

Great looking bunch, wouldn't you say?

and now....

Random Pictures

Playing with the puppies

Ryker's face in the morning...hehe

Little Cowboys

.....No Words Needed

What a wonderful way to start the new year. And to add to it...my little sisters will be back a week from today!! I love my family so much and I realize how much their influence has helped make me, well me.

I LOVE YOU ALL.........Family AND Friends.

Soon to be PRIVATE!

2009-01-06T17:26:00.000-08:00

To all my loved ones,

Troy heard about a kid that was abducted out by us and the police said that they had found them through their family's blog. This is so scary and SAD that the world has become such a disgusting place that we cannot even keep in contact with friends and family without jeopardizing our safety.

I would like to get as many of you on my list as I can. Please let me know your email addresses if I don't already have them, so I can send you an invite. Your comments on this post that include your email, will not be published so nobody else will see your address. I will continue seeking out old friends and family through Facebook and give more invites.

Please make sure that you do this soon so that you can continue watching our family grow.

Love you all,

Timar Lu

Morgan will also be going private so I will send you an invite for hers too.

A NEW RECORD

2009-01-05T10:38:00.000-08:00

I have not updated my blog since December 19th. This morning I finally sat down and did 4 posts. This is not a record for # of posts (that would be 5) but a record for how fast I did them. 3 HOURS. (with interruptions of course)

So enjoy my posts and admire my family. I say that because over the past 2 weeks I have seen how truly blessed our family is and I pray that yours is as well.

Love to you all and

HAPPY 2009!

Post Christmas Fun!

2009-01-05T09:46:00.000-08:00

Friday I got to go to lunch with Maggie and Chey. They took me to the Pasta Factory (YUM). After that we went home and watched some movies that they got for Christmas (except One Tree Hill, which they watched every night we were there until like 6am) That night we played Partini (sp?). Aunt Lauri, Uncle Doug, Jill, Maggie, Kinney, Brant, Katie, Alison (Katie's sister who spent Christmas with us) and mom oh and me all played. It was so fun. We were laughing so hard and it was fun to see who could and could not do certain things (like hum LOL). Willie and Troy didn't play (surprised?) they talked business and life instead.

This is the boys. I just really like this picture.

Troy and Dad roping

Saturday we went to the place where my Dad keeps his horses.

The kids found a well. They had fun throwing rocks in it.

Morgan trying out our dummy.

My sis Chey and I. She is so beautiful.

Chey showing off her photography talent.

I love this picture. It even has a rope coiled on the porch next to them.

Ok, so McKinney decided to be funny and wear his "riding gear". The only problem is that while we were all laughing at him......

the horse lost her footing and fell. These are her tracks and way at the top....is Kinney's landing pad. We were glad that he was a dork and had his helmet on. LOL

See the big foot print?

After riding and playing for a while, we went to the dinosaur museum. It wasn't as fun as I thought because there were no bones. It was rock with feet prints. Don't get me wrong it was cool to see and to know that they came form St. George but you know me....I don't visualize well. Anyway, my dad bought the kids a toy from the gift shop.....

while the other dorks colored dino pictures hehe (Kinney & Katie)

there I realize how much I miss out on and how much I miss all of them. It is nice to be able to call my family......my best friends.

I LOVE YOU AND MISS YOU ALREADY!!!

Christmas Day

2009-01-05T08:47:00.000-08:00

We did not wake up until McKinney yelled at us at 7:00. That is what time we are usually starting breakfast. We all lined up, youngest to oldest and went down stairs. When we first start, everyone gets a present and then opens them at the same time and then it is a free for all. Troy didn't like this a t first because you couldn't see what everybody got but now that he realizes...if it take 1 1/2 hours to open all at the same time, it would take 4 hours to watch everybody. It works.

This is Breck and Keeg when we first walked downstairs.

This is Grandma Lu reading the letter from Santa. Morgan asked him how old he was and how many elves he had. That is her surprised face :)

This is Morgan's new breast collar to go with her saddle. She loves it and big Morgan did a great job on the tooling and staining.

Keegan got his Ultimate Lightsaber kit among other things.

Breckyn won the prize for the most excited over a gift. Her Mr. Potato Head

We are not sure why, but all the little kids love Uncle Troy

Ok.....Breckyn Daisy, Dressing Daisy doll (from caring friends)Baby Daisy Duck sweater(from G&G Taylor). See, I am not the only one that is extremely proud of her name.
A little of the mess after opening.

This is Maggie's new bed. Troy helped put it together. Aren't they so cute? This is Kinney's last Christmas at home before leaving on his mission this month.

After we ate and got ready, we went to my Dad and his wife Shauna's house to open gifts and eat a little. She made some real yummy soup and had some pie too.

My Dad made my kids and Willie's kids roping dummies. They are so cute/cool. This is Keegan carrying ours out. They also each got a movie that they had asked for. Thanks Dad.

When we got back to my Mom's, we played with all the toys and then had a yummy turkey dinner. While we were there we also had HOMEMADE TOAST (in the oven) and HOT CHOCOLATE......My favorite food of all time.

It was a great Christmas day and we all were very blessed with wonderful gifts. My kids along with toys and movies, got Sunday clothes from my Mom. Keegan even got his first suit that was of course to big (ya ya ya) so we will be getting a smaller one this weekend. I can't wait to see my little man.

Christmas Eve

2009-01-05T08:18:00.000-08:00

These are all the stockings for our family. Pretty soon mom will have to start doubling up.

So for Christmas eve we had a lot of plans. First-EAT.....we had homade chimis and all sorts of Mexican dips (we all know how much I love Mexican food). Second-cookies

Santa has always loved my mom's/grandma's sugar cookies. Morg, Breck and Ali had lots of fun making a mess.

Aunt Jill helping Keeg and her Jax. Keegan found this to be hard work(he cut himself on my mom's old cookie cutters) These 2 boys are the best of friends.

Here is 1 pan full of cookies.

While the cookies were baking and cooling we moved on, third-ornaments. Our kids always get a new pair of pj's and an ornament. My sisters do this too. This year I found ceramic ornaments that the kids got to decorate themselves.

There was puffy paint, sparkles and rhinestones
Aren't they beautiful?

Breckyn, Keegan Ryker, Ali, Morgan & Jax with their pj's and ornaments

The kids also got to make reindeer food and spread it out on the lawn.

Santa's cookies....can you guess which one is Morgan's?

They all wrote a letter to Santa, set out his hot chocolate and cookies, oranges for the reindeer and then off to bed (along w/Troy) :) :)

It is a tradition in my family that on Christmas Eve, EVERYONE sleeps in the same room.

This year there were 17 of us in the TV room. And also a lot of snoring (sorry....I WAS SICK)

Entertainment was provided by Chey and Maggie and of course Mama Mia

It was a great night and we had a lot of fun wrapping and visiting until late into the night.

Christmas in St. George

2009-01-05T07:33:00.000-08:00

This year, Troy surprised everyone when he said we would be spending Christmas with my family in Utah. I was so excited and although up until the day before we left finances were not on our side, Troy sold his "horse bed" and we were able to go.

On our way there was a lot of snow. This picture is in the middle of the Reservation.

I have never seen snow there and so we knew Jacob's Lake would also be a "little" icy.

When we finally got to my mom's house, my sister Jill had us all sit on the couch/floor and say "Merry Christmas" and sing "We Wish You a Merry Christmas" to Chey on a video so that when she came home in January, we would all be there.

Well when we got to the 2nd wish you a merry Christmas I saw the door open and after a double-take saw that it was my Chey. Being that the others couldn't see her for the HUGE tree my mom had, they were confused when I "screamed" and said a few choice words and started running. (honestly they thought Troy had done something to me, surprised?)

This is Chey about 3 minutes after walking in. She is so skinny and TAN.

For all of you who know my family, you can imagine the water works that followed. My mom told Jill that she hated her (lovingly). It turned out that in November she decided that she wanted to be home for Christmas and Jill and Willie helped arrange it. They kept it a secret from EVERYBODY and hid her for a few days and even put her in their trailer a few blocks away so nobody would see her :). This was the best part of Christmas by far.

This is all of our family, minus Tracy and crew. This will be the closest we will get to a full family picture for at least 2 years.

Chey brought gifts home for everyone. Breckyn got a cute little treasure box with a hand made bracelet inside and Keegan got a sling shot.

Morgan also got a little treasure box with a larger bracelet and Troy got a machete. We were all amazed that she got it through customs. It took forever to open it, she wrapped it really good.

This is a game that Chey played with the kids in The Hogar (orphanage). It is really cute so I made them do it a few times......Chey always beat Maggie hehe

This is 2 days later. Chey and Maggie were going in to surprise the "boys" at work and invited Morgan to go. They are wearing the shell necklaces that she brought all of us big girls back (Morgan is wearing mine so she could look like them).

So as you can guess, we had a great start to our Christmas in St. George.

You're 32!

2008-12-19T14:37:00.000-08:00

Tomorrow is Anissa'a birthday. I usually only do my kids and Troy's b-days on the blog but I just needed to do this one too.

Anissa and I grew up together and were in the same ward for most of the years at home. We were always "friends", you know the kind that you talk to and know the 411 about but we were never really close. So about 5 years ago, when we got caught in a hail storm and the power lines were down, not only were we scared but also surprised. Turns out Jolene, Mike's sister(we also grew up together) was in the car in front of us and her windows had been broken. Mike came to rescue her and I shouted at him to come over. When he told us where he lived,I have to admit I was excited and terrified all at once. I don't know about you, but I for one don't like to see people from my past. Not because I am ashamed of anything I did or who I was but because it turns out people aren't all that they seem to be in High School.

ANYWAY, after a while Mike (Anissa's hubby) started coming over to work with and use some of Troy's tools. They made fast friends. For all of you who know them both, you will not be surprised by that one. :) Anissa and I got together a little slower (we are a lot alike). I was cautious at first, no one except Kandi and Tiffany T. had ever been "true" friends to me.

Today, I am so thankful that my pain in the butt husband and Anissa's pain in the butt got us hanging out. Without them, I know we would have still come together but with a lot of wasted time.

Anissa is........very hard to explain in words. She has a love for life unlike most. She loves her kids, her dogs, her HORSES, her husband,her family and me/mine(not in that order LOL). She has become my one complete confidante. She knows it all, good and bad (even when she doesn't want to I'm sure). She is always there to be crazy when I needed to smile and to be firm when I needed to "see". She is my kid's 2nd mother. She knows everything about them, their schedule, meds, needs, wants and interests. Even the school knows they belong to her too.

This was not meant to be so long but I am not sure what to take out.

Anissa, I want you to know how grateful I am for you and your friendship. For your kindness, honesty, loyalty and unconditional love. You will never know how much I care for you and how often I pray that you will not leave me here, without you. I honestly don't know how I would survive or how I have survived without you.

I love you and I hope you have a great birthday.

To My Faithful Followers.....

2008-12-16T23:06:00.000-08:00

Ok, I am finally updating my blog. It has taken me ALL day but I know you will enjoy it and you know I ONLY do it for you LOL.

So there are 3 yes 3 new posts today. I hope you enjoy them.

This is our Christmas card. Most of you got one and if you didn't, please know that this ONE is just for you.

MERRY CHRISTMAS!

P.S. I love you all!

At Home With Grandpa

2008-12-16T17:31:00.000-08:00

We love you Grandpa!

Here is Grandpa, Breckyn, Morgan, Keegan, Jax and Ryker in front of the fireplace.

When we went to Show Low, we stayed with Grandpa Nikolaus (my dad's dad). I love staying there, it makes me feel little again. We always sleep in the back bedroom which has 2 beds. This time we didn't sleep to well since the wind was blowing so bad that it woke the kids up. so in turn, we woke up everybody with 1 little phone call hehehe.

When we came back from the party, we showed Ajax to his room. We let him know that because we love him, we saved the softest bed for him. At first sight he did not say a word. But after a little bit he was very happy with our gift.

My girls and Ajax just chillin in the "pink bedroom"

Maggie got a little jealous so she had to get in on the action. hehe

Keegan loves to be with Grandpa

Everybody was soooo tired.

That night my cousin Tenney Lee came over with ALL her girls to visit. It was so fun to laugh and make fun everybody. When we went to bed it was really late and it started to snow. Well when we woke up...there it was, about 3.5 inches (or so). The kids were soooo excited to get dressed and go play. We got out the sock hats that Grandma had made and bundled them up. When I was getting them ready, Magoo and Ajax decided to grace us with their presence. I dared him to take off his shirt and do a snow angel in just his shorts. He asked me what I would give him and I told him that I would put him on my post. Well we all know hoe famous my blog is (not). After a little more prodding.......

The only thing is that instead of taking a picture, I recorded him. I think it knocked the wind out of him but you can't hear it. He acted so tough and said it "wasn't bad". But he sure wanted a towel when he got to the door. :) :)

These are my favorite kids in my favorite tree. I grew up climbing the apple trees in the backyard and we have so many pictures taken in THIS tree.

Morgan lasted the longest. She ate the snow and made snow angels. She LOVED it.

Breckyn was glad to get in the warm tub. This is the "pink bathroom" that we ALL bathed in.

Then Grandpa made us waffles and eggs. They were as good as I remember them being.

My mom stopped back by to say goodbye and drop off some gifts so we got a picture of her with the kids and the tree. I am glad that after all that has happened, she still knows that she is loved and welcome at Grandpa's home.

We had a great time and I am so glad that we got to spend time with all sides of the family

Last, we went to Snowflake to see Troy's parents. My camera had died so I used theirs and then they sent them to me. Thanks mom.

We played Battleship and Morgan and I beat Troy. He says it is because Keegan cheated but we all know the truth on that one don't we. :)

Troy got tired and my sweet Breck went over and loved on him and tickled his neck. She can be so nice at times.

Troy and Dad on Craigslist. Troy's favorite store.

Ajax was a little tired I think. He crammed a lot of visiting into 24 hours.

Grandma and Breck making grilled tuna and cheese sandwiches. Yummy.

Eating and yes that is Keegan eating....an apple. Look close it doesn't happen to often.

After we ate and visited a little more, we headed for home. It was a smooth ride home and a good end to the perfect weekend. We are so blessed to have such a large and loving family.

WE LOVE YOU ALL!

Family Everywhere!

2008-12-16T16:37:00.000-08:00

Grandma and Grandpa Taylor. They are fully responsible for what you are about to see. :)

This weekend we got to go to my mom's side of the family's Christmas party, the Taylor family. It is an annual event and gets bigger each year in that our family gets BIGGER each year:)

There were 25 people missing this year that is why our group is so small.

This year it was in Show Low and my Aunt Bev and fam were in charge of it. It began at 11:00 SHARP (in other words 11:45 "Taylor Time") We started in the relief society room with my Grandpa reading the Christmas story out of the Bible and a family picture (yeah).

Then we went in to eat. We all love that part. We had barbecue and salads and junk food and and and.
The the games began.
We had skateboard races, fishing, Loogie (gum) spitting (the men LOVE this the rest of us think it is disgusting), Rudolph nose popping (balloons), toy soldier shot and more.

Cute Magoo!

Here is Breck, Jax, Ryker and Jea

Ajax surprised Maggie with a visit. We were in on it and it was a lot of fun. She was so happy to see him.

We had a gingerbread house making contest by families and with ours, us girls lucked out. Troy, Willie and Morgan did the work and it was amazing. We had a truck, a pooping dog (poop provided by Kinney and M&M), a slide, see-saw, Tiny Tim (man w/1 leg) and a Christmas tree.

There were 7 all together and most of them were really good but my Aunt Debbie's family decided to make fun of our home and make a "redneck trailer". No hard feelings but as Troy told you, we took our tires off years ago LOL.

Yes, Yes, we won. Come on, are you really surprised?

Last of all we had a model contest. We got wrapping paper, ribbon, tape and scissors. Kinney volunteered to wear the creation. Again, Troy and Willie took charge and made him look beautiful. Everyone looked so funny. We were all laughing so hard. I think that is when I lost my voice. They couldn't choose a winner. Oh and do you like his bra? His tiny shorts (provided by Ajax) were also very attractive:)

We ended by cleaning up and saying goodbye to all. It was so fun thanks to everybody who went and to those who didn't and/or couldn't, we missed you.

Oh Christmas Tree, Oh Christmas Tree!

2008-12-16T16:07:00.000-08:00

Ho Ho Ho!

Well I never thought it would happen. We have a fake tree again. We both grew up with real ones but it is a hassle and expensive to buy them every year. So when we found one after Christmas for REALLY cheap....we bought it. Troy however, hangs a pine air freshener behind it :).

Our kids love to decorate just like all the others. The only difference is Breckyn only decorates undressed.

Our tree is beautiful and I love that it is full of "kid ornaments". Our kids get a new one every year, that way when they move out and take theirs...they will have at least 18 on their own tree. At least that is the plan.

This is her "paper" village

This year as I was setting all the decorations out, I came across a box that I don't remember getting. It was bitter sweet. When my Gr. Grandma Chalk was alive I would go to hr house and decorate it for Christmas since she couldn't. When she passed I got a lot of her decorations. It was hard to see them again and to not be able to remember getting them. I got a little teary and I missed her so much at that moment. Ultimately I am so grateful to have a peace of her in my home for the holidays. I miss you Grandma and I love you so much.

This is the train set that I always set up in front of her ceramic village. It was as big as the houses but Grandma always insisted on it being in front. There are 2 of these moose and I think my aunt made the plaque.

This is the BEAUTIFUL, BIG Nativity set that Troy gave me. I got the Nativity one year and the next I got the Stable. I think it is the BEST I have seen (next to the live one that is).

Nativity

2008-12-16T14:59:00.000-08:00

Celebrating the birth of Jesus in a fun way

This is just a few of the people who were in it.

We were able to be a part of our stakes first of many Nativity plays? Morgan wanted to go and so I volunteered to be in the choir. When I got there however, I was handed a white dress. I went over and stood with the choir very confused. Then Br. Smith told me I was an angel......I am not sure he REALLY knew who I was LOL. Morgan was a girl in the crowd and when we got home, Keegan threw a fit because he wanted a costume too. Luckily they had one left. He was hesitant at first because of the color but once we reminded him that purple and gold are Queen Creek/Ajax's colors, he was ok.

Aren't they adorable?

We had live animals....chickens, sheep, goats, a cow and a donkey (mini horse)

It was allot of fun. I wasn't sure about standing on the 5 ft. platform that rocked nor was I hip on having to be the "speaking angel" while only lipping it WITH a flippin' spot light on me. Not the best. Morgan walked around with Becca (one of our 2 babysitters) and helped with 3 little girls. They were all so cute. Keegan ended up being a shepherd since he would not leave Tanners side (or I should say....back) :) :)The first night we had the scariest doll EVER playing baby Jesus. Emily/Mary was even scared to sing to it (no lie). As we were all discussing it, a lady over heard us and lent us her little Isabella. She was so cute and they got the best pictures. But, since she had prior engagements..we could not use her the second night. Oh and Bishop said NO live babies....oops. So I took Breckyn's baby (pictured here) and she was the star.

This is a quick pic that I took when Tanner handed of the goat in order to catch another one on the loose. But as we all know, Keegan is tiny and shall we say wimpy. Yes, he dropped it right as my camera flashed. Needless to say we had to tie hay rope around their feet so we didn't have them out in the crowd especially when NOBODY knew how to catch them....they kept on chasing them. I mean...HELLO, they are faster than you. duh LOL

This is Dalton, Lane, Morgan and Keegan. They all look great. Oh, Dalton is Kinney's look-a-like, just a younger version.

OK, now...I will say that at one point during all of this I did get a little ornery. I would not let them put make-up or "gold sprinkles" in my hair. Yes I was very white but why change now. I do believe that there were only 3 of us that made it out with a clean face and non greasy hair.

This Morgan and her friend Hannah w/makeup by mom.

This is what we did at each rehearsal and performance. We all knelt to pray. It was freezing but during those 2 to 5 minutes....nobody noticed.

This was a great way to teach my kids even more about the birth of Jesus. I hope we can do it again

Well It Is That Time Again

2008-12-02T09:09:00.000-08:00

Breckyn and Zip

So our dog Zip had been expecting babies forever. We could not figure out why she had not had them yet. I even got scared at one point that she had lost them. She was still big, she was not guarding her doghouse as she had always done AND we could not hear them. Last Tuesday when Troy had not fed the horses (which means...my turn. Yeah) I was out and decided to look in the doghouse. Now mind you, we knew that she was digging a hole but when I look ed inside....I found

Can you see them?

We (Breck and I) were really excited but I could not reach them. It was supposed to rain that day, (and did) so we had to get them out. I called Anissa and when she dropped her kids off at school she came to help me. We figured that Breckyn and Ashlyn could go in and get them out.

First off, Breckyn would not go without a flashlight. When she got in the whole, it was so big that she could turn completely around (as you can see). As she was handing Alala to Ashlyn, Zip decided to check on the rest and went down inside with Breck. Anissa and I were laughing at the girls but also wanting them to hurry. (Anissa is even more of a puppy lover than me. I know hard to believe.)

This is Chevy being handed out. After all five were out....here she came. She loved it.

Don't you love how dirty Breck is? We all know she did and it gave her an excuse to change here clothes AGAIN. Breck is holding Heidi and Ash has Sparky. When we took this picture, it was the first time we realized how much Breckyn has grown. Her and Ash have always been a few inches apart. They are 8 months apart, in fact Anissa told me the good news the day she drove me to hospital to have Breck (just a bit of info for you).

3 boys and 2 girls. All safe and sound in their new doghouse. Mom was not quite sure about it yet. Thanks for the help Ness and Ash.

After all the work of getting them out, it took us a few days to figure out when they were born. Well Chevy opened his eyes and we counted back. The date of birth will be......November 17th. Yes, we did not find them for about a week and a half. But it was a lot like it was when I was growing up and hunting for puppies.

A Christmas without puppies would just not feel right!

Little Rascals and Breckyn ("how redundant")

2008-11-25T09:29:00.000-08:00

Finally, I have a singer!

One of my favorite movies of all time is Little Rascals. I quote it all the time and my kids where wanting to see the movie. When I was at Walmart, I saw it on sale for $7.50 and got it. My kids really like it. But my Breckyn LOOOOOOVES it. She watches it over and over. So here she is watching it and singing along with her favorite part. It is so funny because I have always been one to repeat, talk AND ask questions about all the mistakes that they make in movies (just ask my fam and even RaRa and Ajax, it annoys them). Well my girl is once again, me to a 'T'. She has the movie memorized already a tells it to anyone who will listen.

Football Season Comes to an End For QC/Ajax

2008-11-22T18:39:00.000-08:00

Queen Creek Bulldogs!

Ajax-one of our "teens"

Since Maggie and Kinney came to Arizona back in September, we have been to nearly every QC game. After the first one, we decided to get babysitters and make a date out of it. We had so much fun and by the end of the season, Troy was standing to watch the games. In the beginning he wanted everyone to sit down. Now he sees why it is easier to be on your feet when the game gets intense. I really enjoyed being with him and sharing something that I love with him.

Here are a few pics of Ajax playing and him with his dad Bart and with Maggie.

There are a few games that stand out to us. Queen Creek vs Higley for sure. My cousin Blake plays for Higley so it made it even more fun to watch. Plus my Uncle John was taking pictures of the game and got a few with Ajax in them.

#70, who is jumping and touching the banner, is Blake. It was Senior Night for him.

This game was my 2nd favorite. First of all this is the "rival" team. The stands were filled. The Bulldogs were losing bad, until the end of the 3rd quarter. Then they woke up and played the best 1 1/2 quarters EVER! and won the game.

Last night was my favorite game. They were playing Green Way for State Playoffs and everyone was pumped for it. But at the beginning of the week, they lost a boy named Lorin who had been their guard, #62 last season. He had cancer and lost the battle. The community seemed to really come together. Lorin's favorite color was red and so the text messages started around to let everyone know to wear red to the game. When we got to there, we saw that the team and even the cheerleaders were wearing red socks.

At the beginning of the game, they let 62 red balloons go in honor of him and his #62 jersey is at the top of the press box. I didn't know him at all but I still got teary eyed during the presentation and again when I saw his parents walk into the stands and sit surrounded by family.

Ok, then the game started. Let me just say that Ajax may be a little short for his liking....but it has absolutely NO effect on how tough he is on the field. He had so many tackles and a GREAT, HARD quarterback sack. He even knocked the quarterback out of bounds and when Ajax got up...he still lied there for a few seconds. I think that is when he really started to watch for #57.

My camera is not very good when it comes to football games. The lights I guess. So I tried recording him play a little. If you can find him....he is the last man on the line closest to you and always the last one down into position. I think this is because he is so wound up, that he cannot be still for 2 seconds. If ever you want to find him...just look for the one pacing or jumping up and down:-) Hopefully you can find him and see one of his many tackles.

SO I HAD TO PUT THIS SHORT CLIP ON. It is so funny, at least to me. If you watch Ajax and #34...you will see them step at the exact same time and they even do a cross over thing. Well I thought it was funny.

Well to make a long story short (haha). We ended up losing at the very end of the game by 1 STINKING POINT. 21 us 22 them. It was horrible to know that we would not see him play again but at least the team played a great game and went down being able to hold their heads high. Even Ajax was ok. He even talked, smiled and took pictures afterward. The last game they lost, we were lucky to get a hug :) He is very competitive.....complete opposite of my family hehe.

Alright boy, with this picture you had better realize how much we love you. I HATE PICTURES OF ME!

Well Ajax, you have had a heck of a season and we are so happy to have had the opportunity and privilege of being there with you. You are an amazing athlete and an even better "teen". We are proud of you!!!

Fridge Tagged - Thanks Jill

2008-11-22T18:25:00.000-08:00

Ok so I guess that since I made such a big deal out of everyone getting blogs...I deserve to get tagged now and then. But a refrigerator tag? Come on really. Isn't my life embarrassing enough? LOL

Well at least I have a new and pretty one :-). These are all my pictures, reminders and magnets on the the front.Well as you can see I have no food. Basically we have milk, Troy's Gatorade (grape FIERCE only), water, 2 apples, sierra mist free and of course Nutren Jr.......Keegan's only source of nutrition. Oh and don't forget the jars off pickle juice for Troy's pickled eggs (YUK)

I tag: Anissa, Jennifer, Nat and Stacey

VA Veterans Day Parade 2008

2008-11-17T08:42:00.001-08:00

OUR OWN FAMILY HERO!

This is Frank Leland Nikolaus. He served as a Staff Sergeant in the Army during World War II. He loves to tell stories about his time in the services but is also careful of what he tells to whom. My favorite is when he talks about being the Mormon boy who was in charge of rationing the alcohol. He quickly became a a new friend to all. But for all of you that know Grandpa....it didn't help them out a bit :) We love you Grandpa and are so thankful to you for the sacrifices that you made for your/our Country and family.

The Phoenix Veterans Day Parade is one of the 4th largest in the Country. I have been in more parades than I can count but had not realized that my Morgan had not even seen one. (at least one that she was old enough to remember) Fortunately her 4th Grade Recorder Marching Band, got to go to and march in this parade.I could not pass up the opportunity to experience both the largest parade I had ever been a part of nor her 1st. We met at the school at 7:30. There were 35 4th graders, I think 12 cheerleaders (much older) and roughly 10 adults. These are a few of Morgan's friends. Allot of her friends are boys but she didn't want pictures with them LOL.
We got on the bus and left a little after 8:00. This is Asia, Morg and India (yes, they are sisters, not twins yet in the same grade??). We had to go clear over to 7th and Indian School in Phoenix (about 45 min to 1 hour).
They had all of the marching bands meet in a field by a school and line up to be judged. We waited around and stood in line for potty breaks (Morg and her friends wouldn't go in until I gave them each a Wet One and showed them that I had sanitizer for when they came out LOL) for close to an hour. They got to listen to a Veteran play the Bagpipes. He played about 4 patriotic songs and the field was completely silent. All of the other bands that we were with were High Schools. We found out that we were the ONLY elementary band in the parade. That was great because we get a trophy for being the best :) :)We finally got in line, we were #35. As we neared the street, we ended up waiting on an access road for another 45 min. The kids were getting hot and tired although only the cheerleaders complained :( At least we did get close enough to see some of the parade while we were waiting. That made it much easier.35. MOUNTAIN VISTA 4th to 8th GRADER RECORDER MARCHING BAND: This group is playing their recorders for the first time in the VA Veterans Day Parade. This is how it reads in the program.
The crowd was amazing. I never imagined that many people in a 2 mile long parade. They all loved the kids and I could hear allot of the comments as we passed by. They thought they were "so cute" and "they couldn't be over 8" (that upset Morg hehe) and of course "goodness they are playing recorders, I used to play that". It was fun to see and hear how great they thought our kids were. AND THEY ARE. Although I was rude to 1 teenager as she booed us, I simply walked very close to her and told her to "Shut up or GO HOME" you all know me and so you can imagine how sweetly I said it :)

I loved seeing all of the flags and posters along the way, along with all of the military personnel with their families and in uniform. Everyone there were so proud of and thankful for our Vets.
Being #35 out of 93, we only got to see some of the entries. The kids of course LOVED all the soldiers and the Red Cross truck and they all wanted to know how those tiny horses could pull those "BIG OLD MEN". They also really enjoyed it when we would tell everyone to look out for the horse poop on the road and 2 of the cheerleaders stepped in it BOTH TIMES.

Here is part of THE song that they played. You may have to look to the right to see my girl because as we all know, I cannot walk, record, think AND pay attention all at once. So Timothy?? is the star of my video....but the beauty is on the right.

Prior to this, my sister Jill and I had discussed taking recorders and harmonicas around caroling when we go up for Christmas:) :) I have since determined that my mom would like her neighbors to like her even after the holidays LOL. :( :( j/k I actually loved it.

All in all, we had a great time. Morgan did not show it but said that when we first got there and started out....she was VERY scarred. So for her to hide it as well as she did, I am very proud. And if you cannot tell by the video or pics, she was a line leader. She did a great job keeping the 8 or 9 kids behind her in line. She continues to amaze me.

As you all know....this was very hard for her, she is so shy. But she loved it and more importantly THEY, THE VETERANS loved it.

HAPPY VETERANS DAY! THANK YOU TO ALL WHO SERVED AND WHO ARE NOW SERVING TO PROTECT AND HONOR OUR GREAT NATION!

Morgan, Keegan and Breckyn were tagged by Jax

2008-11-14T14:39:00.000-08:00

Questions that are answered by Breckyn. . .
1. What is something mom always says to you? "tease me"
2. what makes mom happy? "When you clean up"
3. what makes mom sad? "when you don't clean up"
4. how does mom make you laugh? action: twisting finger around and around by her ear "crazy"
5. what was mom like as a child? shrugged shoulders
6. how old is your mom? "really old"
7. How tall is your mom? "really big"
8. what is her favorite thing to do? "tickle me"
9. what does your mom do when you're not around? "be mad"
10. if your mom becomes famous, what will it be for? "cause"
11. what is your mom really good at? "making us noodles"
12. what is your mom not very good at?"nothing"
13. what does your mom do for her job?"on your blog"
14. what is your mom's favorite food? "Pizza"
15. what makes you proud of your mom? "makes noodles."
16. if your mom were a cartoon character, who would she be? "Sponge Bob, with holes in you"
17. what do you and your mom do together?"dance"
18. how are you and your mom the same?"when we wear white"
19. how are you and your mom different? "when I have curly hair and you don't"
20. how do you know your mom loves you? "When I say, mom I love you..you say I love you infinity"

Questions that are answered by Keegan. . .
1. What is something mom always says to you? "Clean my room"
2. what makes mom happy? "Taking care of her and doing stuff whatever she says"
3. what makes mom sad? "When Grandma Chalk died"
4. how does mom make you laugh? "you um...chase us"
5. what was mom like as a child?"like a angel" (man I have him fooled)
6. how old is your mom? whisper"how old are you?"
7. How tall is your mom? "8ft tall"
8. what is her favorite thing to do? "play games"
9. what does your mom do when you're not around? "do stuff"
10. if your mom becomes famous, what will it be for? "singing, because you're really famous singer."
11. what is your mom really good at? "really good driving"
12. what is your mom not very good at? "you're not good at thumb wrestling"
13. what does your mom do for her job? "cleaning the dishes"
14. what is your mom's favorite food? "Lasagna" I mean everything"
15. what makes you proud of your mom? "being nice" and I got a hug with it
16. if your mom were a cartoon character, who would she be? "Annie"
17. what do you and your mom do together? "go to town and doctors"
18. how are you and your mom the same? "we have the same hair and the same eyes"
19. how are you and your mom different? "you are big, I am little...I mean..no wait, darn it...and you have glasses and I don't"
20. how do you know your mom loves you? "I don't know"

Questions that are answered by Morgan. . .
1. What is something mom always says to you? "tell us to tell you that you are the best mom in the world." I gotta get it somehow
2. what makes mom happy? "When we give you um...hugs and kisses."
3. what makes mom sad? "When we make a mess"
4. how does mom make you laugh?"when Breckyn says something really weird"
5. what was mom like as a child? "small and cute"
6. how old is your mom? "36 no, no, no, 32 no, it's 31!"
7. How tall is your mom? squeaking "I don't know, um....tall"
8. what is her favorite thing to do? "Go on the computer and spend time with us because you spend time with us, yes"
9. what does your mom do when you're not around? "Go on the computer"
10. if your mom becomes famous, what will it be for? "Making the best blog ever and finding the best new websites and singing""
11. what is your mom really good at? "Playing softball, pitching, pitching."
12. what is your mom not very good at? "DRAWING"
13. what does your mom do for her job? "Take care of us."
14. what is your mom's favorite food? "what is your favorite food? Lasagna"
15. what makes you proud of your mom? "Helping me with sports."
16. if your mom were a cartoon character, who would she be? "Miss piggy? no Fozzy Bear"
17. what do you and your mom do together? "Play softball"
18. how are you and your mom the same? "We love sports"
19. how are you and your mom different? "I can draw, you can't"
20. how do you know your mom loves you? "When you....um....mmmm....spend time with us."
Atkinsons tag: Maggie, Tyler, Makena, Ashlyn,

Let's Hear It For The Girls(and a little for the husbands)

2008-11-03T11:52:00.000-08:00

US
(established bloggers)

Well it all started with my sister Katie (married to Brant) starting a blog. All I wanted to do was make a comment about my sweet little Ali. So I signed up just to comment. Well I guess I didn't explain that to her and Brant and soon I was on there Blogging List. I decided that I had better start a blog so that when people I knew would click on my name, they would have something to look at.
Well I am hooked. I am sure that no one has noticed. So I was determined to get the other girls in my life to follow. First my Morgan started hers (although she needs to post), Cheyanne started hers for the trip to Honduras and although I talked about it all the time and threatened my brothers....it took them until last week to get their wives the Internet. Now my sisters Jill (married to Willie), Lindsay (married to Britton) and Maggie/mom have all started their own blogs.

THEM
(beginning bloggers)

I AM SO EXCITED THAT WE ALL (except Tracy..still working on her) HAVE BLOGS AND CAN SEE ALL OF THE KIDS. It helps make up the distance between all of us and makes me feel more a part of their lives.

Objective: Convert TargetGoal: Activate Blogging Status

So THANK YOU sisters and mom, for spending a few(maybe more) frustrating hours getting it all set up JUST FOR ME :) :) I always thought that I was the favorite....but now I KNOW I AM.

Love you all!!

Oh ya and for all of you who follow my blog, make sure to check out the Nikolaus blogs too. There are 7 all together.

3 Nights of Halloween......Long Post

2008-11-01T09:20:00.000-07:00

Painting Pumpkins

Breckyn loves to write "B s"

See how his mouth forms when he's concentrating?

My Artist!

Getting Ready

Numbers

Lashes

Beard

Well this is the first year that the kids have had to have anything really done on their faces, so Troy got to help out this year. He huffed at first but after the first one, he really enjoyed it.
I love him.

AND NOW FOR THE ATKINSONS

Morgan, my Twisted Witch! She loved having black fingernails, streaks in her hair and LONG shiny eyelashes. She looked beautiful.Keegan of course wanted to be a cowboy. I told him that it wasn't a costume if he looked like that all the time. So he added a beard and walla...he's his dad:)
My Breckyn was going to be Dora, but with all of her hair..the wig wouldn't fit. She decided to be a cheerleader. The numbers are for Ajax-57 and the Nikolaus Family-15. She likes to do cheers with her BFF, Ashlyn.

"Trunk or Treat"

On Wednesday our ward had its annual trunk or treat. We also had chili and cornbread. I was really good until Troy pulled out a LONG BLACK piece of hair........DONE. The kids love to go because they don't have to walk allot and get a ton of candy. This is also the only place where Troy passes out candy because nobody comes to our house (surprising?).

We had to take something over to Ajax's house and so we decided to stop by the new library. The kids went in and loved it, it is huge and has a ton of books. But even though we live in Queen Creek, we don't live in Maricopa County. We live in Pinal :(, so we have to pay $50.00 to get a card. So, we went outside and rode their bikes.

"Trick or Treat"

And finally....we went to the McCleve's as we have done for the past 4 years and went "trick or treating" around their subdivision. The houses are all about 1 1/2 acres apart and every year the kids start complaining about being tired halfway around. So this year we took the middle seat out of the van, opened the back gate and piled in. There was only a few whines and we got done in record time. The kids don't go to many houses, but because of that, there are not many kids so they get a ton of candy.

So here we have all of the kids. These 6 spend more time together than anyone I know. There was the "Ghost Rider"-Tyler, "Twisted Witch"-Morgan, "Troy the Cowboy"-Keegan, "Rodeo Clown"-Makena, "Cheerleader"-Breckyn and "Dorthy(she called it a princess)"-Ashlyn. Aren't they the cutest kids EVER?

OK, here's the deal. Anissa has been trying to get a picture of me ever since I put one of her on my blog. So here she tries....but I got her instead (I am quick with the camera). Later.....again she tries but does not succeed unless you consider my hair and arm to be a picture. Sorry Ness you are no match with my picture dodging skills. haha:)

This is the kids with "Grandma and Grandpa" or Dan and Geri our backyard neighbors for the past 8 years.

All in all it was a fun week and the kids had a blast. They are already picking out what they want to be next year.

We Start Em Young.

2008-10-28T19:34:00.000-07:00

Yesterday Troy brought home the skid steer (sp?) to load up some scrap metal. The kids love to drive it and they are good at it too.

You'll have to pause the music in order to hear it.

So here is my Morgan. She is very careful with things and is a little more timid when it comes to trying new things. At the end of this clip you can hear her squeal...Troy sped it up and it was coming toward me. Morgan was not happy about that one. :)

Keegan did really good. The only thing is that he went pretty fast and so he was upset that he didn't get to go as long.

Now for Breckyn. She is fearless. She had allot of fun and did a pretty good job for a 4 year old :)

Oh and I almost forgot to mention that I helped steer the fork lift that has no engine or transmission AND the tires that control it are in the back. What is up with that? Basically I stood on it while Troy pushed it up onto the trailer. Three years ago, I would have never helped do that. So this is just another example of how much better I am and that I have more confidence in myself. Even though I was SOOOOO dirty, I was actually really happy that the guys Troy had called to help showed up late. We make a good team. Sorry no pictures of that(ok, so I'm not that sorry)!!!!

BeFoRe

Ok...now I have said many times that my baby Breckyn is quite the rug rat. Well I decided to take pictures to show just a little example of what we go through everyday. I really do do her hair every morning.

Breckyn put this ponytail in by herself.

AfTeR

Clothing change number 5. No I am not exaggerating. If she gets dirty, "hot" or just wants to...she changes over and over and over again.

The only thing missing is her dirty face, that she just washed and her brown legs that were covered by her pants. So all you get to see, is the hair and the clothing change.

NOW do you believe me? She is a handful.

Fun At School?

2008-10-24T08:35:00.000-07:00

This week the kids had "School Spirit Dress Up Week". This was part of the "Step It Up...A Call To Action. No use of illegal drugs. No illegal use of legal drugs".

My kids (especially Morgan) love to do this each year.

No this is not 2008 LOL it is 2006

Monday: Put Drugs To Bed - Wear pajamas:) Keegan was sick but Morgan wore her silky pink jammies. I didn't even think to take a picture (I know..you're shocked, me too). So you will just have to pretend that you know how she looked......sleepy. HaHa

Tuesday: Drugs Turn You Inside Out - Wear clothes inside out or backwards:) This is my favorite. Morgan wore her shirt inside out and her shorts backwards. She has a butt. I tried to ask Troy where she got it from 'cause both of us are lacking in that department. The reason I give you this WONDERFUL piece of information, is because her butt looked like the tummy of most women who have had babies (ME). There was a pooch. It was really funny. Keegan wore his shirt backwards but when I saw him around noon, he had changed it back. He said that it made him hot.??

Wednesday: Show you care about your body - Wear Red:) This is pretty simple. I did paint on their faces too. Morgan wanted a heart..ok, then a star....what? I CAN'T DRAW! Luckily I found a little star to trace whew. Keegan didn't care (surprise?) we wrote "I Care".

Thursday: Walk Away From Drugs - Wear crazy shoes, slippers or socks. Well my Dad's new wife Shaunasp? , sends the kids very colorful socks for every holiday, so finding fun socks for this day was not a problem. I tried to get Keegan to wear 1 shoe and 1 slipper like Morgan did but he would have no part of it. The pictures don't even grasp how funny they looked. AND Morgan ripped an ear off my pig slipper....poor little thing.

Morgan's face says Go Lions, Keegan wanted paw prints w/claws...he's lucky I could make 4 circles.

Today/Friday: Stay In The Game, Be Drug Free - Wear school shirts, team jerseys or school colors....Green and Gold, I know Lobo fans, it was really hard on me at first too. LOL

Well all in all they had a fun week at school and even got to see some of the Sheriff Office's crime dogs. Morgan loved it when one of them jumped over a deputy and grabbed hold of the "padded" guy and wouldn't let go. I told her that if she is ever Stu _ _ _ and uses drugs, she will be able to have that dog grab her too...only without padding. Her eyes got really big and then she asked "What if they are not mine?" I told her that the dogs don't care and neither do I. She will "hurt in many places". (Hope it worked HeHe)

"Step It Up" is good, but I sure liked D.A.R.E. :) :) :)

Missing Out

2008-10-22T19:22:00.000-07:00

So I am always saying how my kids are lucky because we have land and animals. Well today I realized that they are deprived of one major thing in life in which I was greatly blessed with as a kid. FAMILY! We were at Keegan's Speech Therapist's today and Breckyn and I were in the waiting room. She was being really good and playing with some blocks. After a while, a little baby about 8 or 9 months old, started crawling toward Breck. It was at this moment I realised that she has had MAYBE 6 opportunities to interact with babies. How sad! She kept on scooting away from her and when she looked at me, it seemed that she was scared. I realized that I was not alone, when the babies mom told her that the baby would not hurt her. It took about 15 minutes before Breckyn was comfortable enough to play with her and even then it was at a safe distance.

This broke my heart. At first I thought it was funny until I realised how much she is missing out on. When I was growing up, we had family galore. They were everywhere and we were always together AND there were always babies.

So even though my kids have been extremely blessed, I really want them to know their family. We have 3 nieces: Ali, Devyn and Raylee, all of whom are under 18 months and we have seen Ali and Raylee once back in May and Devyn I believe we have seen 3 maybe 4 times. The kids know them mainly through pictures.

BUT as this will not change any time soon, I will have to settle for the baby dolls. Don't get me wrong. We have some family close and allot of friends.....it still is just not the same as I had.

Ok.....thanks for letting me pout. I feel a little better now.

Breckyn is about the same age in these pictures as the baby was.

Photos Anyone?

2008-10-21T10:38:00.000-07:00

My kids recently got a new horse (yes I know and no I don't know why). His name was Robin but we did not like it, so we went online and looked up a lot of names. We settled on Nakota which means "painted". It fits him well.

The other day Troy had them get ready to go try him out. I took my camera(since it is connected to me, I don't have a choice LOL). I got some really good pictures of them.

This is my 3 great kids with "the mare". We did not like her name, so we are waiting for Ajax and Morgan to name her.

My, she is beautiful.....if I do say so myself.

Our little cowboy. He LOVES to dress like dad and walk around like he owns the place.

This is Keegan on Nakota and then him asking his big sis the cowgirl for advice.

.

Cute pic huh? Breckyn is resting while Troy saddles Nakota.

Well as you can see, Breckyn spent most of her night "horsing" around.

It still amazes me how happy they are to be outside ALL the time and how they never get tired of the animals. The only down side to all of this is that for some reason (my mom says it's payback) Breckyn comes in looking like she was rolling in the dirt. I guess that since Ajax caught her literally rolling in the dirt, I can now make since of the fact that I wash more clothes for that girl than the rest of us put together(you think I'm exaggerating?).

I am just very grateful that my kids have the opportunity to grow up with dirt and land and animals and freedom, as I was.

A Different Kind of Mission

2008-10-15T22:20:00.000-07:00

HONDURAS

So most of you already know that my little sister Cheyanne is volunteering at an orphanage in Honduras. (the link to her blog is here on mine) They are there to teach the kids their alphabet and numbers in english and spanish. Her kids are ages 3-6 (I think) and there are about 5 of them. She has been gone since August 5th and she is having a great time. My mom did say that when she called the other night, she was a little homesick and VERY upset that she has to be deloused on Friday. They told her that she would get lice because all the children have it and pass it around. That is why she has bandannas on all the time. But it didn't work. If you don't remember how long her hair was....it is almost to her waist, it is really thick and it is beautiful. I feel so bad for her.
While she has been there, she has been able to do allot of things that she would not/could not do here. She hiked up and rode a horse up (yes I know she doesn't like horses) an active volcano and roast a marshmallow over the lava. She has also been snorkeling (and in November she will scuba dive), where she faced her biggest fear....sharks. I am so proud of her because she sucked it up and when their guide caught one, she pet it.

She still has a long time to go. She will come back on January 5, 2009. I am so sad that she will not be home for Christmas. We will miss her quirky personality sooooo much.

Can you see the reef?

I forgot to mention that she had to earn the money to go. She and my cousin Nathan, who is there with her, had a car wash and bake sale to help themselves get there. Besides that, she worked 2 jobs. They alsohad family and friends who donated to their "different kind of mission". Again for those who do not know Chey, you should know that she can not talk to strangers, example....if she got onions on her hamburger and had ordered it without onions, she would just not eat before she would go back to the counter and tell them. I think she has been living up to her name. HeHe

She said that this was actually good. It looks disgusting to me.

Washing her clothes by hand.
Chey and Nathan
Some of the volunteers that they live with. They are from all parts of the world and are becoming great friends.
Chey and I have the same sweet blood. (oh come on, you know I do) The mosquitoes were eating her alive so they had to put up her net around her bed.
Some kids in a village (she would know the name of it).
AND Chey doing her favorite thing...reading, probably the Twilight series.

Even though she has been in Utah since she was about 11 and I only see her (if I'm lucky) 3 times a year, I miss her even more now. I guess just knowing that she is so far away and living in a much different world, I can't get her off of my mind. I think the most surprising thing she has done since leaving (besides the shark of course), is that her and Nathan got in a car with a guy they didn't know and had him take them to the ruins. First of all...a stranger and second of all, she can't stand riding in a car with anyone else driving. She holds on to the handle above the door and closes her eyes when you pass a semi. But, she did it. She said that they do not obey any traffic signs or laws for that matter and she just knew she was going to die. She also said that if they were to get pulled over, they would just give the police some money and they will let them go. (I actually think that that is a good idea LOL).

Well Chey, I am proud of you. I am always amazed at the things you accomplish even while thinking that you can't. You are amazing and I can see your confidence growing. I know that when you come home, you will have realized the greatness that the rest of us have seen all along.

The city that she first stayed in.
I LOVE YOU SIS!

YES......4 posts in 1 day!!

2008-10-01T18:18:00.000-07:00

Ok, so as you will see by the posts to follow, that we have been extremely busy the past few weeks. I spent most of the day playing catch up on my blog. I hope you enjoy it.

This was about 3 years ago. He looks so young. Can you believe he is already 19.

So one more shout out to Elder Colten David Cluff. We are so proud of you and the choices you have made in your life that have led you to this point. We are honored to have been a part of you life for the last 4 years. We know that you will be a great missionary and that you will touch the lives of many. They will never forget you as you will give them something that they have been without for so long. We love you and although we will miss you terribly, we know you will come home an even better/stronger man.

Here is just a FEW of the recent pictures we have of Colten.

Let's Celebrate

2008-10-01T16:39:00.001-07:00

The 4 birthday girls.....Maggie-17, Lexie-16. Morgan-10 and McKinzee-12

Our 2 missionaries....Colten (w/BF Lynsay) reported to the MTC TODAY. He is going to Oregon. McKinney reports on the 21st of January to serve in Mexico City, South.

So these 6 extraordinary people who have been in our lives for sometime now, are the reason that we threw a huge bonfire on Saturday night. We had so many people here. It was so fun to see our friends, family and all the teens that came to celebrate with us.
Troy made dutch oven cobbler and we had a ton of drinks. There was a ping-pong table, a WII, the roping dummy, swings and of coarse music provided by my awesome van (since Colten sold our truck LOL).Here are some of the groups that I got pictures of. Tracy, Aunt Donna and Uncle John didn't move much so they were easy to find, where as the teens where always on the move. I apologize to anyone not in the pictures, there were just so many of you.

So Colten started it and now they ALL do it to me! Here we have Kinney, Jentry, Maggie, Chelsea, Ra Ra (Maranda), COLTEN(of coarse), Maggie...again...and again and Ra Ra.....again. What is up with all the butts?

So excited to see Kinney!

My cousin Nat's husband Andy took home the door prize. oooooooo After cleaning up the yard, I guess we disturbed the scorpion so he crashed our party. He was a hit. They all watched him eat a cricket (not I). After that I was very jumpy and so when Troy threw a fake snake at me, I am sorry to say that I did not respond like a lady LOL. I will get even....somehow!

Look at all the smiles!!!

More family and friends (we are soooo lucky)

McKinney picked up a rope after about 10 years and you would have never known it. He did really good and was showing off. Ajax (Crae) loves roping too, so Kinney and him hung out quite a bit with the dummy. Tracy even remembered that she used to be a cowgirl. Now if we could just get her out of the house and on a horse. Hey sis, I don't think your kids believe me when I tell them you can ride. Call me and I'll hook you up.

Ra Ra and Ajax took some girls over to see the horses. They decided that it would be funny to show them Cookie (our cow). Ajax walked up to her and scarred her. So then the girls went to see her and of course she charged them. We were laughing so hard. I guess we forgot to tell them that Cookie HATES GIRLS. Sorry, but it was really funny.

Well we had a great time and I think everyone else did too. We actually went to bed at about 1:30. Thanks to all who came and to Maggie for providing most of the food. (I love little sisters....with jobs.....who live at home.....and are the babies...LOL) Love to you all.

Tell next time!

Double Digits!!

2008-10-01T09:29:00.000-07:00

We were pleasantly surprised that Morgan tried the wall. She did really well and even tried it again.

After they finally tried the Hopper, Peyton and Derek decided that heights weren't that bad and so they also tried the wall AND did really good.

Well on Friday the 26th, my Morgan turned 10. This year we gave her a choice between the big party we always do or taking 2 friends to Amazing Jake's. She chose the later. So after school we picked up my 2 nieces Kylyn and Peyton (her 2 friends) and went to have pizza and allot of fun. To add to all of the fun, my little brother McKinney and sister Maggie were here for a visit and farewell and so they came with us along with Lil'Derek and Ajax(Crae).

We had so much fun. The food was pretty good although the girls ate like birds.

Bumper cars were so fun to watch.

Those girls are rough and once they learned to spin, they did that ALLOT.

Troy and McKinney played a little pool and Troy showed off with some quarter tricks.

Everyone except Maggie and I did the rock wall. Everyone did so good but only Ajax made it all the way up. I swear

he was like Spiderman.

Morgan got smashed on the roller coaster

and so the next time they put Lil'Derek on
the outside and her and Kylyn smashed him
.

There were two atracktions that I could not get pictures of. Go Karts and Laser Tag. In Go Karts, the girls were to short to drive so they rode with the big kids. Ajax and Kylyn (innocenct Kylyn) got in trouble for bumping Lil'Derek and Morgan. Maggie tried to tell him that it wasn't a competition and he said that everything is a competition. Well you guessed it they won. I wish the glass had not been there so the pictures would have taken because Kylyn was making me laugh so hard because she had her head rested on her hand like it was soooo boring. She is so cute. After Ajax left, he gave Troy his card so he could play. He took Maggie to the Go Karts and their turn was cut short because they were slamming on the brakes and spinning around and the guy got mad. Typical Troy "A"?
Laser Tag was fun. They even let me play even though I did not have a card. I didn't get to shoot much because I swear EVERYONE (even though it was boys vs. girls) was killing me. Morgan won because her vest wasn't working so she never "got shot".

Last was miniature golf, it was so much fun. They all got really good at it by the end. Troy of coarse "didn't cheat at all" LOL and somehow managed to win. I guess that maybe now he will admit he does like golf (not).

To end the night, we went to Ajax's football game. He is really good, I felt bad because I was recording him and all but 1 of his tackles I missed because I got excited and forgot to push the button and when I remembered all I got was him jumping up and the announcer saying "#57 Crae Kleinlein" or #37 even though 37 was on the other side of the line. Oh well we know the truth. Morgan enjoyed her day and got a paw print painted on her face (which she said itched). It was a great day to be with our family and friends to celebrate my girls special day. Thanks everyone.

Update - Keegan

2008-09-19T21:39:00.000-07:00

His knew found talent. This boy has no cartilage in his ears. They are so fun to pull on. (and it doesn't even hurt him LOL)

Well Keegan had 3 Dr.'s appointments this week (poor guy). The first was on Monday with a speech therapist, Sara. She said that he only has a few things that he will need therapy for from her, but that she is referring him to a feeding therapist too (yeah). She was very nice and she helped us understand allot of what he is going through.

Tuesday we saw his GI, Dr. Silbur. He was pleased with his weight gain but left him on 5 cans of Nutren Jr. a day. He also gave him a new prescription to see if it can help with his stomach aches. He did an ex ray of his stomach (normal) and some lab work (still waiting).

Thursday we went to Dr. Shafron a Neurosurgeon. He said that he cannot make a determination on whether or not his symptoms now and at infancy are due to the Chiari Malformation. SO, Keegan has to have another MRI. This time it will be under anesthesia because it will be about 4 hours long. They are checking his entire spine for abnormalities and doing some kind of ?? fluid study in the cerebellum (ask Brant). This is scheduled for November 5th at St. Joseph's. Then he wants a swallow study. They don't know yet how they will get that, since Keegan gags and throws up the barium. ?????

We have not told him what is going on yet. He has enough that he is dealing with. So I guess in this instance it is good that he is used to going to Dr.s all the time. He doesn't know any different.

He missed allot of school and spent a lot of time in Dr.'s offices and he was sooooo good. So we took him to Build-a-Bear. He made a T-Rex with a Batman t-shirt. He named him Bruce. If you are slow like I am, he is named after Bruce Wayne (duh). He has it with him everywhere. I am glad we found something else for him to find comfort in. The more the merrier.

My Aunt Donna brought to my attention that I am not in any pictures with my kids. She reminded me that they love me no matter what I "think" I look like. So, here I am with my wonderful, brave little boy..... and Bruce.

Congrats Baby Bro!

2008-09-18T21:56:00.000-07:00

Just a little a shout out to my baby brother McKinney. He leaves on January 21st, 2009 for the Mexico City, Mexico South Mission. He is the last of my 4 brothers to go. We are so excited for him. He will be such a great missionary. He has a heart of gold and a very strong desire to do his best. I know he will follow in his big brothers' footsteps and serve an honorable mission.

At least he's not "trunky" yet! LOL

His glasses will be perfect for Mexico.