Football

Different teams but same color shirt!! We freeze our buts off but everyone has a good time so we just bundle up, endure to the end and cheer loud when they get a touchdown!!

Run or Dye

Since our last Christmas was kinda crazy with moving to Vegas I decided that this year needed to be better!! So when Ann told us about a Christmas - Run or Dye - 5K I knew the boys would love it & thought it was the perfect way to kick off the Holidays!! We had to wake up super early to get out to Sam Boyd Stadium in time. We bundled up in our best Christmas attire and off we went to run in 35 degree weather!! When we first got there I first thought what are we doing? only crazy people run in cold weather! (must be the desert rat in me!) but once we got moving it was perfect!! The kids had fun slapping hand prints on runners passing by and on each other!! Who new it could be so fun to get so dirty!!

Thanks

In the morning at Mrs. Parkers Dustin made a cool headband with the longest Indian name ever on it!  Running kicking-jumping off a cliff, land on my feet SKUNK!! He would not smile for the picture he said Indians don't smile!
Later in the day Dustin's Kindergarten class did a cute program called "Pie & Poetry" in honor of Thanksgiving!! There's nothing cuter than a bunch of six year olds singing! It's an added bonus that we got some yummy pie too! Dustin kept looking and waving at us to make sure we were watching him!

I'm not sure how this happened, I thought for sure we wouldn't be hosting Thanksgiving for a while! Than we had to go and move into a big house again!! Oh well it's fun to get together and even more important for the cousins to bond and get to know each other!! The only bad part was the downstairs toilet almost overflowing and the upstairs toilet actually overflowing while Darin was "black friday" shopping in Mesquite!! This old house just couldn't handle all the bathroom visits, looks like we'll be changing all the toilets sooner than planned!!

Tickling the Ivories!

11-26-13 Dillon's piano teacher Joshlyn took Dillon back and today was his piano recital! He didn't do so well, he had to play without his book and he froze half way through! After the recital Dillon was upset that he had messed up but Mrs. Widdison's husband came over to Dillon and told him that he plays the piano during sacrament and that he messes up sometimes! He encouraged Dillon to keep playing and told him to practice hard!! I thought it was cool he wanted to comfort Dillon!!

San Franscisco

Cord was doing some training for K-9 in San Francisco so we jumped on a plane and joined him for the weekend when he was done! It was raining and our flight got cancelled but they were able to switch us to a different flight that flew into Oakland so we were able to have a fun weekend in a cool city, eat yummy clam chowder, go to Alcatraz, and get scared by a bum!!

Speed Meet

Veteran's Day 11-11-13 The valley does a veteran's day parade every year! There's not a lot that goes on in this town so when there is you better believe that everybody shows up!! I'm so thankful for every soldier that has ever served in any war and fought for our freedoms!! God Bless America

#1 Fastest kid in 2nd Grade!!

11-7-13 The P.E. Teachers from Bowler, Perkins, Virgin Valley & Bunkerville put on a Speed Meet at the Fairgrounds! They took the four fastest boys & girls from each classroom to run the different events! They practiced for a whole month before and Degan would come home and say how he couldn't beat Lucas or that he almost beat Lucas that day!! The day before the race Darin gave him a pep talk about visualizing in his mind winning and giving it your all!! On the day of the big event he came in first on his race, than when they did the top runners from all the races he had to run against Lucas. Degan didn't come in first but he beat Lucas because Lucas said he twisted his ankle and couldn't run fast!! Lucas wouldn't finish the next race and Degan was upset that he didn't win and started complaining that VV was cheating by jumping the whistle! Darin thinks Degan does better under pressure because he's competitive!! Good Job Degan!!

P.S. Darin bought Degan some running shoes in hopes they would help him run faster!!

Nelson Nevada

11-2-13 This years family pictures were out at Nelson Nevada! It's a really cool place with totally random things scattered all over the place! I've been wanting to go out there for a while and Monica said she would go if she could get at least four families to photograph! Easy peesy I just called up LeAnn, Jenean, & Jody and bam four families!! Dax was a little difficult but we managed to get some good pics!!

Camp Run-A-Muk

11-1-13 Turning 8 is a big deal so what better way to celebrate this milestone than by having a party with your buddies! Degan has a lot of friends so he had a hard time choosing only 5 friends but he managed to narrow it down to Breckan, Jesse, Cannon, Lucas, & Mason! We picked the boys up from school, had a snack, played some games, they rolled in the sand, we had a campfire, watched a movie outside, had hot dogs and cake than took them home!! It was a perfect party for a bunch of boys!

My little Pumpkins!

10-31-13 This year Darin hooked up the trailer and we borrowed some bales of hay from Todd and off we went trick-or-treating with the Andrew clan and the Staton boys!! The kids had so much fun cruising around the valley on their little float! It was nice not having to open and close the doors and hear them scream at each other for stepping on feet, hands, or candy bags! Now they want to do it every year

Degan's Day!

10-25-13 Kevin's funeral was today and I'm still in disbelief that all this even happened. I'm sad that Jestin & Derrick lost a best friend but I'm mostly sad that him & Grandma Waters never made up. It just goes to show you that life is way to short and we need to show the ones we love how important they are to us! The funeral was nice Dave & Casey Davis gave wonderful tributes to him and told some very funny stories! I wish I had gotten to know Kevin better but I do have fun memories of going to their house for different parties and playing games!! He will be missed, but I'm sure Rodger & Grandpa were happy to see him!

Dax & I walked with Dustin's class to the pumpkin patch! It was super windy so I had to carry Daxton the whole way there and the whole way back! OK I'm exaggerating but it sure felt like it!! Dusty picked out the biggest pumpkin, it's a good thing they don't have to carry them back because he wouldn't have made it!!

10-28-13 Degan turned 8 today!! I picked him up from school and took him to Tiffany's for a sandwich and a shaved ice and than later that day the Kelly's had their annual pumpkin carving party so we went and filled our bellies with lots of good food and visited with lots of cool people!!

Grandma Smith is the best!

10-17-13 (Grandparents Day) My mom thought she was going to get out of going to grandparents day this year but we decided to not let her off the hook so we moved back and her she is again!! So happy she never disappoints these boys they look forward to having breakfast with her every year! It's just a bonus that she spoils them and buys them stuff at the book sale!!

10-19-13 (yard sale & sick kid) Jim & Carla were having a yard sale so she told Dillon & Bailee to make a bunch of treats & hot chocolate to sell to help raise some money to get to Sea Camp! (We decided that they each needed to raise $100 to make one of the payments) It was hot so the hot coco didn't sell very well and I guess most people don't like to help kids raise money because we ended up having to move locations down by the dollar store and going door to door to get rid of all the treats!! I'm glad we made them work to get there so maybe they will enjoy the trip a little more!!
During the day I had to take Degan to the doctors because he was complaining that his throat hurt and I could see white spots on his glands and sure enough he had strep throat. Poor thing was in so much pain.

A Hunting we will go!

10-13-13 / 10-16-13 A cold but successful hunt for Darin!!

No Way!!

10-16-13
Dillon is growing up way to fast! In some ways this whole growing up process makes me sad but in some ways I'm excited to see what the future hold for him! He's a very talented kid, he's hilarious and fun to be around! He chose to go to Idaho back in August with his Dad so that was his birthday present!!

Fall Festival

10-11-13
Before we left Vegas the kids classes were planning what their booth would be at the "Fall Festival" I promised the kids we would bring them back so they could see how it all turned out!! It was so fun and very well put together and even better everything earned went to the school or to the classrooms for the teachers to buy whatever was needed!! Way better than any other fundraiser I've ever seen!!  Dillon's class did a photo booth with props to dress up in! Degan's class did a kissing booth but they kissed you with a stamp of lips & red ink! Dustin's class didn't have a booth! It was fun to see their teachers again!

Cheesewagon

10-7-13  Dustin finally worked up the courage to ride the bus! It only took a week to convince him to ride the bus to school and he LOVED it! He was fine riding the bus home with his brothers because on the way home he sits in the back with Dillon & Degan and I think he thinks he's cool! There's these two girls named Zoe & Lyla that think he's the cutest thing!! There's also a bossy girl that sits in the back that they fight with and call her "The Queen of the Backseat" (Degan wrote a funny story about her) We told them to just ignore her and avoid the drama, but we shall see what they learn in the backseat of bus #5!!

Red to the Rock

10-4-13 In honor of us moving back Bo invited us out to Red Rock for some dutch oven cooking!! YUM!! The kids had fun climbing around and being free! It's always fun being with family especially on a nice fall night!!

Here we go again!

                                                               

                                                      September 1, 2013
Well the decision has been made... We are moving back to the valley into Cord's Dad's pink house off airport road!! I really do feel good about this decision, poor Cord has been left with a lot to deal with and if we can help out and take something off his hands I'm happy to help and even better for us we got a smokin deal, we agreed to put $800 into an account every month and use it to up date the house with paint and fixtures because this poor house is stuck in the nineties!! It has wallpaper in every room, sponge painting in a few bedrooms, marbled carpet, murals painted on walls, and the walls, trim and ceiling are all painted cream in the places it's not painted red, blue, yellow or green!! We are planning on moving the last weekend in September so the kids can start school on the 30th but before we move Cord & LeAnn will be clearing the house out, they are having the house painted from top to bottom white, and installing new carpet & appliances, and AnnMarie has agreed to clean the house for us for $15 an hour!! (poor thing the house is disgusting with mice crap all over the kitchen - I'm just glad it's her doing it and not me GROSS) The kids are excited to come back but they did make some good friends in our short stay here that will be hard to leave. If there's one thing I learned is that I HATE MOVING!!

Popovich Circus

8-31-13 I may or may not be addicted to Groupon!! HaHa! or at least that's what Darin thinks! When tickets for the popovich circus popped up I knew the kids would love it so we grabbed a few of their friends Carter & Harry and off we went to watch dog's & cat's do cool things!!

Plan? What Plan?....

The Plan was to stay in Vegas for a couple of years and see if we like it. We found a good neighborhood to live in and we were just starting to really like it in the big city and now our landlords the Buhl's told us that they are selling the house they live in and want back into the house we're in so they will not be letting us renew our contract in December for another year. I'm not sure if I'm happy or sad. Another wrench was thrown into "the plan" when we started looking for a new place to rent Cord offered to let us stay in the pink house back out in the valley. I call it a wrench because I thought he was joking but Darin is actually considering going back out because we haven't saved a dime while living here!! OPTIONS!! sometimes I really hate options!

My Teacher has Class

8-26-13 Dillon with Mrs. Richards! Degan with Mrs. Polson! Dustin with Mrs. Moralis! The first day of school is always a little stressful for me. I know my kids are nervous so that makes me nervous! This year was even more nerve racking being at a new school. I heard that all the kids got good teachers but you still never know! I also know my kids are excited so that makes me excited and it's nice to get back into a routine and have a little more "me" time! I'm also excited about getting asked to do a carpool with a few ladies in the ward! It'll be nice not having to make 3 trips a day down to the school! I know the kids will do great I've been so impressed with Kitty Ward so far! I hate to say it but it's way better than Bowler! Let the fun begin!!

swinging in the rain

8-25-13 Rain is rare so when it rolls into town we go outside and play!!  This is Daxton's first rainstorm and he loved running around the backyard with the boys!! YAY! for rain we need every drop!!

back to school dinner

8-24-13 This year all three boys will be in Elementary school together!! This is the only time this will ever happen!! The word on the street is all my kids got good teachers so I'm excited about that, it's hard moving and not knowing anything about any of the teachers! I saw these cute crafty things on pinterest and planned a special dinner for the boys the night before the first day of school! Everyone is both nervous and excited for the new school year! I'm excited too just not looking forward to the whole drop the kids off in the morning, than drop Dusty off in the afternoon and than picking them up!! It's a good thing we live close by that's a lot of trips to the school!

Endless Summer

We had a great summer in fact I think this has been the best summer we've ever had!! Who knew that living in the city could be so much fun? How cool is it to be so close to so much stuff!!

Condo redue

8-18-13/8-22-13 Our condo in Idaho has been vacant for a few months and we've been meaning to get up there to give the place a facelift! Darin decided this was a perfect opportunity to get up there and do some work so he jumped on a plane with Dillon and off they went!! I'm not sure Jordan & Alisha knew what they were getting themselves into they helped Darin out with the condo & kept Dillon entertained the whole time!! Darin accomplished a lot in the four days he was there the place looked much better without all the crazy wallpaper!! Now hopefully somebody will want to live in it!!