The Cummings Family

Thanksgiving

2011-11-24T13:56:00.000-08:00

This year we had Thanksgiving at Mom and Dad's house in Salem. Aaron and Robin's families were there too. We always love having family get togethers and it's always a special treat for the kids to be with their cousins.

Paula's 40th!

2011-11-12T13:50:00.000-08:00

For Paula's 40th birthday her husband Matt threw her this amazing suprise party and we were lucky enought to be invited! ;) We drove up to Boise on Saturday morning, went to her party that night and drove back home on Sunday. Short, but sweet! Matt blew everyone out of the water with this one! He went all out and we had a wonderful dinner and night full of tributes to Paula. It was a little dark in there and sadly our pictures all came out blurry, bummer, but it was an amazing and our memories are very vivid! ;)

Nothing like your family to get up and tell horror stories about your teenage years!

Ahh, she took it well and is even speaking to us all still! :)

Halloween

2011-10-31T13:46:00.000-07:00

Halloween is one of the kids favorite holidays. It wasn't as cold as other years, such a nice treat! Aaron and Devon's family came and went trick-or-treating with us and that made it extra fun for the kids.

Ashley was a princess and

Owen was Hiccup from How To Train Your Dragon.

Aren't they adorable!?!

Piano Recital

2011-10-27T13:22:00.000-07:00

Ashley is taking piano lessons and these pictures are from her Halloween recital. Everyone dressed up to match the song they were playing. Ashleys was a cowboy song.

Can really see her behind that big old piano, but she did awesome!

Unbirthday!

2011-10-21T13:27:00.000-07:00

We decided to create a new family tradition. We are going to start having an unbirthday party. This year our unbirthday theme was everything unside down. The kids woke up to everything that wasn't strapped down turned upside down. We seriously debated turning their beds upside down, but then decided to settle for just flipping them around backwards, so Travis and I turned mattresses with sleeping kids on them around, I wish we had a video of that, it was something to see!

Breaking out of their rooms!

It was a suprise and the kids woke up to a fully decorated house, cake, pressents and pretty much complete chaos. It was a blast.

I took the kids swimming and we made a goofy, fun dinner of spagetti, that looked to much like vomit after I tried to make it a different color, and we ate with funny utensils and plates

Both of the kids got Pogo Sticks, a fun childhood memory for me.

I even tried to get in on the fun. I found that they are a lot more fun when your a kid. ;)

It was tons of fun and a tradition we are already looking forward to next year!

Freedom Elementary School Carnival

2011-10-14T13:25:00.000-07:00

Each year the kids school does a carnival with games, face/hair painting, and train rides as a fund raiser. The kids love to go and this what they came home looking like this year!

Happy Birthday!

2011-10-09T13:24:00.000-07:00

Ok, so I just really wanted to this day to go by without anyone really noticing. If no one knows you don't get another year older right?

So, we have this one picture to document my uhum....thiry- #*th birthday and we'll leave it at that. :)

Notice the lovely table and quilt. You'll be happy to know that 9 months after we sold our table and ordered a new one, that never arrived, we finally canceled our order and found a different table and rug! Finally we feel like we aren't eating in the church gym every night. ;)

Lagoon

2011-10-01T13:09:00.000-07:00

The first of October we went to Lagoon. That's always a fun treat we do around Halloween each year. Sadly in the car on the way my very greatful children asked me when I was going to take them to Disneyland....brats! ;) We love Lagoon and play all day till we can hardly walk our tired feet out to the car. Weather was fabulous this year, no rain and not too hot. Here are a few pics from our fun family day.

Weekend with the McKinlays

2011-09-04T14:05:00.000-07:00

In September we went to the McKinlays in Boise for their new baby's, Conner, blessing. We had tons of fun! They took us to the river where the kids took a boat ride and went swimming. Dad even got down and dirty in the sand with them. It was a really fun park and we were jealous that we don't have someplace like that back home.

The weekend was so fun for us, even though it probably was very stressful for Paula to have all of us in her home, but as always they are the bests hosts I know.

Owen plays soccer

2011-09-04T12:57:00.000-07:00

Owen decided that he wanted to play soccer this year. We enrolled him in a Lehi City league. He loved it for the first few games, but then decided he just didn't like running around in the scorching Utah summer heat that much. We made him finish out the season, but we'll have to see if he decides he wants to try it again.

Pretty sure it was Owen that pushed this kid down, oops. :) Way to get in there buddy!

Our kids are little fish and both do really well at swimming so that may be a better fit, but Ashley wants to try soccer next year and we are excited to see if she takes to it.

Back To School

2011-08-30T12:47:00.000-07:00

It's been so long since I've added anything to the Blog, so, I am going to do a quick and dirty and get caught up on the happenings in the last six months, which sadly, hasn't involved much more than school and work, but here we go.

Ashley started third grade this year and moved to a new school. We gave her the option to remain at the school she has gone to all along, but in the new neighborhood all the kids go to a new school in Highland. Ashley decided she wanted to go to the new school, Freedom Elementary, and so we also enrolled Owen in kindergarden there too. I am particularly happy about it because they will be riding the bus to school and I don't have to drive them anymore. :)

Ashley, sadly, doesn't love her teacher, but it has been good for her to be going to the same school as the other kids in the neighborhood.

Owen had a rough start just getting use to school being every single day, but it didn't take long for him to love riding the bus to school and being with all the other kids every day. He has made tons of new friends, I had no idea he was go outgoing. :)

All in all, we are happy with the new school and the kids by far will tell you that their favorite part is riding the bus, which is funny because I grew up riding the bus and begged mom to drive me, but here in Utah not many kids ride the bus so it makes it special I guess. :)

4th of July

2011-07-04T20:39:00.000-07:00

The 4th of July is the annual Searle Family Reunion. This is a day we look forward to all year long. We start off the morning going to the Provo parade, that the kids love, and the parents spend their time sweating in the sun and handing out more treats.

This year the weather was a little 'iffy' and it rained a little on us. The kids didn't mind at all, but not prepaired for the rain some of us tried to improvise to keep the impending frizzy hair at bay.

The fourth of July party is as always filled with food, fun and games. The kids look forward to the games and the adults enjoy lots of time to catch up and visit. This year the rainy weather put a damper on the games, but the visiting was as good as ever and we were sad to see the day end.

Thank goodness everyone stayed a few more days and we had more opportunities for picnics, hikes, and swimming. Here's to another awesome reunion. Thank you everyone for all your hard work to make it so much fun!

Ahh the simple pleasures in life. I love to see it when such simple things as rolling down a grassy hill and playing in the sand brings such joy!

Ashley's Baptism

2011-07-02T20:13:00.000-07:00

It has been so much fun for Ashley and I preparing for her baptism. I have to say the dress shopping was the funnest. Ashley saw this dress and just knew it was the one and I have to say it's the prettiest dress I've ever seen on the prettiest girl I know! Ashley wanted to wait for July to have all of her cousins at her baptism. We want to thank all of you that made a special effort to be there. Having all of you there made the day so special for her. A special thank you to Steven, Katie and Paula for giving talks at the baptism.

I have never seen Ashley so happy as the moment she walked out of the font. She had a glowing smile on her face and when we went in to change she said to me, "mom, I just can't stop smiling".

After the baptism we all went out to dinner at Ashley's chosen restaurant, Texas Roadhouse and then had everyone to our house for cake and gifts for Ashley. Per tradition Ashley received her first set of scriptures from us and little congratulations gifts from all of the family in attendance. Thank you so much for the gifts and warm wishes for Ashley.

For all the preperation the day seemed to go buy so quickly. Your childs baptism is just one of those precious moments where you wish time would slow down or you could freeze time for just a moment to make it last longer. Ashley is so sweet and tender and a blessing to our family. Heavenly Father knew we needed her.

It's Great to be 8!

2011-05-21T19:44:00.000-07:00

Ashley had a fun eighth birthday. On Friday (her real birthday) we had Grandma and Grandpa over for dinner...Ashley chose the menu, "white noodles and spinach, strawberry salad". On Saturday she had a party with friends old and new (moving added some new friends to our network) with a Tinkerbell theme. She wanted to scrapbook and so we gave each of her friends disposable camera's with their party invitations. We picked them up before the party and had them developed. The girls spent lots of time scrapbooking their pictures into cute photo albums we made. It was a HUGE hit (thanks for the idea Alison)! We had 7 girls her in the house and anyone who says girls are quieter than boys will have a hard time convincing me! I don't know how you did it Mom and Dad with 5 girls! Wow! Ashley has chosen to wait to be baptised till her cousins can be her with her in July. She is so excited and we have had so much fun getting ready for her baptism.

Wow! 37 looks good on you!

2011-04-29T20:01:00.000-07:00

Travis had a nice birthday, he stayed home and worked in the yard! No, really he did! Doesn't sound like fun to me either. Travis picked his own birthday gift this year so we already knew that was going to be a hit! He wanted an Ipod to take music biking, jeeping, jogging....(okay maybe the jogging is streaching it, but the jeeping is definately true!). We went to a nice dinner with my Mom and Dad to "GoodWood". The food and company were great and we had a fun evening. Yes, Owen already had the trucks on the cake claimed before Travis had even seen them! What a nice Dad to get trucks on his birthday for Owen! ;)

Easter

2011-04-24T19:53:00.000-07:00

It seemed like Easter was late this year. The Easter bunny didn't dissapoint. The kids were thrilled with their baskets and as always the egg hunts were a huge hit. The Easter Bunny is so silly and always find the funniest places to hide eggs. This year he put two eggs up at the top of the fireplace by the ceiling, balancing precriously on the rocks. We can't figure out how he got them up there (18 ft. high). I think the kids decided he can jump really high! Without grass or any type of yard the outdoor egg hunts were a little mess, but the kids didn't seem to mind. After all the eggs were found the kids took turns rehiding eggs for each other to find. Poor Ashley...leave it to Owen to burry the eggs in the dirt piles. Her turn sure took a long time to find those eggs! We had a nice Easter dinner with the family on a beatiful sunny Sunday!

The New House

2011-04-04T23:20:00.000-07:00

Well, we have been in the new house for 3 months now and I keep meaning to take a picture of the outside of the house and post some pics, but since I can't seem to find the time to walk outside my front door and take one :) I'll just post the pictures of the inside for now. We are loving our new house and can't wait for spring to be able to put in some grass for the kids. We have actually begun hanging a few things on the walls now. As we get rooms completed we'll post new pictures so that you can see it actually looks like someone is living in it. :)

2011-04-04T22:20:00.000-07:00

Owens 5th Birthday

2011-03-29T22:16:00.000-07:00

Where does the time go? Owen is growing up so quickly. He is absolutely hillarious and keeps us laughing constantly. He had a really fun, busy birthday this year. We started off the day with playing with friends.

In the early afternoon Grandma took Owen to Build-a-Bear where we all had a blast making stuffed animals and picking out clothes for them. Owen got a Harley Davidson Biker Dog with leather jacket and all. We then met the family at Pirate Island Pizza where we played games and ate the biggest pizza we have ever seen!

We ended the evening with presents and cake at our home. Owen got lots of really awesome presents and we thank everyone for the wonderful gifts and for coming to the party and helping us celebrate!

Valentines

2011-02-18T22:06:00.000-08:00

I'm going to try and get us caught up on our happenings before finals hit in the next few weeks, so I'm going to backtrack to Valentines. On Valentines Day we decided to spend the holiday as a family. Travis fixed us a fabulious dinner and for our fun activity we did chocolate fondue with the kids. They loved it and we had chocolate from head to toe!

For a special school day treat we did Ashleys hair Valentines fashion. I was particularly proud of myself with this hairdo! :)

Grandma's 90th

2011-01-29T22:56:00.000-08:00

We got to go celebrate Grandma's 90th birthday with her! We had a wonderful lunch and snuck her away from her guests for a few pictures. Happy Birthday Grandma!... and here's to another great year!

Christmas

2010-12-26T22:34:00.000-08:00

We were so excited to go to the McKinlays for Christmas this year. After Thanksgiving in our townhouse (we hated), we just couldn't bring ourselves to another holiday there (yes the house did not get completed by Christmas like it was suppose to) so the McKinlays were kind enough to allow us to join them in Boise. We had an absolutely fabulious christmas. The McKinlays host the best get aways around, we highly recomend a vacation at their house! We took the kids ice skating for the first time and that was so much fun, they loved it!

Paula and Matt got a babysitter for all 5 kids and we hit the town one night. Okay, it was only a movie and dessert, but it's been so long since I've been to an adult movie that it was a total party! Christmas morning was lots of fun and the kids were happy with their new toys (well, for atleast the first 5 minutes, before they were asking for another present). Santa was good to everyone this year. The kids got DS's and a WII. Travis got a Blueray player and I was really spoiled when Travis got me a new IPhone, that truely is more like a toy than a phone. Who knew your phone could do so much! I don't know how I ever lived without one! ;)

Paula cooked a wonderful Christmas dinner that night. A huge thank you to the McKinlays for putting up with us and being the best hosts ever! We thank everyone for the wonderful gifts since I have not had a single moment to send out any thank you cards. We love you all and look forward to a Christmas all together next year!?!

Thanksgiving

2010-11-29T22:27:00.000-08:00

This years Thanksgiving found us alone at home. It seems like at the last minute all our family decided to go elsewhere. Although we were not happy about having Thanksgiving in our little rented townhouse we put a smile on a cooked a turkey. The kids were just happy to be out of school for two days that they thought it was a great day!

Pooped Out

2010-10-27T22:20:00.000-07:00

At the end of an exhausting week.....nap time!

Pumpkins!

2010-10-24T19:35:00.000-07:00

Pumpkin carving around our house is always a catch 22. The kids bug us for the entire month of October about when we will carve pumpkins. Then when we finally do this is what we get.....

"Mom! I don't like my hands to get dirty" topped off with pouting and tears when Mom refuses to pull the guts out for her. This year is an improvement from last year in that only one child whined and moaned. Owen dug in with both hands flipping pumpkin seeds everywhere. Fun, Fun!

By the time we got them all carved and everyone washed there were smiles again. Ashley drew her own pumpkin face this year and it turned out awesome. Owen also drew the face on his pumpkin which turned out pretty unrecognizable, but he was pretty easy asking only for a "freaky" face. Everyone was happy till they started fighting over who got the bigger candle. Then is was Ashley's candle was brighter than Owen's. Man! Who teaches boys to always have to be bigger and better!

Whew! Glad Halloween is only once a year!

House Update 3

2010-10-22T19:05:00.000-07:00

Finally the house is framed, The windows are in, the plumbing is in, and the electrical and roofing are in progress. You can begin to see what it will look like....kind of. :)

Travis has spent several days recently building an awesome swing set in the backyard....seems the kids would still rather play in the dirt though. I don't get it!

Crazy Do Day

2010-10-20T15:46:00.000-07:00

Today was the annual 'Crazy Hair Day' at Ashley's school. We thought we couldn't top last years hair cause I rocked her do last year, but our spur of the moment hair do this year won her the award for best in her class this year! She looked great, but couldn't wait to get home and begged me to take it out the second we walked in the door. All good things must come to an end, but another pat on the back for me for a job well done and no one but Ashley could have pulled it off! ;)

Enjoying The Fall Colors

2010-10-10T17:22:00.000-07:00

It was beautiful with cooler temperatures and bright blue sunny skies that we just couldn't resist heading up the canyon for an afternoon amongst the leaves. We saw lots of squirrels and chipmunks, which the kids loved, and fish in the pond. It was so relaxing....just what we needed before another hectic week starts.

Heather's 26th Birthday

2010-10-09T21:22:00.000-07:00

Well, since I was claiming 25 last year I guess that makes me 26 this year! I think I'll just stay in the twenties forever cause the thirties sure aren't worth it! We had a fun packed day with lots of pampering. First I started off the day getting my hair done, not super fun, but it always feels so good when you look in the mirror and you can't see any roots! The I went and had a massage, that was fabulious, although I'm pretty sure the massage guy fell asleep several times during my massage. Then we headed out to dinner at Johnny Carino's. I was so glad my birthday was on a Saturday so that I could just blow off homework, of course that meant that there was even more to do Sunday, but I sure enjoyed my one day off. 26 isn't to bad! :)

House Update 2

2010-10-04T14:52:00.000-07:00

We have been so busy lately, but luckily the house keeps on going up even without our attention. Gotta love contractors!

Day 8 - Basement Plumbing

Day 10 - Basement Floor

Day 11-15 - Window wells and back filling

Day 22 - Main level floor and walls begin

Day 32 - Startin to look like a house

Day 37 - Garage added

& rock walls in back

Gotta Love Lagoon

2010-10-02T14:10:00.000-07:00

The kids have been begging for Disneyland since we went last Thanksgiving. We weren't about to make that trip again this year, but promised them that we would take them to Lagoon in the fall when it cooled down and mom wouldn't melt! So this Saturday we made the trek to Lagoon. It was lots of fun, still a little to hot in mid day standing in line, but the breeze while on the rides cooled us down. Ashley and Owen kept up with Mom, but sadly we had Travis with us and he slowed us down! :). After a couple of spinning rides he had to take a time out...whimp! Owen was still a little to short, we were shocked to see that he hasn't really gotten any taller from the last time. We were counting on him growing an inch in the last year so that he could finally reach the 42 inch limit. He was a bummed as we were. We did sneak him onto the Batman Rollercoaster and he LOVED it. I'm so glad that both kids are like me so that I have someone to go on rides with when Travis is turning green by the garbage can. Just kidding! He did sit out for a while, but he didn't drag us down to bad! ;)

We ate dinner there and apparently Lagoon is the Land of Giant Food. Owen got a corn dog and Ashley got chicken nuggets. We got a good laugh watching the kids eat, expecially Owen with his foot tall corn dog!

We had a blast and stayed till they closed at 10 p.m. Even then Owen wasn't ready to leave.

The Jeepin' Gang Rides Again

2010-09-06T18:09:00.000-07:00

Our last Jeeping trip of the year to Moab was another hit. We had an absolute blast! We were tired and worn out from school and work, but as soon as we drove into Moab we got a skip in our step.

We took the kids to Hole-n-The Rock, which is a house chiseled out of rock in the side of a mountain. The home is 5000 sq. feet built by a couple who raised their famiy there and lived in it till they died at ripe old ages. It was really neat and the kids loved it.

The trails we hit this time were...Fins-n-things, Steel Bender, Metal Masher and Flat Iron Mesa. We did some really awesome obsticles on the trails this time. By that I mean really scary and life threatening! ;) The kids and I chose to sit those ones out and watch from the sidelines, but we still got plenty of awesome rock climbing in too. As you can see in lots of the pictures there is a strap hooked to the jeeps. That wasn't to pull them up a rock, but was hand held by others in the group to make sure that the front or tail end of the jeeps did not come off the rock and flip the jeep over on these impossibly steep rocks. Ya and the guys say this is fun!

The most frightening obstacle of all, that made even Grandpa skittish, was called the intimidator (pic below). This was a very small path, just wide enough for a wrangler to pass, on the very edge of a cliff that dropped for thousands of feet...no surviving that fall. Of course all but the drivers got out of the jeeps and walked it, but we were scared to death just watching, I can't imagine how scary it was from inside the jeep when all you could see out the window was air. When I asked Travis if he'd do that spot again of course he said, "ya, why not?" Ummm....because you could die?

We were dissapointed when our little trip ended and we had to head back to reality. Next springs seems so far away! :)

House Update

2010-08-30T18:06:00.000-07:00

Day 5 - Foundation forms in

Day 6 - Foundation being poured

Day 7 - The Foundation

Ready or not here we go

2010-08-25T08:59:00.000-07:00

Where did the summer go? We were all a little sad to see the summer end and everyone go back to school, but as they say....all good things must come to an end. So, here we go. Our first day of school pictures.

And so it begins...Day 1

2010-08-23T22:15:00.000-07:00

We're not waisting any time. Today the hole for our foundation was dug! We went over early and watched the tractor digging it out. Although that was exciting the kids couldn't take their eyes off the huge piles of dirt! So, later in the evening, we took the kids and let them dig till their little hearts content. They had a blast! This is the biggest sand box they've ever had! Our plans for a 5 foot sandbox in the backyard being exciting have been dashed!

Building our New Home

2010-08-20T21:45:00.000-07:00

It's official! We've owned a lot to build a house on now for quite a while. After lots of aches and pains the blue prints for the house finally came together, but we still then had to wait on the city to approve it. We heard today that the building permit was approved. As you can see our builder is as anxious to get started as we are. The tractor was already on the lot waiting (technically a "no no", the bank wasn't to happy about it). :) This is the last look at our lot before it's torn to pieces! YAAAA!

The plans for our new house

2010-08-19T22:16:00.000-07:00

The Toothfairy Rides Again

2010-08-12T20:41:00.000-07:00

Wow this has been a busy two weeks for the toothfairy. Thank goodness she turns teeth into money otherwise she'd be broke! Ashley has lost 3 teeth in the last two weeks...one on the bottom and both her front teeth within a few days of each other. I wouldn't have thought it, but we were glad when the second front tooth fell out now she looks cute and her Daddy just can't get over how adorable she looks without them.

Swimming Lessons

2010-07-29T21:02:00.000-07:00

Ashley and Owen have been begging to take swimming lessons so we decided it was a good idea and got them signed up. They absolutely love going, although Owen is more there for the goggles than the swimming. Ashley is doing awesome and can swim pretty well. We feel it a huge feat that Owen now puts his face in the water because he hates water in his ears something terrible.

Backwards Boy

2010-07-28T20:46:00.000-07:00

Owen is just hillarious. He has the silliest personality and like all boys goes through fetishes. Well our latest one isn't dinosaurs or superhero's....it's wearing clothes backwards. It started out with just his pajama's, which I should mention went on for months. I didn't fight it as long as during the day he wore his regular shirts on the right way. Well soon it turned into wearing his shorts backwards during the day. I didn't notice for a while because for one he dresses himself in the morning and two most of his shorts are plaid so you really can't see the pockets and zippers on them unless you look close. Well I made him start wearing his short on the right way. So, like devious little boys do...they find a way. Now, because mom and dad never check under the shorts, he has found he can wear his underwear backwards and has his own little secret on mom and dad. Really we don't get it. It can't possibly be comfortable, his little cheeks hang out when he wears them backwards!

Pioneer Day

2010-07-24T20:24:00.000-07:00

Happy July 24th! To celebrate Pioneer Day we took an absolutely beautifull Jeep ride over the mountains to Strawberry Reservior. We went with Mom and Dad and Aaron's family. We packed a picnic lunch and would have really enjoyed it had we not been eaten alive by mosquito's. It was still fun though and the kids had tons of fun playing in the water. Funny thing is we take these Jeeps to Moab and do serious rock crawling with them and have only actually damaged a Jeep once or twice, but on this mild dirt road through the mountains we managed to break parts on two of the three Jeeps that day. Thank goodness Dad is always prepared with tools and wire.

We lost a bolt, somewhere under the Jeep :), and had to place a screwdriver in it's place and wrapped wire around the screwdrived to keep it in place.

Aaron also lost a pin from under his Jeep and again used Dads wire to hold it together till we got home. We got a good laugh how this mild trail kicked our behinds.

How could you say no to these faces!

2010-07-11T11:49:00.000-07:00

It's tough let me tell you!

These are the latest photos of Ashley (7 years)

and Owen (4 years).

Oh Boy!

2010-07-08T12:35:00.000-07:00

Owen has recently been very interested in what "those things on mom are"....breasts. He's been asking what you call them and Travis and I have just kind of changed the subject cause we were undecided as to what we wanted to tell him. As some of my sisters know I have been asking them what they suggested I tell him. I hate the word "boobies". I have a very justified fear of Owen saying, "mommy, look how big her boobies are" or telling the babysitters, "your boobies aren't as big as my mommies." Okay that one would just be funny, but seriously I can see it happening in church or somewhere else just as mortifying!

Anyways, I had just gotten out of the shower and was getting dressed when Owen came in. He said, "Hey, those things are big!" pointing at me. I laughed and said, "Thank you." People definately don't say that to me often...hmm, actually never! He then said, "Mine and Ashleys are small" as he pulled up his shirt to show me. I thought okay good time to explain things. I told him that boys and girls have little ones, but when girls get old they get bigger ones. He thought about it for a minute and said, "But Daddy's are getting bigger." How do you explain that one? Gotta love childrens honesty!

I have to say it...

2010-06-19T11:47:00.000-07:00

I have the best kids in the world....most days, but expecially on this day. We have been going to the Parade of Home to get ideas for building our new house. The kids have been more than patient for 3 Saturdays of home previewing. On this particular day we were seeing the home of one of our potential contractors so he let the kids go down stairs and watch a movie on the huge screen downstairs. We were talking for quite a while upstairs. I was a little nervous about the kids down in the basement of this brand-new beautiful, very expensive home with out me, but this is what we found when we finally went down to get them. Both curled up hugging on the floor watching the movie. Had you been there you would have heard one of those contented mother's sighs. Aaaahhhhhhhh.

Battle Scars

2010-06-11T21:44:00.000-07:00

Our semi-annual trip to the kids dentist was a little more eventful than we had hoped for. Ashley and Owen were quietly sitting and playing with each other in the waiting room when a little boy came out from the back. He went over to them and stood on Ashley's legs to get to Owen and tried to take Owen's toy saying "It's mine!" When Owen held on to it the little boy leaned over and bit Owen. I saw the boy going open mouthed for Owen's shoulder and went running to grab him, but I didn't make it, he already had Owen's arm with his teeth when I got there. I grabbed the boy by the arm and pulled him off Owen, which probably actually made the bite worse because he had a real good hold on Owen and he wasn't letting go. I hauled the boy to the back rooms and loudly asked who's child it was. Luckily Travis was with me to help me keep my temper. The mother came forward and I told her what happened and she had the nerve to say, "hmmm, he never acts this way," as he is throwing an absolute tantrum in her arms, hitting at her. I thought....ya, I can tell he's not a rotten child. :) Poor Owen has never been bitten before and this was probably the worse bite I'd ever seen. It didn't bring blood luckily, but did break the skin slightly and tramatize him. It looked like a crazed animal got Owens arm for the next 2 days.

Moab Rocks Our World!

2010-06-03T15:30:00.000-07:00

Moab never disappoints. This trip was our best yet! We got to do some really fun family rides and the guys tried, but did not succeed in killing themselves on some very difficult trails. Our little Jeeping group is slowly expanding and to our great excitement included the McKinlay family and Josh (Alison's oldest) this time. It was so much fun. The kids had cousins to play with, I had my sisters and mother to hang with and the guys had plenty of men to talk Jeeps with. Who can ask for more? I got to drive on a trail that I hadn't done before and besides a few moments of Travis' paniced screaming, it was lots of fun for me. We even got Paula and Josh behind the wheel for a while. The weather was beautifully sunny and warm. We hope that everyone can make the next trip. We're already looking forward to September.

2010-06-03T15:00:00.000-07:00

Ashley's 7!

2010-05-20T22:59:00.000-07:00

Ashley's birthday fell on a Thursday this year and much to her dismay she had to go to school. She took treats and it turned out to be a fun day even though she had to go to school. Ashley had requested that we go for a picnic and have hot dogs for her birthday. We went to a local park and besides the wind the picnic was a huge hit. We then went home and opened presents with Grandma and Grandpa Searle.

Ashley's big gift was a desk this year. She had been asking for one and a while back we had finally found one to match her bedroom set. The poor desk has been moved from it's hiding spot in our old house, to the storage unit, and now finally to her little room in our town house. Her birthday on a weekday made it short, but sweet. Thank you to all who sent her birthday gifts.

Early Fathers Day

2010-05-17T21:12:00.000-07:00

With our Moab trip coming up we decided to have Fathers Day early so Travis could enjoy his gifts to the fullest. For Fathers Day Travis got the new, latest and greatest, modular Jeep front bumper and the Hoop to go with it. I'm sure if he were writing this he would be able to tell you who made it and all the impressive specs on it, but he's not and although I bought it I can't tell you the slightest thing about it. So, the picture will just have to "show" you how great it really is. The children gave him a portable air compressor for inflating the tires after our rock crawling trips. The bumper was a suprise and it was fun to give him something he hadn't bought for the Jeep himself. The things with Jeeps is that once you get the thing you want you immediately find something else you want. Now it's a winch! :)

Our little ballerina

2010-05-08T22:00:00.000-07:00

(Ashley is on the right)
This year we moved Ashley to a "real" dance studio instead of the local rec. center. It has been a little bit of a fight to get her to go. It's not just fun and games anymore it's real work. Come the end of the semester though she was so excited for her recital performance she could hardly sit still. For as shy as Ashley is, she had no problem getting up in front of people and dancing for them. She only danced one dance, but she had a smile on her face the whole time. She did an awesome job. I may be a little biased, but I think she was the best in her class! On the last night Grandma and Grandpa came to watch her too. They brought her flowers and on the way out to the car Ashley said, "I knew Grandma would bring me flowers." The flowers from Travis and I weren't nearly as exciting for some reason. I think Ashley has Grandma wrapped around her little finger. That's okay I guess because I think that Grandma may have Ashley wrapped around her little finger too. Ashley has decided after the performance to continue with this dance studio and I'm happy because I would love nothing more than to have a little ballerina dancing around my house.

Candles all over the world are shaking in their boxes!

2010-04-30T21:42:00.000-07:00

Travis finally hit the big 36! Travis sluffed work, but sadly nothing to exciting happened. Unless of course babysitting Owen is exciting, definately challenging, but exciting may be pushing it. He was a good sport though. I had my last final on his birthday which dampened any big plans, and we also had an appointment to meet with the architect about our house plans. Poor guy, all work and no play. To make it even worse I had been studying so much for my finals that Travis even had to go buy his own birthday gifts! He wanted biking stuff (which in my defence I couldn't have picked out anyways). He got new pedals and clip in shoes for his bike. Travis had an awesome Jeepin' cake this year (Moab here we come!) and Owen had the cars claimed before Dad had even seen it. We made a come back by the ended the day. We went to dinner at Iggy's with Mom and Dad Searle, the Fultons and Aaron and Devon. It was lots of fun. No one could believe how old Travis was! Wow how the years fly by. The most depressing point was when he realized he is now closer to 40 than 30....made me feel younger though! ;)

Easter

2010-04-04T17:12:00.000-07:00

How does the Easter Bunny hide eggs in an empty house? Good question. He had to be a little more creative this year. The most creative spot was on top of the ceiling fan. As you can see in the picture (the purple blurr flying through the air) that Ashley had to turn the fan on to retrieve the eggs. They thought that was great!

Owen had us laughing in histerics as usual. He seemed particulary challenged at finding eggs this year. Even when we gave him hints he just couldn't find them. The best one was in the picture below. We kept telling him to look aroung the dinosaur and then, "where it opens". As you can see by the picture where that related to him. It was actually in the dinosaurs mouth (no, the other end doesn't open on that dinosaur). We eventually just had to tell him it was in it's mouth.

It was a little cold for our outdoor easter egg hunt, but the kids didn't seem to mind. We woke up in the morning to the entire ground covered in snow. The kids waited all day for it to melt so we could go outside and hunt eggs. It was still a fun day, but Ashley was a little bummed that she didn't get to wear her new Easter dress because it was conference. It was great for us though. A new toy to distract them so we could watch conference.

It's official!

2010-03-30T13:00:00.000-07:00

Actually it's been official for a while now. We sold our home back in February, but have been renting back from the new owners. We are finally packing the boxes to move. We have not found a house yet that we just can't live without so we keep looking. Poor Travis is worn to the bones doing all the work of packing and moving us while I am off taking finals (that's been no picnic either!). Travis found us a cute townhouse to move into for now. We have our eye on a piece of property here in Lehi and a picture of a cute house we'd like to build on it. The kids have handled it pretty well. It's been tough to pack everything up and say good buy to a good portion of the toys for the next 8 months. Thanks a ton to those of you who have been helping us pack and move and expecially to Steve and Katie for storing our mounds of stuff in their basement. It's been a sad goodbye to our nice house, but we're excited for the new adventure too.

Our new address:
3155 N. Westbury Way #1
Lehi, UT 84043
Phone is the same.

Owen's 4!

2010-03-29T12:30:00.000-07:00

After MUCH going back and forth Owen finally decided he wanted a Transformer birthday party. Although we really didn't have 5 minutes to spare (moving in two weeks) we managed to pull off the birthday party on Saturday complete with an Easter egg hunt (not really transformer, but fun just the same) and water balloon throwing off the deck at the 'Decepticons'. Owen was such a nice brother and even invited his sister to come. On Sunday we had a little family party. Thanks to Mom, Dad, Steven and Katie for coming. Owen got lots of awesome toys including a SO COOL remote control dinosaur. I think 4 was a good birthday! Thank you to all for the great birthday gifts. Owen loved them all!

Disney on Ice

2010-03-10T22:16:00.000-08:00

We needed a fun family event and a break from homework and babysitters. Lucky for us Disney on Ice was in town. Although this is not Travis' favorite event he tags along with me and the kids with out complaint (most of the time). Ashley and Owen love to go to this. I think we have gone 4 or 5 times now. I have to admit it's almost as fun for me as it is for the kids I think. We had lots of fun. Our all time favorite was Lightning McQueen. We've never seen them at a show before. They were real cars that drove around on the ice. They even had fire on the ice when Lightning came out. I was so cool!!! Ashley always enjoys the princesses and they had Tinkerbell this time too. On display outside they had all the princess dresses and Ashley loved that too. It was such a fun night and gave us all a boost to gear up for another long stretch of homework and stress.

My handsome boys

2010-03-07T09:26:00.000-08:00

Owen is just silly and he brings out the silly in all of us! Aren't they cute?

A Valentines Party

2010-02-12T12:15:00.000-08:00

Ashley's school valentines party was lots of fun this year. They had a tea party and asked the girls and boys to come in their best dress. They had "tea"-cherry 7-up, and pretty fruits dipped in chocolate. They even got to dance! Owen and I went and watched for a while, until I couldn't keep him still any more. We didn't get to watch them dance, but Ashley told us later that it was okay for the girls to dance with girls and the boys to dance with boys at this dance. Of course we asked her if she danced with any boys and she did. We didn't tease her to much about it she gets embarrassed pretty easily, but a cute boy in her class asked her to dance. I wish I'd tied Owen to a chair so that we could have gotten pictures of that too.

Happy Valentines Day!

2010-02-07T20:00:00.000-08:00

The best thing about Valentines for kids is all the candy and treats. For a fun night I let the kids decorate some giant heart cookies. They had lots of fun. Travis and I didn't think that they tasted very good, but funny thing about kids, if they make them they think they are the best tasting cookies ever!

Crazy Hair Day!

2010-01-29T09:00:00.000-08:00

Ashley's school had a food drive and they asked every child to bring 4 food items. The top two classes that brought the most food won a pajama party as well as a crazy hair day and I think an extra recess. Anyways Ashley's class one so here she is on her way to school in her pajamas with her crazy hair. I was pretty proud of her hair. Sadly it drove her nuts all day and by the time she got home she was begging me to take it out. I had pulled all the hair so tight in to those little buns, afraid that they would fall out at school, that they just plain hurt. She sure looked cute though, and those buns did stay in! :)

Happy New Years!

2010-01-02T14:13:00.000-08:00

We spent New Years with Travis' brother, Steve, and his wife Katie. As an added treat Travis' sister-in-law Lori and her children came down from Logan.

We went sledding near Steve and Katies house where the kids discovered "jumps". Sledding will never be the same again. I tried it and it was painful, but they thought it was hillarious to hit the jump on the sled and catch some air.

After sledding Katie made an awesome dinner and we stayed up late playing games and watching movies. We had such a good time!

Thanks Katie for putting it all together and Lori for making the trip down!

Dashing Through The Snow

2009-12-26T21:59:00.000-08:00

Just before everyone got back to life as usual we took a little trip up the canyon for some sledding.

This is always a family favorite of ours. This year was uneventful, which is good! Nobody got hurt and no lost car keys in the snow.

The snow was just right and made for some fast sledding. The kids discovered the "train" and that quickly became their favorite ride down the hill.

Christmas

2009-12-25T21:24:00.000-08:00

We were so excited that Paula and Matt decided to join us for Christmas this year! We always love their company and the children love their cousins.

Christmas time of course wouldn't be complete without a (well deserved) girls day out (shopping) without children! Thank heaven for babysitters! We spent Christmas Eve with Paula and Matt's family, Mom & Dad, Aaron & Devon's family, and Robin & Jeremy's family. We went out to dinner and on a drive to see the Christmas lights.

Christmas morning was at our house and tons of fun! The children were so patient waiting for everyone to be ready Christmas morning, Well, almost, as you can see Owen was a little bit of a challenge trying to "peek". Of course Santa did not let the children down and brought plenty of goodies for all. Ashley got a digital camera (nicer than her parents) and Owen got a "giant" Optimus Prime Transformer. With so much of the family here we were able to stick to some old family traditions that made the day even more fun. We ended Christmas with dinner at Mom and Dad's where the Friedbaums joined us. Mom of course put on an enormous banquet that would have fed an army! Man was it good!

This was a memorable Christmas for us. Ashley and Owen had so much fun and even with all the gifts and reasons to be greedy in a rare moment they were caught thanking and hugging each other for their gifts. In moments like this I pat myself on the back and wonder why I didn't have 10 kids. Then someone pulls hair or hits and everything becomes clear again! :)

Thank you to all our family members for the wonderful gifts and love!

And it came to pass...

2009-12-13T22:58:00.000-08:00

the shepherds said to G.I. Joe, Let us now go even unto Bethlehem...And they came with haste, and found Mary, Joseph and the babe lying in a manger.

The Tooth Fairy Comes Again

2009-12-04T22:49:00.000-08:00

Ashley has lost her second tooth. Mommy had to pull it out again, but this time Ashley asked her to! That's progress from last time when we forced her, right? The tooth fairy left her a whole dollar and the highlight was the "pixie" dust, as Ashley calls it, that she sprinkled all over her room.

Ashleys Dance Recital

2009-12-03T20:00:00.000-08:00

Ashley has been taking dance lessons at the recreation center here in Lehi for the last 2 years. She loves it and twice a year they do recitals. Her dance was adorable and she looked very cute in her costume. Before the show I thought we should get her some flowers this time, other girls get them. When we gave them to her she said she hoped that maybe her third time she would do good enough to get flowers. Wow, did we feel like rotten parents that night! We hadn't realized she thought she didn't get flowers because she didn't dance good enough. She'll be getting twice as many flowers as the other girls next time! :)

From the Mouths of Babes

2009-12-03T19:36:00.000-08:00

Tonight we were sitting having desert after Ashleys Dance Recital. Ashley had received a necklace from her dance teacher and she was looking at it. Owen asked her if she got it from her dance class. She told him yes and he said, "what the hell?" We have no idea where he learned that from! :)

Disneyland

2009-12-02T20:10:00.001-08:00

This has been a fun packed vacation. On Saturday we took the kids to Disneyland. I think this was the funnest time I've ever had at Disneyland. Ashley is tall enough to go on everything now, but poor Owen doesn't understand why he can't go too. Owen, sadly, was cursed with Travis' short genes and is quite a bit shorter than Ashley was at this age. We had lots of tears that he couldn't go on the rides with Ashley. He was about an inch too short and they are real sticklers about the hight limit. Travis was feelin' Owens pain that day...I think it brought back memories! :) We still had an absolute blast. Ashley has no fear and goes on every ride. She takes after her mother and LOVES rollercoasters. We got to see the fireworks and the snow on Main Street. That was really fun! The kids loved it! The weather was perfect and the only ride closed was Pirates of the Caribean and we weren't to bummed out about that. We wore the kids out and would hold them asleep in line for a ride and wake them up as we got on the ride. We didn't want to miss anything and stayed late into the night. It was the perfect end to an awesome vacation.

2009-11-28T20:17:00.000-08:00

San Diego Zoo

2009-11-27T19:55:00.000-08:00

We got off the cruise ship on Thanksgiving morning. We decided to take the kids to the San Diego zoo since we were just down the street.

We had a lot of fun, but our feet sure hurt by the end of the day. We got to watch them feed the lions and the elephants. There was so much to see that I don't think we got it all, but we had a good time and the kids loved it.

Our Cruise to Mexico

2009-11-27T18:52:00.000-08:00

Our little vacation started with a very educational trip through Vegas on our way to California. If the lesson on human anatomy from the bilboards wasn't enough we got a personal flashing from a guy on the side of the road. Thanks Vegas!
We arrived in Santa Clarita, California without any misshap and left the very next day for San Diego to board our cruise ship. We went with my sisters Alison and Angela (and their families) and my parents. I spent one miserable night sea sick as did a few others in our group, but it was sunny, warm and enough food to feed an army at any given time during the day. The kids expecially loved the icecream cones all day and night! Going to the fancy dinner was really fun and the kids got to dance with the waitresses everynight, which they thought was the coolest thing! We went to a hympnotist show that was really fun our first night. I have to admit we were ready to get off the boat by the end. The buffet were great, but by the end we'd eaten ourselves sick and felt pretty guilty about it. Well, all good things must come to an end and we'll be working of the evidence of the cruise for the next several months!

2009-11-27T18:00:00.000-08:00

I Made It!!!

2009-11-01T21:56:00.000-08:00

After many long weeks of checking the mailbox each day it finally arrived.

I have officially been accepted into the UVU Nursing Program.

All the hard work in the last 2 years has finally paid off. Only 50 students get in and I am excited (and very scared) to be one of them! I thought the last couple of years were hard, but everyone keeps telling me, "now the real work begins." Nursing here I come!

Trick or Treat!

2009-10-31T20:35:00.000-07:00

Happy Halloween!

Ashley was an angel this year. Isn't that so fitting!

Owen made the most hansom Doctor. A boy after my own heart (you know I always wanted to marry a Doctor)! ;)

Travis was Spock and I was a butterfly. The kids loved trick or treating we just wish it hadn't been in the snow! No visible frostbite so I guess we survived it just fine. Immediately after trick or treating the engorgement of candy commenced. I would never have guessed Owen could put down so much candy in such a short period of time! The kids are already talking about what they are going to be next year. Yes, my eyes are rolling. I can definately wait atleast 11 months before thinking of Halloween again!

Up To Our Ears In....

2009-10-28T21:46:00.000-07:00

Pumpkin of course!

We grew our own pumpkins this year which turned out to be a little more difficult than we thought. Last years attempt didn't produce any pumpkins and this year we got 5. I can't say there are the best looking pumpkins, but hey, they were free! Pumpkin carving night turned out to be a little more tramatic than we anticipated. Both kids were so upset to have to get their hands dirty pulling out the pumpkin 'guts'.

After these picture were taken they used spoons and then we had to finish it for them. The funnest part for the kids is drawing the face on the pumpkins. As you can see it turns into hair, eye brows, and just plain scribbling all over them. Then Mom and Dad try to figure out and cut what they say were the lines for the face. What a fun game! Can't wait to do it again next year. ;)

Ashleys 1st Grade Pics

2009-10-26T08:19:00.000-07:00

This is Ashley's First Grade School Picture.

Jeeping Adventure

2009-10-10T14:13:00.000-07:00

On Saturday we took probably our last Jeep ride of the year (thanks to Aarons suggestion). We went with Aaron, Devon, Chloe, Grandma and Grandpa up beautiful American Fork Canyon. The leaves were changing and yes that is snow in the picture, but the weather was great. This is the second ride we've taken up the canyon recently. We stopped and had a fun picnic lunch. It wasn't as cold as the snow might imply. We had a great time. It will be a long winter waiting for another moab trip!

Heather's 25th Birthday...

2009-10-09T20:39:00.000-07:00

and I'm not claiming a day older! We had a fun day that included getting the Jeep fixed (not so fun), a little shopping (tons of fun) and dinner at PF Changs (really good). Travis got me the greatest gift ever! A maid service that came and cleaned my windows and blinds! A man after my own heart! We had a big family party the week before when Paula and Matt were in town. We celeberated my birthday, as well as Robins and Maddies October birthdays. Thanks for putting that on Paula. If you have to get another year older both days were a great way to do it!

Owens Firetruck Adventure

2009-09-22T17:19:00.000-07:00

Today we ran to Albertsons to grab a few things. On our way out a firetruck full of firemen pulled into the parking lot. They got out and headed into the store. Owen and I walked over to get a close look at the firetruck. One of the firemen saw us and came back. He gave Owen a personal tour of the firetruck. Of course Owen decided at that moment to become a shy kid and he wouldn't even climb in. The fireman told us he was going into the store but to feel free to climb inside and "drive" it and have a look around. So with a lot of coaxing Owen climbed in the front seat and we had a great time exploring and playing fireman. The real firman was so awesome. He was the only one out of the whole group of them that took the time to give Owen some attention. What a great memory he now has!

Calling All Tooth Fairies

2009-09-20T15:10:00.000-07:00

Wow was this a long time in the coming. Ashley does everything at her own pace and she was not about to let us pull out that tooth before she was ready. Of course Daddy contributed to that by trying to yank it out a few times when he was just suppose to be "seeing how loose it is." Finally the night before her first day back to school Mommy noticed it was basically hanging out of her mouth. I finally told her it was time. Ashley wouldn't pull it out by herself so I helped her. She cried and cried that I was hurting her, but most of the time I was just trying to calm her and tell her that I had pulled out her tooth a while before she even started crying. Then of course she realized how silly she was being and laughed and laughed. Grandma and Devon received the first calls from a very excited 6 year old.

American Fork Jeep Ride

2009-09-19T17:12:00.000-07:00

We took a beautiful ride with Mom, Dad, Aaron and Devon up the American Fork Canyon. It was beautiful. We are excited to have found some great jeeping spots so close to home.

Moab Jeeping Trip

2009-09-04T16:29:00.000-07:00

This is one of our semi annual trips to Moab for some Jeep Crawlin'. You can see we have quite the gang of Jeepers now. We go with Mom, Dad, Aaron and Devon. It's quite a sight to see those three jeeps lined up along some scary cliff, or climbing some steep rock. The first picture is a little pit stop for lunch. Moms and kids only go on the easier trails (that we think are pretty scary), and the guys go on the death defying trails without us. The kids love it and I love to take a turn doing some of the driving. Who said that Jeeping was for boys? :) The last picture is me and the kids by some of the preserved dinosaur tracks in Moab. Jeeping has become our favorite hobby. We count the days till we go again. A big thanks to Dad for getting us into it!

Daddy Daughter Camp

2009-08-29T15:49:00.000-07:00

Travis took Ashley to the annual Father Daughter Campout. Ashley looks forward to this every year (I think this is more for the Dads than Daughters though). The activitied this year consisted of, rachet throwing, rifle shooting, crawdad catching and cooking, making and shooting rocket and bow shooting. You can judge for yourself...sound like an excuse for the men in the ward to take off overnight and play? Yep! Ashley did come home dissapointed with the activities this year, but it was still some quality time with Dad...or was it?

Back to School

2009-08-20T15:24:00.000-07:00

Ashley and Owen were both excited to start school this year. Mom had bored them all summer and they were excited for a new adventure. Ashley started first grade and both she and Mom were a little nervous that she would be gone for so long each day. In kindergarten you can still justify that they are your little babies, but when they are old enough to go to school all day you have to face the fact that they've grown up. It took a little time for Ashley to adjust being gone so long each day. She would come home so tired, but now she absolutely loves her teacher and is learning so much, it's amazining. I wish I could learn like these little children. It takes much more effort for me to learn and remember something.

Owen was very excited to start Preschool, although he wasn't to happy that he wouldn't get to ride a bus. A woman in our ward has a preschool in her home and Owen started not long after Ashley's school started. Owen loves it and is sad that he only gets to go two days a week. Bruises the old feelers a little bit when your 3 year old cries that he wants to go to preschool on those days he stays home. Mom's just not as much fun. The sword didn't go to school, but is a coveted toy that had to be in the picture with him. Shows you a little bit of his personality though. We love him, but oh man! Who ever said that boys were easier did't know what they were talking about!

Moab Jeep Trip

2009-05-01T23:57:00.000-07:00

This was our first trip to Moab with Travis' new Jeep. You're not so daring when it's actually your Jeep you can break! We had a blast with Aaron, Devon, Mom and Dad. This is our new favorite hobby and the kids love going too now that we can all go together. Travis is not afraid of anything and did some pretty difficult trails. I was the one that kept telling Travis not to break something on the maiden voyage. We sure didn't get our fill and can't wait to go again.

http://www.slide.com/r/UTwrsOLU6j_Xfr6oHZUA1a1WdE9if3gp?previous_view=lt_embedded_url

2009-05-01T00:10:00.000-07:00