Crazy Allen's

Crosswoods

2009-05-24T10:47:00.000-07:00

We have discovered a new place in Gilbert called Crosswoods. If you like to play golf you will like this. It's indoors. You sit and eat and drink and play golf in the comforts of AC. (great for a summer in AZ) We took the kids and they loved it. FYI Monday nights kids play free on 18 holes. Everyone takes turns and while you wait you eat. My fav part. :) Plus when you really mess up you can hit the mulligan button on the screen and you get a "Do Over" as many times as you want. (No that's not totally cheating in my opinion)

This is Mason and I can't believe he beat me at golf. That's not saying much I stink!

Graduation

2009-05-24T10:36:00.000-07:00

I had a tough time this time with kids finishing school. I guess because Sydney is now in 9th grade and my baby finished kindergarten. It's just so amazing how fast they grow up. People say that all the time and then you look back and really understand that concept. Heres a pic of Mason on the last day of school with his teacher. Also this was a week ago but Mason had a kindergarten program and Mason was so cute. This shy little boy that I know was not shy at all on stage. I think I have a performer on my hands. He is one of the chickens in the group in the front row. He did a great job.

Superbowl

2009-02-08T09:17:00.000-08:00

So Yes I went to the Superbowl. Actually some friends of ours Chad & Stephanie (in the pic with us) were going over to Tampa before we even knew the Cardinals were going. Chad was doing a job over there. So we decided to make a trip out of it. It just so happens with our luck that the Cardinals made it to the Superbowl. Well then of course we had to get tickets! It was such a fun trip!!!! We had Cardinals clothing on all weekend and it was fun to get cheered and haggled. Except sometimes Stealer fans were pretty mean to us which kind of sucked, but for the most part all was in good fun. I have to say there were allot of crazy's, but that made it all the more entertaining. It was such a fun trip and once in a life time opportunity. So glad we got to go!!! Thanks Chad & Steph!

Feeling Blogger Blues

2009-01-20T16:00:00.001-08:00

I feel terrible because I have not kept up with this blogging lately. Not sure why this seemed to be an unusually busy holiday season for me, but it was. It's been good, just busy leaving me no energy to blog. Well I guess let me say Thanksgiving and Christmas came and went before I even got in the mood for it. I'm committed to being more organized this next year so I can enjoy the love that surrounds us all instead of the business at holidays. We did take a few trips snowboarding before Christmas and during Christmas break, surprise surprise. So I'll put up a few pics on that. On our last trip to Brianhead, Utah we went with family and friends and the last day turned into a major blizzard and we couldn't even drive up the mountain. So we turned home and headed Vegas way. We ended up staying the night in Vegas which was fun, but man is that NOT a family place. We took the kids to the M & M factory and got to see all the lights and whatnot at various casinos. It was interesting to say the least, but fun all at the same time. Kids had a good time, but they will probably never go back to Vegas until there out of the house on their own. So now it's the new year and I am already feeling spring fever. I'm ready to purge my house and feel organized.

I will Post

2008-12-31T07:09:00.000-08:00

OK I know it's been awhile and I can't tell you how crazy I have been lately. I'm leaving today for another snowboarding trip to Utah so when I get back I promise to update from Thanksgiving, to trips to Christmas and New Year. Hope everyone is doing well and Happy New Year!!

Fall finally Fall

2008-11-22T16:01:00.000-08:00

Last weekend we went up to my parents cabin (again) in Oak Creek and got to experience REAL fall weather!!! Not this record heat we have been having! Blah! But real cool and beautiful colors of yellow and red weather. It was so great to be bundled up by the fire having hot chocolate. It was just Mitch and I and the kids. We had great time!! If you cant tell the picture below is Sydney & Cobe up high wedged between two mountains. Then of course playing in the fall leaves.

Cold Hearted Mother

2008-11-09T07:48:00.000-08:00

I am going to spew a few bits of why I feel like a terrible mother. On October break (see below pictures) Sydney hurt her hand by smashing it real hard. Well yes it was swollen and Yes she could move it (barely, but non the less move it). She didn't even cry...So after two weeks of her still complaining I gave in "fine! I will take you to the doctor but this is a waist of time!" I announced. Well it just so happens her finger is broken and for two weeks I let it go. So bad mother move right there. Then on Friday I got a call from the school nurse of whom I already know which child got hurt. Can you guess? Mason of course. At lunch recess ran into another kid and hurt his noggin. Mason felt sick to his stomach (which is a sign of a concussion for those of you who have not gone through this...I can't tell you how many times I have been through this with my kids and Mitchel) So I said "OK I'll come get him". I figured how hard could he have hit his head on another kid and the other kid is fine. So once again I blew off the symptoms and said "your fine". I needed to run a few errands so I took Mason with me. He was falling asleep in the car of which "OK he is tired today". I'm at the library talking to the lady at the help desk when all of a sudden Mason starts throwing up. There was nothing around and I didn't know what to do so I opened my purse to let him throw up in. Embarrassed as I was cleaning up throw up off the floor in the library (on a very busy day I might add) I realized Mason truly got hurt today. So I got Mason and my purse full of throw up and went home. I guess after the years of kids getting hurt I have become a bit mundane. If there is not blood spewing out or there is clearly a bone sticking out somewhere I tend to say "oh your fine". I think I need to be a bit more sympathetic.....And the winner of "the Bad Mother" award goes to.... ME!

B-day Celebrations

2008-10-26T14:01:00.000-07:00

This weekend we got together with Mitchel's family to celebrate October Birthdays. About once a month we gather and who's ever B-day is in that month we celebrate instead of gathering each time for each B-day. Too many people to do that. Since it's so close to Halloween most of the kids wore their costumes. Here are all the cousins together. Anyways it was really fun. My very creative sister in law JoLynn put together some fun games for all the cousin's to play. This one was "Bobbing for Donuts"

Here is a pic of Sydney with donut all over her face, but who doesn't mind when it's Crispy Cream Donuts. It was really funny watching them try to eat the fastest with hands behind their backs. Here was another game. A relay race of dress up and dress down. Here is Mason & Cassidy racing. Also a pic of Sydney cheating because she didn't put the costume on fully.

What B-day party wouldn't be complete with out cake!! We always have a good time with Mitchel's family. All the kids have a great time playing as well as the adults. I feel very blessed to be a part of this family.

OCTOBER BREAK

2008-10-14T09:07:00.000-07:00

Well for October break we took another trip to Mexico. We stayed with our friends Chad & Stephanie and their two kids Cody & McKenna. We had a great time. Our kids really seem to get along and have a good time with each other. What was also nice is we knew many people that were going down there too and so all our kids had a ton of friends to play with. I hardly saw Sydney that whole weekend. This pic of my foot is my view I had all day on Friday sitting by the pool, watching the ocean and best of all relaxing while the kids played on the water slide or lazy river or the ocean.

Cobe taking a break from the water.

This is Mason about to get knocked over by the Oceans waves. And a Mexico trip wouldn't be complete without taking time to go to the dirt mall. This is Syd & some friends after the dirt mall with their cool new shades. Oh it was a fun trip. So glad we got the opportunity to go again thanks to Chad & Steph. Thanks guys you are the best!

Boys Being Boys

2008-09-27T09:55:00.000-07:00

I caught the boys playing around the other night being goofy. Cobe acting Oh so innocent. Big brother picking on little brother. I guess though it was all in fun and they weren't really fighting. They were being so goofy on the exercise stuff. They were suppose to be calming down for bed time. This wasn't my idea of getting ready for bed.

Is that how the ball works?? No wonder my ab's don't show at all!

Hawaii the Big Island Kona

2008-09-06T08:27:00.000-07:00

Hawaii, Kona 2008

We did eat some really good food and right by the ocean with good friends made it so cool!!

Finally I am making some time to post about my trip to Hawaii. We had an amazing time!!!

This is who we went with. Mitchel's brother Randy & his wife Jenny and our friends Chad & Stephanie. Where do I being. I'll start out with our scuba dives.

I am amazed at the world God created in the ocean. Truly is so fascinating it's hard to put into words. Two huge Eagle Rays swam by. This I have to say scared me a bit because how it works in the water is there is a huge reef that goes along the island and then in drops off into a deep, dark, blue nothing. Well the Eagle Rays were in the deep, dark nothing and we followed them going about 80 feet deep. Really watching my surrounding's making sure a shark would not appear it was hard for me to enjoy these beautiful creatures. Once we got back into the reef part I felt better. Considering I am not a pro diver and this was only my 5 th dive I have done. We did two different dives that day. My dive master in Arizona told us to go to this place in Kona and they took us out on their boat & took us to two different places to dive. It really was so much fun. We were going to do a night dive & I just couldn't bring myself to do it. We have a movie of us diving I will try to post that later, but not sure if it will work. It's kind of long. So another cool thing we did was take a small air plane ride around the island. It was SO COOL!!!

We got to see the live and active since Feb. Kilauea. These pics are where the lava is meeting the ocean. If you look closely you can see inside one of the lava tubes and the bright red lava flowing. It was really cool. These pics don't do justice.

It took 2 1/2 hours to fly around this big island. One side where most of the resorts are and the airport Waimea (North side) is not that pretty. Hardly any beaches & mostly black sand beaches. Black old lava everywhere. Then on Hilo side (East side) of island is SO BEAUTIFUL! Water falls everywhere and just green!!! OK onto the next thing. We went snorkeling a couple of times and on one of the trips we rented kayaks and about half to Cook's Island we all of a sudden were surrounded by a TON of dolphins. This was one of those moments that I felt that God was saying "Hi, see what I created". You know instead of a beautiful sun set this day we got amazing animals right beside us. We got out of the little boats and I just layed on top of the water face down with snorkel and watched as they swam right underneath me. The boys were a little bit more daring in the fact that they got so close to the wild animals. Chad actually touched one of them they got so close. You can see his arm and how close we were to them. This was not in some controlled Sea World environment. This was in the somewhat middle of the wild ocean.

Once we got to Cook's Island we snorkeled there for a long time. I was doing good and fine minding my own business when an eel swam right underneath me. I freaked out a bit. I hate eel's.

The sea turtles are so use to people I think because they swam right by us. If you get caught touching a turtle you will be fined 25,000. No worries on my end. Pretty to look at no need to get bit. So in a small nut shell this was our trip. We had a ton of fun and many really cool experiences. So glad we got this opportunity to go. I have over 300 pictures. It was so hard to choose which ones to post. We got amazing pictures in our scuba dives. Anyways it was really cool!!!!

Back To School

2008-08-15T19:51:00.000-07:00

So this is the first year I am without kids!! Whoa and I am a bit sad. Knowing that my baby is in all day K and this is the last time I will be going through this makes me a bit sad. I am however really learning to love my new found freedom. I woke Syd up so I could have a picture and she got dressed and even humored me with her back pack as if she was off to the bus, but she was not going to open her eyes or do her hair. But Happy back to school anyways!!!

Cobe's 10th Birthday

2008-08-14T08:44:00.000-07:00

I need to post many things but today I am going to talk about Cobe and his B-day party. I will post later on my trip to Hawaii which was fantastic!!!

This is Cobe he turned 10 years old Aug 1st. He was my biggest baby coming in at 7 lbs 7 oz 21 1/2 inches long. Cobe is my most active child. He has the sweetest, most gentle heart and everybody loves Cobe. Cobe is just like his father when it comes to doing any sports. He is awlays great at it!! Cobe plays drums, he does skateboarding and is in the top class over at Desert Devils. He is a great snow boarder and wake boarder. He loves to ride and jump his bike. When he gets home from school he is always doing something active. He hates tv and sometimes plays video games, but he likes to be outside doing something. I think there is some ADD there but at least he is having a good time. I am so proud of all his accomplishments and himself. Truley an amazing kid and I have not given him enough justice.

Right when we got back from Hawaii we had a birthday party for Cobe. He turned 10 years old. Ah I can't believe it. Even more than that is I can't believe I allowed Cobe to have a sleep over party with 10, Yes 10 of his friends. So 12 kids including my 2 boys altogether. They swam and had a water ballon fight and I didn't get to sleep until 5 AM!!!!!!! But all in all they all had fun. I was glad Cobe could have such a fun party.

Oak Creek Cabin

2008-07-21T21:29:00.000-07:00

So this past weekend we finally got up to the cabin in Oak Creek which is right above Sedona right below Flaggstaff for those of you who don't know. We went with my brother Bill & his wife Joey and their two kids Sam & Maddie. I just love this place. Probably because I have so many childhood memories here, but it's just so beautiful. I find much needed rest in a place like this. What's even more great is my kids are older now that they can just head down to the creek and fish for hours or hike and I can stay back at the cabin and read (one of my favorite past times) Mixing a beautiful atmosphere with great people and food and you can't go wrong. It was a great weekend!!

We Love The Rain!!!!!

2008-07-13T08:33:00.000-07:00

So I tried to take some pics of the kids playing in the major storm we had the other night but it came out too dark. So here is the after pics of the storm and what my kids love to do when it rains. They head down a few houses to the field and play in all that yucky rain water. This is Cobe, mason and their cousin Maddie playing in the rain water. This field doesn't get all the way full that often. We sure did get allot of rain. It was fantastic!

The Night of the Fourth

2008-07-13T08:12:00.000-07:00

In the morning the boys went riding for Mason's B-day/ 4th of July.

Every year since Mason was born we head over to my Brother Billy & his wife Joey's house for a bbq, swimming and of course fire works. They live in Fountain Hills and have a tri level back yard. So when it's time for the Fort McDowell fire work show we head up top to their patio and have a fantastic, close view of the show and with no

crowds and no traffic. It's so great! This is the kids in the jacuzzi watching the show.

Opening his present's finally! It was killing him all day. He couldn't wait to open his present's and no we didn't make him wait all day. Just for the majority of them. This is a picture of his favorite gift webkinz!

Happy 4th of July & Happy Birthday Mason!!!!!

2008-07-04T06:29:00.000-07:00

Happy Birthday Mason!!!!!

6 years ago we were off to the hospital and everyone (meaning my parents & mitchel) thought it was funny to watch me climb up into Mitchel's truck. So glad I don't have to do that anymore!

Oh I can't believe my baby is turning 6 years old today!!!!This is one birthday I will never forget. I had been in labor all night of the 3rd and all day of the 4th. About 9:30 pm at night my husband Mitchel, my Mom & step Dad, the Doctor & 2 nurses were all looking out the window oooohing over the fire works they could see in the sky. Meanwhile I am strickened to my lovely hospital bed feeling like I am going to die and I get so mad. I start yelling at everyone saying "Hey I'm over here!!!! I'll give you a fire work show!!! Pay attention to me I'm about to deliver a baby here!!!!" At 10:34 pm 4th of July Mason Jay Allen was born (3 weeks early) weighing 6 lbs 12 oz, 20 1/2 inch long.

Mason thinks fire works are for him & his Birthday. We have already been through so much in these short 6 years with Mason. He for sure wins the accident prone child award. Out of my kids he is the one that truely makes me the most nervous. He broke his leg at 2yrs old. He got shot in the head at 3 years old by a flare gun. It amazes me that he can be so coordinated at sports like, snow boarding, gymnastics, motorcycle riding yet when walking down the street he will trip & fall on his face. He is the one that comes in crying because he fell or bonked his head etc. He is a super funny guy and loves to make people laugh. He is so out going compared the my other kids. I am so grateful Mitch & I finally decided that two was not enough and that Mason completes our family so very well!!!!

I know everyone says "oh time goes by so fast" and you think Yeah , Yeah , but then you look back and your like "where did the time go?" I am amazed that 6 years has gone by already and I hope and pray many more, but maybe just a bit slower.....They really do grow up so fast!!! What a sweet boy I have and I am so thankful and very blessed!!!!!

Happy Early Birthday Mason & Cobe

2008-06-28T15:58:00.001-07:00

The boys were upgraded in bikes for their B-days. (Mason's B-day is a week away while Cobe's is a month away) Cobe's 50 that he has been riding since he was four years old is now Mason's and Cobe upgraded to a honda 150R. This morning Mason got to ride his bike for the first time and surprised all of us at how well he did. Cobe is loving how fast his new bike goes which makes me SO nervous! Being married to Mr. Dirt Bike Man it was inevitable that the boys would be doing this too.

More of Mexico

2008-06-28T15:33:00.001-07:00

Mexico 2008 with all of Mitchel's family. Thank you Nelson & Joyce for a great trip!!!

This was the start of our trip. Being stuck on the highway for 3 hours because of a car crash ahead. We were almost to the border too. Luckely we were with Mitchel's sister JoLynn & her family to keep all of us entertained.

We paired up with Mitchel's brother Randy & his family. This is Randy & Jenny's four kids & our kids at the condo we stayed at.

Only in Mexico can you get this close to a Sea Lion and feed it. This is Cobe feeding the sea lion and Randy & Jenny's family. No way would I go in there.

Feeding the Sea Turtles

When your tired at the beach you sit pool side and watch the kids swim more.

Below is a little slide show of more pictures.

Mexico 2008

2008-06-19T17:00:00.000-07:00

Mexico trip 2008 with Mitchel's family. We had a great time!!!! The weather was fantastic, the water was perfect and the kids were busy for a week! I think it was quite the adventure going around town eating at different tacos stands and the realization that man we are blessed back in Mesa! Our trip started off being stuck on the side of the highway for our family 3 hours the other families 5 hours because of a car crash ahead. Finally when we got there everything went smooth. Only a couple of minor problems when Kelsey & Lexy got stuck in the elevator at our condo and when the two youngest grandchildren were lost for a bit. Other than that we sat in the sun and played at the beach for hours enjoying each other. It was so much fun!! If you click on the little box next to the little person on the bottom left hand corner of video screen it will turn green and show you the commentary for the pictures and not sure why it won't do it automatically.

Memorial Weekend

2008-06-02T07:16:00.000-07:00

Is this a summer weekend or winter? We drove up near Sunrise in a blizzard. It was so crazy!!!!

So The kids are out of school which means we are out of town as much as possible. Memorial weekend we went up to our friends Dave & Angie's parents cabin near Sunrise. It was very relaxing & a great way to start the summer even though it felt like winter was upon us! Cobe caught his first fish by Fly Fishing. I finished one of my books. There is an old Indian ruin on Dave's parents land and the kids had a blast digging for broken pieces of real Indian pottery as well as anything ancient they could find.

So we leave this Friday for a week in Mexico. Blog when we get back!

Mason's Performance

2008-05-15T16:35:00.000-07:00

On Friday at school Mason's Y-K class had a Mothers Day Program. They did about 5 songs and it was SO Cute. One of these reminders of why I love being a mother and a great way to start Mothers Day weekend. I am very blessed!!!! It was too funny how serious Mason took this though... Here is just one song they sang.

Your Never Too Old to Have Fun!!

2008-05-05T09:32:00.000-07:00

On Sunday my parents came over for dinner as well as my great uncle Bill (my Grandma's brother who is almost 89 years old). The kids were playing on the WII and they wanted to try. They had so much fun bowling. It was great!!!It was SO funny to watch, my kids were cracking up!! I thought my step dad was going to go through the TV. Oh it was funny.

Here are the winning scores. Uncle Bill 1st, then Mason, then My Mom, then Step dad Jay. He couldn't believe he lost to an 89 year old as well as a five year old.

WII Like to Play

2008-04-29T07:11:00.000-07:00

For all you WII fans Mario Cart came out and we reserved our copy. It's allot more difficult than I thought, but we all have a good time together playing it. Just a side note here. Last night was the first time Mitchel beat me in bowling BUT by only 1 point!!!

Relay for Life

2008-04-18T16:28:00.000-07:00

Last weekend Sydney and I did Relay for Life. Which is an event to raise money for any type of cancer. This is Sydney & her friend Maddie whom had cancer. Sydney is on the Student Council with Shepherd Jr. High and they created a team to participate. Not sure the total of how much they ended up raising, but they did an great job and had tons of fun doing it. It's an all day and night event. So Sydney was there setting up at 11 am on Sat. the event started at 1pm at Red Mt. High School football field and stayed until Sunday the next morning. You have to have someone from your team at all times on the track walking or running. Syd's times were 5pm and 5 am. Needless to say it's taken me a week to recover I think that's why it took me so long to post this. It was fun and all for a good cause.

And the Winner is.....

2008-04-05T09:58:00.000-07:00

Okay so He didn't win this year. That's 2006 trophy, but he had a good time anyways and that's all that matters. All proceeds go to Alice Coopers foundation Solid Rock which is a foundation that helps meet spiritual, economical, physical

& social needs for teens and kids. If you ever want to check out his web site it's http://www.alicegolf.com/ . Bet you didn't know that about him. Personally I'm glad Mitch didn't win because now I dont have to store one more terrible looking trophy in my closet.

Alice Coopers Blood Bath

2008-04-04T10:35:00.001-07:00

Every year Mitchel plays in a golf tournament called Alice Coopers Bloodbath. He really is a great guy and they all have fun. For the past two years Mitchel has won in a lottery Alice's leather jackets we will see if he is lucky again today. My Mom has always made the winning team jackets. He, Alice buys pretty nice jackets and then my Mom makes them bloody. This was Sydney's second year in helping my Mom make the jackets for him. They have a good time getting messy. I will update you on how the game turned out.

SRPING BREAK 2008 Cont....

2008-03-27T15:41:00.000-07:00

For some reason in the last post I couldn't get Mason's video in there... maybe too much in one post or I am just really dumb who knows so here are a few more pics from our trip.

Had to put a pic of our favorite pizza joint in Bryanhead.

SPRING BREAK 2008

2008-03-25T09:15:00.000-07:00

While most head to Mexico for Spring Break we head to Bryan Head Utah for some fun snowboarding. This was our 4th annual trip. Oh it was so much fun and much needed family time. Mason is passing me on the slopes and is jumping. My five year old is now showing me up. Is this a problem? Well I guess not... I am content staying on my board on the snow not in the air. All the kids did great!!! We had a nice Easter too. This was the first year not spending it with extended family. So we missed everyone, but had a nice and quiet Easter just us. It was too cold to find Easter eggs in the snow so we hid them in our tiny condo. I did make the kids have a picture in their Easter outfits out in the snow. Shorts, t-shirts and snowboard boots. A bit chilly Sydney??? On Easter Sunday the morning on the ski lifts was such a great & peaceful time for me to reflect on what this day was all about. I couldn't of asked for a more perfect setting to see God's beauty & grace and to know what Jesus did for me & my family and everyone else. I am so grateful for this gift!!!

Cobe showing everyone up.

Mitchel & Mason's picture sums up best of how we all felt at the end of the day! This was at 6:30 at night too.

Here are some video clips. I think you click twice on it and it will play.

Sydney trying to jump too which is better than what I can do....

Good times....Good times......Now back to school & life.......

Beannachtai na Fe'ile Pa'draig oraibh!

2008-03-19T14:18:00.000-07:00

St. Patricks Day Blessing upon you! Is what the title says. I love this day because we (my family) get to go back to my Irish roots (hence my maiden name McKellips) and have corned beef & cabbage traditional dinner. The picture looks gross but I am telling you it's one of my favorite dishes especially when you smother it in my Mom's special home made spicy mustard sauce.

We had a good time with family on St. Patty's Day.

Weekend Fun

2008-03-16T10:29:00.000-07:00

My Nephew Sam (my kids cousin) spent the night at our house this weekend and the kids had fun making a fort on the tramp to sleep in.

Also our pool is getting fixed so they had to drain it and the kids and our dog Max thought it was fun to play in the mostly empty pool.

Cobe's New Trick

2008-03-09T08:43:00.000-07:00

In his skateboarding class he now is going off the 12 foot ramp and does a 360 and lands in the foam pit. He loves it.

Cobe's School Performance

2008-03-01T08:35:00.000-08:00

Good job Cobe on your performance. He actually participated.

Weekend Fun

2008-02-25T08:07:00.000-08:00

A common occurrence on weekends when we are not snowboarding is going to the driving range. We all have a good time enjoying the Arizona weather before it gets too hot.

Watch Out Sydney! Here Comes Mason!

2008-02-18T13:47:00.000-08:00

We went to my parents cabin in Oak Creek Cabin this weekend for Sydney's Birthday and had fun playing in the snow. Click twice on video.

Since there was about 4 inches of ice underneath the snow Mitchel cracked it and we all pieced it together and made an actual igloo. We patched it with snow and poured water over it and it froze over night.

After School Fun

2008-02-15T14:29:00.000-08:00

After school a normal activitie is getting the ramps out and jumping bikes. Next thing you know there are 20 kids in your front yard with my kids and I just pray no one gets hurt. Cobe is nuts. Wonder which parent he gets it from?

Happy Valentines Day

2008-02-14T07:44:00.000-08:00

Today is my daughter Sydney's BIRTHDAY! Oh my sweet little girl is not so little anymore, well she is, but not in age. She turned 13 today. I can't believe I have an official teenager. 3 more years and she will be driving! AHAHAHAHA!!! 13 years ago she was born at 12:01 AM Valentines Day weighing 7lbs 2 oz , 20 1/2 inches long. A day that has forever changed and blessed my life. I am truley grateful for her. She has taught me so much these last 13 years and I fear much more to learn, but all in all she is a beautiful, kind hearted, smart little stinker, and I love her so very much!!!! This is Sydney when she was 7 years old. I would put a picture of when she was a baby but we didn't have digital camera's back then!! Oh she is so sweet.

For her Birthday she got her ears pierced.

Happy Birthday Sydney! I love you!!!

Utah Snowboarding Trip

2008-02-12T11:30:00.000-08:00

For an early Valentines present (because my daughters B-day is ON V-day so we don't usually celebrate it) my good husband took me on a trip to Utah with NO kids. We stayed at a friends cabin/beautiful house and went to Park City, Snowbasin and The Canyons. 3 days, 3 different places to go. It was the BEST snow I ever snowboarded in. So much Fun!!!!

Last but not Least Utah trip

2008-02-12T11:23:00.000-08:00

Wanted to share how crazy my husband is. We were in the jacuzzi after a long, but fun day of snowboarding and he was dared to jump into the snow and Yes he was crazy enough to do it. NOT ME THOUGH!

Snow in Utah

2008-02-12T11:15:00.001-08:00

Wanted to give you an idea of just how much snow there was on our trip. We took some pics of vans/trucks completely submerged in snow. Yes that's a van under there.

OKAY!!! OKAY!!!!

2008-01-20T08:20:00.000-08:00

So it's taken me about a month to update my blog, but we have been busy. No excuse right? Well I am finally updating. I'll start back at Christmas. It was great. We were really worried about it money wise, but the Lord provided like always and it turned out great like always. (Mitchel's business is so slow in December and the doctors never pay in December, but a miracle happened and 4 doctors that were in the 90 days paid their bills in full which enabled us to pay every bill personal and business and able to get us a little Christmas money --just a side note to explain) Next was New Years and we spent it at my older brother Billy & his wife Joey and their two kids Sam & Maddie at their cabin. Our kids get along SO good which makes it so nice! We had a blast. One day we put on all of Mitchel's camo and played a mean game of capture the flag. Man the kids were really good and it's allot tougher when you blend in with the forest. So glad 07 is over and I have high hopes for 08. I have been really trying hard to stick with the things I made a goal for 08. So far so good. Last week we took our first snowboarding trip of the year up at Sunrise. MAN!!!! My kids really got it this year, dang it!! Cobe just fly's downs the mountain. He really picked it up. He has it down . If any of you snowboarded ever it's kind of tough to get that s motion down the mountain. Heel --toe --- heel--toe and he's got it. He was going off the groomed parts into the powder doing jumps. Him and Mitchel were. Like father like son. CRAZY! Even Mason. He is five and this is his 3rd year and he is even getting it. Last year he didn't really know how to stop and this year he has no problems. He just points down the mountain and stops when he wants. At one point I was going down and my five year old passed me right up. Okay I was kind of slowing down waiting for Sydney at the top. Is that a good excuse??? Well it was fun and we are looking forward to more trips and especially our annual spring break trip to Bryanhead, Utah. Can't wait!!!! So that's the scoop lately. Hope you enjoy the pics below of our two trips.

First Snowboarding Trip of 2008

2008-01-19T20:13:00.000-08:00

New Years at my brothers cabin 2008 whoa!!!

2008-01-19T19:50:00.000-08:00

Christmas 2007

2008-01-19T19:28:00.000-08:00

Christmas Eve is with the Allen cousins and Christmas night is with the McKellips Cousins. We had a great Christmas!!!

Making A Gingerbread House

2007-12-15T09:30:00.000-08:00

Every year my kids expect to make a gingerbread house. After I get the house together I let the kids go for it. So it's not prefect but they are proud of it. We did a cool trick this year that my sister in law taught me. ( Thanks JoLynn) You take jolly ranchers and melt them in the windows and you have a stained glass window. Put a candle in it and light it up. In the pic it's hard to tell but it's cool.

Cobe's Surgery

2007-11-27T20:23:00.000-08:00

Just wanted to let you all know that everything went really good. Thanks for all your thoughts and prayers. He had a rough first week not eating anything except for a bite or two of ice cream or jello. Thanksgiving Day was our break through day and all I could say was "I am thankful for my son who just ate a roll". I was so happy you have no idea!!! Two weeks later and he is finally eating normal and is healing just fine. Now he just needs to put back the weight he lost and we will be set!

Day after Thanksgiving We went on Helicopter Rides!

2007-11-26T17:37:00.001-08:00

My kids had a blast on the ride. Since you could only have four people at a time we split up. Mason sat in front with the pilot and Mitchel, Cobe and my nephew Liam were in the back. On the next ride Sydney sat in front and my Mom, my uncle and me (Betsy) were in the back. It was a windy day and a couple of times I thought were we going to have a crash landing ontop of a golf course. We made it though and now Mason say's when he grows up he wants to be a helicopter pilot.

Camping W/ the Hale Family on 11-10-07

2007-11-26T17:34:00.000-08:00

2007-11-02T17:23:00.000-07:00

Okay so it's taken me forever to get this going, but it's a start right? So Halloween just past and my page is about this summer. So okay.... I will start updating as part of my weekly to do things.

2007-11-02T17:21:00.000-07:00

2007-09-26T10:36:00.000-07:00

Lake Trips in the Summer.....

Summer it's the lake, winter it's the snow. It's sad that my kids are better at wake boarding now than me. I feel so old when I have to stop after about five minutes because I am too tired and my kids keep going and going like the energizer bunny. Mason hasn't been able to do it yet but by next year I am sure he too will pass me right up. This summer was the first time I tried surfing behind the boat. Me and Mitchel call it the old man's sport because it's SO much easier on your body than wake boarding. It was pretty simple to get up for me, but then staying up for longer than 5 minutes was a challenge. It's so much fun though. I like it much better than wake boarding. So my kids and Mitchel of course can keep up the wake boarding and I will stick to the old man's sport. I have two pics one is Mitch surfing behind the boat and Cobe wake boarding on his B-day over the summer which is another funny story. To make it as short as possible Cobe had his B-day party on the lake. Now his Birthday is August 1st needless to say Monsoon season. I have lots of kids of whom I am reasponsible for and of which some parents were alittle apprehensive to let there child go (which is totally understandable) So we are having a great time when a huge storm rolls in. We are trying desperatly to get to the dock when the storm hits us full on. I felt like we were in the middle of the OCEAN with lightening above our heads and Mitchel trying so hard not to capsize our boat. It was SO scary. Mitch and I were trying so hard to stay calm and get us safly out of this crazy storm with all these kids. The kids of course thought it was so much fun, but Mitch and I knew the reality of what could very easiley go wrong. I sat and prayed so very hard!!!!! Thankfully we got out of there safely thanks to my husbands fine driving abilities and when you asked any of the kids there favorite part of the party ....Yes, it was the storm.
I just told them all "Don't tell Your Parents'!!!