ELLISON

Chloe's Newest Trick

2012-02-07T19:33:00.000-08:00

She has gone from a standing back handspring to a full out running back handspring her coach says in a few more weeks she will remove the hand spot as well. Right now she is mainly doing it until she is sure Chloe will stay consistent.

Hmmm... I wonder

2012-02-06T18:45:00.000-08:00

A few days ago I was out running a few errands and I came home to find these hanging on the wall. Hmmm...I wonder what they could be-lol. I only have 2 more days before I can unwrap them and see exactly what is hiding underneath.

Our Week

2012-02-05T18:03:00.000-08:00

It has been a pretty busy week as I am just getting to posting the weeks happenings. Here is what has been going on...

The kids have been super busy with school, scouts, and their athletic events. Chloe wasn't feeling well for a lot of last week and we just couldn't figure out why-no fever, sore throat, etc.. Well yesterday we finally figured it out. She said her tooth was hurting and when we looked in her mouth noticed it had a big hole in it and a big puss pocket on her gums. Which means it is abscessed. We think a little piece must have broken off her tooth somehow causing this, because she was just at the dentist for a checkup less than a month ago and her teeth were great. The dentist called her in an antibiotic to get her through the weekend and she has to go in tomorrow probably to get it pulled.

I have started back to school for the semester and so far I love one class and hate the other. The one I am struggling with is my writing class-I hate writing papers! I really procrastinate in that class and it's even worse since it is only once a week. I am usually up late the night before or even worse up early the morning before trying to come up with a paper. Ugh. I also have had a problem with gout-yep only 30 (in a few days) and having this problem. Though it seems to be doing better. I was pretty sick a few weeks ago with my migraine problems and the stomach flu the doctors gave me some medicine and we think that is what caused the gout flare up. At least I can walk now without limping.

Beckett has become a member of the family. He is such a good dog. We decided that his middle name should be Chewbacca or Chewie after the Wookie in the Star Wars movies because he makes a growling noise that sounds exactly like Chewbacca. It's pretty funny. Sorry if your not a star wars fan you won't know what I'm talking about here. We have also put him in obedience school. He is doing great and he has only had one class so far. Look how well he is sitting for this picture :)

Oh yeah and here is what happened to my car in the parking lot a PetSmart during Beckett's first class. Some guy ran into it. Luckily he came in the store and found me and is going to pay to fix it.

Well that's our week in a nutshell. Hopefully I'll do better this week posting more often but no promises there.

New Floor

2012-01-28T06:04:00.000-08:00

Here is a pict of the new floor. We still need to do some touch up painting around the baseboards and buy a rug. We are super happy with the results though. It looks great and just feels so much cleaner to us. It is easy to clean as well. We think we will be happy with the change.

Let the Work Begin...

2012-01-22T15:52:00.000-08:00

This year we have tons of household projects that we are going to work on doing. Everything ranging to replacing a few doorknobs that just aren't working right to major changes like the flooring.

We started everything off a few weeks ago with Tanner's room. We re-arranged it and made a few changes like a Lego building station with nifty storage units for his Lego's and a super cool baseball supply shelf that Landon invented. We also got his new Ipod docking station that he got for Christmas all rigged up.

Landon has also already fixed our washer which had been leaking for several weeks.

This weekend we started or I should say Landon did, with the help of Dave and Brandon our neighbors the task of putting wood floors in the front room and hallway. Dave also fixed the door to the washer and dryer that Landon broke during Christmas-lol. Chloe was super happy to help with this project and she has really been helping not just hindering. She worked so hard that late Friday night I went looking for her and found her fast asleep on her bedroom floor. What a trooper. I can't actually say that Tanner has been to happy about all of these projects he really hates things to change, in fact he has been a little bit upset, though I think he has really grown to like some of the changes in his room, so hopefully he'll like the new floors eventually too.Look at the dirt on her face in this picture after a hard days labor.

I'll post some more picts when the whole project is finished.

At the top of the list when this is through is to replace the dishwasher which hasn't worked for several months, and repair the oven which hasn't been working for a few weeks. I don't see any weekends of R & R for quite a while, but it will be worth it when we get it all done:)

Lego Robotics

2012-01-12T16:09:00.000-08:00

Awhile back Tanner joined a Lego robotics team. They would get together every week and work on programing/building the robots and also learn some computer and science stuff. They were getting ready for the 2nd annual Lego Robotics Competition.

Over the weekend the competition was held here in St. George. There were 7 teams competing. The theme was food factor. Each team had to do a project and some research as long as well as some other things. They also competed in 3 two and a half minute tasks with their robots. The tasks included things like getting fish back to base, harvesting corn, getting groceries, getting rid of bacteria, getting a pizza and ice cream to base. Each task was built out of Lego's and they had to use the robots to complete them. It was pretty interesting to watch. Tanner's friend Rohun also competed on a different team and his team took 1st in this part of the competition. Tanner's took third.

At the end there were six awards given out in the following areas: Champions Award, Project Award, Core Values Award, Robot Design Award, Robot Performance Award, and Judges Award. Tanner's team won the Project Award. The theme for the project was to think up a new and innovative way to keep food from spoiling or monitor it so you know if it had spoiled. Tanner's team thought up the idea of milk jugs that change color depending on the temperature. Kind of like those cups that change color depending on if there is hot or cold liquid in them.

We thought it was pretty fun and a good learning experience. Tanner is hoping to be able to do it again next year.

New Years Fun!!!

2012-01-04T18:52:00.000-08:00

We had a great time over the new years weekend. We spent it in Flowell with Landon's family. The kids had a blast and what kid wouldn't with 14 playmates to run around freely with. Here is a picture of the whole gang-what a good looking bunch.

Chloe loves being with her cousins, but she especially loves playing mother to the baby cousins. She always wanted to be holding one of the babies.

We were all excited to be able to see baby Taylee, she was only about 2 weeks old. So so cute!

Tanner is the oldest of the boys and all of the little boys absolutely love him. They follow him around like he is the pied piper. Even the girls do a lot of the time. He is so good to play with them all. The boys especially love chasing and wrestling him. It can get pretty loud and wild at times.

On Saturday night we all loaded up and went over to Delta for a little bowling. It has been a long time since we actually bowled that wasn't on the Wii. It was fun though, even though we all kind of got our butts kicked. Except for Chloe I think she might have won the kids division. (Tanner was playing with the adults)Here are all the little sweethearts.
The Wild Bunch...

We had so much fun and can't wait for everyone to get together again.

Christmas

2011-12-28T12:01:00.000-08:00

The kids were super excited for Christmas morning to come. They woke up just after 5 o'clock and were ready to go see what Santa had brought for them.

Elly had notes for both of them with a treasure hunt leading to their big present from Santa. They found them hiding in the dishwasher.

Chloe was so excited to find her baby Jesus in a manger waiting under the tree. That is what she had been asking for ever since the primary program. She also got roller skates, and a sewing machine.

Tanner couldn't have been happier that he got the LegoMindstorm he had been dreaming of. He also got an ipod docking station and some other cool stuff. Both of the kids got pogo sticks from Santa and they haven't stopped bouncing on them since. They have competitions with each other and with themselves to see how many times in a row they can bounce without stopping. I think Tanner's last record was like 1490. Chloe was up to about 78-lol. Also a word to the wise there is a weight restriction on the pogo sticks for a reason Landon tested one of them out and crashed through the Christmas tree and the door to the washer and dryer-breaking the door and almost knocking down the tree-oops.Landon got a 1,000 piece puzzle of Fenway park and has been putting it together ever since. He also got a meat slicer and some new church apparel.I was spoiled and got a Acer Tablet. It's actually for the family and to be honest sometimes I have to fight the kids off to get a turn on it.After we opened presents on Christmas morning we were able to just hang out until it was time for church. Landon didn't have meetings for once, which was nice for all of us. He made waffles for breakfast-which we all love.After church we went out to my Grandma's for Christmas dinner. My sisters and their families came too. It was nice to eat and spend time together. My Grandma gave Landon and I a really nice quilt for Christmas-one of our very favorite gifts. We put it on the bed as soon as we got home.

Christmas Eve

2011-12-27T14:55:00.001-08:00

Christmas Eve we just kind of hung out. We didn't go anywhere for Christmas this year, so it was kind of nice just to stay home. Though I can't say that we were just relaxing all day long either-we were actually pretty busy. We made a bunch of stick horses with my mom and dad to give out to a few kids and that took most of the day. We also got ready and delivered a second secret Santa. The kids made a gingerbread house and we drove around and looked at a few Christmas lights. Then the kids got to open their pjs and ornaments. This is one of our Christmas traditions they get pjs and a new special ornament each year. This year Chloe got a panda bear ornament and Tanner's was "Wally" the redsox mascot. They were both pretty excited for Christmas to come, but they were both actually in bed and asleep before ten o'clock.

Meet Our New Puppy-Beckett

2011-12-18T11:19:00.000-08:00

So you may have heard rumors that we were getting a new puppy. Well here he is-Beckett. The cutest little guy ever! He is a cocker spaniel (white with buff spots or freckles-he even has some freckles across his nose just like the rest of the family) Just in case anyone is wondering where we came up with the name Beckett. He is named after Josh Beckett from the Redsox. It was between Beckett and Boston and the kids liked Beckett best. You can't tell we have a few baseball fans living here can you?

Christmas Party

2011-12-18T11:14:00.000-08:00

Yesterday we had our annual Christmas Party. It was super fun. All of my sisters and their families were there along with my Dad and Mom, Grandma, and Uncle Brad and his family. It was nice just to spend time together and eat lots of yummy food. The kids had a blast playing with all of their cousins. Santa Claus even made an appearance and brought all the kids hats or mittens. While Santa was visiting his beard slipped down a little, Chloe quick as a whip picked up on it and yelled out the name of the Santa impostor-lol. She doesn't miss a beat! We also decorated sugar cookies and the cousins and sisters did a gift exchange. Then we ended off the day by delivering our secret Santa items to the family we had chosen for this year. What a fun and busy day. I love my family and am so glad we can get together and do things like this :)

Ho! Ho! Ho!

2011-12-15T15:20:00.001-08:00

The kids had a free dress day today and they could wear Christmas attire. Chloe wanted to be Mrs. Claus. Tanner chose just to sport his Santa hat.

Gymnastics

2011-12-13T18:24:00.001-08:00

Family Pictures 2011

2011-12-08T12:45:00.000-08:00

My sister-in-law took our family pictures. She did a great job. I love them. Would you believe it if I told you that I just got them back yesterday and I already have 8 x 10 prints hanging up, and am waiting for an 11 x 13 one in the mail. I also have finished all my Christmas Cards using them and am just waiting on those to ship as well. Yep I think I am pretty excited about them.Thank You so much BRENDA!

More Cousins

2011-12-08T08:30:00.001-08:00

Cousins

2011-12-07T20:12:00.001-08:00

Our Elf-Elly

2011-12-05T15:54:00.000-08:00

After seeing Taryn's Elf on the Shelf and hearing about others that have them. We decided that we were going to try it out. Chloe was super excited when we told her about it, and she kept asking us all sorts of questions the night before our elf was to arrive. She could hardly wait. She showed up a few days ago and it has been really fun for the kids. Tanner likes to help-if you get my drift ;) Yesterday while we were in church the elf (ELLY) moved spots and brought a magical snowflake. Chloe was pretty stoked about that. So excited in fact that she spontaneously and without being asked cleaned her whole room and got ready for bed all without help or anything-that has never happened before! Her reasoning was that she wanted the elf to see her room. Well this morning when Chloe woke up the elf was in her room and she even had a little treat for Chloe. While I was in the shower Chloe cleaned my room and made my bed. WOW all in the power of the elf-LOL.

Student of the Month-Service

2011-12-05T15:50:00.000-08:00

On Friday Chloe got the student of the month award for SERVICE. She was so excited! We are so proud of her. She really does care about others and is always trying to help out. Today we were putting together some bags for the 2nd grade classes and she told me that we should make some kind of like this for the homeless people but with food and stuff like that in them. Thanks Gram for being at the assembly when I couldn't and getting a picture for us.

Nativity

2011-12-03T07:45:00.000-08:00

Last night was our ward party. The primary did a program and the kids were both part of the nativity scene. Chloe was an angel and Tanner was a wise man. They did a great job! The program went really well and helped to bring the true meaning of Christmas.

Feather

2011-12-03T07:41:00.000-08:00

Chloe has been wanting a feather in her hair. We told her that if she got her back-handspring by herself then she could get one. She finally reached her goal so yesterday I took her to get a feather in her hair. She is pretty excited about it! I think she is getting way to grown up for her own good.

Advent Calendars

2011-12-02T06:39:00.001-08:00

One of our traditions for Christmas is Advent Calendars. I usually just get the chocolate ones, but the kids still love them. They get up in the morning and the first thing they do is to open the day on their advent calendar and see what they got. Tanner has been really wanting the lego advent calendar. He has been struggling with some anxiety issues so we made him a goal chart to earn the calendar. He worked so hard to get it and was so excited for the first morning to be able to open the first day. He has actually gotten up at 6:00 the past two mornings just to open his new lego set for the day. It's pretty cool each morning there is a miniature lego set or minifig to put together. Chloe informed me that next year she wanted a lego advent calendar too. LOL

Pies

2011-11-24T02:52:00.000-08:00

My Grandma and I have spent the last few days baking...Can you believe it we made 16 squash pies! YUM I can't wait for Thanksgiving to eat one.

Parent Teacher Conferences

2011-11-15T18:20:00.000-08:00

Today I had both of the kids parent teacher conferences. Here is the report.

Tanner...
Straight A's :)
His Spelling is 10.5 (which stands for 10 grade 5 month level)
Reading Fluency 289WPM with 3 mistakes
SRI (reading) Score is 1136 average level for his grade is 800-1050
His handwriting is definitely improving and his teacher said he is starting to talk to him more and not be as anxious around him which is another good thing. He is super happy he got Mr. Erickson for a teacher this year and is way excited to be moving into his new classroom in the newly finished middle school wing of the school in the next couple of days. No more portables-woot!

Chloe...
All A's except for in math, which was really close to being one, but I guess close but no cigar.
She is still doing super good though and is especially proficient in spelling and writing.
Her SRI (reading) score is 467 which it should be between 300-600. So she is right where she should be.
Her teacher says she is like the mother of the classroom and always makes sure everyone is doing what they are supposed to be doing or has what they need. She also says she does have a problem staying sitting in her chair the right way but she tries to let it slide because she is still listening and doing good she just has such a hard time sitting still-REALLY?
Her goal for the upcoming trimester is to try and stay just a little more focused and not be turned around in her seat so much, to work on her missing number patterns and certain time concepts, and to try and make some friends in her class. The problem is that there are only a few girls in Chloe's class. Most of them are either super bossy or super prim proper and perfect. As her teacher put it Chloe just isn't like these girls-she is herself, she is active, and doesn't liked to be bossed around at all. But we are going to work on still trying to make some friends and get along a little better with those around her.

Ogden

2011-11-08T13:49:00.001-08:00

Over the weekend we went to Ogden. The kids were so excited to see their cousins. It has been a long time since they have all gotten together. Jack and Tanner played baseball every spare second they had. They literally went out into the freezing cold temperatures early in the morning to play-funny kids :) Chloe had so much fun with Makele and Kylie. She idolizes her older cousin Kylie. Her and Makele followed her around night and day-lol. On Sunday our newest niece Camille was blessed-she is such a cutie. To bad we don't all live closer the kids all have so much fun together.

We got home late Sunday night-there was a major winter storm which made driving home slow and stressful but we finally made it safe and sound. The kids are now anticipating their next visit with their cousins, hopefully sometime around Christmas or sooner.

Halloween

2011-11-03T07:17:00.001-07:00

Well the day didn't start out the best I ended up having to go in and get a shot for my migraine because it just would not let up. It ended up being a fun day though and once I was able to get some relief from the pain I was able to focus on making sure the kids had fun. We started out the night eating some yummy chili and corn-bread with our neighbors. Then we all headed out for some trick or treating. For Chloe and Kyler it was a race to get to the door every time. We practically had to run to keep up with them-lol. Chloe is so dang competitive about everything it's a little bit scary :) We all had fun though and the kids got tons of candy. Great Grandma of course had carmel popcorn balls for us-the best treat of the night! Grandpa and Grandma Gentry gave the kids some awesome lip suckers!

Ketchup and Mustard...The Mermaids...Funny Lips...The Whole Gang...

Fall Carnival

2011-10-30T07:39:00.000-07:00

Here is the other part of Saturday that I was talking about in my other post-the Fall Carnival. In between Chloe's soccer game and Tanner's second baseball game I took Chloe and two of her friends, Brydee and Kyler, to the GWA Annual Fall Carnival. The kids had a blast they did every ride and game they could have. While enjoying pizza, root-beer, cotton candy, and cookies. I on the other hand am not sure. I stood in line for almost the entire time we were there 2-1/2 hours so the kids could do this...

Saturday Soccer, Scouts and Baseball

2011-10-30T07:18:00.001-07:00

Our Saturday started super early and lasted all day long, and this post doesn't even include all of it. I am going to have to do one more post just to get it all in.

Anyways Tanner left for his first Boy Scout Pow-Wow at 7:30 in the morning. Doesn't he look handsome in his scouting attire. They will have the Pow-Wow for the next few weeks and his troop is working on the Life Skills and Chess merit badges during them. His first thing on the list is to teach Mom, someone who doesn't know how to play Chess, how to play it.

Next on the list Chloe's last soccer game, there is actually one more this season but we will be out of town next weekend so this was officially her last. The team did so good. They won 10-1, but the best part is that we were able to set up plays and stuff so that every girl on the team, except for one scored a goal. It was a great feeling and great accomplishment. Chloe scored probably 6 goals but she also helped to make sure the others got a turn. In fact a few of the goals she scored were on accident because she was trying to make a pass but she just kicked it so hard that it accidentally went in instead, I guess you just can't help it if your good a something-LOL. I was seriously so proud of the whole team though they have all come a long ways :)

Next was Tanner's Baseball Game. They were having a tournament this weekend. They played two games on both Friday and Saturday. They lost the first two. The played really good teams in those ones. One of the teams was from California and the other was from Vegas. They also lost the third game but it was pretty close. Then they won the last one. So they went 1-3. The last game was good one. Everyone was hitting, stopping, and catching the balls. Tanner had a good catch and out, a few good hits, a couple good stops, some excellent base running including stealing home at one point, a great pickle play-which ended in an out, and he got to pitch the last inning. He had one strike-out and good backing up from his team for the other two outs. They ended up winning that game 14-8.

Pumpkins, Parades, and Parties

2011-10-29T06:29:00.000-07:00

The last few days have been busy and fun. On Wednesday we had a pumpkin carving party with a few of our neighbors. I almost think that the adults did more of the carving while the kids drank hot chocolate and ran around and played. No-they actually did help some but I think they had more fun with the other stuff-lol.

Friday was the big school parade and they also had class Halloween parties. I was working all day and so I didn't get over to get any pictures of Tanner and his class. I did manage to snap a few of Chloe's since I work with a kid in her class, which is a nice thing most of the time. They both had fun though and were glad for a Fun Day of School.

Wacky Hair Wednesday

2011-10-26T05:40:00.000-07:00

Mis-Matched Monday

2011-10-25T07:39:00.000-07:00

It is spirit week at school this week. My kids always have so much fun participating and going along with the daily theme. Monday was Mis-Matched Monday...

Deer Hunt

2011-10-23T08:54:00.001-07:00

Over the weekend Landon and Tanner went deer hunting. The left early Friday morning so that they could get up the mountain and set up camp before dark. That afternoon after they had set up camp Tanner went exploring a little bit, he came back to camp and told Landon he had seen a deer Landon asked him how big it's antlers were and he said "we'll I'm not sure I didn't have a tape measure with me"-LOL. Then he called me that night and told me about it. I also asked him how big it was and he said "oh, about three-fourths the size of the horse"- :) He is such a literal mathematical thinking child.
The next morning they got lucky and had a three-point down by about 10:00 needless to say with the antics of the horses and of Clem, the mule, it took them until about 4:00 to get back down the mountain. Landon said when he shot the deer that Tanner said "so Dad are you going to keep that one?"-yeah obvioulsy he goes fishing more than he goes hunting!

Halloween Windows

2011-10-16T07:43:00.001-07:00

On Friday my mom came over and asked the kids if they wanted her to paint the windows for Halloween-they both quickly agreed and began planing what they wanted painted. Chloe wanted a cat and a pumpkin. Tanner wanted a "real" werewolf. So we had a window painting party. My mom and Landon, with Dave's help, painted the windows. They had an audience of kids watching. While they painted myself and the rest of the neighbors got ready for the yard sale we were going to be having on Saturday. The finished product looks great and now the kids are excited to get their windows painted for every holiday. I remember when I was little my mom would paint our windows for every Holiday and it was always fun for us. Can you guess who did which window? Landon did the werewolf and my mom did the cat. Happy Halloween!

Sunday Dinner

2011-10-09T17:28:00.000-07:00

I am not the worlds best cook and in fact cooking isn't one of my favorite things to do. We are all always all so busy during the week that our meals are quick and easy, but at least we eat-right? However we all look forward to Sunday Dinner because we always have something yummy and it comes with sides, desert and sometimes rolls or bread. We don't have a roast every Sunday like Landon did when he was growing up, but we do at least once or twice a month. Yeah for Sundays!!!

As I went to put this in the oven this morning before church I just couldn't help take a picture of it, because it made me happy. (Notice how I have carrots on one side and potatoes on the other not mixed together-for Tanner's sake-LOL)

5 Goals

2011-10-09T07:51:00.000-07:00

So I'm sure you guessed from the title but yes Chloe scored 5 goals in her soccer game today! Yep 5! We won the other team 9-2. One of the points Chloe made was literally almost kicked from half-field. Her kick this year is super strong and pretty accurate. In fact I have to admit when one of the balls she kicks hits me it really hurts. She hates playing defense but I still make her have a turn. The funny thing is-one of the goals she made yesterday was made while she was on defense. She drove the ball down clear from the other end of the field and made a goal. She is already pretty competitive for her age and I'm not sure if that is a good thing or not. However I do have to say I am super proud of her and I think that soccer just might be one of her talents-she is just plain good at it. Last night she was pretty worn out though she was just crying over every little thing that happened and was so ready to go to bed. I can only imagine why. She runs up and down the field for like and hour without stopping. I would literally have a heart attack if I even attempted to do that.

Getting Ready for Halloween

2011-10-09T07:46:00.000-07:00

Chloe has been so excited for Halloween this year. As soon as it turned October she kept asking me when Halloween was. The other day she declared that we really needed to get our Halloween stuff out, so I got down the totes for her and she decorated the whole house inside and out. She even made a few decorations of her own and added them to the collection. Then she insisted that we go buy spider webs to hang up because we didn't have any and we always hang the up outside. So we bought some that night and the next morning she woke up at the crack of dawn to go out and hang them up. She was so pleased with how things turned out. She even ended up going over and helping our neighbor Dave decorate his house. She had a blast and she now says we are ready to celebrate.

Another Busy Weekend

2011-09-25T16:11:00.000-07:00

It was another busy weekend for us. Tanner had a ball tournament on Friday and Saturday. His team went 1-3 in this tournament. Not the best, but two of their games were pretty close, so it makes you feel better about the losses. Tanner had an awesome game in their last game on Saturday and he even has a battle wound to proudly sport around-yikes- some major road rash from diving for a ball. I guess he made a couple of awesome catches and got some even better hits. To bad I wasn't there to see any of it. In fact I was home for both of his games on Saturday with a sick little girl. She just got better right-but yes she was super sick again. After her soccer game on Saturday morning she just dropped to the grass and could barely walk. She said she felt like she was going to throw up and she had a fever. She was super sick all day Saturday and couldn't and didn't feel like really eating or drinking anything partly because she couldn't keep it down. She was still not feeling well this morning but as the day has gone on she is slowly getting back to her normal self again. Poor Girl-hopefully that's it for sickness for her this year.

Scout Camp

2011-09-17T17:25:00.000-07:00

Tanner had his first overnight scout camp. He was so excited! He came home Tuesday night from scouts and packed all of his and Landon's stuff (keep in mind they weren't leaving until Friday afternoon)-LOL. He also gave me a list with a few "snacks" (granola bars, jerky, gum, apples) that he needed me to get him to take with. He loves anything to do with scouts. Which reminds me they learned how to tie knots a few weeks ago and he has been dragging around a piece of rope since then tying knots. I sometimes have to threaten to take it away because he is so focused on knot tying that he's not focused on what he really needs to be doing at the moment which isn't tying a knot.

Strep Throat and Soccer

2011-09-10T19:01:00.000-07:00

On Thursday morning Chloe was complaining that she didn't feel well and she had a sore throat I thought it was just one of those back to school colds so I didn't pay much attention to it. Then Thursday afternoon she called from school still not feeling well so I went to get her. After spending a short time with her I could tell she was pretty sick. She was just laying down, not talking or moving much at all and she kept falling asleep. So unlike our little girl. She also kept getting pretty bad spells of the chills. Finally after talking to Landon when he got home we decided I shouldn't wait until morning to take her in. I took her to the doctor and it only took them long enough to run the strep test and take her temperature to let us know that she definitely had strep throat. So I went and got her a prescription and gave it to her and put her to bed. The next day she was definitely on the mend and in fact was almost back to a hundred percent the next afternoon. Lets just say it wasn't the relaxing day sitting on the coach I thought it was going to be-it takes a lot to keep that girl down and once she felt better it was full bore the rest of the day. She even said to me that she should have gone to school and then kept asking if she could go to the park and practice soccer.

Today only two days after being so sick Chloe had her first soccer game of the fall season. You wouldn't have been able to tell that she had been sick at all if you would have seen her playing. She scored two goals and played her little heart out. She was an awesome defender and had the assist on a lot of the goals our team made. Our team ended up wining 10-2. I say our team because yes I am the coach again. By the way our team is called the Purple Comets.

Insects

2011-09-09T13:36:00.001-07:00

Chloe is learning all about insects in school. Here are the facts she will proudly tell you. Insects have 6 legs,two antennas, and some have wings. They have 3 body parts-a thorax, head, and an abdomen. She is doing really well in school so far this year and loving to learn.

For school they had a bug project. Each student had to make a bug out of things they could find around the house and bring it to school, as you can see Chloe made two-a grasshopper and a ladybug. Daddy helped with the grasshopper-they shaped it out of salt dough, and Mommy helped with the lady bug we made it out of a take out cup holder, toothpicks, and buttons. Chloe did most all of the painting herself. She was so excited about this project that she didn't let us procrastinate one day before getting to work on it.

HoneyComb Campground

2011-09-09T13:22:00.000-07:00

Sunday afternoon after church was over we went camping with my parents and sister, since there was no work or school on Monday due to the fact that it was Labor Day. We drove down to Enterprise to the Honeycomb Campgrounds. The kids had a blast. The camp grounds are surrounded by all kinds of cool rocks and caves to climb and they didn't stop climbing from dawn until dusk. The also went hunting for geodes and little creatures and bugs. It was a nice relaxing night out. The only problem was the bees or wasps they were everywhere. Tanner and Gavin both got stung by one. The rest of us survived but had to constantly be on the lookout. It was a fun little getaway though and the kids had lots of fun with their cousins.

Labor Day Weekend

2011-09-09T13:02:00.000-07:00

Over Labor Day Weekend we traveled to Provo for a baseball tournament. The Gators did really well. They won 2 and lost 2 and learned a lot and grew as a team in the process. They are getting better and better and the team has picked up a few new players that I think will be a good benefit. Tanner didn't have the best tournament of his life. He got hit by a ball in the eye, that took a bad hop while he was playing short-stop. He had his glasses on so they cut into his face and he had a black and swollen eye the rest of the time. I think it kind of messed with his hear, because he just seemed to be off. Although he did have a couple of awesome plays and an inning or two of good pitching. Hopefully he will be back on his A game for the tournament coming up in a few weeks. On Saturday some of Landon's family was able to come to Tanner's games and hang out for awhile. The kids were so happy to see there cousins. Jack was so sad that Tanner couldn't go back to his house with him when the games were over. All in all we had a fun but long weekend. The kids loved staying in the hotel, seeing their cousins, playing baseball, and eating out. Tanner said that is one of the reason's he likes playing on a traveling baseball team because we get to go out to eat while were out of town to good places-He is definitely a boy always thinking about food and thinking he is starving.

A Day at the Lake

2011-08-28T19:31:00.000-07:00

We went out to Sandhallow Reservoir on Saturday to spend the afternoon. The kids had been looking forward to it for weeks. We went with our friends The Stark Family and our neighbors Dave and Ann. The kids had a blast. First stop jumping off the rocks... Then onto the beach where we swam, played in the sand, and had a picnic. Tanner couldn't get enough of the dirt and mud he said it felt so good, notice in every picture he has dirt covering his entire body including his face. He just kept rubbing it all over himself Crazy Kid. Chloe loved jumping and doing flips into the water using Landon's hands or shoulders as a platform. A girl in a canoe came over and let the kids each do a few jumps off of her canoe. Alisha and I did a few perfect swan dives off the guys shoulders, sorry we didn't get the pictures to go along with those-you'll just have to trust me with how talented were are. LOL It was a fun day and the kids are already asking when we can go back again. Next time we might have to rent a couple of jet ski's or something.

Arrow of Light

2011-08-24T19:54:00.000-07:00

Tonight was Tanner's last cub scout meeting. Yep that's right can you believe it? Three years of cub-scouts have come and gone. It seems like just yesterday he was starting in the Wolf Pack and now he is getting ready to start Boy Scouts I can't believe how time has flown. At the pack meeting tonight he received his arrow of light award (which is the highest award you can receive as a cub scout) and was advanced to the boy scout troop. My little boy is growing up. I am very proud of him but just a little bit sad at the same time.

Landon applying the war paint...Receiving his award...Crossing the Bridge...Tanner and Boston...

Tanner, Chloe, and Grandma...

The fam...

Happy Birthday Tanner

2011-08-20T15:10:00.000-07:00

Tanner is 11 (or should I say he will be come Monday). We celebrated on Friday though. After school I took him and three of his buddies out to lunch and then to Anti-Gravity Jump Center. I was a little bit worried about taking four boys out to eat by myself but there are no horror stories to tell. They had a fun time. A little later that night we had a party with the family and a couple of close friends. Tanner was so happy with his cheesecake baseball birthday cake. He made sure that he had two slices-lol. He is so lucky to have two Grandma's who love him so much. He got spoiled and had a fun day celebrating turning 11.

Back to School

2011-08-15T11:38:00.001-07:00

Today was the kids first day back to school and my first day back to work. Things went well for the first day. I didn't have to drag anyone out the door and to their classroom and there were no tears from Chloe. Tanner started sixth grade and Chloe started second. I can't believe how big they are both getting. After school they were both arguing that they had the best teacher. Chloe loves her new teacher Miss Moro-because she is so funny. She told us story after story about Miss Moro's humor. Also I am in her class quite a bit because one of the students I work with is in there so she really likes that. Tanner-says his teacher is funnier than Chloe's plus he knows magic tricks and he has one of only four STAR-BOARDS (a high tech 21st century teaching tool) in the entire school. He is also excited about how the classroom will be run. I think that they are both going to have a good year. I am just glad for school to be started again, it was time. However I'm not looking forward to packing lunches again everyday that is the only thing I dread.

My Big Sixth Grader... My Cute Second Grader...

Gators get their 1st Win

2011-08-13T18:24:00.001-07:00

Well we had another ball tournament this weekend-which is beginning to be the story of our lives. The good news the Gators won their first game as a team. The bad news they lost 3, but I guess I should look on the positive side at least they didn't lose all four like their 1st and 2nd tournaments-so they are making progress. It was just so frustrating to sit their all day for two days straight and watch them lose-plus Tanner was having a bad day he just wasn't playing his A game which made it even harder to watch. It might have been due to the fact that Landon and him stayed up late watching a game in the Little League World Series and then we had to be back in Cedar City at 7:00 this morning-yeah that probably had something to do with it. I know it takes time so I will try to be patient and be supportive. I guess I should look to Chloe's example-no matter how long we are at the field-she is happy. I bought her and her friend some pom-pom's and megaphones and they cheered their hearts out. They were still even cheering GO GATORS when the last game was over and we had just gotten beat. She is always just happy to be alive. I guess I could be glad that even though we weren't winning I wasn't home cleaning and I was spending time with my family-right?

A New Look

2011-08-02T06:25:00.000-07:00

Remember about six months ago Chloe wanted bangs because Kylie had them. So I finally let her get some longer ones off to the side. I took her to get her hair cut yesterday and she kept saying she wanted bangs not like last time like Kylie's all the way across not just on the side. Well I finally gave in here is the new look...I think it is really cute! Chloe likes it now. However, right after the lady cut it and then had her look in the mirror to see if she liked it she started welling up with tears. I think it was just such a shock to her, she did that once before when I got her hair cut. Now she is happy with it. It just took her a few minutes to get used to the new look. Landon said he is afraid the new look will make her act to much like a rock-star or a teenager. LOL

Color Country Classic

2011-07-31T07:54:00.000-07:00

We have been in Cedar City again all weekend for a ball tournament. It was a tough one. Keep in mind this is only the teams second tournament. Most of the other teams have been together 1-3 years already, so we have some learning and catching up to do-but I do believe we will get there. In this tournament each team plays a total of 4 games and then the two teams that have the most wins go to the championship. Let's just say the first three games were bad, we lost by a lot, and had a lot of errors. For our fourth game we were up against a team that was already 3-0, so a pretty good team. We were doomed, or wait were we? Our team actually started to click. Wow! We almost ended up winning. We were hitting and making plays. We still had errors but not as many. We did end up losing but the final score was 14-12. It was a nail biter down to the last run. We scored more runs on the team we were playing than the other three teams they played combined. I am so proud of the boys they really did a great job. The other team told us we were the toughest team they had played. Tanner pitched for most of the game, he did a great job too! He also had a really nice put-out at first. Through the whole tournament he didn't strike out one time, and in the last game he had two really great hits. This team will get better and better the more they play I am sure of it. It is hard to lose but it makes the win all the better when you finally get there. I think that the hardest part for Tanner was that the team he used to play with took the Championship, but the Gators will get there eventually.

Canning

2011-07-30T04:24:00.000-07:00

Here is what we have been busy doing-canning. So far we have bottled salsa, green beans, tomatoes, and beets. Chloe snapped and cut all the beans. Tanner was in charge of scalding all the tomatoes so we could take the skins off, he only splashed hot water on himself half a dozen times-poor kid. We still have a lot we are hopefully going to get to such as chili sauce, relish, squash, and probably more tomatoes.

Weekend in Flowell

2011-07-27T07:21:00.001-07:00

This is what our weekend in Flowell consisted of
Riding the Horse Playing CatchJumping on the Trampolineand my favorites just relaxing (not having to worry about school-I aced my Final-yeah!), watching t.v., reading, and hanging out with the Family. It was a nice getaway for us all. :)

24th of July Celebration

2011-07-27T06:51:00.000-07:00

Flowell always has a 24th of July Celebration. It changes from year to year and although it's not as big as it used to be it is usually still lots of fun. They had a run, softball game, kickball game, children's parade, games for the kids, bakeoff, dinner and a movie in the park after dark. This year they were even supposed to have a greased pig. Supposed to. Well actually they did but the dang thing just laid down and wouldn't run. My kids were so disappointed they had been looking forward to it for days. Grandpa Leland had even given them pointers on how to catch it. Here is the culprit...The kids still had a great time! They were really glad to have their cousins Dawson, Dakoda, and Brinn to spend the day with as well. We stayed at the church for most of the afternoon. We decided to go home after dinner and skip the movie and instead let off fireworks. The kids were not disappointed. Fun Times!

Phineas and Ferb

2011-07-24T14:38:00.000-07:00

Chloe came in yesterday telling me a big story about Phineas and Ferb. She wanted me to get outside right now and see them. It took me a minute to realize that she was not talking about the cartoon characters but a couple of baby birds that the mother's had booted out of their nests, it was time to fly or die. It was kind of bad timing on her part since there happened to be a wild Bird Dog roaming around who quickly gathered them up. Chloe rescued them and spent quite a while trying to teach them how to fly and then finding a safe place to leave them. We think at least one of the made it through the night. Landon said it was pretty funny to see Licorice walking out of the corn field with a bird in her mouth and two mad angry mother birds dive bombing her.

For the 3rd time today

2011-07-21T19:25:00.000-07:00

This is what we have spent the last few hours doing, and yes it was for the third time today. We went swimming this morning with some friends, then right when we got home the kids had another invite to swim. I was hesitant to let them go but they really wanted to so away they went for another few hours. Then tonight we went over and swam with my sister Tiffanie. I am spent. I really don't even know how the kids are up and moving still. They must have been getting delirious from all the sun exposure because they thought they would put these floaties on their feet and try to walk on water. LOL When that didn't work they just battled them as they swam-what silly silly kids. Oh yes and Aunt Tia got Taelor to go under water and swim with arm floaties all by herself-woot! woot!

All-Star Tournament Game #4

2011-07-15T08:48:00.000-07:00

Well the game started off good, but ended up bad. In the first two innings they held the other team to 5 runs. Then in the bottom of the second they came alive and went ahead 6 to 5. After that they kind of just lost it. The bottom line the other team was hitting and getting on base and they weren't, although Tanner did hit and get on base every time he got up to bat. The score at the end of the game was 15-6. They just couldn't get any runs in after the second inning and the other team was hitting so well that they had a hard time stopping them from getting in. All in all I would say they did a great job in the tournament. They were the only minor league team left in the running at all yesterday so I think they did well to make it that far. They also did some really good stuff. Tanner didn't strike out once the entire tournament he either hit or walked every time. I guess one time they caught one of his balls but it was still a hit, so he came away with a really great batting average if nothing else.

All-Star Tournament Game #3

2011-07-14T07:39:00.001-07:00

Well it's hard to say but they lost yesterday-big time 16-3. The played Cedar America. The first two innings were okay they held there own, but from the very beginning the whole team, Tanner included, made error after error and it only got worse after the second inning. It was really hard to watch. Tanner was very upset.

They play again today at 2:00, so hopefully they can get back with the program and pull off a win otherwise they are out of the tournament :(

All-Star Tournament Game #2

2011-07-12T06:08:00.001-07:00

Yesterday was Tanner's second all-star game in which they were versing Parowan. The game started off with the pledge of allegiance and the all-star pledge. Tanner was chosen to get to read the all-star pledge aloud-I trust in God I love my country and will respect its laws I will play fair and strive to win but win or lose I will always do my best. After the first inning the score was tied 3-3. They brought Tanner in to pitch the 2nd inning. He with the help of his team were able to hold Parowan to only 1 more run throughout the next 4 innings. He had 3 or 4 strikeouts and a throw out to first. His team did an awesome job backing him up in the field. They won the game 15-4! Tanner's coach gave out the two game balls at the end of the game and Tanner got one of them for throwing good. After the game he told the umps thank you, and they told him he had done a great job pitching. They said that they had tightened up his strike zone the last couple of innings since they were beating the other team so badly. No fair, I knew a few of those pitches looked like strikes! His next game will be Wednesday night so stay tuned...

Chloe is such a trooper through all of the baseball games. She is able to keep herself entertained and seems to make new friends to play with wherever we go. Yesterday she told us that one of her new friends was her age and the other two were "teenagers like Kylie". She was pretty proud of that fact-lol.

All-Star Tournament Game #1

2011-07-10T08:32:00.000-07:00

Yesterday was the first day of the All-Star Tournament. Tanner's team Dixie White (minor) versed Snow Canyon Gold (minor). They ended up winning them 10-0. They ended the game in the 4th inning due to the ten run rule. Tanner had the last hit, he knocked one out there that sent two runs in to win the game. I guess it is called a walk off hit and he was pretty happy about it. His next game will be Monday at 6:30. Stay tuned for updates...

4th of July

2011-07-07T11:31:00.000-07:00

We had an awesome 4th of July! We had it all family, friends, good food, good weather, and of course fireworks. Who could leave those out with Landon, Brandon, and Jeff around. And yes if your wondering we did purchase a few of the new legal fireworks that shoot 150 feet in the air. The kids and men were pretty stoked about those. Tanner was pretty happy that we let him be in charge of setting off most of the fireworks-it's sad but true my little boy is growing up. It was a fun night! To bad school and work and reality in general came pretty early the next morning.

Carousel

2011-07-07T11:14:00.001-07:00

St. George City just put in a carousel at the city center right by the library and splash pad. It opened over the 4th of July. I promised the kids a ride, so we went down there on the 4th to let them do so. They were all pretty excited about it and thought it was great fun. It is only .50 per ride per kid or $1.00 for adult. If your kids are under a certain height and you ride with them it's free so it's pretty affordable. I think it will be a great addition to the City Center. I actually took my kids on it again a few days later when we went to the library. Now hopefully Chloe doesn't think that every time we go to the library we get to ride the carousel.

Cousins

2011-07-07T06:42:00.000-07:00

My kids were so excited last week when I told them that their cousins were coming for a visit. The day they were supposed to arrive the woke up and the first thing they wanted to know is when they were going to be here. They didn't stop asking until the showed up. Then is was none stop fun for the next 4 days. They played on the slip n slide, played baseball, went swimming, and stayed up late every night watching a movie. Oh yes and how can I forget a sleep over in the tent in the front yard complete with the roasting of smores over the barbecue grill. (probably because I didn't get any pictures-sad) The adults enjoyed barbecuing, talking, catching up, and celebrating the 4th of July. It was a great few days and we were super glad that they could come down for a visit. Now Chloe keeps asking me when she can see Makele again.

Braxton's Blessing

2011-07-04T13:17:00.000-07:00

Yesterday my nephew Braxton was blessed. We love him so very much. My kids could just sit and look at him all day long, and I'll admit I don't mind holding him one little bit. We had a great day with the family :)

City Pool

2011-07-02T07:26:00.000-07:00

My kids love, love, love the City Pool. On Thursday I took them their and they each brought a friend along. They had a blast!

Chloe and Brydee are the best of friends they even have matching swimming-suits. They wanted to do everything together even make sure they went off the diving boards at the same time, even though this at times held up the line just a little bit as one would wait for the other to get up. LOLTanner and Conner are pretty good buds. I decided the main difference about the boys and the girls is that the boys spent half of their time out of the pool snacking. To the the treats and food are just as important as the swimming. Tanner is constantly worried about his stomach and forever hungry it seems.

Gators

2011-06-25T11:43:00.000-07:00

Many of you know Tanner has been playing baseball on a traveling team for quite awhile. He was playing with the Rebels. However the Rebels had been together for 2 years as a team when Tanner joined, thus being the case he was the low man on the totem pole, he always was the one sitting on the bench, playing in the outfield, last on the batting order, that kind of thing. He liked it but we were ready to move on. During little league the league commissioner decided he was going to create his own traveling team, and he really wanted Tanner to be on it. We debated but finally decided to have him switch over to the new team. So he is now a St. George Gator. He isn't the last man any longer. He pitches or plays third most of the time, sometimes he is shortstop. He isn't last on the batting order, and he doesn't sit on the bench very much. The team had their first tournament as a team this weekend. Though they didn't win any of there games (nobody really expects a new team to), they improved so much every game and did some really awesome stuff. Tanner pitched the first game, and in the last game he had back to back outs throwing from third to first. Grandpa and Grandma Ellison were able to come down to his game on Thursday-which was very nice of them. Tanner likes the new team because he has friends on it and gets to do more, but he is also a little frustrated because it is hard coming from a winning established team to one that is just starting up. We are pretty sure that with some hard work and dedication this team will soon be able to compete with the best of them, but we have to remind Tanner that it will take time and patience, and in the end it will be for the best.

ANTI-GRAVITY

2011-06-24T07:57:00.000-07:00

The kids heard an advertisement for a new place in town called anti-gravity. They had been begging to go ever since. I was pretty expensive so I was hesitant to take them,. but I found an early bird special deal, so we went on Monday with a few of the neighbors. The kids had a blast I mean what kid wouldn't with a giant trampoline that even covered the walls. There was also a bungee run, some bounce houses, and obstacles, and a dodge ball arena. The kids had a blast and they were really worn out when the fun was over. Now they can't wait to go again.

Swimming with the Bulows

2011-06-24T07:28:00.000-07:00

My sister's in-laws have a pool and they invited us over to swim on Saturday (well actually we kind of invited ourselves). Anyways we went swimming and then had a little barbeque. It was lots of fun and the food was delicious. The kids could live in the pool during the summer, so anytime we are swimming they are happy.(The kids favorite thing is when Uncle Brandon makes a wave pool with giant waves-they think it is the greatest.)

Black Eye

2011-06-17T09:06:00.000-07:00

Chloe thought she would take on her big brother in a wrestling match and ended up with a black eye. Poor little Girl!

All Star Team

2011-06-16T18:54:00.000-07:00

Tanner made the all-star team. Follow this link to see the list that was posted today. He plays in the 10 year old minor division.

Happy Birthday Chloe!

2011-06-09T19:51:00.001-07:00

Our little Chloe turned 7 today. Can you believe it? She is growing up to fast. We love her so much and realize that our lives would be very, very dull without her. She is our little ray of sunshine or more like our little "fireball". She is one of those people who from the moment they wake up are instantly happy and full of energy. She in never sad and has a mind of her own. She definitely keeps us on our toes and we love her for the fact that she is who she is.

The new movie Tangled that recently came out is what Chloe wanted to theme her party around. We found lots of great and inexpensive party ideas from a website called supermommoments.com. and then of course we had Grandma to make a totally awesome Birthday cake. So here are the pictures and details from the party... The Guests (cute group of kids-huh)

The Craft (Pascal Party Blowers)
The Game (Pin the Frying Pan on Flynn Ryder)

-lucky for Chloe she has a talented Daddy who free handed this poster-

The Treat (sailboat jello treats)
The Cake

-You would have thought that having a Tangled party she would have wanted a Rapunzel cake but she insisted on a Pascal one (the chameleon on Tangled). Here is what Grandma came up with. Like I said she has a mind of her own-
The Party Favors (Rapunzel Paints)
More Fun (after the games and treats we walked down to our neighbors to swim)

Mary, Mary, Quite Contrary

2011-06-06T06:34:00.000-07:00

Mary, Mary Quite Contrary how does your garden grow?
The garden is really prospering. A lot of the plants are taller than Chloe. We have been enjoying beet greens, peas, and crook-neck squash. Everything is on and doing well. We'll keep our fingers crossed that when the heat hits in the next few weeks things continue to grow as well as they are now.

Give Me Liberty Award

2011-06-01T13:55:00.000-07:00

Tanner had his "Give Me Liberty" Awards assembly this week. They could achieve bronze, silver, or gold medal status. Tanner received the gold award for his accomplishments. We are very proud of him and really excited about the Give Me Liberty Program and what it teaches children.
Some of the things he had to do to earn his award were.....
*memorize a Line from the Declaration of Independence
*memorize the Gettysburg Address
*memorize the Preamble to the Constitution
*name and Locate the 50 states and capitals
*know the Symbols of the USA and Utah
*know Facts about some of the Presidents
and more.
There were 15 requirements in all.

Soccer-End of Season

2011-05-22T07:07:00.000-07:00

Chloe is done with soccer at least for a season. She loves it. It is really her sport something that she is moving around every second she is on the field, except for when she is playing goalie-LOL. She has already said that she wants to keep playing. In fact her words exactly were "I want to keep playing soccer even when I'm an old lady." :) She had an amazing year. I think she scored a goal in almost every game and she has already improved so much from when she started in the Spring. Her team was awesome as well. The only two games they lost were the two they had to forfeit because not enough of the players showed up.

Garden Update

2011-05-22T07:01:00.000-07:00

Look how the garden is growing! Can you believe it. I've never seen anything like it before in my life. I am pretty excited about it. We are actually eating beet greens already-yum.

Braxton

2011-05-15T18:45:00.000-07:00

My sister Tiffanie finally had her baby. Little Braxton is here! The whole family is excited although Taelor does get a little bit jealous of brother at times. My kids love, love, love him. They would stay there all day if they could and just look at him and takes turns holding him. Chloe didn't even get upset when she got peed on. They both would gladly take a baby in our family. Landon and I however aren't to sure about that idea.

Our Weekend

2011-05-10T17:46:00.000-07:00

We went to Ogden over the weekend.We had a fun filled but very busy weekend.

On Saturday morning our niece Makele got baptised. What a special girl she is. Her and Chloe are best of friends and Chloe was so excited to be able to spend time with her cousin.

Then Saturday afternoon there was a birthday party for our other niece Laney. She was turning two. Chloe and I went to the party. It was so fun and so very well prepared. It was a teddy bear picnic party complete, with games, stories, a pinata, and of course a picnic all centered around the theme. Wow my sister in law really did a great job preparing for it. Chloe had a blast.

While we were at the party Landon and Tanner went to a Salt Lake Bees baseball game with Jeff and Jack. They had a blast and of course Tanner came home with a new hat.

Sunday was Mother's Day. Landon and the kids got me a new camera-finally :) The day was okay but I wouldn't recommend driving six long hours with two kids on Mother's Day. Let's just say it wasn't the best day of my life. I am very grateful to be a mother to my two kiddos but let's just say some days are better than others.

School Happenings

2011-05-06T20:13:00.000-07:00

Well a lot has been going on at school this week.

First off Chloe came home with her first red note-yep that's right a red note. She got in trouble because she kept talking even though her teacher had repeatedly warned her to stop. She was so upset. She was crying and didn't want Tanner to know hopefully that will teach her a lesson.
Second Chloe's class had a big Cinco De Mayo Festival since they are studying ancient Mexico. Complete with pinatas and a sombrero for each kid. She had a blast.
Then there was an assembly today at the school. Chloe's grade was in charge of it. Chloe had a part and she did such a good job with it. She was so excited to participate and will tell you that she memorized her part in one day. This is what she had "Abraham Lincoln was killed in March 1861 but he never stopped fighting for what he knew was right". At the assembly they gave out awards for the student of the month. The trait for this month was Patriotism-Tanner received the award for this from his class. His teacher said it was because he was the first to pass of his Give Me Liberty requirements and he was always so excited about working on it. Some of the requirements were memorizing the Gettysburg Address and The Pre-Amble, Being able to Name and locate the 13 original colonies and 50 states, knowing certain facts about different presidents etc., etc., etc.
Oh yeah and I am done with my Spring Classes-just waiting for the grades to post-come on already!

Box Garden

2011-05-01T19:36:00.000-07:00

We have been trying to grow a garden down here for the last two years but it hasn't been very successful. We weren't sure if it was the heat or the soil or what. So we decided to try something new this year-Box Gardening. So far the results look better than they ever have.
Dave look at those pole beans-aren't you impressed? You must have taught me well :)

Houston we have a Hamster Problem

2011-04-29T08:08:00.000-07:00

So when Chloe's first got her hamster Landon would tell me horror stories of how when they were younger how their hamsters would always escape and be running around the house wildly. Chewing holes in things and such. I was positive that would never happen to us since we have a hard plastic cage impossible for a hamster to chew threw or escape from or so I thought. Apparently the last time Chloe got the hamster out she didn't shut the door tight on the top of the cage so the hamster was able to push it open and escape.
I didn't realize this until this morning I took the neighbor boy in to let him feed the hamster and guess what there was no hamster to feed. Yeah I freaked out just a little bit. I called Landon to tell him the story and he mentioned that Licorice had been barking wildly by the pantry this morning and I might want to investigate. So I opened the pantry and there sat the hamster, happy as could be, luckily it didn't run from me but just let me scoop it right up and deposit it back in it's cage. I made sure the door was shut tightly this time. LOL

Gymnast

2011-04-28T06:29:00.000-07:00

Chloe is our little Gymnast. We have known that that was her calling in life since before she was one year old. She was not a happy baby until she was mobile and she walked way before she was one. At one her greatest feet was scaling to the top of the fridge, she was sitting up there smiling when I walked in the kitchen. She has never stopped moving since, my dad says she has ants in her pants. She has been to the ER three different times for stitches or staples to prove it.

Gymnastics is definitely her calling in life. Yesterday they had there end of season program, I wasn't able to make it because I had a final, but Landon did get a few picts.

Pitching Videos

2011-04-27T14:40:00.000-07:00

Here are a couple of videos I took of Tanner pitching in Monday's game.

They had him pitch the whole game and they ended up winning. They played 5 innings and of the 15 outs he got 13 of them. 12 strikeouts and 1 put-out at first. He was also hitting pretty good but to bad the other team had good fielders because they caught 2 of 3 of his hits.

Easter Weekend

2011-04-25T08:43:00.000-07:00

Tae and her mom came over Friday to dye Easter Eggs.

In between that and getting ready to leave for Flowell I had to run Tanner in for some emergency dental work, one of his baby teeth had gotten infected and was causing him quite a bit of pain, so they had to pull it out and put him on an antibiotic.-Poor Kid

We finally made it to Flowell. The kids were so excited to see all of their cousins and for Easter. Tanner was probably more excited than anyone since he had been looking at the Easter Bunny's Ebay Page-LOL.

Looks like the Easter Bunny Found Us

Once all the cousins woke up it was time for the Easter Egg Hunt-I think there were right around 120 eggs that were hidden minus any the two dogs might have gotten ahold of before hand. (Thank goodness for Easter Bunnies in training-Kylie and Tanner- to take care of this task.)

We went to the sand hills for our traditional Easter picnic lunch. The kids had a blast!

The kids love going to Flowell simply for the fact that whenever they go they have all of their cousins to play with and can usually run around an play outside in the big yard. Grandpa and Grandma got a new tramp and the kids spent tons of time on it. Chloe was super happy for a place she could practice her back hand springs while Tanner was happy as long as someone would play catch with him. Just be careful if your around them though you might want to wear a helmet I took a fastball right to the back of the head and it didn't feel to good.

He can throw and RUN!

2011-04-20T14:11:00.001-07:00

Today was the Hershey Track Meet at George Washington Academy. Tanner had three events he competed in the long jump, 100 m dash, and 400 m dash. He ended up taking 2nd overall in the 400 m dash, which means he gets to go to the district track meet in a few weeks to represent his school.
One more athletic event to add to our calendars.

I'm not sure weather to attribute his athletic genes to the Marshall side or the Ellison side they both have some pretty impressive stuff in their histories.

Sleeping

2011-04-20T14:07:00.000-07:00

When Chloe is sleeping I love to look a the cute little freckles sprinkled across her nose. She is such a little cutie-especially when she is sleeping :) :) ;)

Another Great Baseball Story

2011-04-20T13:56:00.000-07:00

I know I have been doing a ton of bragging on here lately about Tanner and his baseball, but he is just doing so good that it's hard not to. SO here is another great story for you.

On Monday Tanner's team was playing the top team in the league. A team that is undefeated and used to just slaughtering anyone they play. So the coach decided to pull out all the stops-which meant have Tanner pitch every pitch he could legally throw in one week and not save any for Wednesday night. Well here is the amazing part Tanner pitched for 4 innings straight and with a little bit of backing up from the outfield held this team at 6 points. That is amazing. He also got a triple in the first inning. The fifth inning started and Tanner only threw a couple pitches and they had to pull him out. When he left the game the score was 3-6 and the other team was not happy. Now here is the sad part after the other pitcher came in the score changed from 3-6 to 3-14. Tanner's team did have last bats so they got a few more runs but they ended up losing 5-14. However... the other coach came up to Tanner and said buddy that is the best anyone has pitched to us all year-and he really meant it. Also the umpire came over to Tanner and said that is the best team in the league and you held them to six runs for 4 innings-wow that's pretty impressive. So although his team lost-Tanner impressed some people.

In fact the next day Landon got a phone call. He called me and said jokingly I just got the first scout offer for Tanner-me not being a huge baseball buff was like "oh for what" thinking to myself a call for a boy scout project. LOL. Anyways he's like a baseball scout silly. Apparently the league commissioner who was also the coach of the other team was impressed enough with Tanner that he wanted to recruit him to pitch for the traveling team he was putting together. We told him Tanner was already on a traveling theam but we'd have to think about it. I still don't think Landon has come down off the clouds. :)

Happy Birthday Dad!

2011-04-18T05:38:00.000-07:00

Yesterday was my Dad's 50th Birthday.

He was a little bit embarrassed by the poster and black balloons hanging up on his Bronco that greeted him when he arrived home from visiting my sister in Fillmore. Ha

We had a nice get together with everyone but Mandy's family.

He is a great dad and an even better Grandpa. The kids love him so much. I had to buy him Oreos for his birthday because Chloe told me that she had seen an Oreo commercial with Grandpa and he told her that he wanted some of those for his Birthday. LOL

Happy Birthday Dad and Grandpa. We Love You!

Another Weekend

2011-04-17T09:00:00.000-07:00

Another weekend for us and you know what that means. More ball games.

Sorry if your getting sick of these post but this is our lives for the next few months and to be honest I really love to watch my kids play sports and do well in something they doing.

Chloe's team won their game again. They are undefeated so far. Chloe made another goal and while she was the goalie nothing got past her. She had quite the cheering section Great Grandma, Aunt Sandi, Aunt Tiffanie, Taelor, Tanner and Mom and Dad.

Tanner's team lost their first game but won the second. Tanner had some pretty sweet hits during the games. Must have something to do with the bats. LOL The funny thing is about half of Tanner's team uses one of his bats to hit with.

Night at the Diamonds

2011-04-12T13:24:00.000-07:00

Getting Ready

Strike Your Out!

Every time Tanner pitches coaches from the other teams complement him and tell Landon what a talented pitcher they have on their team.

Chloe loves spending nights at the ball fields, she takes her scooter and rides it around for hours. She has lots of little friends she has made that are there every night as well so they have a great time.#1 Coach and very Proud Dad

He Saved the Game!

2011-04-05T06:34:00.000-07:00

Last night I wasn't able to make it to Tanner's baseball game, but apparently I should have been there because he had a pretty awesome night. In fact he saved them game. Here is the story... the score was 16 to 15 with his team up by 1 point. The other team had last bats and they were up. Tanner hadn't pitched all night but the coach put him in to pitch the last inning. The first batter his a ball right back at Tanner and Tanner threw it to first to get the out. Then he struck the next two batters out. 3 up 3 down. He held his team's one point lead. He was the hero of the night :)

Soccer and Baseball

2011-04-03T08:13:00.000-07:00

Yesterday we spent all day at the ball park. We were seriously there from about 10:00 in the morning until 9:00 at night. Though we did have a break at one point for a few hours. Chloe had a soccer game and Tanner had a baseball tournament.

Chloe's team won their soccer game 7-1. Chloe scored the last goal with seconds to go. She also took a turn being the goalie and nothing got by her.

Tanner's team had an awesome day! They won all three of their games including the championship game. They all played really well. Tanner had some great hits along with some awesome base running. He did his job when he was in the outfield and didn't make any mistakes while he was out there.

And so it begins...

2011-03-31T14:46:00.000-07:00

It is once again that time of year when we eat, breath, and dream baseball, or at least Landon and Tanner do, but they drag the rest of the family along for the ride as well. Yep you guessed it BASEBALL SEASON!

Tanner's little league season has begun and to say we are busy is and understatement. Landon is the assistant coach this year so he is still pretty involved. Not only do we have the regular season but Tanner is also still doing the tournament league. So he has 2-3 practices a week along with 2 games a week. On a week like this one he has even more games because he has a tournament on the weekend.-YIKES! His team is the Detroit Tigers. Someone actually offered to trade Landon for the Boston Red Sox at a coaches meeting but he turned down their offer-GASP can you believe it! He said it was because the boys already had a Tigers cheer.

Chloe has started soccer again as well so we are all staying on our toes.

SIDE NOTE-my camera has once again had a lens malfunction-I am so frustrated!-there might not be many pictures for awhile because every time I need to take a picture I have to ask someone else to do it or borrow a camera. I am trying to decided whether to buy a new one or get this one fixed again.

Science Fair Projects

2011-03-31T14:41:00.000-07:00

The kids both did the science fair again this year. Chloe's was Does CRUSHED or CUBED ICE Melt Faster? (Check out the awesome graph her daddy helped her make.)

Tanner's was Which Brand of BATTERY Last the LONGEST?

FYI-if your wondering Energizer really does last longer than others. :)

Neither one of them won this year but they both did really well and got high scores on there judging.

Sea World

2011-03-22T12:54:00.000-07:00

We went to San Diego last week for Spring Break. It was a blast. We went down there with our friends-The Starks. Our kids are best of friends and at times I think they must think they are siblings because they are together so much. We had lots of fun. On Friday we went to Sea world. We had a fun time and I think we saw every exhibit and rode every ride that we could. One of the kids favorite parts was the rides. The only bad part you got wet on them and it was kind of cold so you were shivering all day long. The kids didn't seem to mind though until the very end of the day.

The Whale Show

My Boys

The Sea Lion Show-this was the kids favorites the laughed so hard. They also enjoyed feeding the seals.
The Dolphin Show

2 Fat Guys (LOL)

Journey to Atlantis (Chloe's favorite ride-including the 60 foot drop)

Shipwreck Rapids (Tanner's Favorite Ride) They have changed a lot since the last time we were at Sea World. You can no longer walk up to the dolphin pool at any time and touch them. The only time you can do this is if you pay to feed them and they only do it once a day-we missed out on it since we didn't realize this. Also no more stingrays to touch though you can still touch the starfish. The shows were also a lot more sensationalized and had a lot more production and acting from people instead of from the actual animals-which was a little disappointing, but they were still enjoyable to watch.

Beach Bums

2011-03-21T14:05:00.000-07:00

Last week when we went to San Diego. Our first stop was the beach. We were planning on spending the afternoon at the beach but we didn't quite get to San Diego when we had planned to so we only ended up spending about an hour there. The kids loved every minute of it though. They played in the freezing cold water ( I couldn't even stand to be in it for over a minute) until the life guards asked everyone to get out because the waves were kind of dangerous where we were at. After that they played in the sand until we decided to drag them away from the beach, shaking and shivering with cold. If we lived by a beach I think my kids would seriously be in danger of becoming beach bums. LOL

Check out Chloe's awesome mermaid tail

A quick stop in LAS VEGAS

2011-03-20T20:03:00.000-07:00

On the way home from our trip to San Diego we stopped in Las Vegas for a few hours. The kids had fun riding a couple of rides, seeing the lions at MGM Grand, and visiting M & M World. The had a blast looking at all four floors of M & M merchandise. We also got to see a funny M & M 3-D movie hence the 3-D glasses. Chloe really wanted to ride the New York New York roller coaster but we just didn't have time. Landon promised to take her on it then next time we go through there.

The kids were both so tired that they fell asleep 30 minutes before we got home. We had a busy and fun filled weekend they were completely tuckered out.

Rodeo and Baseball

2011-03-07T12:28:00.001-08:00

We had a busy and fun filled weekend. Tanner had a ball tournament on Friday and Saturday so we were pretty much outside all day both days. Guess what I have a sunburn can you believe it? Tanner did great. He is getting better each time and more and more confident. He got an awesome hit in his first game, and he played various positions in the outfield (center, left, right). The games were fun to watch. They won their first two and lost the second two.

We also went to our nieces Junior High Rodeo Saturday morning. It was fun. Chloe was in heaven. She kept wanting to ride Kylie's horse, and she always wanted to do it all by herself. Now all she can talk about is when she gets her own horse, and she spends hours looking at the KSL website at the horses that are for sale. We are in big trouble. LOL

Broken Tooth and Pinewood Derby

2011-02-24T05:34:00.000-08:00

Yesterday at school I got a page over the intercom to come to the office. So I went down there and there stood Tanner with a upset look on his face trying not to cry. He had broken off half of his front tooth in P.E. when he was practicing the high jump. Somehow when he went over the bar his knee hit his mouth and knocked out part of his front tooth. OUCH!

We headed right over to the dentist they were so good to get us right in. They said luckily he didn't have to have a root canal done right then because they could see the nerve but they didn't think he had hit it. So they fixed it the best they could with a fake temporary tooth. However the dentist thinks that eventually they will need to do a little bit of surgery and pull more of the tooth down and then put a veneer in, because of how it broke. Poor Kid.

Here is the after you can't really tell. He was so brave and didn't cry once during the whole thing dentist trip and all. I told them luckily it wasn't Chloe I brought in or we would have had to heavily sedate her to even get her in the chair. LOL

Then last night was the pinewood derby. Here are all the cars lined up to race. It was really a fun time. Tanner's car did really well. He consistently got about 3.20 to 3.21 and was usually in the heat that had the 3rd fastest times. The times ran from 2.90 to 3.76 so his did really well especially considering the fact that it was wobbling a little bit due to one of the axles being off just a little.

He won an award for the neatest car. It's kind of sad that this is our last pinewood derby because next year at this time Tanner will have graduated to boy scouts :(

New Addition

2011-02-22T06:29:00.000-08:00

Here is the newest addition to our family.

Chloe's new hamster named Snowflake-the poor thing hasn't had a rest in two days.

Note to self: never let husband take six year old with money in a pet store. LOL

♥ VALENTINES ♥

2011-02-15T17:50:00.001-08:00

For Valentines Day Landon helped Chloe make this cute frog mailbox.I helped her make candy cane heart cards. Tanner just wanted to take reese's-so he did.

The kids had a fun day, and had to look at all their treats and cards when they got home from school.
What a pair of cuties.

I love Valentines Day! Such a fun holiday. I had school that night so Landon got off early and took me out to lunch at The Olive Garden. It was very nice and we had a great time. Love you Land.

Dancing Dave

2011-02-12T19:51:00.001-08:00

On Saturday we had a sort of impromptu dance party. We had our friends come over from across the street as well as our neighbor Dave and his wife. We had a BBQ. Set up the TV and Wii in the garage and danced the night away. We had so much fun dancing and laughing. Check out Dave's dance moves he really got into it. LOL

BASKETBALL

2011-02-12T15:02:00.000-08:00

Tanner has had a fun time playing basketball this year. He is on a team with a couple of kids from our ward. He has really learned a lot his year. He is really quick and has gotten a lot of steals and rebounds and has become excellent at guarding his opponent. Today was his last game for the season and his team pulled off a final win. Basketball is really my sport I love watching it-it makes me miss the good old days of me being the one out there on the court playing.
We missed the actual team pictures because they were the week of Tanner's basketball tournament so I guess this is as good as it gets. From left to right.....

Jake, Cameron, Nolan, Tanner, Kaleb, Chris, and Collin

Toothless

2011-02-12T07:06:00.000-08:00

She now is missing 4 teeth. We just call her toothless. On Thursday she lost one tooth. Then yesterday she came home with and envelope from school. It was decorated and sealed it read "Chloe lost a tooth at school today", yep it had another one of her woofers in it. I told her that if she keeps loosing teeth she's going to have to live on applesauce for awhile. She said that's okay I like applesauce. LOL