Christmas in Las Vegas!

This post is dedicated to Sandi who threatened to remove me from her blog list if I didn't post an update soon.

Since yesterday (when I started working on this blog) was July 25th, I figured this would be a good time to write about Christmas! I have been trying to be more positive on my blog, so I won't go into the details of why last Christmas was so difficult for our family. Honestly, it isn't even necessary because last Christmas, we were reminded that people are amazing. They are kind and generous and mindful of others. All throughout the month of December, friends and neighbors anonymously left food and gifts for the kids at our doorstep. We were so grateful.

Mike and I weren't able to afford any presents for Christmas, so we relied on family activities to make the holidays memorable for the kids. We spent one weekend decorating our house. Thanks to our mischievous kittens, Buyo (the black one) and Diaho (the orange one), the tree was never decorated. The tree was a hand-me-down from my aunt Judy and has been getting progressively more ragged every year. Thanks to our wonderfully thoughtful kittens, we will probably be getting a new one next year. Someone should invent a kitten proof tree. They'd make millions.

Another weekend was spent making gingerbread houses from two kits which were left on our doorstep. One kit was a traditional ginger bread house while the other was made of Rice Krispies. Both kits were so stale that we couldn't eat them, but we had fun decorating and making a mess!

The Rice Krispy Treat house turned into a large amorphous blob, so we ripped it up and turned it into snow men... kind of. The weird looking one on the far left was Emily's.

On December 20th, we were driving around Pocatello looking for something Christmas-y to do. I think we were contemplating heading to Idaho Falls when I got a phone call.

"This is Alex Guerrero calling on behalf of the Ryan Clady Foundation."

Now, in the back of my mind, I knew who Alex Guerrero and Ryan Clady were, but I couldn't think of any possible reason why they'd be calling. As a result, all that came out of my mouth was a skeptical, "Uh-huh...?"

"Would your family be interested in going to the Las Vegas Bowl?"

"Very much..." I remembered hearing that Ryan Clady had asked for names of Boise State fans who might be having a rough year and would appreciate a trip to the bowl game, but a family had already been chosen.

"Well, we'd like to invite you at our expense."

"...Seriously? Um... yeah... I mean... yeah! That's amazing!!"

Our conversation continued while Mike remained oblivious in the seat next to me. Apparently, after seeing how well things had worked out with the first family they selected, Chris Carr decided to fund a second family's trip and asked for the list of names. Our family was on the list. Alex told me that Mike was selected because they were impressed by a congratulatory note Mike had sent to the winning family. Alex asked how many were in our family, what our kids' ages were, and what size shirts they wore. Then he told me that, if we were going to go, we needed to be in Boise by 5:00 am the next morning.

Yikes! I handed Mike the phone so he could work out the details. I don't think he believed me when I told him who was on the phone. It was fun to watch him go through the same disbelief I had just minutes before. He turned the car around, and we headed home to pack. We debated whether we should leave then and ask our friends and family in Boise if any of them could put us up for the night, but we decided it was too short of a notice, and opted to sleep early and leave at 1:00 am. Wrong decision. We couldn't sleep.

We arrived in Boise early and had to wait for about an hour and a half in the cold car for the charter bus to show up. When it finally came, the bus was as cold as our car! We tried to sleep in the bus, but it just didn't happen. The drive was long and terrifying as we drove through some horrible snow storms with white-out conditions. Luckily, Alex had all sort of fun activities to help pass the time. We had raffles and trivia contests. Mike and I had brought DVDs for the kids which the bus driver let us play on the bus's system. Thankfully, the other passengers didn't mind watching Cars and Toy Story. We had brought snacks, coloring books, and video games as a preemptive measure to keep the kids entertained on the long drive, but they surprised us by being incredibly well behaved. The other passengers kept commenting on how they were worried when they saw such young kids board the bus, but were impressed by how well behaved they were. Emily would always answer them by saying, "Nobody wants to hear me cry, so let's all have fun!" Despite the long drive and lack of sleep, nothing seemed to upset the kids except when Emily misunderstood and thought that we were going to Lost Vegas. She insisted that she didn't want to be lost, she wanted to watch Boise State.

We arrived in Vegas that evening. The rest of the passengers took a shuttle from the hotel to the strip, but we didn't have any money for the taxi ride back. Instead, we stayed in the hotel, ordered a pizza, and took hot baths to warm up from the cold bus ride. We were all too exhausted to do anything else anyhow!

The next morning, we hit the strip. We figured there must still be plenty to do without spending money. What we didn't take into account was the amount of walking and the amount of rain. Our hotel was "just off the strip," but we didn't realize how far off the strip it really was! The kids and Mike had their fun at my expense as they watched my hair get curlier and curlier from the rain. I don't look good with curly hair. It only got worse as the rain stopped and my hair dried into a nice gravity-defying frizz. However, we were much more concerned about our shoes and pants. It wasn't until after we got back to the hotel that we found out that Vegas was under a flash flood warning. All we knew was that the water was often ankle deep and we were soaked through from all the walking. Still, we were enjoying ourselves too much to care.

When we got back from the strip, we all changed into dry clothes. Mike and I used my hair dryer and the hotel's hair dryer to try to dry out our shoes. In the end, it wasn't worth the effort. By game time, it was raining again, and it only took seconds of being outside before we were soaked. We headed to the stadium early and went to all the free tailgate activities we could find. We didn't have ponchos, and vendors were selling them for as much as $20 a piece. That's a bit too much for a garbage bag with arm holes, if you ask me! We finally found someone who offered to sell us a two pack for $5, and give them to the kids. Later, we saw a kid pull off his poncho and throw it on the ground because it had a hole in it. I'm not ashamed to admit that I snatched it up and put it on right then and there.

The game was the coldest I've ever attended, but it was totally worth it! Hyrum kept telling the Ute fans behind us, "Boise State wins by far." He wasn't trying to taunt them, but I don't think they appreciated it much, and they changed seats before the fourth quarter. An older couple in front of us kept fawning over Hyrum and Emily, and the kids ate it up. Best of all, Hyrum was right, and Boise "won by far."

After the game, we went down to the field and managed to get pictures with Joe Southwick the backup quarterback. Hyrum begged for the chance to meet a real football player, but he was stunned into silence when he saw just how tall he really was. Also, although we didn't get any pictures with the real Doug Martin, we did get a picture with the Muscle Hamster. Back at the hotel, we dried off and piled our beds high with warm blankets.

The next morning, we boarded the bus to Boise, then drove to Pocatello. We arrived home at 1:30 am Christmas Eve, and promptly fell asleep. When we woke up, it was to another surprise. Someone had given our family money to buy Christmas presents! Mike and I dumped our kids off with my parents and went shopping. We all met up at my Grandma Sears's house that evening for presents with the extended family. That night, we gave both kids new pajamas. Hyrum's had Mario, Luigi, and Bowser on them, and Emily's had zebra pants and a zebra applique on the shirt and came with a stuffed zebra. Hyrum ran around pretending to be Mario, collecting coins and jumping on blocks. Emily was in heaven pretending to be a zebra. I think that in her mind, zebras are as close to perfection as anything on this earth. The next morning we opened presents and enjoyed a nice Christmas at my mom's house. I promise you we had a good time even though I don't have pictures or videos. I didn't have time to recharge my camera after Vegas. Oops!

Boise State College Game Day

Last time I posted the summer and fall update, I completely forgot to post about our trip to Boise State when ESPN's College Game Day was there. I realized my mistake when I was clearing out space on my camera's memory card. So here ya go!

Boise State had just won their first game against Virginia Tech in Washington D.C. and was up against Oregon State at home in Boise. After years of promising to do it, ESPN finally brought their College Game Day show to Boise, and Mike and I were there for it. We had a lot of fun meeting with some of Mike's online friends for a tailgate. We also met a lot of Oregon State fans and plenty of fans from other schools who were in Boise to cheer on the Broncos. One guy--a Michigan fan--had specifically come because it was his birthday, and he asked his wife to take him to see the blue field in lieu of a birthday present. Here are the pictures and videos.

This was the basic set up from where we were sitting. The tier above us was full too. They told us that we had either tied or beaten the record attendance for College Game Day. Not bad for 7:00 am. And that was with half the city attending a marathon that same morning!

The tent had the cameras and desk where the commentators sit, and the screen next to it showed us what was happening on the camera since their backs were to us.

One of my favorite signs (and sign holder) down on the field.

Mark May is a commentator who is well known as being overly critical of Boise State, TCU, Utah, and all other non automatic qualifying teams. He is also well known for not being able to take any criticism. So much so, that they won't allow any anti Mark May signs in the Game Day crowd, no matter how harmless. Our friend Tyler swiped this confiscated sign as we left the stadium and posted it outside of our tailgate tent.

The kids getting ready for the game.

Kids pulling silly faces.

Emily dancing at the tailgate.

This was the color scheme at the game. We were in one of the orange sections. I'm always surprised at how well the color coordination works out.

The view from our seats during the game.

The morning after the game, we took the kids swimming at our hotel pool. It was the first time we were able to get them in the water without screaming. We had a harder time getting them out again when it was time to go home!

Let's Review Part 3: Jessica's Birthday etc.

My birthday was December 31st. We had my mom and Sherwin over for dinner. I made salmon, and Mom made a cherry chocolate cake. Mom and Sherwin gave me towel racks for the bathrooms and a step-stool so I can reach the cabinets in the kitchen. We watched an old movie called The Court Jester and played pinochle.

Mike gave me my "present" the next day. I knew he was up to something because he kept secretly taking calls. Sometime between 5:00 and 5:30, my friends Lezhai and Melissa came with their families. Shortly after, Dan and Carissa and their girls came. Finally, Sandi came with her husband Nathan and daughter Annalee. In all, we had 9 adults and 11 kids. The kids went off to destroy our play room while the adults ate and chatted. Lezhai and Darnell had to leave early because their daughter wasn't feeling well, and they had to pick up their two boys from the movies. The rest of us played a great game of Cranium. Mike and I used to entertain a lot, but we haven't had friends who were into parties and games since we moved to Boise. It was a lot of fun to do that again! The only down side is that we left our vacuum in Nampa by accident and can't clean the chips out of the carpet.

Mike's niece Caryssa will be attending BYU-I this coming semester. We went to Rexburg on Saturday to help her move in. I can't believe how much that city and campus have changed. We'll be glad to have her nearby, and plan to have her over for dinner sometime.

Saturday the 3rd, my brother and his wife had a baby girl. Congratulations, James and Tessie! She's beautiful!

On Sunday, I found my Aunt Zelma (She's really my grandma's cousin, not my aunt) is in my ward. She was so excited to see me there since she hasn't seen me since I was very young. Still, she knew who I was immediately. I guess my grandma tipped her off that we were moving out near her. She seems to be a very positive, bubbly person. I've been told she is a very talented person. It was nice to meet her.

Next Monday, I start work, and Mike and Hyrum start school. I'm a little apprehensive about how all our schedules will work out... or not work out. Wish us luck!

Rock Family Reunion

**Note** read this blog first followed by this blog second before reading the following entry.

After a partial week at home with Mike's birthday, we hit the road again. This time, we went to East Idaho to visit my family! Mike and I were reminded how much we love and miss that area. We got to my mom's house in Shelley Friday night and met up with my nephews Ethan and Isaac and niece Piper who were already there, and were shortly joined by my oldest brother James, his wife Tessie, and my sister Julie. Emily took to James like she did to Dave at Mike's reunion. The second Hyrum and Piper met up, they grabbed on to each other's hands and took off running. They're always so happy to see one another.

Saturday morning we had the Rock Family Reunion at Heise Hot Springs just out side of Ririe. It was attended by over 60 people. Not a bad turn out!

My Grandma Sears is the last surviving of her generation, so the reunion was centered around her. She makes sock monkey dolls for each of her grandkids and great grandkids when they're born, so the reunion was monkey themed.

One of my aunts made my grandma a monkey crown.

We had games with monkey themed prizes.

Our first game was catching water balloons sent flying from a balloon launcher. Hyrum and Emily helped load the balloons into the launcher. We got soaked and had a blast.





After that we had lunch while my grandma spoke to us about her memories of my Great Grandma and Grandpa Rock and the old farm in Rockland ID (which, by the way, is not called Rockland because my family lived there). Lunch was followed by a variety of three legged and sack races and egg tosses for kids and adults alike.


Hyrum played with Piper and my cousin Jason's daughter Savannah, and Emily latched on to my cousin Jamie.

Some of the family went swimming and golfing there at Heise while Mike and I went to Idaho Falls to visit some old friends and shop. I got to see my friend Sandi and her new beautiful baby Annalee. Both the kids loved the baby and wanted to give her kisses. They also loved their dog.

Saturday night, a lot of us reconvened at my mom's house in Shelley for another dinner. Aside from James's family and Julie, we also had my aunt Jane and my cousin Jason's family. The kids played out in the back yard while the adults took turns playing and visiting. I managed to smack Mike in the head with spinny disky thing and drew blood. I don't think he's going to let me live that down. Emily and Piper blew bubbles together, and Hyrum ran races with Ethan, Isaac, and Mason.

Julie thought we needed s'mores, so she sent me and Mike to the store to get what we needed while the rest got the fire started in the fire pit. We had a great time just visiting and roasting marshmallows and most headed to bed tired and dirty while Mike and I stayed up to watch the Avatar series finale movie with Ethan.

Sunday, James and his family headed back to Boise. The rest of us spent the day visiting while the kids played. Emily must have been getting used to being around people, because after a weekend with Mike's family and a few days with mine, she finally started to open up a bit. She was being much more social and really started to bond with my mom and Sherwin. A little after 5:00, Mike and I left the kids with Mom and Sherwin and headed out to Destinations Inn in Idaho Falls where we had a reservation in the Vienna room. We had gotten the recommendation from Mike's sister and her husband. We came to the room to find sparkling cider in the ice bucket and cheesecake in the fridge. It was nice even though the movie we rented was pretty dumb. It was a little nostalgic for me since Destinations is right across the street from Chesbro Music Co. where I worked for about 2 years before and during college.

Mike woke up Monday morning with an enormous headache. He ate only a tiny bit of the breakfast they brought to our room, then had me drive back to Shelley. I had to pull over on the side of the road while Mike got out and lost his breakfast. Mike was supposed to go home that day and take my sister Julie with him. We were worried that he would be too sick to drive, but Julie had to be home to pick up her daughter at the bus station in the morning. Mike took some headache medicine and went to bed for the rest of the morning and afternoon when we got back to my mom's house. When he woke up, he still felt weak, but thought he was well enough to go home.

My mom had asked my brother James if she could have his kids for a week before the reunion and asked me if she could have mine for the week after. However, she was worried that Emily was still too young for her to watch her alone, so we decided that I should stay in Shelley as well. Mike would meet us part way in Twin Falls on Thursday. So Mike and I parted company once he got feeling better.

Tuesday, I called my Grandma Page to see if there was a time I could come visit her. However, our day was delayed when I came out of my mom's computer room to see a wall of water about a foot or so deep built up behind the glass in the window well of her basement family room. The water was rushing in through the corner on the left side, and the pressure wasn't going down because water kept running in to the well from a hose left on outside. My mom and step-dad had just had an insurance claim for a flooded basement due to a broken pipe only a few weeks ago and Mom was concerned about filing another claim. We quickly got the water turned off and started sopping up what we could with towels, but the water just kept coming. Mom called Sherwin who was out golfing, and he came home right away. We got what we could get out of the carpet with a shop vac while Sherwin went to a rental store and rented a carpet shampooer and floor fans. In the end, we got it all cleaned up, and they shouldn't need to make any claim. The only concern we had was that the baseboards were pulling away from the drywall, and we were afraid of warping. But everything seemed ok once it was all dry.

After an eventful morning, we went to the credit union where my mom is the manager so she could show off the grandkids. Hyrum withdrew $5 from his account and even got to sign the receipt for the transaction. He liked doing that. Afterwards, we headed out to Firth to pick up my Grandma Page for lunch. She treated us to lunch at a restaurant in Blackfoot, and we had a nice visit. We had to go back to my mom's house afterwards because Emily had completely caked her cute dress and her perfect little curls with macaroni and cheese.

After we got the kids cleaned up, we headed to my friend Sandi's house to drop off a present for her baby that I had forgotten to give her when Mike and I visited earlier. Then we visited my Grandma Sears. I took some of her rhubarb to make a strawberry rhubarb pie for Mom and Sherwin. Hyrum liked playing in her yard, and Emily loved playing with her basket of toys. Emily warmed up to Grandma Sears quite well and even let her hold her. Maybe the ice cream cone she gave her helped too.


That evening, after we went home, we chatted and ate the pies I made from grandma's rhubarb. Even Sherwin had to admit that they were tasty. Sherwin is a pretty good cook himself.

Wednesday, I woke up feeling a little sick, so I went back to bed at about 10:00 when Emily took a nap. When we woke up again at about noon, we decided to take the kids to the zoo. I knew Hyrum would love it because he's really in to wild animals, but I thought Emily would be too young to enjoy it and just get cranky and tired. I was totally wrong. Emily loved the zoo! Both kids had a ball looking for, and pointing out animals and mimicking the sounds they make. Emily refused to sit in her stroller or be carried unless you were just picking her up so she could see into the exhibit.

Hyrum found his favorite animal early on. He thought the otters were so funny the way they swam and watched for quite a long time before we convinced him to move on.

Emily surprised me with her favorite animal. As we neared the zebras, she suddenly called out, "Zebra!" I didn't even know she knew what one was. For a very long time after leaving that area, she was still happily chanting, "Zebra! Zebra! Zebra!" Both kids liked the monkeys and the big cats. they got to feed the ducks and the goats in the petting zoo. Hyrum really enjoyed that. Emily tried to eat the food pellets for the ducks, but decided they were yucky (thank goodness).

We also came during the feeding time for the penguins. Both of them liked watching them swallow those fish whole and hop from rock to rock waiting their turn for the food. We went to gift shop when we were done and found a stuffed zebra for Emily. She snatched it from my mom's hands and hugged it tight. She glared at the lady behind the counter when she tried to take it from her to ring it up. I had to turn the tag around for her while Emily still clutched the zebra and gave her dirty looks. We gave Hyrum a few options on which toy he wanted. It was no surprise that he picked a stuffed otter. We took Hyrum to the playground nearby, but Emily had had enough by then and wanted to go home. So we put the reluctant Hyrum and the sleepy Emily in the car and headed back.


Once we got back to Shelley, Emily got a second wind and was just as energetic as ever. She and Hyrum played with play dough and sidewalk chalk on my mom's back patio until late in the day. Needless to say, we all slept well that night.

Thursday morning, I got up and folded laundry and repacked our bags. We were headed home! Mom and Sherwin were swapping one set of grandkids for another. Sherwin's daughter Carla's kids were coming to stay with them for a few weeks. Sherwin picked up the kids at the airport while Mom and I went to the store for some juice for the kids. I also took Hyrum to the dollar store to spend the $5 he had pulled out of his account on Tuesday. He got to pick out the toys he wanted himself. He also picked out toys for Emily. Seems he didn't think it was fair if he got toys and she didn't. What a sweet kid! We went back to the house one last time to pack my bags in the rental van and we were off!

It was a long drive to Twin Falls with 4 little kids, but I was excited to get there anyhow. Not just because we were meeting up with Mike again, but because we had planned to go to the Twin Falls temple's open house. As I mentioned in my post about Mike's family reunion, Hyrum loves temples. We drove him past the Idaho Falls temple while we were in East Idaho as well. But this would be different. He could actually go inside the temple! I know he's young. But I was 4 when I went to the Boise temple open house. And I still remember it. Hyrum really did enjoy the tour. He was quiet and reverent through the whole thing, just looking around and taking it all in. Emily, on the other hand, was hyper and noisy. The tour guides were telling us that they loved her happy little voice and not to shush her. We still shushed her, but not because we were embarrassed. But we did want her to understand what it means to be reverent. Still, for such a young child, she did very well. She even knows what a temple is and will exclaim, "Temple!" every time she sees one or sees a picture of one. What a cutie!

The kids and I didn't get the luxury of going home after our trip. Mike's boss Spencer invited us to a BBQ at their house, and we went straight there first. We had an enjoyable evening chatting and playing with their two new puppies. Hyrum had fun playing with their daughter Ellie, and Emily was showing off going from lap to lap and chasing the cats and dogs.

We're home now, and glad to be home. When Emily came in the house for the first time when we got back, she threw open her bedroom door and yelled, "Hi!" to all her toys and squealed as she ran off to play with everything she could in as little time as she could. She was thrilled to sleep in her own bed with her new zebra. Hyrum also seemed happy to be back in his bed, although he didn't miss his toys as much as Emily missed hers. Now all that's left is to unpack everything. Ugh..

Happy Easter!

So today is Easter. What better time than now to finally update the blog?

But before I get into Easter stuff, I wanted to brag a bit. We had our first parent teacher conference at Hyrum's school this past week. He is doing well, although he still has a ways to go. We met with 3 different teachers since he has a regular teacher, a speech pathologist, and an occupational therapist that work with him in class. They all commented on how much he loves to sing. That's my boy! Wonder where he gets it from? Currently, his favorite song is "A Child's Prayer," which he insists on singing at least 40 times a day.

They also all mentioned how quiet and obedient he is in class. They say that compared to the other kids, he's much quieter and behaved. In fact, his speech pathologist was thrilled to tell us that he actually shoved a kid off of him for getting in his personal space and being obnoxious. While she said that she would prefer him to communicate it another way, she was cheering him on for finally standing up for himself. The other two teachers agreed that they were amazed and encouraged by the act.

Talking with them also answered quite a few mysteries. One day, he came home from school and started pointing out all the things on the ceiling. He'd point to the doorbell, the fire alarms, the lights, anything that was up high that he hadn't noticed before. He was particularly intrigued by the doorbell. When we went to the conference, he started chanting "doorbell" as we neared the school, and we couldn't figure out why. As we entered the front door, he immediately pointed to the fire alarm next to the door. We decided that he must have thought it was the same thing as the box that houses the door chime at our home. Then the teacher told us a story of how they had a fire drill and Hyrum flipped out. She was afraid she was going to have to have him go home early or sit in the nurse's office until school was over because he wouldn't calm down. Now every time he goes to school, he has to check for the fire alarm. Even when we go to stores, he has to check it out and know where all the alarms are. It's a sort of paranoia for him now.

Emily is doing well. She's trying more and more to walk. She loves to stand, but when it comes to moving around, she'll drop back down to her knees and crawl. Oh well. I'm sure it'll come in time. She's also jabbering a lot, and loves to sing with Hyrum. She's getting more teeth, and her hair is starting to get longer and curlier. She sure is a cutie!

Mom came to visit yesterday. Hyrum was thrilled to see her! It took Emily a little while to warm up to her, but a little food helped Mom to make friends with her. We went out to Julie's house. She made us a nice lunch. Afterwards, on the way home, we decided to stop for ice cream. We had seen a shop on the way in that advertised ice cream, so we went back to find it. It turned out to be the shop where Julie works as a chocolate dipper. I think Julie would be happy to know we got to see her workplace. She loves her job there!

After sacrament meeting today, Mike had gone ahead to set up for our primary class. He had left Emily's diaper bag in the coat room, and we needed some toys from it to keep her happy while we taught. So I headed up to the coat room and nearly ran right into a woman coming out. A quick double take, and I realized it was a high school friend of mine and Jacob's! I knew that she was living in Nampa, but hadn't actually been to see her, although we had exchanged a few emails. She has been fighting a rare form of breast cancer, but things are going very well now. Last I had heard, she had a clean bill of health. She was always a very positive, upbeat person. That was something I had always admired about her when we were in school. It seems that hasn't changed one bit. What an inspiration! She's just as cute and cheerful as always! I was sure thrilled to see her!

So, on to Easter stuff! The Easter Bunny crashed last night and didn't wake up again until the kids were awake. So he came to visit after church during nap time. Emily got a stuffed bunny, a bunny bath mitt, bunny shaped soap, socks, and shoes.



Hyrum got a duck bath mitt, duck shaped soap, a duck shaped bath fizzy, a Buzz Lightyear kite, and a bike.



The soaps are entirely too adorable to actually use. Hyrum loved the bath mitt, and played with it like a puppet, making it quack. Nearly all was forgotten at the realization that the bike was his, although candy still reigned supreme. once he finished off his candy bracelet, we couldn't get him off the bike. He drove it in the living room, the kitchen, the bedroom, the hallway.. that's not really saying much though since our apartment is roughly the size of a shoebox. It took some convincing to get him to put it away in the garage. But when we told him he could "park" it next to the car, he thought that was super neat. Sure we may have splurged a little on the bike. But it actually wasn't very expensive at all, and I'm sure he'll get a lot of enjoyment from it. Since Hyrum has this week off for spring break, I think I'll take him to the park to ride his bike and fly his kite. The weather has been so nice lately!





Hyrum also enjoyed hunting eggs again this year. I think he remembered doing it last year, because it only took a little prodding to get him to put down the candy and search for them. Maybe next year Emily will be able to help.





Sadly, Emily wouldn't cooperate for pictures today. I'll try to post some of her later. Sundays are always hard with Emily. It really messes up her schedule. She likes her new shoes a lot, so we'll have to see if she'll let me take pictures of her wearing them.

That's all the news from around here. Yep... exciting, I know. But I DID give you pictures this week, so no complaining!

Oh, and Hyrum just pulled his bike from the garage, insisting he sleep with it in his room tonight...