The Wolfley Family Howl

Green smoothies baby!

noreply@blogger.com (Sid) — Wed, 06 Jan 2010 17:51:00 +0000

You know that feeling you get from feeding your family healthy food and they enjoy it? I have been trying some crazy new smoothies out since Christmas. The kids were a little leery but now they love them and they are eating spinach and carrots and fruit! It doesn't get much better than that!

To make this cute little smoothie I used these four ingredients. Blended them in my new Vitamix, put them in shot glasses, and served them with pasta dinner. The kids had a great time drinking their vegatables!

Kitchen makeover results!

noreply@blogger.com (Sid) — Sat, 02 Jan 2010 05:43:00 +0000

Here was our kitchen. We had a nice white kitchen. Black and white tile floor. Some liked it, but it is a pain in the behind to keep clean. I wouldn't recommend it to anyone. Bead board as the

back splash and on walls. Cute, yet not cute at all. Falling apart in fact. Five cupboard doors had come off the hinges. We replaced them but never got the right ones so the door never closed correctly. It was going down hill and fast. It had to be done...... When you start a project of any kind it is always more involved than you first might think. Here are the ugly pipes in the wall, the dry rot in the floor and wall that needed to be replaced.

Lucas was really into helping and the hammer was his favorite! Mr. Makeover himself sporting his sweat band as he pounds the tile to pieces! Goodbye black and white tile....we won't miss you at all!

Daniel's sister, Jill had to get in on the fun. She loves this kind of stuff and I hope she didn't lose sleep over it!(she likes to dream about organizing and projects like this)

Dan's removal of the old cupboards.

Papa Wolfley and Dan getting the floor boards replaced. Lucas was with them the whole way. All the other kids played and did their own thing, but not our Lukey! He takes after Dan's side of the family for sure! Floor is almost ready for tile! Yippeee! See the one new cupboard in! I was so excited!

The tile layers were fast and did such a nice job!

Here it is! TA DA! I love it, I love it! I love it! I will think back of my month washing the dishes in the bathtub, or making cruddy meals for my family(microwave style) sorry if that is how you cook. But it just wasn't a great experience. I will forever be so grateful for my kitchen! Thank you Dad and Daniel for the many, many hours of thought, sweat and physical exertion you put into this part of our house! I love it!

The end.

Wolfley Christmas Eve festivities

noreply@blogger.com (Sid) — Mon, 28 Dec 2009 05:34:00 +0000

We had a wonderful Christmas eve with the Grandparents, the Allen family, Jon and Megan and Jon's Mom, Ellen. Here is the large family around the tables.There is The Littlest Angel story read by Papa of course.

Cousin Nate is always a big help. I thought this was a cute picture.

Ammie put her skills to work making these plush robes for all the grandkids! One thing about me is,I love robes! I think I was the most excited about this gift! They are a portable blanket the you tie on and can do anything in! Our kids now play flying squirrels in the morning when they are wearing their new robes! We love them! Thank you Ammie!

Milk and cookies for Santa of course! I was trying to get our usual pictures we take every year. One in front of the tree with new pajamas and one in front of the fireplace with the Santa goodies. The kids were to crazy and couldn't hold still. It had been one crazy day from the moment they woke up till they finally fell asleep.

Happy Birthday Sid!

noreply@blogger.com (Dan) — Mon, 21 Dec 2009 05:12:00 +0000

33 years old and still a goofball.

So this is a little late but hey, it's the holidays and we are busy so give me some space. Sidnee requested a low-key birthday party so we just had some presents with the kids and then invited some family over for good ol' Catch Phrase on the weekend. I can't tell you how much I love that game. Sidnee's look of disbelief is due to the fact that I nailed her birthday gift...again! I always get her just what she wants. Truth be told I never win and always get the wrong thing. I showed her this year. I went to three seperate stores and bought armloads of colors and styles in hopes that she would like a few of them and not all. The kids and I had fun wrapping 40 presents and watching her unwrap them all. Happy Birthday Sid.

Twinners Get Baptized

noreply@blogger.com (Dan) — Tue, 15 Dec 2009 17:39:00 +0000

I wanted to throw up a picture from the girls baptism before I post Sidnee's birthday blog tonight. It happened this last Saturday. Sid's parents and siblings even came out for it. It was a wonderful day full of family, friends, and warm feelings. Thank you to all who attended to show their support for these wonderful little girls.

Twinners have a birthday...

noreply@blogger.com (Sid) — Mon, 14 Dec 2009 05:11:00 +0000

My girls are growing up! I see them change, they are beautiful daughters of God who are so faithful and have so much in store for them. I feel very honored to be their Mother. How time has passed so quickly and I wonder if I am doing the very best for them. I will try harder each day to be the kind of mother they need. I want them to never forget their worth and stay virtuous, kind and full of so much good.

Turning 8 means in our house you can put a hole in your ears (if you are female)! We had presents in the morning and then breakfast. I picked them up from school and we went to the mall and did the ear piercing thing. I only got one picture. It was just to dramatic and to many tears to pull out the camera. Kennedy went first. She did great and held real still for the second ear with tears rolling down her cheeks. She was so brave. Then came Addison's turn and I couldn't find her. She was hiding in a wall of scarves! She didn't want to do it after witnessing her sister. She finally got in the chair and it was quickly over! After paying the million dollar bill that it takes to pierce ears these days and reassuring them the pain would stop soon, I walked out with two girls with bright red ears who witnessed one of the first painful experiences of being a girl. We met the rest of the family and Ammie and Papa at Red Robin for the celebratory dinner and that is where we finally got some pictures of the happy birthday girls. Then we had the Girl Birthday Party a few days later! That was quite an event and let me just tell you I learned a lot from this party. Things I will not do again and if you want to know what I learned just let me know and I will fill you in on the details. We did fingernail painting, dress up, pizza, cake and ice cream and then a dance contest. The girls had a great, crazy time!

Happy Anniversary

noreply@blogger.com (Dan) — Wed, 25 Nov 2009 06:29:00 +0000

I love you Sidnee. That was a fast 10 years. I look forward to the next 10. You are just as beautiful and feisty as the day I married you. Keep up the good work. ;)

Jack is Now the Big 4!

noreply@blogger.com (Sid) — Mon, 16 Nov 2009 06:26:00 +0000

Jackson lucked out with much party-ing this year! He has the best birthday day in my opinion because it is Veteran's day and so the kids don't have school and the banks are closed so he gets to spend his birthday with everyone surrounding him! We had quite the party with cousins, neighbors and kids from church to party with us! It was boomin' and I am glad Dan, the party animal was there to help me out! whew! Okay, isn't Luke looking like a big boy! I don't want my baby growing up so fast!
Addison and Kennedy were great party planners and did the decorations, the games and this cool chair for Jack to sit in while he opened presents.

This was a separate party at Ammie and Papa's house. Papa and Jack have shared their party for the past 3 years and it has worked out beautifully! These are the weirdos that showed up looking for cake and ice cream. (Thanks Uncle Jon for the cool idea)

What a handsome 4 year old. He got this crown at church and proudly wore it for hours until it ripped from the abuse.

He also got an awesome present in the mail from Grandma and Grandpa Beutler. It is a flap book all about the body. They had a great time opening the flap and seeing the waste come out of the intestines.
We love our little Jackson! He is his own man, does what he wants to do, says what he wants to say and cries about anything and everything! Is that a 4 year old thing or what? I can't remember from one kid to the next. He is not a follower of the group. He gives freely of his love and affection. He is always kissing Luke and I (if Luke will let him). I even saw him lean over and give another kid a smooch on the top of the head in primary the other day. I don' t think he really wanted to kiss that kid he just likes kissing and it comes automatically sometimes! Our lives are so blessed because of this boy. Four years have gone fast and we have loved every minute of it!

Blessings in abundance!

noreply@blogger.com (Sid) — Tue, 27 Oct 2009 16:32:00 +0000

No, it is not Thanksgiving yet but I am feeling so blessed! In church on Sunday we sang the song count your many blessings. I immediately thought of my mother and her singing that song countless times through out my life. The words hit home because I hadn't heard it in awhile.
"Count your many blessings, name them one by one." Well, first of all I am grateful for a companion who I admire, desire, can't live without! He is my world. I am grateful for the relationship we have. We are a good team! He has given me my next 5 blessings. We are a blessed family, not perfect but sometimes feel glimmers of what perfection will be like!
I just am really enjoying this time of year! The beauty, the weather, the food. I love cooking soups and biscuits and cookies and all the wonderful tasting and smelling foods! I want to feed my family healthy and am working on that!(kind of) It is not easy to change old habits and especially things your kids are used to eating. I made some homemade granola bars the other day. I felt good about feeding the kids these. Wholesome goodness!

Coconut Almond Bars

2 cups rolled oats
1 cup unsweetened coconut
1/2 cup each raisins, sunflower seeds, almonds
1 1/2 cup natural peanut butter
1 cup honey
1 tsp vanilla

combine oats, coconut, raisins, sunflower seeds, almonds. In separate bowl mix peanut butter, honey, and vanilla. Microwave for 1 min. Combine wet and dry ingred. on ungreased sheet. bake for 15 min. @ 350 degrees.
Thank you Emily Hanson for the recipies!

The End of an Era

noreply@blogger.com (Dan) — Wed, 14 Oct 2009 04:39:00 +0000

It is with heavy heart that I post this blog. My long time commuting companion is gone. The trusted friend to get me to and from work/school for the last 11 years is driving someone else to work today. I'm almost tearing up just writing about it. We froze through winter together and sweat through summer together for so long, and now, just like that, she's gone. :( No longer will she leave oil stains on my driveway. No longer will her window finally defrost only minutes from my destination. No longer will I have to drive home with all four windows down when it's 90 degrees outside. No longer will I have a car that I don't care how many door dings it has. I have parted ways with my 1991 Honda Civic and I'm kind of sad. Those of you who had the pleasure of riding shotgun in her know the bond we shared. We were like a well oiled machine (get it, "well oiled"). I just pulled the Craigslist add and signed the title away. I can only hope the new car in my driveway will live up to it's predecessor. Only time will tell. Goodbye little Civic. Goodbye.

Help!!!! I am drowning in pepto bismol!!!

noreply@blogger.com (Sid) — Tue, 13 Oct 2009 04:27:00 +0000

So here is my dilema..... I have told my girls that when Luke starts sleeping through the night they can have their room back. All four oldest kids have been sleeping in the same bedroom for over a year. We call it the orphanage because all that fits in the room is the 2 sets of bunk beds stacked on each wall. Luke is now 17 months old and still is NOT sleeping through the night. I was getting impatient and envisioning all these fun things we could do in their new room! So we booted his little body to the guest bedroom and went to the paint store to pick out paint. I wanted the girls to have a say in their room color. Two almost eight year olds idea of paint color was MUCH different than what I had in mind. I spent many hours painting in there room today and every time they would come in and check on the progress they squeal with excitement. "I can't believe this is our room! I looooove this pink room! I NEVER would have thought we would have such a cool room!" Honestly..... I really don't like it! It reminds me of the pink frosting on those sugar cookies you can buy at the store. Ya know, those soft cookies, pink frosting and sprinkles?

So do you see my dilema? What is a mom to do? It is really something I can live with and I am a strong believer in giving my kids choices so they can learn from them. Will it be better when I get the shelves on the wall and their beds in the room? Will it grow on me and I will learn to love it? Or should I go get some different, lighter pink paint at the store tomarrow and paint it while they are at school. Then I can tell them my true feelings and hope they agree? Am I over reacting? Please share your thoughts, ideas, and/or feelings with me!

Pumpkin Patch 2009

noreply@blogger.com (Dan) — Mon, 12 Oct 2009 05:01:00 +0000

Yes, I know, it's the same old pumpkin patch from last year, and the year before, and the year before that but the kids are older and the pumpkins photograph so well. I took the kids (minus Davis as he was at a birthday party and will be going with his kindergarden class anyway) by myself this year. As evidented by the picture below it is really hard to get kids to look in one direction without a second adult to supervise the photo shoot. This pic was the best I could do.

I love having kids old enough to take care of the baby.
Lucas lost his shoe and Jackson thought he would sit down and help. I'm not sure how sticking his hand down the back of his pants helps but oh well.
This was almost literally the only picture I was able to get Luke to look at me for. It's almost like the look on his face is saying "Will you please stop calling my name?"

I have no idea. Probably looking to see if it's a girl pumpkin or a boy pumpkin. I think I have a picture from the patch last year with Jackson doing this same thing. Maybe he knows something I don't. Maybe one gender of pumpkin carves better than the other.

Corn? We don't need no stinkin corn.

Pretty, Pretty Princess

noreply@blogger.com (Sid) — Mon, 05 Oct 2009 04:25:00 +0000

Isn't it wonderful when your kids get to the age they can play a game with each other and not need a parent to play along to ensure the game goes the way it should? During conference I got out every game we own and organized them. The kids were amazed at the billions of games we own! I just don't let them play with them because they would just throw them all over the house and then they would be useless! So, the rule was they had to put away the game they were playing before they could play another and it ended up being a success! They all played Pretty, Pretty Princess together and it was fun to sit back and watch! I knew they were listening to conference because they would comment on things that were said and as long as they were in the room and somewhat quiet, I couldn't complain! Except maybe about that fact that my 3 year old boy was the prettiest princess of all.

Bend It Like Sidnee

noreply@blogger.com (Dan) — Mon, 14 Sep 2009 05:04:00 +0000

OK, this post has nothing to do with soccer. In fact, it has nothing to do with sports. I just needed a catchy title to rope all of you blog stalkers in and then the pictures/subjects will do the rest.

Sidnee and I just finished our 10th anniversary celebration get-away this last week and we had a great time. Our actual anniversary is not until November but the weather sucks in November so we decided to celebrate early. Sidnee's mother was coming out for a wedding and we talked her into coming a little early to stay with the kids. I'm sure she regrets agreeing to it now but we sure enjoyed ourselves and would like to publicly thank her for her efforts. Thanks Jeanie!

We spent a good part of last week in Bend, OR (Central Oregon, East of the Cascade Mtns). It is a fun little town with a ton to do and see. We took the longer more scenic route down there which winds over the Siskiyou Mountains and through a small little town called Sisters. It is named such after the three mountains you see pictured below. The names of these three mountains are South Sister, Middle Sister, and of course, North Sister. How did they ever come up with those names? Anyway, we caught them at sunset and it turned out to be a nice picture.

This is a picture of Sidnee pouting in the car. She didn't want to get out and enjoy the beautiful scenery. She sure is cute though.
We used the first full day on our trip to drive down to Crater Lake. It is a huge lake in the middle of a dormant volcano. The lake is a beautiful blue and the pictures don't really do it justice.
Some guy helped us out with a picture. We had ventured out onto a ledge where we could have fallen to our deaths if we weren't careful. Don't worry Mom, we were careful (it was Sidnee's idea).
My tree friend and I kickin it.
After staring at the lake for a while we drove to the east side of the crater and proceeded to hike up Mt Scott. It is a hike that rises 1,500 feet in elevation over a 2.5 mile trail. The elevation at the top is 8,900 feet above sea level. There is a sign at the bottom of the trail that tells you to get back in your car if you are out of shape or have a heart condition. After we got to the top I realized I fell into the first category and should have gotten back in the car. Oh well, I lived to tell about it and catch Sidnee in the act of eating this granola bar...

This was taken from the bottom of the trail and you can faintly see a little bump on the ridge line in the middle of the picture. That was our final destination.

The next day we took a drive on the Cascade Lakes Scenic Byway. It is a loop that goes around Mt. Bachelor winding through many beautiful lakes in the middle of the Deschutes National Forrest. This was our first stop on the drive and there is Sidnee wandering out into the middle of a marsh on the west side of Mt. Bachelor. In case you haven't noticed or have just begun following our blog, one of my favorite hobbies is catching Sidnee in funny poses or taking her picture when she is not looking. Sometimes she catches me in the act and I have only a few seconds to react or it's curtains for me and my little camera.

In this picture she has noticed my actions and is now charging.

She's getting closerrrrrr! Drop the camera dummy, it's not worth it!

Don't worry, she didn't hurt me. That sequence of events did actually happen though. The picture below is how she normally is when not provoked.

Next stop on the "Sidnee Thoughtful Pose" tour was Devil's Lake.

On our drive back into Bend we stopped at Lava Butte. It was a large lava flow that erupted thousands of years ago. You can see Mt. Bachelor and Broken top in the background. Check out the video below. It's kind of funny.

Thanks for reading (and watching)!

Happy Birthday Davis!

noreply@blogger.com (Dan) — Mon, 07 Sep 2009 04:00:00 +0000

Davis celebrated his sixth birthday last week and here a few pictures from one portion of it. We figured waiting until he was six was long enough before we allow his brain to be poisened by video games. The way he plays Mario Kart though is a pretty good workout. I played with him once last week and he is dancing around so much while he drives that I had to keep pushing him out of the way so I could see my own kart. Silly boy.

Are you close enough Jack?

Davis really loves the Wii. Either that or he is training for the national nose picking tour.

Hello?

noreply@blogger.com (Sid) — Mon, 07 Sep 2009 00:39:00 +0000

Hellooooooo! We really have no explanation for not blogging. Did we get sick of it? Did we lose interest? Did we get real busy and priority didn't fall on blogging. Yes, Yes, and Yes! But it is a rainy Sunday afternoon. The kids are playing in the playroom. Dan is out Elders Quoruming. So I guess I will blog a bit.

This was the First Week Of School for us. I have to admit. We were ready and we had a great week. Davis just turned 6 on August 30th. He was so cute his first morning of school. He was nervous that he wouldn't do everything right. He had a great morning, and came out grinning from ear to ear!

and...BYU beat #3 Oklahoma 14-13! That was for you Dixie.

Grandpa Wolfley

noreply@blogger.com (Dan) — Mon, 17 Aug 2009 04:09:00 +0000

This is Luke with his Great Grandpa, Alma Darwin Wolfley.

Preston Biathlon

noreply@blogger.com (Sid) — Mon, 10 Aug 2009 14:51:00 +0000

Sidnee and the kids left me and went to Utah/Idaho for visiting relatives and doing a biathlon. They all had fun and here are some pictures. The end.

I think I see some smoke coming off their shoes. Dinner at the DeSpain's
Visting the Morehouse clan in Boise.
Sheriff Davis on patrol. Betsy and her kids followed Sidnee back from Idaho for dinner in Vancouver.

I played three rounds of golf while they were gone. :)

Fort Worden

noreply@blogger.com (Dan) — Fri, 17 Jul 2009 04:04:00 +0000

Last post in the family reunion series, I promise. This is for posterity sake anyway so I guess it doesn't matter if you enjoy it. The house we rented was actually an old Army barrack on the grounds of Fort Worden. Fort Worden, along with the heavy batteries of Fort Flagler and Fort Casey, once guarded nautical entrance to Puget Sound. These posts, established in the late 1890s, became the first line of a fortification system designed to prevent a hostile fleet from reaching such targets as the Bremerton Naval Yard and the cities of Seattle, Tacoma and Everett. Construction began in 1897 and continued in one form or another until the fort was closed in 1953. The property was purchased as a state park in 1955. Fort Worden is named after Rear Admiral John L. Worden. Here are some pictures from our afternoon of exploring the old bunkers that look out over the Strait of Juan De Fuca.

Here is the forest side of the bunkers and the kids all marching in a row, except Jack of course.

Jack needed a little boost up the ladder.

Once inside the bunkers it is pretty neat. You can't see much unless you bring a flashlight. This picture was lit up by the flash on my camera.

I turned the flash off for this one. You can see the exit in the distance.

Addie and her cousin peeking out through the slit in an observation tower.

This is where one of the big guns were located. You can see the scale of the guns by comparing the base to my Mom on the platform.

Papa droppin knowledge.

This is on top of the bunkers looking out over the strait of Juan De Fuca. you can see Whidbey Island, WA directly across and then faintly in the distance part of the San Juan Islands (also part of Washington). Victoria, B.C. is out of the picture to the left.

That's it. The next post will not be family reunion related. You made it through. Nice job.

Kickball and Randomness

noreply@blogger.com (Dan) — Thu, 16 Jul 2009 04:27:00 +0000

In part three of the Wolfley Family Reunion blog series we find ourselves playing kickball. There are some other random pics as well so enjoy (or not).

See if you can kick this curve ball kid.

This is Davis's idea of playing the field.Sidnee's version of playing the field is only slightly better. At least she is upright. After the game the kids all clamored up on this old anchor for a pic. We used to play on this anchor all the time when we were kids (25 years ago). Point Wilson Lighthouse. Addie and her friend Sebastian.Lucas working on his sea legs.Chetzemoka Park is where we played as kids and has this awesome tire swing. You can load a bunch of kids in it, push it around in a huge circle five feet off the ground, and watch the madness. I'm sure the park neighbors were glad when we finally left the park.Private Lucas catching a few Zs in the shade.Diet Coke and Mentos. Need I say more?

Kiddie Boot Camp

noreply@blogger.com (Sid) — Tue, 14 Jul 2009 04:29:00 +0000

In part two of the Wolfley Family Reunion blog series we find ourselves looking in on Kiddie Boot Camp. Uncle James and Aunt Tiana did a fabulous job creating a fun, yet challenging, course to whip the kids into shape. Here are a few of the pics.

A little dissension in the ranks.

Addison displaying her half rabbit mutant genes in the sack race portion of the obstacle course.
Kennedy ripped through the course posting one of the best times out of all the grand kids.

Jackson looks a little apprehensive about this whole deal but he got through it and had fun.

I'm not sure who taught Jack to go through the ropes course like this but he looks darn cute.

Davis doing his Heisman pose.

Luke and Sidnee did a lot of this. And by "this" I mean standing around looking cute.

Wolfley Family Reunion

noreply@blogger.com (Sid) — Mon, 13 Jul 2009 04:53:00 +0000

We had a great family reunion last week. Unfortunately not everyone was in attendance. Chad just graduated from boot camp and Kelly was visiting him. We had our own little army assembled in Port Townsend, Washington. General Ammie and Papa planned a busy and fun filled 3 days which included a memory lane scavenger hunt, a treat at elevated ice cream shop, story time with Ammie, bike rides, picnics, kick ball, playing on the beach, hiking, exploring the old army barracks, talent show, treasure hunt, ping pong, fussball, lots of snacks and good food. We really had a wonderful time. Here are just a few of the pictures.

This is the whole crew except General Ammie who was taking the pictures.

Sail boats and seagulls

The dining hall where we ate some great food.

Cute baby Lucas. 13 months old.
All 14 grand kids standing at attention by order of General Ammie.
I don't have the time to spend tonight posting but there are lots of pictures to post so I am sure there will be more to come!

WolfWii Fathers Day School's out Getaway

noreply@blogger.com (Dan) — Thu, 25 Jun 2009 04:08:00 +0000

We took the chance this weekend to escape to the coast and celebrate the start of summer. It just so happened to coincide with Fathers Day. This is a really long post so if your interest in our family is only so-so you should probably stop reading right now. Still here? OK, buckle up because these are some good pics.

Our first stop was at the end of the Lewis and Clark trail in Astoria, OR. Astoria is a little town built on a hill overlooking the mouth of the Columbia River as it flows into the Pacific Ocean. You might remember it from movies such as Goonies and Kindergarden Cop. At the top of the hill there is a historical song and dance about Lewis and Clark and some Native American paraphernalia. This is a picture of the kids dinking around by a replica canoe. I'm not sure if it is a L&C canoe or a Native American canoe. I was too tired from the drive up the hill to walk over and check it out.

Kenny is getting a good look at the Astoria bridge that crosses the Columbia over to Washington, Addie is getting a good look at Davis' head, and Jackson is getting a good look at Kenny's bum.
Our second stop was in Long Beach, WA where we got to check out the 2nd annual Doggie Olympics on the beach. You might be able to tell from the pictures but it seemed more like the humans were competing than the dogs. They were always the first ones through the hula hoop tunnel and had to drag the dogs through most of the rest of the course. I would be surprised if there is a 3rd annual Doggie Olympics.

Uh oh, someone's in trouble. You can bet his younger brother has sand in his hair and undies.

Click to enlarge this one and you'll see the kids are practicing their Thriller dance routine.

This is a classic Pacific Northwest beach picture complete with long pants, sweatshirts, and a bunch of kids running for their lives away from a skiff of freezing cold water.

Luke loved the water and could hardly be restrained.

He did finally have to be rescued or he would have turned into seagull bait.

The house we rented was actually 10 miles north of Long Beach in Ocean Park. At the end of the street there was a cute little trail that led through the dunes out to the ocean in a more secluded spot of the same beach. This shot is looking back towards a few of the houses near the shore.

Sidnee and I finally broke down and bought a Wii. We pulled it out to surprise the kids the first night we were there. As you can see it was a hit and we have regretting buying it every day since. I do enjoy having another bargaining chip in the constant battle to motivate snotty kids to do stuff. "I'll take the Wii back to the store..."

Two of my favorite people.I think this pic should go on my Father's Day resume.

My wonderful wife and I.

I asked Sid to give me a thoughtful pose and this is all she could come up with. It should come as no surprise that Sidnee was voted senior class clown in high school.

Jack hard at work.

Poor Lukey.

My Father's Day rubdown. If any of you have ever received a rubdown from a 5-7 year old you'll know that I was going for quantity over quality here.

Davis and Luke enjoying some Father's Day smores.

A beautiful Father's Day sunset.

I just really like this picture.

I must say this was my favorite Father's Day ever. There were no distractions to keep me from spending time with my family and enjoying their company. Thanks to Sidnee for putting this weekend together. It was a blast.

All In A Days Work

noreply@blogger.com (Sid) — Sun, 14 Jun 2009 22:36:00 +0000

Saturday was a busy day and I love those days. I love to work all day long and actually see the fruit of our labors. (maybe I should give credit where credit is due, I am going to be bragging a bit, just so you know). The day started early for me, I had a lot to do. While I was off doing the things I needed to do, my better half was holding down the fort! He did the breakfast and clean up plus kids dressed and beds made. Then he helped me cut up fruit for the Relief Society lunch, loaded all the kids in the car, got two birthday gifts purchased and wrapped and was out of the house by 9:30 am. His goodness does not stop there my friend, oh no! He went to the farmers Market downtown and brought back these for me! What did I do to deserve these you might ask? Nothing. He just loves me and all my faults I guess.

Later after all outings were done we began the work on the yard. Dan's dad brought over his new, all wheel drive, fully loaded pressure washer and that is where the dirt hit the fan. Daniel got dirty fast. I am sure if you asked him, he had a blast (ha ha, get it)?

I got to go out with my girl friends at night and he was still working outside. I told him I would be home in time to help with baths and bedtime. The kids go to bed at 8pm and I didn't get home till 8:40. This is what I came home to.......

A kitchen with all the dishes done,A yard mowed and edged beautifully,
the front step and driveway clean as a whistle, and looking like new,

the back yard mowed, pressure washed patio, and all clean and ready in case it rained in the night, and the playroom all picked up.

I don't know if you can see this but it is Davis in the window on the top bunk. The kids were all in their beds, clean, teeth brushed and tucked in for the night.

And this cute Hunk shoveling the sludge off the street. (notice the neighbor's yard behind him..... he mowed that too!) Let me just say we had a nice evening together. We watched a movie, ate marrionberry pie and folded laundry together.... it was so romantic.

Thanks for all your hard work and love for your family. Because of you, I have it all! (That is the end of my bragging. )

Luke Man Walking

noreply@blogger.com (Dan) — Sun, 07 Jun 2009 05:19:00 +0000

We coaxed Luke into taking a few steps the other day but it was pretty short lived. Today he was a little more confident and cranked out at least five steps all by himself. We were having some technical difficulties with the video camera but we'll get it figured out tomorrow and post some footage.

I caught Luke peering over the keyboard the other day just trying to see what had monopolized his older brothers for hours. He didn't spend too long there as his brain is still young and not zombized (not a real word).

So the other night I was at the computer and it was around 9 PM. The kids had been asleep for about an hour. The next thing I know, Addie is standing right next to me with this silly grin on her face. I could tell she was only semi-functional/conscious by her glazed over eyes. I asked her if she needed to go potty and she shook her head. I sent her back to bed. Sidnee had been out partying (again) and didn't come home for another hour or so. When she went in to check on Luke, this is what she found...

Our psycho sleepwalker had climbed into bed with Luke and looked quite comfortable. Weird.