5 Fun Boys

Crazy Sleepers

2008-10-14T16:37:00.001-07:00

I love this precious picture. After a long day at the beach, this is how I found my oldest & youngest.

This is Carter and Bryson. They started in the bed and in the morning this is how I found them on the floor.

My kids crack me up. They love to sleep together, not sure why we need so many bedrooms. After being in California for a week in a 2 bed/2 bathroom condo, we decided that was all we needed. Here are some random pictures I took becuase when I find them in an crazy positions I laugh and take a picture.

Dane is 6

2008-10-14T16:03:00.001-07:00

Dane's birthday always falls around Labor Day which means our family is in San Diego for the week. Last year we skipped his friend b-day party, but this year he would not let us forget so easily. We only do friend parties ever other year, so this was his first friend party with lots of friends. He wanted a football party and swimming, which meant easy for Mom & Dad. One of his friends Finn Helser's mom is great at making cakes. They wanted to give Dane his b-day cake for his present. Great for me. It just so happened that the Sunday before his party the Helser's were teaching Dane's Primary class and asked each kid what they would take if they had to leave immediately into the wilderness like Lehi and his family. Dane's answer was playstation, thus the exact replica of the playstation controller. It was an awesome cake. I think the Helser's need invited to all my kids party. They do have 4 boys after all. Dane has a great group of friends and all think all had a good time. A huge storm rolled in at the very end of the party, so we lucked out.

6 things I love about Dane

1- Always does his chores without complaining and always willing to help his
brothers get their chores done so they can play together

2- His bright Blue Eyes.

3- Awesome football players

4- loves to lay in my bed with my furry long body pillow and of course next to me

5- Very Obedient

6- Loves to have things perfect: homework perfect, bed made perfect

I love this kid. He is such a good example to all of us.

Carter and Bryson, Babysitters????

2008-09-22T16:45:00.000-07:00

Carter & Bryson love Colter. They are VERY helpful with him. This particular day they got him to sleep on the floor in our bedroom. That doesn't happen very often. I ran to get my camera and by the time I got back, they already thought he had slept too long and woke him up (making Colter very sad). Carter and Bryson are best buddies and have a ton of fun together.

Just like Dad's Farm Days

2008-09-22T15:57:00.000-07:00

Cannon grew up on a farm in Idaho until he was 13. He drove tractor and helped with the potato farm all the time. Our backyard has a few trees but mostly weeds. Each week the kids are assigned to pick several hundred weeds. This is not their favorite job, but they do it any way. The Hilderbrands got their dad's tractor so they let us borrow it to take care of the weeds. The kids definitely like this way of getting rid of the weeds rather than using their hands.

Ry driving the tractor.

Cooper at age 7 even got a chance to drive the tractor. Cannon does not think this is too younger because he started driving tractor on the farm when he was 4.

Back to School

2008-09-22T14:37:00.000-07:00

Bryson started Preschool with Mrs. Dieu. He loves being "BIG" like his older brothers going to school.

Dane: Kindergaten with Ms. Dupper

Cooper: 2nd Grade with Mrs. Hegabush

Ryland: 5th Grade with Mrs. Weiand

Ok, so I am way behind on my post. The boys all have fantastic teachers and are doing great. In fact, this Friday is already the end of the first quarter and they will have off over 2 weeks for fall break.

Gunner & Brigg in AZ

2008-08-15T14:54:00.000-07:00

Anna had little baby Kate in July, so Brigg & Gunner were able to come to AZ for almost a week. They stayed with different cousins and we were lucky to have them for a few days. It rained really hard and the greenbelt filled up, so they went down for some fun! I decided to join them and had fun tackling everyone in the water. Also the Clausens had given up a giftcard for bowling at Christmas that we hadn't used, so we decided to go have fun bowling with the cousins!

MOO Free Chick-Fil-A Day MOO

2008-08-15T14:28:00.001-07:00

If something is free or cheap, nothing is too embarrassing. Chick-fil-a had a dress up as a cow and get a free combo meal. Who could pass that up? This is the group who all mooooed into Chick-fil-a for free Combos. I have to say we looked pretty good. We were a huge group and Chick-fil-a loved us. The place was packed for lunch but not too many people dressed as cows. The all had to pay for their lunch. With a group like our's this was a GREAT deal. My friend Jen and her boys were just coming by to hang out and got stuck doing this. We had our almost our cousins including Brigg & Gunner from Las Vegas. All the kids loved it and who doesn't love something for free.

Gage, Braiden, Tatum, Cooper, Dane & Gunner

Daniel, Bryson, Brigg & Erin

Ry, Marlee, Miranda & Clarissa

DisneyWorld Here We Come - June 08

2008-07-10T11:13:00.000-07:00

This was Dane's first trip to Disneyworld or Disneyland for that matter. We took Ryland when he as 5 and Cooper was 2. We were gone for a week and opted to leave Bryson and Colter at my parents for the week, thanks to alot of convincing on Cannon's part. The second I stepped on the airplane and saw other's taking care of their young ones, I was grateful mine were home having fun with Grandma and Grandpa Myers. Thanks Mom and Dad. We spent a week in Florida at Disneyworld, Blizzard Beach and DisneyQuest Adventure, along with enjoying the pool at our hotel. We had a fantastic, fun filled week. A couple of nights we went to be at 2pm and 3pm, then waking up at 11am (we never could have done that with Colter and Bryson around). Notice the picture of Dane asleep on the hotel floor as we are checking into our Hotel at 1:30am. The boys absolutley loved all the rides at Disneyworld. They could not get enough. We shut down the park at midnight and the kids were able to ride their favorites -Splash Mountain, Space Mountain and Big Thunder Railroad as many times as their hearts desired. The weather was great with afternoon thunderstorms and actually not to humid. The boys can't wait to go do more rollercoasters.

Start of Summer- Fun at Simonton's Cabin

2008-07-09T12:07:00.000-07:00

Ok- so I finally figured out how to do a collage of pictures and it has motivated to me try and catch up on my blogging. I just had so many pictures I wanted to include that this is the best way. We spent the first part of June up at the Simonton's cabin in Forest Lakes. The weather was so nice and cool, we were able to do a fire in their outside fireplace everynight and so smores, Yum! It was us, Simonton's and Hilderbrands. Between all of us we have 11 boys and 3 girls. The kids were in heaven getting dirty and being able to be together 24 hours a day. They all go along great which made it nice for us adults to be able to chat, play games and eat. Aren't vacations all about eating? The kids went fishing a couple of days and everyone caught a lot. Cooper & Brooklyn were the big winners. They each caught a large trout, and before that we thought the pong only had blue gills. We went on Ranger rides, picnics, hikes (ok walks), played lots of basketball and pounce (card game Simonton's taught us). It was a perfect start to the summer. Thanks Simonton's - we are so lucky to have such great neighbors we call our great friends!!

2008-07-08T12:23:00.000-07:00

2008-07-07T12:28:00.000-07:00

Colter - 7 months

2008-07-05T12:19:00.000-07:00

Since I was leaving Colter for a week, I decided I needed a few pictures of him to look at while I was gone. His dad was getting him to laugh. He is such a cute, good kid. I just can't get enough of him.

Happy 4th of July

2008-07-04T16:41:00.000-07:00

The Scout Bear (aka Dallas Thompson) with Colter

The Float Drivers
Bryson & Kenady

What would you think about a parade in 112 degree weather? I know it sounds crazy, but it actually is tons of fun. My neighbor told me about this after we moved in last year, that we had to be in town for the 4th of July. Our neighborhood Seville does a parade and that it is so fun. I can tell you that after doing it last year and again this year, it is a blast. Of course we do a water float with a few neighbors, so we stay cool and we are kind enought to cool off all the spectators and other floats too. We all love it. We decorate the float the night before and then the kids get painted up in the morning. After getting soaked at the parade, we swim and eat at the Simontons for more fun. This is proof that 4th of July in Gilbert, Arizona is great. Look at these cute kids!!!

Dane's Kindersteps Graduation

2008-06-22T18:31:00.000-07:00

May 28, 2008 - Dane had a great first year of REAL school. He did kindersteps at Riggs Elementary for 1/2 day, 5 days a week. He loved going to schools with his older brothers and riding the big yellow bus home. He has a great teacher, Ms. Settle. She had a lot of boys in her class, but handled them great. Dane is lucky to have such good friends that he gets to go to school with. He had Braden Simonton, Mason Stadler, Tyson Coleman, Trent and Reese just to name a few. He learned alot and has started to read alittle. We can't wait to see what he learns in Kindergarten.

Ryland receives his Arrow of Light

2008-06-22T17:11:00.000-07:00

May 27, 2008 - We are so proud of him. He earned his weblos badge and arrow of light, graduating into boy scouts. He had great leaders throughout all his years and really enjoyed cub scouts. Thanks for being such a great example to your younger brothers. We love you!!!!

Colter - 6 months old

2008-06-22T16:58:00.001-07:00

Time goes by way to fast. Colter turned 6 months a couple of weeks ago & I wanted to get it posted before he is 7 months. Boy do we love this baby. He is such a joy to have around. He is crawling all around and can even pull himself up holding onto the couch (first did this on June 16th). He is growing up way to fast. My other kids did things at a normal pace, or even a little slower. He being my last, I wanted him to stay baby for a long time. No such luck. I guess we will just enjoy him each day and the new things he learns. He found his voice 2 weeks ago while we were eating at Cravings. He started making a screetching noise that we had never heard. Now with his new found noises and all his moving around he is getting hard to take with us on our dates. At his 6 months Doctor appt he weighed 14lbs 11ozs and is 27 inches long. The doctor was shocked by him crawling. She said she has been a doctor for 12+ years and has only seen a handful of babies crawl and pull themselves up at this age. I guess when you are the fifth boy in the family, you do your best to catch up quick. We love you Colter.

Crazy Hair Day

2008-06-18T16:44:00.000-07:00

The 2nd to last week of school was spirit week. The kids found hair paint in the dumpster (they were going thru a large dumpster all week bringing home lots of treasures) and decided to color their hair for crazy hair day. They had a great school year and we are glad it is over. We love summer and having no schedule!

Can our baby really be crawling?

2008-05-23T16:17:00.000-07:00

Last Sunday (May 18th) we put the boys to bed and Cannon & I were just hanging out with Colter. Cannon set Colter down and came into the kitchen. A few minutes later and went to see Colter on the other side of the family room. I asked Cannon if he set Colter all the way over here. He said "No" and we were shocked to realize he got there all by himself. We went to get the video and this is what we saw. He had a blast chasing this empty water bottle that he just never could quite get a hold of. We love this little guy, 5 months old and crawling, times goes too fast.

Mother's day = Wonderful Husband = Lake Tahoe

2008-05-17T19:46:00.001-07:00

Reno Nevada Temple

I am one lucky lady! I have the best husband and kids. For Mother's Day, Cannon gave me a trip to Lake Tahoe. He had it all planned out & even had the babysitting all arrange. We left the day after Mother's day, May 12 and came home late on the 14th. It was a much needed little vacation for just the two of us. My mom kept Colter & Bryson and Cannon's mom kept the older kids, so they could go to school. The weather was perfect and that country is beautiful. The ski resort called Heavenly is there & I definately know why they call it that. This whole place is Heavenly. We biked, hiked and swam (not in Lake Tahoe, way to cold), but our hotel had the nicest indoor pool we have ever seen. It was such a relaxing and fun vacation. We ate at one of the top 10 Steakhouses in the country called Ciera. It was delicious and very romantic. We had our own booth with a curtain surrounding the whole table. Thanks to our parents for keeping the kids. Thanks to my wonderful husband for planning such a wonderful few days away. I love you so much and love vacationing with you!!

P.S. Sorry for the cloudy spot on all the pictures. We are bummed that they are there, but we discovered that the lens had Bryson (our boys who loves to play with the camera) fingerprints all over it.

Monster Trucks

2008-05-17T19:41:00.000-07:00

The boys were thrilled. They had just finished their piano recital when Cannon got a call from The Gutts asking if we wanted 8 tickets to the Monster Truck show. Well with 5 boys, who could pass that up. So the whole family went from Piano Recital directly to Monster Trucks. We were a little over dressed, but we had the Goodyear Suite pretty much to ourselves, so it was great. Ryland invited Cade and Coop took Casen. Everyone had a great time. We didn't get great pictures but here is one from the night.

First Piano Recital

2008-05-17T19:35:00.000-07:00

It took us awhile to get our boys taking piano because of one minor thing- we had no piano. We finally took care of that last summer and they starting taking lessons in Sept. Their teacher is in our ward, Diana Brown. She has done a great job working with them and they are doing great. We are so proud of them. Needless to say, after much practice and many lessons they had their first recital on April 26th. Here are a few pictures. Way to go Cooper & Ryland!!!

Funny "Floyd" & Conference

2008-04-06T12:32:00.000-07:00

Funny "Floyd" getting us to laugh again. We were in the middle of watching the morning session, when Cooper comes walking in wearing his church clothes. He KNOWS he is quite the funny guy.

Conference weekend is always fantastic. We loves being inspired by our Prophet and General Authorities. So far is has been great and we look forward to the last session today. This is baby Colter enjoying conference. (Actually mom & dad enjoying it with him asleep!)

The Conference pack that got sent around the internet has been wonderful. The boys have been enjoying it, but mainly Dane. This is Dad and Dane working on the word search. We love being able to hang out together, relaxed as a family, listening to the words of our Prophet.

Bryson- The Camera Man

2008-04-06T12:22:00.001-07:00

Bryson Loves getting his pictures taken. I had to take this because I was cracking up when I saw that he put his chair on top of mine. The weather in AZ has been great lately. A little warm during the day, but we have spent several late afternoons outside on the lawn watching the kids ride bikes and enjoying an AZ Spring.

Bryson working on his camera skills. Sometimes he gets everyone in the shot and sometimes not!

Bryson loves getting his pictures taken and LOVES even more to use the camera & take pictures. It seems like I am always trying to take away the camera so it stays in one piece and does not get broken. I even gave him one of my old camera's with film, but after the flash going off several times and being dropped even more, it is now broken. Who knows, we may actually have a professional photographer in the family someday!

April Fool's Day

2008-04-04T11:11:00.000-07:00

We have known we wanted to play this April Fool's joke on the Simonton's for almost a year. Yeah, the day was finally here. My friend Michelle Rigby found a rooster for me and one for her. She played this joke on her neighbor (The Loves') a few years ago. She wanted to do it again to someone. I met her at 10:15 Monday night (March 31st) to get the Rooster. I didn't want to touch the thing so she was nice enough to put it in the dog kennel for me. Then about 11:15 Cannon took it over to Simonton's patio so it would be right by their bedroom window. Well it worked, 4:45 on April Fool's day the rooster started Cock-a-doodle-dooing. Yes, we got awakened too, but it was well worth it. They were good sports and just started laughing. Tom Forese got word on this, so he wanted the Rooster. He played the trick on several people that night & had fun with it. Unfortunately about midnight, he decided to return the rooster to us and placed it by the boys window. It did not wake me up, but did wake up Ryland at 5:45 am the next morning. Ryland said let's take it to someones house. At this point I was actually feeling sorry for the Rooster being dropped off everywhere, but it had to make one last stop at the Forese's house. It woke them about 6:45 am and they started laughing. We all had fun with the Rooster. Kirk Williams now has decided he wants to keep it, lucky Shari. Now we will just have to see what next April Fool's day brings!!!

Proud Turtle Owners

2008-04-04T11:03:00.000-07:00

The boys have been wanting some kind of pet for awhile. Austin & Ryland were working on making a dog house, really hoping that their parents would cave in and get them a dog. No luck, so they quit making the dog house. Our cousins and friends the Loves, got 4 turtles. Our boys decided this would be great. Both parents agreed since they are low maintenance. Dave Love was able to get us 3 turtles for free from his friend. So here they are- Squirt(Ry's), Rose(Coop's), & I am not sure what Simonton's named their turtle. The kids made the turtles home out of whatever supplies they could find around. They did a good job.

Easter

2008-04-04T10:40:00.000-07:00

We had Easter at Grandma & Grandpa Myers house since they were gone the last 2 Easter's serving their mission in Colorado. We had a yummy dinner & fun Easter Egg hunt. Grandpa hid an egg up on the hill for the parents to find but it was dark and hidden well. After a few hints, Clarissa found it and inside was a note for dinner with mom & dad. The kids all got money and candy. It was fun to spend time with the family and especially have Grandma Mae here. We have had a lot of first with her here the last few months as they never came to visit very often when we were growing up.

The best baby gift ever- Thank you Grandma Christensen

2008-03-23T15:44:00.000-07:00

We received the best baby gift ever. You may think it is kind of late, but I have been anxiously waiting for this gift. While I was pregnant, my MIL-Michele said for a baby gift she would like to give us a book of Colter's life from birth to blessing. Well on Monday the 17th, she delivered the best gift ever. She did a fantastic job. Thanks for all your time you put into it. I love the fact that I didn't have to do it, besides, she did a much better job than I would have. We all love it! Thanks for being the greatest.

Dane's First Football Season

2008-03-23T15:37:00.000-07:00

Dane had a huge cheering section at his 2nd football game. It is so fun to watch him. He has been playing quarterback and running back. Since he has older brothers, he is quite savvy on the game and is having a blast. Thanks to Ryland, Marlee and Miranda for the poster.

Training Wheels - DONE

2008-03-23T15:13:00.000-07:00

I have been thinking for a few weeks now, we should take the training wheels off Bryson's bike and teach him how to ride it. It was perfect becuase the Quackenbush's came over on Tuesday, March 18th and Carter brought his bike which has not training wheels. This was great, I could teach Bryson on his bike and if he didn't catch on quick, then atleast his training wheels were not off his bike. The first time he started off, he rode down about 1/2 the drive way. It was a matter of a few minutes and he was off, a big boy- NO MORE TRAINING WHEELS. He is so proud of himself. Since then all he has wanted to do was ride his bike. It has driven me a little crazy because he couldn't take off by himself. After helping him several times yesterday, I told him no more for a while. Well, the little determined boy decided he could do it by himself. He came running in to let me know he could take off all by himself. Way to go Bryson- he is just over 3 and our youngest to learn!!

Easter Pageant

2008-03-23T14:55:00.000-07:00

I know this is not good to acknowledge, but we don't actually go to the Easter Pageant every year, but this year it was great weather & we decided to go. (I guess it was I, since Cannon was in Cali with his brother taking in the PAC 10 basketball tournament.) We started out last Monday March 10th, going w/the Quackenbush's to the Visitor's Center to watch the Reflections of Christ Video and see the actual photos. This was a wonderful video and the photograph's are amazing. We took all 9 boys to Charleston's for dinner around 8pm. We had to make sure it wasn't too crowded before we decided we could do 9 boys at a nice restaurant. It worked out great and my boys all devoured the ribs, just like there dad.
Then Wednesday night, my family was going to the Easter Pageant with Grandma Mae, so I decided with Cannon out of town, it was a good thing to do and with the great weather. It was a great evening. The whole day was a busy one, but what a great way to end the day. The pageant was of course wonderful. They changed a few things like they usually do, but I have to say hitting the Visitor's Center & then the Easter Pageant in 3 days was wonderful!

Spring Break - Fun in the SUN!!

2008-03-11T17:58:00.000-07:00

Well yesterday was the start of our 2 1/2 weeks of Spring Break. I love when the kids don't have school. That means no schedule! The weather is great right now. Yesterday Dane & Cooper went to Grandma's to spend a hour, which ended up being all day. They had fun with Grandma & ended up jumping in her freezing cold pool. So, grandma made them hot cocoa, with unlimited amounts of whipping cream, which equates to happy boys and a darling picture. Today we did the skate park with the Loves and everyone had a good time. It was sunny and thus Colter's first Sunburn. I thought I was doing a good job of keeping him out of the sun, but I guess not that good. Luckily it is a pretty mild one, unlike Dad's a few weeks ago. Tomorrow we are going SWIMMING. Yes, that is right. It is suppose to be 84 degrees and the pool is heated. Sounds fun except for putting this body back into a swimsuit. Scary!

Spring Training Game with Grandpa & Grandma

2008-03-11T17:30:00.000-07:00

Grandma & Grandpa love to spoil the Grandkids.

For the past few years they have taken the "school age" grandkids to a D-Backs Spring Training Game in Tuscon.

This was a special year. As they entered the game they asked Ryland to be the ball boy for the game. What a thrill and a once in a lifetime experience. He was on the field the whole game with the players and coaches. He sat right next to the dug out and got the balls. They upgraded everyone else's tickets to right up front, so they could see Ryland the whole time.

The kids love it. They get to miss school, eat anything they want at Cracker Barrel and just have a fun day. Thanks Grandma & Grandpa for the the chance of a lifetime. What a super day!

Jenny & Mike - We Love You!

2008-03-11T17:17:00.001-07:00

A couple of weeks ago we had Jenny & Mike over for dinner. We love all love them. Cooper has always had a secret (ok, not so secret) crush on Jenny. We meet Jenny thru Grandma & Grandpa when she was in their singles ward. She fell in love with Mike & they are now married. Jenny has babysat a few times for us when we have been out of town and now we can't wait to have them both stay with the boys when we head out of town for a weekend. The boys love to play ball downstairs with Mike. They are the greatest, we just wish we could see them more.
Jenny always has the cutest toenails. Last Friday she took me to her salon in Tempe. It is only 1 mile from my parents & they have over 200 designs to choose from and are cheap on top of that. Thanks Jenny- that was fun!

Colter is 3 months old TODAY

2008-03-05T15:04:00.000-08:00

I can't believe that 3 months has already gone by. Time goes by too fast. I never thought of myself as loving the baby stage, but it makes me kind of sad knowing that this will be my last baby and he is growing so fast. I love to see him smile each time he is fed and when his brothers smile at him. When can even get him to giggle a little when we really get him going. I love to hear him cooing. He definitely is not my best sleeping baby, but oh well, I guess we will spoil him since he is the last. Most nights he spends sleeping in one of my arms, just so I can get some sleep. I am too tired to fight him. It took him about 2 months to finally start growing, and get past his birth weight, but now we are really noticing changes in him. I will post his stats later as I can't remember them.

What are home teachers for?

2008-03-02T12:29:00.000-08:00

Rand & his son David Pratt have been our home teachers since we moved in. They have been faithful each month & my boys are obsessed with David's spikey hair and how he does it. Today they came and taught us about Enos and then David became our hairstylist. It was fun watching David do their hair (you were a good sport) and watch how excited my boys were. Dane has been saying the last few weeks when he does his own hair, that he wants it spikey like David's. Well today it was done. Thanks for being wonderful home teachers and for the SPIKEY hair!

Dane's Basketball Moment

2008-03-01T17:01:00.000-08:00

Dane got to play in his first official basketball game - well kind of. See we told our boys they could be on sports teams once they turned 5. Dane actually did play soccer in the fall, but then we were late signing the boys up for basketball, so we decided Dane could wait until next time. He is such an easy going, good kid, he didn't even complain when Cooper & Ry started their season. Then came the game when Cooper's team didn't have enough players to substitute in, so Cooper's coaches told Dane to put on Ry's jersey (too big, but same colors as Coopers) and he would get to play. He was alittle timid at first, and then decided to soak up the fun. Jack Forese was so good to him. He really wanted Dane to make a basket, so he did all he could to keep passing Dane the ball. Dane had a big smile on his face and was happy to be on the team even if it was for just one day. Thanks Coach Tom, Colby and Jason!!

Riggs Roadrunners RUNNING CLUB

2008-03-01T16:44:00.000-08:00

The season is over. I have loved my boys running twice a week as back in October they joined the Riggs Roadrunner's running club. They had to be there at 7:15 am Mondays and Wednesdays and that came pretty early when it was dark and cold outside. Even harder once we had little Colter and had less sleep at night. Ryland & Cooper were still committed and wanted to go everytime. They had 3 different races. They just had their last race a couple of weeks ago. Neither one of them placed in the first race. There was about 3-5 different elementary schools that participated in each race and then they would give out ribbons for each grade (boys & girls), first thru fifth place. The second race Cooper placed 5th & Ryland placed 4th. They were so happy. Then the last race Cooper placed 4th. What a great season. I am so proud of them. I am not a runner myself, but what a great thing for these kids to do. Way to go Boys. We sure are proud of you.

First Snowboarding Trip

2008-02-28T12:45:00.000-08:00

Cannon decided with all the snow this year, it would be great for our boys to start learning how to snowboard. They went up to Snowbowl in Flagstaff leaving our house at 5:30am. Dad, Ry, Coop and Dane were off to try this out. I stayed home with Colter & Bryson (we had a great day of shopping). Cannon really wanted me to go, but I told him this is the last year we would have a baby, and I would be good to go for the next 50+ years.
They boys had a great time. Dane & Cooper were in school together all day. They loved their instructor Brent. At 3pm, they finally got to try it out with Dad & Ry. They made it about 1/2 down the hill and they were DONE!! Snowboarding had taken a toll on them after all day. Ryland was in class 1/2 day and then got to join his dad on the slopes. Dad decided to stick with the skiing, and not try out the snowboarding thing. It was a gorgeous day. They sun was shining brightly, and Cannon's face proves it. (I will have to add picture later). I have seen him with a sun burn many times, but never this bad. His face is already blistering. Luckily the boys instructors put block on them, so they made out ok. All in all, it was a fun day of becoming snowboarding boys.

Colter's Blessing

2008-02-07T13:07:00.000-08:00

Sunday February 3rd was a special day. Cannon gave Colter the most beautiful blessing. I may be alittle biased, but so many people told me what a beautiful blessing it was. I am grateful for my loving husband who lives so close to the spirit. He is such a great example to me and for our boys. Colter was looked handsome and didn't make a peep during the blessing. We had lots of family there, I guess everyone but Sid & Anna. It was extra neat because Grandma Mae was there and it was her first Baby blessing the hear. She has always been in Idaho, but since she is staying with mom & dad, she has was here when he was born. Also Grandma Larsen and her daughter Amy and granddaughter Drew were able to come. We appreciate all the family support. We had a luncheon after, so we enjoyed having everyone to our home.

Our whole sacrament meeting was so neat. With the passing of President Hinckley, it was a busy testimony meeting. We had so many wonderful youth in our ward bear their testimonies. I feel so blessed to live in this ward among so many wonderful people. The youth are so valiant and are great examples to my boys. I hope and pray that my kids continue to have wonderful friends who encourage them to make good choices and serve a full time mission.

President Hinckley's passing/ New Prophet - President Monson

2008-02-07T11:04:00.000-08:00

Cannon called on his way home from a church meeting Sunday night, January 27th and told me that our Prophet President Hinckley had passed away. I knew this day would have to come sometime becuase he was 97 yrs old, but I was shocked becuase I had not heard that he had been down at all. I was sadded to not be able to hear his sweet words and counsel anymore, but was so happy that he was reunited with his wife whom he had missed and talked about often since her passing. Cannon wanted to have a family prayer together, so I got the boys out of bed (not asleep yet, just working on it) and waited for Cannon to get home. We told the kids of the news. Ryland started to cry. He is so tenderhearted. We had a special family prayer that evening. I am so thankful for a wise and wonderful husband who leads our family and is such a good example to all of us. We will miss President Hinckley, but he served all of us for over 70 years and is now back with Heavenly Father, Jesus Christ and his family. What a neat reunion he had!

On Monday morning Feb.10th, I was home with the kids and able to watch the news conference announcing Pres. Monson as the new Prophet. Pres. Eyring & Pres. Uchtdorf
are his counselors. It was neat to watch our new Prophet speak. I had watched him just days earlier conduct Pres. Hinckley's funeral, yet today he looked like our new Prophet, he looked different than a few days prior. He now has that mantle placed on him and I look forward to April Conference to hear from him as our newest Prophet. He is such a wonderful man. For family home evening, I had the boys watch part of the news conference. I told them this would be their Prophet, the one they would remember during their teenage years if he remains healthy.

Colter Clynn Christensen

2008-01-27T18:22:00.001-08:00

Ok- I am still trying to figure out this blogging thing. Vonda taught me how to post pictures, but I am not sure if it worked. If not, I will try again.
Colter Clynn Christensen was born on Dec. 5, 2007. It is hard to believe that he is already 7 weeks old. Where does the time go? I know that it goes too fast. He weighed 8lbs 9ozs and was 22 inches long. He was born at Mercy Gilbert Hospital. I had the best delivery nurse. Cannon, my Mom & Dad and Cannon's Mom were all in the room for the delivery. It was rather quick for which I am so grateful. In fact it was so quick, that he was really purple for the first few days. I am not a big fan of the color purple and I was in a purple delivery room and then they handed me a purple baby. Not too sure about that. All his bruising went away after a couple of days and his coloring got back to normal. It was nice to get Colter here safe and sound.
It took us alittle over a day to get him named. Cannon really wanted the name Jake and I really wanted Gage. I kept thinking since I carried and delivered the little guy that Cannon would give in, but neither him or I were budging. I finally mentioned the name Colter which I had thought of once during the pregnancy. (I actually heard a Coulter Cadillac commercial and thought that could be a cool name.) We decided to let our 4 boys vote on which name they like best. We put them in the hospital closet and brought them our 1 at a time to vote whispering in our ear, so they could not hear each other. They all voted for Colter even Bryson. We could not believe it since none of them had heard his name before. So, we knew that was to be his name. We feel so blessed to have him in our home. We all love him so much and are grateful for him (even with the sleepless nights).

Time to get with it!

2008-01-08T18:47:00.000-08:00

Anyone who knows me, knows that I have always been bad at keeping a journal. I decided this is the best way to write things down and be able to put pictures with it quickly, since I have almost completely stopped scrapbooking. (Let's just say that Bryson is 3 and I have not done 1 scrapbooking page for him.) What a better way to start 2008 too, so I am already working on one of my goals. Plus, since I just had my 5th boy-Colter 1 month ago, this can start to count for his scrapbook until I get caught up and do the new books online for all my kids. I love these books you can do for any occasion. The bummer is that for most of my kids I didn't have a digital camera, which means I need to scan all my pictures so I can put together books. I have decided for now, I will start with whatever digital pictures I have and try to do books for special occasions. Cannon's mom is giving me a wonderful baby gift, she is doing a book for Colter of his birth, first 2 months, and blessing. Isn't that the greatest? I will already have a book for Colter, and not had to do any of it. Thanks Michele!
I am glad I am finally getting with the times and have actually started a blog. I am horrible with the computer, so I hope that I actually learn how to add pictures and stuff. If not, my good friend Vonda, said she would show me how.