The Ballard Family

L.A. Girls Trip!!!!

2010-05-24T13:07:00.000-07:00

So over Christmas all of us girl cousins decided it had been way to long since we had all gotten together and that we needed to plan a much needed girls trip...
The 1st night: we arrived in SlC I think we all got a pretty good idea of just how WILD this trip was going to be, from the moment Autumn discovered at dinner, she'd left her wallet in Vernal (with her ID and money in it, kinda important when traveling) to having a dance party in the Wendy's parking lot, to finding some AWESOME headbands that we were sure would come in useful later in the trip, to sleeping in the next morning and almost missing our plane....can you just say "tonight's gonna be a good, good night!"

and we're off..................sunny California here we come........

Day 2: We went to the Huntington Museum, it was beautiful and so peaceful...or it was until we all showed up, I think this was Melissa's first glance at just what she was in for, for the next week :) don't worry we broke her in good!

Day 3: We hit HOLLYWOOD!, a cute little Farmer's Market and the Kodak Theater.

Breakfast at the Farmer's Market (soooo fun)

Let's just call this wanna-be-rebel night (we found these fake little cigarettes at the farmer's market, we use to make our Grandma buy them for us at 7-11 all the time when we were kids) and somehow it led to this, bull riding and fake tatoo's. What I would like to know is who makes candy like this??? and if in the future any of our kids ever read this... I said FAKE!!!!

(Alisha won the bull riding tournament)

Day 4: Was spent at La Playa...then Rodeo Dr. and a trip to the Psychic, Shanelle :)
(doesn't this cute pic. of my sis look like it could be a book cover?)

Rodeo Dr.

Day 5: was da da da dah....ELLEN and Warner Brothers Studio Lot (where my cuz' works and why we got VIP treatment)

our VIP tickets to ELLEN! (oh yeah baby) and yes had even got our 15 sec. of fame :)

"Friends" set!

Yes!!! we saw some Stars (Justin's crush from The Big Bang Theory)
***note to self: in the future do NOT take picture with skinny actress AND skinny sister EVER again!!!

"Gran Torino" (Vernal's first Hollywood Star, this car came from our home town)

Our last night: we got all dressed up for dinner together, too bad our waiter wasn't very amused (actually he thought we were drunk... the first thing he said to us was "looks like we're having drinks tonight") ha ha ha, doesn't he realize us Utah girls don't even need that to have F.U.N. and a huge shout out to Melissa's sweet husband (okay he may have needed a drink or two) who braved hanging out with us this night, and who got kicked out of his house for a few days, and who endured us crazy's for the rest of the days after he got home!!!

our waiter...Logan who by the end of the night loved us ;) kinda!~

All in all, we had a great time bonding and it was just what we all needed. A LITTLE bit of SILLY..., ALOT of CRAZY..., and the most FUN we have all had in a LONG time!!!

p.s. and for those of you (and you know who you are...) who we swore to that we would not expose some "certain pictures" from a "certain night". Just remember we have black mail material, if ever needs be :) :) :)

2010-05-01T14:44:00.000-07:00

Apparently, this is what Jett has been up too.... I had to steal these from my neighbors blog. A few weeks ago Jett decided he wanted to do his own hair every day, which of coarse I was not having, as you can see their new looks are a little scary, but especially after he dumped out a whole new bottle of hairspray to fill it with water one day so he could do his hair. Then he told me him and Rayden had been doing "hair-do's" Definitely not a typical "Jett" activity; but hey I can appreciate a guy who cares a little about his personal hygiene!

I love when I get on my neighbors blogs and find what my kids have been up to :) Thanks for a good laugh Hanne!

My Excuse......

2010-03-28T13:22:00.000-07:00

so this is why us mom's can't ever find the time to exercise or do anything for ourselves (for that matter) that require not paying attention to our toddlers for more than 2 minutes..........

The other day I was on the treadmill, and thought I hadn't heard Lincoln for a while (which usually means he's up to no good), and when he didn't come when I called his name I knew I better go find him.....this is what I found :) Needless to say the rest of my allotted time for working out was spent cleaning up his mess.

.......and this was the next day, while I was in my room getting ready!
an entire NEW bag of pretzels and was pouring water on them and stepping on them. The worst part is his new little thing is whenever he does something he's not suppose to, or I tell him no! no! he says " ha, ha" and laughs :) what a little fart!!! There is SO a reason we forget some of these stages.

My Birthday

2010-03-09T13:43:00.000-08:00

Had a great Birthday this year...very laid back and relaxing, but the older I get and the more kids we have the more I crave these kinds of days. Justin was so cute about keeping my Birthday and Valentines "separate" this year, usually they just get kinda rolled into one, but I have to say this new listening to Dr. Laura thing has really been good for our "relationship" :) ha ha (Justin would be embarrassed for me telling this, actually he probably wouldn't, but he has started listening to her at work every day, and often comes home and tells me about what he has "learned") :) he tells me that I should listen to her too (hint, hint) I guess so I can learn to be a better wife too. Not that he thinks I am a bad one, but it just never hurts to be reminded to put forth a little more effort towards your spouse, so I will listen occasionally when I happen to be in the car and although I do think she can be a bit arrogant and abrasive she does have some good advice and I have noticed us trying to compliment each other more and make each other feel a little more important. Anyway, enough of the therapy session, just had to explain where Justin got the idea to separate the two this year...Saturday he brought me home flowers and chocolate (for Valentines), Sunday we just lounged, made cookies, and my Sister had us over for dinner which was so nice of her, got a nice, much needed new camera, then Monday Justin took me to SlC to Market Street Grill for my fav. (Alaskan King Crab Legs) ummm! We hadn't been there forever! So, lucky me huh? I got spoiled for a whole weekend this year. (See what I'm saying Thank You talk radio shows :)
The kids got these Fur real puppies for V-day from us!

It's my party and I'll CRY if I want to....

2010-02-23T09:32:00.001-08:00

For Lincoln 2nd birthday we had all our family over for pizza and rootbeer floats, and the pictures below show just how much he enjoyed it...he cried pretty much the entire time, he didn't want to open his presents, he didn't want us to sing to him, he didn't want to blow out his candles. But by darn he was going to do it anyway, because I had spent the time and money to do it all, right? Pretty much the only thing he did enjoy for a minute was his Rootbeer float. In his defense he ended up getting a fever and a bad cold the next couple days and I think he was just not feeling very good.

By the next morning we were feeling a little better and ready to play with our fun new toys (he loved his new "matman" from Aunt Melissa)....

Go Saints!!!!

2010-02-22T18:01:00.000-08:00

This year we had the Superbowl Party at our house for the first time. As if you can't tell our family was rooting for the Saints... Jett was decked out from head to toe in his Saints uniform. Jett has about 6 favorite teams and a few of their uniforms, thank goodness one of them whose uniform he had made it to the Superbowl! I think it was one of the best days of his life, having a "real" football "party" here. Jett asked me at the first of football season who my favorite team was, and I chose the Saints only because I liked their colors and logo the best (guess I picked a good year to choose my first "real" favorite football team) Jett said "yah, because you decorate your house with Saints stuff huh?" that's right, and almost every room of the house was in full support of the team! We had TONZ of good food and even better company.

My brotherJesse brought the "Keg" (of Rootbeer, that is...) and he was so proud of it we had to get a picture of him with it!

Taya's Baptism Day!

2010-02-22T09:17:00.000-08:00

On February 6th Taya was baptized, it was such a great day...she looked so beautiful. I can't believe she is growing up so fast. We are so proud of her and her decision. Taya had many friends and family who came to support her and who love her very much!

Taya's 8th Birthday!!!

2010-01-13T09:36:00.000-08:00

On January 2nd Taya turned 8 years old! For her birthday she wanted a 50's party. We had banana splits and soda, danced to 50's music, and karaoked to 50's songs. All the girls came dressed so cute in their little poodle skirts, sweaters and capri's and bobby socks. I was a little nervous that the girls would be disappointed we weren't jamming out to Miley Cyrus but they LOVED it, they had so much fun and got so into it! I was totally impressed with their moves they had me cracking up the whole time. It was a blast! (and Yes, I even got festive and dressed up myself!)

Yum! (does that not look soooo good)

Karaoke-ing!

Hannah Sparrow, Tasia Jones, Brilee Meacham, Nicole Buttars, Taya, Kiley Coleman, Elle Winn, and Halle Dunkley

Taya and her cousin Halle!

I can't believe she is growing up so fast, Taya is such a good girl and I feel so blessed to be her Mom, sometimes she teaches me more than I think I teach her. She is such a good example to our entire family, she is so smart and loves to learn. We are so proud of her and could not ask for a better daughter she has been a joy for 8 years, and I fear the next 8 will go by even faster than the first. Happy Birthday Taya...We love you!!!

Our Crazy Christmas!

2009-12-31T11:01:00.000-08:00

Christmas is always busy around the Merkley household, Justin is just getting use to the idea that Christmas is celebrated for a whole week in Vernal, but I have to say I think this year may have topped them all. The "normal" Christmas festivities alone are plenty but this year we thought we would just throw in a Graduation surprise party (for Jesse) a Mission farewell (for Nate) Family Pictures, an Amazing Family Race, and Swimming, Sledding, and Movies (for the kids) needless to say we had a "CRAZY" Christmas this year!

just singing a few Christmas carols (this was a new tradition my aunt started this year, not sure if it will make it in next years schedule but A for effort Aunt Lisa)...

The boy cousins...

The girl cousins...

Barsie and I getting our craft on...
My Dad making the worlds BEST fudge (I know everyone thinks that about their recipes, but really my Dads is the best :) sorry!) He gets serious about the whipping process if you can't tell, in fact I would not be surprised if occasionally one of the secret ingredients may be a drop of sweat...
Christmas morning....
(this makes me laugh, it always feels crowded at my moms house but this picture makes me realize just how crowded it really is)

The Amazing Race...

Our new favorite tradition, thank you Alisha for all the work you do to make this so fun!!! I had no pictures of this night so I had to steal these from my cousin Melissa, and because I could not have narrated this any better (I just stole her whole post, and am hoping it's okay with her)... so in her words.......

See we Merkley's can be quite competitive and so rather than getting our competitive aggression out during a game of Family Feud or Uno we had an Amazing Race the day after Christmas.

These are the 9 teams that competed and raced all around Vernal, Utah with it being, like, 2 degrees outside. Literally 2 degrees.

Don't we all just look like the nicest people alive? You wouldn't guess that the arguing began even before we could all get out the door!

Jodi and Jesse were the Grey/Blue team and were the winners of the game.

Makall, my Dad (Melissa's), and Aunt Lisa were the Black Team. At one point they were calling me asking where I was headed, and I thought they were trying to cheat so I faked faulty cell coverage and hung up on them. Turns out they were just trying to help. What a nice daddy I have.

Autumn and Alex were the White Team (here predicting that they will come in second, which I think they did. Second or Third). From what I hear Autumn is a little scavenger who stole mine and Michael's house of cards after we WHOOPED everyone at that challenge.

Justin and Ashley were the Green Team and although we were SUPPOSED to follow all traffic laws, Justin was a little speed demon. I should know....I was right on his tail. Hehehe

Nate and Barsie were the Orange Team. Since Nate was SOOOO intimidated by us, he had to try to slow us down by trying to block our car in at every challenge, BUT YOU CAN'T TRAP ME NATE!

Aunt Julie and Uncle "not the first born" Terel were the Red Team. One of our clues sent us to Grandma and Grandpa's "first born's" house. I headed off to my dad's, even though the clue meant for us to go to Uncle Terel's. That is where Michael and I lost the game! But I can see how everyone thought Uncle Terel is the older child, he is much more mature acting than my dad!
Sid and Michelle were the Yellow Team. They call this their game face, I called it their "mad they know they are gonna lose face"
Meg and Jeff the only team who actually knew what color "red" brick houses were!

Michael and I were Team Purple. And we came in dead last! But you know what they say... save the best for last.
and a HUGE shout out and thank you to Alisha for planning this whole thing and to her hubby Dave for helping her out. They did so much work and planning for this and it was seriously awesome.

What FUN night!

Lights at Temple Square, and an early visit from Santa himself!!!

2009-12-05T10:54:00.000-08:00

We took the kids to the Christmas Lights, they loved it! Jett was so excited all day, I don't know why we had never taken them before but it was a great experience!

So yesterday, Jett came upstairs dressed in two different top and bottom P.J.'s, black snow boots and a hat and asked me if we had some black gloves, I just thought he was getting in something warm to go outside so I said Jett, you are NOT wearing that outside...He replied saying: No, Mom, I'm being Santa Clause and I'm going to put presents under the tree for our Family (he has been watching " The Santa Clause" oh, about 3 times a day for the past few days and I guess thought it would be fun to reinact the movie!) I had to make him take a few pictures and he then proceeded to place every toy in his "Santa bag" under our tree! (I'm just not sure which to give Taya and Lincoln, they all kinda looked like ones for him ;)

Thanksgiving Activies!

2009-12-05T10:46:00.001-08:00

This year we spent Thanksgiving at Justin's Grandma's, I forgot my camera so I had to borrow these from Justin's cousin's (thank-you) Just some random Pic's of the activities for the day!

Lincoln and his olives

Just a friendly little game of poker

....and some solitaire frenzy

Taya and Halle playing!

Happy Thanksgiving!

"Deck the Halls" Boutique

2009-11-23T21:30:00.000-08:00

All us girls decided to get a little crafty a couple weeks ago and do a boutique in Vernal, we made everything from watch bands, to blankets, to bows, home decor, and tutu's. So fun, especially just to get to hang out with everyone...
Michelle, Jamie, Jillie, Me, Jillian, Autumn, Alisha and Megan

Oh, and if any of you are needing any of these things we do have some leftovers we would love to get rid of :).......

The Jazz Game!!!

2009-11-10T08:03:00.001-08:00

My Bro-in-law and new Sis-in-law invited us to a Jazz Game game, complete with a free dinner at the terrace in the arena before the game and nachos and snacks at half time, we felt like VIP's... Kelli LOVES sports (lucky Tyson) so they do a lot of games, for their honeymoon SHE wanted to go to a Baseball game, all your husbands are jealous right now (I know) maybe she can help me a little. Anyway, it was a really good game until the fourth quarter, the Jazz ended up losing :( We still had a great time though, Thanks Kelli and Tyson for a fun night and great company!!!

Kelli & Tyson

D'will's ,wife, cute new baby, and brother, because obviously I spent more of the game people watching than actually watching the game :)

Halloween 2009

2009-11-09T21:32:00.001-08:00

This year it felt like we celebrated Halloween for about a week. We were crazy busy, with church carnivals, pumpkin walks, school parties, kids parties, adult parties, trunk-or-treating, trick-or-treating, etc., etc., etc... We had a lot of fun but got a little tired of taking on and off Halloween costumes and make-up, every day for a week. Taya was a 50's Girl, Jett was a Sky View Bobcat football Player/Optimus Prime, and Lincoln was a Pirate/Robin the boys couldn't decide what they wanted to be so they were both (depended on the activity of the day)!

Da da, da da, da da, da da... Batman (and Robin, of coarse)

Look at those two football stars...and in full character of coarse. (Jett and his friend Braden Alder)

Lincoln's new favorite part of Halloween...

My kids went to the Pumpkin walk with my sister and brother and their families, Justin and I couldn't go. Of coarse, Justin was just devastated that he missed the pumpkin walk this year... it is like his favorite thing :) (not really) Thank you for taking them Alisha and Dave!

Happy Halloween!!!

"PROM NIGHT"

2009-11-09T20:46:00.000-08:00

Every year our friends the Cale's Have a themed Halloween dance party...this year's theme was "Prom Night". It was any era so we thought it would be fun to go 80's but I couldn't find an 80's dress like the other girls so I just went with normal prom attire (I guess) I have no idea what they wear to prom these days!!! Any way we have a ton of fun! Happy Halloween!!!

Some of our pic's turned out way blurry, they had the fog machine a little heavy...this whole room was filled with smoke, the fire alarm kept going off... seriously!

The Guys

The Gals

Gettin' our groove on!!!

San Fransisco!

2009-10-25T20:42:00.001-07:00

Justin, my Dad, brothers and brother-in-law spent a weekend in San Fransisco, one last guys trip before my little brother Nate leaves on his mission (in Dec.) They went to a 49er's game and to Alcatraz and I guess just hung out. I think they had a great time other than their 11 hour drive turned into a 14 hour drive when my brother Sid, a little past SLC remembered he left the football game tickets at his house in LOGAN! (they all to turn around and come back to get them) all I'll say about that is... and you guys are always saying that I'm getting more like Mom all the time!!! See Sid maybe it is just something that happens when you have kids, and you only have one :)! Ha Ha Ha

Dad, Justin, Jesse, Nate, Sidney, Dave

Alcatraz Prison

49er's VS Falcon's

Soakin' Up the last little bit of Summer!

2009-10-11T21:30:00.000-07:00

Obviously this was a couple weeks ago, being that it is now freezing cold. Alisha and I made a quick trip to Vernal for a cousins wedding a couple weeks ago without our husbands, and the weather was so nice we decided to soak up the last little bit of weather while we could. We hit the last open day of the water slide, and on Sunday had a picnic with my Dad's side of the family at Remember the Maine park. It was such a nice day the kids LOVED it and did not want to leave, they had so much fun playing in the water. I had not been here forever, (maybe since high school) and I had forgot how great this place is. Defiantly my idea of "the perfect" day, hanging out with all my family in a beautiful place on a beautiful day! Oh, it's making me miss summer (and my family) already :(
just relaxing and soakin' up the last little bit of summer weather.
My Grandma Bev and Grandpa Pudge

Grandpa Terel teaching Jett how to skip rocks!

Taya and Grandpa playing in the water and crossing the river!

Miley Cyrus!

2009-10-03T14:01:00.001-07:00

Taya's best mother/daughter date EVER! A couple months ago I got tickets to the Miley Cyrus concert. Taya has been anxiously awaiting the concert since then. She spent the night before picking out her outfit and boots just like ones that looked like Mileys. We invited our friends Saige and Tyra to come with us, and we all had so much fun. The girls were in heaven. It was so fun to watch thier excitment and remember how cool things like this were when you were a kid. We went to SLC a little earlier, did some shopping and ate before the concert, and after 2 1/2 hours of LOUD music and thousands of SCREAMING little girls, the first thing Taya asked was why it was so short?

Taya, me, Saige and Tyra!

Miley got really sick during the show and ended up running off stage during her third song. Her stage manger came out and announced that they were going to give her little break, that she had the flu that was going around. Tyra and I were little concerned they might cancel the show, but after a fifteen minute break she came back on and did a really good job. I felt really bad that she had to perform feeling so crappy, but purely selfishly was glad she did, I couldn't have imagined the ride home if we'd not got to see the concert that night!

Taya and Saige jammin' to their favorite songs...

What a great night, thanks Miley, for some really great memories!!!

5 Years Old!!!

2009-10-02T08:50:00.001-07:00

Last week Jett turned 5 years old! I can't believe he is is getting so big! Jett is about as BOY as you get, he is FULL of energy and keeps our family laughing, he loves most all SPORTS (he has loved balls since he was a baby) it depends on the season, but football is probably his favorite... and of course Jett wanted a football party, what else? So we went to Mac Park with some of his little friends and played ball...

Jett's Uncle Sid got this Adrian Peterson Jeresy for him and he has worn it almost everyday for a week now. He LOVES it!

as we were cleaning up I turned around and found Lincoln and Simon (my neighbors little boy) taking care of the rest of the boys cake and and ice-cream! (if my sis-in law is reading this, she is freaking out right now, major germs I know, but we figured the damage was already done and it kept them in one spot for a while so we just let them go at it!)

Jett and Lincoln playing with his new farm set from Great Grandma Bev, check out Jett's "farmers"...because when do you not see football players in a coral? right?

Happy Birthday Jetter, We love you!

First Day of School!

2009-09-08T14:50:00.001-07:00

Taya is in 2nd grade this year, Mrs. Honeymiller is her teacher this year. Taya LOVES school, she never wants to miss a day and last year even cried when I had to check her out early one time. The first day of school, for her, is better than Christmas morning. I just wish her enthusiasm could still be the same when highschool rolls around, but I have a feeling it might not always be this way. So I guess I'll just have to enjoy it for as long as it lasts!

This is Jett's 2nd year of preschool, he has a September birthday, so he just misses the cut off for kindergarten. and I'm just great with that, I think it will be good to be the oldest, rather than the youngest. He unlike Taya, could do with or without school, I think to Jett, the best part about school is just the social aspect, and I have no idea where he gets that from (wink, wink) This first pic. is just one of many attempts of me trying to get a picture of him, doesn't his look alone tell you just how excited he is... time to break out the magic...
...all I have to do when I "need" a good picture of Jett is give him a ball, and wallah...he is all full of SMILES (and poses)!

Top of Utah 1/2 Marathon

2009-09-02T19:41:00.000-07:00

Last weekend Justin ran his first half marathon!!! I'm ALOT proud and a little disgusted, okay... or maybe just a little bit jealous, being that he hasn't ran for years and he and my brother decided 2 weeks before the race to run it (we all thought at first they were totally joking), they trained on the treadmill 4 or 5 times (seriously) and ran 13.1 miles in 2:03 without stopping once! Really? Who does that?!?! He must have got those genes from his Mom, who also ran in it and placed 1st in her division (GO! Cheryl!) My Dad and sister also ran it, and the rest of us would have love to do it (because we totally could have ;) but who would have stood at the finish line and cheered everyone on??? They all did so AWESOME!
Sid and Justin, look at them... they look like they could of gone another few miles!

Alisha 1:59

Dad 1:52

The moral support team... hey, at least we didn't have to get all sweaty or mess our hair up :) look on the the bright side, right?

Way to Go Dad!!!

Park City Vacation #3

2009-08-15T18:33:00.000-07:00

So, for the third time this summer we headed back to Park City, apparently we can't get enough of the place this year, and who can? it's such a great place. We spent almost a full week with my parents in their time share, soakin' up some sun for one last hoo-rah! before the kids had to head back to school. One day we bought an all day pass and did the Alpine Slide, Alpine Coaster, Mini golf, Trampoline and kiddie rides from 11:00 a.m. until 8:30 that night. The adults were wiped out by the end of the day and the kids could have keep going for a few more hours. We all had a ton of FUN and I loved spending the time with my Family!

Grandpa and Taya on the coaster...
One of my most embarrassing moments... as Taya, Jett, I and Michelle were riding up to the alpine slide on the lift I got talking to Michelle and not paying attention accidentally kicked off one of my sandals (* note to self: next time don't wear flip flops on the ski lift!!!) From on the lift it looked like it was only about 5 feet from one of the slides, so my bright idea was to go down that slide jump off by it and retrieve my sandal. When I actually got there I realized it was much farther than 5 feet away and the weeds that didn't look so tall from the lift, came up to my chest. There was no way I was going to find it. With all the people on the lift yelling at me, that my kid (Jett who was still sitting on my stopped sled) was go to get hit by the next sled coming down, (which was my Sister-in law, that was the plan, people, for her to go down after me, it might not have been a brilliant plan, but I did think that part through) my bare foot now cut and legs scraped from the bushes, I jumped back on my sled and finished coming down. When I got to bottom my sweet Mom volunteered to hike back up the mountain and help me look for it, so I could have shoes for the rest of the day. So I borrowed Michelle's sandals and with some nice people's help from the lift above directing me I finally found my flip-flop. The funnist part was it made Jett (our little worrier) so nervous that the next time we got on the lift, I took my sandals off and held them, Jett just sat and looked at them and finally asked "Mom do you want me to hold them for you?" :)
My mom and I retrieving my stupid flip-flop! I'm just glad I was able provide a little entertainment for everyone!!!

Taya, making a necklace at one of the craft classes, she loved all the free little kids classes this year, she went to about two everyday.
We spent most of our time hanging out by the pool, playing games, relaxing and B-B-Qing!

...and of coarse a good vacation always includes reading a good book, right??? It's just not usually the activity of a 7 yr. old :) that's our little Taya!

On our way home we stopped with my parents to get lunch at the Last Samurai. I thought the kids would think it was cool, they had never eaten anywhere like here before.
Notice Jett in the next picture...5 seconds after I took the picture he had jumped off his chair and was headed back out the front door :) it was so funny. I don't think that was what he was expecting when we told him we got to watch them cook the food!

We talked him into coming back and the next little volcano he ended up thinking was "awesome!"
ummm! I hadn't eaten at one of these places since we lived in Sun Valley, 7 years ago, it was so delicious!!!

The Living Planet Aquarium

2009-08-15T18:04:00.000-07:00

In between our Cherry Hill reunion and our Park City family reunion we had an extra day in SLC to kill, we had heard that the living aquarium was kinda neat so we decided to take the kids. It was really fun, even Lincoln was totally digging it. We just happen to get there right before they fed the sting rays so the kids got to help feed them little anchovies. Taya loved it, Jett wasn't as sure but it was a really neat place.

That clump of stuff in the corner would be an Octopus!

Cherry Hill !

2009-08-09T20:44:00.000-07:00

Justin's family Reunion was at Chery hill this year, we usually go here at least once every year. The kids love it! This year was nice because Taya and Jett could do most of the rides themselves. Justin couldn't come up until the last night, but luckily Uncle Tyson didn't really have anyone to hang out with ( his fiance' couldn't get work off either) so he entertained my kids! Or maybe they entertained him :)

Uncle Tyson & Lincoln going down the slide

Cardiac Canyon

The kids & Grammy

Bear Lake Trip!

2009-07-26T23:02:00.000-07:00

This summer we started our first annual Ballard/Petersen Reunion with Justin's step-dad (Terry's) kids. We're all around the same age and have kids all similar in age. It was so fun for all of our kids to get to meet their cousins, they had so much fun playing together. Us adults had great time getting to know each other better also. Hopefully we can make it yearly thing. Bear Lake was perfect, it was such a nice day and it's all kids need: Water & Sand and they 're entertained for hours.

Happy 4th of July!!!

2009-07-13T21:05:00.000-07:00

The 4th is always a fun holiday, I've decided I think it's partly because it's the only major holiday that's in the summer and everything is OUTSIDE! (including the messes) that and Justin has always been very patriotic, he'll probably kill me, but the the song "God Bless The USA" is one of the few things that always choke him up a little so I think our family has just always loved the 4th. We are thankful for those who fought and fight today for our country and we are very proud to be Americans!!!

On the 3rd we watched the Logan fireworks with Alisha and Dave (at Dave's work)

For the last few years, after the Lewiston parade we have been privileged to be invited to "Ma Halls" (Jake's Moms) 4th of July party! It is quite the shin dig, way bigger than Christmas for them. Ma Hall loves the 4th and her home is decked out in stars and stripes year 'round. The kids of course love this one, its better than a carnival. Complete with Razzle Dazzle castles and about every blow up, play land, swim pool, and all the food, you can imagine. Thanks Hall Family for always making us feel like part of the family :)

Jake and Justin

Jett, Taya and Davis having fun in the Razzle Dazzle Castle!

Linc & Bella found a pool just their size!

I'm not sure if that smile means "Yipee" or "Yikes that's pretty high"???

Then every year, in the evening (following the Halls Party) we have a B-B-Q with some of our friends, family, and neighbors. In the past we have always got illegal fireworks, and put on quite the show for the whole neighborhood. but after two years of the cops stopping by we decided to play it safe this year, so no big ones :( but the kids still had a good time, I think it was only us adults that were a little disappointed.
Hayden, Jett, Davis, Taya, Cole, & Linc

Taya and the cute babies ( Davion & Brock)

Our friends: Nikki, DaSheek's mom (who was out visiting from Africa), DaSheek, Jocelyn, Jake & Traci

My first Sparkler!

The girls & the babies watching the fireworks!

Justin and the kiddos exhausted on the tramp after a long day!!!

Girls Weekend in Park City...

2009-07-09T12:39:00.000-07:00

Every year my Mom plans a trip with all her daughters and daughter-in- laws to Park City. We always have so much fun, and this year was no exception. Okay, so 3 babies in one Time- Share didn't always make for the quietest night's sleep, but other than that we had a really great time. My Mom puts so much time, and money into planning these trips for us every year, and I just want to thank her for all she does. I love my Mom so much and truly appreciate everything she does for her kids. Her efforts have made us a really close family, and I will always be thankful to her for that.

Six ladies and three babies made for A LOT of luggage ( and no Alisha has not had a baby, she just didn't want to feel left out so she thought she'd be really funny and bring a doll.) She'll think really funny, when next year she's toting a real one of those :) J/k -and NO that's not an announcement.
Jodi, Megan, Alisha, Mom, Me, and Michelle

My Mom taught all of us girls how to make strawberry jam. YUMMY!

Doing a little shopping, Lincoln scored a new football which ended up not being a great purchase for the day. He kept throwing it and we had to keep stopping to pick it up.
Lincoln giving Brock loves

and of course one of the things we do best...playing GAMES
Now that's one HOT Grandma :)

....and back to Park City!

2009-07-09T12:06:00.000-07:00

So my good friends had rented a condo and invited the kids and I to go spend a couple nights in Park City with them, but after just spending 4 days their already, I was feeling a little exhausted and ready to be home. It only took a little persuasion from my kids, and friends, to make me realize I had got to go on a little vacation without (most of) my kids, and they probably deserved to go do something fun too. So I literally got home Sunday night, unpacked my bags, re-packed our bags, and headed back, bright and early the next morning. We ended up having a BLAST and I'm so glad I decided to go. Taya, Hayden, Jett, and Trey eating pizza

When we got there it was raining, so for a few hours we had 7 excited kids running and screaming all around the condo asking about every 10 minutes when we got to go to the pool??? When the sun finally broke through, we were ALL anxious to get out of there!

Nikki Petersen, Me, Amber Nyman and the kiddos in the hot tub!

Keyera, Lincoln, and Cole. The sleepy babies watching a movie!

Cousin Mylee's 1st Birthday!

2009-07-07T08:00:00.001-07:00

My brothers little girl, turned one in May, they had a party for her at their apartment in SLC where they have a fun pool. We had a B-B-Q and the kids swam.

Lincoln eating dirt!

Happy 1st Birthday Mylee!

Taya's Dance Review

2009-07-06T22:39:00.000-07:00

Taya loves to dance, and of course I'm just a little bit prejudice, but she is quite the little dancer! She did so good at her review this year! This would be her 4th year with Tueller's, and it is so fun to watch her learn and improve every year. We are so proud of her!!!

Flowers and a hug from Brother!

Jett's Preschool Graduation '09!

2009-07-06T21:40:00.001-07:00

Jett loved his first year of preschool at "Hooked On Books". Billye Sue White was his teacher, both of my kids have went to her preschool and she is the BEST. She is so good with the kids, they all just adore her and she such a great teacher. They have learned so much from her.

"The Little Mouse, the Red Ripe Strawberry, and The BIG HUNGRY BEAR" ( a book they read for us)

Hayden Petersen, Jett, Davis Hall

Sibling Bribery!

2009-06-24T22:58:00.000-07:00

What do you get when it's late and you have TWO bored kids?
Taya thought it would be fun to trade p.j.'s one night, Jett wasn't too thrilled about the idea but those of you who know him, know, a bribe for some candy can go a long way with the kid. It took Taya forever to talk him into the flower in his hair, she had to add a couple more pieces of candy (that she stores in her room, for forever, seriously she has probably got some stuff from halloween down there) Taya even told Jett exactly how to pose like a girl, I guess her pose would be her impression of a guy. I love the look on Jett's face it pretty much says what he was thinking about the whole thing! I just had to laugh this night it brought back so many memories of me getting my little brothers to do stuff like this. I have a pic. of me and my little brother in MY dance costumes, and others of my younger siblings dressed up as a bride and groom. At least there are some advantages of being the oldest!

Moms Night Out!

2009-06-12T11:02:00.000-07:00

Traci, Nikki, Camille, Me, Amber

These girls keep me sane! Seriously, sometimes I think they keep me off medication. Rather we get together to complain, laugh, or just flap our jaws (to someone other than our kids anyway) we love to go out to dinner, a movie, or just sit in the car in one of our driveways and talk for hours. (and a HUGE shout out to our hubbies who understand we NEED this occasionally!) We've made some really great friendships, and I'm so glad we finally all got a pic together, it's not ever something you think to take a picture of, but Camille is leaving us and moving back to Vegas :( so she wanted to get one before she left! Gotta love girlfriends!!! and we'll miss you so much Camille, but we will do this again :) and Yeah! maybe one of our Girls Nights will be in Vegas, do you think the hubbies will go for that?

What the #@!*%#? Was that?

2009-06-03T19:26:00.000-07:00

Last night we took the kids to eat at Firehouse, it had starting raining and hailing, but I guess inside the restaurant we couldn't tell how bad it really was. One of our neighbors called on the cell phone and said their basement was flooding, so we rushed home to help them, as we pulled up to our house this is what our yard looked like....
Seriously, isn't it June? Then we went to check our basement and this is what we found in Taya's room....
Holy Crap!!! I threw all the clothes in Taya's dirty clothes basket on the floor to keep some of the water from hitting the floor, grabbed her garbage can and some other buckets and sent the kids up stairs to get me some towels. Taya jumped right into action, she was a huge help. She would hold the buckets while I went to dump the full ones....
Jett on the other hand is our little worry-wart, he thought our house was going to wash away. So this is what he did the entire time....
Which made Lincoln do this.....
Oh My Crazy! It was a totally chaotic night and yet I apparently found it humorous enough to take a few pictures :) Really what are you going to do? Ya might as well have a chuckle about it!
I don't think Taya thought it was very funny she kept asking me why I was laughing (mostly I was laughing at Jett). I guess some of the nieghbors got it way worse than we did. The whole neighbor hood were out helping each other until almost midnight. Maybe I won't think it's very funny in couple days when Taya's room starts smelling! (oh, I hope not) We had to pull back a few feet of her carpet, and put a blower under it. That was a crazy storm and it literally lasted like only an hour, I can't imagine what it would have done had it lasted any longer! What A Night!

Their the Mailman's kids!

2009-06-01T12:04:00.000-07:00

The other day the boys and I met Justin in town and took him a sub for lunch. Jett wanted to ride in the mail truck with Dad, but being that it's against the law, sitting in it would have to do. Man, don't those kids kinda look like they could be the "Mailman's" ha ha ha!

The Big Apple!!!

2009-05-28T13:06:00.000-07:00

Last week Justin and I got to take a little (much needed) vacation. We had some free plane tickets, that we had gotten a little over a year ago when our flight from the Philippines got delayed like three times. So we decided to go see New York neither of us had ever been there and thought it would be fun to see. I'll tell you what, it is everything you would expect New York to be... busy, loud, exciting, busy, crowded, busy, dirty, and busy. It is defiantly a trip you need a vacation after. We had such a good time, and packed in as much as we could in the 6 days we were there. We didn't stop going for a minute, everything from ground zero to broadway we tried to do it all. It was so fun and so educational. There is so much history there and it just reminds you how blessed we are to be in this country. Plus it's always so nice to get away with just Justin and really just enjoy each other and then come home and remember how much you do miss your kids! and a big Thanks to my Mom who is always so willing to watch our kids so that we can get away together. I love you Mom!

NYC, BABY! Here We Come!!! (Justin in front of Time Square)
Central Park, It was so pretty, and relaxing.
just some little boys sailing their boats at the park.
On one of our double decker Tour Bus rides.

The Phantom, so Awesome! I think Justin even enjoyed it a little although he won't ever admit it!

At the Yankees Game!!! (of coarse it was the coldest day we were there, and I decided to wear short sleeves and capri's, I was freezing until Justin got sick of me complaining, went to get a hot dog and came back with a $65 Yankee's blanket. What a rip off, but worth every penny, it made the game enjoyable, and even came in handy for a little snuggling on our tour bus ride later that night :)

Just doin' a little people watching :) One of the funnest things to do on vacation, right? Seriously NYC has some interesting "characters". I wish I would have taken more pic's of some of the things we saw!!! Check out this hottie :)
Elmo just hangin' out on the streets.
My favorite treat there, roasted NUTS! ummm!

Us at Live with Regis & Kelly, so much fun! One of the highlights of the trip. The studio was so small (it's looks so much bigger on screen) The front row literally sat like 5 feet in front of their desk (we were on the 4th row). oh, and yes we got on T.V. for like 3 seconds.
Regis, Kelly, Gelman, and guest Simon Baker chatting with the audience during commercial breaks. We also got to see J.T. (winner of survivor) and Ricky Gervais. I was really surprised how much they interacted with us, they were so friendly and down to earth, especailly Kelly, she was so funny!
We also went to The Little Mermaid on Broadway! because it has always been my favorite Walt Disney Movie. So Cute!
The Manhattan Temple, we were able to go do a session one of the days. It was so weird to just walk right up to it on the corner, just like any other building, there were no pretty grounds fences or anything. But it was beautiful inside!
The Metropolitan Museum, we heard it was a must see, that we would want to spend a whole day there. Okay, so I guess Justin and I are not history buffs or educated enough or something we were dying after 2 hours, bored out of our minds. I guess maybe it would have been better had we have known who any of the people in the paintings or statues were. ( My cousin Melissa will be completely ashamed, it's probably like one of her favorite places, but seriously we could have used her and her knowledge that day.)
We did find one kinda cool floor full of knights, all their garb, and swords and stuff. Justin was digging it anyway!
Empire State (bottom right) and some other cool looking Buildings and churches. Some of the buildings there are so old and just detailed, their beautiful.
The Statue of Liberty, amazing to see in real life!
Just a street vendor trying to earn some money renting out his snake for pictures. We gave him a few bucks because we thought the kids would love the picture, and heck, why not waste more money when your on vacation :) ( it was ALOT less than the Met. Museum anyway, and a little more exciting!)

A Trip to the E.R.

2009-05-12T10:27:00.000-07:00

So yesterday I had my first experience with stitches, now I know to some of you who have probably had them several times it's no big deal, but I am one of those people who has never broken anything or ever been cut badly enough to even go to the doctor nor has my husband(since we have been married anyway)or any of my kids,up until this point. I guess 30 years of no major accidents in my lifetime it was about due time. and to be completely honest(for those of you who know Jett) I am really surprised he has seriously made it almost five years without one of these incidents. Anyway, at the park yesterday, Jett was riding a bike and I'm still not sure what happened, I just saw him biff it pretty hard. By the time I got over to him and saw his finger I could tell it didn't look good, it was cut pretty bad and I could see the whole finger nail bed sticking out. So I left Lincoln with a friend and headed to the hospital (Jett screamed the whole way there and kept saying he didn't want stitches he just wanted the doctor to super glue it) :) We had x-rays done and it didn't look broken so that was good, but then he had to have two big shots to numb the finger and that was not so good :( I knew he was in ALOT of pain when he turned down a popsicle and a sucker(some of you know, the kid would never turn candy down) They ended up removing the whole finger nail cleaning out the cut and sewing the fingernail back into the finger(literally put the needle through the nail and then through the finger)UGH!!! I teased Jett it was like when Mom gets fake finger nails on, because the whole finger nail, just laying on the table, looked like one of those long plastic fake nails they glue on. It was pretty gross. In the middle of the night the pain medication wore off and he woke up crying and this morning it has been hurting alot I don't think the Tylenol and Motrin are cutting it, but I think we are well on our way to recovery. I know it could have been alot worse and I am so thankful it wasn't, but it is just heart breaking to have to watch one of your kids go through something like this, you just wish it could be you in their place. I just felt so bad for the little guy.

the splint covers most of the damage but you can still see a little on the side (sorry for the graphic, but someday I know he will probably think this is cool!)

The Photo Shoot

2009-05-03T20:35:00.000-07:00

The kids spring pictures. This was the first time I had a photographer take them outside. I have to say the process was a bit harder than in a studio, but the final result was well worth it! They turned out so cute.
Melissa with Simply Be Photography took these pictures. She was so good to work with and did a GREAT job!

....Lincoln had had enough and that would be a wrap!

Funny Guy!!!

2009-04-26T18:19:00.000-07:00

Oh, my husband thinks he is SO funny. I wish I could say that this last post was a mean joke and that he just threw a bunch of clean clothes on the floor, but sadly it is the truth..... In MY defense our laundry does not usually look like this. This last week was the first week we finally had nice warm weather here in Cache Valley, and all three of my kids got the flu. So if they weren't in the house puking their guts out (which made for some of the massive laundry pile) we were indeed outside enjoying the weather, and yeah, so my household chores got a little neglected, okay alot neglected. You would think most kind, loving, husbands would find that large pile and think "my wife must of had a crazy week, I'll help her out a little and do a couple loads of laundry for her." apparently, not Justin. However, if he thinks that this is the solution to get me to do the laundry he is dead WRONG. In fact maybe just for that embarrassing little stunt I should do everyone else's laundry in that pile but his (that would mean for the first time in our marriage HE would actually have to do the laundry) :) and by the way honey, you say I exaggerate, really, 90% of the day and 3-4 weeks? REALLY? If I didn't do the laundry for 4 weeks, guaranteed it would be to the ceiling. Anyway, looks like you can all see what I will be doing this week, I guess I'd better get to it. Oh, and thanks alot Alisha for telling Justin how to make a post and Taya for showing him my password. I see how you two are :)

*** F.Y.I. for those of you who don't know us very well, we really are just teasing each other and truely are madly in LOVE!!! right honey?:)

Our New Peice of Furniture!

2009-04-26T10:24:00.000-07:00

This is Justin. This is my first and maybe my last post, when Ashley finds out about it. Dave Webb gave me the excellent idea to show what this blogging BS has done to my wife. I would like to introduce you all to the Ballard Love Sac. Since Ashley spends 90% of her day blogging this is what happens to the laundry after 3 or 4 weeks of "not having any time" to do it cause she is sooooo busy doing other very important things...

This is all for fun, and she knows what a good wife and mother I think she is. She is amazing... but I do think she blogs too much!

OH! Lincoln!!!...

2009-04-21T13:21:00.000-07:00

is what I have found myself saying ALOT these days... Sometimes it's in a "You are so cute" way, and sometimes it's in a "What in the heck are you doing?!!!" sort of way. Lincoln is at that stage where you realize they really aren't babies anymore. I forget how smart toddlers are and how quickly they pick up on things and figure them out (especially the things you don't want them to.) He is so curious about everything, and doesn't comprehend when somethings not a great idea. Here are just a few of his new interests, and a look at how fun the last couple months have been around our house...

#1. the TOLIET everything goes in the toliet, from basketballs, to toys, to a whole box of tampons, whatever he can find, this day he was stirring my eyebrow pencil in the water... looks like I'll be needing a new one of those. (check out the guilty little look. he now understands he's going to get in trouble, but that just makes it even more fun right?)

#2. CLIMBING out of his seats, even the straps in the grocery carts or in his stollers will no longer contain the little worm. One day I left him in his highchair eating lunch and went back to my room to do something and came out to find him sitting on the counter eating the ice (which he loves) out of my ice water. He had climbed out of his chair and to the other side of my island. I know, I was lucky he didn't fall off the counter.

#3. HATS, he loves to put on hats and walk around with them on :)
#4. any little BOX that he will perfectly fit in. He loves to sit in the laundry basket while I'm folding laundry, he loves to climb on top of them too.
#5. ICE, as I mentioned before. One day my brother's dog (which btw is the ONLY dog allowed in my house, I can't even believe I let him in) was licking ice off my floor and I guess Linc decided that it looked like a blast so he just joined right on in. Luckily I had mopped the floor that morning, which rarely happens these days.

#6. DANCING! check out these sweet dances moves. I guess it's really just one, he just bounces and swings his one arm. We call it "The Linky Dink".

So even though he can sometimes be a little fart, he's a pretty darn cute little fart and I guess we'll keep him :)

Easter!

2009-04-13T14:49:00.000-07:00

This year for Easter all my Family came out for the weekend. We had our annual Easter egg hunts. A kid one and an adult one (that's right, me & my adult siblings still get to have egg hunts!) and they are very competitive, too bad we didn't get pic's of that one I'm sure it would have been pretty funny. My parents fill our eggs with money, 1's, 5's, 10's, and 20's. Every year we try to score the most dough, and every year my brother Sid ends up with the most. My sister-in-law (Jodi) and I suck we always end up with a few dollars, and every year we always miss an egg or two, last year after the snow melted Jett found a blue Easter egg with two dollars in it. So If I see any of my neighbors slowly walking around my yard, I'll know what your doing :) J/K :)
I think there was a smudge on my camera lens during the egg hunt and my pic's turned out sort of blurry :(

Checking out what the Easter Bunny brought...

Grandma Julie & her three BOYS!!! ( I know, she doesn't look like a Grandma)

Picture Day!

2009-04-06T18:18:00.000-07:00

So we just got back from having the kids pictures taken, and as you all can imagine I'm totally FRAZZLED! I've decided the best part about getting your kids pictures taken are when it is OVER! I've had to keep rescheduling because of this crappy weather we have been having here, and today was finally a beautiful day. Although the weather finally decided to cooperate of course my kids didn't. Taya's front loose tooth is literally hanging on by a thread, (which wasn't when I scehduled the pic.'s 3 weeks ago) I kept begging her to pull it out before pictures because it's just hanging there and looks so gross, but she didn't ( I'm sure that will look lovely) hopefully photoshop can fix it and Lincoln CRIED pretty much the entire time. I kept telling the photographer, he really hardly ever cries ( because seriously he doesn't) I'm sure she was thinking "whatever lady they all say that." Anyway the other two did as good as can be expected. I don't know who picture day is harder on the the poor kids, or us mom's. Who really believe that after 3 hours of being told to Stand Up, Sit Down, Look Over Here and oh, by the way SMILE :)... a one year old is really going to do it, but for some reason we do. So anyway hopefully we got some good ones, and it was worth the weeks of stressing, and just a little WARNING... get ready for a picture overload in a couple weeks :)

Tag!

2009-03-31T14:49:00.000-07:00

I got tagged, to pick a picture from my 6th post. I didn't start a blog too long ago so these pictures weren't that old. The post was of our family vacation in St. George, I did a slideshow so I had a ton of pictures to choose from but I had to pick this one of Jett and my brother Jesse. I have no doubt this game was Jesse's idea, and this is a typical Jesse pose ( from the time he was a little boy he has always pulled a face for the camera, and this is one of the more mellow ones) !
I am dedicating this post to my siser-in-law Jodi because a while back she posted this picture of her baby.....
where she wrote, and I quote " Mlyee has just started this new smile where she srunches her nose, we can't figure out where she has picked it up from because both Jesse and I don't do it..."

Just thought I would help her out with the mystery :) ha ha ha!

***I am tagging Hanne, Brianna, Courtney Mckay, Jocelyn, Alisha, Michelle, and anyone else who wants to play! (choose a picture from your 6th post, and tag 6 more people.)

Rock Climbing!

2009-03-19T09:12:00.000-07:00

While we were in Vernal last week we took the kids to climb the rockwall at the rec. center where my little sister works. They had so much fun... o.k. maybe Taya had so much fun. I think Jett was still a little too young, he was fine until he looked down and realized how high he was and then he freaked! Taya loved it, every time she got a little higher.
getting a little boost from Aunt Megan.
Holy Crap! get me down! (poor little guy was so scarred we couldn't get him to climb back down.) check out his face!
...and this is how we kept Lincoln from wandering around.
Jett & Lincoln going down the slide ( forget the rockwall this was more Jett's style!)

2009-03-16T08:13:00.000-07:00

This past week we lost my Uncle in an accident. My brothers and Sisters and I were very close to his kids (my cousins) we all grew up together and always hung out together, we were sometimes more like siblings than cousins. We were all able to go home for the funeral. I was able to stay the whole week because my kids were out of school, and spend some time with them. It was so hard to see my Aunt and cousins go through such a hard time. They are so strong and I don't think you can ever imagine what it would be like until you have been in their shoes. This week it really made me remember what REALLY matters. It always amazes me how in times like these through all the tears and heartache it seems you feel the Saviors love the most. He somehow reminds us how important family is and gives us opportunities to serve one another and love unconditionally. All this stupid stuff that we sometimes waste our time worrying about just really doesn't matter in the end! I love my family so much and I hope that I can remember never to take what we have for granted. My thoughts and prayers are with the Reynolds Family, I love you all so much!

A new little Cousin!

2009-03-03T20:44:00.000-08:00

A new "little" 8 lb. 15.4 oz. cousin. My brother Sid and his wife Michelle just had their first little boy! They named him Brock Jay Merkley and he is cutie, we are are loving him to death! The kids were so excited for their new little cuz to come, and the proud new parents are doing amazing, seriously, you should see Michelle she does NOT look like she just had a baby! They are the cutest new little parents!

Lincoln wanted to give Brock lots of loves, but he just isn't that soft so he basically kept head butting him. This little outfit use to be Linc's :( it makes me so sad to think he has grown so much!

Kisses from Taya

My other brother and his wife came out to see the baby last weekend so we tried to get a pic of all the cousins "tried" being the key word. Out of like 20 this is the only one of all of them even sitting on the couch!

Lincoln, Jett, Taya, Brock and Mylee

Lincoln's 1st Birthday Party!

2009-02-24T10:20:00.001-08:00

For Lincoln's first Birthday we did a little monkey theme and had family over for his party, it was way fun, all but the cake anyway...

O.K. I am so not a cake decorator, I found this cute little monkey cake and thought it would be so fun, so I decided to make it ALL from scratch. I seriously don't know what I was thinking, and for any of you that think this cake looks half descent, what you don't realize is that it took me almost 7 freaking hours!!! I know that's ridiculous, which is why I am officially resigning from ever making these cutesy cakes ever again, it's so not my thing, I would rather waste my time on anything less stressful and that doesn't just get eaten! and my poor kids got neglected all day, Lincoln was so anwery when everyone finally got here because I had not picked him up once all day! After everything that could possibly go wrong, did, Justin finally came home to the house a total disaster and said "maybe you shouldn't make cakes" I was like uh, yah think? I finally got it finished about 10 minutes before everyone showed up and we cut right into it. What a waste! Really, I'm sure Lincoln really even cared about his cake anyway!
I also made these little monkey cupcakes. (they weren't as bad as the dang cake but still time consuming!)
Eating his Birthday cake!
Forget the fork, it wasn't doing the job!
Lincoln literally licked his plate clean! Hey, at least the cake was yummy!
All the kids signing Stockton's cast, he broke his leg sledding and had just gotten his cast on that day. ( Jett was obsessed he had 20 ?'s about how he broke it down to what he was wearing and what kind of sled he was on when he broke it!)
The kids breaking the pinata ( that would be Justin's hand trying to dodge the bat because we we couldn't figure out how to hang it up in the house.)
Wait linc... the pinata's over here.
Playing with his new presents.
New Superman jammies and a mower :)

My Happy Birthday!

2009-02-17T13:46:00.000-08:00

I had such a great birthday this year, really if this is how fun turning 30 is, I can't wait for 40! Justin surprised me with an early birthday present, he took me to dinner and a movie one night while my parents were out visiting since we had a free babysitter and surprised me with a room at the Anniversary Inn "Juliets Balcony"! It was beautiful, of course we had a great time, it just went by way to fast. Thanks to my parents for letting us have a fun night, and thank you to my husband who is learning to become so romantic! ( I stole these pics off the internet, seriously if you need a romantic getaway you've got to check out the new rooms here, they are amazing!)

So then, I decided to throw myself a birthday party this year, really it was just an excuse for me and some of my girlfriends to get together. We had been trying to plan something forever and decided we would finally use my B-day as an excuse. So I kicked Justin and the kids out of the house Friday night and we all got together in our p.j.'s ( we figured it would be a late one!) to play games, eat, and do what we do best... CHAT! It was so much fun to not have to worry about our kids for one night and to just goof around! I seriously have the best friends, I don't know what I would do without them. and lets just say, we do know how to P.A.R.T.Y.!!! We ended up staying up until 4:30 in the morning. Thank You, Amber, Camille, Nikki, Brianne, Suzie, Alisha and Traci for making it a wonderful Birthday:) Although I did spend my actual birthday and the next two days recouping from streph throat. okay, so maybe I can't handle partying like I did when I was twenty years olds! But it was still well worth it :)

a little game of Solitaire Frenzy
Me and Linc opening some of our birthday presents, the next day.

Oh, Thank-You to all of you who sent me the sweetest Birthday wishes from my last post!

Happy Birthday Lincoln & Mommy!!!

2009-02-12T16:11:00.000-08:00

One year ago....

I can't believe on my birthday one year ago, I was coming home from the hospital with my new little guy. Lincoln was born two days before my Birthday. He was due on the 15th (my B-day was the 14th) and I begged my doctor to start me a couple days early so we wouldn't share the same birthday. It being Valentines Day and all is bad enough but to also have to share it with your mom, didn't want to do that to the poor boy! I was induced on the 11th, and found out in the hospital Abraham Lincolns birthday was the next day. We had planned on calling him Lincoln so everyone kept telling me to hold out until midnight, so he could be born on Old Abe's B-day. Yeah right, say that to someone who has been laying on a bed in labor for hours, I was like are you kidding me, get him out now! Needless to say he liked the idea and decided to come posterior and get logged in my pelvis. Purplish-blue from lack of oxygen and two vacuums later ( because the doctor broke the first one pulling so hard to get him out!) he made his grand entrance February 12th at 3:14 a.m. on Pres. Lincolns B-bay! One things for sure Justin said: " it's either Abe or Lincoln". Happy 1st Birthday to my little monkey!

Just like Dad!

2009-02-10T15:26:00.000-08:00

Jett hates wearing ties to church its a fight every Sunday, the only thing that we have found that works is finding a tie that matches Dads. Last Sunday Justin dressed Jett just like him, they looked so cute. Jett was so excited, notice his hands in his pockets just like Dads. :) What handsome boys I have!

Fun Visitors!

2009-02-08T22:12:00.000-08:00

This last week one of my best friends [from highschool] and her husband (kristen and Drew McClellan) came to stay with us. I love kris, we can go months without talking and everytime we get together its just like old times. Since our husbands have met I don't know who I would say are better friends anymore, Kristen and I joke the only way we keep in contact these days is through our hubbies texting and calling each other. Justin will know something about them before I even talk to Kristen. Its so fun whenever we get together with them, we always have a blast together. and it was fun to see our kids play together this time.

All the kids waiting for breakfast!
Finn & Jett ( Finn held the cat almost the whole time, I'm just sayin' Kris I think you should let Drew get a cat! :) )
Taya putting make-up on Ellie

Silly Boy!

2009-02-08T21:52:00.000-08:00

Lincoln doesn't cry anymore when he wakes up from his naps and in the mornings, so sometimes he will sit in his crib forever until he starts yelling to get out or I finally hear him in there jabbering. I love walking in his room to find this....
... his big blue eyes and happy grin peeking over the crib! This is what make being a Mom worth it all :)

and his new trick is this... a half somersault I guess, he just sits this way all the time and looks through his little legs. It is so funny :)

Super Bowl Sunday!

2009-02-07T10:20:00.001-08:00

This year we had a really laid back Super Bowl party. We just went over to my brothers, just my bro. and sis. and their spouses. We had all just gotten back in town from Provo and just kinda wanted to chill, it was really kinda nice. The first Super Bowl I think I actually watched, and it was a really great game! Lots of food and just lounging around being lazy!

not quite sure what the #1 signs are for, other than we had been doing them all weekend at state drill team!

What a little Cheerleader!

Go U'ettes!!!

2009-02-05T11:50:00.000-08:00

Last weekend we went down to Provo to watch my little sister Megan perform at state drill team. It's one of Taya and I's highlights of the year. I think the only one who might love it more than us is my Dad (no joke). When my youngest brother graduated a couple of years ago my Dad didn't know what he was going to do without anymore football and baseball games to attend. He very unenthusiastically decided he would have to start supporting the drill team, before long he became their biggest and loudest fan! One of the moms this year told him he deserved Dad of the year, she had never heard a Dad cheer so loud for the drill team. He even had to go out a day early to watch 4A & 5A perform, he wanted to scope out the competition for next year ( we move up to 4A)! Justin says he turning metro. I say what guy doesn't like watching cute girls dance around in skimpy little outfits :) Logan has always been our biggest competition and we had heard they had been working really hard this year to beat us. It's kinda weird to go and root against your home town but I say until my kids are in highschool, gotta be a UTE fan all the way!!! The girls ended up taking state!!! We took 1st in every division, they did so awesome! We had a blast! can't wait for next year. See ya in 4A Logan Hi-Lo's! :)

State Champs!!!

Taya and cousin Mylee watching the dances.

My sisters.

a big hug from the boyfriend.

Mom, Megan, Dad

Sledding Fun!

2009-01-30T10:38:00.000-08:00

Jett and the next door neighbor boy are two peas in a pod. One of them are at the other ones house by 9:30-10:00 almost every morning. They have so much fun together. Lately their new thing is sledding down the little hill in between our houses. They will stay out going up and down laughing their heads off until their fingers start to burn. Then they come in, un-thaw a little, have some hot chocolate, maybe have a basketball game, and head right back out!

Jett & Braden

Sweet Dreams!

2009-01-24T14:35:00.000-08:00

I've missed this... Justin has been working on a house after work and has been getting home really late at nights. The kids are usually always in bed by the time he gets home. The house is finally about wrapped up and he's been home much more lately.
The kids love to cuddle with Dad on the couch every night, they always fight about who gets to lay on Dad. Whenever I ask them who wants to cuddle with me they say "I'll cuddle with you tomorrow" when they don't have school and we don't put them in bed this is how they usually end up falling asleep. I'm usually right there with them I just happen to be still be up doing stuff this night and I thought they looked so cute :)

Taya's Frogs!

2009-01-19T13:56:00.000-08:00

I have to admit the gross little things are kinda cute. Guess whose ends up feeding them everyday though, because Taya is always running late for school. That's the way it always works right?

Jett's Favorite Toy!

2009-01-17T08:56:00.000-08:00

Why is it that the cheapest toy you can find is always the one your kids like the most? Don't get me wrong I'm not complaining. I find these little football guys off ebay (they're so old school they don't even make them anymore) Jett found some of my brothers old ones at my mom's a couple years ago, and we've started collecting them ever since... they are how I potty trained him and their all he asks for for every birthday, holiday, ect. There are only a couple teams left in the entire NFL that we need to get. He can tell you every player and the team their on that he has. I can usually find them in a lot of 5 or 6 for a few bucks with s/h they usually end up costing me around a dollar or two a piece. Jett will play with these 2-3 times a day. He will make teams and put on a whole football game, complete with half time in their "locker rooms" [note: the blue cloth off to the side] this is their locker room, which on this day happens to be two of Lincolns burp clothes, some days it is wash clothes, he always has to have two, one for each team on each side of his field. Anyway I got tired of always washing random burp clothes and wash rags, so for Christmas Jett got two locker rooms! (a 11:30 p.m. project the night before Christmas eve) but it was worth it. He loved them, and now a little less laundry for me:)

Tagged!

2009-01-15T15:01:00.000-08:00

I got tagged, actually this is like the third time but I've never got around to doing one yet! So here goes....

8 Things About Me!

8 Favorite TV shows...
1. Brothers & Sisters
2. Greys Anatomy
3. Private Practice
4. King of Queens [ hilarious!!!]
5. Prison Break [could watch Wentworth Miller in mute:)]
6.Reality TV shows [American Idol, Dancing with the Stars, Bachelor, Survivor, Amazing Race, etc.] (had to group them together because there was too many!)
7. Lipstick Jungle
8. Any true forensic evidence, crime scene investigation, show like that. Love the ID channel. I know its sick and kinda creepy but I love that stuff. I try to figure them out before the investigators do!
(Wow! I watch way too much T.V.)

8 Favorite Restaurants...
1. Chili's
2. Olive Garden
3. Cheesecake Factory
4. Cafe Sabor
5. Cafe Rio
6. Market Street Grill ( their Alaskan King Crab Legs are AWESOME, 40 bucks a plate, but their worth every penny!)
7. Subway
8. Old Grist Mill
(I don't think those last two are restaurants, but oh well)

8 Things I Did Yesterday...
1. Took Taya to school.
2. Did a highlight and a haircut.
3. Played Clue Jr. and Sequence with Jett.
4. Took a shower ( seriously, don't get around to that some days.)
5. Went to dollar store, to get cellophane to wrap door prizes for Scentsy New Years party. (went in for one thing , came out $15 later. That store will do that to you!)
6. Made cilantro lime rice for Scentsy New years party. ( We had Cafe Rio salads for dinner, I had to bring the rice.)
7. Went to Scentsy New Years Party!
8. Came home to all my kids in bed and asleep. Yeah! thanked Justin, won't tell you about that :)

8 Things I look forward to...
1. warmer weather.
2. my new little nephew (due in two weeks).
3. seeing my family and my little sister perform at State Drill Team, in two weeks.
4. going to New York in May!
5. Not really looking forward to turning the big 3-0 next month, but am looking forward to my birthday.
6. Justin to be done with the house he is building, so I won't have to bathe, brush teeth, and put my 3 kids to bed every night by myself anymore.
7. Justin to be done with the house, so my kids can see him more.
8. Justin to be done with the house, so I can see him more.

8 Things on my wish list...
1. A new bedroom set.
2. Our basement to finally be finished.
3. My own personal maid to do the dishes, mopping and laundry!
4. For my kids to never fight, talk back, or complain again.
5. To lose weight without trying.
6. A girls night out!
7. For Justin to do all my honey-do's, I've been asking him to do for months.
8. An Eternal Family.

8 People I tag...
1. Tyra
2. Lisa
3. Amanda
4. Heather
5. Bri
6. Amy
7. Courtney
8. Mio

Happy Birthday Taya!

2009-01-07T18:32:00.000-08:00

On January 2nd Taya turned 7 years old. I can't believe seven years ago I was in Sun Valley ID having my little new years baby, 8 days overdue but hay, she was well worth the wait.( even though we got totally jipped with the new years gifts.) It was right after 9-11 and I guess business's were hurting so we got a hooded bath towel from the hospital. This year for Taya's Birthday my mom and I took 7 of her friends to High School Musical 3. Then came back to our house to open gifts and have cake and ice cream. I think all the girls had a blast, they giggled through the whole movie, it was so fun! My parents were able to come out for the weekend, so that night we had another party with my parents and Justin's.

I feel so blessed to have Taya as my first child. She is such a huge help to me and rarely complains about anything I ask her to do. I try not to expect too much from her (being the oldest of six kids, I know how it feels to be a second mom) but I sometimes find myself asking alot of her. Taya is so smart. She loves school and is a very good student. She has always loved books, and started reading her first year of pre-school. She is very independent and can entertain herself, if I haven't seen her in a awhile she is usually down in her room reading or singing and dancing to her cds. ( I can't even imagine the teenage years, I am always asking her to turn down her music we constantly have Taylor Swift and Miley Cyrus blaring through our house.) She is a very good example to her little brothers, and especially to me. She always asks me not to "say those words" whenever I slip up. She is very tender hearted, and hates when she has done something wrong it will eat at her until she confesses, she always says "I 'm not going to lie or I'll be in more trouble". She is such a good girl and I love her so much. I am so proud to be her mom! HAPPY BIRTHDAY Sweetheart :)

Our Merry Christmas!

2009-01-05T11:44:00.000-08:00

We had a great Christmas this year. This year was Justin's family's turn, I can't lie I always miss my family when we don't get to be with them on Christmas, but it sure is nice to be able to stay at our own home, and it sure makes it alot easier for Santa! (you know to find us) We spent Christmas Eve at Justins parents, watching movies and eating of course. Then we went to his Grandmas the next morning for Christmas to eat more. The kids got everything they had wished for and then some. Which wasn't hard considering all Jett wanted were more football guys (that Santa gets off ebay for like a $1.00 each) and all Taya wanted were two real frogs. (thats right people, FROGS!) and now I am wondering if I should have let Santa do that, they have been quite the pain in the butt so far. Anyway, we had a very good Christmas. I love Christmas, I love the feeling it brings, I love that for a few days you can just slow done and take time to really apprecaite what really matters. I love our Savior and for the gift he gave us to come to this earth. It was so fun to watch Jett this year really get what it was all about, he constantly asked about and drew pictures of baby Jesus, he was so cute. I hope you all had a very Merry Christmas also!

The kids in their new Christmas outfits from Great Grandma Bev.

This pic is for my cousin who I think is obsessed with Christmas Trees :) and who asked for a picture of mine. This year I finally gave in and got a fake tree. Something I swore to Justin I would never do. I love the smell of pine trees and I thought it just wouldn't be the same, and after 3 hours of pulling apart every single little branch I was wondering what the hell I had just done. However, this was the first year my decorations didn't fall off the sagging branches, I didn't once have to move all the presents out to water the tree (which I always spilled), and not one dead pine needle fell off for lincoln to choke on! I have to say I might be able to get used to this. and as for the smell I guess I should be able to figure that one out, (I only went through 3 packs of spruceberry scentsy's)!

Christmas Eve, opening up our one gift which is always matching p.j.'s (if you didn't notice it is was past Lincoln's bedtime and he is not having one more picture!)

Christmas morning opening gifts!

The kids gave Justin the Superman Boxset ( it was his favorite present, he used to love Superman as a kid and has now got Jett into it)

Justin's favorite part THE FOOD!

Uncle Brooks rocking Lincoln to sleep

Jett and Uncle Tyson (yes I do know it's winter & Jett did have a "warm-up" on over his basketball jersey, but the kid won't keep clothes on. He is always in the middle of a basketball, football, etc. game and he has to be in full uniform!)

Me and Deanna (Brooks wife) the newest addition to the family. We all love De (and I finally have someone who loves to play games as much as I do!!!)

Christmas Party!

2008-12-28T21:30:00.000-08:00

A couple of weeks before Christmas we went home to our annual cousin Christmas party at Aunt Lisa's. We always have a ball at this one!

The kids being silly dressing up

Lincoln going on a sled ride!

Me and my little sis (who's not so little anymore)

Justin entertaining my great aunts with a game of Mad Gab for over an hour, they just couldn't get it. It was hilarious listening to them try to say the phrases!

.

Gingerbread Houses!

2008-12-17T16:06:00.000-08:00

When I was little one of my favorite traditions was going to my grandmas house to make gingerbread houses. I have started doing it with my kids the last couple years. They had so much fun this year, Jett was so paticular about where he wanted everything to go, and everything on Tayas had to be in a pattern. The best part was it kept them entertained for like an hour and a half :)

Family Pictures

2008-12-11T21:33:00.000-08:00

While we were in Vernal over Thanksgiving we had pictures taken for my grandparents (for Christmas). 30+ people and it only took 1 hour, seriously for our family thats a miracle.

Thanksgiving Weekend

2008-12-03T15:30:00.000-08:00

This year for Thanksgiving we went to Vernal. It was great to see all the family, I hadn't been home since June, and if you know me you know that is a long time . I usually go to Vernal once a month or a least every other. So we had about 6 months worth of catching up, which included Thanksgiving dinner, Family pictures, two baby showers, one football game, a 2nd viewing of Twilight, and lots of gamin' all in one weekend. Not to mention Lincoln woke up crying through two of the nights ( Sorry family, FYI when we got home his top tooth had broke though, poor little guy.) Needless to say I came home exhausted, but it was worth every minute.
All the girl cousins!

Playing games (our favorite tradition) Notice the candles, there not just there for the ambiance. You can't tell because of the camera flash but the power went out our last night there for about an hour, being that it was already 1:00 in the morning you would think that we would have just called it night. Not us, it takes a lot more than a little power outage to stop us Merkleys from finishing a good ol' game of Phase Ten! The Turkey Bowl

Carrie Underwood!

2008-11-24T22:27:00.001-08:00

I and a couple of my girlfriends ( Traci Hall & Nikki Petersen) decided to get tickets and go to the Carrie Underwood concert, I let Taya come with us because she loves Carrie Underwood. She thought it was so great that she got to come on a "Girls Night" with us, she talked about it for weeks. We had so much fun, we spent the day shopping, ate at The Cheesecake Factory (yumm-o) and then went to the concert. It was so awesome, Carrie was so beautiful, even in real life. Taya knew almost every word to every song. It was so fun to watch how exciting it was to her. I always complain that Taya is 6 going on 16 she's just growing up way too fast, she is so into Taylor Swift, Hannah Montana, Carrie Underwood, and any other singer that has long blond hair ( she is obsessed with long hair.) She has been growing hers out her whole little life, too bad if the poor girl takes after her Mom it will never happen. Anyway, what a GREAT Day! It was so fun to hang out with my little "All American Girl" hopefully when she is 16 she will still be as excited to hang out with her Mom :) happy wishing anyway huh?

Fall Festivities!

2008-11-08T19:57:00.001-08:00

This was actually before halloween I'm just getting around to posting them...

for family night my sister and her husband came over and we carved pumpkins and then went to the pumpkin walk. Justin was working on the house and wasn't able to join us but as you will see we found him at the pumpkin walk!

This was Jett's favorite one "it's Micheal Felts" he says :)

"Hey looks its Dad" said Jett as we passed this one (it's a mailman).

Halloween!

2008-11-02T16:26:00.000-08:00

This year for Halloween we went over to our friends the Petersens. We had pumpkin bread bowls, took the kids trick-or-treating and came back to decorate cookies and watch movies. The kids had so much fun and weather was awesome for trick-or-treating! We could not keep up with Taya and Hayden and Jett lagged about two feet behind the whole time.

Making Sugar Cookies

Amber me and Nikki

The Cale's Halloween Dance Party, 50's Sock Hop!

The boy's and Marylin Monroe (what a hottie right?)

Sunny St. George

2008-10-24T22:26:00.000-07:00

So we're not dumb, we know what to do during the first snow storm of the year; we get the heck out of dodge. Last week we headed south and just in time too, we spent a week in St. George with my whole family, and if you've ever seen the show Brothers & Sisters it would give you an idea of about how the week went in our little condo. Minus the gay brother and the dead unfaithful dad of course! I know it's kinda a schmuck show, but almost every week I laugh my butt off because it is SO my family. It wouldn't be a Merkley family vacation without a few disagreements (to put it nicely). We went go-carting, hung out by the pool, went hiking at Zion, did a little mini golfing, shopping, a little relaxing and a lot of eating as always. I love my family so much and love how close we are. I'm so glad my parents take the time to plan trips for us to get together. I love spending time with them.

2008-10-24T11:05:00.000-07:00

~ Memo To Mommy ~

I found this on a blog it is so true. Number three has been hard for me and I feel like I'm always trying to keep everything and everyone in order and I fail every day at it! The days I find most enjoyable are those that I just chill out and relax a little, my mom always tells me "the laundry will be there tomorrow." But I might not have the opportunity very much longer to sit down and play tumbling monkeys with my kids. I need to read this three times a day!!!

*Stop freaking out about the mess!*
there's always time to clean-but how often do we get to make mud pies?

*Love me,*
even when I'm naughty. I'll only be this age once.

*Be patient.*
I do everything for a reason, but I don't know enough words yet to give you an explanation.

*Let me do it.*
I know you can do it faster & better, but sometimes experience is the best teacher.

*Don't expect too much of me.*
I want to do what you ask and make you happy, but I'm still little.

*Don't try to reason with me when I'm having a tantrum.*
Trust me-I can't hear you over my own screaming.

*Keep your promises.*
It's all about trust. When I'm a teenager, you'll understand why it's so important.

*Don't keep asking me if I've been good.*
I'm not even sure what that means, but if I was bad I'd never admit it!

*Don't let me think that you're perfect.*
I feel a lot better knowing I'm not the only one who makes mistakes sometimes.

*Set limits.*
I can't actually eat a whole box of cookies-I just want to see if I'd get away with it."

Grand Slam!

2008-10-22T22:11:00.001-07:00

Usually it's the parents that get to brag on their kids, but I have to brag on my Dad a little. This summer he did what is called a Grand Slam, which is the 4 major Utah marathons, plus one extra one just for training? He has been telling us for a few years he is going to be done marathoning, he says he just getting to old. Last year he decided he would go out with a bang and do the triple trail challenge [three races]. He was for sure going to be done after that. Apparently that wasn't a big enough bang, this year he decided to do the Grand Slam. He took 3rd place overall in his age division! and ran the last race the fastest he has ran one in years [3:39]. Too old? sounds like your just getting started :) I just think he is so awesome, and such an inspiration to me. WAY TO GO DAD!!! I Love You!

My Exciting Weekend!

2008-10-08T11:09:00.000-07:00

This weekend I had the opportunity of hosting the quarterly Tecmo Bowl Tournament Yeah! "Quarterly" (they call it) Justin and his buddies get together and have a Tecmo Tournament (apparently its some game from highschool they use to play, it is so old school) It makes them feel like their 16 again I guess. They've been doing it forever, and just take turns at each others houses so they end up at our house once a year or every other. I try to be in Vernal or get out of town when its at our house but this year for the first time I got to attend. They are pretty serious about the whole thing the furniture has to be rearranged, there has to be plenty of food and it goes until there is a final winner. Which in this case was three o'clock in the morning, sometimes it later. I know its kinda crazy, but I really am okay with it. Justin has been working so much lately he really needed a break and I think its great Justin keeps in touch with his highschool friends, some of them live out of the valley now and they even make the commute. There such awesome guys, and are always welcome at our house. Plus it doesn't hurt when I want to go to dinner or a movie with the girls. I just have to remind Justin his Tecmo Tournaments are worth like two girls night outs :)

The Circus!

2008-09-30T12:47:00.001-07:00

We went to the circus for Jett's 4th birthday with our friends the Halls. Jett chose to eat at The Mayan before, it is his favorite place, he calls it "where that guy dives in the water". He had remembered it from along time ago and wanted to eat there. What a fun night!

The Mayan!

The Circus!

Taya, Jett and Davis!

Jetts 4th Birthday

2008-09-30T09:56:00.000-07:00

Last week Jett turned 4 yrs old. He is getting so big. We took him to the Circus for his birthday. We had never been to one and the kids loved it! It gave me this grand idea to have a circus party for him... and it was a "circus" complete with popcorn, cotton candy, face painting, music, games, and eleven 4 year old boys!!! My parents and grandparents got to come up for his birthday, it was so fun to have everyone here and was really good to have all the help! Thanks to all my family who helped me out!

Jett was in full character all day. Every time I told him to smile he would roar like a tiger!

I can't take credit for this cute cake. My sister-in-law just started a cake business and asked if she could make Jett's cake. It was so cute and soooo yummy! Thanks Heidi!

...and this is what happened 10 minutes after she dropped off the cake!

Jett and Taya

Pin the nose on the clown.

Braden, Britain and Davis. YUMMY!

Ice Cream Cone Clowns. Trey, Braden, Jett.

Hayden wanted to paint my sisters face after all the boys had got theirs painted. He wanted it to look just like Tayas, he really took his time to get every color exactly the same. It was so cute!

What do ya think? Identical huh?:

Taya painted my moms like a Zebra. My mom and sister were such good sports!

Great Grandma Bev and Grandpa Pudge

My little brother, Nate, testing out Jett's new toys. I had to take this pic. I thought it was so cute, this is how I remember Nate 10+ years ago playing with his legos. He use to love them. Sorry Nate:)

Our little guy, all birthday'd out! HAPPY BIRTHDAY Buddy, We Love You!

2008-09-16T20:15:00.000-07:00

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