The Hemming Family

Kolby Trey!

2012-01-07T15:52:00.000-08:00

We are happy to share that Kolby has FINALLY arrived! He was due on Dec. 31st but despite my efforts he decided to stay put a little bit longer. It seemed as though the hospital didn't want us to come and they didn't want us to leave. I had a scheduled induction time for Wednesday morning which I confirmed so I know we were on the list. I called that morning to make sure there was room and my first phone call said to call back because they were full. So I called a little later and they couldn't find me on the schedule and told me I couldn't come. Fortunately my doctor was there and cleared up the mess so I could come in. Because there were so many other babies being born at the same time I got started in a tiny triage room. Fortunately a lady got discharged and I got moved into her room! I had thought about going all natural during delivery but I chickened out this time and decided to get an epidural. My legs got good and numb but that was about it. All I can say is OUCH! I got nervous every time the nurse got close to the door. I felt like yelling out "You can't leave me in here, he's coming out." Lucky for me doctor and everyone showed up just in time! We like to leave the hospital as soon as possible and we told some nurses that was the plan but when the time came to leave everyone couldn't believe we were leaving and they asked if we wanted to stay another night. Kolby has definitely made his mark in our family. He is the only child to come after his due date, he is the biggest kid weighing in at 8 pounds 13 ounces and 21 inches long. He was delivered the fastest, just under 5 hours of labor. He is the only one not born in a sequence for dates ( Mo on the 17th, Tanner 16th, McCall 15th, Brayden 14th and me the 11th). We thought it would have been cool to have him on the 12th or 13th of the month but there was no way I was going that far over due. He is also the only kid the nurses haven't been able to get the security device off of. I think we had 4 or 5 different people try. And they all said the same thing, "i've never seen this type of clip before." Fortunately we were able to get it off.
The kids are in love with him and Brayden can not keep his hands off Kolby. He is always rubbing his head or sticking his face in Kolby's and sweet talking to him. It has been fun to see them so excited about anything Kolby does. I wish I would have had a camera ready when Brayden "helped" change a diaper. He got the diaper ready and as soon as Mo revealed a dirty diaper brayden covered his mouth, gagged and ran away yelling "oh man"!! We love having Kolby in the family and are so glad he's ours.

Merry Christmas!

2011-12-25T14:50:00.000-08:00

We've been busy running all over this winter. We've enjoyed going to a live nativity, swimming, going to the zoo, McDonald's play land and free lunch, watching mo Ref basketball games, making Gingerbread houses and lots more. Unfortunately we didn't take pictures of most of the stuff we did. Brayden has been enjoying his preschool as well. He asks me everyday if it is preschool today. For his last class we went to a Gymnastics place and one of the mom's taught them a class. Since then I am now asked everyday if I will sign him up for a gymnastics class! McCall has been doing really well with potty training and she makes me laugh every time she "pushes". It is definitely a full body action. If we're not careful with the pants she wears both her pants and underwear will fall off as she dances around the house. I was glad that she was excited to get more underwear for her stocking stuffer! We had a great Christmas and were glad that Mo's sister Katy got to celebrate with us. Brayden had almost all of his presents ripped open before anyone else opened anything. To say he was excited would be an understatement. He reminds me of myself! When I told the kids lets start opening presents tanner grabbed the closest one to him and opened it. To bad for me it was Mo's gift that was probably the one present Mo didn't know I bought him. We had fun acting out the Nativity story and it was perfect that I could resemble Mary with my round belly. Tanner was Joseph, McCall was the shephard with her trusted monkey as her sheep. And in case you couldn't tell Brayden is our Wise Man.The kids got these fun towels from my In laws for christmas. I thought McCalls was quite cute with the antenna. She wears it around the house strutting her stuff.

It was a great Christmas and what a better day to celebrate it on than Sunday. I guess with being pregnant and so close to having a baby I feel a little more for Mary and what she went through. I have a hard time sitting in the car while Mo starts and stops and pulls in to store parking lots all the while bouncing around. I am so glad I don't have to ride a donkey. While watching the Nativity movie I noticed Joseph's expression as he and Mary walked into the stable. A look of helplessness as he looked around at all the animals and flies. He seemed to be saying sorry for the conditions Mary would have to deliver Christ in. I am so grateful I only have to drive the 2 miles to the hospital. Hope everyone had a Merry Christmas and has a Happy New Year. Hopefully my next post will be of the new baby.

Why it's Wheat of Course

2011-11-20T15:42:00.000-08:00

Tanner has been so nice to always bring me plants he finds and thinks I'll like especially flowers. Wether it be dandelions or the neighbors flowers he will pick me a bouquet. So I wasn't to surprised when he brought me home something he found on the way home from school. I was a little surprised at what it was though. He walked in showing me the Wheat he had picked for me. He saw the wheat and thought "hey my mom can use this to make bread". He has asked me several times when I'm going to make bread out of it and then reminds me to cut off the ends since he pulled the roots up as well.
And I wanted to show off a dress one of my college roommates made for me 7 years ago. She made it for her sewing class and gave it to me in hopes that my first kid (Who I was pregnant with at the time) would be a girl. Tanner of course is a boy so I've held on to it and today it finally fits McCall!

Father Mo

2011-10-30T12:55:00.000-07:00

Last night Mo and I went to a Halloween Party at some friends house and we decided to have a little fun with our costumes! Mo went as a Priest and I was a pregnant nun. I wish I would have taken my camera but I wasn't sure what we were doing at the party and I didn't want to hold it all night long. I wish I would have made the sacrifice and brought it. We had a dance in their garage that they had decked out in lights and a disco ball etc. And for those who didn't know Mo has some sweet dance moves. He probably danced as much as all the guys put together. He even got voted as the best dancer of the night and he graciously accepted his gift with a nice hip hop spin on the floor with all in attendance cheering him on. And who knew what a work out dancing could be while your pregnant. I was glad mo didn't mind busting his moves while my belly took a little break. I must have been subconsciously worried I would go into labor because I couldn't sleep very well that night because I was dreaming that I went into labor after dancing at the party. One of my favorite costumes which I wish I had a picture of was a dress a lady wore that her husband made out of balloons.

I need boy names

2011-10-23T14:32:00.000-07:00

Some of you are so smart. I don't think I even noticed that McCall was wearing a big sister shirt a couple posts down but the answer is yes we are having another baby. It's a boy making a debut hopefully close to his due date on Dec 31st. We have no name ideas either. Everything we've thought of somebody else we are close to is using the name so we didn't want to use it to. Let me know some of your ideas. I'm starting to run out of time!

The Big 31

2011-10-18T12:07:00.000-07:00

Yesterday Mo Turned 31. We got to celebrate it for a little while with cake and some presents and then he had to rush out the door for a meeting, bummer. The kids as always enjoyed helping to give and open the presents! This year they didn't tell him what he was getting before hand! They usually give away the secret right after buying the present. I guess it helped that 2 of his presents never showed up. I ordered some stuff online and one said it would be here 2 days before his birthday but the day after his birthday we still have no present. And I called about the other gift asking where it was only to find out it is on back order and won't arrive until November 25th. Hopefully we can get some good mail soon! Good thing Mo is so nice and still smiled anyway! Love you Happy Birthday!

Really Really Long Post

2011-10-03T12:17:00.001-07:00

We started out September in new fashion this year. Mo decided he wanted to raise money for Prostate Cancer so he and a friend signed up as a team for "Septembeard". All they did was grow a beard and ask others for donations! Here he and his friend Arik are at the beginning of the month.
And at the end of the month.Mo just wanted everyone to know that Arik got a head start growing his beard. It was a cool idea for them to do but I am so glad Mo doesn't have a beard anymore!
We also headed out to the fair. I've never been to the fair before and though it was ridiculously expensive we had fun!

Brayden also started preschool this month. He picked out his outfit for his first day and I have to say it was awesome. Neither his shirt nor pants matched and he had one khaki colored sunday sock and one white sports sock on! Got to love what kids pick out for themselves. We are in a group of 6 kids and we rotate around to each house twice a week. So I only have to teach one week every 7 weeks because we throw in a week of field trips. Brayden loves it! He is ALWAYS asking if today is preschool. Hopefully one day he will remember when he goes.
We were given a lot of free apples from people in our ward so we canned applesauce for the first time. I also ordered peaches and pears for 50 cents a pound, killer deal! When all was said and done we canned well over 100 jars. I was sooooo glad Mo was willing to help can. It helped out so much.
Mo ran in the "Run for the Cure" 5k race this past weekend. He joined a team from his office. He almost didn't run in his team shirt because somehow Autumn Orange turned into Lavender. He placed 2nd out of all the runners. I'm not sure if most people know how insanely fast he runs but his teammates didn't. It's kind of funny to watch him respond to comments of how fast he is. I know he probably wants to say something about how he's about to smoke your buns but he never does. He tries to be "humble about it". Good thing I'm willing to brag for him.

Brayden has been loving soccer. He wears his uniform every chance he gets and gets upset when we don't have practice and a game. He has scored 2-3 goals every game. Tanner on the other hand says he doesn't like soccer and doesn't want to play next year because he doesn't like to run. Could have fooled me because I swear my hallway is his racetrack! He really really wanted to be goalie (I think just so he didn't have to run) but after he took a pretty hard hit to the leg I don't think he liked that position to much. He does however keep up and follow the ball really really good.

Whenever I am cooking something McCall loves to help out and she does so good. She has been well trained by her brothers to ask for a taste after every single ingredient has been dumped in! This particular time we were making a cake and she flipped the "on" switch on right after I had dumped a bunch of powdered sugar into the bowl. I thought it was kind of funny but she wasn't so sure how to react.

And on a tasty note to leave on check out these cinnamon rolls I made yesterday Mom. Don't they look tasty! I had leftover frosting from a cake and the kids wanted the 3 colors on their cinnamon rolls.

First day of school

2011-08-30T13:28:00.000-07:00

School started yesterday for us. Tanner was excited to start 1st grade this year. He is in the same class as the neighbor boy he has made really good friends with. I was so glad he was in a class with at least one friend. The majority of his other friends he plays with and lives right close by are all in another class together.

Last year I had Tanner set his clothes out the night before just so everything was found and ready to go. Last night when I went into his room he had set his clothes out without being asked and this is how I found them. I thought it was funny how he laid his underwear perfectly over his shorts and his shoes were placed on the right foot!

Canning applesauce and soccer

2011-08-30T13:18:00.000-07:00

There is a lady in our ward to gave me several bags of these little apples that kept falling off her tree. Another friend told me they made excellent applesauce so we decided to make some. I have never canned applesauce before but it was really pretty easy, the kids loved helping and it tasted really good. I guess the best part was that I didn't need to add much sugar! We made a dozen jars and I'm really tempted to but some more apples and make a bunch more. I spiced to of the jars and they turned out really yummy. Just a side note make sure you check your allspice container to see if it has a shake lid or just a big hole. Mine has a big hole!
The boys started soccer this last week and Tanner has his first game tonight. I'm hoping he gathers up enough confidence to get in the game. I have learned that the more you cheer for him the more likely he is to go for the ball. Hopefully our cheering won't annoy anyone!

I haven't figured out yet why the soccer association gives all the kids uniforms that are to big. All of the kids look like they are wearing night shirts!

Washington Trip

2011-08-18T12:43:00.000-07:00

I added a couple of post so don't forget to keep scrolling down! We headed out to Washington the beginning of this month so Mo could baptize our nephew. We drove all the way out there and let me tell you we were all ready to get out of the car. The kids all traveled well and I think it's because my sis in law katy was there to help entertain kids. We stopped at Shoshone Falls on our way there to check out the falls. I think they are so beautiful.

When we got to Oregon we stopped at two places called Multnomah Falls and Wahkeena Falls. Unfortunately my camera was out of battery (even though I charged it before I left home) so we didn't get any pictures except for the ones katy took on her phone. (Thank you katy). I didn't realize the place would be so crowded but it was definitely a beautiful place. Go to this website to see come pictures. I don't know how to add a link differently so try this web address. http://www.google.com/maps?q=wahkeena%20falls%20oregon&layer=c&ll=45.577102,-122.120461&cbll=45.577102,-122.120461&photoid=po-1878704&z=15&ei=oW1NTqCRJ_LYiAL97p2RAQ&sa=X&oi=geocode_result&ct=photo-link&cd=4&resnum=2&ved=0CCYQ8wEoAzAB"> We had lots of fun getting to spend time with family and the kids had a blast playing with their cousins. We tried to take a picture of all the cousins that were there and this was the best picture we could do. For as much as they all like each other the youngest ones always cry when we try to do this shot.

McCall's 2!

2011-08-18T12:31:00.000-07:00

McCall celebrated her birthday this week! I think the boys were the most excited for her birthday. They sang her every version of Happy Birthday that they knew. When Brayden asked what time the party was and who was coming I explained it was going to be just our family he replied with, "Well that's not a very good party" Fortunately he had fun! I made a super quick and easy ladybug cake this year! I think it turned out alright and was just glad the kids left me enough frosting to get the cake covered. They tried to snag a bite of frosting every chance they got. After losing and then finding the video camera and losing and not finding one of her birthday presents (until after the gift giving was over) McCall was able to enjoy some new clothes and toys. This little chair is dragged all over the house and has been given some great use this week! Thanks for the gifts and birthday wishes.

Because it's funny

2011-08-18T12:27:00.000-07:00

I just think this picture is so funny. Don't know why but I do. We went out to the lake and while we were there Brayden was crawling all over this rock and when I called his name this is the lovely pose I got.
I think he looks like he is posing for a magazine or something.

IT'S A....

2011-07-20T07:19:00.000-07:00

Party! Brayden turned 4 a few days ago and to say he was excited about his birthday would be an understatement. I think he had been counting down for the last 2 months. And despite the fact that he didn't want to smile for pictures he was really excited for the day. We finally decided to go with alligators for the party and so I had some fun trying to carve my own alligator cake. Brayden liked it so that's all that matters! Luckily we had perfect weather to have a little party outside. After a couple games and a craft brayden enjoyed opening all his presents. Thank you everyone for all of them he has been playing nonstop with them. Poor Tanner has been having a hard time letting Brayden play with the presents without taking over. The boys have also been taking swim lessons and have been doing pretty well. I think they will be sad to be done swimming but glad that they will not have a swim teacher and they can just play around.

Houston

2011-06-22T13:55:00.000-07:00

Yes I know it has been a long time since I posted and that's because my camera has been out of commission. It only takes blurry pictures. So these pictures are curtisy of my Dad's camera. After a 2 year absence we made a trip done to Houston to visit my family. We drove the whole way from idaho to Houston with 3 kids, crazy yes we know. We stopped in Denver for a few days and enjoyed spending time with Mo's family. We enjoyed the Denver Zoo and swimming, celebrating my Mother in Laws birthday and getting to see family. Then we embarked on the long drive from Denver to Houston. We picked some delicious blueberries (I gave Mo half of my blueberries that's why his bucket has lots more than mine!) And as you can tell my hair still frizzes really well in the humidity. We did lots of swimming and Tanner has become the little diver. He likes to go into the deep end and a dive for rings. He has become really comfortable in the water! Yea!!! Mo and I made a quick trip to San Antonio were he ran a Half Marathon. He has been wanting to run in a race for a while and what better way to do it than to go from 45 degree Idaho weather to near 100 degree humid San Antonio weather. Luckily the course was shaded most of the way. The course was in 3 mile loops. His split times were 25.41, 22.5, 21.58 and 23.57. His offical time was 134.38! He came in 8th in his division and 10th overall. Good job Mo you did awesome! The kids have enjoyed getting to play with cousins and I'm sure they will be sad to go home. Tanner told me today that he couldn't remember our house at all. I guess 2 weeks is to long a vacation.

Birthdays and more

2011-04-21T12:21:00.000-07:00

Tanner and I just celebrated our birthdays a few days ago! We were lucky to have some, ok lots of, family come in to town to celebrate. We had a "P" party for tanner. No there is no significance to the letter P I was just super busy and that is just what popped into my mind. We had the kids make puppets, had pillowcase races, penny drop, pen the parrot on the pirate etc. I think the favorite part was when one of our games turned into freeze tag and Mo was "IT". Those kids are quick but mo is much quicker! We made tanner a popcorn cake with popcorn and I think it turned out pretty good! I've been super busy with Teacher Appreciation for our Elementary school and will be glad when it is over. I just hope it turns out to be a great week. We have lots of free meals from different restaurants, lots of gift cards and some other fun things. It was good that family came to town to help with one of the Teacher Appreciation projects. I burned my hand really bad on the stove so it was nice to have them put everything together for me. We also took McCall down to Primary Childrens at the beginning of the month to have the mass on her lungs checked out. Unfortunately it is still there but it hasn't gotten any bigger. We will just take Xrays every year to keep an eye on it. She still didn't like the doctor and was just fine to stay put on my lap during her appointment. Sorry some of the pics are sideways.

So funny!

2011-04-10T19:25:00.000-07:00

So I know probably everyone has seen these by now but Mo and I get a good laugh out of them all the time.

Can I say I'm a good shopper?

2011-03-14T11:52:00.000-07:00

So this last week I thought I did pretty good on my shopping trips! I scored free toilet paper, deodorant, pasta, 5 Old Navy shirts, and three watch batteries! Despite my excitement on my finds I had to pry it out of Mo that yes indeed I did good!

Brayden got his T&A surgery

2011-02-06T15:56:00.000-08:00

So anyone who has been around brayden while he is sleeping can attest that he snores like an old old grandpa. I can close his bedroom door and hear him down the hall. I can close his bedroom door and my bedroom door and still hear him. Tanner comes out the room often to say he can't sleep because brayden is so loud. He also sounds congested all the time and usually sounds like Darth Vader when simply trying to breath. (He doesn't always do so good at the hiding part in Hide and Seek) Well lately it has seemed his snoring has gotten louder and it is more difficult for him to breath and swallow so I decided to take him to an ENT doctor. Well he ended up getting his Tonsils and Adenoids out. I took him to the hospital at 6:45am on the coldest day of the week. It was below 0 by a lot and the wind was blowing BRRRRRRRRRR! He settled into a zone while watching cartoons and waiting. We gave him a med that makes him calm down but things go a little wobbly. I asked him to sing his ABC's and I got slurred speech and part of Itsy Bisty Spider followed by a that wall is moving! I got a kick out of that. His surgery was fine but he had a hard time waking up. He got kind of violent and screamed and even helped the nurses out by pulling out his IV. It took almost an hour longer for them to bring him to us because he was going crazy. Thankfully we were able to bring him home later that day. He has been recovering well and makes sure he has a drink close by when taking his meds. I am happy to report that his snoring has almost gone away but he does have some nasty buggers. They just keep coming and coming in long strands. Mo got his first taste of wiping brayden's nose in Sam's Club. Though I had warned him about the nastiness of it I don't think he quite believed the quantity of buggers he would get until his 1 napkin wasn't enough!In the Zone with cartoonsEnjoying 1 of his many popsicles
McCall enjoying the bed while waiting!

Free Art Day

2011-02-06T15:51:00.000-08:00

This weekend we went to the Museum's Free Art Day. They had lots of pictures for kids to paint and decorate. They had some powdered paint that you "sprinkled "on your picture. I've never seen that before but thought it was pretty cool. Well that was until a picture or two got dropped and it "sprinkled" itself all over the car, McCall's hat, and my jeans! Afterwards there a was room the kids could play with different activities. All in all we enjoyed our free day! Sorry my pictures are blurry. I took them with a cell phone.

Look A likes?

2011-01-16T14:34:00.000-08:00

Ok so here is a picture of McCall and then me. I don't think we really look a like but I love that she's wearing the same dress I Did!

Got to love this

2010-12-29T13:45:00.000-08:00

We went to story time with Santa and Mrs. Claus and McCall wasn't to sure about Mrs. Claus!

Christmas

2010-12-29T13:11:00.000-08:00

Well we've been trying to keep busy this holiday season. I've tried to find some fun things for the kids to do. Best of all they have all been free. Earlier this month I helped out with Tanner's class christmas party. It was a Polar Express theme so I made a train to hang on the outside of the classroom. I had a spot for all the kids to color their own picture and I think they really liked it. I let Tanner be in the caboose which he thinks is pretty awesome.

Tanner also had his school Christmas concert that they sang several songs to. Unfortunately my camera didn't get any good pictures. Maybe I'll download a movie of his performance sometime. He did fantastic but told me that no one liked his singing. They only liked the other kids singing. I thought he did awesome considering he won't even sing with the primary kids in our ward on the stand. The Museum here has a free entry to see all of the Gingerbread houses, Santa Clauses and Nativities.

One of the nativities was made out of rocks and this one was made out of gum wrappers and foil.
The kids enjoyed playing in the discovery room there which has a teepee, caves, a log cabin and other fun stuff. I took them back again just to play in this room and they had a blast. They all wanted to ride on this horse named woody.

We also went to see a man's train exhibit. He converted his workshop into a city. It was unreal the detail he had there. Him and a friend have been working on this thing for years and are still not finished. It has a ski hill, with skiers, a working coal mine, an ocean and boat dock, and entire city and they are still adding things to it. (Terry your neighbors trains were pretty impressive but they don't even compare to this thing. It's pretty cool) They ran most of the trains all at once for us! The boys were in heaven. They even had little tiny people swimming in the rivers with little tiny ducks. It was amazing!

And of course we made "GIngerbread Houses". Well we sort of did. We just used things we had at home like graham crackers, pretzels, and cereal. I was quite impressed with mo's work. He had fun building whatever tanner suggested. They even had a 2nd story deck. And then there's McCall. Well she just wanted to eat the frosting!

We had a great Christmas and are enjoying all of the gifts from family. Thank you, we are loving them all. We got a new TV that according to Tanner is "AWESOME BECAUSE IT TAKES UP THE WHOLE SPACE IN THE ENTERTAINMENT CENTER". We also got a ping pong table and let me tell you Mo and I are getting our exercise from chasing the boys balls when they play. I didn't get any pics of the kiddos opening presents only video. But here we are enjoying Christmas breakfast with eggs and Kolaches.
We hope everyone had a great Christmas and has a Happy New Year!

O Christmas Tree O Christmas Tree

2010-12-17T13:28:00.000-08:00

So the last couple of years we have gone out to the middle of timbucktoo and we cut down our christmas tree. It's always fun and the kids love it. Well this year when we were packing up to cut our tree down. I saw that Mo had collected everyone's snow pants and the majority of the gloves and hats etc. So I grabbed the remaining gloves and scarfs and we headed out. When we had pulled over and told everyone to start getting their gear on I was surprised when tanner said "I don't have a jacket" which was quickly followed by brayden who didn't have a jacket either. AAAAAAAAAAAA!!!!! So we improvised and gave Tanner Mo's jacket, brayden wore McCalls jacket and McCall and I stayed in the car since we was feeling a little under the weather anyways. 1 hour later the boys returned triumphant and tired. Mo ended up pulling the boys back on a sled and in the other hand he carried a tree. (He's buff what can I say) So we got a tree... Yeah!!! The kids enjoyed decorating it and enjoyed playing in an oversized stocking! Good Job Mo! (Notice how short the sleeves are on brayden. The bare part of the arms was red and freezing.)

McCall also uses just about anything she can as her purse. She is definitely a girlie girl. Hopefully she will be able to fit in with her cousins alaina and abby!

Candy Calendars

2010-12-02T12:28:00.001-08:00

So we have this tradition to make a countdown to Christmas candy calendar every year. As soon as the boys saw my stash of candy I'd purchased they couldn't wait to make them. Unfortunately they don't want to decorate them as much as we did when I was a kid. They just want to candy. Understandable!

2010-12-02T12:01:00.000-08:00

So I have helped my mother make jam lots of times growing up but never did I make it on my own just because. Well I had some extra blueberries and so Tanner helped me make some.
I think it turned out ok!
Our school district has this night called Teachers as Parents. Each month they have different activities and a free dinner. This last month we got to play with a bunch of building blocks. The kids had a blast building and knocking things over.

Antibiotics Again.....

2010-11-13T14:25:00.000-08:00

Well this little girl is on antibiotics again. I think she has had more antibiotics than brayden has had doctors visits. She's had a cough for a month at least and so the doctors gave her medicine for bronchitis. Thank goodness the cough and snot are going away!Unfortunately our weather is not nice enough to wear swimsuits.

Happy Halloween

2010-10-31T12:41:00.000-07:00

Well we had a great halloween with tons of trick or treaters, lots of candy and even puke! Poor little brayden woke up Saturday from his nap and puked twice. He felt and looked better so we decided to take him out for fun and candy. (Unfortunately he stayed home from church today because he was puking again. We have a neighborhood trunk or treat at the park so we decided to participate. I was told to plan for 100 to 150 kids so that's just what I did. We filled 129 candy bags. (all bags donated by my mother in law) and then I had a bunch of individual candies to hand out as well. Well after 7 minutes I was out of bags within the next 5-7 minutes I was totally out of candy and there were still kids coming. Crazy. I could not believe how many kids were there. I know now that 10 pounds of candy to hand out is not enough for this neighborhood. McCall was loving the candy and kept trying to eat it with the wrapper on since we didn't unwrap it for her to eat. Here she is indulging herself and showing off her candy!
We also went to our school carnival for a little while. The class that had the most pretickets sales got to silly string the Principal. The poor guy doesn't even like Halloween but was a good sport about getting attacked.
And here is our lovely carved pumpkin and cute minnie mouse, clifford the big red dog, "Luigi" the clown and some of their friends!!

A little of this and That and a whole lot of pictures

2010-10-22T12:34:00.000-07:00

So ya long time since the last post. But we've been doing some fun stuff. We celebrated Mo's 30th Bday the other day and were able to enjoy his Dad, Kay, and Grandma Betty for the special occasion. We are so glad to have mo in the family and grateful for all his hard work. Ok so I just put Mo and his Dad to work on the basement while they were here. But it's almost finished! We got carpet put in and just have little things to finish. The kids love the room. We have put all the toys in there so it's just one big playroom. I have to admit this new carpet makes me want to replace the carpet in the rest of the house, it's so much softer! Anyways while company was in town we went out to the pumpkin patch to find the perfect pumpkin. And through all the tears, kicking, and smiles we were able to find one! We have yet to carve it...hopefully tomorrow night! We went to Tanner's last soccer game and he did great...at playing around with friends! He really enjoyed soccer but I think he mostly just liked being silly on the field! Tanner also brought home his 1st school picture and I loved how it turned out except that he didn't take his jacket off. But I think it's still cute. We got free Coldstone Icecream, free face painting, had a baby shower for a friend, I got to help out in Tanner's classroom, we harvested carrots, zucchini (the size of mccalls leg), spinach, green onions. McCall has also decided that she would rather walk than crawl! It is quite funny to watch her because I think she walks like an old grandma! She is a girly girl and turns most things into bracelets or a necklace! We also got some family pictures that I think turned out pretty good! We have enjoyed our summer and now are awaiting the dreaded freezing cold winter.

Soccer and the Liahona

2010-09-21T12:24:00.000-07:00

Well some of you know that Tanner started soccer and he loves it! He does way better than I thought he would. He is actually pretty quick and loves to kick the ball. This last game that he played his team got a little distracted because the other team had two little boys who were a little naughty. I heard them calling some of our kids "fried chicken". And then of course came the response, "No I'm not you are." One of our kids even tried to tackle the other team. Quite entertaining. We weren't very quick at getting some action pictures but here's a little something every kid does. It is so funny.

Last night for home evening we talked about Lehi and the Liahona. For our activity we made Liahonas. And despite the look on braydens face he really had fun. He's upset because I made him take another picture. We have even had to take our Liahonas to Lowes so that we would know which direction we were supposed to go!

Tanner's 1st day of School

2010-08-31T12:10:00.001-07:00

So I was a little worried about Tanner going to school. Really only because I wanted him to talk to people which unless he knows you chances are good he might not even acknowledge you. And because when we went to Back to School night a few days before school was to start he still did not have a teacher. I thought we would find out who is teacher was when we registered so I told him that and he was excited. But then we didn't get a teacher at registration. Well then I was told we would meet the teacher at Back to School night. But that didn't happen either. A teacher had been hired and resigned the day before. So his classroom was pitch black and no decorations that night.... bummer. So finally we got a call from his new teacher the saturday before school saying who she was!!!! Well when we showed up to school the room was dark again. Thankfully his teacher was close by and she came over. Well he seemed excited in the morning and this is what I got.

When I dropped him off this is what I got

Thankfully he kinda smiled before we left!!!
He has already prayed that he will not have anymore homework.

Shoe Fetish

2010-08-31T12:04:00.000-07:00

So I'm just wondering if McCall has a shoe fetish. I was hanging up some winter clothes for her and matching up shoes and by the end the only conclusion was that she has way to much stuff. She had 17 pairs of shoes, and a so many clothes they couldn't be all hung up. Greatest part of this all it was all free. My mother in Laws neighbor gave her all of her old girl's clothes and shoes and thus I inherited them. Even after giving away 6 trash bags full of clothes her closet has more clothes and shoes then mine.

McCall's 1!!!

2010-08-15T19:36:00.000-07:00

We celebrated McCalls Birthday today! My In Laws came to town for a visit and to celebrate her big day. We started off with the traditional number pancake and then we got to eat cake early in the morning so my in laws could be there for the fun. Unfortunately McCall has been a little grumpy lately (I'm not sure if it's just her teeth bothering her) so I don't think we have any pictures with a good smile in it. While we were singing Happy Birthday she reached for the flame so Mo pulled her hand away and she cried the rest of the time. Thank good she enjoyed her cupcake!

The Boys also enjoyed helping McCall eat her cake!

We also had a party and invited all of the kids in Tanner's Primary class. I think they had a lot of fun. I divided the kids into groups and let each group make their own volcano. Then we poured the baking soda and vinegar into them and watch them erupt. Well I don't know what one group did different but theirs totally exploded everywhere. It was sooooo funny. They weren't quite sure what to do. Even though they had just watched everyone else's erupt they were so stunned!

I also had a bunch of different items like: goldfish, rice, noodles, bouncy balls, etc. for them to feel and they guess what it was. I think the best was the jello!
All in all I think the party was successful!

Brayden was so tired after one day that he fell asleep eating some garlic bread. It is so funny watching him try to eat while sleeping.

Family Reunion

2010-07-28T14:05:00.000-07:00

We just got back from a fantastic time in Maryland. We went to my brothers house for a family reunion and had a lot of fun. My kids are tuckered out still! We got to go see a lot of fun places. We watched pig races, saw the Antietam Battle field (bloodiest day of battle during the Civil War...I think!) went to Gettysburg, ate at the Pennsylvania Dutch Market, went to a baseball game, played lots of games, saw DC and lots more. While we were in DC we got to see Arlington Cemetery and the Changing of the Guard at the Tomb of the Unknown soldier. I was sweating up a storm there. I have no idea how the guards could stand it. I was watching the guard as he was walking away from his post and he was soooooo sweaty. I knew arlington cemetery was big but it was way bigger than I thought. We also Iwo Jima, visited the Air and Space Museum and drove around and saw some other monuments and the white house. The cousins had lots of fun playing together and NEVER wanted to go to sleep. We had to have someone sit in their room until they would fall asleep because they were playing around so much. At the baseball game we had 3 people ejected from the game and an idiot fan run around the field for a LONG time before every cop in the stadium was close to or on the field to catch him. We had lots of fun playing some games where we had to knock over water bottles with a ball and panty hose, eating an oreo off our foreheads using only the muscles in our face to get it in our mouths! We had a great time visiting with everyone. Thanks Jason and Dadra for hosting the mad house!

Brayden's 3!

2010-07-18T16:19:00.000-07:00

Brayden turned 3 this past week. To say he was excited was a major understatement. He kept talking about all his friends that were going to come over for his birthday so I figured I had better have a party. We had several kids come over but apparently 13 kids were not enough. Tanner and Brayden kept asking why we weren't inviting some of their other friends. When I said we had enough people coming they took it upon themselves to invite 4 more people. We had his party outside with a couple of water games. We painted the fence with water, had the kids push a ball with their nose from one end of the pool to the other, a water ballon toss and then I had all the kids chase Mo and peg him with water balloons (I think the kids liked that part), and a couple other games. But I think the kids liked jumping on the trampoline at the end. It's a good thing we have a net on the trampoline because we had all 13 kids on the trampoline at one point (chaos..not recommended if your neighbors like quiet). We had a Beach Ball cake all though I don't think it really looked like that. Brayden loves all his presents and Tanner has tried to slowly make them become his. Thanks to everyone who was able to come. Some of the pictures are us at Bridal Veil Falls with my brother Lance.

Where have all the post gone?

2010-07-02T12:27:00.001-07:00

Well our computer crashed so it was out of commission for 3 weeks while they fixed it. Everything came back great on it except for all of our pictures and videos we took are gone, including McCall's baby pictures. Got to love technology. Anyways since the last post we've worked on finishing the basement. My in laws came to town to help. Ok maybe they did most of the work. It helped that they knew what they were doing. We finished the electrical, put up drywall and started mudding. . With the help of his dad Mo installed a ceiling fan. He had to put the hole in the ceiling and all since there was not currently a light there. We painted a little and the boys couldn't get enough of splattering it everywhere and climbing on the ladder. They even helped cover buttons to make our curtains with. We still have lots we'd like to do but are glad we've made some progress. And for all those who have been asking this past week we took McCall down to Primary Children's to get her chest checked out. Long story short the doctor is totally confused as to where the mass came from or why it's there. We did a scan and discovered that the mass is where lung tissue should be growing and there are blood vessels and stuff in it. So because surgery would be too risky and she is acting and growing normal we are to just watch for any signs of infection and come back in the Spring. We are grateful for all your prayers and help with watching the boys. They had so fun much every place they went. We got to see Uncle Lance and hike Bridal Veil falls while we were in Utah! And sorry I couldn't get the slide show webpage to work fast enough so here are all the pictures.

A couple of pictures!

2010-05-25T12:52:00.000-07:00

The first time we mowed our lawn all 3 boys were so excited. Mo was excited because he likes mowing, brayden followed Mo around the whole yard with his little mower and Tanner just wanted to run around a snatch brayden's lawn mower if it was ever unattended. Hopefully we'll be able to get all the dandelions out of the yard and get it looking nice! We also started putting in a garden. The sod was so heavy trying to move it after we cut it. Mo put part of the sod in the trash can and the trash can was so heavy the hydrolics on the trash truck couldn't pick it up. So he had to take all the sod out of the can, load it in the car and take it to the transfer station! He said he was afraid to drive to fast for fear that the back of the car would tip him!!

Last summer me and most of my neighbors were pregnant. Another baby was even born the same day as McCall! We've had a couple of birthday parties lately and here are the cute fruits of our labors!!
On Sunday McCall was sitting on Mo's lap and he was trying to fix her hair bow when she lunged forward and hit her face on the chalk board ledge. I tried to take a picture of it and I got this Umpa Loompa face!!! It kind of just extends out from her smile. And last of all here we are giving sandwich hugs before bed. The boys love doing these and they make McCall giggle!

The fun never ends

2010-05-11T13:57:00.001-07:00

OK well not to many fun things happening here. We are bored because we don't know anyone. The boys have been needing someone to play with really bad. We were at the park yesterday and some kids showed up same ages as mine and I thought perfect someone to play with. Well they played fine for a while and then the little boy Tanner was playing with SHOVED Tanner off the balance beam into the wood chips. That resulted in tears and Tanner not sure if he cared to play with him again. And then we attended our wards play group today. The boys were so excited and kept saying "we're going to a play party". Tanner even woke up early and got dressed and lucky for us we were the only ones to show up at the house....bummer. The boys were so disappointed especially since the only other kid threw a humongous fit and sat on top of brayden trying to get a toy. A couple of days after we moved into the house Tanner fell off his bed and got a gash right about his eye. OUCH!!
Last night for family home evening we planted some tomatoes. Last year our tomato plants got fried by the sun so I thought I would put them in a pot that I could move if I needed to. The boys had lots of fun and i'm sure we'll have plants all over the place because when I asked brayden if he was putting a seed into the hole he responded "I don't know"

McCall is doing better. When I took her to the doctor last he said her neck looked just like he hoped it would. I take her in again next week and the Doctor will tell us then if we are doing another CT scan that day or in a couple months. From the outside she looks soooo much better. Her neck still feels lumpy which the doctors says will take a while to go away. We don't know yet if all the fluids in her chest are gone. We will just have to wait and see and pray everything is cleared up.
This is what she looked like the morning of surgery.
What she looked like right after surgery.
And we all know there's not much to do in the hospital except for watch TV. She looks extra chubby from all the fluids they pumped in her. She was so much heavier.

McCalls Update Shortened

2010-05-03T14:13:00.000-07:00

McCall is doing better. She's out of the hospital and has all of her stitches out. Her blood count is back to normal...for the most part. Doctors say after you have lots of antibiotics it makes it harder to get accurate readings. Today the doctor said her neck looks like he hoped it would. We still have to go back in 2 weeks and get another CT scan. If the fluids in her chest are still there we may have to go to Primary Childrens. All in all things are looking better and we hope they stay that way. She does have a little fever today but hope it's nothing big. We just hope that we don't have to go back for any more hospital visits. (Those beds are definately not comfortable.) Thanks for all your thought and prayers they helped. We are moved into our house and our phone number will be the same. If you want our address let me know and i'll send it to your email address.

McCall's nasty infection

2010-04-24T19:04:00.001-07:00

Last week when I was changing McCall's clothes I noticed a huge lump on her neck. So we took her to the doctor and got some antibiotics. Well they didn't help at all and the lump was getting bigger and redder. (They said she had some swollen lymph nodes.) So I took her back to the doctor and then ending up having to get her a CT scan. Well they had a hard time finding a vein (after several pokes) for her IV and had to put one in her head. Her scan showed that not only was there a lump on her neck but also in her chest. So we've done blood test and have also put her on a different antibiotic that has to be administered through an IV. She has to keep the IV in for several days until she gets all of her doses. Hopefully this antibiotic will help clear everything quickly. She has several little dots from all the poking. It is so sad when she watches you through her tears as she gets poked. I think she knows when we go to the hospital something painful is about to happen.

Birthdays and our House

2010-04-20T15:11:00.001-07:00

Since my last post we've been having lots of fun. I celebrated my 26th birthday and a couple days later Tanner turned 5! We were able to have an airplane party and invite some friends. We had a couple of games but I think the favorite was the pinata. Tanner was talking about the pinata for a long time! With our birthdays we were able to have Mo's dad and step mom come and visit. It's always so nice when they come and we were glad they could make it. We went to Red Robin for dinner one night and we asked Tanner if he wanted to have a Happy Birthday song sung to him. He said yes with big eyes but when they came to sing he slithered down his seat. We've been swimming, playing outside, and I got my hair cut. McCall has been growing lots but has a little infection right now. Hopefully it will go away soon. We also hope to be closing on a house next week...if all goes well. We are super excited to finally have something of our own. Lets just hope nothing breaks anytime soon. We will be a lot closer to mo's work and hope we can enjoy having him home for lunch everyday again. We will definately be sad to leave our townhome and friends. We have really enjoyed living here and love our ward. Tanner has already asked who his new friends will be. Hopefully we'll make some new friends soon. Anyone is welcome to come stop by...especially if you need to drop your kids off while you go shopping or out to eat.

You can check out a virtual tour of our house by going here. "http://silvercreekrealty.point2agent.com/Listing/VirtualTour.ashx?listingid=11701495">

Utah Cenus Form

2010-03-30T15:10:00.000-07:00

Utah Census Form

1. _____________________ (Given name)

2. _____________________ (SURNAME)

3. Descendant of:
A. Brigham Young _____
B. Heber C. Kimball _____
C. Laman and Lemuel _____
D. Cain _____

4. Tribe of Israel : _____________________

5. Number of occupants residing in home in each category:
(Listed in chronological order)

A. Nursery _____
B. Junior Primary _____
C. Senior Primary _____
D. Young Women's _____
E. Young Men's _____
F. Relief Society _____
G. Elder _____
H. Dearly Departed _____
I. High Priest _____

6. Occupation [Please select all that apply.]:

A. Amway dealer _____
B. Shaklee dealer _____
C. Nonie juice dealer _____
D. NuSkin dealer _____
E. Melaleuca dealer _____

7. Automobile:

A. Station Wagon _____
B. Van _____
C. Suburban _____
D. School Bus _____
E. Double Decker _____
F. BMW (Big Mormon Wagon) ________

8. Favorite place to eat the night before Fast Sunday:

A. Chuck-A-Rama _____
B. Hometown Buffet _____
C. Sumo Sam's All You Can Eat Feeding Trough _____

9. Favorite Hero:

A. Nephi _____
B. Abinadi _____
C. Samuel the Lamanite_____
D. Steve Young _____
E. Johnny Lingo _____

10. Which of the following do you bring to church [check all that apply.]:

A. Scriptures _____
B. Franklin Planner/ Daytimer _____
C. Pen/Pencil _____
D. Lifesavers/ Cheerios _____
E. Tic Tacs _____
F. Game Boy _____
G. Big Gulp _____
H. Cooler _____
I. Sony Walkman _____
J. TV Watch _____
K. All of the above _____

11. Do you prepare your church lessons:

A. A month in advance _____
B. A week in advance _____
C. While in the bathtub _____
D. While on the toilet _____
E. During Sacrament Meeting _____
F. During the closing prayer of Sacrament Meeting _____
G. During the opening prayer of the class you're teaching ___
H. Just wing it [according to the promptings of the Spirit]

12. Do you think pews should be permanently equipped with Big Gulp holders?: yes___ no ___

13. How many years has your family sat in the same place for Sacrament Meeting:

A. 10-20 years _____
B. 20-30 years _____
C. 30-40 years _____
D. Over 3 generations _____

14. How much time does it take for you to fall asleep during a high council talk:

A. 1/100,000,000th of a second _____
B. 1/999,999,999th of a second _____
C. 1/999,999,998th of a second _____

15. Which day of the month do you go home/visiting teaching:
A. 31st ______
B. 31st ______
C. 31st ______
D. 31st ______

16. How many church basketball fights were you in last year:

A. 1-10 _____
B. 10-20 _____
C. 20-30 _____
D. You'll have to ask my lawyer _____

17. Which of the following has been your most effective Family Home Evening:

A. Arguing about getting along
B. Having an opening and closing prayer with dinner
C. Gathering around the television to watch, "Dancing with the Stars?"

18. How many times a year do you make:
A. Green Jell-O salad _____
B. Funeral potatoes _____
C. Cabbage and Top Ramen salad _____
D. Turkey , cashews and grape-stuffed croissants_____

19. How many water-filled two-liter bottles do you own:
A. 1-2 thousand _____
B. 2-3 thousand _____
C. 3-4 thousand _____
D. Enough to fill the Great Salt Lake _____

20. Which of the following do you feel is the most secure facility in the nation:
A. Alcatraz
B. Fort Knox
C. Ward Libraries

21. How many structural engineers do you hire annually to insure you'll win the pinewood derby: _________

22. Keeping the Word of Wisdom in mind, how much of the following do you consume:

A. Chocolate: ___ pounds daily X 365 days annually= ____
B. Cola: ____gallons daily X 365 days annually = ____

23. If you had to choose between witnessing the Second Coming or attending a BYU/UofU football game, which would you choose?

A. Second Coming _____
B. Football game _____

AMEN ________________________________

Because everyone has the cutest baby!

2010-03-15T12:07:00.000-07:00

So I like everyone else think they have the cutest baby! Sometimes it takes A LOT of effort to get McCall to laugh or smile but when she does it's soooo cute.

Debt Free!

2010-03-03T13:20:00.000-08:00

I have to do a little celebration dance for myself. We are debt free. YEA!! We paid off the van we bought last summer. It's so nice to have the extra money from it!

Denver and More

2010-02-22T15:09:00.000-08:00

At the beginning of the month we headed out to Denver for our nephew Driggs' baby blessing and Parker's baptism. The boys had sooo much fun playing with cousins and bingo at Grandma's. We were barely able to get all the cousins lined up for a pictures. It was nice to have the whole family there.

While there we also went to this place called Dinosaur Ridge. There are Dinosaur footprints in the rock there. The boys loved it! And I loved that they ran up and down the mountain getting some energy out! We didn't have snow until right before we left Denver. A wonderful break to our mountains of snow here.

Tanner and Brayden have also decided that they like sleeping in the same bed. I don't think it looks to comfy especially since we moved Brayden's head out from between Tanner's legs several times!
And what is that in the toilet you ask? Well Tanner got a blue rock from primary and he was loving it. I think he had it in his shirt pocket when he went to the bathroom and somehow it ended up in the toilet. Yes the water is still yellow. Just a day or two before this brayden's bouncy ball bounced into the toilet after tanner pooped in it. All I had to say was hasta la vista bouncy ball.
And I just thought this last picture of McCall was cute. She has her bloomers on her head!

Wedding Bells

2010-02-02T13:55:00.000-08:00

My friend I've known since I was 4 just got married this past weekend. And lucky for me the wedding was here in Rexburg so Mo and I were able to attend. Congratulations Whitney and John! I also just barely put a bunch of cereal and other stuff in our closet under our stairs. Tanner and Brayden moved the entire loot and climbed back behind it. It reminds me of what I used to do as a kid.

Thank You Diaper Donators!

2010-01-27T10:11:00.000-08:00

Today McCall is 5 months 1 week and 5 days old and it also is the first day that she has used a diaper that mo and I bought! Thanks to the many who gave her diapers and to Brandee for giving us a great deal on diapers!
I know this isn't a current picture but I thought it was cute!

Preschool

2010-01-22T12:00:00.000-08:00

Tanner had his first day of preschool this last Tuesday. To say that he was excited would be an understatement! He was counting down the days for weeks and everyday at least 9 times he let us know how many more days till preschool. Brayden will be starting in the Toddler lab this coming Tuesday. They both got into labs on the BYUI campus! I really like that I can go and watch them through their two way mirrors. Tanner has been practicing how to make new friends. It's so cute.
Yesterday I really liked McCall's outfit so I took some pictures. I got her cardigan for $1.67!

Hallelujah!!!

2010-01-11T11:54:00.001-08:00

So a little while back I got tired of Tanner wearing pull ups and thought he was probably just using them because he had them on. So I took them away and only a few accidents later he is out of pull ups. And Brayden has also started his potty training! He's done really well. He often wakes up dry from naps and after nights!. My only problem...he doesn't usually tell you when he needs to go. He just goes when you tell him to. So if we forget to make him to go it's sad news. So I hope within the next several weeks I could have gone from one kid in pull ups and two in diapers to only one in diapers!!! Keep your fingers crossed.

Christmas

2009-12-29T10:26:00.000-08:00

So I didn't get out the digital camera and take pictures on Christmas day we were only using the other camera so my pictures are limited. We had a great Christmas and thanks to everyone for the fantastic gifts. We have been enjoying all of them. The boys got a tent and have been having fun in it. They even slept in it. Well for part of the night! We've enjoyed making gingerbread houses and playing the Wii and have been enduring strep...yuck . We even tried McCall with some solid food and she did pretty well. We surprisingly don't have much snow but we'll see what the new year brings. Hope everyone had a great holiday!

Ward Christmas Party

2009-12-13T20:28:00.000-08:00

We had our ward Christmas party on Saturday. It was a lot of fun. A fantastic program was put together. They had a really good message sent from it. Mo participated in a rap for the program and I thought all the guys did a great job. Mo is the one wearing the ski goggles. The primary kids also dressed up as angels and sang two songs. I'll try post the video of that. Tanner was in the front spinning circles and swaying from side to side. It reminded me of my sister Shalene lifting her dress up and down at our was christmas party lots of years ago!

O Christmas Tree O Christmas Tree...

2009-12-08T14:22:00.000-08:00

We headed out to the forest this past weekend and after enduring cold winds, crying children we found our christmas tree. This is our second time cutting down our own tree and it was so much fun. McCall was tired and didn't like the FREZZING wind but she eventually fell asleep. Here is our tree in the wild before we cut it and after we decorated it. I think I should buy some really big ornaments to fill in the gaps! It's fun getting a real tree but I do miss the nice big full FIR trees we had growing up!

countdown calendars and Thanksgiving

2009-12-04T08:56:00.000-08:00

We had a great Thanksgiving and were able to enjoy visits from my brother Lance, Grandpa and Grandma Hemming and Great Gma Betty. Dinner turned out great despite Mo starting a fire from the turkey drippings! The boys also made the traditional countdown christmas calendars. They ask first thing in the morning for their candy of the day.

Napkin holders

2009-11-24T09:29:00.000-08:00

The boys just made these cute turkey napkin holders for Thanksgiving out of their hands!

New Moon

2009-11-21T19:45:00.000-08:00

Tonight Mo took charge of the kids and gave me a night out! I went out to see New Moon with some friends. It was so good. Much better than the Twilight movie. We had two babies with us and I couldn't believe how quite they were. Thanks Tanya for picking up the tickets I had a great time!

Decorating!

2009-11-16T14:56:00.000-08:00

The Boys started to decorate for Tanner's pretend 5th birthday and they ended up with this! My whole bedroom floor was covered with their books! We also had our Super Saturday recently and I made a Scarecrow door hanger. The black thing is a crow on his hat!
I also got a crazy deal this past week. I got tanner 3 pairs of jeans and a shirt from Old Navy for $11 dollars. I just happen to get lucky that a friend sent me a 30% off coupon and Mo and I both were able to get gift cards that were being past out at the Mall that day. In the last couple of days tanner has gotten 3 pairs of jeans, 3 shirts, 2 pairs of shoes, a package of socks and a belt for a total of $30. I fell like a great shopper.

Power Punch

2009-11-06T13:34:00.000-08:00

Oh ya another way I've added healthy things to my kids meals is by putting pureed coliflower into mashed potatoes or scrambled eggs. Tanner always ask for green eggs which is just cooked and then pureed spinach put into scrambled eggs. I also have a great recipe for homemade chicken nuggets that is pretty healthy if you're interested.

Pumpkin Oatmeal

2009-11-06T13:28:00.000-08:00

1c. skim milk
1/4c. brown sugar
1/4c. canned pumpkin or sweet potato puree (i use pumpkin)
1t. vanilla extract (opt)
1/4t cinnamon or pumpkin pie spice
1c. oats
2 t. peanut butter (opt. but very good)
dried fruit and nuts and maple syrup for serving (opt)

Bring ingredients to a boil and add oatmeal. Tasty and fun for the holidays

Yummy Rice Balls

2009-11-06T13:18:00.000-08:00

Here's for the neighbors! I thought this was pretty good and my kids loved these

1c brown cooked rice
3 t. olive oil
1/4 lb chicken
1 1/4 t. salt
1/8 t. pepper
1/2 c. sweet potato puree
1/4 cup shredded cheddar cheese
1/4 c. buttermilk (I used skim milk and added a little lemon juice)
1 egg lightly beaten
1/2 c. spinach or broccoli or butternut squash puree (i used butternut squash)
1 1/2 c. whole wheat cracker crumbs or bread crumbs

Cook chicken in 1 teaspoon oil, sprinkle with 1/4t. salt and pepper and cook till no longer pink. Cut chicken into chunks and grind up in blender. Add sweet potato puree, cheese, 1 t. salt, and buttermilk, blend until smooth. Transfer to large bowl and stir in cooked rice. Roll into 1 inch balls and put on wax or aluminum paper. In small bowl beat egg and vegetable puree. Put crumbs in bowl. Dip rice balls in egg mixture then roll in crumbs to coat. IN skillet heat oil and add rice balls for 5-7 minutes. spray with cooking spray until browned and crisp all over. Serve warm. makes about 40 rice balls. Yummy!

Halloween

2009-11-01T11:28:00.000-08:00

Well I didn't take to many pictures. Brayden didn't want to wear a costume and Tanner's was put together in 10 mintues (and it showed) We had a ward Halloween party and I made a cake for it. The neighborhood kids who were over that day were great helpers and told me all their opinions, if it looked good or not and what it was missing. Mo made some unique pancakes to remember the day by as well. The kids did pretty well on their candy stash and were good trick or treaters. We ended the night by eating Taco Bell's new black taco (they were giving them away for free!). They were pretty tasty!

Sandwich Rolls

2009-10-29T10:59:00.001-07:00

I saw this on a krafts food site and thought it was cute. I made these ones as PB&J but I think a meat sandwich would work out well to. Surprisingly the boys gobbled them down. I guess I should get more creative with my food presentations so they'll eat better!

We've Been Busy

2009-10-23T08:10:00.000-07:00

We celebrated Mo's 29th birthday last Saturday. Sadly we didn't take any pictures. I think his coolest present he received was a money jar from a mysterious person at work. When he arrived at work he had a glass jar filled with money sitting on his desk! (He took it somewhere so I don't have a pic of it) Thanks to shanna and meagan for babysitting for us so we could go out. And we finally received our bunk beds. They were only 2.5 weeks late but we got them. Here's a picture just for you mom. The boys have been having fun. They have tons of toys already on the top bunk and have tried to jump on it as well. We are going to take away the bottom mattress and make it lower for brayden. And today Mo is working at the Swine Flu vaccination. Everyone in his office is a little nervous for what might happen: pushing, punches, suspicious packages! I guess it's a good thing law enforcement will be there to help!

McCall's Photos

2009-10-08T08:49:00.000-07:00

Here are some pictures of McCall we got. I wish I would have pulled my hair back but all things considered I think we got some cute pics of her.

I looked out the window and what did I see.....

2009-10-05T06:54:00.000-07:00

SNOW. I think we must have skipped fall this year.

One Match Fire

2009-09-30T20:16:00.000-07:00

This is our latest camping trip. Our family went up to Yellowstone but stayed the night in Island Park. Mo thought it would be cool to video himself starting a fire with one match. Notice all the kids in the background making loud yelling noises; those are our kids. Mo is unfazed by them and is focused on his fire. You go Boy Scout! Two lines from the clip that we thought were funny. First, Mo says it is about 40 or 45 degrees when in actuality is was closer to 32 degrees. Second, Tanner asked "Why isn't the fire getting bigger?" Thanks Tanner for making your dad feel good.

Italian Pasta and Vegetables

2009-09-30T06:31:00.000-07:00

This is for all my neighbors who have been wanting some new recipes. I absolutely love this recipe and it's pretty healthy too. My mom purees the topping after she cooks it and it turns out pretty good like that to.

8 oz fettucine
1t. oil
onion and garlic
1/3 c. finely chopped carrot
1 med. zucchini, halved lengthwise sliced
2 (14.5oz) cans diced tomatoes with italian style herbs
2tsp sugar
2 tsp cornstarch
parmesan cheese to top optional

Heat oil add carrot, onion and garlic cook 2 minutes. Add Zucchini cook 3 minutes. In bowl combine tomatoes, sugar and cornstarch mix well and add to skillet.cook until zucchini are crisp tender. Serve on top of noodles and sprinkle with parmesan cheese. You really can add whatever kind of veggies you like. I've put in yellow squash and loved it. This recipe freezes well. Let me know if you like it!

Yellowstone

2009-09-28T10:00:00.000-07:00

This past weekend we went camping and then headed up to Yellowstone for their Public Lands day. It's free to get in so we've gone the last couple of years! We camped the night before and the boys and I froze. Mo thinks anything cold is great and McCall was wrapped up so nicely and was probably the warmest one. Mo took the boys swimming in the waterhole and they loved it. If I remember I'll post a picture of Mo's 1 match Fire. He's so proud of that he video taped himself!

Update on us

2009-09-09T12:53:00.001-07:00

We have been busy with lots of family visitors. My mom was here for 2 weeks helping out. And then we blessed McCall this last sunday. We were able to have lots of family and friends in town and really appreciate everyone making the long trek out for the blessing day. I made McCall's blessing dress in college and 5 years later I finally got to use it! Tanner started gymnastics up again and loves it. Brayden has been busy following Tanner and the neighborhood kids around. Mo has been treking along at work and was glad to tell me that we temporarily don't have to take furloughs because of the swine flu. So the longer people are sick the longer we don't have to take furloughs. (Not that we want people to have swine flu but it is a bonus for us) And me well I've been working in Primary and gearing up for the Primary presentation. Lets hope it goes well.

McCall Brynn Hemming

2009-08-16T14:12:00.001-07:00

McCall

2009-08-16T13:54:00.000-07:00

She's here in all her glory! McCall arrived Saturday August 15, 2009 at 5:57 am. After getting my membranes striped friday afternoon and walking 9 holes of golf I put myself in labor! She weighed in at 8 pounds 3 ounces and is 20 inches long. Tanner and Brayden are head over heels for her and I have already heard them say "My turn, I want to hold MY sister". They're such cuties and I'm sure they will be great helpers. My mom is here to help for a while and we appreciate her watching the boys while we were at the hospital. McCall swallowed some fluid on her way out so that is why she is underneath that fancy oxygen hood. I was afraid she would be bald like the boys but thank goodness she has hair. It is red to some but to me I think it has a little bit of blond in it. We love her and are so excited she arrived safely.

A Sad Farewell...for Mo

2009-08-10T20:34:00.000-07:00

So you know from a previous post we bought another car. That gave us 3 cars and 2 drivers. So we posted Mo's Geo Prizm to sell and tonight we sold it. His beloved car drove away never to return. I have to admit this car has memories. It was the car he had when we first started dating. It has been in our lives for the last 7 years. It served us well but was time for it to go. We'll miss you little Geo.

Check it out!

2009-08-03T08:06:00.000-07:00

So we think we will name the baby McCall. However we don't have any middle name. Give us your opinion in our poll or leave ideas in the comments!

Girl's Night Out

2009-08-01T14:14:00.000-07:00

We had a Girl's Night out at the clubhouse this weekend and we made hair bows! I admit I'm not that good at it...yet. Thanks for your help Meagan! I thought I'd try my hand at making an Edible Arrangement to take over. I think it turned out pretty good for my first time!

Who can't love this guys music

2009-07-29T13:33:00.000-07:00

Part of the Van Clan

2009-07-21T07:39:00.001-07:00

We finally bought a bigger car. We've been looking around for quite a while to find a car we both liked and could afford. And this is what we ended up with a 2008 Chevy Uplander. Thanks to our fellow Uplander friends we started looking at these cars. It wasn't exactly what we were hoping for but I think we will enjoy the car. Tanner wanted to get this car just because of the automatic doors. I just hope he doesn't break them. Mo has informed me that we don't call it a van we call it a "Hot Rod." (I had a hard time getting the whole car with the angle I was at so just imagine the rest you can't see!)

Ross Park

2009-07-21T07:34:00.000-07:00

This last Saturday we headed to Pocatello to go to Ross Park. It's a little water park with a lazy river, water slide and stuff. Mo's mom has been in town visiting and so we were able to enjoy a day in the sun with her. Tanner really liked going in the lazy river and Brayden well he had fun but was a little tired. He actually fell asleep leaning against my big belly!

Happy Birthday Brayden

2009-07-14T19:41:00.000-07:00

Brayden turned 2 today! We've been practicing how to hold up 2 fingers but he still has a little trouble and if you ask how old he is he'll say "3!" He got some fun things but I think his favorite gift were the balls that we already had that I wrapped up. He also got a little tricycle. He saw the bike coming before I was able to get the video ready to tape it. He went nuts. He yelled out the whole time he opened presents "Balls" or "Bike" I'm so glad he was easy to please. Since he is so into balls I made a baseball cake. It was pretty fun and not to hard to make.

Cantaloupe and Blueberry Smoothie

2009-07-06T07:36:00.000-07:00

I was skeptical of this smoothie but I tried it and actually really liked it. We were able to pick blueberries while in houston so I was able to use those! I didn't use the correct amounts I just kind of dumped stuff in and it was still good. Try this you'll like it!
1 cup Dannon® All Natural Plain Yogurt
1 cup Del Monte® Fresh cantaloupe chunks
½ cup Del Monte® Fresh blueberries
1 small Del Monte® Fresh banana, peeled
1/8 tsp. ground ginger
1 tsp. lemon juice
4-6 ice cubes
Blend all together and enjoy

Our Garden!

2009-07-06T07:33:00.000-07:00

Well we really don't have a spot for a garden but we did have enough dirt to plant a few things. We have flowers, cucumbers and tomatoes. We don't have and cucumbers yet but I'm proud to say we have like 15 tomatoes on one plant! Hopefully they'll taste good!

Latest Happenings

2009-07-06T07:11:00.001-07:00

Well we have been up to quite a few things lately. We went down to Soda Springs Idaho for a birthday party, then headed to Utah for a Bushman Family reunion, then we enjoyed a visit from my parents. While they were visiting we went to Mesa Falls (One of the prettiest places ever) and went on a LITTLE hike and enjoyed lunch. Later that same week we went camping at Rigby Lake. (Yes I went and yes I slept on the ground) Mo was so proud that he got a fire started with one match! It was a little smoky at first but was a perfect fire for hot dogs and mallows. We let Tanner try his hand at fishing and he did pretty well. We didn't catch anything but I think that was because Brayden was having to much fun throwing rocks or splashing his feet in the water. I didn't get a whole lot of pictures of everything mostly because I forgot the camera in the car or I just forgot to take pictures. Sorry!

We're Back!

2009-06-14T08:03:00.000-07:00

We've been in Houston for a while and our computer was in the hospital because it was very sick so that's why it's been so long since our last post. But we had a fantastic time in houston and did lots of fun things. We were able to be there part of the time my sister Shalene and her family was. Tanner and Brayden loved playing with cousins and family. They hardly slept. While we were there we went blueberry picking, to the Blue Bell Ice Cream Factory, Dinosaur Museums, to the beach, Old McDonalds Farm, my Cousins wedding reception and lots of other places. While at the beach we were able to see the annual sand castle building contest. We only looked at half of the sandcastles because the boy were half asleep walking down the beach. They had over 70 castles to look at. Tanner's most favorite thing we did was go to Old McDonalds farm. They have lots of animals to feed and ride but his most favorite thing to do was ride the train. He rode it almost the entire hour they had it running! Glad they can get joy out of something so simple. All in all it was a great time and we were glad we got to see everyone! Oh ya and the most eventful part was on the ride to Houston. Brayden was all of a sudden randomly sick. Long story short he pucked several times on the plane including all over him, me, and the guy sitting next to me! The man was really nice about the whole thing after the initial shock wore off!

Ice Caves

2009-05-20T13:27:00.000-07:00

We headed out to some ice caves just outside of Rexburg this last Saturday. After taking a wrong turn we finally found our way to them. Brayden absolutely loved it and if Mo hadn't carried him the whole time I'm sure he would have fallen off some rocks trying to do it on his own! Tanner was a little unsure when we were on the inside but kept telling me, "Mom I'm tough!" He claims he loved it and wants to do it again.

Happy Mother's Day

2009-05-11T15:11:00.000-07:00

I just had to share these cool plates that Mo bought me for Mother's Day. We went to this store to find a platter I had been wanting and I found these cool puzzle shaped plates that all fit together. I really have no idea what to use them for but I thought they were to neat. I hope everyone had a great Day!

Black Bean and spinach Quesadillas

2009-05-05T12:43:00.001-07:00

Here is a delicious recipe my mom sent me a while back that I thought I would share. I think they are really good dipped in a salsa and sour cream mixture.
1/4 cup chopped onion
1 (10 oz) pkg. frozen spinach, thawed
1 (15. 5 oz) can black beans, rinsed and drained
2 tsp. lemon juice
1 tbsp. olive oil
1 tsp garlic powder
1 tsp. ground cumin
1 tsp. chili powder
1 tsp. salt
4 (8 inch) flour tortillas
2 cups shredded Mexican cheese, divided
Salsa (optional)
Sour cream ( optional)

1. Saute onion, spinach, beans and lemon juice in hot oil in large skillet. Add garlic powder, cumin, chili powder and salt; stir well. Cook 5 to 7 minutes or until spinach is heated through remove from heat

2. Place 1 tortilla in lightly greased skillet. Layer with 1/4 cup of the cheese. 1/3 cup spinach mixture and an additional 1/4 cup of the cheese. Fold in halt, press lightly. Cook 1 to 2 minutes on each side or until cheese melts. Repeat with remaining tortillas, cheese and spinach mixture. Serve with sour cream and salsa, if desired.

Mom's and Tots group

2009-04-27T16:09:00.000-07:00

On our last outing we went up to the BYUI campus and visited the Wildlife Museum, Green Houses, and Rock Museum. I didn't really take any pictures except for the hydroponic tomato plants (they picked 350 pounds right before we arrived and had TONS left on the vines) and Tanner holding hands with his friend David. They held hands half way across campus.

Tanner's Birthday

2009-04-27T16:05:00.000-07:00

We had a Circus theme for Tanner's party this year. I thought it turned out pretty good. We had a couple of games set up where the kids had to pay with tickets to play. I think the kids really enjoyed the face painting even though I didn't do such a great job at it! We were able to borrow a big blow up slide which was a big hit. Some kids started crying when we deflated it. Thanks to everyone who was able to come we enjoyed having you there.

What we've been up to!

2009-04-12T19:21:00.000-07:00

Well a quick update on everything...Mo started to umpire for baseball, I turned 25 on Saturday, the boys got tons of candy for Easter and Tanner found the egg with the money. Though I think he cared more for the candy than the money. He held his dollar up long enough for a picture before it landed on the ground. The weather is finally started to get nicer and hopefully it will continue to do so because we were planning on having part of Tanner's birthday party outside. He will be turning 4 on thursday.

which is best?

2009-04-01T13:14:00.001-07:00

Which do you like the best. I'm making a bean bag toss game.

Coming Soon!

2009-03-29T09:45:00.000-07:00

We Found out a few days ago Tanner and Brayden are getting a little sister. We are excited to have a little girl. Tanner however is still trying to decide. When I asked if he was excited for a sister he started to cry but if others ask him he will say "ya i'm glad". Brayden just likes to jump on me and point out every other baby he sees. Baby girl is expected to arrive middle of August.

I love my Grandmas

2009-03-22T09:15:00.000-07:00

We had a few days of beautiful weather so we broke out the sidewalk chalk and started decorating. All Tanner wanted to draw were his grandmas. I'm not sure if you can see Grandma Kay, Kathy and Maylene in the picture but I thought they might like to see Tanner's drawings. Click the picture to see them better.

Puzzles

2009-03-22T09:03:00.000-07:00

A lady in my ward has a son who makes wooden puzzles and she asked me to show it to some people so I thought I'd put it on my blog. Here is a picture of the fish puzzle. They are kind of like jigsaw puzzles. Tanner is three and he can put this puzzle together so it's not as hard as it might look. From what I understand he will paint the puzzles whatever color you like. His website is www.mydaddypuzzles.com and all the information is on there.

Bring it on!

2009-03-16T13:12:00.000-07:00

I just filled out my first March Madness bracket! Wish me luck. I have never really watched college basketball before and so I just picked whatever named sounded good or I've heard more! We'll see how far that strategy gets me!

Fire Station Tour

2009-03-11T18:05:00.000-07:00

We had our last Mom and Tot's group at the Fire Station! The kids loved it! The kids hardly listened to the fireman giving them the tour, they just wanted to climb through all the big trucks and wonder around everything!

The Temple?

2009-02-25T19:30:00.000-08:00

We live only 2 miles from the temple and Tanner loves to point it out any time he sees it (which is often). Well I put Peter Pan in the other day for them to watch and when the disney castle showed up Tanner says "Look the temple" I guess it's nice to know he thinks of the temple often!

Remind you of anyone

2009-02-21T13:49:00.000-08:00

When I was a little kid we had a bunch of dress up clothes. I used to put skirts on my head and pretend I had long hair. Tanner walked up to me the other day with his shorts on his head so I took a picture because it reminded me of when we used to dress up as kids!

Whatever Makes you comfortable

2009-02-07T12:36:00.000-08:00

I went to check on the boys one time and this is how brayden fell asleep. I guess he was comfortable this way!

Balloon Faces

2009-02-02T09:39:00.000-08:00

The boys made these lovely balloon faces and Tanner named them Mr and Mrs Humpdidumpty. I'm so glad that the boys can be entertained by cheap things.

2009-01-23T13:35:00.000-08:00

Here is the world's next best BMX racer! Watch out! Brayden absolutely loves Tanner's bike. He can barely touch the pedals with his toes. It's cute. Also a few weeks ago I was put in as the 2nd Counselor in the Primary. Though I've never wanted to work in the Primary I think it will be fun. Wish me luck!

Week of Vomit and Diarrhea

2009-01-11T09:22:00.000-08:00

This picture of Brayden sums up our week. On wednesday we got our new washer and dryer delivered and it's a good thing it came then because it has been busy washing endless loads of vomited and diarrhea filled clothes and sheets. Both Brayden and Tanner have had COLOSSAL accidents on both ends. One day Brayden was so exhausted he fell asleep on the stairs before I put him down for nap. Luckily they are feeling better except Brayden looks like he was punched in the face. His eyes are puffy and goopy, hopefully it's not pink eye.

Christmas Vacation

2009-01-05T08:12:00.000-08:00

We were able to fly down to Denver and have Christmas with Mo's family. We had a great time with family. While we were there we were able to have a baby shower for my cute sis-in-law Rachel. We made her a diaper cake which I think turned out pretty cute. We had Suduko competitions and were able to check out a neighbors train set he built. It was pretty amazing and huge. It took up almost his whole basement. Mo showed me around his old stomping grounds and the bench he and friends help build in memory of a friend and a brother. All in all we had a great time and the boys loved seeing cousins again. We are happy to be back home and to be almost done unpacking in our new place. Hope everyone else had a great holiday as well. Sorry the captions on my pics didn't show up.

Ouch!

2008-12-12T08:47:00.000-08:00

When I took Brayden to the doctors to have his hand checked out he told me we needed to cut the tops of his blisters off so they'd heal. All I can say is Ouch! I held Brayden while Mo cut the blisters. Of course Brayden cried pretty good. Mo always rocks and sings to Brayden before he puts him in bed. Well Poor Brayden wouldn't even go to Mo when it was bedtime. I'm just glad his hands are healing. One hand is almost completely healed! This is his hand after we cut the blister off. Poor guy.