Christmas is here!!!

Wow- Here it is the 20th of December and I am finally getting out a greeting card, I'm just about done with the shopping and will start the baking tomorrow!
I thought I would take a moment and say a few words about the ecard I posted on this site. It was alot of fun to make and very easy(plug for smile box) anyhoo, I chose these pictures for a reason. We had a wonderful year, full of visitors and special occasions and all though I could have chose a ton more photos, and used up a lot of space, I think these few sum up the year pretty good.
First- Thanks to Brent and Moe again for allowing Jared to come and live with us for 3 months. We miss him dearly and look forward to another chance to have him in our home. We had a lot of fun doing winter things with him and ice skating was a huge hit for all! We had a Temple trip to St. Louis with Jared and what a fun road trip that was!
Next comes Easter and look how everyone is tanning and looking bright in the church clothes. We are so glad to have my mom living with us. It is a lot of fun memories to make and lots of laughs with her around. We keep each other going and she is doing great in the health department. She has lost 35 pounds since Easter and is working at the Temple twice a month.
John and I celebrated our 16th wedding anniversary in August and went on a trip to Florida and the Bahamas. It was a wonderful time and we relaxed and enjoyed the time alone!! 16 years flies when you're having an adventure. It is a great adventure we have going!!
This summer we were blessed to have my aunt Janet and cousin TJ come out and spend a week. The kids had a ball and Mom and Janet did some travel around Missouri. Thanks for coming... It will always be a highlight for us!
David and Amanda came out this summer too. It was great to have them and the 2 little girls played really hard and got to know the cousins again. I loved every minute watching everyone reunite and love on each other. We did the Missouri thing with the church sites and local free entertainment.... most of all just hung out and played in the yard.
Mark and Janel and the kids blessed us with coming out in July and it was a lot of "Settlers of Catan" playing, and dress up superhero for the boys and girls(beauty shop)
Janel and I did our thing in the shop as well. That is always fun!! this is the 2nd year for them to come out... maybe a yearly tradition???
The kids have changed so much this year. I was looking back at older posts and photos and I can really see it! Sami has had I think 5 different hair colors this year! lol.
Wylson has grown 4 inches and has really matured and become cut and chiseled.
Remi turned 12 on thanksgiving and is finally in her "up" phase thinning out. We went to "Wicked the Musical" for her birthday!! Oh my! It was WICKED!!! Sooooo fantastic I can't say enough. In the picture I look really tired! I wasn't really. I am just on drugs due to a horrible infected canker sore in my gum line! We had so much fun getting all dressed up and going downtown. The "Music Hall of Kansas City" is Gorgeous! We even bought a hot dog and diet coke from the street vendor. we were pretending we were on Broadway!
Madi looks the same doesn't she? She is quite a lot taller now but her face and hair are the same as ever. She was in the Nutcracker this year as a friend of Fritz and did a good job. she is playing the piano really good now and has memorized Choose the Right, right out of the hymnbook.
Dallan is in an "UP" phase now too. growing like a weed. He broke his arm playing football and had a cast on for 7 weeks! He is playing the cello still and did very well in his winter concert. He really misses his mom, but he is very settled with the idea of being here with us and he knows it is for the best.
Easton is 5 and in preschool again this year because of his late birthday. He rules the school over at the high school where he goes. He is more popular than Sami and I think she is a little jealous of that. He is still my tag along buddy though and I will cherish these days... next year all 6 in school all day long!!!!
John and I are good! Our marriage is sound and we are going through the challenges with the economy together and so far doing ok. His job is just a job to him but it does give us security and insurance so I appreciate that he sticks with it! I know he longs for the day again when he is running a successful business and I wish that for him as well. I am building my salon and it is steadily growing. I have seen some hits of the economy but not hard ones.
May God bless you this Christmas season. thanks for reading! Marissa aren't you proud of me for posting????
I love you all and have a great new 2010.

merry christmas card

Make a Smilebox greeting

Homecoming 2009

this is part of the group that went out tonight... the girl in the orange next to wylson... her date is by Sami! The girl has had a crush on Wylson for three years. She was determined to get a photo with the tall guy!! ha ha

I had a lot of fun doing sami's hair and outfitting wylson....

this is my favorite picture of the two... don't they look sharp!

This year they went stag. This will be the only year that they will be together I'm sure.

I was glad that they wanted to be together. T

hey got together with 12 friends and went to dinner at BD's mongolian bbq. That was Wylson's highlight of the night... dinner!

Fall Has Begun

Easton goes to the high school for preschool in the child development program.
He has buddies thru the day that are students at the high school. He loves his buddies Lauren, Parker, and Brittany best. Easton turned 5 in sept. and is the oldest in his class.

Madi is in 4th grade. she goes to James Lewis Elementary and is glad to be on the bus alone this year vs. having Remi and Dallan with her. She is in the Supercats Singers this year and her teacher is Mrs. Thompson

Remi and Dallan are in middle school this year in 6th grade. They locker by each other but don't have any classes together. Remi is playing the flute in band and Dallan is playing cello. they love school and love all that middle school offers.

First day of high school for the teenagers. Notice that it is dark outside! They leave at 5:30 in the morning becuase of seminary at 5:50am. School starts at 7 and they both have practice after school so I don't see them till 5 at night. long days.... but fun days and lots of learning going on!

We are moving and shaking in the 2009-2010 school year!! Busier than ever but ready to tackle this year.

The kids are really busy with everything they are doing in school and sports. Sami and Wylson has really enjoyed this year in football. It has been fun to see Sami cheer on Wylson in the games,

She cheers on the jv squad, so she cheers for the jv games and freshman games. Wylson QB's for Freshman and JV and Sophmore teams. One game he had 202 yds and 5 td's!! He does his share of fumbling the ball too but is learning alot from the great coaches and getting a lot of experience. Sami is the main flyer on the cheer squad and is doing all kinds of tricks. She got her back handspring now and is throwing a few at the games now. Wylson made the Honor Choir this year and so in between the sports life he is singing too. Sami has joined Future Teachers of America, she goes to the elementarys ane does skits that demonstrate self esteem, bullying, drug abuse, leadership, etc... she likes it alot and i am sure the kids like her. It is called "high step".

Madi is doing 3 classes a week in dance and Remi is doing 5. They are lucky to be in such a great

studio. The nutcracker rehersals have begun and we are excited to see it in November.

The Joys of Family

dave at the lake, very relaxed!:

We look great with our new do's
Mandy and Maggie, nice look Mags!

I love this shot... they all love each other!:

Cousin time with Maren:

Madi posing again!:

Wylson and Maren at Kaleidescope:

At the Zoo:

The Hippos Tank:

In the hotel:

Leaving for St. Louis

Hello! Here we are going off to St. Louis for a two day vacation. Wylson played his world series baseball tourny there this year so we took advantage and headed out for a break.

Grandma, the kids and I stayed at the Marriott and went to do the free stuff on monday. The kids loved the hotel... who doesn't?

The zoo is free admission and the childrens science center is free too. I love the St. Louis zoo, the attractions are so real and the penguins and the hippos were everyones favorite. The penguins are inside this really cold cave that has tanks and pools in it. you walk in and are kept in there for about 10 min. then you exit outside and the next group goes in. way cool they are so close to you. the hippos are so happy and love swimming in front of everyone... literally in front of you. there tank is curved all along the exhibit so you see them from all angles. Easton was freaked when a hippo came face first into the glass where he was standing... it was funny.

We all had a great time, we got home and had to hurry and do laundry, and clean house becuase aunt mandy and uncle dave and the girls would be there in a few days.

We had so much fun with my bro and his family. We did the hallmark crown center, you do art projects like painting under black lights, watercolors, make your own puzzle and a project of the

day ours was crowns and glasses. we went to the lake and bbq. Maggie and Maren hadn't been to a beach before and it was great seeing them have their first experience. They loved it and ate there share of sandy watermelon.

It was so much frun having them go to church with us, play toys and boy did they play.. we went out for a nice dinner with mark and jane who came up on their way to minnesota. All the kids played so hard with each other. I don't think we saw the little ones for hours at a time they were so busy playing super heroes. Maggie and Maren were great. Those girls really liked the fire pit and the marshmellows. We had a great time out at the fire pit a couple of nights. janel, mandy and I all got our hair done and I got to give maggie her first haircut! we looked fabulous.

we went to the soda fountain one day for a vintage treat, and ate some great pizza downtown. The biggest memory for me and my family though is the time that each of you took to make it to the midwest and spend your precious time with us! the kids loved seeing all the cousins and learning the famed settlers of catan!

Thanks to all our family for spending some of your summer with us and being with us certainly made our summer perfect!!!

EGGS AND CHICKENS

we have eggs!!! i am so excited to see that all our hard work and care for these fowlish chickens is paying off. On sunday before church I was out in my skirt and flipflops doing the regular water and food when I bent down to put the water down I saw 2 brown eggs in the corner of the coop peeking out from the bottom. I couldn't believe it. I thought we had all roosters!!!
I opened the lid to the coop and there were 6 more on the grass clippings!!
I am so proud of Batman, Lou, and Scuttles!!! They are layers!!!
pluto is the rooster and is strutting a little bit cockier now.
we had a mystery murder two weeks when my brother was here. Sami got up to do the chickens and when she went outside Honey, Bruce and Shiela were dead. Something had gotten into the coop and murdered the chickens. Honey was gutted and Bruce and Sheila were decapitated!! It was awful!!!
John took care of the mess before the other kids got up that morning and we were wondering all day and night about what and how got in there. Well, we were enjoying the firepit late friday night and then we heard the chickens cackle like no other time. John and Dave ran up to the coop to see what it was and there was a Racoon scaling the fence!!! Stupid racoon! John and Dave saved the chickens, put them in the garage and then the next thing I know John is getting his bow and arrows and taking Remi with him to hunt for coon! He got the bugger on the first try right thru the bum. All I could hear for about 10 minutes was Remi bragging about how her dad shot the racoon in the bum. The bugger lived!! John and \Remi waited for 4 hours for the coon to die but after a mountain dew and the weather getting colder they came in for some shuteye. In the morning John ran out like it was christmas to get his arrow out of his prize.... the coon was gone but the arrow was on the ground. That little racoon pulled the arrow out of his butt and went and died somewhere else!!!!
Who'd a thought that a coon could pull an arrow out?
It was quite the night,and needless to say Dallan and Wylson are practicing their shooting skills for the next coon hunt.
To quote the words of Dr. Liddle: " only at John and Jenns could I experience a Redneck vacation"!!

good riddance Y'all come back now y'hear!!

A DAY AT THE LAKE

HAPPY FOURTH OF JULY!! WE WENT TO THE LAKE TO CELEBRATE.

WE LOVE GOING TO THE LAKE, WE BBQ DOGS AND EAT CRAPPY ADDICTING FOOD! WE TOOK JJ WITH US TO SEE IF HE COULD SWIM! HE WAS SHY AT FIRST BUT BY THE END OF THE DAY HE ACTUALLY DOVE IN WENT ALL OUT.

THE FIREWORKS WERE AMAZING, A 45 MINUTE PROGRAM FROM THE LAWN AT THE MORMON VISITOR CENTER IN INDEPENDENCE. OUR FIRST TIME THERE AND I THINK WE WILL DEFINALTEY ADD IT TO THE TRADITION OF THE 4TH.