Ketchup (not the food kind)

This post is to try and catch everyone up on what we've been up to. It's kind of a lot. It's kept us busy anyways. Ski season has been in full swing since the end of December so I've been gone every weekend and Erica and the kids have come most weekends. It's  a lot of fun but it makes it tough to get anything done around the house. I feel the need to apologize to anyone who has come to visit in the last couple months for our house. Erica has been looking forward to ski season being over so we can work on reclaiming our house. I've been dreading ski season being over because that means I will be under house arrest on Saturday's cleaning our house! Oh well. It needs to be done. Yesterday was the last day Kelly Canyon was open. We left Reagan and Jamison with a babysitter and took McKinley and Gavin up. It was a pretty quiet day at the ski hill. There were not a lot of people there. It was a nice sunny day to be able to enjoy. 'Til next year! "Sigh".

Because it was such a nice day at the ski hill, when McKinley was finished skiing, she decided to take her ski boots and socks off and run around with no shoes or socks on. Then her and Gavin started messing around running in and out of the ski school office and Gavin ended up shutting McKinley's foot in the door. The corner of the door hit the side of her foot and gave her a nasty gash. Luckily Uncle Morgan was there to play medic and keep the bleeding under control. See the picture below.

Kind of nasty. We promptly left the ski hill and headed to the Community Care for some stitches. It only took 6 stitches, so Jamison still has her beat.

Also since were are up in the neighborhood, we can't pass up stopping at Morgan's house to rock with the band. Garrett comes down and we make some noise. The Hillions can't pass up a good chance to play. We still have lot of fun playing together. In fact, keep your eye's peeled for our debut album. Morgan has written a fair amount of songs that we have worked out. We have 6 recorded and about 6 more to do. Morgan got some recording equipment for Christmas 2 years ago. He's spent a lot of time figuring out how to record with it. It's fun to hear ourselves. We played at a church party for Dad a few weeks ago. We had to tone things back but it is fun to play for an actual audience that is not captive (Sophie, Malcolm, Chewie, Erica and the kids) in the house.

Let's see, what else? Better talk about Reagan. She has had a busy spring already. She had her birthday the end of February and sprouted 4 teeth that week (it was a week of long nights!). Erica used her mad cake decorating skills to make a beauty of a cake for Reagan. She'll have to find the pictures. Our camera was out in the cold garage and when we brought it in the lens fogged up. Sophie took some on her camera. Reagan wasn't too keen on digging into it. I put some in her mouth and she gagged. It was kind of funny.

Gavin had one of those "What were you thinking?!!!" moments last week. He decided to cut his own hair with a pair of scissors. Most of you know the typical Gavin haircut. See below.

You know, he kind of looks like a hippy.

Well, after he gave himself a little trim, it took 20 minutes after laughing at him, for Erica to convince him to let her take his picture. He thought that everyone would laugh at him. Rightly so....

Did you notice the inverted mohawk down the middle of his head? Nice huh. Luckily he doesn't read this blog to know that everyone will be laughing at him. After another 20 minutes, Erica finally convinced him to let her cut it. I've never been a big fan of the shaved head look on kids. He kind of looks like a chemo patient.

It's only hair. It will grow back. That's what I keep telling myself. He wore a hat for the first day. Even at the dinner table. He's okay with it now. I just hope that he finds a new career besides a hair stylist.

I had to laugh the other day, the weather has warmed up here. For the week anyways. It is the first nice day that we've had since last year. The dirt pile behind our house was aflurry with children. They reminded me of ants.

Since the ski hill is closed, we are ready for spring and warm weather to be here.

Sorry for the long pauses between posts. We had a bit a of a break when our computer crashed three times in February. We finally gave up and bought a new one. We debated a laptop but decided that a desktop would be less likely to be dropped by fighting children.

That's all for now.

Another month gone by....

Wow. That month flew by. Technically it has been over a month since we last posted but for three weeks of that our computer was dead. I'm pretty sure that Jamison did something to it. It would try to start up and then go to a black screen that said 'Windows could not start normally'. After several attempts at reinstalling the operating system, we finally resurrected Old Betsy. She's been stable for the last few days so hopefully she'll keep it up. Keeping the kids off the computer would probably help.

Kids and technology. That reminds me of one of my coworkers who is older than me, about the same age as my mom. She just got an iphone and is feeling a little lost. I told her just to push buttons and see what happens. Adults are so worried about not knowing what button to push because they don't know what will happen so they just don't try it. Little kids love to explore and just push buttons to see what happens. If it didn't do what they wanted it to, they just try some other buttons. I think that is why kids are better with technology. It's kind of funny.

Life's been busy as usual. I've been working at the ski hill again teaching snowboard lessons. It makes for busy weeks, but I love being out on the snow. The kids get to take lessons which is fun for them. I love to watch them go. It's kind of fun to be able to ski with them and watch them zip around.

McKinley is so silly. She has a homework folder that her teacher sends home. There is also a comment sheet on the back that the teacher can make comments and the parents can respond. Today her teach wrote, "One concern with McKinley's glasses...she cannot keep them up on her nose. Anyway to tighten them? Just wondered."

Some of you may be thinking the same thing I was when Erica told me, McKinley does not wear glasses nor does she need them. We're still getting to the bottom of where the glasses came from exactly and why she's wearing them. What a silly goose.

If anyone needs to borrow some kids for a few days, we have some we'd be willing to loan out. Let us know!

Why I haven't posted in so long.....

I've been sewing. Matthew and I decided to get a new sewing machine. Yes, Matthew can sew very straight lines. Anyway, I've been super happy with it and have been busy making a couple of Christmas projects. I've wanted to post about it for a while, but one was a gift, and I was scared that McKinley would see it before Christmas. 

Completed Reagan's stocking. I love the way it turned out. I had to make two. The first swatch of fabric I made, I cut two side "a" pieces out. When I tried to lay it out to sew altogether, it didn't work. I'm debating making the second one for McKinley. But then I'd  have to make another one for Gavin that was a closer match to Jamison's. From left to right, McKinley's, Gavin's (not made by me), Jamison's, and Reagan's (made by me).

Below you see McKinley's finished skirt! I'm totally happy with how it turned out. I've shown it to everyone who comes in my house. Its the first time I've ever made a skirt. Gotta love tutorials online.

My machine does some fancy decorative stitches. I used this one for the bottom hem.

I love these little stars/flowers/whatever they are. It makes it look like a lace pattern. Used it for the top hem. Absolutely loved the effect!

On a side note.....It finally snowed enough to stick. Matthew took the kids out after work tonight. This is a matthew snow angel and a Jamison snow angel.

And backtracking.....Jamison's birthday cake. Everything I do looks pastel. Oh well.....at least he had decorated a cake.

This was his big birthday present. We call Reagan "Reaganzilla" as she wrecks the track. Its hard to get out and set it up all during nap time. We might look into getting a table for it when we buy a house....someday......

As with Gavin's birthday.....I used the recipe from President Monson's mom. Turned out just as yummy. This time I did 3 layers, which means more whipped cream! Yum! Jamison chose the colors. He helped me mix them and everything. He was super excited about it.

Below you see 3 very manly men sleeping on this full size bed. Gotta love bedtime. Another picture for Matthew's book. Glad he made an appearance. I was sleeping on there as well, but woke up before he did. I was crammed in next to Jamison.

Above and below you see some fun, family Christmas activity. I liked the village idea. All the kids got to decorate their own little building. They ate most of the candy. And the frosting was not super easy to work with. It was fun anyway. If Reagan had been in the pic above.....I would have made Christmas cards out of it. Alas, she was napping.

Well, that's about it. We made a trip to Utah for Christmas. It is so fun to spend time down there and see my kids play with all their cousins. They are all growing up so fast. It makes me sad. But they are all beautiful children and I love them!
I hope you all had a merry Christmas season. It was surreal here. Christmas eve was spent driving home from Utah and then staying up holding the puke bucket for Jamison. Lovely!! He didn't seem too bad off Christmas morning. I try very hard to help my kids remember why we celebrate Christmas. I'm so grateful to the Savior. And to his sweet mother, Mary. Watching "the nativity" with my kids, watching the look on the face of Mary as she stares into the stable where she was suppose to have a baby. What a woman! I can't even imagine that. So glad Jesus was born into this world. I look forward to His coming again. May God bless all of you. Feel free to stop by if you are ever traveling through Pocatello.

Eventful Week

Wow! It has been quite the week around here. I'll give you the quick rundown. 

Jamison turned the big "3".

Baby Reagan started walking and sprouted her two bottom teeth. Think "Sharptooth!!!!" from Land Before Time (yeah its been awhile).

Last but not least, I passed the Professional Engineer exam! What a relief! After 5 years of school and 4 years of work experience, I took the test in October and received results on Thursday. I was a little nervous because the morning session was a little rough on me. But the second four hours went fine. I will get my number and order my stamp before Christmas but it probably won't be arrive until after the new year. Exciting!

That's all for me. We'll have to post some pictures of Jamison's birthday and a video of Reagan walking.There are some on the camera but I don't want to upload them because I am ready for bed. Adios muchachos.

ZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZ

Matthew here.

I have been thinking for a while of assembling a modest collection of pictures of our kids with a specific theme. This theme is 'Kids Sleeping Weird'. Photo opportunities come quite frequently if you look for them. Sometimes our camera will spend a week upstairs just so we can be ready. You have to be quick because sometimes they move by the time you can run downstairs and get the camera. Sometimes kids need a nap on the go, or in the car, or at home in their comfy beds. It's just amazing sometimes! We get a kick out of it. Enjoy a quick preview!

steelhead fishing

I'll let Matthew post his own post about the actual trip. This is just what he brought home. My niece and nephew in salt lake wanted to see the fish. Here you go, Tyler and Breanna!

Halloween-i've been waiting for this!!

So, this year I'm proud to say that our kids stuck to a theme. We tried for ninja turtles, but couldn't find an outfit for Jamison. So, we opted for Mario Brothers!! McKinley got dubbed "princess peach" even though her dress isn't the same. And for Reagan....Toadstool! I'm so proud of any project I manage to complete, but this little gem turned out way cuter than I could have hoped for. Here you go....(sorry, I don't know what's going on with the text here.)

 The boys and Mcki's costumes are store bought. Luckily, Jamison's favorite color is green, so he has no problem being Luigi. In fact, he insists. Don't you remember as a kid, always wanting to be Mario cause he got to go first? I do. Mcki reused her dress from last year. She was a good sport about it. I made Reagan's hat and vest. The rest of the outfit is just normal clothes. I fell in love with her instantly!! She is the cutest toad ever! 

 And this scary picture below is what i've been waiting for. Ever since I've cut my hair short, I've wanted to stick it up. This is the best I got. I just got it cut again the day before halloween. Its a little shorter than last time....not super fond of the length......but this almost turned out normal.......well, normal for the 80's!!! Pulled out some old jewelry from high school, and wabam! I worked that night, had to explain to patients that I really didn't do my hair like this normally.

 McKinley had crazy hair day at school.....the day before Halloween. Anyhoo, I actually got up and did something for her.  I think it turned out really fun. They are sparkly pipe cleaners, braided into her hair. Then I attached each one to the bottom of another on to create all the little hoops. She liked it! Luckily, she doesn't have very thick hair, so it didn't take a lot of time.










 So, besides Halloween, Matthew went and took his Professional Engineering test. He has to wait till December to get the results. It is a super grueling test, 8 hours long. Glad I don't have to take it. He says he may have scraped a pass. It'll mean a raise at work, but he'll still being doing basically the same thing. We are glad its over with.
Happy holidays to everyone!