November Swimming

So, it is getting that cold time of year in the valley. The time that you put an extra blanket on the bed, when you actually wear pants. The time you go swimming,,,,???? Well, that is what the boys thought would be a good idea to do today.

All because two kids met on a small town saturday night!

I was looking at pictures and wanted to go back and look at how the boys looked near Olivia's current age of 1 & 1/2. They all have some similar features, but also definately have their own distinctive look.

Then I wanted to compare them to now. They definately are growing up, changing and maturing.

Looking back made me think about all the fun times we have had as a family and I look forward to many more. All because some crazy, small-town boy saw a new girl drive into town for a dance on a saturday night. That crazy boy chased her down, literally, in his truck, then stalked her at the dance until she realized maybe there might be more to this. This led to that, and that led to this:

All because two kids met on a small town saturday night!

We finally got a new home!!!!!!

We sold our home a few months ago, thinking it was a buyers market and would be easy to get another. Not so!!! Sure, there are many homes for sale and many that look like great prices, but they are all bank owned or short sales (sellers with multiple mortgages trying to get the banks to agree to let them out of them for less than they owe, the bank controls this one also). With the help of my good friend Alyssa as our agent, she took use to dozens and dozens of homes to look at. So many of them looked good on paper, but then looking at them they were all stripped. People literally yank out their cabinets, shutters, ceiling fans, basically anything of value and sell them before they are kicked out. It was somewhat demoralizing. We had a couple of deals not work out. We bid on this one almost 4 months ago and it finally went through. And it actually was not stripped at all.


The boys and all of us plan to spend a lot of time here in the pool.


We are happy to be able to move into a place we hope to stay for the rest of the kids schooling and childhoods. We love our area and this place was just a few miles away. The kids will finish out the school year in their current school before moving to the new one next year.


We are happy to find a place, but moving means we will be in a new ward at church and have to leave our current one. We have loved our ward and the friends we have gained and grown attached to. We don't want to lose any of them.

Students of the month!!!!

The School year has started. The boys are busy with their classwork, scouts and city soccer. Josh and Thomas were both recently students of the month at their school.

They have an assembly in the gym where the kids get announced and given their awards. Then they get a special lunch with mom. Anthony and I are very happy that we have boys that are respectful and behave in class, all while exceling and making many good friends.

Fall Saturdays Part 2

Fall saturday afternoons and evenings are full of ASU football. Anthony and his dad have been going since he was small. Our boys now love to go. They don't plan on ever stopping this tradition.

Fall Saturdays Part 1

Saturday mornings all fall are full of Soccer. This season all three boys are old enough to play, and Anthony is coaching Josh's team. Add in keeping track of Olivia and it makes for some very hectic 3 game saturday mornings. But the boys love it, so we do it.

Thomas' Bear

Last month at pack meeting Thomas achieved his bear in cub scouts. Way to go! I love you-mom

Friday Nights

This is what Friday night looks like at our house. We are so lucky to have good friends, with good kids. A little wii, pokemon, ds games and alot of sugar makes for a great Friday night.

First Day of School 2009

Nathan's first day of Kindergarten started off ruff. I thought he was doing great and looked back as I was leaving and he had the quivering lip. Then suddenly he bolted for the door. As the tears began to fall he said, "I'm scared" How could a mother leave under those conditions? It all turned out well. I picked him up and he had a big smile and a new stuffed wild cat. All the boys talked non stop for the first hour then began eating. I forgot how hungry they get at school.

Nathan's 5th Birthday

Nathan has been counting down his birthday since last Sept. So we gave him the best birthday ever. He invited friends to see G-Force, swimming at the pool, McDonalds and cake. And that was just the beginning. Then Uncle Jake came over and hosted a sleepover for the cousins and we had pizza and more cake. Not to mention the traditional Mickey Mouse Pancakes. Then we spent the day at Wet N Wild. The best part was shopping with Grandpa, he came home covered in chacolate! As any kid who goes out with Grandpa Browning does. Happy Birthday Kid!!!

Camping in Sedona- July 10,2009

We went to Chaves Crossings Campsite in July with the Brownings. I think we proved that all we need to have fun is a creek full of water, some cousins, and watermellon!

Garth Greer Reunion 2009 - North Oregon Coast

We just got back from the 09 Garth Greer Reunion. This year we had it on the north Oregon coast in a town called Rockaway Beach. Anthony's sister Debby has lived in Oregon for years, and she put it on. The kids had never flown before and they were real excited to do so. Here's some pictures of them on the plane.

Here is a picture looking back at our beach from the end of a jetty.

Anthony's parents traveled with us. The first thing we did was stop off at the cheese factory in Tillamook and eat ice cream.

The oregon coast is beautiful country and home of such movie classics as Goonies!!!

This is a lighthouse that we visited.

We had lots of fun with all our cousins.

Olivia even had a bit of fun running on the beach.

The boys built many sand castles. We actually had a big family sand castle contest one night. Nathans below was one of the winners.

Thomas and Josh braved the cold waters as much as we would let them.

We spent time flying kites on the beach.

This is Anthony's money shot. The boys and him were out on the end of a jetty, and all three boys started yelling 'Killer Whales'. Three Killer Whales were making their way out of the bay into the open ocean. They were only about 25-30 feet from where the boys were sitting. That was a real cool experience for them. The Oregon cousins said they had not seen killer whales in 17 years of being there, so it is a pretty rare chance.

Here is a look down the coast the morning we were leaving (the clearest day of the whole trip). The inland bay in the background is the bay the killer whales were leaving, the same one family members had been kayaking in earlier the same day!!!!

We went on a train ride along the coast.

One of the best things we did was go on this hike to a waterfall. The trail was full of Salmon berry bushes, which were good to eat. The forest was really like a jungle to us AZ folk.

Some trouble makers have a hard time reading warning signs.

The last day we headed up the coast to Astoria and stopped off at an old army base, Fort Stevens. We had a picnic and enjoyed everything they had to show us.

Overall, the trip was tiring, but we had a good time seeing all our family and made many memories we will have forever.