Cousins, Cousins!

Earlier this week we got a visit from some of our favorite little people (and auntie) from up north. My sister Abby brought her two kids Tanner and Lauren down for the day and boy did we have a circus! The five little ones played hard all day, mostly downstairs in the unfinished basement that is freezing! Before too long it was time for jammies and time for them to hit the long road back home.

I finally got the boys to sit still and look at me. Unfortunately, they look like deer caught in headlights.
Above is Lauren, my little niece. We all call her "Sissy". Isn't she beautiful! I asked her to smile for the camera and look below to see what a great smile I got. That's a big old crusty for such a sweet little girl! Notice that Lauren has Sam's crocs over the top of her footed jammies. What style!! Sam and a much happier Lauren reading stories.

Rub-a-Dub-Dub!!

I hope no one out there takes offense to these pictures, but we put Emmi in the tub with her brothers for the first time just the other night and I wanted to share how cute they turned out. One of my favorite pictures of me growing up is one where I am in the tub with my older sister and older brother and I guess I wanted to recapture that with my kids. I think it will still be a few months before I let her back in the tub with them, her little bum was so slippery, that she was sliding all over the place. She just about went under a few times. It was worth a try to see if she was ready.

Back to Ricks College...

I can't believe it has been 6 1/2 years since Chad and I met and graduated from Ricks College. (It is now BYU-Idaho, for those living under a rock!) Needless to say this place (Rexburg Idaho) is very special to both of us. With the new LDS temple in Rexburg, we thought it was a perfect time to take the kids for a visit and attend the open house.
Not only did Chad and I meet at Ricks, but both my parents and Chad's parents did as well! How perfect is that! We graduated in April 2001, and were married in the Bountiful LDS temple the very next weekend.Chad, myself, and our good friend Josh taken while we were still dating. Boy, we look young! One of our last days in Rexburg, and single for that matter! This was taken just outside my apartment. I wanted to get another one outside my old apartment this weekend and a nice girl now living there happily obliged. This is us now, 6 1/2 years, and 3 kids later!!

The Rexburg, Idaho Temple

When we drove into Rexburg Saturday morning, Chad and I were a little disappointed because there was heavy fog and we couldn't see the temple until we were right on top of it. Typical of Rexburg, it was bitter cold, but the temple was very beautiful.The kids did pretty good during the open house considering their ages, but this temple unfortunately has a whole lot of stairs that were hard for the little legs to climb. It was nice to finally be able to take the boys inside the temple, since they have only been able to go inside the waiting room until now. If you look close in the picture above, you can see me, Keek and Emmi by the doors. Of course Sam snuck away and is off to the left and (Chad is taking the picture of course). After the temple, we had to take a little drive around campus and see what's changed since we've left. (As much as we could see with the dang fog!) Here we are in the bookstore.

Now That's One Big Burger!

One of the highlights of our trip to Idaho had to be a stop to "Big Jud's" for some greasy goodness. This little restaurant is literally out in the middle of nowhere but is worth the trip. Big Jud's is actually home of the 1 lb. burger if you can believe it. It is the biggest burger I've ever seen!! It is so big that we ordered one to share. We cut it just like a pie!

Doesn't it look good!! Um, yummy!!If you can eat a whole one by yourself, they take your picture and put it on their wall. There is even a space for people who ate 2 and 3 lb. burgers! Now, that's just disgusting if you ask me. But, you'd be surprised at how many people have eaten them!
Well, we all ate and ate until we were ready to pop. Even Emmi chowed down on the fries. We had such a good time.

Ode to the Computer..

How we love thee, let us count the ways... Earlier this summer, we snapped this shot of Keaton and Sam playing on the computer. We were so proud of Keaton who had just learned how to use the mouse and play games all by himself. Keep in mind that this kid is only 4 years old! Within a few weeks he was able to conquer most of the games on noggin.com and was moving on to nick.jr's site. He is too smart. One day Chad was on the internet and got up to get a drink. So Keek jumped on, logged off Chad's page and onto the boys' before Chad got back to his seat. Needless to say, Chad and I have to fight him for any time on it ever since. Well, in the last couple weeks, look who else has learned how to use the computer: Sam! He is only 2, so I didn't expect him to pick it up for a couple of years, but I guess he was determined to play like big brother. He still has trouble staying away from the "right click" button every now and then and starts printing or zooming out during one of the games, but I'd say he is pretty good for his age. I bet between him and Keaton, they almost know as much about the computer as their "Damma"!! ha ha ha (Just kidding Mom) So, now there are 4 people in our house competing for the computer. AAaaahhhhh! He is so proud of himself, look how happy he is! Okay, Sam had enough of me taking pictures, "No more Mom!"

Dancer-in-training...

As I noted in my Christmas blog, Emmi got a leotard and tutu from Chad's mom for Christmas. Well, I finally got it out and put it on her. The tutu is a little big, but I think it is really sweet on her. Kim, (Chad's mom), has taught dance for years and years and I would love to have Emmi take dance from her. Even if Kim isn't teaching, I'm still putting this little girl in dance somewhere. Her Momma, her grandma Kim, aunt Kristin and cousin Mccall love to dance, so we hope that she will too! I think the bow looks kinda funny, but it looked worse without it- the girl needs to grow some hair!!