Seeing Santa!!!

We went to the Christmas Parade, and had a great time!  The kids loved seeing Santa.  Talon asked for Wii games, Ryker asked for a Didj, and Hunter---well, Hunter just wanted the candy Santa was giving out! 

Thanksgiving at Mesquite, Nevada!

We went to Mesquite, Nevada this year for Christmas to do some riding in the dirt and sand. We had so much fun! The scenery is breathtaking, and we had some great memories. Everyone asks us what we did about Thanksgiving dinner--we at at the Virgin River Casino! They served a delicious Thanksgiving feast complete with all the traditional Thanksgiving trimmings. Clean up was a cinch! That was nice.

Josh and Jared being crazy on Jared's Razor. Yikes!!!

Ryker and Talon sliding down dunes.  Hunter, Ryker, and Talon had so much fun in the red dirt. A boy's paradise!!

      Peek-a-boo, Hunter!!

The City of Rocks

My best friend growing up, Brandy Hackman, her family, and the boys and I got together Friday after Thanksgiving at the Valley of Fire while Josh was motorcycling with his brother and friends. We had so much fun! I didn't know my boys were such climbers. They about gave me a heart-attack watching them climb up these rock cliffs. They had a blast!!!

Ryker, Braxton, James, Katie, Talon, Brandy, Dylan, Hunter, and Kobee

Brandy and Katie at the Valley of Fire

Talon, Braxton, Kobee, and Ryker Braxton and Talon

Hunter (the camera makes it look worse than it was) and next picture Ryker and Talon

We had such a fun trip! Motorcycling, climbing, 4-wheeling, shopping, mini golf, swimming, and relaxing with friends and family. We had a great time!

More Pictures!

Hope you like these!!!

Here are our family pictures!!!

We've Started a Blog!

Welcome, Family and Friends!!!

I've been told by several people that I need to start a blog so we can keep up on what's going on with each other, so here it goes! Things are going pretty good for us here in Rigby, Idaho. We're keeping busy and having fun. Right now, my kids are going nuts about Christmas. Did it always start so early? Every day, they let me know which new toy Santa can bring for them. I find myself making up "rules" about Santa to curtail the extremism, like, "Santa only brings one toy for each kid, so he has enough presents to go around," and "Santa e-mailed me today, and said they are out of that at the toy shop," or "Santa can only make things you can find in the toy catalog, since he's the one who designs all the toys for the toy stores" after requests for flying toy spaceships and life-size Darth Vador robots. Sheesh. How many more days until Christmas? I hope I can make it. I'm hoping I won't explode one day and shout, "Sorry, kid, Santa's not real. I can't afford the fairy tale anymore, it's driving me crazy." It's a good thing I do enjoy the holiday season, and I remember as a child how magical it all was. I would stay up as late as I could, and try to hear reindeer hooves on the rooftop. How fun to believe!

I decided to get our family pictures early this year, so I will post some of them on the blog. It really wasn't bad this year, usually I have to drag Josh in by the teeth, but he actually behaved himself this time. We have a strategy--After the pictures, Josh takes the boys far away so I can take as much time as I want to choose the pictures I want to buy. This is serious business! I can't have Josh or the boys there, because they will complain, "Can we go yet? Hurry! Just choose some." But, now that we have this strategy, they go get happy meals, and by the time they are done, I'm ready to be picked up, and everyone is happy. And no one knows but me how much money I've spent. (: