Kari's 9th Birthday

The past nine years have flown past. I really can't believe she is nine. Kari is my little sweetheart, yet when it comes to sports is my most aggressive. She has been such a blessing to our little family. You can count on her if you need anything. Often she is running to get you something or do something for you before you even ask. She is doing very well in school and has great friends.

She makes being a mom easy.
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Halle for three---SWISH

This has been a long freshman season. It started off great with a freshman team, but when they lost a couple of girls they decided to stick everyone on JV. This meant a 15 person team which makes it tough to see much playing time as a freshman. That combined with a new first year coach has made it a little tough to watch at times, but Halle has done well and played hard. She has become a perimeter shooter with a couple of games with more than one 3 pointer.
Last week against Moapa (our rivals) she didn't come in until middle of the third quarter. We were getting killed by about 15. She had a quick three, came down again and got fouled, made both her shots and then had another 3 after a couple minutes. Her 8 points got things rolling and we came back within one. The best part was she fouled out of her first game. I was proud of her. She is playing more aggressive and is really a hustler. We have one more game this Friday...then it's softball time!

A Week at the Cabin

Our Holiday Trip to the cabin was so much fun. We snowmobiled in on 2 ft of powder. Unfortunately when we got to the cabin, our boiler, that is supposed to have freeze protection, failed and we had a frozen cabin. Luckily it only broke pieces on all 3 toilets and my kitchen sprayer. Travis was able to piece together a working toilet so all was well. We were just glad nothing else happened. Once things warmed up, it was great.

Halle pulling Kari

Kari and Booker being pulled by Travis and Marli

They actually just came off a jump, but I was videoing that, so no pic. They get covered in snow and are always freezing cold when they are done sledding, and then can't wait to go again. I think they are nuts.

Kari the Snow Woman



You can hardly tell in this pic, but Marli is sleeping on the snowmobile. She would do this almost everyday. She loves to ride, but it makes her sleepy.


It is so great to just get away and spend time together. Everyone needed a break from school and work. The kids always have jobs up here like shoveling the 2+ feet of snow off the deck, chopping wood and cleaning. But they love it, we all do. Like everything else, it passes way TOO fast!

CHRISTMAS 2008

I Love Christmas!!! What a wonderful time of year. This picture is me and my girls in the kitchen. Cooking and baking together...one of my all time favorite things to do. We talk and laugh and make a mess. They are becoming wonderful cooks. On Christmas Eve we have a tradition of eating seafood. They all love crab and shrimp. Kari woke up Christmas Eve morning and asked "if we should start cooking the crab?" It is something we look forward to and enjoy very much. I love to create traditions. They bring our family closer together.

Lond and Valene got the boys marshmallow shooter. We were all getting blasted!
They loved them.

Marli loved everything. She was a happy girl all day!



I loved this pic. It says so much.

One of our favorite Christmas traditions is opening our gifts one at a time and making it last all day long. I remember as a kid just tearing through them and then it was over. This way you get to open something and play with it. Everyone knows what each other got and who it was from. The kids like it too because they don't want to be done. I like to slow down any bit of time I can. I cannot believe how fast things pass by.

Grandma Pam and Grandpa Robert came down Christmas Day. They made it in time for the Christmas Movie. This year we rented the theater for Trav's work and invited a bunch of patients. It was so much fun. I could not believe the response and gratitude from his patients. It was really neat and we all loved Bedtime Stories.

When Grandpa is here he is always has a kid or two on him or next to him. They wrestle and play....and give lots of kisses and hugs. Grandpa Lond is the same way. They are so blessed to have such wonderful grandparents on both sides that want to be part of an important part of their lives. As a parent, that is appreciated so much. These kiddos need all the love and support they can get.

Seventh Birthday!

Every year for Booker's birthday he gets his favorite, a pumpkin roll. It is not easy to make a fun pumpkin roll, but he is not picky. This year he got a monster truck. He loved it. That night he told me that I am a "good maker." He also asked what shape I was making next year. Sounds like I better get planning.



Uncle Darek (and Uncle Brady) got him some camo! He loves hunting with Uncle Darek!

I can't believe my baby boy is seven. He is weighing in at a whopping 78 lbs. He has passed Kari by quite a few. They have been playing soccer and it is so much fun to watch them. They look like my twins they are so close in size.

THE BEST CHRISTMAS PAGEANT EVER!

Adri and Kari just finished the Christmas play, The Best Christmas Pageant Ever. It was so cute. Adri had a speaking part. She was Doris. She did such a great job. She would not tell us her lines, so we had no idea of what she was doing, but she had them down perfect. Kari was in the Angel Choir. She sang so well and looked very cute. It was a lot of work and they are glad to be done with practice, but enjoyed making new friends and being a part of something really neat.

Adri above

Kari, top in the shadow

Happy Sisters!

Proud Momma!

I just had to share a picture of Halle's pinata. She had to make this for her honor's spanish class(which is a ridiculous project for a high school class!) but anyway, we decided to have fun with it. What started out as a deer head, ended up the whole thing. It turned out soooo cute. I hope she doesn't have to smash it. He even has a nose that lights up!