Polite Request

Hanley has this paper on her door and it makes me laugh. I love how things are underlined and exclamation points all over it, saying she's serious, but then at the end, she says "Luv U" with a heart.

Annie Jr.

I took the kids to a play at the Junior High that Hanley's friend was in. They thought it was really fun. As you can see Hanley was not happy about me taking pictures.

Savanna's First Lost Tooth

Savanna has had a loose tooth for about a week now. I looked at it today and it was ready so I pulled it out. She cried and cried and cried and held a paper towel in her mouth. After about five minutes, she finally realized it was out and was so happy.

No Training Wheels

Savanna wanted to ride her bike yesterday and one of her training wheels broke. I told her that maybe we should just take them off. She got right up and rode it without them. She was beyond excited! She couldn't wait for Paul to get home so she could show him.

Kids

Brynlie slept over at our house on Friday night. Paige had to go to school in the morning and Brynlie was still wanting to play with Zachary and Savanna. They had so much fun. It was nice weather on Saturday so the kids picked up all of the pine cones on the front lawn. Zachary was so mad but Brynlie and Savanna thought it was fun putting all of them in a sled. Then they played on the skateboard and Zach rode his bike.

Things about my dad

For my dad's 60th birthday, we all wrote something about him that we remember or funny stories. It was so fun to read what everyone wrote. Then we made a little book out of it.

He is funny, cool, and an awesome grandpa. I love him. He plays catch with me sometimes. He takes me coyote hunting. He takes us out to dinner. When I went coyote hunting with grandpa we both could have shot a coyote but I forgot to take the safety off and grandpa missed.

~ Trenton

He likes to go hunting. He loves his family and would do anything to help out. He loves spending time with the grandkids. He likes to watch Christmas Vacation.
~ Kathy

 

He is my dad. He has a Fred Ickler rifle. I just remember he always takes me hunting. He used to take us camping and fishing. He always helps fix our vehicles. I remember when we got stuck in the snow out at Vernon. It took us awhile to get out. I remember when he got a bull out by Cove Fort. It was awesome. We went camping with him.
~ Mike

He is nice and funny. He is a really good grandpa to us kids. I love him too. When we go camping he lets me ride his four wheeler. Whenever we ask to watch cartoons he lets us.  He took me coyote hunting once when we went camping. He likes to sing and make up his own words to songs.  He watches movies with us. I remember when grandpa shot the bull and Kierstin picked his nose. He takes us to Harts and buys us treats. He makes us laugh.
~ Lanie

 

He has a kindle fire. He gives us smarties. I love him. He gives us candy. He takes me for rides on his four wheeler. We do family night with him.  He lets us play his Kindle. My favorite thing I have done with grandpa is going camping with him.
~ Mikey

 

I like him. He gives me candy. He is my friend.
~ Kierstin

 

He is nice. He says every bathroom in his house is his. He says funny things. He comes and eats with us.
~ Savanna

He lets me go with him to walk the dogs. He takes me for rides. He is silly. After he eats he says “I am going to P-O-O-P pop.”
~ Zachary

 

I remember flying kites at the school by the old house and he told me it would carry me away. He would hug me and ruffle my hair and made me feel so welcome. He called us girls Margaret. He always reminded us of our manners, but still let us have fun and build forts and mud pies. He was always complimenting Grandma and giving her kisses. He was such an example of family and love.
~ Paige

 

He is an amazing shooter and loves guns. He took me coyote hunting and we got 2 of them. He let me drive his truck.
~ Hanley

 

He’s my dad. He always took us camping and hunting and fishing. He taught me how to drive a stick shift. He had oil in a pan in the back of an old gray chevy and told me not to spill it. I spilled some and he got mad so I stopped and told him I was done. He wasn’t going to drive either so we just sat there for a few minutes. I finally got mad and drove home without making any mistakes. He laughed when we got home. He always made us laugh and showed how much he loved us.
~ Rachel

He is an awesome father-in-law and friend. He would do anything for his family. I have so much respect for him.
~ Paul

 

I remember all the chucker hunts out west. We went fishing every year at Utah Lake. He would take us camping and elk hunting above Fairview on Skyline Drive. We would go to Brownlee and catch crappie. We would go to Yuba and catch perch and walleye. I remember all the fun times he spends with us.
~ Robert

 

I remember one of the first times Rob and I went out and Dad and Mom watched the girls. When we got back he was sitting in the kitchen with his nails painted and Grandma’s curlers in his hair. Later we found out that Grandpa had been playing dress up with the girls. I remember the first elk I ever killed was with Dad above Fairview on Skyline Drive. It was awesome. I’m so grateful for all of the healthy examples Dad has taught, not only to his children but his grandchildren. He always makes time for all of us to feel like we’re his first priority.
~ Monica

 

I love you very much. I am grateful for the 39 ½ years of marriage plus 2 more of dating that we have been together through easy and hard times. You have been so fun to be with. I am grateful for our 3 children and hope to have many more happy years together.
~ Kaye

Pinewood Derby Car

We finished Zachary's pinewood derby car this morning and went and checked it in and got it weighed. He's so excited.

Movie

The kids were out of school yesterday so I took them to see "OZ, The Great and Powerful". It was a pretty good movie. It seemed liked it took a while to get going, but it was just setting up the story I guess. Paige and Brynlie came with us. They rode a few of the little tiny rides outside of the theater.

Dad's 60th Birthday!

My Dad turned 60 today. I am so grateful that he's my dad. We made a video for his 60th birthday and here are some of the pictures from it.

Party

My dad turns 60 this coming weekend, but since he has to work we had a party for him last weekend. He had no idea that we were doing anything. We couldn't believe that none of the little kids spilled the beans. Him and my brothers went to the store so we decorated the house and got everything ready. When he walked in he was totally surprised. We sang Happy Birthday and I had a video of a bunch of pictures of him that we watched. It was fun.

Hanley's Choir Concert

Hanley had her third choir concert last Thursday. I could only see the top of her head during the whole thing, but I got a picture of her and her friend Kristen before it started.

Funny Kids

Savanna: We need to work on my yearbooks
Me: I need to print out some more papers first and I haven't had time
Savanna: You need to get some time!

Zachary told us last week that he has a girlfriend. He has talked about her every day. On the way home from school yesterday, he told me that he kissed her. I asked him where and he said "on the lips". Then I asked him if he kissed her on the playground and he said "yes, we had to hide so the teacher wouldn't see us." I about died. I told him that he was too young to kiss a girl and he said "well dad asked me if I have kissed her." I told him that he was just asking, he wasn't telling him to kiss her. Then he said he was just kidding, but I think he just said that so he wouldn't get in trouble.

Foot - 1 week post-op

I went in today for my post-op appointment for my foot. It's been wrapped up this whole time so I was anxious to see how it was looking and if everything was OK. The incision is really tight and it hasn't popped open at all. It looks like it will heal really nice. He told me that I actually had 2 golf ball sized cysts in my foot. The one on the top that I could see, and another one underneath it that was smashed under my foot. He wrapped it up again. I will go back in one more week then he will take the stitches out. I still have to keep it dry and wear the shoe until then.

Twins

Luckily we still have 2 cute kitties. They are brothers, Socks and Shiloh.

Parents & Pastries

Zachary and Savanna had Parents and Pastries on Tuesday. We had donuts and read a book.

Melanie

On our way home from the hospital last week after my surgery, we were about a block away from our house, looking down the street, we could see our cat dead on the side of the road. There were tire marks swerving right towards her. Not brake marks, but someone actually swerved to hit her. So disgusting. Savanna was in the car with us and I had to tell her to stay in the car, that Melanie was not sleeping and someone had ran her over. She was heartbroken. She keeps talking about how much she misses her.

Foot Surgery

I had surgery on my foot last Thursday. I got to the hospital at 9:00am. They checked me in fairly quick and back getting changed and ready. I went into surgery about 10:00am. They didn't give me the full general anesthesia, but I was still asleep the entire time. The doctor put a bunch of local anesthetic right in my foot and I couldn't feel it for the whole day afterwards. It was nice that when I woke up, I was totally awake and not groggy. I was out of surgery about 11:00 and we left by 11:30. It went good. He told me not to walk on it for five days, but that's pretty hard to do. I have been good at laying around with ice on it, but when I have had to move, I've just put weight on my heel. A couple times I've accidentally stepped too far forward and it's definitely not felt good. I have a huge wrap around my foot and can't remove that until I go back for my checkup on Wednesday.