recommended

this movie is really cute. if you haven't seen it yet, i recommend it. (even if it does have owen wilson in it...i really don't like him.)

apparently he was tired

luke decided to follow in the footsteps of his brother and abandoned naptime just after turning 2. i can try and lay him down, but it's usually a fit of screaming and a fight not worth fighting. the trade off is he is a suberb night-time sleeper. 12 solid hours. occasionally he will doze in the car if we're running errands. i guess yesterday he was more tired than i thought. things were a bit quiet in the basement while max was at school. i went down to check things out and here's what i found. isn't he sweet?

happy *late* birthday mike

i know it's late, but better late than never, right? mike had a birthday. yay! 2 days after christmas to be exact. and he's getting up there...closer to 40 than 30. scary. (he's 37 - wow.) i wanted to share a few pics of mike...and tell him how much i love him. mike's an amazing man.

just a few things:

*cowboy

*fishing

*camping

*wrestling with his boys

*serving others

*dedicated

*silly

*use it up, wear it out, make do or do without (it takes a bit of convincing to get him to throw out old worn out clothes (or anything for that matter) and buy new ones!)

*kid at heart

*thoughtful

*gentle

*great cook

*cleaning out his closet or the garage or shed

*always full of surprises

*compliments

*sincere

*takes time for family

*teaches

*great example

*encourages

*always searching for the silver lining

*positive attitude

*it'll all work out.

and it has. he is wonderful and i love him so so so much. happy birthday, babe.

and now for a few pictures:

burning cake! (it really was only 10 candles: a group of 3 and a group of 7. there was no way i was putting 37 candles on one cake. fire hazard.)

making a wish
eating yummy cake!

the christmas post

i stole meghan's title. but here it is. mostly just a lot of pictures of the kids doing what they do best.

our impromptu nativity play at uncle steve's house. max was the shepherd, jake was joseph and luke refused to participate. it was good to listen to the christmas story as told in the scriptures...and to take a minute to imagine what it would have been like.

then christmas morning. not much explanation needed here.




after creating a pile of chaos at our house, we ventured up to nana sue & papa randall's house for more festivities.

and later than evening it was on to uncle doug's house for even more food and fun.

christmas was fun...the kids were thrilled and i got what i wanted. a vacuum that really sucks - in the good sort of way. and i'm amazed by what was hiding in my carpets.

hope you had a very merry christmas! and here's to a happy new year. (i better get working on those resolutions.)

warning - nose business

mike has hairy nostrils. ya, that is too much information, but it is true. sometime in the last 8 months or so mike had his nostrils waxed. sounds painful to me. he said it was much better than pulling the hairs out one by one. well, i went and got him an 'at home waxing kit'. we put it to the test last night. it was hilarious. (at least to me.) the results were stunning.

meet tom

yesterday mike drove to downey, idaho and bought himself a new horse. welcome to the family, tom. i don't know much about him - except that he's 8 and that mike is like a little kid on christmas. in fact, merry christmas mike. hope you love your new horse.

mike sold ricky the horse. i think he's a little bit sad, but not too sad. he is in the process of looking for another horse to buy. anyone out there have a horse to sell?