2008 Christmas!
We had a great Christmas, the kids enjoyed their presents from Santa, and we enjoyed watching them play. We went to the Matthews' house in Oakley, barely, we almost didn't make it through the snow drifts. We had to call and request snow plows and they still didn't come out and clear the road. One drift was at least 3 feet tall. What should have been a 45 min drive turned into 2 1/2 hours!! It was worth it, though being able to be with family for Christmas. I get to enjoy my family soon, they are on their way from Mississippi and I am counting down til they get here! This is a great Christmas!

Our first big snow here in Twin Falls! The kids really enjoyed it!

"Eat Til Ya Drop"

I have heard of "shop til ya drop", but Brayden showed me how to "eat til ya drop". He must have been super tired!These are more pictures on another day, of eating while tired!

POTTY TIME

Tonight was the first time Austin Pee Peed in the "big boy potty chair"! He has been happy to sit on the potty, but he would always get up before he did his potty job, but tonight, H.P. was getting ready to give Aussie a bath and he told Austin to sit on the potty and try. Low and behold he WENT. . . ALOT!!! I came in cheering him on, then quickly gave him a potty treat! I am so proud of my big boy! He will be 3 in May, so as long as he is potty trained by then I will be thrilled!

Lost Tooth

Alivia lost her first tooth on Saturday! We had been checking it everyday, although Livie wanted it to fall out at School instead of home. Her reason was so that she could get the cool box from the teacher to keep her tooth in. I told her if it fell out at home she could put it under her pillow and get money from the tooth fairy. Her comment was "and we can buy a cool box for it with the money." What a kid, huh! Anyway, Saturday Liv was playing at a friend's house and she came running through the door saying, "mom, I am so happy right now!" I asked, "why?" and she showed me the tooth.

He's On The Move!!!

For so long, Brayden has tried to crawl, but the problem was his tummy! I'm not kidding, he couldn't get it up off the floor, so he would just roll everywhere or pull himself along the carpet. He has been trying to get up and go for a while now, but Sunday was the day he really took off. He got on all fours, didn't even rock just slowly moved his knees and hands and he figured out he could get where he wanted. He is so fun to watch, just put something in front of him and off he goes!

Halloween Party 2008

The kids had a blast at the annual Halloween Party at our Church. There was a dinner, yummie goodies and lots of carnival games for the kids!


This year Alivia wanted to be none other than "Hannah Montana", H.P. found her a blonde wig and she wore some of my dance stuff from HighSchool! She Loved it! She thought she was really Hannah Montana, in fact, I had to call her Hannah all night at the party!

The Witch and her Pumpkin!

Bob The Builder, Can He Fix It? Yes He Can! Mud from working hard? NO, Chocolate from a very yummy cupcake, but it helped him look the part.

Pumpkin Carving

We had a fun time carving our pumpkins. I had the wonderful job of cleaning out the "guts", quite squishy!

H.P. ,of course , had the knife and carved his and helped the kids. Although, I was being made fun of my carving skills I had a good time creating my very own pumpkin.

Austin got a little scared of the pumpkin faces and decided not to have his carved. Instead he decided coloring his would be just as fun.

The FINAL Products! Mine is in the middle, I think I did pretty good, I don't know why H.P. laughed about my carving skills!

Pumpkin Patch

Alivia went on her first field trip! All the Kindergartners went to the Pumpkin Patch. Austin, Brayden, and I met her there. It was great to see how she interacts with the kids in her class. Although she still had a lot of fun, she was reserved and quiet. They played pin the nose on the Pumpkin, walked the wiggly rope, rode the train, climbed hay, and picked out her very own Pumpkin.

Austin loved playing on the wiggly rope. He wanted to stay even after Livie had to go back to school. This of course is Alivia's Kindergarten class. She has made many friends. She has come home telling me so many stories about kids in her class, I now can put a face with the names.

Sock or Chew Toy

Today I was sitting with Bruiser beside me. I saw that he had just grabbed Austin's sock, I thought oh great I better get that. I was in the middle of sending a text, so I waited til I was done. I then looked down and there was no sock and I hear a gulp. Ya know swallowing sound! I thought, No Way, I could understanding chewing, but he couldn't have swallowed that sock! Anyway, I called the vet proceeded to follow instructions to make him throw-up. Sure enough, there was the sock in the midst of his previous breakfast. Well, I guess when he is around we can't have ANYTHING lying around, I never thought he would actually SWALLOW it! Kay so if you find yourself needing to get something up out of a dog without paying a vet bill, pour 2 whopping tablespoons of salt down their throat, and make sure you're outside. It only takes seconds and it will be up!

Lost Phone

Today I noticed the plug for my cell phone was on the floor and my phone was out of sight. I asked Austin, "Aussie have you seen mommy's phone?" Austin replied, "In there." while pointing to the VCR! I anxiously asked, "In the VCR?" Austin replied in his sweet, innocent voice "yeah." I quickly looked in the vcr and this is what I saw. . .

Bruiser

My Bruiser! I have always LOVED Boxers, and well, since my husband is a hunter, I took him to Sportsmans Warehouse to pick out a birthday present for him. In the parking lot were the cutest boxers being sold. I didn't say anything, we just looked at them and went inside. Before we left my husband said, "go pick out a boxer, and make sure you get a good deal!" I was stunned! With a little thought, I then quickly went out, talked the guy down a few hundred dollars and we brought home Bruiser.
I was drawn to this one, not knowing why, seeing as how there were 2 that looked similar. I quickly found out the next day. I got Bruiser out of his bed the next morning to find him not able to move his back legs, totally paralyzed! I panicked, called HP to come help, called the vet, which being sunday, was closed. Anyway, after nursing him all night and taking him to the vet the next morning we found out he had a bad reaction to his previous vaccinations. I called the Breeder and got some information on what had been given to him, through our conversation, I was under the impression, if this had happened under the breeders watch, little Bruiser would have been euthanized. I knew at that moment, he needed us as much as I wanted him. After 2 weeks of pills and lots of love, he now runs, jumps, and is all BOXER!

New Friends

Alivia, Austin, and even little Brayden made new friends at the Tolbert home. We went to see one of my best roommates from Ricks College, Tenelle Tolbert. She recently moved from Utah to Rigby Idaho, I am so excited. I can visit a lot while HP is off hunting on the river bottom! Our Kids hit it off great too, so that is always a plus!

















Brayden and Bridger are only a couple months apart, so they played great together, rolling around, although I was hoping Bridger would teach Brady to crawl, even if it was the "Army Crawl".













Alivia made a crown out of playdough and toy sticks. She was the princess while Braxton unwillingly was the Prince!


Austin and Bridger found some vanilla wafers in Tenelle's bag. By the time we found them, the bag was almost empty!

The Newest Members of Our Family

Rocko, going on a year in November, he is very active and loves to play. Although still a large PUPPY, he is toning it down a bit and loves to play with the kids and the new puppy!










Bruiser, is only 12 weeks, and very playful. He has a lot of energy, although he is more manageable than his older brother, Rocko. He loves to bite Rocko's ears, and he prefers Brayden's toys over his own. He and Rocko have won our hearts forever.
H.P. is staying close to Bruiser to help him get through his pains. He had a bad reaction to his Vaccinations, he couldn't move his back legs. You wouldn't know it now, he loves to jump and run through the house!