Who's that big guy with Tim?

 Why it's "only the best college-playing basketball player in the Nation,

Kevin Love!" (In Scott's humble opinion). The boys (Scott, Greg, John, and Tim) went on their traditional trek last night to watch UCLA beat ASU! The game didn't start until 8:30 PM, and since the tickets cost $30 a piece, that was much too late for Jake and Matt to be out. And when Mikey was asked if he wanted to go, he said, "no thanks, not a basketball game, but maybe if it were a hockey game because at least then there would be some action!" Jeez, no wonder the kid is headed to Iraq.

A couple of days ago I did the nicest thing...I left the dirty dishes in the sink and took the little boys to the park! It is beautiful weather here in Arizona.

Happy 9th Birthday

We finally got everyone together to sing Happy Birthday to Jake.

These two cute little girls delivered an invitation to Greg tonight for the Sadies dance from Mary Christensen. She was sweet and made brownies for the whole family! Now we need to think of a fun way to answer back. It's a cowboy theme. Suggestions welcome.

Mikey's home!!! And this is his car that he is letting me drive while he's in Iraq. I'm excited to save some money on gas! But I'm not excited about him deploying. I'm proud of him though!

Happy 9th Birthday, Jake! I took Jake birthday shopping last night. We went to Target so that he could spend the gift card that Grandma and
Grandpa sent. He picked out the shirt he is wearing and a new bathing suit. We also found a bike he liked at Target. That's from Mom and Dad. (Hopefully, this one will last awhile before it gets stolen. People like to shop in our neighborhood for bikes, skateboards, strollers, etc.) He's had a nice, chore-free day!

We love you, Jakey! XO

Birthday tradition...

"Twas the night before Jake's Birthday." As I was putting Jake to bed tonight, he asked if I was going to have his bag of birthday candy on his dresser when he woke up in the morning. A few years ago I started leaving a treat bag and balloon on the boys' dressers, along with this birthday banner I made when Scott and I were first married. I set everything up after they go to sleep, and now they don't let me forget the tradition!

Popcorn and a movie. Matt's choice was "Highschool Musical." Sam and Brody lasted until their popcorn was gone with that one. (They have now moved on to destructing the toy room!) However, Matty loves the movie. He likes the songs and had me put on the CD prior to wanting the movie.

Scouts

Johnny's boy scout troop at last night's Court of Honor.

Johnny is now a "Star."

Court of Honor

Timmy's first Court of Honor. He receives his "Scout" rank. Pictured with Tim are Casey Kleiner, Canon Anderson, Sterling Fuller, and Brother Cook.
Timmy retires the colors.

Matty looks up "v" words in the dictionary for tonight's homework. He says that his favorite "v" word is "van." Today after school he got to go with Enoch's family to see The Spiderwick Chronicles. Lucky boy.

Valentines from grandma...

Thanks, Grandma, for the Valentines! Hope you are feeling well soon. Love, The Boys X0X0X0X0X0X0X0

Neighborhood friends

Matt and Sam had fun playing with Weston and Bristol Montgomery this morning.

Sammy - 2 3/4 yrs.
Matty - 5 3/4 yrs.

No-Bake Cookies (February 6, 2008)

Timmy thought he needed a free day from school today, so I let him stay home. He made no-bake cookies for the kids after-school snack. They are his favorite!

Matty loves to make the juice. And I'm nice and let him (even though I don't like to).

Brothers are scaring him with scarey stories, so I told him to go sleep in my bed. It's going to be crowded tonight.

Mike and two fellow marines going to the Marine Corp Ball (Nov. 2007)

Matty came home from school today excited to tell me that he voted for Mitt, too!

Co-Sleepers

This is Sammy's bed at night...our bed! They have all pretty much slept with us at night and then moved into their own bed when the newest baby arrived. Who's going to kick this one out of our bed? Anyone know where I can get a baby...girl?

Sammy - 2 3/4 yrs.

Today in Timmy's fifth grade class they had a little mock vote for the presidential candidate.
Mitt Romney won 21 votes out of 29!!! Yeaaa for that! Hoping it will happen for real!

Oh no!

Uh, oh! Not yet! I guess it's almost time for a big-boy bed. But I'm sad, because it will be the end of a long, long era. We've used this same crib for all seven babies. I'm not ready.

Sammy - 2 3/4 yrs.

Learning to cook

One of the smartest things I've done is teach Jake (age 8) to make his own quesadilla. And he does a really good job!

Sweetness

Is there anything sweeter than a sleeping baby? I love nap time.

Sammy - 2 1/2 yrs.