Monday, December 12, 2005

Christmas Photos

I never realized how hard it is to get four kids to look happy all at the same time! Especially when you want to take a family photo. I always had only Kayla so I could wait for her to smile nicely. Too bad I'm not a computer pro and can't cut and paste without it looking terrible! Oh well, we got a pretty cute picture after I put Phil in charge of making them laugh! Something involving picking his nose and putting it on me. Hey, whatever works, right? But, unfortunately, our Christmas card will only have the kids in it. Too much trouble to get us adults looking good, too!

Posted by Picasa

Oh, the horrors of having your picture taken! Posted by Picasa

Tuesday, November 29, 2005

Handing Over The Reins

We started decorating for Christmas this weekend. It was fun. Every year before this I've let the kids help decorate the tree by hanging the unbreakable ornaments after I took time hanging the garland and breakables. But this year I thought, what the heck, I think it’s time to hand it over to them. They’re getting old enough to be careful and really enjoy it. So I left it entirely up to them (except the part that was out of reach of course) and they did pretty well. It's so cute. The garland looks like spiderwebs and all the ornaments are clumped together, but oh well. They had fun and they're so proud. It takes all the restraint I have to just let it be and not fix things! Quite a challenge for me!

2005 Posted by Picasa

Spider web decor Posted by Picasa

Tuesday, November 15, 2005

Boys Are Weird

There are certain days when I convert back to my childhood and remember how gross and weird I always thought boys were. Today was one of them. I think I have good reason though. My three boys thought it was hysterical to lay on the ground and let our cat lick the insides of their ears. They would lay there as long as I would let them or until the cat got bored. Gross! Check out the pictures!

Oh, I also posted a couple photos from our early Thanksgiving get together at my parent's house. Isn't Mason getting big? The two unfamiliar people around the campfire are my mom's friend Chris and Pobby's girlfriend Kat.

Father & Son Posted by Picasa

Roasting Marshmallows Posted by Picasa

Wes, Jake, and Smokey Posted by Picasa

Boys are weird... Posted by Picasa

Boys... Posted by Picasa

Thursday, November 03, 2005

I'm A Slacker

Hi all,
I want to apologize for being a complete and utter slacker. For some reason the two or three minutes it takes to post on my blog has become too time consuming for me! Seriously, I check my email and read everyone's blogs almost daily. I, however, never seem to have the time to post. Sorry...

We had a fun holiday. The kids looked so cute. Kayla was a fairy princess, Andy was a ninja, Jake was Batman, and Wes was Spiderman. It was pretty cold so the kids had to bundle up. Not an easy task when your daughter's costume consists of her ballerina dress up clothes! Our neighborhood, specifically our street, was apparently the local hot spot for trick-or-treating. For about an hour and a half we hardly got our door closed before the doorbell rang again. I estimate we had about 40 kids stop by for treats. Our neighbors were very festive-lots of decorations. Our kids built a pumpkin man and sat him outside our front door. That's about all we did. It was fun. The kids had a blast running (literally) from door to door along our entire street. We all have stomach aches from all the candy lately. Yuck!

I have to end this post quickly. Kayla has been going to a youth group at our church on Thursday nights. It's called Awana's and she's really been enjoying it. They memorize bible verses and play games. She earns patches and things similar to girl scouts, but they are earned by learning verses. It's pretty neat. The boys have been going lately and seem to enjoy it, too. We pick them up from their mom's house and return them when it's over. She seems ok with it. I'm glad, it's a good experience for them. We all got to build pine box derby cars last weekend and they will be racing them soon. So, anyway, I have to run because Kayla needs to practice her verses.

I'll try to post more often! Love, Terri

Halloween 2005 Posted by Picasa

Tuesday, August 16, 2005

Catching Up

Hi everyone,

Sorry it's been so long since I've posted. I've been waiting until I could figure out our digital camera, but have decided to go ahead and catch everyone up without pictures. Hopefully they will follow shortly.

We've been pretty busy with work and unpacking. We had a mini family reunion a couple of weeks ago. My uncle Chuck, Aunt Julie, Aunt Judy, and (soon-to-be) Uncle Jack visited my parents for a few days. Phil and I took the kids out there one day after work. It was nice to see everyone. It's great how a year can pass and we manage to pick up where we left off as if no time has gone by. That's one thing I've always loved about this family. Our boys finally got to meet everyone and we were able to celebrate Chucks birthday with him. I'll post pictures as soon as I figure that camera out! I need Phil's help, I think!

Following the reunion, Phil had a week offf work. It was nice to come home to him every day. He usually works late so it was a nice change. This was the week of Hot August Nights, which is a week long event held every year in Reno. People from all over the country participate. It revolves around old time cars ('72 or older). People cruise the city and show off their rebuilt cars. They have an event called the "Show & Shine"-that's the one I like to see. People park their cars at certain casino parking lots and let people walk through them and look at them. This event always attracts a crowd. You should see how much money some people put into rebuilding these vehicles. They're beautiful. So, we took Phil's '68 Camaro and cruised the city. It was a lot of fun. I'll have pictures...soon!

The kids started school last Wednesday. Andy is in third grade, Kayla is in second, and Jake and Wes are in first. What a change! They're all in a full day of school. It's really kind of peaceful. They were ready to go back. They've been really bored the last couple of weeks. So far they love it. We'll see if that continues after they start getting homework!

Phil and I have next week off together. This will be our first time off together since the wedding. And the kids will be in school during the day. This will be a really relaxing break for us. We plan to do nothing for at least two days and then maybe go kayaking and see a show in Reno if we feel like getting off the couch! I can't wait. Maybe I'll get around to figuring out that camera!

Saturday, July 23, 2005

Kayla Is Seven!

My little baby is seven years old! I feel like she's still a toddler. But I guess she's a full blown kid now. It makes me sad to think she's nearly half way to driving, over half way to her teens...

We threw her a party last weekend. Funny, I didn't really let her invite anyone from school, with the exception of Emma, because I wanted to keep the party small and have it at home. I wound up with 15 kids in my house (four of which were barely two) and about 15 adults... Well, at least we broke the new house in! We had a great time. Kayla and I decided to throw a Princess Tea Party. We made princess (and prince)crowns before we ate. Kayla and her brothers set up her tea sets on the coffee table and we baked mini cookies, mini cupcakes, and made mini sandwiches. It was a great idea I pulled from a magazine. A little tedious, but fun. The kids were a big help with the prep work. Kayla served her guests apple juice along with the little treats. It was so cute to see them all sitting around this little table acting all classy and social. Kids are so cute! Later we let them play out in the back yard with water balloons and squirt guns, it was over 100 degrees here! Plus it helped to boys feel like they weren't having to do "girly" things for the entire party! Everyone had a blast, but boy I was tired afterwards. It was so peaceful with just our four kids! I fell asleep on the couch about ten minutes after the last guest left. When I woke up, Phil had pretty much finished the clean up. What a guy! I finally feel like I've caught up on rest, a week later!

I have the kids to myself most of this weekend. Phil went to San Fransisco with his friend Eddie. They are having a guys weekend of golfing and baseball games. They both need it. Work has been stressful lately. They are both UPS drivers in Lake Tahoe and this is the busiest time of the year with the swarms of tourists and the road construction. And unfortunately, Tahoe is small and there aren't many backroads to avoid the traffic. Phil has had it especially hard this week because a golf resort he delivers to was holding it's annual celebrity golf tournament. It attracts a lot of people hoping to see someone famous. Phil saw Donald Trump. (Not that he cared! He just wanted to get out of there!) So, the boys needed a little time away from home. I'm holding down the fort here. The kids have been great. Very minor squabbles. Tomorrow they get to help me clean house and do laundry. I'm sure they'll be thrilled!

Anyway, enough babbling. Hope everyone is well. Below are some pictures of the party. Love to all...

Opening presents Posted by Picasa

Blowing out the candles... Posted by Picasa

Seven years old! Posted by Picasa

Mason "flying" with Grandpa Posted by Picasa

Fun in the sun... in our new back yard! Posted by Picasa

Andy & Hailey Posted by Picasa

Mason, Brittany, & Hunter enjoying the mini cupcakes... Posted by Picasa

The Princess Tea Party... Posted by Picasa

Mason decorating his own face... Posted by Picasa

Monday, July 11, 2005

The Neighborhood Hangout?

Hi everyone,

I'm happy to announce we're all moved in and finally online again. I didn't realize how much I used the computer until I didn't have it for over a week! We've been busy, busy unpacking and getting settled in. We've had a few problems with the new house (nothing the warranty doesn't cover, thank God!), but I think things have finally come together enough to let us relax a little bit. The kids are enjoying the extra space and are excited about picking out the new paint colors for their rooms. Right now Kayla wants "purple, pink, and yellow" and the boys want "just a sky and grass" ... we'll see! (First they wanted an ocean scene and when I told them I wasn't artistic enought to paint whales and things they said, "oh, that's ok. We just wanted sharks and sting rays...").

So, this weekend we met a lot of neighborhood kids. While we were moving in last week a couple of boys from across the street came over and introduced themselves. Sweet boys, except for the fact they tend to barge right in without being invited! Well, to get back to this weekend, Kayla was allowed to have a friend from school come over for a couple of hours. She's a sweet little girl named Emma who Kayla knew from church even before we moved to Carson. They seemed a little bored (since Kayla's toys are mostly still packed) so I let them play out in the backyard. Almost immediately we had a little girl pop her head over the fence and say hi. We met her parents and she and her sister climbed into our backyard to play with our kids. (The old owners had cut a piece of the fence out and added a pool ladder so the kids could safely climb back and forth, since their kids were friends). So, anyway, here we are with seven kids to watch. Eventually we had to send them home and go shopping. When we got back from shopping, the little boys from across the street, along with their older sister, came right over and right on in as we were unloading the car. The next thing we knew the girls behind us were climbing over the fence again! 9 kids! We were a little overwhelmed to say the least! Somehow we managed to kick everyone out without hurting any feelings and got a peaceful dinner. I hate to say it, but the next day we kept the shades drawn and didn't let our kids go outside. It's definitly something we'll have to get a handle on, fast! However, it will be wonderful for out kids to grow up in a neighborhood like this. It just a half a block down from where we lived before but a world of difference! Kayla now has a few more kids added to her birthday party list! We're celebrating it Sunday. I'll post some pictures afterwards...

Friday, June 24, 2005

We Closed!

Just a quick post to let everyone know we closed today! I may be more excited than Phil. This is the first house I've ever owned! This is his second. So, we're off to celebrate. Busy night. We are going to a good friend of mine's surprise birthday party and then rushing off to catch the last half of my ten year reunion. (I decided to go.) Just wanted to let you all know escrow closed all right. We start moving on Tuesday!

Thursday, June 23, 2005

One More Day!

We are supposed to close escrow tomorrow if everything goes smoothly! We did our final walk through last night and met the family we're buying the house from for the first time. They are really nice people. The kids know our kids from school and the mom is good friends with Andy's teacher, small world. I have to share something about this family that made me smile. My father-in-law drove by one day after we had signed papers and had been in escrow for a while and saw the husband outside on a ladder painting the trim. We realized when we did our walk through that they had given the whole outside of the house a fresh coat of paint. They said the old owners did it for them and it made them so happy, so they did it for us. Isn't that sweet! It's nice to know there are still people out there that think of others. Makes me sad we won't have time to do the same for our old house...

Wednesday, June 15, 2005

Pictures, Pictures, Pictures...

Hi guys! I finally got the film in my camera developed and I had pictures from Christmas! Guess I haven't picked up my camera in a while. Well, since I needed the practice anyway, I posted quite a few here. Hope you enjoy them as much as I did...

Smokey (Our 5th Child!) Posted by Hello

Christmas Goofballs! Posted by Hello

Opening gifts (finally! after posing for a hundred pictures!) with Grandma Peggy watching in the background. Posted by Hello

Christmas with friends: Wes, Jackie, Vickey, Ryan, Kayla & Mike.  Posted by Hello

More Pictures

Here's one more from the fishing derby a couple weeks ago...

Fishing Derby 2005 Posted by Hello

BBQ With Friends

Here are some pictures of our weekend. We spent some time at the parks with our friends Vickey, Patrick & his kids, Elias (4) and Andrew (18 Months). They had a blast. The playground even had a water feature. They were soaked! You may recognize Vickey from our wedding pictures. She was my maid of honor. Great girl. We've known each other for...hmmm...about twelve years. Where does the time go!! Anyway, after that long we really know each other. It's nice to have a friend who I can completely relax around and be myself 100%. And someone who I can always depend on and always trust! Love you Vickey!

Wes swinging Posted by Hello