Ketchup, um, I mean Catch up

I'm sure you are all (all three of you that read this blog) dying to know how my birthday was, huh? It was so super exciting I could hardly wait to talk about it. Um, not really.  No matter how hard I try I just can't get that excited about my birthday anymore.  I wish I could bring back the excitement somehow, but I'm not sure how.  Anyway, it consisted of a yummy lunch, shopping (always my fave activity), and...that's about it.  At least Josh was home for most of it-that never happens.  So did I get my new camera that I blatantly hinted for?

No.

It's okay though.  I want a really nice one that costs a lot of money.  Money that just isn't in our budget right now.  I did end up getting a new camcorder. :)  Our old one was getting really old and we needed to update from the mini-dv cassettes.  I spent almost $200.00 at Christmas getting them all transfered to DVD.  I decided then we needed to upgrade so I could just upload onto the computer to make my own DVDs. So it's all good.

Someday I'll get my camera!

Logan had his birthday the day after mine.  It wasn't a "friend party" year for him so it was pretty low key.  We went to Idle Isle with the Grandparents for dinner-and I forgot my camera! So no pictures. Sorry.  He got Legos, a cool kite, an r/c car, money and an mp3 player.  This is his birthday cake (thank you Pepperidge Farms) that he finally got on Sunday.  I feel bad because by the time his birthday gets here I pretty much lose all enthusiasm for birthdays and he gets the short end of the stick.  Three birthdays in two weeks is a lot!

We did get one more night of skiing in for the season.  My niece Tiffany was in town from Canada and wanted to go skiing while she was here.  We headed up to Wolf Mountain again and we all had tons of fun!

Our friends, Wendy and Chelsea Rose (with Ally in the middle) came along with us. However, we did get separated from them and spent half the night looking for each other!

Dinner break!

It was a great night for skiing There was hardly anyone at the resort and it was warm and beautiful. I think I might like this skiing thing after all!

Guess What Tomorrow Is?

Best. Holiday. Ever.

Random Happenings

We've had a busy month so far.  We had to head back from the cabin on Saturday afternoon because Ally and Logan volunteered to sing solos in Sacrament Meeting on Sunday.  That's right, my Ally and Logan.  I don't know if I was more shocked or proud.  They did so good!!  It was their favorite song "Gethsemane".  If it had been a different song, they probably wouldn't have volunteered.  I'm glad they did-it was a Proud Mommy Moment for me. (click here to hear the song)

I just love this picture of Holden.  Vampire teeth and all.

This happened on our last trip home from the cabin.  I forgot to post it earlier.  We turned 100,000 miles on our van (I didn't catch it for a picture until 100,001)!  It's fun to know we've put all those miles on it ourselves. We thought about getting a new vehicle, but we've never had any problems with it and it's a Honda.  We just did our recommended maintenance (that bill was scary) and they said we should be good for another 100,000 miles.

Sorry this is blurry (boy I sure could use a new camera), but it was too funny not to post. We had a family birthday party for us March birthday people on Sunday and this happened during it.  Can you tell what Logan and Jensen got?

Our ward had a lip sync last night.  Ally, Logan and Josh were all in it.  Yes, I just said Josh-crazy!

This is Ally and her "Beehive Training Center" friends lip syncing to "Kung Fu Fighting".

I was a little nervous to watch Josh and his Teachers.  He said they were doing "You Raise Me Up" by Josh Groban and I couldn't imaging what they would be doing, but it was pretty darn funny!  Good job, hon! I was so entranced I didn't even think about taking pictures.

This was my Cub Scouts lip sync, "Squirrels".  It was too funny.  Logan is driving the Tramcor Truck that ran over the squirrels.  They even walked away with Fourth Place!

Weekend at the Cabin

We were able to invite our friends, The Robbs, up to the cabin for the night last weekend.  There was still tons of snow and the kids had a blast playing in it.

This is Jensen in one of the snow caves left by Josh's Scouts when they came for their overnighter a couple weeks ago.  Can you believe they slept in snow caves?  Josh says he could survive a few days stranded in the mountains in the winter.  I think I would last a couple hours. Brrrr.

Ally and Sarah on the four wheeler.  They had fun taking turns driving.  They would drive the other kids back to the top of the hill after they went down on the sleds.

Molly and Logan got some good use out of their BB guns.

It's hard to tell in this picture, but Holden is grinning like crazy.  The road on the loop was pure ice.  We put him in the little red sled, pushed and he would slide forever.  If he tipped over or hit a snowbank he would say "Whoa" and get back in for more.  It was fun to watch!

We couldn't have asked for a more beautiful day to play in the snow!

Jensen's Friend Party

Because I am a glutton for punishment, I let the kids have a "friend party" on their even birthdays, starting in kindergarten.  Jensen got to have his first one and decided to take his friends bowling.  I have decided that I do not like to host the parties at my house-at all.  I encourage my kids to choose some place away from home where all I have to do is show up.  That's my way to party!

This is Jensen's bowling pin.  All his guests got to sign it so he could remember who was at his party.  I think this is what he was most excited about!

It was a little chaotic when we first arrived.  Getting everyone shoes, balls, names entered in the computer, etc.  Then everyone just started throwing balls wherever and whenever they pleased!  I had one of those moments where I seriously questioned my sanity and wanted to run and hide.  (I was by myself by the way-Josh had to go buy extra cupcakes because Bubby threw half of them on the floor before we left)

I finally had to use my "Mommy voice" and tell everyone to please sit so I could explain the rules.  Once I got everyone settled down (including me), things went smoothly and it was hilarious to watch them bowl.  Kids are funny!

They also got to play a round of miniature golf.  Holden loved it!  He knew exactly what to do and he was pretty funny to watch.

The party guests:  Liberty, Kenyan, Shawn, Logan (back of his head), Joey, Colin, Jensen, Holden's arm and Ally.

They each got a scoop of ice cream and a cupcake.  By the time the party was over, they were all happy and full of sugar.  Then I just dropped them off at their houses on the way home.

Later that night Jensen finally got his actual birthday cake.  He asked Grandma June to make him a coconut cake.  It's a yellow cake with pinauche (I have no idea how to spell that) frosting topped with coconut.  It's what my dad always has for his birthday and Jensen really wanted one for his birthday, too.  It was a very busy couple of days, but we love our Jensen and were glad to celebrate having him in our lives.

Jensen's Sixth Birthday!!

Jensen turned six on March 4th.  The kids had the day off school so I decided to do something fun with them.  They got $25.00 gift certificates to Toad's for Christmas so that's where we went.  I did a quick search of Toad's website before we left and discovered that they give out $25.00 gift cards if it's your birthday.  That was awesome because I read the fine print on their certificates and discovered we could only use two at a time.

We started out with some mini-golf. It was BEAUTIFUL (sun was bright, birds were singing) outside!  It was awesome to get some fresh air.  It's been a long winter!  Can you tell Jensen was a little excited about his birthday?

It was nice to have them get along and play nicely together for a change.  We have been cooped up way too long.

Arcade fun.  They also enjoyed a game of laser tag.  It was Jensen's first time and he loved it!

The go-karts didn't open until four so we had an hour to kill.  The kids decided to play another round of mini-golf while they waited.  We stretched our game out a long time!  I think each one of the kids lost their balls in the water at least once.  Logan was our designated retriever.  I wasn't about to stick my hand in that nasty water! We made it until four, only to discover they weren't tall enough to drive the go-karts!! They were disappointed but had fun spending the rest of their money in the arcade.

We then met the grandparents at Pizza Plus for a birthday dinner.  This is Jensen's fancy birthday treat that Pizza Plus gave him.  He couldn't quite finish it so Josh and I HAD to finish it for him. What a shame, seeing as how it was YUMMY!

He got new cowboy boots from Mom and Dad, legos from G-ma and G-pa Naylor, church clothes and a game from G-ma and G-pa Braegger, legos from Logan and hotwheels from Ally.

He was definitely a happy Birthday Boy!

Wolf Mountain aka Skiing Part 3

Wolf Mountain has a Monday "Family Night" special.  Four people for $40.00.  We decided to take advantage of that and take everyone (minus Holden, plus Ally's friend Carolyn) up for a fun night.  And it was fun!  Yes, I just said "fun" in reference to skiing!  Weird!  It's still not my favorite thing to do, but I didn't fall down once so at least it wasn't painful and embarassing.

Logan was my ski buddy for the night.  Josh was helping Jensen and Ally and Carolyn were doing their own thing.  He kept making sure I was okay and having fun.  I guess he's seen me fall down too many times!

They have a "magic carpet" for the little ones.  It's a tiny slope with a conveyor belt to take them back up.  Jensen had mastered it by the time we left.

The snow bunnies!  They were a little bored of the "bunny hill", but just had fun being together. It was a great night of skiing!