What in the World!

Mak's wig for her Halloween costume!Tim showing off burns on his thighs from his football pads:(

Twins Turn 5!

Last Thursday was Kelli and Katie's 5th Birthday! Time has gone by so fast. My babies are five and so grown up, in kindergarten and fairly independent! Here are some pictures from their past five birthdays. ( I am still trying to download some pictures of when the twins were born. Most of you have not seen those, so I will keep trying and get them posted ASAP!)This is the girl's first birthday. Poor Kelli, she was bald for so long. Luckily she had some more hair by her 2nd birthday!
This is Katie and Kelli turning 2! They changed a lot before they turned 3. More hair!

This is their 3rd Birthday. We celebrated at Chuck E Cheese!This is Katie and Kelli just last year, turning 4! They love to "strike a pose!"This was Kelli last Thursday. What a sweet heart. She is the social butterfly of the the two. She loves to read and make Mom happy. Her smile and innocent face are the best!
Katie is my teenager in a 5 year old body. She would rather hang out with the adults than play with kids. She is very smart and says the darnest things. She is the spice of the family!
This year for the twins' birthday, we celebrated by having a BBQ in the backyard with family and a few friends. It turned out to be just enough! Kelli and Katie got the right amount of presents, and all the food was delicious! Thank you to everyone who has helped out one way or another the past five years. I love my girls tremendously, but I would never wish twins on anyone, not even my enemies! I could not have made it this far without you all.

The "Great" One Turns 90!

Last Friday night we had a surprise birthday party for my grandmother, the kids' great grandmother. Her birthday is actually in November, so she wasn't expecting a party at all. My two cousins, Baci's other two grandkids, flew in from Austin, TX for the weekend to celebrate with us. By the way, Baci is polish for grandmother! She thought she was going out to dinner with my Mom, my aunt, and a family friend. When they made a stop at my house, and got Baci to go in the back yard, she got a shock! Take a look at her face. No idea at all!Awesome! We BBQ-ed in the backyard amid our garage construction. Steak, beans, jello salad, rolls, vegies - it was all so good. We moved inside for cake and ice-cream. Check out the great grandkids and some extras with the birthday girl!Great Baci got a few presents: a box of See's Candies and a 10" dutch oven full of coins. Baci collects coins, so she was in hog heaven when see saw all the coins. It was the perfect gift for someone turning 90!Sometime during the night, we managed to get a family photo! Take a look:)Back row: Buddah (family friend), Derek (grandson), Kim (granddaughter), me, Cory.
Middle row: Lynn (my Mom), Stella (Baci), Joanne (my aunt).
Front row: Makayla, Katie, Tim, Kelli.

Saturday, Tim had his third football game. They played their rival, Bingham, and beat them 27-6! It was a great game! The game was up in Oakley, which is east of Park City. So, after the game, we drove through Kamas into Heber City. We had dinner at Dairy Keen, which is very good if you are ever that way, then went home over Guardsman Pass through Big Cottonwood Canyon. The fall colors were gorgeous! Wow. I couldn't believe all the colors that were out already. A great way to end the day!

Utah Lake

Last Saturday, Tim played in his second football game. His team won 18-6. They are now 2-0! Tim, again, had a great defensive game. He really likes his position, and loves to hit, hard!
After the game, we went boating, probably the last time this year:( We have really enjoyed being able to go out as a family and spend time together! The "whole renting it out thing" worked out well, except when the days were hot and the boat was gone. Oh well, at least insurance and repairs were paid for! We went to Utah Lake in the middle of the day. It was beautiful! The water was so calm and warm. Cory should have wake boarded first because the wind picked up in the evening. The kids invited some friends to go along. Tim invited Luc. Mak invited Haylee. And the twins invited Sydnee. It worked out well because the friends are siblings. It was a great way to celebrate a vitory:)

9/11

This year, we took the kids to the Healing Field in Sandy. It was a "spur of the moment" thing, and kind of crazy at the time, but now that I look back on the evening, it was a good thing. The kids got to see just how many people died that day and and how many have died since that day defending all that we have here in the USA! This is a picture of the kids and Cory when we first arrived at the Healing Field. Notice Katie with her "hippie" headband. This was just the beginning of her being crazy for the night. She was out of control. Running through the flags and laughing as Tim tackled her while the rest of us caught up. She drove me insane.After, we got some ice-cream at Cold Stone. Oh, so good! But of course, someone wasn't happy with their order, or it was too cold outside, or someone needed a drink right now. By the time we got home, I was mentally exhausted and was so happy when all the kids finally went to bed. But like I said, the evening was a good thing! I love this picture of the kids walking through the flags. No, my kids don't walk holding hands all the time. I had a hard time getting this picture, then they were all off to drive me nuts. Good time I tell ya:)

"And The Walls Came Tumbling Down"

Behold, the latest on the garage addition!
The back wall of the "old" garage was torn down.
The rubble was cleaned out and the area prepped for cement.Cement was poured. It's so pretty!A new wall was added. This wall is 2 1/2 feet back from the old back wall. Electrical wires were also run to the various outlets and switches. Now I will have room to put the truck on the left and plenty of room on the right for the boat.This area will be Cory's shop ie "Bike Heaven." We are waiting for the windows to be put in, then the addition can be inspected. After that, dry wall, siding, and the rest of the shingles. It should be done before the first snow falls. But who knows, we do live in Utah:)

Kindergarten!

Yesterday, Kelli and Katie started Kindergarten! Cory and I ended up putting them in a private school because the public schools would not take them due to the Sept 1st cut-off date. We tried to get them into a couple of charter schools, but they were all full and the waiting lists were forever long. A couple of weeks ago, I stumbled upon a preschool that was offering a kindergarten class. The class had a couple of openings, so after touring the school and talking with the teacher, I signed the girls up. The best part is that next year, Kelli and Katie will be able to go to 1st grade at a public school:) To be honest, I was a little worried that I had made a wrong decision by putting them in school early. But after their tests last week and talking with family that are teachers, I felt much better with putting them in early. They go to school Mon. thru Fri. for about 3 1/2 hours in the afternoon. Are they not the cutest students you've seen?

Labor Day Weekend

This year, we decided to stay home for a couple of reasons. Tim had his first football game late Saturday afternoon and the boat was going to be rented all day Saturday so we couldn't leave to go camping and not be around when the boat came back. So. . . .

Actually, everything worked out great. Cory was able to get some things done in the basement for me. Two years ago, we finished the basement, almost. Cory installed some lights in the mechanical closet for me. Now I can see when I have to go in there. The only thing left to do is put closet doors up in Mak's room. I am in the process of painting them right now. Then the basement will finally be completed!

Tim had his first football game Saturday afternoon. The game was an hour late starting, so my Mom and I took the twins to get a hair cut. Katie was in desperate need of a trim. Kelli ended up getting a cute bob cut! They love going to "Cookie Cutters" and getting pampered! Tim had an awesome game. His team ended up winning 28-7. Tim is the center on offense and a line-backer on defense. He shined on defense. He was tackling like crazy, coming out of nowhere and taking people down! One of his hits I didn't get to see, but I heard it. After the noise, I looked up to see if anyone was hurt and I saw Tim getting up like it was no big deal. People were coming up to me and saying how awesome the hit was! Tim is a gamer! After the game, the six of us and my Mom went to Outback Steakhouse for dinner. Good food!

Monday morning, Cory went motorcycle riding with our neighbor, Ryan. I spent the morning getting ready for the afternoon. We ended up going boating with Ryan and his family at Rockport. It turned out to be a beautiful evening after a very windy afternoon. The water was rough, but the kids didn't seem to mind that when they went out in the tubes! Cory ended up wakeboarding in the evening was the wind finally went away. For the most part, we stayed on shore and let the kids play in the sand. Good time!