Uncle Jordan

Uncle Jordan only has two short weeks before leaves on his mission to Arcadia CA. we are so excited for him, but we are also a little sad. It has been fun having him in Pocatello going to school. We have gotten to see him a little more because of that. He and Austin go to play on a city basketball team together (with the other brothers) and had a lot of fun doing that. We enjoyed all our game nights, dinners together, and all our dunk contests in our backyard. We are going to miss him.

Shed Hunting

Austin and his brother Gifford love to go shed hunting, and go out every chance they get. This is the latest finds from their shed hunting excursion. I think they did pretty good. Gifford was pretty excited about the moose shed he found (in the back by his knee). I think they came home with 23, but I could be wrong.

Easter

Sorry these pictures are terrible, but I wanted to show that we had a fun Easter. The girls both got pink baseball gloves. Dad was a little ticked at the Easter Bunny for picking pink. Dang that Easter Bunny, she should know better! The girls love them, they hardly ever put them down. so Mom says, "Good Job Easter Bunny!"

A Day at the Park

Austin had a rotation in St. Anthony and the kids and I went with him for a couple of days. We got to stay with my sister in Rexburg, visit with my brother and his cute family, play at lots of parks and eat lunch with Dad (never happens), go to the temple, and just enjoy time together (rarely happens). It was a fun couple of days, and beautiful ones too.

These are some pictures of the girls playing at the park. Tori loves that she can cross the money bars and Kennedy loves to try everything that Tori does.

Bath Time

This is one of the kids favorite times of the day. They love bath time. The girls were starting to argue and fight a lot in the tub, and I was just about to make Tori take showers and Kennedy takes baths individually, and then I threw Layton into the mix and they all love it. Layton loves to splash up a storm, and the girls just burst into laughter every time he does it, then he does it again because they laughed, then they laugh, over and over again. Bath time is pleasant again! Hallelujah!

My baby is nine months!!

Well, my little baby is nine months, actually a little more now because I am so slow posting! I just can't believe how time flies!
Layton is the happiest little guy. We have only had a couple of time when he has gotten a bit cranky, and both times were because he was teething.
Layton had his 9 month appointment a week and a half ago, and during the appointment we found out that his head is still huge! (95%) and he is still a giant length wise (above 97%) and he dropped drastically on the weight end, from 50% to 10%!!! My poor skinny, tall, big headed boy!
A friend of mine calls him a "grapefuit on a stick." That just about fits him.

Nine fun things about LAYTON:

9. Layton loves to eat!
8. Big beautiful BLUE eyes.
7. Quick to smile.
6. scoots across a room in no time flat!
5. loves power cords! Oh wait, that is not a good thing!
4. Good sleeper.
3. Loves his sisters to death, even when they smother him with loves.
2. His face lights up when his dad walks into the room.
1.Happy, Happy little boy!

WE LOVE OUR LITTLE LAYTON!

Very, very, very, very, very EXCITING NEWS!!!

WE SOLD OUR HOUSE IN OHIO!!!!!!!

This is honestly the most exciting news that I could possibly tell you right now. Our house has been on the market for almost exactly one year, one very long, long year! But this has been a year of many blessings. Our Heavenly Father has blessed us more than we deserve I think, but we are ever so grateful. I know that we were able to make it month to month paying both mortages and all the rest of life because we payed our tithing and did what the Lord asked us to do. We are just so grateful that it has SOLD!!!

Austin got to spend some of his vacation this March going Steelhead fishing in Northern Idaho. He went with his Dad, Uncle Jerry Doug Manning, and a few other friends from home.
They all had a great time. The weather cooperated with them for the most part and they were able to catch some nice fish. This is Austin' Dad with the great big net. He spent a lot of time teaching them all some new things he had learned. I think that he really enjoys that part of fishing. The next picture is Doug with one of his catches.

Austin caught this beauty and the next accross the river from everyone else. It actually terrifies me that he crosses the river when he is fishing, but he always does it anyway because "fishing is always better over there" What do I know?

He caught some really nice fish and enjoyed some "guy time."

General Conference part two...

These were some of the wildlife that we saw on our drive. There were a bunch of does and two bucks. Kinda cool.

I just thought this was a cool picture.

General Conference

Growning up Austin's family would always take a little road trip to the City of Rocks and listen to conference as they were driving. Then in between seesions they would have a picnic of Fried Chicken and climb all over the rocks. They have some great family pictures taken doing just that. Since we now live in the land that we can watch conference on our own T.V. or listen to it on the radio, we decided to take a drive and keep up the tradition.
Austin's brother Gifford and his family also came along. We went all over the mountains, I can't remember where, but if you ask Austin he can
give you every detail of the trip, I guarantee it!
Anyway, we drove around south of Pokey and looked for wildlife and just enjoyed the beauty of the day, because it was a beautiful one! In between sessions we took a little break and had a picnic. Austin took the girls on a little hike then went down to the water and played fetch with Howie.
When it was time to listen again we piled in the truck and started off again.
We drove on roads that had not been driven on since the fall, hence the digging out the snow on the road so we could pass. Good job boys!
After conference was over for the day we all went on a hike. It was a nice hike and the kids really enjoyed being outdoors.
I enjoyed this little family tradition, as did the girls.

Just before our hike I found a great little spot for some pictures, and my girls are always very willing to be photographed, wish their Dad would try to be more like them .

Meaning behind my name

Thanks to my friend Kristi I came across this fun website that tells a little about you from just your name. Kinda fun. It is not totally perfect, but I think that most of it fits me. Any way...

You are wild, crazy, and a huge rebel. You're always up to something.You have a ton of energy, and most people can't handle you. You're very intense.You definitely are a handful, and you're likely to get in trouble. But your kind of trouble is a lot of fun.

You are usually the best at everything ... you strive for perfection. You are confident, authoritative, and aggressive. You have the classic "Type A" personality.

You are very open. You communicate well, and you connect with other people easily.You are a naturally creative person. Ideas just flow from your mind.A true chameleon, you are many things at different points in your life. You are very adaptable.

You are truly an original person. You have amazing ideas, and the power to carry them out.Success comes rather easily for you... especially in business and academia.Some people find you to be selfish and a bit overbearing. You're a strong person.

You are friendly, charming, and warm. You get along with almost everyone.You work hard not to rock the boat. Your easy going attitude brings people together.At times, you can be a little flaky and irresponsible. But for the important things, you pull it together.

You are relaxed, chill, and very likely to go with the flow.You are light hearted and accepting. You don't get worked up easily.Well adjusted and incredibly happy, many people wonder what your secret to life is.

Check out this fun site and see what is behind your name!
www.blogthings.com/whatsyournameshiddenmeaningquiz

Craft Fair

My sister, Michelle, and I just got done doing our first craft fair. It went okay, not as great as we would have hoped (we had REALLY high hopes), but it still was fine. I thought that our booth turned out really nice. Thanks goes out to Jessi for helping me set up and her husband Zach for watching my kids. And Mari for the use of her screen, it added that finishing touch!
I guess that we did not get too burned out with the whole things because we are planning for the next one. We are already replinishing our inventory.

March 20th turned out to be a gorgeous day for a wedding. Stafford and Gina were married in the Twin Falls, ID temple for time and all Eternity. The ceremony was wonderful. And it was fun to see cousins and family that we hadn't seen in while.

These four cute kids are Addison, Hailey, Tori and Kennedy. They had a ball together for the first time in months. They made good time of all the "free time" they had. They climbed this wall multiple times and walked back and forth and back and forth. They all LOVED their "wedding princesses dresses"
As I walked around doing the picture thing, Austin and Layton had some great Father-Son time. And poor little Layton ended the day with his first sun burn!! Who would have thought he would burn in March! Obviously not his mother.

Kennedy vs. Layton

We came across this photo the other day, actually Austin carries it around in his white coat pocket, how cute huh? Anyway, I could not believe my eyes. Layton looks so much like Kennedy at that same age. A couple of months ago we did another comparison and it was the same, so I don't know why it shocked me so much.

I don't know that the picture I put on of Layton proves my point too much, but when you see him in real life, you can't deny it!

And then there is Tori, she hasn't changed a bit! :)

Jordan's Mission call

My Brother-in-law recieved his mission call today. He, all the brothers, his Dad and Uncle all came over to our house for the opening of the call. It was so fun and exciting. He was called to the Arcadia, CA Spanish speaking mission. The really, really cool thing is that he was called to the very same place his brother Giff served in. Giff was just English speaking. It was such a fun and exciting night. We had pizza and then sat around and talked about his mission. Austin and Stafford and their Dad shared advice and stories. It was a great evening.

Cuties!!

We decided to do a little photo shoot a couple of days ago. I made the kids wear the hats that I made them. The girls had a grand time holding Layton. He just didn't want to cooperate too much. I thought the pictures turned out pretty cute, although, it did take a few shots just to get a couple good ones. (Layton LOVES to move)

Residency Ski Day

The Residency has an anual ski day every year, and though we did not ski yesterday we went up anyway.

The kids had a blast with all he other kids, throwing snowballs and sledding.

There were a few Skiers, a few sledders, and a few who just came up for the lunch. And heck, when you get a full day off for just showing up to the lunch, I would show up too!!

This was Layton on January 26th. It was his 6 month birthday, so we celebrated with a little rice cereal. I don't think that he really appreciated that. His face told me that it was not his favorite way to eat. But now, only a week later. . . he love his rice cereal!!

Today we even tried oatmeal. Got about the same result as the rice the first time.

OHIO!!!

I had the GREAT opportunity to go to OHIO last week. Our house is not selling, and we have been beyond stressed and worried about it, so my mother-in-law suggested I go out there and see how things are. So I went out and had to clean, clean, clean, and clean. I did not realize how dirty our house was. (I would have never left it that way! Oh well, I guess that is what comes with renters!) I am so glad that I got to go out. My good friend Annie picked Layton and I up and let me stay with her and her family (and use her car constantly). It was so fun to see her again, and see how much her little family has changed.
Julie was also a doll and helped me clean. I never would have gotten it done without her. Although I went out there to work I did get to have a little fun. Annie got some girlfriends together and we went to dinner then to the Men's church ball game.
All in all it was a good trip. I wish that I could have just been out there for fun, so that I could see more people and do more things, but at least I had an excuse to get out there!

DECEMBER 2008 . . . PART II . . . CHRISTMAS

We started a new tradtition this year. (Well, I hope it becomes a tradition). On Christmas Eve we decorated this wonderful GINGERBREAD house. Isn't is great!
The girls had a blast. Austin found some fun songs on Youtube that we listened and danced to while we were decorating.


The girls were very proud of the house.

I was not very excited about this. I walked into Layton's room to check on him before I went to bed and found him rolled over. Now he almost automatically rolls to his stomach when I put him in bed. Even during the night when I roll him back over. I guess that he is a stomach sleeper.

It scares me.

This was Christmas day. We got another huge snow/wind storm Christmas Eve night. It snowed and drifted, and so they had to close all the Interstates and Highways. We were planning to go to my parents on Christmas day, but had to postpone a little because of the snow. It actually turned out to be such a wonderful day. No one could go ANYWHERE and so we stayed at home and played games, Austin built a snow tunnel house with the girls, and we watched a little football.

When the roads did open we started on our way, and then wished that we hadn't. The roads were still awful. We saw many people slide off and had to stop and call 911 three times.
We drove 35 almost the whole way home and even that was probably too fast. It took us two and a half hours to drive 60 miles. But then when we did get to Rupert, we had a wonderful weekend. We were the only kids home on both sides of the family and so we got lots of time with our parents. It really was a wonderful Christmas.

I accidently deleted the picture of Austin's parents house after that storm, I will try to add it again. But the snow drifts were about 3 feet. . . in his parents yard!! One of the cars got completely covered in the snow.

It was pretty fun.