Jacob's last Pinewood Derby! January 2015

 

Well, we've finally made it to the last Pinewood Derby.  I can't believe we won't have to build anymore cars.  Except, several people have brought up the fact that maybe we will have grandkids who need Todd's help, but if so, that's a while away.  So for now, we're saying we're done.  :)

 

The Woolleys (in our ward) have a son (Cameron) who can print out thin "paper sleeve" sticker sheets with most any picture on it.  He found a template on line for a Mincecraft pinewood derby car and printed some out for us.  Jacob was ecstatic!  And it turned out sooooo good.  Another plus?  No painting involved!!!  And that made Todd happy!

 

 

All the derby racers!

 



And here's a picture of all the cars...

 



 

Jacob didn't win any spectacular prize, or place first, second, or third, but you can see from the picture that it didn't matter.  Jacob had fun and so did we!

 

 

 

Jacob and his friend, Max Goff.

 



 

I can't remember what his award said....something random.  And everybody gets one of those, so no one walks away completely empty-handed.  But like I said before, it didn't matter.  Jacob loved his car!

 



And one last look for your viewing pleasure...

 



 

 Goodbye pinewood derbys!  It's been great while it lasted! (But I think I'm ready to be done.)

 

January Randomness 2015

When Todd's Mom passed away, a family in our ward (Dave and Pat Peterson) gave us two plants.  They were beautiful!  3 years have gone by and not only did we NOT kill those plants, they've actually grown into monstrous plants.  They literally were taking over our living room.  Drastic times called for drastic measures... :) 

 

Plant #1  See how wide it is!

 

Plant #2  Tall AND wide!

Well, we didn't want to throw them away, but we also couldn't keep them like this.  So Todd went online and researched how to cut back these types of plants.  We weren't sure they would survive, but we at least had to try!  

 

I only have one picture of the "middle" of the actual cutting process.  I don't know why I didn't take more.  A little annoying!

 



But seriously, look how much better they look!  This is plant #1.

 



(Ok, for some reason, I cannot get plant #2 to load.  Frustrating!)  But here they are together in my living room now.  The #2 plant is on the left.  :)

 

Pretty awesome, eh?

 

Last month, Brandon got asked to Sweetheart's by a girl who goes to West Jordan High.  She rang the doorbell and left an iceberg shake along with a note that said something like, "I would just "shake" with delight if you went to Sweethearts with me."  Cute, huh?  (I didn't take a picture...don't know why.  Probably because Brandon ate it before I could!)  HA!

 

 

This is what Brandon did to answer her.  We filled up a jar of fishie crackers and in the middle was a note that said, "Of all the fishes in the sea, I'm really glad that you picked me."  And then he wrote, "YES."  Pretty clever....and inexpensive!  :)

 

 

And here are two cards that I made for a son of a family who lives in our ward (Alan Nygren) who just recently lost his wife to cancer.  It was so sad.  This first card was given to the Nygren family from all those in the ward who contributed money for a gift.

 

This card was given to Alan from our ward with all the names who contributed to his gift.  My heart goes out to Alan and his family.

 

New Years Eve 2014

Since most of us were sick on New Years Eve, we mostly just relaxed that night.

We did play a great game of Apples to Apples and we watched a movie as well.  (Brandon went to a friend's house, but he wasn't out late because he was still recovering from his sickness.)

I am really trying to get Dallin to let me take a picture of him....it's just not happening...

But Jacob was all for it, so I took a couple of pics with him.  :)

Kyle hardly ever lets me take a picture of him.  That little stinker!  And on this night, he wouldn't let me take any of his face.  And I tried several times...

This is as good as I could get of Dallin.  Funny kid!  See how much fun we were having?  HA!

Another attempt at Kyle...

Jacob is a good sport!  :)

Even Ziggy took a turn.

Kyle!  Look at me!  :)

And then at around 10 pm, we went upstairs and played darts in the living room.  We are total party animals!  No wonder people try to "keep up with the Joneses"  and never succeed!  HA!

Smile Dallin!  At least "pretend" like you're having fun!  :)

Jacob fell asleep at about 11:00.  Poor kid.  I tried to keep him up, but he was too tired.

Kyle didn't even stay up to play darts with us.  He went to bed at about 10 and since he hadn't let me take a picture of him all night, I waited until he fell asleep and then snuck into his room and took a picture!  HA!  (I win!)

Happy New Year!  :)

Merry Christmas 2014

Merry Christmas!  We decided to cook a turkey for Christmas Eve dinner so that we would have leftovers on Christmas day.  Because of course, I don't cook dinner on Christmas!  :)

Todd was in charge of the turkey and he did a great job!  (Thanks honey!)

I set up the table in Christmas decor and we had my parents and Gina over for dinner.

I don't know why I didn't take any pictures while we were eating, but I didn't...oops.

Here are a couple of pictures before the kids got into their stockings on Christmas morning...yep, Santa came!

We have always started Christmas at 7 am.  Even the teenagers have gotten up.  I have wondered how long that will continue....I'll be sad when the kids want to sleep in on Christmas morning.  So far they still want to start bright and early.  And I'm so grateful for that.  I think it keeps the "excitement" of Christmas morning alive!

  

Even Ziggy got a couple of toys!  (The toys don't last long, of course.  He always finds the squeaker and rips it out first thing).

Then we took turns opening presents....one at a time.  This year we spent about 45 minutes together.  It was awesome.  I've noticed as the kids have gotten older, they are a lot more willing to wait their turn.  :)

Jacob's first present was a Minecraft lego toy.  He was pretty excited about that.

And Dallin got his long-awaited Ocarina.   By the end of the day, he could already play several songs on it.  That kid is pretty amazing!

  Brandon got a whole pack of Old Spice deoderant (his favorite) and Kyle got a Minecraft torch (but that picture didn't turn out)...  :(

Jacob got a Ninjago lego set, a really cool hoodie, a Minecraft shirt, and a model car.

 

Kyle got a couple sets of books (Minecraft and Heroes of Olympus), a Minecraft shirt, a leather crafting pouch, and Brain Storms (a game).  He also got an ipad mini last month for his birthday, and that counted as part of his Christmas too.

(This picture of Kyle is of the gift from Jacob)...

Dallin got a laser grand piano puzzle (3D), a bunch of peanut butter balance bars, an electric razor, and a couple of piano books.

(And this is from Jacob too).  

Brandon got a flute a couple of months ago and that counted for part of his Christmas.  He also got a wallet, some Batman socks, a couple of shirts, and a new book. (And a Pokemon gift from Jacob).

Jacob was so excited about his new jacket!  He wanted the kind that zips all the way up over your head and you can still see...

And Jacob even got me and Todd a present.  Remember last year when I got "World's Greatest Mom" and Todd got a little table-top garbage can.  HA!  Well, this year, I got a blue gem and an elastic bracelet and Todd got a little trophie that says, "#1 Dad."  I guess we're even now...HA! 

And then we got the best Christmas present ever!  We got to talk to Elder Jones!

This year Todd went and got the projector from the church (in the stake offices) and hooked it up to his laptop and then projected Eric up onto the wall of our living room.  It was so awesome!  He was "big" and everyone could see him!

Doesn't he look so grown up?

We sent him a "Link" hat from The Legend of Zelda game and he loved that.  He put it on first thing...

Oh my word!  He is so cute!  We got to talk to him for 2 hours this year.  It was awesome!  He has a new mission president and he told the missionaries, "I don't want to give a rule that most missionaries will break."  So, there was no time limit!  Yippee!

It was an awesome Christmas!  We even got snow!  We hadn't had any snow until Christmas day.  That was pretty cool too!

It was a great Christmas and just like every other year, it was over way too quickly!  Merry Christmas everyone!