Swim Season Begins

It's that time of year at our house.  When the leaves change color and the weather gets cooler our family starts with swimming.  J was on the swimming team for four years before A started swimming for four years, then L started and N year later.  So we're on our 13th straight swim season year.  This year they are S E R I O U S about their swimming.  After the initial Parent meeting, that's the one where they tell you how hard they are going to work your children, how much sleep they are going to need, no more junk food, no more soda, and take vitamins, blah, blah, blah.  The boys asked gma to make her homemade wheat bread.  She obliged by making a double batch on Tuesday.  Today is Friday and we have one, count them: ONE, loaf left.  This is a picture of what I came home to after my workout this morning.

Please forgive L - he has never been a morning person, so 5:50 is the hardest part of the day for him.  Any way, look at that, five swimmers eating breakfast at my house before the morning workout.  All of these boys live fairly close, within two blocks.  The two on the left are brothers, JN and BN.  Next is BB and then my N and L.  They apparently have worked out a schedule amongst themselves to have breakfast at each other's homes on the days that the swim team parent's don't provide breakfast at the school.  This is the best group of boys EVER.  All Eagle Scouts.  They have worked so hard together and supported each other in scouting and biking and hiking and service projects and now swimming.  I can't wait for the swim meets to start.  I'll keep you posted.

What could these boys possibly be watching that has them so engrossed in the television?

Is it Myth Busters?  Psych?  NCIS?  Will It Blend?  1000 Uses for Colored Duct Tape?


Why, look at that...

It's Veggie Tales.

Christmas Day 2011

We had a lot of Hale Family over for dinner today. Great times, Great food.

Sure missed this guy...

Family Picture taken in January 2011 at the Brigham City Train Depot.

Photo taken by Annette Anderson.

This is my kids favorite climbing tree. It is in Grandma & Grandpa's front yard. It was a beautiful maple tree until it got a disease and started dying limb by limb.

Levi, Adam, Ben, Nathan and Kinsey - the last climb in the maple tree.

Grandma & Grandpa are getting their house ready to sale, so they can move with us into the new house we designed together. The tree had to go.

Levi decided he deserved a little rest.

After lots of hard work, cutting and digging and cutting and digging some more, only a little swearing, and alot more digging and cutting, using the truck and a chain, the stump finally came out.

Kinsey: Mom, I think I want to be a tomboy.

Me: Well, you can be anything you want to be.

Kinsey: Good. I'll be a tomboy today. (Runs upstairs, takes a shower, comes back downstairs wearing a pink skirt, pink shirt, pink sandles, and pink clips in her hair)

Me: I thought you were going to be a tomboy today...

Kinsey: I was, but I just like too many girly things.

I just love having a girly-girl.

Expressing Appreciation

So, last night I told my husband, "I don't think you appreciate me as much as you should." To which he responded, "You're right, I don't, but I do really appreciate you." To which I then had to respond, "Well, I don't express my appreciation for you, like I should either." And that was that. No tears, no silent treatment, no tantrums...I guess we have now officially been married a long time.