Happy Birthday Tyson!!

Our little man turned 4 on the 24th (ya' I'm a little behind). I can't believe he is growing so fast. We took 4 of his closest friends to the open gym then to our house for lunch and brownies. They had a ton of fun and he was so excited!

The other night we were cutting the dog's hair so he was cutting his dog's also :) It was so funny, he kept saying ' you are being so good, thank you for holding still'. He has a big imagination lately.

A little update on the basement- the trim and doors are hung (!)

now we get to caulk and fill nail holes this week. It would really help if we could just all be healthy for a while. Poor Andrew has had everything possible these last couple weeeks...

We have so much to be greatful for. The kids are happy and well. Hallie & Janessa started a volleyball camp at the hight school on Tues. nights which they love and they still have gymnastics on Mondays. They are both doing really well in gym. Hallie is doing front & back walkovers and Ness can go back into a bridge by herself now. We went to a competition a few weeks ago and Hallie thinks it's somthing she might want to do next year. We'll see. Baby brother is doing well also. We have 10 weeks left (probably less) with a lot to get done! I just pray we can get this house organized before he comes :) We are getting really excited but still don't know what we'll call him....?

Janessa's Turns 7!

I really can't believe my baby girl is 7. I can perfectly remember her as a baby. She had a fun birthday weekend this year. Grandma & Grandpa Hufford came from Boise and she had a 'shopping/pj/breakfast' party with her friends Sat. morning. Hallie & Janessa planned the whole thing. The kids got to decorate little purses and we found pink money they got to go shopping with. We invited some of Hallie's friends to come help run the stores and they got to buy things for their purses, and their was even a bank where they could get more money. It was a lot of fun. Ness has so many great little friends. Sun. night we had her & Tyson's party with my family. (Ty's b-day is tomorrow). They got a basketball hoop which we are all excited to use this summer :) Other than this weekend, we are still spending every minute downstairs.... but it is progressing well. All the shelves are built and the final texturing will be done tomorrow! The trim is being delivered Friday morning, then we're (actually Andrew's) on to the next phase.I'm stressing a little (OK, alot) about the girl's new bedrooms. I've waited so long for this, I just want them to be perfect. This is the bedding for Nessa's room and for Hallie....well I've bought and returned 3 sets and still haven't found the perfect one. Even Nessa's is killin' me 'cause I can't decide which color to use for the walls...

I know I'm ridiculous, Andrew reminds me all the time. Who cares what their rooms look like, right? I do, too much obviously... :) Help!!

January events...

This tape & texturing is kicking poor Andrew's behind. He has spent every free minute downstairs these last few weeks. It's going really well, but I think it's been a bigger project that he expected. The bathroom and storage rooms are done, he's about half way with Hallie's room, then just Janessa's is left! I'm so greatful for his hard work :)

Janessa and Tyson were making fun of me the other day with balloons.... thanks guys. They really know how to make you feel good! JK, it was pretty funny :)Hallie's been a great sport playing with Tyson outside. He wouldn't get in at first so she threw him in the sled and took off and after that he wouldn't get out! He loves his sisters, they are so good to him :)Also, I have a new favorite blog I wanted to share. Normally I'm not super good at keeping up on blogs, but this one I seriously want to check everyday because they have the cutest ideas! My friend Hanna and her sisters make/refurbish things (usually they got from the DI) and it's just amazing to me what they come up with! Their link is http://www.gorgfabgoodies.blogspot.com/ or the link on my side bar is "These Mama's Make $en$e". Check it out, I promise you'll be addicted too :)

Christmas & Baby Boy!!

Our family had a wonderful holiday season. We were here for Christmas, then in Boise for New Years. Here's the kids first thing Christmas morning waiting to get started. They earned their own money this year to buy gifts for each other. I was hoping to get them more in the spirit of giving rather than receiving and it went pretty well. I really slacked on picture taking this year. Hallie & Janessa got digital cameras and Tyson got monster trucks from Santa. They were also very spoiled from grandparents, aunts & uncles, and had a great day.

Here's the 5 girls at grandma & grandpa's. They love having 2 new cousins to play with.

Hal & Ness got a Hannah Montana sing along DVD from Doug & Marcie and they loved it but wouldn't put on the wig or microphone... but Andrew would! Ha ha, I really had to sneak this picture but it was so worth it! He better not delete it...

Hallie's list for Christmas this year was- laptop, ipod, cell phone, and digital camera. What!?! -she's 9! Lucky for us our friends had an old laptop they gave us for her. At first we couldn't do a thing with it, but we took it to Boise and Andrew's dad worked on it the whole time. She now has games, something like Word, she can put her pictures on that she takes with her camera, and Andrew fixed it so it now gets internet! Bonus!! She couldn't be happier. My parents gave the girls touch screen MP3 players so a cell phone is the only thing she didn't get and that's not happening for a long while :) She's just getting so mature and there's nothing I can do about it...

And last on the 30th we got to meet our big, active, baby BOY! He did not stop moving the entire time. We could see him waving and talking, so cute! He measured 4 days over and everything looked good. The girl's really wanted a sister but they're excited now. It was so funny the other day I was holding Ty up to the kitchen sink washing his hands and he kept saying 'you're hurting my baby'. So we had to have a little talk about the baby only being in my tummy, not in his :) He wasn't excited about the whole idea at first, but now he keeps showing me things he's going to share with his 'brudder'.

We also just fininshed sheetrocking the basement! I can not wait, it will be so nice to have more room. Hallie & Janessa are really excited about having their own rooms. Andrew has vacation this week and is taping & texturing the storage rooms, closets, and bathroom. Then we'll see after that if he's up to doing the bedrooms and family room :) It'll still be a while but it's fun to watch the progress.

Dec. so far...

Here's a quick update on our family this month:

Andrew finally got a new car. The poor guy's been driving old cars his entire life. That just goes to show how unselfish he is. I pratically had to beg him to get it, and he still drives the 'ol GTI to Rexburg every day because he wants to keep the miles low on this car :) But he really likes it and we usually drive it on weekends. We cut Hallie bangs a couple weeks ago. She is just our little teenager and she wanted them like the older girls in our ward.. I do think they're cute also :)

Janessa has become an awesome reader this school year and even better she LOVES it! Tyson loves it too, I catch them curled up together quite often.

The kids have really enjoyed these last few weeks of snow. The first day they put on their snowpants they were running and sliding all over the house.

We are pretty much ready for Christmas, just a few things left to do! I love the Christmas season but wish it didn't go by so fast! I am excited for the 30th though, we have our ultrasound that day and I can't wait to find out!! I hope everyone has a wonderful Christmas and enjoys their time with family and friends :)

Steven's HOME!!

My baby brother got home from his mission last Wed. He served in Manaus, Brazil and did an amazing job. It has been so fun having him here. We got to listen to him speak in church yesterday, and Saturday we went to Big Jud's and Green Canyon (the 2 things he missed the most!). He's going to BYUI in Jan. and just got a job being a runner for the Christmas season for UPS. Everything is going well for him and it'll be fun to see where life takes him now :)

Here's a few pictures from the airport- waiting.....These next 2 of my parents are so funny. This was as he was coming down the stairs. We could see him through the glass :)

Yeah!! He made it! I LOVE this picture. It still brings tears to my eyes.

Isn't he handsom? Whoever he marries is one lucky girl! We're so glad he's home :)

Happy Halloween

Another fun Halloween has come and gone. It was so nice to have it on a Sat. this year! My wonderful brother came and handed out our candy again so we could go trick-or-treating as a family. We had SO much fun and it was a perfect warm, calm night. After a million suggestions from everyone we know, Hallie finally decided to be a Chinese princess, Janessa was a black cat, and Tyson a UPS man again.

We carved pumpkins Fri. night which is always fun. Poor Andrew always ends up scraping them all out himself but Hal & Ness drew their own designs and Ty loved his car on fire!!

Here's all the cousins meeting at grandma & grandpa's to trick-or-treat.

Sat. was also Janessa' first basketball game. Her friend's mom was coaching a team this year so she wanted to try it. She really liked it and did a great job. She is taking it very seriously and practices her dribbling downstairs every day :)

Fun weekend!