A couple weeks ago, we had a small snow storm. We were inside decorating halloween cookies when it started looking like a blizzard outside. Sydnie lost interest in the cookies and went outside to catch some snow. It's still in our fridge - I should probably get rid of it now.




Then she decided to go sledding. Since we do not have a real sled, she tried our garbage can lid...

When that didn't work, she tried just sledding without anything - right on her stomache. As you can see, there wasn't that much snow so it didn't work very well. She had fun and that's all that matters.
Then she picked the last of our carrots - we are slowly getting better at our container gardening. Hopefully next year we'll have an extraordinary one!

Here are some quick pictures we took at our 3rd grade 'photo shoot'. I kind of think the pictures they take at school are a little boring, so I always like to take my own. Plus, we have so much fun looking for the perfect spot and the perfect pose. I hope you enjoy these. I will get more pics and wordage up later. We are both alive and well plus we finally have internet at home so I'm hoping to update at least once a week now.

Now for the Birthday Bash! Sydnie had wanted a magician for her 8th birthday party for 3 years now, so I knew I had to get one. Since a professional was sooooo much money, we hired The Great Kassiopia (Sydnie's cousin). She did an awesome job!


We played pin the wand on the magician...


Took turns batting a 'Magic 8 Ball' Pinata...


Opened presents...



And ate these wonderful rabbit coming out of a hat cupcakes. Yummy!

Then-Grandpa surprised us all with balloon animals! Whew, what a day!

Okay, we'll start at the beginning. First, Sydnie chose to be baptized into the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-Day Saints as was able to do so right on her birthday. Her Grandpa was able to baptize her. We had lots of family and close friends there to support her on this special day! Sydnie sang a song all by herself - what a sweet little grown-up she is!

Grandpa & Sydnie - Mom & Sydnie - Sydnie blowing candles out on her cake while talking to her Dad (what a great multi-tasker). Aunt Buffy made cute little people out of suckers and foam to represent the great day.

Once again, I am behind. It will sure be easier to stay up to date when I have internet at home. Anyway, last month was so crazy with baptism, birthdays, and halloween, but I finally have pictures to share with everyone. I hope you enjoy them! Before I get to October though, I have to share these cute ones from Hogle Zoo. We went with our good friends and neighbors and had a blast!
Wow! Real water comes out it's nose!
This does not smell very good. Can I take my nose out yet?
Oh, what a nice pose!
Hmmmm....almost there, eh?

Our annual Salt Lake trip started out at the Dinosaur Park in Ogden. The kids had fun, but when we went to the gift shop, the kids found a bean bag and got comfy and watched ..........Jurassic Park! Next stop -


Cherry Hill! We camped at Cherry Hill for 2 nights and had a blast! I will add swimming pictures later - they are still on my waterproof camera. We played in Hamster's Haven, Sydnie finally learned to ride her bike with no training wheels, and we played miniature golf. I tried helping Sydnie with her bike, but I must have been a little annoying because she said to me, "Mom, I don't really want your help anymore, I can just do it myself". And she did it!

I could just see Sydnie's Dad cringing at the way she held her golf club, but I thought it would give them something to work on together.

Well, I'm behind again, so her are a few of our summer highlights. We actually had a fun summer. Sydnie tried softball and learned good form. She did pretty good for never having touched a baseball bat before.


For the 4th of July we went to a parade in Lewiston, then had lunch at Big J's where the kids got these awesome hats. Oh, also Aunt Buffy decorated their faces for the big day. That night we got together for fireworks in Grandma's street. Sydnie and TJ liked taking turns dancing in front of the strobe lights.


This was a fun day at the park with Sydnie's cousins Gavin & Rian. We played in the water and tried to climb a big tree. Sydnie made me laugh because she just kept going around and around the tree to find a good place to start climbing.

This was just a random shopping cart at the park, so we just had to snatch a picture. Well, I will add some more 'highlights' later.

It was our annual trip to Malad for Memorial Day - the kids were great helpers in cleaning off the graves. They even got a little carried away and cleaned off several others we were not even related to! Then they had a sword fight on the purple dinosaur.

Here's a picture of Grandma D with her grandkids that came with us. Then here's silly Sydnie - just showing off her hat she got from her Dad

Sydnie did so great playing soccer this year! She moved so fast I was never able to get a good picture of her playing, so I made her stand still for a minute so I could get one of her after a game. She did not get her coordination from me! We'll be trying softball this year as well. I'll put pictures up after her first game.

By day she's a sweet, perfect little angel; but by night, she's a wicked witch casting spells and laughing over her evil triumphs. Sydnie was able to participate in our city's version of Hansel & Gretel. She was fantastic! As soon as I have video, I will put it up so you can enjoy her evil laugh!

It's our annual Easter Egg Hunt! Sydnie ran so fast, I had to force her to stop a minute so I could snatch a picture. This is the first time in a long time we didn't have to were coats and drink hot chocolate after. It was a beautiful day!


Yippee! It's a bubble maker and a ring in one!


The kids found an old huge black tube and took turns rolling each other in it. They had a blast!