The Norseth Family

Christmas Eve 2011

2012-01-28T08:33:00.000-08:00

Living away from family at Christmas time can be hard, but this year we had the Gangwers here with us. We love having family live so close.
Will showing his true feelings.

Rownan, Henry, William, Bela, Decklin, Zyon, Freddy and P.J.

Little Mister Fred

Gotta love these smiles!

P.J. loves his baby brother!

P.J.'s 8th Birthday

2012-01-13T15:01:00.000-08:00

This year P.J. got a new set of golf clubs, he was super excited.

My big boy, he is starting to look so old.
Sitting with all his loot.

Opening his golf clubs, Will is almost as excited as P.J. is.

Since Freddy was born just a few days before P.J.'s birthday he didn't get a big party. He did however get to chose his cake, which was chocolate with peanut butter frosting, double layered.
Happy 8th Birthday Buddy!

Fredrick Augustus Norseth

2011-12-15T21:51:00.000-08:00

Weighing in at 4 lbs. 8 oz.
17 1/2 inches long
Cute as can be.

Not only is he a champ with eating but he loves to suck his thumb or two middle fingers.

Baby Freddy or Baby Gus, whichever one you would prefer was born at 8:58 on December 12th.

Everyone is healthy and doing great!

Big Brothers are so proud and love holding him.

William loves holding him too but for some reason we have no pics of that.

I do however have this picture, that if you ask me is just about the sweetest thing I have ever seen.

Compare the Dragons

2011-11-01T18:18:00.000-07:00

Again these got out of order, I really need to take time to figure out how to do it.

This first one is William- between 21/2 and 3 years old.

Henry- between 2 1/2 and 3 years old.

Henry

P.J.- almost 3
& Nana (don't worry Mom, I won't tell your age)

P.J.

William

This is Halloween!

2011-10-31T20:44:00.000-07:00

This year P.J. started out wanting to be a pterodactyl, so we looked, looked and looked some more for a costume with no luck. I picked up my bootstraps and told myself that I could make it, luckily before I started the process I showed P.J. a picture of what it would look like and he looked at it, looked at me, and said "that looks stupid."
He ended up changing his mind to a paleontologist, a much easier costume to come up with. He really rolled with it and played the part, as you can see in his cheesy pictures. (I did not pose him, it was all his idea.)

Little Dragon Will, in this picture he is saying his favorite phrase, "This is Halloween!"
Stay tuned for some comparison pictures, all three boys have been this same thing.

I swear I put these pictures in a certain order and then blogger messes them all up, so just pretend that all of them go in some sort of order.

Triceratops Henry showing off his horns.

What a cute little cheese ball, you never would have known that just moments before this picture was taken he was throwing a full blown fit. It started because he said he wanted to be a cowboy instead of a dinosaur ad ended with the tag needing to be cut out of his costume. You just never know what is going to trigger a tantrum.

This year was the year of the pumpkin. As you can see from the picture below we have quite a few, too say the least.

We got a lot of pumpkins when we went to the patch with Nana, then the 2 older boys each brought one home from the schools pumpkin patch. Then when we went to the schools festival we won two more in the pumpkin walk.
Can anyone say pumpkin pie?

We will end this post with Williams second favorite thing to say as of late
"CANDY!!!"

Happy Halloween!

Pumpking Patch

2011-10-15T21:21:00.000-07:00

Nana came to visit and we decided to try out this supposed awesome pumpkin festival in Half Moon Bay. After we were stuck in traffic, went to lunch at Popeye's (not recommended), and looking at all the people at the festival we decided the kids would have more if we just drove back up the street to a pumpkin patch with some bounce houses, a hay maze and some fabulous pumpkins.

P.J. decided he would push the wheel barrel, he thought he was real cool.

All the boys went on this SUPER SLIDE, not all of them liked it very much.
P.J. loved it and went on it about 5 times....

Henry was less than thrilled and refused to try it again. In fact in this picture he is telling Nana that he didn't like it and would not be going again. Although William doesn't look very happy in this picture he LOVED it. If he could he would have gone all day long.

All of these pumpkins were $5 or less, so we went a little crazy.

P.J. pointing at all of his picks.

Will in the bounce house.

Nana had to push the wheel barrel after we put the pumpkins in, the boys tried and tipped it over.

On our way out William found this little one and was so excited that I told him he could grab it. Just look at that face.

Waiting with Nana to buy the Pumpkins.

Henry on the hay maze, yes that's right, on the hay maze. He enjoyed jumping from one bale to the next.

Even though we didn't make it to the "real festival" everyone had a great time.

Swimming at the Gangwers

2011-10-15T21:12:00.000-07:00

Thanks to our good friends the Gangwer's moving close to us this summer, we were able to go swimming at their pool quite a bit. These kids loved the pool.

First Day of School

2011-10-15T21:02:00.000-07:00

Everyone was excited about the first day of school including Will. He had to get dressed with his new shoes on, hair done and a snack in his lunch box. Little did he know that he wasn't going to be able to stay. When he found out that he had to go home with me he was very upset. About 3 days after school started he decided that being home with Mom is pretty cool.

Henry going off to Kindergarten!

P.J. off to 2nd grade!!!

They are both loving school this year, good teachers, good friends, good fun.

Riding New Bikes

2011-10-15T20:55:00.000-07:00

P.J. got a new bike this summer, therefore Henry got P.J.'s old bike.
Henry was so excited to be on this big boy bike. He can now ride it without training wheels, he's getting too big.

Speaking of too big, P.J. loves his new 21 speed bike. He loves that he can change gears to go through grass, rocks or up hills. Isn't funny the things that Moms get sad over? My two big boys are getting too big.

2011-07-26T19:58:00.000-07:00

Those were the last pictures taken, I know a little ridiculous. I just keep forgetting my camera, I will try and do better.

Henry's Pre-School Graduation

2011-07-26T19:52:00.000-07:00

Walking with his class.

Henry with his teachers, Miss Jennifer and Miss Melody.

Will is so proud of his big brother.

Not too sure what he is doing there but it is so Henry.

Dinosaur Park

2011-07-26T19:40:00.000-07:00

This is what happens when you try to get in the stroller yourself.

Will was the bravest and the first of all the boys to stand under these massive teeth.

Henry and Tyler weren't far behind though.

Group shot in front of the stegosaurus.
Note Eva is holding her own stegosaurus in her hand, she had a different name for it though.

Eva, Sophi, and Will
What cute cousins.

I couldn't pass this photo opp up, i love their matching shirts.

These 2 had a blast on the swings.

Group shot that even Sophi decided to join,
P.J., Sophi, Henry, Tyler, Will and Eva

Zoo Time

2011-07-26T19:31:00.000-07:00

All my Apes!

The Tigers were so fun to watch this time. Izzy could have stayed there all day.

Crazy monkeys watching the Elephants.

The best ride in the park.

My biggest ape of all.

Easter Egg Hunt

2011-07-26T19:25:00.000-07:00

Annually we have an Easter egg hunt at my mom's, this year was the first year we have been there in a long time.
The kids always line up oldest to youngest right before we let them go crazy.
Chloe should be between Izzy and Zeke.

Sally, Weston, Jake, Clavin, Tonio, Max, P.J., Henry, Izzy, Zeke, Will, Maddison, and Chloe.
Just ignore Megan in the background.

Easter Fun while in Utah

2011-07-26T19:12:00.000-07:00

Thanks to Aunt Tara we had a "hoppin" party.
We had all sorts of games and prizes for the kids and then afterward we had a sleepover, complete with a dance party.
No pictures of that though, I will have to steal some from Tara's blog.

All of the kiddos lined up to start the race.

I love how you can tell they are all trying to run in those sacks instead of hop.

Trying to get a good picture of this motley crew is a feat in itself.
This is about as good as it gets.

Got to love some good old cousin fun!

Henry's 5th Birthday!!!

2011-07-26T18:51:00.000-07:00

For Henry's birthday this year we had a friend party, with no other parents. I was a little scared but we all made it through.
He was so happy to be 5!

Leave it to a bunch of boys to play dodge ball in the back yard.

They all had a blast!

Henry's Hot Wheels cake, it was a BIG hit.
Blow baby blow!

Birthday Cake

2011-04-03T15:11:00.000-07:00

Strawberry Cake is what William asked for for his birthday, so strawberry cake is what he got.
Making this cake turned into quite the fiasco but if you want the story you can just ask.

I love this look, he is just so flattered that everyone is singing to HIM!

He needed help to blow out his candles so of course his brothers were happy to help. I can't believe my baby is 2, he is talking a lot more these days, trying to keep up with his brothers and is still weighing in at 27 lbs. He loves balls and sports of any kind, trains, cars and most of all food. William is just a joy and a blessing in our lives. We love you Will!

Happy 2nd Birthday William!!!

2011-04-03T15:02:00.000-07:00

For Will's birthday this year we decided to take him to Build a Bear. He is always trying to steal his brothers bears and never wants any of his stuffed animals the don't have clothes on them.

He was very excited to pick out his own stuffed animal, fill it and dress it.

He ended up not even picking a bear, he chose a dog, rightfully named DogDog.
He picked out some sports jammies, his brothers tried to get him to get star wars jammies but this boy knows what he wants. Happy Birthday Will and welcome to the family DogDog.

Academy of Sciences Museum

2011-04-03T14:52:00.000-07:00

One of the days while my Mom and Dad were here we ventured up to Golden Gate Park. There are a few Museums in the park and we decided to go to the Science Museum.
It was a very good choice.

Not only was it a museum but an aquarium too. P.J. was mesmerized by the jelly fish, they were pretty cool to watch.

We all had a blast looking at all of the different sea life. There was even an electric eel.

I think the boys thought that this dinosaur was the coolest thing so we could have just let them look in the window and then go home, not having to pay. Oh well, the rest of the museum was worth it.
Thanks again Nana and Papa for coming to visit, we are looking forward to the next visit!

Take me out the the Ballgame!!!

2011-04-03T14:32:00.000-07:00

March 12th was opening day for P.J. and Henry's baseball season.

We started out the morning meeting up with the boys teams.
Henry is on the Bees.

P.J. is on the Giants!
After a parade of the teams and the opening ceremonies we started off the games.

Before the game starts the kids say a pledge. I don't know all the words but it is about being a good sport and playing your best.

That's not Henry, I just realized that. Have a look at Henry's little friend Luke.

William knows how to roll at a baseball game, he took over the chair and stuffed his face with candy.

He must be wise beyond his years.

Nana & Papa

2011-04-03T14:21:00.000-07:00

My Mom and Dad came to visit in February, the weeks leading up to their visit the weather was so nice and warm, sunny and dry. The day they got here it started to rain and continued to rain for the next 5 days. The last day they were here it finally stopped raining so outside we went, riding bikes and scooters.

William has become a whiz on this scooter, he just thinks he is as big as his brothers.

A boy and his Papa, what more do you need?

Nana wussed out and went inside but didn't want to miss out in this photo opp.
Notice her in the window.

We love when Nana & Papa come to visit, please come back SOON!!!

PLEASE!!!

Muddy Buddy Bandit

2011-02-10T20:29:00.000-08:00

I made a batch of muddy buddies for the Super Bowl, really just an excuse for me to pig out.

William thought that the last little bit in the end of the bag was for him.

He also thought that they might taste better on the floor.

Oh ya, and not only off the floor but to lick them off the floor.

Thus resulting in powdered sugar all over the face ........
and a slap happy sugar high baby.

This Slide Is Awsome!!!

2011-02-08T10:34:00.000-08:00

A few weeks ago we just happened by this park.
We decided to go back last week, and the boys had a blast.

Little Bill thought he was such a big boy going down the slide all by himself.

He kind of freaked me out a little but he did it again and again.

With no expression on his face, he wasn't scared, he wasn't excited. He was just going down the slide, very matter of fact.

The big boys used card board so that they could go faster.

And boy did they go faster.

I loved watching Henry with his hair flying in the wind.

We're so happy when Grandma and Grandpa come!!!

2011-02-08T10:30:00.000-08:00

Grandma, Grandpa and Uncle Ben came to visit us the week after Christmas and we were so excited to see them.

The boys got Grandpa to play Call of Duty with them, it was great. Henry beat Grandpa.
Will, and the rest of us could get enough time with Grandma and Grandpa.
Come back soon to visit.

Christmas Sunday Clothes

2011-02-08T10:27:00.000-08:00

Nana and Papa gave the boys these cute new Sunday clothes.

Don't they look so handsome?

Lights @ The Oakland Temple

2011-02-08T10:22:00.000-08:00

Excavating-

2011-02-08T10:09:00.000-08:00

Aunt Michelle got these cool excavating kits for the boys for Christmas.
P.J. had a Pirate treasure hunt.

Henry got a Dino bone finder.

It was hours of entertainment.

Christmas, finally!!!

2011-02-08T09:48:00.000-08:00

P.J. looking at his Santa presents.
Henry doing the same.

Everyone liked Henry's the most.

William loves this book.

Bey Blades, let 'em rip!!

We had such a nice Christmas with our little family, we missed our family greatly but we love having our own little Christmas.

Oh Henry

2011-02-08T09:44:00.000-08:00

Henry trying to look mean........

But going cross eyed instead.

Gingerbread Cookies, yummy!

2011-02-08T09:40:00.000-08:00

It wouldn't be Christmas time without rolling out some gingerbread cookies and letting the kids go to town with all the different colors of frosting.

I love how they chose to put EVERY color on EVERY cookie they decorated.

Happy 7th Birthday P.J.

2011-02-07T21:29:00.000-08:00

P.J. opening his ipod, he thinks he's pretty cool now. We won't tell him it's just a hand-me-down.

He was so excited about this present.

Diary of a Whimpy Kid.

He also got this spiffy new church jacket along with all of his LEGOs from Nana and Papa.

He know he was getting the LEGOs since he picked them out while we were in Disneyland.

He loves them just the same either way.

Thanks Grandma and Grandpa!!!

Will just had to try on the jacket. What a cute head.

P.J. decided to forgo a cake this year and asked for homemade oreo's.

YUM, YUM, YUM!

Making the Gingerbread House

2011-02-07T21:26:00.000-08:00

These faces just say it all. They loved making this, but I think even more they liked eating the candy.

Disneyland!

2011-01-30T19:42:00.000-08:00

Our tram ride into the park.
Henry and Izzy were so excited to see and meet all the characters.

P.J., not so much. He wouldn't even stand next to them for us to take a picture.

Face Painting- They all loved it, Chloe especially loved P.J.'s face.

Woody!

Will and Chloe didn't know how to respond to him.

Dance Party!

Oh ya, now we're grooving!

Will sees the parade, finally.

On the GIANT ferris wheel.

Our Family Christmas Card. If you didn't get one I am so sorry, I got most sent out and then flaked.

I don't know what Will liked better, the shoulder ride or Papa's ear.

I think they are ready to be done with Disneyland.

Chloe could have probably cared less about Disneyland, she just loved being with all the Family.

I would have to agree with Chloe, it was such a fun trip and wouldn't have been the same without all the Bennett family vacation shenanigans.

Thanksgiving Day!!!

2011-01-30T09:50:00.000-08:00

Pete, busy making the gravy.

Austin Bera, Henry and P.J., busy doing a puzzle.

William, ready to eat, as always.

And our good friends the Bera's and Sorensen's.

It was a great day of feasting and fun.

Wiiliam's New Church Clothes

2011-01-13T15:58:00.000-08:00

As soon as I pulled these out of the garage he just had to try these on.

Thanksgiving Jammies!!!

2011-01-13T15:48:00.000-08:00

This Thanksgiving Grandma Chris and Aunt Jill opted out of making the jammies due to moving and being way too busy.

It ended up working out for the better because P.J. has been begging for footies.

All of these boys love their cozy footie jammies.

It'a always fun when Grandma Chris comes to visist.

2011-01-12T15:30:00.000-08:00

Among a lot of other fun things we did when Grandma came to visit, we finally made it to the Golden Gate Bridge.
P.J. has been asking to go there ever since we moved here and when we were trying to figure out something fun to do that is exactly where we went.

Despite it being a pretty cold day and me leaving Will's jacket at the restaurant we had a blast. And William ended up wearing my jacket instead.

Don't you want to come visit this cool bunch of kids?

This is Halloween, This is Halloween!

2011-01-12T15:01:00.000-08:00

Our Halloween festivities started off with a costume parade at Henry's preschool.

Henry or should I say Superman, had a blast.
William on the other hand was trapped in his stroller but as soon as I dangled that lollipop in front of his face he was happy. It doesn't take much to make this kid happy.

Henry with his teacher, who's name we can't remember, singing a song with the rest of his class.

The next day we had a couple of different activities to go to. First off we went to P.J.'s schools fall festival. These two goofballs are always ready to pose for a picture.

This rooster costume has served us well, done with it's third kid and still looking good.

The only picture I got of P.J. all Halloween, if you look really close you can see the side of his head there by Henry.

The two older boys had a blast running around playing all of the carnival games.

Will had a blast posing for pictures with his new "cheese" smile.

He has different variations of it but you get the gist.

His other favorite thing to do was climb on this drinking fountain and make all of the passer-bys look at him as he would "cheese" at them.

After about an hour we headed over to the ward trunk or treat. I really got into the decorating of our car. OK I didn't really do anything other than bring our pumpkins and stick them is the back. The kids got quite the loot which was good because we didn't want to take them real trick or treating on Sunday anyway.

We're Baaaack!!!!

2011-01-12T14:34:00.000-08:00

We've been away for a while but I am officially back to blogging.

No this is not a mean trick to my mom and mother in law, I really am going to keep up on it and catch you all up on the last 3 or 4 months of our life.

I hope you have enjoyed these random pictures of my crazy boys.

It's so hard to say goodbye....

2010-10-25T21:11:00.000-07:00

All of the adults in front of the house, saying goodbye.

Gavin, Tawnya,Cody, Chris, Michelle, Cami, Erik, Janiel, Stacey,Gaynard, Jill, Mike, Pete, Taylor, Ben, Chris, Grandma Norseth, Nadine, Grandma Hadley, Mike, Clint and Sheri

At the end of August we made a trip back to Utah for one last goodbye, a goodbye to Pete's childhood home.
This house is every kids dream, tree house, zip line, acres to roam. My boys, Pete and P.J. in particular, were quite sad to learn that moving day was shortly upon Chris and Mike.

It took some convincing but P.J. finally came to terms with it, or so he says, we'll see how he feels when we go back to visit and Grandma and Grandpa are in the new house.

In true Norseth fashion we had a big goodbye bash, or funeral as some called it, for the whole family and any friends wanted to join us.
These crazy kids in the tree house are all the kids who will greatly miss this awesome backyard.

I just love this picture of Sophia.

The old house address plate.

This picture is soooo cute. I love how happy they both look.

Pete and his Grandma Hadley

Michelle will kill me for putting this picture on but I don't care, I like it. Maybe if I follow up with another darling picture of Sophi she won't care as much.

Last but not least, while we were in Utah having our funeral for the house we were also able to help go through some attic findings. One of the boys favorite finds were these laser gun type things, I know they have a real name but I can't think of it right now. They wanted to play with them so bad but only one worked, I guess that's what happens when things sit in the attic for years. Along with these cool guns the boys found some of Pete's old stuffed animal, a Marvin the Martian, a big purple dinosaur and a homemade pound puppy. Of course we had to bring them all home and at least one if not all get slept with every night.

This kitchen floor and awesome yellow fridge are just a couple reasons why Chris and Mike decided to move, we love their new house and hope to have many wonderful years and more memories in it.

Gotta love the"CHEESE"!!!

2010-10-24T20:39:00.000-07:00

I can never pass up on a photo op with this group around. Mostly because every one of them are constantly asking me to take their picture. I love that they all love each other so much.

2010-10-23T21:10:00.000-07:00

We were able to make it back to Utah on more time before school started again. The trip began with a side trip Bear Lake (one of my favorite places).
Jake loved playing with Will, he always wanted to help me and was so cute with him the whole time, William didn't always appreciate it though.
It was so fun for the kids to spend the whole weekend with their cousins, jumping on the trampoline, swimming in the lake, playing night games, and sitting by the fire eating "delicious hot shmoes." (line from Toy Story 2 for those of you who don't know.)

Will and Papa through back a few too many that night.

S'mores that is.

Little Henry looks like he had had it for the day too.

But leave it to P.J. to keep the party going.

Tonio only looks slightly zombie like.

And who knows about Max and his big bare feet.

All I know is Bear Lake was a blast and P.J. might possibly be one of the goofiest picture taker ever.

Who Me?

2010-10-22T21:19:00.000-07:00

Someone found the Target popcorn in my purse and decided to take advantage of the fact that I was in the shower.
"Oh you caught me."

"Let me show you how to do this."

"What, did I put too much in?"

A few minutes later I found him outside on the bike eating some more, just like his big brothers do. This kid is growing up way too fast.

Big Boy and a Fork

2010-08-25T10:20:00.000-07:00

A few weeks ago I finally decided to let Will start feeding himslef with utensils. I have been a little hesitant because of the mess that I would have to clean up but he was a champ.

(I love Henry's bed head in this picture.)
Will did such a good job, good thing he loves food so much, the kid hardly let any fall on the floor.

He is just growing up too fast.

Love these two!

2010-08-24T10:16:00.000-07:00

They fight, they hit and even bite but at the end of the day they really do just love eachother.

Back in California

2010-08-19T21:36:00.000-07:00

We traveled home at the beginning of July, Grandma Chris came with us and following close behind was Clint and Sheri. Let's not forget Eva as well, she was the highlight of most days.
While these two were watching signing time I just had to take these pictures, there is something so cute about babies just in diapers.

I'm not sure but I think Eva is signing popcorn which is quite hilarious when she does it, she totally spazzes out.

Such a cute moment, P.J. is reading goodnight gorilla to all the kids. My favorite part of this picture is the swimsuit bottoms on Eva's head. I put them on as a joke and she kept them on for a couple of hours.

Cousins!

2010-08-18T21:29:00.000-07:00

Since Megan and her family were living at my parents house for a couple of months before they moved to Vegas we got to spend a lot of time with them while we were visiting.
Both Zeke and all my boys LOVED playing together. Zeke had this stash of plastic cups and spoons that he would play with all day long, William thinks it's a little silly but what does he know.

Soon after we got home Will picked up on Zeke's cup and spoon game and now he is out of control, who's silly now?

Fun with Papa!!!

2010-08-17T21:20:00.000-07:00

The first week we were in Utah my Dad was still on his football trip to Mexico, so when he got back the kids could not get enough. Or maybe it was him who could not get enough of them.

One of my Dads favorite thing to do with us when we were kids was put us in these traps and there was some secret to getting out but I still don't know what it is, anyway, that is what he is doing here with these four kids. So much fun and I am so glad we extended our trip so that we could spend some time with Dad before we went back home.

Father's Day @ The Norseth's

2010-08-16T21:07:00.000-07:00

Chris and Sophi on their first Father's Day.

Strangely enough I didn't get any pictures of Pete on this day, he was there though.

William, as always couldn't get enough of being at Grandma and Grandpas house and all the yummy food.

P.J. loves getting together with these cousins, you can just see it in his eyes. They are are very close in age and love to do all the same things. Here they are playing Mario Kart at Grandma and Grandpa Norseth's.

Little Eva is at that funny age when she cheeses so goofy. You tell her to say cheese and this is what you get. We loved being with our family on this special day.

Day at the Beach

2010-08-15T22:02:00.000-07:00

Hitch Hiker

2010-08-15T20:59:00.000-07:00

In June, on our way to Utah, we stopped at Arby's and found this little hitch hiker on the curb.
He decided to turn on the charm so we decided to pick him up and take him with us. Turns out he's an OK guy to keep around.

Kindergarten Graduation

2010-06-30T13:53:00.000-07:00

I know everybody thinks their kids grow up too fast but it's because it is true. On June 17 P.J. graduated from kindergarten and I can't believe the big milestone of kindergarten has come and gone. (insert sniff)
This was a great graduation because it was only about 30 minutes. They sang two songs, received their certificates and medals and all was done.

Mrs. Acton was a great teacher, she was just too old and too tired to keep up with all of the 30 kids in P.J.'s class. P.J. felt as though he was bored all the time because all the "naughty" kids took up all of Mr. Acton's time.

P.J. love making new friends in his class and looks forward to all day school because he really wants to eat lunch in the cafeteria. Go figure, the most lame part of school.

All Grown Up!

2010-06-21T15:33:00.000-07:00

The other day P.J. and Henry went to a friends house to play leaving Will and I home alone. I decided that instead of taking a nap I should probably do something productive and clean the kitchen. So I was cleaning the kitchen and I let William play outside. While he was playing I was thinking to myself that when P.J. or even Henry was 14 months old I would have never let them play outside by themselves and how funny it is how your perspective changes after you have a few kids. I looked outside to check on Will and this is what I found, he grabbed Henry's helmet put it on (backwards, but hey he 14 months old), and was riding his bike. Too funny, what a big boy.

Just another day at the Norseth's

2010-06-21T15:26:00.000-07:00

I don't' know if anyone can remember, but when we first moved to New Hampshire and a while after I could not keep P.J.'s pants on. Well Henry is following suit.
The other day all the boys were outside and this is what I look out to find. Good thing he decided to put on those elbow and knee pads, just forgot a little something else.

Of course P.J. could not be left out of the picture taking so I hope everyone enjoys the 6 year old riding a tricycle.

Last Game of the Season

2010-06-21T15:05:00.000-07:00

When it was about the middle of the season I thought this day would never come, but as I was sitting there watching P.J. in the last game it was kind of sad. He was just starting to get it and was getting fairly good, for a 6 year old with no attention span.
Mr. Drool Mouth was happy to just be outside and not in the stroller.

Henry, well Henry is just Henry.

P.J got a little tired and hot here so he decided to sit down and take a break, maybe the should start doing that in the major leagues.

Will is obsessed with hats, hats of any kind, so whenever one of the kids would take off their helmet it went right onto his head. As I am typing this I just realized that this was not a good idea to let him do this because of lice, oh well we were lucky with that one.

After P.J. went to a Giants game and watched a few other baseball games on t.v. he thought he was a pro at hitting the ball.

He even made it to first base most every time.

Playing first base gets a lot of action in tee ball, he looks pretty baseball ready.

My cute blue-eyed boys on a hot baseball afternoon.

Livin' the Life

2010-05-02T20:26:00.000-07:00

The other day while I was mopping the floor I sent the boys outside to play. (I love having a back yard, little as it may be.) They played for quite some time, taking turns riding the bikes, William would push P.J. on the little trike and P.J. would give Will a ride. They had so much fun.
After a while they got hungry so I whipped up some PB&J, gave them some milk in their water bottles and back out they went. Now I didn't give the baby anything to eat so you can understand my shock when I looked outside and he was chewing on a sandwich. I asked the boys if either of them had given it to him and they both said no, he had reached up onto the table and got it himself. I guess he was hungry. After a couple of minutes he didn't think it was very fair that the older boys had cool camping chairs to sit on and he didn't. He really did let me know it too so we did some rearranging and tuh duh, he had his own chair, he thought he was really cool.

The whole time they were out there P.J. kept saying "Livin' the Life" like this was some kind of resort or vacation. It's good to know that it doesn't take much to make your kids think they live in the lap of luxury.

Sewing Project

2010-05-02T20:14:00.000-07:00

I cannot say that I am a master sewer by any means but I was pretty proud of my accomplishment. I have been wanting to do this project for a few months now since I have all this material left over from the boys quilts, so when I had a night with nothing to do I took advantage. Henry was my helper, he lifted the foot and put the foot down on the sewing machine for me and he really thought he was helping big time.

I know there are a couple of thing that don't' look quite right but this is how they are going to stay.

My baseball boys!

2010-05-02T20:08:00.000-07:00

No, Pete and Henry are not drunk, at least I don't think so. Last weekend Pete took P.J. to a Giants game, it was a very exciting thing for P.J. since he was going alone with his Daddy, riding the BART into the city and being able to eat hot dogs, peanuts and churros to his desire. Since they were playing the Cardinals, and that happens to be Pete's team, we had to make a run to the mall to buy hats. P.J. and Henry decided they wanted to cheer for the Giants which I think is great, root root root for the home team. Henry stayed home with Mom and we did a sewing project (see next post), which luckily for me he thought was just a grand time. Giants won that night by the way.

Earth Week

2010-05-02T19:48:00.000-07:00

I know it was Earth Week last week, and I did actually take these pictures last week. I just wanted to show off my little bit of earth that I have planted and managed to keep alive. Our tomatoes are getting huge and have flowered already so I am way excited for the fruit.
One of my little garden helpers, although William doesn't help as much as his brothers do he does love to eat that dirt. And yes, I still have those ugly curtains so shoot me.

This is our favorite as of late. We love checking on the strawberries almost everyday to see if any are ready. we thought one was close and ate it, turns out it wasn't quite ready. Along with the tomatoes and strawberries we have three different kinds of peppers, spinach, carrots, two Asian pear trees and Henry's three sunflowers that he got from school. Bring on the harvest.

Happy 4th Birthday Henry

2010-04-22T14:24:00.000-07:00

Upon his request we had a baseball themed party for Henry this year. Thanks to Chris we were able to pull off this baseball bat cake and it was a hit, no pun intended.
I love this face, the whole time he was opening this present that is what his face looked like. He was so excited because he had called Grandma Chris probably 2 or 3 months ago and said that he wanted her to come to his house for his birthday and he wanted her to buy him a blue double sided light saber. All of his birthday wishes came true.

This is a great face too.

We invited a few of our friends over for presents, cake and ice cream. Eliza is the only one that got a picture taken because A) she loves Pete, B) Pete had the camera, and C) she loves to get her picture taken.

As you can see.

Going along with the baseball theme Henry got a baseball bat, tee and helmet. He is all set for tee-ball next year, all he wants to do is practice now, maybe I should have given this a second thought.

The party went great, the kids had fun and we all got to stuff our faces with cake and ice cream, who could have asked for a better day.

Not Henry, he was on cloud 9 all day long.

Happy Birthday to my Big Boy!!!

We LOVE Visitors

2010-04-22T14:10:00.000-07:00

This last weekend Uncle Ben,
and Grandma Chris and Grandpa Mike came to visit. The kids were oh so excited to be with the nicest Grandma that lets them eat candy before dinner and stay up late eating candy. Those words came right out of P.J.'s mouth. Pete and I were pretty excited to see everyone too.

The weather was beautiful and we took full advantage of it. On Saturday we went into the city and strolled through the wharf and took a trolley ride, I didn't have my camera so more pictures of that to come when they get emailed to me.
We also got to go watch P.J. play in his baseball game on Saturday, it was a long but very fun day.

On Sunday we went to church and afterword the weather was just too nice to pass up. We walked over to the park to play and watch a cricket match (still don't understand that game), and sit in the sun. William had his first bike ride and couldn't get enough.

It was a great weekend and we miss you guys already.

2010-04-13T09:14:00.000-07:00

I used to think that people who didn't know what their kids were doing at all times were idiots, and when they would complain about said kids getting into things or making a mess I wouldn't feel sorry for them one little bit......then I had William. I don't know if it is really Will who is the problem or the combo of a bigger house, him being the third child and me just being a little bit busier. He is the most toilet playing, glass spilling, anything on the floor eating, drawer opening, book pulling offer and almost anything else you can can think of. So what I am getting at is here is to you, all you parents that I wrongfully judged and looked down upon in the past, I am sorry and I guess I had it coming.

Oakland Zoo

2010-04-09T18:03:00.000-07:00

We recently purchased season passes to the Oakland Zoo and decided to cash in on them this last week, with it being spring break and all. The boys were so excited and the weather was beautiful, so we started off. One of the first animals we saw were these giant turtles, I was real excited because they were actually moving and I have never really seen that before. Even more to my excitement when I looked over and they appeared to be wrestling. I told the boys look they are wrestling.
Took a cute picture of them in front of the wrestling turtles, and by this point they were making noises which I also thought was pretty cool. The longer we watched the more I realized that they were NOT wrestling but instead "doing the deed". I was mortified, I made my kids sit and watch this, of course they had no idea what was really going on but I just felt dirty afterward.

Luckily we moved on and I soon found this strange and endangered two headed turtle which soon got my mind off the two pervs doing it in public.

We got to the elephants right at feeding time so that was cool to watch. And yes, Henry had the map just like that the entire time we were there.

William is getting old enough that he would get excited here and there. He loved the elephants and the bats, I didn't get any pictures of the bats though.

Each boy wanted to take pictures of the elephants so here is P.J.'s. I think he did a pretty good job for being a little kid.

Here is Henry's, poor kid, I wonder if that is his view of everything.

We got 5 free tickets to ride the rides so we took full advantage of it. P.J. and Henry rode these planes then we all went on the merry-go-round. It was such a fun day!

As you can see Will enjoyed himself so much he could hardly stand it.

Happy Easter (a little late)

2010-04-07T16:02:00.000-07:00

This was an interesting Easter for us, we aren't living around any family, all of our law school family lives around the country and we were all alone. Not that we were sad about it but it was just different.
It ended up being a lovely day and I loved listening to conference on Easter Sunday. We stayed in our sweats all day and just enjoyed each others company. It was raining all day but Henry could not be contained, he through on his rain gear and out he went.

We had a delicious dinner of ham, mmmmm, I like ham. Funeral potatoes and green beans, for desert I made a Strawberry cake that was to die for, did not take a picture of that though. After I got done making this meal Pete asked me if I thought we had teenage boys of something because I had cooked so much, oh well, it looks like ham leftovers all week. I hope you all had as wonderful of an Easter as we did!

Dying Easter Eggs

2010-04-07T15:54:00.000-07:00

The boys were very excited to dye Easter Eggs this year, Pete and Will could have cared less, so it was the 3 of us.
Henry kept cracking the eggs so I had P.J. take over in the egg dropping, per say, and he did a great job. Notice the amount of concentration that it takes, his little tongue is so cute.

I love these last two pictures, just very candid moments of how life really is. Henry is always watching P.J. and for the most part P.J. is always a very good teacher and friend.

Happy Birthday to Will!

2010-03-19T14:33:00.000-07:00

It's official, William is one. We celebrated with some yummy banana cake with a vanilla cream frosting. We were going to have a whole monkey themed party but the 4 or 5 days prior to his actual birthday all of the kids were sick, so we had a lame party but he doesn't care.
Will didn't know what to really think about the candle but he loved us singing Happy Birthday to him.

We had to blow the candle out for him, I should have been practicing blowing with him, oh well.

Not to sure what he is supposed to do with this.

Once he got a taste he was all in.

I couldn't pass this picture up, P.J. took it and I love Henry's face in it.

We eventually lost the plate and then he really started chowing down

"Do you want some?"

Look at that face, I am in for years of trouble.

He of course made a big mess but we just threw him in the tub which he LOVED and called it a night.

It's Baseball season again!

2010-03-17T15:05:00.000-07:00

P.J. decided he would like to play baseball again this year, so I talked to some of the Moms at his school and we were able to get him on the same team as his friends from class.

P.J. #12
They have to say this little pledge before every game about how they will play fair and all that mumbo jumbo. Base ball here is a huge deal, it was opening day and there was a parade and opening ceremonies and a pancake breakfast. I had no idea what we were getting into.

Waiting for their turn to bat.

All this one wanted to do was get down and play in the mud.

Henry found a friend to sword fight with.

P.J. up to bat.

Run P.J. run!

Playing "pitcher", he thought he couldn't go outside of that circle.

After it was all over we were all ready to go home.

Fat little walker-

2010-03-17T15:00:00.000-07:00

Wills favorite thing to do lately is walk around everything, he even scales the walls instead of crawling.
Most recently he has gathered enough courage and know how to take the 2 or 3 huge steps, on his own, from the ottoman to the couch. Any day now he will be running around the house with those other two wild monkeys.
isn't everything cuter when the baby is fat and naked?

Cool Kid

2010-03-17T14:55:00.000-07:00

A few weeks ago William started standing up on his knees like this all the time.
As you can see he thinks he is pretty cool.

So cool that ha busted out the dance moves.

Homemade Lunchables

2010-03-17T14:48:00.000-07:00

Personally I think that Lunchables are overrated and way too expensive. The kids never eat it all but they still seem to always beg for them.

I came up with a solution, cut ham into a shape(in this instance it was a heart), cut cheese into squares and give them a few crackers. Of course Lunchables always have a drink and a treat so they got juice boxes and starbursts. The boys loved it and P.J. said that he liked it even better than a Lunchable. They still asked for a Lunchable the next time we went to the store.

OBY

2010-02-24T14:29:00.000-08:00

It's no secret that Oby and I had a very love hate relationship when we were younger.
We fought like cats and dogs, he was always teasing me and my genius comebacks were shut up or, not any more.

I would often times scream "Oby stop it" in my sleep. And he has always loved the fact that he could get to me.

We did have some good times growing up and spent many hours riding bikes, playing in dirt piles and playing barbies and ninja turtles.

What is the purpose of this post you ask, well the other day while talking on the phone I was asking the name of a website from my friend. Pete is always thinking he needs to be part of my telephone conversations so he answered my question by saying "stupidhead.com". My automatic response was "OBY". I don't know it just came out and now the boys think it is the most hilarious insult to call you Oby. P.J. even thought more about it and said, "I get it, you called him Oby because Oby always bugs you. He always bugs me too."

We do love Oby very much but he can be annoying and anyone who knows him knows that so I hope he doesn't take offense to this post because I thought it was too funny of a story to pass up.

Some drawbacks....

2010-02-23T10:47:00.000-08:00

I can only think of a few negative things that go along with having a house bigger than a 800 sq. ft. apartment. One of them is there are a lot more places your kids can go to be unsupervised. Lately we have to keep all the bathroom doors shut because of this little monster. William loves the bathroom, I don't know exactly what it is about it but he loves it. Last week P.J. came running out of the bathroom yelling, "William is playing in the pee water." That was a fun little mess to clean up. As of late Will likes the toilet paper, or to just roll the toilet paper off the roll onto the floor. I can tell he is going to keep me on my feet.
Oh, another draw back is that I have to clean all three bathrooms and keep them clean with 3 boys. Yes that includes Pete:)

Little Budding Artist

2010-02-23T10:40:00.000-08:00

For Christmas Henry got this easel from his Grandma and Grandpa Norseth. It has a chalkboard on one side and a dry erase board on the other, but best of all it came with two clips to hang a "canvas" for him to paint.
He never uses more than one color on a paper but that is mostly because I am a little anal and told him he couldn't mix the colors together in the tray. I wish he took everything I told him to such an extreme.

Everyday he thinks he needs to paint, he says, "I not paint today." He also thinks he needs candy everyday and says that the same way but that is for another post maybe.

Happy Valentines Day

2010-02-14T13:29:00.000-08:00

In the spirit of Valentines Day we went and got a heart shaped pizza last night, now some of you might remember about 3 years ago when I attempted the heart shaped meat loaf, I opted out of that one until I find a heart shaped pan, so pizza it is. The kids loved it and Papa Murphy's made it so all I had to do is clean up.
To my surprise my Valentine pulled through and got me this beautiful Orchid. Potted flowers are the best because they don't die in a week, unless you have serious problems keeping plants alive. We will see how I do. Happy Valentines Day to everyone, I hope you enjoy my catch up post. We love you!!!

A new way to keep your kids "under wraps"!!!

2010-02-14T13:24:00.000-08:00

Since a decided that duct tape is much too abrasive I've been trying to come up with a better way to tie my kids up. The other day P.J. came up with this idea all on his own and now maybe he regrets sharing. Henry got out in just a couple of minutes, P.J. on the other hand had been wrapped up so tight by Pete that he eventually had to ask for help.

No children were hurt during this activity or photo opp.

San Fransisco Zoo

2010-02-14T13:17:00.000-08:00

At the end of January a few of us Moms decided to head up to the zoo since kids were FREE that month. Here's cute Eliza and William, she just loves giving him hugs and kisses all the time.
We made it in time to see the penguins get fed. I just think they are the cutest, funniest little things. Along with the penguins we got to see the giraffes get fed and that was fun especially because we got to go into the giraffe house out of the pouring rain.

I don't know if you can see it in this picture but look close and you can see a little baby monkey, so cute.

We had so much fun at the zoo with our new friends, even in the rain.

My favorite compromise...

2010-02-14T13:11:00.000-08:00

The boys are constantly asking for character shoes which I HATE, no offense to those of you who let your kids get them, that just means you are nicer moms than I am. Since I will never let them get said character shoes we made a compromise, cool socks or character socks. P.J. picked these sketchers socks and some Transformer socks, Henry of course picked McQueen socks and these Mickey Mouse socks. Nobody looks dorky and everyone is happy.

P.J. thought he needed to take a picture so I thought I would share it with you.

Bath Time

2010-02-14T13:06:00.000-08:00

William thinks it's a special treat when he gets to bath with either of his brothers, the kid just loves the water.
When he is not in the tub or shower his next favorite thing to do is try to open the shower doors and get all wet and get the floor all wet. I am afraid I have my hands full with this little guy.

Yes boys do dress up.

2010-02-14T13:01:00.000-08:00

Henry's dress up was a little bit more simple than P.J.'s, you see he is Robin since clearly the bear is Batman. P.J. on the other hand is supposed to be Casey from the Ninja Turtles. Cowboy boots, spider man mask is supposed to be the hockey mask and the swords are supposed to be the hockey sticks or golf clubs or whatever it is he carries. Fun stuff!

More fun with cousins in Utah!

2010-02-14T12:58:00.000-08:00

It's funny to look at this picture because you can tell that several different people are taking pictures just by looking at where everyone is looking.

It was so good to see everyone and we miss you all so much.

Cousins

2010-01-27T20:55:00.000-08:00

P.J. and Henry have missed their cousins so much since we moved, it was great that they got to spend time playing with Izzy and Tonio.

Or just with Tonios DSi.

Trip to Utah

2010-01-27T20:06:00.000-08:00

We just got back from a trip to Utah, it was a very bitter sweet trip because we went for my Uncle Jacks funeral. We had such a great time seeing all the family from all over the country and all over Utah. I, as a matter of fact had so much of a good time that I didn't take hardly any pictures. Good thing my Aunt Emma was there, she has the whole thing documented and she will be sending us the pics. The memorial for Jack was great, I know it's weird to say that a funeral was great but when you have the knowledge of such a great gospel and plan you can go to a funeral knowing that this is not the end, we will see Uncle Jack again and we know he is in a better place trying to do all the work he can on the other side. We love you Uncle Jack!

Since we had been gone a month little William had forgotten some people, this included Jamie. Now those of you who know Jamie know he loves babies and wants all the babies to love him. William didn't particularly care for Jamie, actually he cried every time Jamie tried to pick him up or even just talk to him. Finally on the last day we were there Will let Jamie hold him and rock him to sleep, VICTORY! Jamie was in heaven and William had a nice soft warm spot for his afternoon nap.

Zeke was excited for Jamie!

What a couple of cute little chunks.

Poor Henry

2010-01-18T20:46:00.000-08:00

I know this looks so mean, I couldn't pass up this moment without taking a picture. As he was yelling help and P.J. was yelling that Henry was stuck I ran in only to say, "wait, I have to get my camera." It reminds me of just this last summer when we were at a family trip to Bear Lake and Grandma Judy somehow tipped over in her chair backwards, all at once everyone jumped up but not to help her, to get their cameras. Oh, good times, good times.
Turns out Henry was not stuck he just couldn't figure out how to turn his head the right way and all I had to do is take off the latter. What a funny kid.

Snuggly Boys

2010-01-10T19:17:00.000-08:00

P.J. and Henry love to sleep in the same bed, it takes me back to when Megan and I were little and we always shared a bed. The other night they decided that they wanted to sleep up on the top bunk(twin mattress) instead of on the bottom(full mattress), don't ask me why. William told me he wanted to join them for the night and he lasted about 1 1/2 minutes before he tried to climb over the edge. No top bunks for Will anytime soon.

When 3 year olds dress themsleves....

2010-01-10T19:12:00.000-08:00

Last Sunday after church Henry got water on his shirt somewhere, for those of you who know Henry well he does not like to have his shirt wet at all. I told him that he knows how to get himself dressed so go get a different shirt on, this is what he came out in. Yes folks those are church pants and a lovely old man button up pajama shirt. He just cracks me up.

Don't you wish........

2010-01-01T21:36:00.000-08:00

that it was cute for your legs to look like this as a grown-up?

William 9 months

Merry Christmas one and all!

2009-12-25T20:26:00.000-08:00

Christmas Eve Jammies

2009-12-24T21:04:00.000-08:00

Poor little William was so tired but I made him stay up to open his Christmas Eve jammies. He is so cute I can't even stand it.
Hen Hen was so excited for his McQueen slippers, after he put them on he was scooting around the house like he was racing on his wheels.
P.J. thinks he wants to be a snowboarder now because that is what is on his jammies, we'll see what he really chooses when he learns how to ski.

Have a Merry Christmas everyone!

We love you!

House Pics

2009-12-24T20:38:00.001-08:00

Just one of the awesome curtain patterns in our house. We will be changing those as soon as we have the money.
The baby's room, it is the same size as the boys room but it looks so huge with the little furniture he has in it.

This is the only room that is still not unpacked, but considering the lack of book shelf storage I'm afraid that it will be like this for a while.

The other awesome curtain pattern in our house, it's my personal favorite and it just so happens that they are 12 feet long in our family room.

View from the front door.

View from the top of the stairs.

Another view from the top of the stairs.

I am so glad to be in our new home and all ready for Christmas. Even I though I miss my family in Utah I am so grateful to have my little family here with me.

The boys' bathroom. We have it decorated in a monster motif which I think is fitting.

The boys' room. P.J. told my Mom that his new room was tight, like cool and tiny.

All of the boys' stuff fits perfectly in their room, they have a huge closet that we put most of their toys in.

Our master Bathroom, it is cool to be able to say that I have a master bathroom.

Last but not least, our master bedroom. I really do love our house, other than the curtains.

Merry Christmas Eve!

2009-12-24T08:51:00.000-08:00

Last night we had a party with some of the friends in our ward who also don't have family around. Since it was a special affair I let the boys open their Christmas sweaters from Nana and Papa early, so they would have something to wear. Just a side note, William is wearing a 12 month sweater and 12-18 month pants, what is this kid?

We had a great time, ate soup, and later we did a reenactment of the first Christmas.
Henry told me earlier in the day that he wanted to be the man that helped Mary, so Joseph he was. P.J. and his new friend Isaac were Shepard's.

The whole crew, we had angels, Shepard's, two wise men, Joseph, Mary and a Baby Jesus. The kids did great and they were so excited to be able to do this. I'm glad we were able to help them all remember what Christmas is really all about.

My little Hen as Joseph with his much older wife Layca as Mary.

It's hard to say goodbye-

2009-12-21T22:25:00.000-08:00

Nana and Papa saying their goodbyes-

We are in our new house now in California. My Mom and Dad came with us on our trip to help drive and unpack and boy what a help they were. It's almost been a week since we got here and we are almost all the way unpacked. We would probably be unpacked all the way if the tile grout and the kitchen and bathroom floors weren't so gross, but no worries I just have to finish a little bit of the kitchen floor and the floor in our bathroom. Scrubbing on my hands and knees with a toothbrush is no walk in the park.

So far the transition has been surprisingly smooth, it seems that even after living with my parents for a year and having help from not only them but Pete and my Grandma Judy, I still know how to take care of y family. Imagine that. We were very welcomed at church yesterday and the kids felt right at home, I'm sure we will be getting callings in no time. P.J. will be able to start school after the break and a couple of us Moms are thinking of doing joy school for our toddlers. I am so grateful for all of the help we had and for everyone already making us feel so at home, our new neighbors even brought us over some cake tonight. I've always wanted neighbors like that, hopefully we will still like each other after they hear P.J. screaming about one thing or another. Stay tuned for some pictures of the house in the next couple of days.

Taylor Family Christmas Party

2009-12-21T21:31:00.000-08:00

I couldn't get a good enough shot of all the kids in one picture so here are two.

Jake, Weston, Henry, P.J., Max, Zeke, Izzy, Sally, William, Calvin, Tonio and Chloe-

All of the bigger kids are so cute with the little kids, Weston and Sally especially. They are just at that age where it is fun to play with the babies.

Izzybella, as Henry likes to call her, was the funniest kid when it came to Santa that night. The first thing out of her mouth when Santa sat down was, "I'm a good girl", in her little voice. She sat so patiently waiting her turn wringing her hands, sitting on the edge of her seat. She ended up being very last.

Now we know that Zeke does not like getting his picture taken or Santa Clause.

Tonio

Chloe was not so impressed with the big guy either.

I have about four pictures of Will sitting on Santa's lap and they all look like this.

P.J. was so excited to ask for Lego Star Wars stuff.

When Santa asked Henry what he wanted for Christmas he gave his typical answer of ,"I don't know". Leave it to Henry to not know what he wants for Christmas.

(FYI, he wants a McQueen bike.)

Chloe with Papa, she likes him a little more than Santa.

We all sang a little with Santa before he left and he reminded us all to be good little boys and......

Girls.

Sleepy Boy

2009-12-21T19:38:00.000-08:00

Henry always falls asleep on the way home from Grandma and Grandpas house and he is always too tired to make it to his bed, he has curled up on the grass outside, on the floor under the pool table, and this night he made it all the way to the stairs. What a sweet Hen.

Zoo Lights & Bennett Family Christmas Party

2009-12-21T19:19:00.000-08:00

Pete & P.J. before entering the cat house

If you have never been to the Zoo Lights @ Hogle Zoo before I say you should go, just not on the coldest night of the year. Well it probably wasn't the coldest night but pretty dang close.
Proof that Will was in fact there, although he slept the whole way through.

The Fam in front of a ginger bread house.

Tonio and his toothless smile

We also did a gift exchange with all of the cousins, even though we had a limit of just $5 the kids still loved shopping for the cousins and opening their gifts.

P.J. and his toothy uncle Jamie

Henry was so excited to get this watch from Chloe, I had to pry it off of him at bath time the first couple of days he had it.

Miss Izzy got some marvelous dress up stuff from Zeke, speaking of Zeke somehow I happened to get no pictures of him. Just to prove how much he hates getting his picture taken I guess.

We gave Chloe one of our favorite books, "Pajama Time", I highly recommend it.

Two Dot

William got to open his first ever present and to no surprise just wanted to play with the paper. It was a great party and I'm glad we were able to do it before we had to leave.

P.J.'s Very Merry Un-birthday!

2009-12-21T19:12:00.000-08:00

All of P.J's cousins, from both sides. (minus Eva)

Since we were leaving Utah and all our family only 3 short days before P.J.'s birthday we decided to have an early birthday party for the little guy.

P.J. wanted a giant cupcake cake, so there it is in all it's glory. We had so much fun hanging out with all of our families before we had to split!

Happy Thanksgiving!

2009-11-26T19:35:00.000-08:00

We got a whopping 22 lbs. turkey this year, doesn't he look plump and juicy?

We have so much to be thankful for but if I could just say a few off the top of my head:

My wonderful, healthy kids

Being able to crash at my parents house for a year!

My great husband

A JOB

Such a great family!!!!!

We love you all!

Halloween a little late!

2009-11-26T19:30:00.000-08:00

I know, I know, it's been almost a month and I am just posting about Halloween, I am lame. Anyway, P.J. and Henry had to pose in their super stances and poor little Will was just trying to see under his mask. We went trick-or-treating in Chad and Holly's hood and the boys got too much candy but they had sooooo much fun with their cousins.

Leaf Fight?

2009-11-26T19:00:00.000-08:00

Pete's parents have a great backyard with a huge tree and the boys were begging to rake up the leaves to play in them for a couple of weeks.
The day finally came and they couldn't have been happier.

As you can see they got a pretty big pile and even Will had to join in on the fun.

Grandma and William swinging around.

Clean up time!

Oh California!

2009-11-13T21:48:00.000-08:00

My favorite thing so far from this house hunting trip happened the other morning while eating breakfast at a McDonald's in Fremont. Pete myself and Will were sitting at a table and this little Hispanic girl came in and very loudly said, "look Dad, a white baby!" Classic!

Fatty messmaker!!!

2009-11-05T13:59:00.000-08:00

This boy loves to eat, he also love to blow bubbles, spit, swing his hands and any other thing you can think of to make a huge mess with his food.