Christmas 2008

Kylee and Abby with their skirts Grandma D made for them for Christmas. I love to dress my kids in the same clothes for some reason!!! Thanks Grandma.

One of the highlights of the year--the Christmas Eve Party at Shannon and Jim's. All the cousins acting out the nativity and anxiously awaiting the time to open a cousin gift.

Christmas Recital & Santa

Santa with Tucker, Ty, Kylee and little Abby. Waiting in the long line was worth it!

Jaimee plays her duets with her good friend Maddie who lives in our ward. They are really good if I do say so myself.

Tucker, Jaimee, Kylee and Ty getting ready to play the piano at a nursing home in Rigby for their Christmas recital. These are our all time favorite recitals. We love the music and many times they are duets which make them even all the more fun. Tucker, Ty and Kylee played We Three Kings as a trio. It sounded awesome with three hands going on the piano, but it truly was a bit of a challenge teaching them this song. Duets are bad enough, but the trio was triple bad. However, all their hard work paid off. They played beautifully. I can't believe I forgot to get a picture of them playing. I really was nervous that one of them would mess up and when that happens then it's really hard for them to pick back up on where the other two are.

Ty's 9th birthday

Ty and Abby on Ty's birthday on December 16. He had a super great day!! He got tennis shoes, sour candy maker and a rocket. Grandma D gave him an awesome wood burning kit and Grandma & Grandpa Berrett gave him a snowmobile Wii game that he can play at his Grandma D's house. He chose to go to McDonald's for dinner with Mom and Dad. His only disappointment was that we went to play laser tag and it had been rented for the night. However, I took him and Tucker a few weeks later for a boys and Mom date. Ty is a great shooter and nearly beat his Mother.

Ty and Grandma D

Ty with his Santa cake that he chose.

Jaimee's 14th birthday

Jaimee's 14th birthday. Matt and I can't believe we are old enough to have a daughter this old. I think she had a great day. Her Aunt Amy picked her up some white shoes in Utah that Jaimee fell in love with and she was shocked to open them. We have a fun tradition where Matt and I take the birthday girl (or boy) out to dinner. She picked Johnny Carino's. It's so nice when they get older like this and move past the "I want to go to McDonald's stage." We then had a birthday party with family that is close by. Grandma Berrett made her an apron--now Jaimee won't wear mine. Yeah! Grandma also gave her some money that she bought some clothes with. Her treat for the night was Pumpkin Crisp.

Ty, Jaimee and Kylee. They made her a cute girl made out of paper that said Happy Birthday on it. It was way cute and they put a lot of time into it. Jaimee with Grandma D. Grandma made her this cute skirt and got Jaimee a much needed straightner. Jaimee wore this skirt when she sang at the Festival of Trees in Idaho Falls. She has an amazing voice. None of us around here can figure out where she got it from.

Highlight Pictures for Fall 2008

Matt loves to take any and anyone hunting who will go. One of his special memories is taking his Grandpa Cheney hunting for a bull moose 6 or 7 years ago. It didn't require a lot of work just driving Grandpa around and getting out of the truck when a moose would appear in site. This year Grandpa drew a tag for a cow moose out on the river by our house. Matt was ecstatic to get to spend some time with his very special Grandpa, however, luck was on the side of moose this year. This is a picture of Ty, Matt and Tucker pretending to eat vegetarian soup. Matt had this made up for his Grandpa and put as a caption under the picture "vegetarian--indian word for a lousy hunter."

This is our back yard or will be some day. We worked pretty hard back there this past year in putting up

the retaining wall and getting the lawn graded to plant grass seed. The older kids think the only reason we had them was for slave labor in picking up rocks, raking, tamping, shoveling and running to get supplies for us as we work. They are quick to remind us that Kylee and Abby have it lucky as this will all be done for them when they get older.

This is Ty getting his Bear badge in scouts. As many people already know he is a very hands on boy. He loves to make, build, create, and do anything with his hands. So scouting to him is simply the best!!

Kaitlyn, Kylee and Jaimee playing Fear Factor during Thanksgiving Break. This is a family favorite game we play. They are trying to get the gum out of the cool whip and be the first to blow a bubble. Abby and Uncle Jay are in the background.

This is Abby's cousin Ana who was born 3 months after Abby. They are so cute together. This is a picture of them when we had done their hair the same. They looked so much alike that we had to get a shot of the back of them. There have been several times when I do see the back of Ana and for a second think she is Abby.

Ana and Abby

Tucker was able to shoot his first goose this year. Matt and him went hunting and Matt is pretty fast when it comes to hunting and getting ready to shoot an animal. Tucker and him had their guns ready and some geese fly in. Matt goes to shoot and his gun froze up and wouldn't fire. At the same time Tucker shoots his gun and a goose drops to the ground. Tucker yells, "I got it. That was me!" (Sometimes when you are shooting together with other people it can be questionable who actually shot the animal, but Tucker was thrilled because he knew it was him and it was even on his first shot). Way to go Tucker!!

Enjoying the last of the warm days before snow

Matt, Abby, Tucker and Gus our dog. We were out taking a walk one Sunday afternoon enjoying the country atmosphere and the last of the warm days before snow. Here are a few pictures of our walk.

My sweet toothless Kylee

Ty

Abby loading up on rocks. We were throwing these into the slough that was frozen over. It sounded so neat when the rocks would hit the ice--almost like an echo sound.

Ty wins Art Contest 2008

Ty drew a picture about fire safety at school and his picture was chosen as the winner. He was then picked up by the fire truck and taken to school; he was one happy boy!!!

Deer Hunting in Challis 2008

I think if Matt were doing this he'd want more pictures of the deer, but I sure like the pictures of my boys best!! This is Ty above on his hunting trip in Challis.

Matt could probably journal this a lot better than I could since I wasn't actually there, but he likes to take Tucker and Ty to Challis every year and go deer hunting. They stay at a motel there that is owned by a good friend of ours, so they are not really roughing it too bad. This year Greg Wilson and his boys, Nathan and Thomas were able to go. Matt didn't get a deer but Nathan who is 12 shot his first deer and was excited beyond what words can describe.

Nathan, Ty, Tucker and Thomas

Halloween 2008

Jaimee and Abby

Kylee, Grandma D, Tucker the skunk, Ty and Abby

At our home, we all look forward to Halloween. Grandma D started a tradition a while back and we would go to her house and have a Halloween dinner. The dinner would consist of food made to look like weird things. Our kids look forward to this every year and so this year I thought I would introduce my side of the family to this fun tradition. A few of the things we made were monster hamburgers, rotten apple cider, spider web dip, frankenstein jello, and topped it off with kitty litter cake. When Jaimee first saw this dessert a few years ago, she literally about gagged. She has since gotten used to it and even did a demonstration of how to make this edible dessert at school. However, she still cannot bring herself to eat it.

Shannon, Grandma and Grandpa Berrett and Cambria eating the Halloween Dinner.

This is Abby and her Daddy getting ready for the Family Halloween Party. I made Abby a tutu and she felt like a princess in it. Matt shocked us all and wore his "loose" water suit.

Ty is Iron Man!!