Meet Chief...

So we have decided to try our luck with another puppy. We are pretty excited for this one. We first saw Chief when he was just a week old and his eyes weren't open yet. Now he is about a month old. We go visit him every couple of weeks. He should be ready to come home with us on December 16. He seems to be the most vocal and chubby one of the bunch. The kids can't wait to get him home.

Update

Wow, where has time gone? This fall has been a crazy, busy one. We have officially entered "birthday season" in our family seeing how 3 out of 5 people in our bunch have birthdays in the fall. Needless to say I haven't even considered Christmas ideas. Kiersten turned 4 and Wyatt is going on 7. We won't tell how old (or young) Dave is going to be.
October flew by with us having to move and get settled in a new place. We are enjoying being in Georgetown and living up the canyon has been really nice. It is so pretty up here and awesome to watch deer out your window more often than not. We are especially grateful that Wyatt did not have to change schools with this move and we were also able to stay in the same ward. It made the transition easier.
We are thankful for all that we have been blessed with and really feel that we are being watched over and the Lord is mindful of our needs. We are looking forward to the upcoming holiday season and being able to spend time with friends and family that we don't see that often!

Thanks again Amy and Trevor for the family pictures. We love them!

Camping Part 2

So we were able to enjoy another relaxing weekend out camping this past week. Saturday was awesome. The weather was great and Dave and I got to spend some one on one time together while Grandma and Grandpa watched the kids. Dave took me on a wheeler ride where we used to go years ago. But I probably hadn't been in about 6 years. It was great. We found "our tree" where Dave carved our names not long after we were married. It was fun to reminisce and remember the good old days.

Our tree.

The love birds. :)

We had this guy ride through camp looking for a trail. He happens to be in our new ward. He was really friendly and offered to give the kids a ride on the wagon before he headed back out of camp.

A fun surprise.

The kids begged for several rides on the dirt bike and the wheelers. Here's Dave with the boys. All in all it was a fun getaway.

Camping Trip

It's sad to say that we just enjoyed our first real camping trip this weekend together as a family and summer is practically over. But we did have a pretty good time inspite of the weather that seemed a bit chilly for my liking. The kids had fun painting rocks, riding bikes, shooting bows, roasting marshmallows, and going for nature walks. It was great just to get away from everyday worries for awhile. Luckily, we get to go camping again this weekend. Trying to make up for lost time. :)

Wyatt did pretty good at taking some pics for us.

Our little nature walk on Sunday.

The three stooges. Aren't they cute?!

The kids' proud collection of painted rocks.

Fun times!

Life is Good!

Other than the fact that summer is going by much too quickly, life is good. I can't complain. My family is together and we've made some great memories the past couple of months. I have much to be grateful for. Thank you all for making life worth living!

Isagenix

So Dave and I went on a new diet plan this last month and it worked! In just 11 days I lost 11 lbs. and Dave lost 18lbs. It's great and we both feel so much better physically. My energy level has improved drastically. If you would like to know more about it let me know and you can also visit www.amberhopkins.isagenix.com. It's a real simple plan to follow and is reasonably priced as well.

How was your weekend?

Our weekend was terrible. Just when you think things can't get any worse, they do. I went to mom's for the weekend so that Dave could finish oiling and polyurethaning the railing and T&G in our house. It should have been a nice, relaxing weekend for me and the kids, but it turned out to be quite stressful and frustrating.

Saturday Dave called and said that he had left his oiling sponge on top of the plastic that was covering the carpet overnight. No big deal, right? WRONG! Turns out that linseed oil burns through plastic, carpet, and carpet pad. We had no idea that it would do something like that. So Dave cut the carpet out and now we are left with a big hole. Thankfully it is behind the couch so we don't have to look at it all the time, and I think we have carpet scraps left over to patch it with. So all is not lost.

And to add insult to injury, on Sunday we were driving home and Wyatt starting feeling sick. So we got to Geneva and pulled over so he could take care of business. While we were waiting for Wyatt two cars passed us. The last one must have flipped a rock at my back window and this is what it looks like now...

...it shattered and completely fell out. I was beyond words and couldn't believe it. So we bundled up, turned the heat on high and headed for home. The roads were wet and slushy, so needless to say all the spray from the tires came in the back window and coated our stuff. It's filthy. I felt sick, as you can imagine. But the good news is that things have got to get better from here, right??!!

On a lighter note, I caught a couple of funny moments with Coy on camera. He loves to dress up in gloves and boots and hats all the time. Then he gets on his little wheeler and says "vrmmm, vrmmm." It doesn't usually matter whose gear he has on just as long as he has some. This time he grabbed Kiersten's boots and gloves.

The scratch on his face his from a fall he took off his bouncy horse earlier in the week. Then he put Wyatt's hat on with one ear sticking out...

...I thought he looked like Dopey on Snow White and The 7 Dwarfs. Funny kid. At least we have our kids to laugh at, or I might just cry. We're looking forward to brighter days, and hope they come quickly!

Deep Freeze...

I don't know about your neck of the woods, but it is just plain cold here! It's time for another good snow storm to lighten things up a bit. It seems like everything is just hard and iced over. The kids keep wanted to build a snowman, and don't understand that the snow we have just isn't snowman building snow. So we've been trying to keep ourselves occupied inside, but we're ready for a change.

I found this picture of Dave on his sled last year at Bues Hill. That was a fun time. We need to do it again. On a day when the wind isn't blowing, of course! Hope you're all surviving and staying warm!

Favorite Holiday Pictures

Christmas was a success at our house this year. Santa spoiled our kids and we enjoyed watching their excitement while they opened their gifts. Most of all, we enjoyed time spent together with family and creating memories that will last a lifetime. Here are a few of our favorite pictures.

Wyatt and Kiersten as Mary and Joseph during our reinactment of the Nativity.

Wyatt gave endless rides to Kiersten and Coy on his new Mini Z.


Can you see the grin on Coy's face? He loves the snowmachines.

Kiersten and the latest addition to her baby collection. She's quite the little mother.

Coy's all ready to go to work with his new tools from the cousins.

We hope you all had a Merry Christmas and Happy New Year and look forward to making more memories in 2009!