Never A Boring Day!

As I was going through pictures the other day, I ran across these ones. I couldn't help but share them!

Brigham and Jensen always tell me that they are going to be Chefs when they grow up. (At least Brigham has stuck to that one...Jensen tells us now that he is going to be a Fisherman. Of course that comes as no surprise!!)
They were so excited when their Grandma "Ellie" (my mom) sent them these Chef outfits. We love to cook together in the kitchen! (most times that is) :) Their favorite things are spaghetti/pasta, enchiladas, lasagna, stroganoff, cookies, cupcakes, and brownies. (They don't get too picky when it comes to the deserts!) And they get the habit of snitching too much before it is all done from their parents....oops!

These little guys are quite the duo!!

And then there is our sweet little Kason who gets so excited when Mom tries to confine him for a little while by putting him in a laundry basket! I don't know if they come any sweeter and easier than this little one!!
You are too dang cute Kason!!
Then we have the ring leader of them all....their Daddy!! He was so excited to show off his first goose to his boys! I personally think that geese are too pretty to kill, but Mark reassures me that there are plenty out there. I think we will stick with the big game though, the meat seems to taste a little better!! Mark just enjoys hunting whatever he can and can't wait until his boys can do it with him!

It's A Fishy Party!!

I cannot believe it, but Jensen turned 3 on the 8th of November!

Of course we had a full blown "fishy party" to celebrate.

We started the day by making "whales in a bottle."

(Something so simple makes a fish fanatic SO happy!!)

I bet you can't guess what Jensen wanted for his birthday present! ...Yep, a real live fish! We all went to the store and he got to pick one out.

He was so EXCITED!!

He named it "Socka Locka Blah"!! (And you can't shorten it or he will correct you!)

In our family, it has become a tradition that the cake is a pretty big thing...I was pretty proud of this one! And so were the little boys. :)


Mark fixed up Jensen's real fishing pole (hook and all) and he fished for his presents...thanks to Brigham who "hooked" the fish! :)

Jensen loves playing his pretend/air guitar, but thanks to Logan he now has more options! Daddy had just as much or more fun with it as the little boys. :)

To my surprise the cake actually tasted pretty darn good!

(The jello part was the best!)Jensen was pretty darn happy when he opened up "Chachie Nanna" Grandma and Grandpa's package and saw more fish stuff!! They know him well!

Showing off the finished project.

"It is THIS big!!"

Happy Birthday Jensen!!!

I love Jensen because...he is always so happy. Even when he was first born, he was the most peaceful, happy and most patient baby I had ever seen! He hardly ever cried even when he would be starving!

I love Jensen because he makes us laugh ALL of the time!! He comes up with the funniest sayings and it never ceases to amaze us! Things like telling his cousin on the phone that he goes to the "Walmart preschool" and when he likes something he is eating he says, "Mmm, Gorgeous!"

I love Jensen because he has an amazing imagination and is playing pretend nearly every second of the day. He loves adventures with his stuffed dog named "Buster." Buster goes with him everywhere!
I love Jensen because...he absolutely LOVES Fish!! (And that is probably an understatement!) Everything and anything is about fish. He is constantly "catching" BIG fishies! I just love it! He has instilled within him I think even a greater love for fish than his Daddy! :)
I love Jensen because he is his brothers' "bestest" buddies. He and Brigham love to just be together. They never really want to be a part. He just adores Kason, and sometimes Kason thinks that he loves him too much! :)
I love Jensen because he is so determined. He gets a look on his face that just means business and he will work on a task until he gets it accomplished.
I love Jensen because he loves to cuddle with his Mommy! He is so dang cute I just want to eat him up! He also gives the best hugs and kisses!
I love Jensen because he is such a good boy and wants to do what is right. I am so grateful that Heavenly Father sent him to our family!! Thank you Jensen for helping our imaginations grow and learning to love the little things in life. You make me so happy and you keep me laughing!!

I love you "Clear to the Heavens Back Down!"

More Halloween Fun!!

Brigham made this cool spider web in their room and I had no idea until he came and got me to come and see it. Now that is pretty creative!! (Although it was a little tricky getting to what we needed in the room...most difficult obstacle coarse I have been through in a while!!)

I have to say these are definitely the CUTEST cowboys and little duck you have ever seen!!Jensen wouldn't let me get a picture of him trick-or-treating, so I literally had to catch him on the run!
Brigham posing with his friends at the trunk-or-treat.

Daddy and Kason handed out the candy and chatted with the "fellas."

Carving the Pumpkins!

The Monday before Halloween, we decided to carve pumpkins for Family Night. Well, I was not the only one in town who had that idea apparently...when we went to purchase our pumpkins earlier that day, there was not a one to be found!! (And I wasn't about to pay $10 for 2 pumpkins.) So in panic, I called up Mark hoping that he still was on his way home from work and he picked one up for us at a local grocery store in a very small town that he passes through to get home. We only paid a $1.50 for the 2 pumpkins and I felt like I had really pulled a smooth one!! Occurances like this just make me giddy! :) I beat the system!!

Brigham told his Daddy that he had to carve it JUST like his bucket...I think he gets that from his Mom. :)

Brigham was pretty dang proud of his jack-o-lantern!
Kason just wanted to eat it...and he did!!Kason was way more into the pumpkin thing than Jensen...he was just happy to be there!!

Can you tell we are EXCITED!!

Happy Halloween!!

We had such a fun halloween this year! It consisted of a kids party in the afternoon, a jack-o-lantern pizza for dinner, trick-or-treating at the Teton House/ward trunk-or-treat, and then ending the night partying with friends watching the classic "Charlie Brown and the Great Pumpkin" while eating scones and hot wasil.

P.S. This picture was taken before the massive consumption of candy...just think what Jensen looked like at the end of the day!! :)

Don't Know How That Happened?

Check out the post before this one to see what Kason can do!! (For some reason it posted after my latest post, maybe because the video was downloaded a while ago?)

Oops!!

It all began on the morning of July 30th, 2008. Mark called me bright and early congratulating me on becoming a "Grandma"!?! Yes, that is what I heard..."Grandma?!? I thought, what are you saying?" Well, low and behold our dog Tess really was pregnant!! Mark kept telling me that he was pretty darn sure that she had gotten pregnant, but I didn't believe it .... well that is until our seven little puppies decided to make themselves known!!! They are a Border Collie - Lab mix and they are cuter than ever! Now we just have to get rid of them all!!! It was way fun to have the whole experience though with the little boys and Mark has especially been a proud "Papa"!!

We kept having to push some of the "fatty's" away for a moment so that the runt would survive. Tess with all her pups.

(Two females that were both black and five males..two of them were brown.) The little boys were so excited and wanted to hold them all the time. Thanks again to their little buddy Jake, for letting them live at his house :)
One week old.
Trying not to drop them!
The boys loved taking the puppies to the park to play!! Kason thought they were pretty exciting too! It was hillarious to see all the puppies bombard Tess as soon as she laid down...of course they were famished after such a long day of play!!
Five weeks old.

(No, not the beard...the puppies!!)

Brigham absolutely loved just holding them. He was their little body guard.

(He wanted to keep them all!)

Kason's New Trick!

Kason thinks that it is time to keep up with his older brothers. He is so close to crawling it is scary!! He is so DANG cute and we all just have fun making him laugh...we don't really entertain him, he entertains us!!

Oh, and he broke his first tooth on the 8th of Oct. (7 months old). Yeah Kason!!!

Happy Birthday Daddy!!!

On Friday (Sept. 12) we celebrated Mark's 28th birthday! I kept teasing him about being so old, but I had to be careful because I am not too far behind him. I just can't believe how time fly's!!! The boys and I had just as much fun "getting the party started" (as Brig and Jence would say) as we did the actual party. Of course we had to get party hats, blowers, streamers, balloons, etc... I just let the boys go to town and be in charge...with the list of items that is. :) It was hillarious and we had a blast!! (I just hope Mark had as much fun as we did!)

I just want Mark to know how much I love him. I couldn't be more blessed to have him for my eternal companion. I tell people all the time that I am pretty dang lucky that I get Mark when the times will get rough. He can build pretty much anything out of nothing , fix whatever needs fixing, is a dang good dutch oven chef, extremely hard worker, true Scout (in every sense of the word), and loves shooting things!! I always wanted a "Manly Man," and somehow I got it...and more. But most importantly, he is the best Husband and Father I could have ever dreamed of. He is a person who just wants to do what is right.

Thank You Sweetie for all that you do and for just being you. Thank you for Always making us laugh!!! Thank you for having the hobbies you do that create those precious memories with our family. Thank you for always being so good to me even though I sometimes don't deserve it and for being patient with an unpatient wife. And especially, thank you for being the Amazing example you are for our boys. You are the GREATEST!!! We love you "clear up to the heavens and back down!!"

The boys were so excited when Daddy finally got home. They threw on his party hat and "got the party started."

(And of course they had to pose for me. :) )

This is my favorite picture...it just makes me laugh!! Mark has one of his favorite things in hand and so does Kason. These are two happy fellas'!

Kason just adores his Daddy!! Brigham was trying to see how many "aloons" he could hold, Jensen was just excited he had a balloon, and Kason just wanted to eat them!!

"The Cabin That Mark Built"

This Cabin is Amazing!! It has an Awesome view of Mt. Sawtell and Island Park Reservoir. Mark did all of the work except for the excavation, foundation, electrical, and plumbing!! He is very talented as you can see. It is still for Sale though, so if your looking for a Cabin in one of the most Beautiful Places this is for You!! Don't worry, we would cut you a Deal!

Redd Family Reunions

We spent our last weekend of our trip doing Redd Family Reunions. My brother Bryan and his wife were in charge of my sibling one and it was a blast! We had a nice BBQ, went swimming of course and then went to an outdoor movie shown on a big blow up screen. It is amazing how big our family is getting. The "Redd" name is pretty secured on that end with my brothers six boys. My Mom would like some more granddaughters, but since we aren't fulfilling that wish we are leaving it up to Scott and Natalie...good luck on that one. The count is twelve grandsons to three granddaughters!!

(Mark is holding Brig, My brother Scott is holding Jensen, and Corbin is just doing good to keep himself a float!) The little ones wanted a try at the "human rubberband". If you have not seen or tried this it is a crack up. You get four adults in there and you really go flying! To make a long story short, that is my cousin Taylor's wife, Summer, who ends up that her sister is in our ward up here...and better yet, Mark is their Home Teacher. What a small, small world huh?!
Brigham getting ready to launch his rocket at my Dad's family reunion. My Dad would have been all over this event! He loved anything with a machine!!
Brig and Jence think their cousins are just hillarious!!
Payton and Kason having some bonding time together.
My nephew Brock holding Kason who is just tuckered out from all the fun.

Some of my Dad's siblings (from left to right): Aseneth, Ada (with her husband Truman on the left) and Tracy. My Aunt Cecilia and Uncle Chester attended as well. We had a lot of family attend and it was so wonderful to see everyone.