Stephanie Watt Family

2011-11-01T22:40:00.000-07:00

Kenzie's end of year soccer pictures. I just realized that she is wearing her school shoes and not her soccer shoes. Her soccer shoes are hot pink. Just her style.

2011-10-29T17:06:00.000-07:00

Here are Kenzie's pictures from Homecoming. She had lots of fun and I was a proud mamma. I love this girl.

2011-10-13T20:15:00.000-07:00

Kenzie finally finished her soccer season. I was kind of happy this year to end it early. Her ankle needs some recovery time. She is so busy all the time with soccer, work, and school.

Her junior class took first place in the powder puff game and it was a lot of fun to watch. I am already starting to worry about her graduating. She makes my life so eventful. Finding fun ways to ask a boy to the dance. Homecoming dress. Dates with all my girlfriends here to check out her date and send her off on that special night. Sports. Friends. It will be so boring until Ryker gets old enough to really get involved with life. Ryker will be starting basketball again next Wednesday. He is excited for that. He loves being active also just like Kenzie and I am so grateful for that. They do not like to sit around the house.

All of Kenzie's guy friends are so good with Ryker. They will take Ryker and play soccer with him or take him to get treats. During warm ups at their home soccer games they will put Ryker on the side lines and kick the ball to him to help him get better ball handling skills. Troy cringes. You know he does not want him to play soccer only Football. But, Ryker may have another love, a love for soccer. Thanks to his big sis.

Troy is in the middle of harvest and things are looking great. We did get rained out last week so he had to quit for the weekend. But, he is up and running again. We are looking forward to getting a few days with mom and dad this next weekend. So I am off to scrub. It can never be clean enough we company comes. Love you all.

2011-08-18T19:33:00.000-07:00

These are some of Kenzie's latest pictures. She had a best friend with her to take pictures. Jessie is like another daughter for me. She has been best friends with Kenzie since they were living in the same neighborhood when they were four years old. Best Friends Forever. I love these two girls.

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

The reunion was a blast. Why wouldn't it be with all that family. Thanks everyone for the great time.

2011-06-10T18:58:00.000-07:00

Well this was a big week. Kenzie turned sixteen. She picked out her pearl ring, Nielson family tradition. And Ryker lost his first tooth. My kids are doing so good. Jordan loves spending time with grandpa and grandma in Washington and will be coming home soon to visit. We do miss him. Troy is busy farming and working with Ryker on his baseball. I love summer.

2011-06-01T19:59:00.000-07:00

Here is what my wrist looks like now that the cyst on the top has be removed and the carpel tunnel underneath has been fixed. The swelling is starting to go down and today for the first time I am starting to move it a little. I still can not do too much. I swear the top part of my hand hurts worse than the underneath. But, I am glad to have it done and soon get back to work. It is pretty boring sitting at home not being able to do anything. Poor Troy is working overtime to take care of me and going to work. But luckily we had a long weekend with all the rain he did not have to go to work. I really missed him today when he went back.

Our basement is officially tore apart again. We are fixing the leaks in the family room and in Kenzie's room. All the mold will be gone by tomorrow and we can start fresh. I am so happy to have this fixed. I literary broke down and started crying over Christmas. It was been flooding for years and we have to pull the carpet up, suck up the water, dry the carpet, pay to have someone stretch the carpet, and get it cleaned every time. I am so sick of spending all that money.

Hope everyone is doing well. We are so excited to see everyone for the 4th of July.

2011-05-22T19:15:00.000-07:00

Kenzie did well at her state track meet. She came home with a eighth, seventh, fourth, and third medal. That is great for placing in all four events that you went in. I think she is ready for it to all be over. It is exhausting to run your legs to death for two days in a row. Thanks mom, Ashton and Jordan for coming and supporting her.

2011-05-14T12:20:00.000-07:00

Kenzie had district this weekend and she did well. She will be going to state this coming weekend in the 100, 200, 4x100, and medley. Their medley team is ranked first in the state.

2011-05-08T07:23:00.000-07:00

Track and baseball have been keeping us going non-stop for the last month. I was feeling bad that Kenzie has to come home to an empty house almost every night. Ryker has ball practice three nights a week and one game a week. So we are never home after she gets done with track practice. But, I am looking forward to the next few weeks. Kenzie has district track this Thursday and Friday and then off to state the week after that. She is still ranked third and fourth in the state and their medley team is ranked first in the state. She is really pushing herself this year and will stay till almost everyone else is gone at practice. The coach pulled her out of class the other day at school and told her how impressed he was with her this year and how much he can see she is really putting her all into it. I am so proud of both of my kids. They would play baseball and run track 24 hours a day if they could. I know Ryker has us out in the yard tossing him a baseball if we ever have a moment to sit.

We love to see all your pictures. Your kids are growing up so fast. I am looking forward to this 4th of July get away. That way we can give all those little ones lots of loves. Miss you all.

2011-04-18T16:19:00.000-07:00

Fun in Washington

2011-04-18T08:55:00.000-07:00

We are so proud of Jordan. He is doing very well at University of Idaho and enjoys every minute of it. This is the second invite that Jordan received to join an Honor Society. They first one he did not join. He said too many people were ask to join it and he did not feel like it was as special if so many people could get in. Now this is the second invite. We will see how many people get invited to join this one.

Mom and I were able to go visit him this weekend for Mom's Weekend. We had brunch, took at potting class, and were able to visit with him. We should have taken a before and after picture. When we first saw him he had not shaved or washed his hair for two months. He ran out of shampoo and stated the first week was really oily but after that his hair was fine. We begged to differ. So the first thing we did was take him to the hotel, cut his hair, and made him shower. I am not kidding he was in there for a good thirty minutes. He said that in his dorm room shower it is so little that he is not able to bend down at all so he loved having the extra room. He looks so much better now. Kenzie, Jessie, and Ryker were brought over the next day by grandpa Nielson. They were able to visit and then mom and dad left for Washington. Thanks mom for coming to mothers weekend with us. It was fun.

2011-04-09T21:02:00.001-07:00

I am so proud of Kenzie. She has set new personal records and finally beat her best friend Jessie in the two hundred this week. She practices so hard and makes sure she is one of the last ones off the field when practicing. She still really needs to push herself to make it to state but she is getting closer.

Ryker is loving baseball and we finally gave up on trying to do wrestling and baseball at the same time. His baseball is Monday, Wednesday, and Friday. His wrestling was Tuesday and Wednesday. So we gave up the wrestling. His is loving his baseball. It was snowing today so he made his dad take him in the shop to go practice.

As for me the salon is sold and it will be interesting to see how the new owners and the current staff can merge together. They are changing our color line, making some changes that I really do not like and a few other things that are setting the girls and myself off. But it is their salon. We just have to try to smile and endure. I am getting excited to go to Washington on Thursday and then off to Moscow for Mothers Weekend with Mom and Jordan. I Miss his and I think he is finally missing home a little. His aunt Teresa and PA went to see him a couple weeks ago and he would not stop calling them asking where they were at. If they were getting close yet. He called me this week wondering when I was going to get there. I told him not till next week. He thought for sure it was this week. But, at the same time, he would never admit he misses his family. He is excited to go to Priest Lake and Silverwood. Which is a first for him.

We hope everyone is well. We miss you all.

2011-04-02T11:22:00.000-07:00

Oh the joys of having a ditsy girls with ditsy friends. They coincidently let Toby on the loose last night so they jumped in Kenzie's car to go get him. He was in the middle of a field so Kenzie jumped out of her car to go get him. This was midnight and it was pitch black. The other two girls left in Kenzie's car had the bright idea to drive into the field so Kenzie could have the light from the car to see where she was going...... Meanwhile Kenzie had caught up to Toby and went to pick him up. Remember now this is pitch dark. She bent down and realized, there was a skunk right there with Toby. So ya, her and Toby both were shot with a blast of skunk essence. The skunk and Toby both took off and Kenzie was in the chase again. But by now the two other girls in the car had caught up to her and were driving all over trying to give her some light. Finally they were able to get Toby, throw him in the trunk, and take the two stinky things back to my house. Well, this is where I woke up. Now we have our run ins with the skunks all the time. They like to get into the dog food in the garage. So I go check to see if the garage was smelly. Yep and there sits Toby and Sadie locked in the garage. I think man that is weird that it can smell so bad in here when the skunk obviously is not in here just Toby and Sadie. So not knowing what the girls had done I let Toby into the house so I can open the garage and air it out. Well, guess what the smell was even worse. Still not knowing it was Toby. So that is kinda how my night went. Finally the girls told me the story after they woke up at 10:00 in the morning. So now we have to get everything washed, the car looked at, and my daughters head examined. What a night. What were they thinking. To top if off the Riners get here tonight. More girls to keep track of and see what they get into.

2011-03-28T20:13:00.000-07:00

I'm a little nervous. I just received a phone call from my boss and he is selling the salon. I really do not know what is to come. The new owner of the Fantastic Sams in Idaho Falls is buying our Blackfoot salon. Which he has wanted to do from some time now. He will come in and tell us how he is going to paint, change walls, etc. So in some way the new settings will be nice. Just it will be different to have a new owner. Worry, worry, worry.......

2011-03-25T22:52:00.000-07:00

Troy took Kenzie and some of her friends to the old Indian school house tonight. The story behind this school house is, long ago before they had built this school on the Indian reservation they had the Indian doctor look the ground over. He said this piece of ground had many bad spirits on it and to not build it here. They did end up building it there and after a few months of its opening it is said that the school teacher went insane, locked all the children inside the school and set it on fire, burning everyone. The school building did not burn all the way down and now is fenced off and stands in the middle of no where all by itself. Back to my story, Troy had been telling Kenzie and some of her friends about this school house and they wanted to go. Troy had been once when he was in high school and never made it to the front doors. While walking there the two front doors swung open. His friends and himself all ran as fast as they could. Well tonight while he took the girls there, Kenzie and her friends were just by the fence surrounding the school taking pictures of them by the old school house. They heard a loud pop and then a white floating thing came out the front door. Kenzie and Jessie both screamed at the same time, leaving the other friend behind because she had her back to the school house getting her picture taken. Troy was not going any where near the school because of the first time he had been there and had stayed on the road with the car. He also heard and saw everything. They took off out of there as fast as Kenzie's car could go. Troy said those girls were shaking so bad that when he dropped Jessie off at her house her mother asked if they were on some drugs or something. I love that Troy gets to have these fun experiences with the girls. Now they will always have that to remember together. And now Kenzie never wants to driver her car again. But want to take Madison there when she comes to visit. I think I will opt to stay home with Ryker again......

2011-03-20T18:14:00.000-07:00

We went to the car show at the Holt Arena this weekend and it was fun to see all the old cars.

2011-03-18T21:29:00.000-07:00

Kenzie had her first school track meet today. She had a great start on her times. They are the same as her ending times last year. Cross our fingers for a good year.

Kenzie, Jessie, and Rikki. First, second, and third places every time.

2011-03-17T19:01:00.000-07:00

Ryker had built a trap last year to catch his leprechaun. He decided it was time to try again. It sure is fun to have kids.

Our night with Sanni

2011-03-11T09:49:00.001-08:00

Kenzie had one of her Finland friends over for the night and we had a lot of fun. Went to the Sandlot, and the Outer Limits.

2011-03-05T15:16:00.001-08:00

Ryker had his first wrestling tournament today. It was fun at first, that was because he pinned the kids. Then the next three were not so fun. He had a bye. Then lost on points. Then lost on points again. He was ready to be done. His poor little knees were so bruised and had lost his will to try any longer that day. But he is up and going now and is excited for his next tournament. This is one of the biggest events. There were kids from Utah, Montana, and surrounding areas.

2011-02-28T20:19:00.000-08:00

2011-02-18T12:55:00.000-08:00

Kenzie ran Simplot Games today. She only had to run one race. It was fast and we were out of there in record time.

2011-02-11T12:28:00.000-08:00

More pictures:

2011-02-11T12:17:00.000-08:00

This was a long week but we are so grateful we were able to go and spend time with Grandpa McGary and mom and dad. I wish we did not have to leave. It was a beautiful ceremony and all the talks were very inspiring. Thank you mom for giving us the opportunity to spend so much time with grandpa and grandma when we were young. Memories will remain in our minds forever. We love you Grandma.

2011-02-09T22:23:00.000-08:00

2011-02-09T22:16:00.000-08:00

Here are some of the adventures from our trip. I must say, there is never a dull moment.

Ryker was always busy with his cousins. Entertaining, homework, basketball

games, and cinnamon rolls.

Furniture of our own

2011-01-28T20:50:00.000-08:00

Finally we welcomed four new things into our home. Two couches, a dresser for Kenzie, and a new bed for Troy and I. These were much needed. Our old ones were so worn out. I am so excited to start new. It feels like Troy and I are finally starting to acquire our own furniture. Not just hand me downs. Speaking of hand me downs, mom what should we do with the water bed frame that was in Ryker's room? Store it till we can move it to Washington or donate it to DI?

Kenzie Track Camp

2011-01-13T19:29:00.000-08:00

We just found these pictures of Kenzie's track camp this past summer. They had so much fun. It looks like more playing than running but it was hot and they needed to cool down. Simplot Track Camp.

Jordan leaves for Moscow

2011-01-09T20:50:00.000-08:00

Well Jordan leaves for Moscow tomorrow. We went out earlier this week and went to dinner and a movie but I did not feel like that was enough time with him. So we went out again. We went to the Outer Limits in Pocatello. We played laser tag, games, and then went to dinner. It is hard to have him leave again. I know this time it will be for a longer period of time. He is doing very well at the University of Idaho. We received a letter from U of I this week. He made the Dean's List and now he is getting flyer's in the mail daily wanting him to join some kind of club. He is really excited about his medical career and said, "mom you know if I keep my grades up like this I can go to any medical school I want." I know his dad is blown away. Mark thought he would fail horribly. He told me there is no way Jordan can do this. If he is lucky he will pull a "C" average his first year. I told Mark he had better never tell Jordan that. I am so proud of him. Jordan is taking Math 140, biology, biology lab, chemistry, and chemistry lab. He loves working in the lab. He was in English, Biology, Math, and of course his Ultimate Frisbee class. Oh, I forgot to mention that he has been running with the track club up there. He is so impressed with how fast everyone is. He is not on the team. Just a walk on. But, at least he is trying. Like I said, I am so proud of him.

2011-01-07T20:59:00.001-08:00

Just to warn everyone.....Kenzie passed her drivers test today. She officially has a license. So be prepared, you never know just whose door step she will show up on. HA HA HA. :)

2011-01-01T17:11:00.000-08:00

We had so much fun in Washington. Grandpa and Grandma made sure we were never just sitting. The bouncy houses were the best. Ryker never wanted to leave the shop. I know both of my kids, Ryker and Kenzie, would live there if they had the chance.

Jhett's Snowman

2010-12-28T11:37:00.000-08:00

Once there was a snowman, snowman, snowman,

Once there was a snowman

small, small, small....

Love you little Jhetters.

2010-12-26T21:01:00.000-08:00

The Kids love the new 360 toy that Santa brought for Christmas.

We have not shut that thing down all day.

We just added more and more people

as the day went on.

It was so much fun.

I do have to say I am missing my family a lot.

I thought I could make it buy I am having a hard time

not visiting Washington in over a year.

Here are some of our adventures for

today. Hope everyone had a great time.

Kenzie and Jord went to Island Park with

their dad on the 24th so we had Christmas

a little early. It was fun having the Riners enjoy

watching Jordan and Kenzie open their presents with

us. I love having other people here.

2010-12-15T17:16:00.000-08:00

Ryker had his Christmas concert today. He is so funny to watch. Always making faces like his big brother Austin. We even had the chance to get a picture of his teacher, Mrs. Hillman, with Ryker. It was an awesome day.

2010-12-11T15:05:00.001-08:00

Here is Rykers last basketball game this year. He loves to play. I wish they could play all year long. These three kids together will be life long friends. They were in the same kindergarten class and now the same first grade class. Which in Snake River is amazing. They have three to four classes of the same grade. Gracie, Conner, and Ryker love basketball. They would go out to recess and talk about the upcoming basketball year and get so excited they (Gracie and Conner) would start crying. They were so popular the girls started asking for autographs. Ryker ask me if they would have cheerleaders at their games. They have had a blast. We had one practice cancelled this year because the gym was being used for voting. They wanted to come and pratice in Ryker's shop. No heat , snow, I don't think so. Too cold.

2010-11-09T20:55:00.000-08:00

Here are some pictures of Kenzie's state soccer.

Kenzie will kick my butt for showing this one!

soccer takes state

2010-10-27T08:42:00.000-07:00

Just in cases not everyone has heard....Kenzie's soccer team took state. They played three days in Twin Falls, one game a day, and ended up walking away with first place on a rainy, wet, Saturday. I was thinking, what is it about Kenzie and state. In track and soccer, the state competitions are always freezing and wet. She does do better when she is cold. I will post pictures when I get the chance. Ya Snake River Panthers! First state soccer champion in school history.

2010-08-31T20:48:00.001-07:00

Does having a son leave ever get any easier. I keep his room closed. Thinking, I need to get in there and put things away, clean the sheets and pillow cases, etc.... I just open the door look at all his pictures and get all teary eyed again. Close the door and will try another day. I miss my son. Talking to him just is not enough. I think Kenzie would have a party in his room to celebrate him leaving. I don't think I know she would. Mom and dad, if you get this before this weekend, Jordan will be calling you to see if he can come visit, work, for the holiday weekend. Give him lots of love for me.

Kenzie is still loving soccer. Ryker is keeping me busy with swim lessons. Everyone is finally back in school. Jake and Austin started this week. We are finally up and going again. The fair starts this weekend. I love going to the fair. We would go every day when we lived in town but now that we live in Pingree it is a little too far to go to the fair everyday.

Hope everyone is doing well. Love Ya.

2010-08-29T21:03:00.000-07:00

This is Rykers latest phase in taking a bath. At first it was the goggles in the bath. Today he decided to go all out with the shower cap and goggles. He sure keeps us laughing. I did get him to take the shower cap off to wash his hair.

Things are going good. Jordan seems to be doing good in school. Every time I try talking to him he is too busy. Kenzie is keeping me running with soccer this fall. She is starting this for her first time ever. The coach tried all summer long to get her to try out because of her speed. He said that soccer is 90% speed and 10% ability. I am still waiting for the ability part to catch up. She is doing her best and I am so proud of her for sticking with it. I better go, time to get Ryker to bed. Love you all.

2010-08-09T16:40:00.000-07:00

Our nephew Zach was married this Saturday. As stressed as I was to try to help Steph and get things done, everything turned out great. The wedding is perfect, the DJ was amazing, and everyone made it out in one piece. Poor Ryker had tripped on the sidewalk and cracked his head pretty hard right before he was to walk the rings down the isle. Oh he did not want to walk with a big goose egg on his forehead. But, he made it through it and even had a smile on his face. These are some of the pictures. All of them are posted on facebook it you really want to look at them. I loved her dress. I hope that when Kenzie gets married she will consider having it at this same place. We will just have to save money for it. It is amazing this is all in a ladies back yard and she just rents it out for $1,700 a night. It is all set up for weddings with rock fountain, waterfalls, and the river running back behing everything. AMAZING.

Everyone is busy this summer. Jordan's last day of work is tomorrow before he gets ready to go to school. Kenzie is loving her time with grandma and grandpa Nielson in Washington. It seems like every time I call her they have gone shopping that day. Troy said, "Now I know where you get it from." I have to say I am not even in the same class as my mom. The three boys, Skylar, Jake, and Austin have been able to visit quite a bit this summer. Which is great. Ryker loves having his brothers here. Troy and I are busy keeping everyone feed. I have never had this many kids at my house for so long. It really is nice. We hope you are doing well.

2010-06-27T08:56:00.001-07:00

Summer is flying by. Jordan is still working at Subway, awaiting a call from Uncle Brian or Grandpa Nielson, to ask him to help. No such luck yet.

Kenzie will finish drivers ed this Monday. She is so excited. I am a little worried. Even with the instructor in the car she can not keep from speeding. Once school starts, which is August 18, she will be driving. Pretty scary.

Ryker is still playing Tball and taking swim lessons. Summer use to be my time to relax. But with drivers ed, swimming lessons, and tball, the kids keep me running. Mark has been away on work most of this month. So i get to have Kenz with me more than normal. Jord is 18 now so he just stays here at the house with me through the summer. It is nice to have them home.

Troy is busy as ever. Farming just seems to get more and more busy every year.

We are so excited, today we get to go see Baby Kenna, and Baby Kate in Idaho Falls. It is so funny that Ryker still likes to call them that. And that Kenna is insistant on it. We love our little girls.

Well I hope everyone is doing well. We miss you all. I am sure it will be awhile before we get up to Washington. We have a kid in college so there goes our extra play money. Have a fun summer.

2010-06-20T16:56:00.000-07:00

Here are some more of Jordan at Graduation.

2010-06-14T21:41:00.000-07:00

2010-06-14T21:27:00.000-07:00

Here are some old pictures I found. I could not get that video to load. Sorry. I hate to think how fast theses kids have grown up. I wish we could keep them little forever. I love the cow costumes with Colt and Jord. Mom sure knows how to make the Halloween costumes. Where is the rewind button. I want to go back and do it all over again.

Listen to wattlynns Playlist

2010-06-13T08:02:00.001-07:00

So much happening

2010-06-05T08:50:00.003-07:00

Jordan is officially graduated. I had a hard time at the family dinner and dad hugging me made it all that much harder. I am still not ready for him to grow up. Letting go of a child is like losing control over what they will go through. I guess I am not the best mom. They have gone through a lot in their lifetime. But I have been right by their side to help them through it. Now I have to let him leave and let him do this on his own. As a mom it is hard to not be there at all times.

Kenzie can attest to that. At state track I had to be in the same hotel as the team. I wasn't trying to get in the way. I let her have her space. I would waive from afar. I just wanted to be there if she needed me. And yes, there were times that her and Jessie would come to our room and visit. She did very well at track for her freshman year. I know she was very disappointed. Her times were not her best. But I was still proud of her for even making it. I needed to boost her spirits, so I let her in on some of my secrets. I tried out for cheerleading....did not make it. I tried out for track...did not do well. And by no means made it to state. I have not succeeded an many things. But she has. I do hope she felt better. It did shock her a little and made a smile come to her face.

Ryker is back to Tball again. He looks forward to the Gatorade he gets every Tuesday and Thursday. I always had Gatorade in the fridge for Jord and Kenzie's track and he wanted one so bad. I would tell him no, it has way too much salt in it and that it was for Jordan and Kenzie when they ran track to help them replace what they lost. Well guess what he wanted when he knew he was going to be active. Yep, Gatorade. I get him the little ones and he thinks he is so grown up. Oh well I guess I can water them down and he will never know the difference. Kids are so funny.

We miss you all and love you. I look forward to reading your postings. I am not good at getting on blogger. I love facebook. I am a junkie. Love you. Here is a video that I made for Jordan and we had it playing at the family dinner. And yes, this was the cause of a lot of my crying.

So much happening

2010-06-05T08:50:00.001-07:00

So much happening

2010-06-05T07:25:00.000-07:00

So much happening

2010-06-05T07:05:00.000-07:00

Jordan is officially graduated. I had a hard time at the family dinner and dad hugging me mad it all that much harder. I still am not ready for him to grow up. Letting go of a child is like losing control over what they will go through. I guess I am not the best mom. They have gone through a lot in their lifetime. But I have been right by their side to get them through it. Now I have to let him leave and do this on his own. As a mom it is hard to not be there at all times.

Kenzie can attest to that. At state track I had to be in the same hotel as the team. I wasn't trying to get in the way. I let her have her space. I would waive from afar. I just wanted to be there if she needed me. And yes there were times that her and Jessie would come to our room and visit. She did very well at track for her freshman year. I know she was very disappointed. Her times were not her best. But I was still proud of her for even making it. I needed to boost spirits, so I let her in on some of my secrets. I tried out for cheerleading....did not make it. I tried out for track...did not do well. And by no means made it to state. I have not succeeded an many things. But she has. I do hope she felt better. It did shock her a little and made a smile come to her face.

We miss you all and love you. I look forward to reading your postings. I am not good at getting on blogger. I love facebook. I am a junkie. Love you.

2010-05-22T22:51:00.000-07:00

This is Kenzie at state track. She did not do as good as she wanted. She took eleventh in the 100 in the state of Idaho, took 14 in the 200, took sixth (Medaled) in the 4x200, and took last in the 4x100. The rain was horrible. Like you can see in the last picture. These girls were freezing cold and soaked to the bone. I am proud of her. She did great for a freshman.

qualifying 2010

2010-05-13T22:13:00.000-07:00

This is Jordan's qualifying round today

This is Kenzie's qualifying round today.

2010-03-30T20:31:00.001-07:00

Kenzie is way excited. She and one of her friends found out that they have already qualified for state track with their times. Two freshman's. We are so excited.

2010-03-24T20:33:00.000-07:00

Sorry I just had to post this twice for those of you on Facebook and Blogger. Kenz just looks so much like Tammy.

Kenzie and Jord are doing well in track. They are not up to their times from last year, but they are improving every week.

I am getting a little nervous now that graduation is getting closer. I really do not want Jord to leave. Maybe I should just let him flunk all of this tri's classes and then he will have to stay with me even longer. YA what a great idea.

Ryker is starting T-Ball soon and is practicing everyday. He will go get all decked out in his T-ball uniform, go out and stretch (he has been watching Jord and Kenzie at track practice too much) and start jogging to warm up. By the time he is done Troy is usually pulling in the drive way. So Ryker will jump in the pickup and they are off to the high school diamonds. Ryker jumped in the pickup one time pounded on his legs and said, "I have done lots of running today dad but these legs still have lots of running left in them." The things these kids will say. We are hoping to put a basketball court up this summer with a fence and lighting around it. The Watts are very well known in this area for their basketball skills and Ryker can not be left out of that. His cousin just broke the Idaho high school record for the most three pointers in one game. I guess before that Troys brother, Brent, held the school record for the most three's in one game. Ryker has big shoes to fill.

Graduation

2010-03-07T10:08:00.000-08:00

I need to get a head count on who will be coming to Jordan's graduation. I want to reserve a couple of hotel rooms. I can get them for $75.00 a night and I also was going to ask Teresa if I could borrow her trailer. It will be nice to have the extra bathrooms and a swimming pool. You will be getting invites in the mail but this is just a early head count.

Yes, I am stressing out. But I want to be prepared in advance. There is so much to do.

So please let me know ASAP if you can make it. It is May 27 at 8:00 pm. Skylar will also be graduating May 26. So two for the price of one.

2010-03-07T09:47:00.000-08:00

I was hoping that I can kinda get a head count as to who will be attending Jordan's graduation. It is May 27 at 8:00 pm. I will send out invites but I was going to book a few hotel rooms and borrow Teresa's trailer for a few days.

The rooms I can get for $75.00 a night right now so I want to get some before they are gone. There are lots of schools around here with graduating high school and college kids. Plus having the extra bathrooms and swimming pool will be nice.

Please let me know ASAP so I can get things organized. I know, I am stressing. I just want to be prepared in advance.

Thanks everyone.

2010-02-22T20:26:00.000-08:00

Kenzie and Jord did good at the Simplot Games this weekend. Kenzie wont admit it but she pulled a muscle Wednesday before the meet. Now that she is done running she is putting ice and heat and IcyHot on it all the time. HUM I wonder why?

Jord did very good on his debate. He placed fifth out of 80 kids. So he is first runner up if someone can't go. The Nationals is in Kansas City the third week of next month. I ran into his teacher today and she seems to think that he still will be going but doesn't want him to get his hopes up. I guess they have kids drop out because they can't afford it or the timing is bad. We will see.

Ryker is growing up way too fast. It blows me away how fast time goes. I really don't ever age just the kids get older, right?.......

2010-02-17T19:48:00.001-08:00

It was a nice funeral. I am so glad that I was there to support my family. They are the most important thing in this world. FAMILY.

2010-02-16T19:21:00.000-08:00

Jordan was awarded the National Debater award for February. This is an award that his teacher nominated him for and he was chosen. This is a high honor. He now has more points accumulated than his debate teacher.

He is applying for a full-ride scholarship to Arizona State University. He has always wanted to attend ASU. His cousin Nick graduated from there. They have full-ride scholarships for Debate. Cross your fingers.

2010-01-06T20:57:00.000-08:00

I need everyone's advice which picture they like the best out of the ones I have posted.

Jordans Senior Pictures

2010-01-04T21:52:00.000-08:00

Here are some of Jord's
Pictures. Again Aunt
Teresa took these for him.

We love here she does such a great job.

Sorry Jord I had to get a picture with you. I need one of us together.

skylar senior pictures

2009-09-21T20:39:00.000-07:00

Here are some of Skylar's senior pictures. Megan took these for us and did a great job. When I get some more printed off I will sent some in the mail to everyone.

2009-08-24T17:12:00.000-07:00

This is Kenzie's new room. She picked out Brown and Teal. Fun!

Ryker's first day of kindergarten.

I gave you a little wink and a smile
As you entered my room today
I know how hard it is to leave
And simply walk away.

You've been together for several years
you've been a loving guide.
But now the time has finally come,
to leave your child by my side.

Just know that as you drive away
And tears may start to flow,
I'll love your child as I would my own
And help your little one to grow.

Kenzie and Ryker go to school.

2009-08-17T22:13:00.000-07:00

Sorry I kinda forget to write in here. I spend most of my time on facebook. You know have to keep up with what the kids are saying to there friends.

Ryker, Jord, and Kenzie start school this week. Fun! Jordan and Kenzie are starting cross country this week. Jord liked it today. We will see what Kenzie says tomorrow.

Ryker hopefully gets his splint off this Thursday. Cross your fingers.

We had an event full shopping spree with mom and Janae. I must say they are die hard shoppers. I only went to a couple of stores and was ready to go. They stayed and shopped for hours. Getting great deals and breaking mom's car. Ha just kidding. I am glad to hear it is getting fixed. That's Idaho for you. Cars break all the time. Thanks mom for meeting me. And bringing my older sister! HA.

We are thinking of you Caden.

2009-07-09T22:09:00.000-07:00

Ryker had another doctors visit today. The arm is growing well. He is still going to be in a cast for two more weeks and then they will put him in a splint for three weeks. He has now been in a splint/cast for seven weeks four days. They are worried that he will have problems turning his arm from side to side. So they want the cast off ASAP. All together this year he has had a cast on for almost five months. We are hoping that he is young enough to get some of that movement back.

2009-07-03T15:31:00.000-07:00

A picture is worth a thousand words so what more do I need to say . :)

2009-06-23T19:40:00.000-07:00

Ryker was able to hit the ball for the first time this year in T-Ball. He now has his water proof cast on and Troy and I feel like it is stable enough to hit the ball. He was smiling from ear to ear. The doctor told him he can't play this year but we couldn't tell him no any longer. He has been so good to just stand in the outfield and watch the other kids have fun. Now its his turn. I just hope the X-Rays don't tell on us.
We are looking forward to the family reunion this next week. I think we will have all six kids with us this time.

2009-06-21T18:08:00.000-07:00

Fathers day was fun. We had the family over for ribs. Troy is really enjoying cooking for the family with his B-B-Q.
Jordan is in Baltimore and I am so scared. He has never been by himself so far away from home. He did call today and everyone was laughing in the background. I think I am just more worried about him catching all of his connecting flights on the way home.
Rykers arm is getting better. When they took the splint off the bone is sticking out the side of his arm. They just keep telling me that it will deteriorate on its own and line up. I just hope everything turns out. I really don't like the look of it. It reminds me of a tree branch with limbs going everywhere.
Kenzie is going to girls camp this week and is so excited. She is going to Washington after the Fourth of July and is very happy to spend time with her cousins. We are so excited to see everyone at Priest Lake.

2009-06-07T21:26:00.000-07:00

happy birthday Kenzie!! She had a great birthday. Here with Tor, Ryker, Kenzie and Natalie.

Here is Ryker and Grandma at the T-ball game. Ryker gets to hold the grass down for his part in t-ball.

Kenzie with her friends-Thalia, Xenia, and Aquila

2009-06-03T17:08:00.000-07:00

we have good news on Ryker's arm today.. It is starting grow. We still cant get a cast on for two more weeks. It is still too fragile to take the splint off. Good news. We didn't want surgery.

2009-05-31T20:50:00.000-07:00

Here are the latest family pictures. These were taken at Kim's wedding. The kids are really growing up. Its hard to believe that two of them will be leaving by next year at this time.
I really didn't want to show every one this picture. This is right out of surgery with three rounds of steroids and I am a big puff ball. Luckily the weight is starting to come off. Prednisone is major steroids that work great but give you lots of extra weight.
Ryker is still waiting to get his cast on. The last x-ray showed no improvement. The doctor said we will x-ray him every week for the next three weeks and hopefully it will start growing by then. Ryker is really upset. The doctor told no no-way, no-how can he play T-Ball. He was going to start this week. We let him go get his uniform and stay around for practice last week. It was really hard to get him to just stay in one spot and not run after the ball. His bones are just barely touching each other. The bottom of the top bone is just touching the top of the bottom bone. They really are not lined up at all. They have some major growing to do. Any little fall or bump will put us in surgery with plates and screws. We are crossing our fingers that the next x-ray will show some improvement.
The rest of the kids get out of school this week. They are really getting excited for the summer to start. Jordan lettered for his first time this year in track and debate. Kenzie will be a Freshman next year and Ryker will start Kindergarten this fall. Wow I can't believe that Jordan will be graduating in one year. I told him to be prepared I am going to be a mess. I am not ready for him to leave yet.
Jord, Ryker, and I went to go see Kenna and Kate this last week in Idaho Falls. We love to see them. They are so cute. Give them kisses from us Sha. Tell Kenna that Ryker misses her. We hope everyone is doing well. We are looking forward to our Family Reunion this month.

2009-05-18T20:22:00.000-07:00

Well just to confirm YES Ryker has broken his arm again. Yes it is the same arm just a little closer to the wrist. It was a complete break of both of the bones with the two bones then pushed up to lay on top of each other. He was trying to pull his basketball hoop (plastic) up the stairs with his rope. He couldn't get it up so he straddled it to try to pull it up without the rope and it stood up and sent him flying like he was in a catapult. Poor kid. I really had a hard time holding back the tears this time. I was a mess. I hate to see him on the meds they give him to knock him out. It makes his eyes twitch for about two hours. You always wonder if they will come out of it or not. He did do better this time and after six hours in the Pocatello ER we were sent home. It was a very long night. We finally got home about 3:15 in the morning. So needless to say we are very tired tonight. So here are some pictures of the beautifully day we had before all this happened.

This is Troy and Ryker at Mesa Falls up by the cabin. Ryker loves to go to the cabin.

2009-05-15T21:18:00.000-07:00

This is Kenzie taking third in the 100. This is her first medal in track. I guess this is her first year so that is pretty good. she is the one on the far right stand, in the gray sweatpants. I tried downloading some of Jord's but all of his are videos and with dial-up Internet I was trying to load the video for three hours and I finally gave up. He did good. We are trying to get them into a summer track camp at Idaho State University to help them out some....

I did find some of Jord. He is the one in all black. This was him taking first in his 100 heat. I think he is finally getting use to his singlet he has to wear.

Jordan 100

2009-05-08T19:57:00.000-07:00

This is Jordan running the 100 qualifying event. He ended up taking 4th at district in the 100. He is a little upset but he did good. So that is it for track this year.

2009-05-06T17:19:00.000-07:00

Kenzie did great at district. She received a gold medal in 4x1, a silver in the 4x2 and a bronze in the 100. She was pretty beat up by time the 200 came up so she kinda didn't try as hard and took 5th. I think she is glad to be done her hip has really been hurting her. I just hope that it doesn't have anything to do with that broken ankle.

Jord goes to district tomorrow. He is running the 100, 200, and 4x2. He finally went back to track today after taking a week off to go to physical therapy for his hip flexor muscle he pulled. He said it fells better than it has in a long time. Its been hurting him for awhile but he finally pulled it last week at a meet. He was just suppose to jog today a practice but he said that it felt great so he sprinted and it held up. I am going with him to Bear Lake tomorrow to wrap it before the meet. If he will let me. The physical therapist had me come and learn how to wrap it to hold that muscle tight. Jord thinks it will slow him down though. So we will see who wins this battle. He is at his dad's house tonight for his dad's birthday. Also he wants to watch u-tube and see how to get out of the blocks that fastest tomorrow. He is really getting into this. We are trying to get both Jord and Kenzie into a track summer camp. Hoping it will give them a little more of an edge next year.

We love you all and hope everyone is doing well.

2009-04-28T10:13:00.000-07:00

Mark was on the internet yesterday looking up Jordan's times for track. Jordan is now second fastest in the district for the 100, first fastest for the 4 x 1 by two seconds and in third place for his 200. So needless to say he will more than likely be running in state within two weeks. We are excited he will go but placing at state will be very hard. His relay team has a very good chance placing at state. We will cross our fingers. He would love to place at state. He pulled a muscle yesterday at practice so hopefully he will be fully mended by time district comes.

2009-04-26T09:52:00.000-07:00

I guess I better write something in here. Its been awhile. How is out little Kenna, Kate, and Jhett doing. Mom said that Brain and family might not make it till the fourth of July. I hope we get to see you. I still need to see Jhett. We will just leave to home from the cabin. What about Kenna is she going to be able to go to the cabin?

Kenzie and Jordan are doing very well in track. They both run in the first heat of the 100 and 200. That is always the fastest kids. They usually take second. Jord is getting excited for next year because the one kid that beats him is from snake river and is graduating next year. That means that if he keeps working hard and practicing maby next year he will take first and go on to win state. He would really like that. He is getting quite the collection of medals though. That always helps.

Kenzie is better than we ever thought. She can get the hand off and be in second place and come from behind and win it. I just had to giggle with excitement. She is one little fast runner. I hope that we can get her a good coach and she could be very good. Like scholarship good!

Ryker is getting excited for t-ball. We are still waiting to hear from them to see when practice starts. He has been practicing for a year and a half now and wants to get started.

Troy is in full swing with the farm. He is looking forward to getting everything in the ground. It snowed again today so it is still cold out there.

We are having water problems in our house. Some how a mouse got into the well. So needless to say Cullagan is our best friend until we can get the dang thing out. We just get mouse hair plugging up everything. Sprinklers, faucets, and washer. It is gross!!! They are going to pull the pump and take it apart to get the pieces out. I tell you we are keeping entertained with all these housing problems. The sewer tank and drain field had to be replaced this winter. We thing one of the tractors plowed over the drain field and unhooked it from the tank. It was old and need a new one anyways. I guess we will look at the pump too to see what kind of shape it is in when we pull it out.

Well I hope everyone is doing well. Give the kids loves for us. We miss you all. Steph.

2009-04-15T19:52:00.000-07:00

Sorry the picture is so small. This is one of Kim pictures from the wedding. Ryker is on the left side. It was a beautiful wedding.

2009-04-08T07:19:00.000-07:00

we had a blast with the Riners. Thanks for coming to visit us. Mark was also very thankful that you went to see him. Kenzie said that he was like a kid having to wait for something he really wanted. He would look out the window and ask Kenzie how much longer till they were there. Kind made me laugh.

Kenzie ran her first track meet yesterday. She ran the 100, 200, 4 x 1, and 4 x 2. She took first in everything except the 200. She ran really slow and only took third. We talked to her after she had run and her muscles were already starting to stiffen up. The 200 was her last event of the four she ran. I guess we will have to have her work a little harder. She wants to do well so that when she takes state in high school she can get her picture on the hall of fame with her dad. She wants to be pointing at him and laughing. I guess that will be a good incentive to get her to run fast.

Ryker is loving having her cast off. He is already getting in trouble for doing things that can re-break it again. I guess he didn't learn his lesson the first time. Maybe its because he is an adventurous boy and cant slow down.

Jordan has been accepted to join in Boys State the first part of June. I really don't know what it is but they were asking if I was coming to his graduation for it. What?? I really don't know what it is. He is also still attending John Hopkins University the last part of June so we wont see much of him this summer. He is currently getting straight A's in school. I think that is due to no math class this semester. He loves his Anatomy and Physiology class. I think he has chosen the right profession he is going into. He just eats that stuff up and wont stop talking about it. He even got Wayne addicted to House. Wayne loved watching all the episodes that Jord had recorded from the show.

Well I hope every one is doing well. Keep in touch.

2009-03-26T07:25:00.000-07:00

Poor Jord he had track yesterday in the middle of the new snow storm. Talk about crazy. These poor kids were out there in their tank tops and shorts running the the hail, wind, and snow. The track was literally a white-out. Jord would get the chance every once in awhile to come and sit in the car with us but mostly he was out running. He was in four event yesterday. The four hundred, four by four, the two hundred, which he took first, and the one hundred which he took second.

I felt like running out there and trying to stop the meet, those poor kids were freezing to death. I wonder how many were home sick today. Either from the cold or from pushing their muscles to start from such a cold stage. Looks like we will be going to get some long under armour for him this weekend. It is suppose to be cold all next week also and he has a meet. YULK. I was just glad I came to watch him. That way he at least had a place to get out of the cold. I would try to keep the car warmed up for him.

2009-03-24T07:31:00.000-07:00

We have one more week till Ryker gets his cast off. I think he is a little worried about hitting it again because he wants to lay it on a pillow for awhile after he gets it off. We will see how long that last with his cousins visiting from Washington.

Jordan is now going to Boys State and John Hopkins in June. We will not see much of him that month. I guess these are all good experiences that he can learn and grow from. He is still running track. They are quite funny they really don't run much except for the day of the meets. They will usually be doing palates. Funny.

Kenzie has decided that she wants to run track also so she is giving up Gym. She can't do both at the same time. I really wish she would have stayed with the Gym. She could have learned a lot from them. She had the opportunity to go see cousin Cole after his surgery. He is doing well. They did say that maybe when he is around 10 he will have to have another surgery. We just hope he will always continue to do well.

Aunt Pam is also doing well. Her done marrow transplant has not had any problems. She is ready to go home for good and not have to go to Salt Lake every week. She is starting to put weight back on and is up to 110 pounds. He hair is starting to grow back also. What a miracle she, and the family, have been given.

2009-03-17T07:35:00.000-07:00

I guess Ryker was not feeling well at all. He does have strep and bronchitis. He is just so grumpy lately because of not feeling well. He was able to talk to Grandpa Nielson on the phone yesterday and that picked his spirits up. We are all looking forward to having the Riners visit us on the 30th. We are hoping everyone will be back on the mend by then.

2009-03-16T07:41:00.000-07:00

Well I really don't have anything new but I haven't written in this for awhile.

Jord is doing well in Congress. He brings home a gavel every time he goes. He is currently running track again and is more dedicated this year than that of the last few years he ran. He is getting close to graduation. He has two more classes he has to take to graduate and then he will be playing for the rest of his senior year.

Kenzie has decided to take track also this year. She was one of the fastest runners in middle school and thinks that she still might be. I keep telling her that was a long time ago and she has a limp to her run now because of the broken ankle. She still thinks she is the fastest though. Which is good you always want them to reach for the stars. She is traveling to Salt Lake this weekend. One of her cousins, who is now six months old, is having his second heart surgery. He is not getting enough oxygen for his growing little body. She is very close to his mom, Nately, and baby Cole. I hope everything goes well.

Ryker, oh poor Ryker. He has had a hard time lately. We were up all weekend long battling 102 degree fever this weekend. We have an appointment at 9:30 to see what is going on. His throat doesn't look red but lots of stuff is going around now. Thirty percent of the schools in the area have sick children out of school. He gets his cast of in one more week. It will be eight weeks and he is so ready. He did sign up for T-ball which is one good thing going for him.

Well we love you all and miss you.

2009-02-27T11:41:00.000-08:00

I am finally going back to work the first of next week. It will only be for part time until my back can handle all of the bending. I am looking forward to getting a pay check again. And so is my bank account.

Ryker is hopefully getting his cast off his arm in three more weeks. He accidentally dunked it in the tub yesterday so that was another trip to the doctor to get a new one put on. We have been so impressed by him. He acts like nothing happened at all. He just keeps doing what he always has done. We constantly have to get after him. He is missing his Kenna now. They sure had fun playing together. We would have kept her but I guess we have to share with Grandma. Thanks Mike and Sha for coming to visit.

Kenzie is keeping everyone busy. She loves her gymnastic class in Idaho Falls. I have to say I wish we would have taken her there years ago. They are very good and she is learning much more than we could have hoped for here in Blackfoot.

Jord is getting ready for track. Today is the first day of practice. I really hope he enjoys it. His trip to Maryland is still a go for this June. He really enjoys this whole wanting to be a doctor thing. In his first responder class they went to ISU and were able to work on a corps. YUK. They went inside and looked at everything and were able to touch and feel different parts. He came home talking a mile a minute. He thoroughly enjoyed it.

Ryker is getting upset he needs my help with some thing. We miss you all and hope to see you soon.

2009-02-03T18:27:00.000-08:00

As you have probably all heard Ryker did break his arm. We were getting balloons ready for his birthday and he had piled them all in a pile. He got on the couch and jumped into the pile. He must have landed on a balloon and lost his balance and fell back. He is starting to fill better today. We have to take him into the doctor on Tuesday to get his cast on and X-rays to make sure it is healing right.

Tomorrow I go in for surgery on my back. I am not excited about it at all. I am actually very scared. I just want it over with so I can get back to normal.

I just thought I would write and let every one know. We love you all and miss you. Sha you should be getting a package in the mail soon. Sorry it took me so long. :(

2009-01-23T19:02:00.000-08:00

Well they postponed my surgery to the 4th. Which I really did not want. Ryker's birthday is on the fifth so I really am not happy about that. At least mom and dad will be here to help with the party. I am going to go to the Mountain River Hospital in Idaho Falls. They will either make two two inch cuts on my lower back or one five inch cut. They will go in and cut the ruptured disk off and hope that the disk will suck itself back into place. I just hope things go according to plane.

Jord is still working towards going to John Hopkins this summer. He is really looking forward to it.

Kenzie is starting gymnastics in Idaho Falls this Tuesday and is excited to learn more than what Blackfoot has to offer.

Ryker is now talking to Grandpa as much as he can in anticipation of their arrival. He also has all his birthday planned out.

I hope you are all well. We miss you.

2009-01-21T07:35:00.000-08:00

I thought I would update you on everyone. Not much is changed.

Jordan is doing well. He is enjoying his time volunteering at the hospital. He was able to work in the E.R. last week and thought that was much more exciting. He always comes home with a smile on his face when he get to work at the hospital. He has finally grown taller than his dad and is quite proud of that. We thought that he was pretty much done growing.

Kenzie is always keeping me busy. I can't wait till she gets her drivers license. She is going to try Idaho Falls Gymnastics out. She was pretty much topped out here in Blackfoot and is getting board. I really don't like to venture out of Blackfoot too often. This will be a trial for me. We will see if it will work.

Ryker is such a little boy. He has a different outfit on every hour it seems like. It just depends on which sport he wants to be playing. I am, of course, his announcer. I have to announce him before he can come running into the room. He is such a ham. I finally came down with a fever this Sunday. He hardly ever gets a fever. Even if he is really sick. So we took him in and he has strep. Me and him are keeping are distance from each other and he does not like that one bit. He is so use to being right by my side. I have to get surgery on my back on Wednesday and I can not get sick right now. I feel bad for him.

Well we miss you all and hope you are doing well.

2009-01-19T20:28:00.000-08:00

I thought I better put in a new update.

Jordan is doing well. He loves volunteering at the hospital. I had one of the nurses who work in the E.R. come into my work today and said that he is doing great. Some of the things he does really makes me wonder what is going through his head. For his anatomy class they are going to GET to look at cadavers. Yuk. He really does get interested in some odd things.

Kenzie is doing well in gymnastics. I am considering taking her to Idaho Falls for gym. I think we have topped out at the gymnastics here in Blackfoot. They just keep practicing the same thing over and over. She has done some growing this year. I hope she continues to stay on the right track. This is a piture of Kenzie with her little brother Tiden.

Ryker is about to turn five next month. He is so excited for kindergarten. He is ready. We just hope that kindergarten is ready for him. He constantly wears his football pads and uniform every day.. I wonder how the school would act if he shows up in them every day. In fact he has already broke his pads so we need to get some more. I have a feeling that is all we ever do with this child is replace broken things.

I am going into surgery on the 28th of this month. I have to say I am scared to death. I really don't want a five inch cut down my back.. I am hoping maby they can do two small cuts instead. They are pretty confident that if they cut off the ruptured part of the disk that the rest of the disk will pull itself back in and I wont have any nerve damage. I am trying to get my house in order so that I can be in bed and everyone can keep it half way normal. Four to six weeks is a long time. Mom and dad are coming to help that week after I get out of surgery. That will be a great help. Ryker is already asking if they are coming yet.

Well we hope you are all well. We miss you.

2009-01-02T17:45:00.000-08:00

Here are the cousins and Ryker feding the fish. He is the one in the Blue snowpants.

Here are some of the christmas pictures. We were covered with snow in one night. Ryker loves to ride on the snowmobile. He went to feed the fish at least three times.

Here is our lastest family photo. We finally got them all together. As you can see the kids are all growing up. Skylar really isnt that tall he is standing on a step. They are growing fast.

2008-12-24T23:12:00.000-08:00

I didn't jump high at all i was looking for the jump this was just the only one that my friend recorded....

2008-12-07T17:00:00.000-08:00

Jordan officially was accepted to go to John Hopkins next summer. This is great. He is so excited. We are getting all the paper work turned filled out and ready to send off. He is loving his volunteer job. He comes home just wanting to tell us all his new adventures but he has a code of silence so he cant.

Kenzie is still enjoying gym. She had to miss those two weeks and you would think it was going to kill her. She is now going again and is loving every minute of it.

Ryker is getting excited for Christmas. He doesn't understand why he cant just open one. We are going to go to the cabin for Christmas this year. Troy is excited for the snowmobiling. Too bad Tammy and Neal are not here with us to enjoy all this fun. HINT, HINT.

Mike if you and Shae come to Idaho Falls let me know so we can see your new one.

2008-12-02T20:28:00.000-08:00

These are some of the pictures I found of Jord and Kenzies accident. I am so glad they were in this pickup and not a little car.

Jordan is doing well we are still waiting to hear back from People to People Ambassador Program to see if he was accepted to go to John Hopkins this coming summer for classes. I had to laugh, Jord was telling me he has all the credits he needs and he could graduate this year as a Junior. So needless to say I called the school counselor to find out. Well after talking to her and asking if he has all his credits we found out that he never took 9th grade English. So now we are taking that class from home. He has packets he has to do and has some test he has to take at the end of each packet. He is quit upset. Oh well he still wants to take his physics class again so he can make another chebby chae.

Kenzie is happy she started gym again after having to take a two week break. She had tendentious so bad that she had to stay off it for two weeks. She has been inducted into the Honor Society and feels like a little queen nerd. That's all she can talk about.

Jord and Kenzie have had another family member pass away and the viewing was tonight. It was really a blessing. She had Alzheimer's and was fading fast. Her husband told me tonight she went three weeks without food and water before she past on. They thought she would go before Thanksgiving but she held on. Grandma Gentillon, her mom, was not ready to let her go but she couldn't swallow and more, was in and out of consciousness, and had filled out a paper to not prolong her life. So really the family didn't have a choice this is what she wanted. She was not even 60 years old yet. We will miss her.

Ryker is still Ryker. He is wanting to go back to his old babysitter. I took him to see her today when Kenzie was in dance. When it was time to leave he cried and cried. It made his babysitter cry. She has had him since he was 4 months old. He desperately wants to go back. We will have to really think about it.

We miss you all and hope you have a wonderful Christmas.

2008-11-21T18:07:00.000-08:00

Kenzie and I just went to see the movie Twilight. It was great. Kenzie took two of her friends with her to go have a girls party. They then went and walked to mall. At thirteen I really dont think they get the full effects of the mall. In about 30 minutes they were ready to leave. I guess it makes a big difference when your mom is not there to dish out money.

We then went to go see Kenzie's new brother. Mark is still insistant that Tiden looks just like Jordan did. The only problem is he looks just like his mom and already has Marks receding hair line. Poor boy.

Well we still havn't had our first snow of the season. It is great. I would love to have all our moisture in the form of rain.

I went to the back doctor again today. He is

2008-11-17T08:34:00.000-08:00

Jord is keeping us busy. He went to his first school dance this weekend. It was a girl ask guy dance so I hope that now he has been to one he will be a little less stressed with asking a girl to go.

He was recently invited to attend John Hopkins University to go to classes for 10 days. He is way excited. He will fly to MD. His math teacher nominated him for this great experience. He will probably be flying down in the last part of June.

Kenzie is now in an arm brace. She has acquired extreme tendinitis and possibly a stress fracture. All the gymnastics she cant stop doing as taken a toll on her arm. Hopefully the arm brace will keep her off of it for a couple of weeks. They want me to take her to a orthopedic specialist within 5 to 7 days but I think I will wait a couple more weeks and if it is still not better than I will take her in. Her arm has been hurting her for two weeks now so I finally took her in. She still has an overprotective step-father. We were dropping her off at school the other day, Troy was in the back seat with Ryker and Kenzie was in the front seat. Well luckily the door that Troy was sitting next to is broken, the child lock is stuck on. Troy was watching the boys that were sitting outside waiting for the school to open the doors, well I guess they were looking at Kenzie's "backside". Troy was pulling on the door trying to get out to yell at those boys. It was the funniest thing I have ever seen. Thank goodness for the child lock.

Ryker is just a entertaining as ever. He went to choir practice with Grandma Watt this last Sunday. I guess he was sitting on one of the chairs up on the stage while they were practicing, the next thing you know his little legs where going to the beat of the song and next he was up helping grandma lead the choir. I had so many people come up in church and tell me that he made me men sign so much better and ask if he could come and help grandma more often. He loved it.
Well I am at work so I better get going. We miss you all.

2008-11-08T14:27:00.000-08:00

Jordan did well at Congress today. He was so excited last night when he got home. Today was a little let down. He took second and was not able to stay and get his trophies because the other kids wanted to get home.

Jordan received a letter inviting him to join the People to People Leadership Summit. We got on the Internet and checked it out. I guess his math teacher nominated him to become a part of this adventure. He is invited to become an Ambassador for the United States and go to another country to represent the United States. He is way excited. He will be there for three weeks. We have to wait to get more details on this. If anyone has heard of this or knows someone who did this let me know.

He is going to his first girl ask guy dance. First dance of his high school career. I think he is kind of nervous. It will be good to get him going.

Kenz is down with her new little brother Tiden. He has gain two pound in almost four weeks. He is so cute. Luckily Tor lets me hold him. I don't get to be around little ones around here. I feel bad for him though he definitely has his dad's hairline. Poor boy. Tor says they don't talk about it.

Ryker is still missing his grandparents. He is still talking about moving in with them. I told dad He would have to sleep right in the middle of the two of them. He said that he is quit use to kids sleeping in between them.

We hope all is well with you.

2008-11-03T17:12:00.000-08:00

Jordan did great on his catapult. He loved it. He said that he will do it again next year. I told him he can only take Physics one time. He has an A in the class. He wants to take it again. He was very lucky he got on the front page of two magazines for his classes catapult. I hope he gets to make another one next year just him and his friends.

Kenzie is loving all the dances that are at this time of the year. She is now wrapping her feet up in ace bandages because of all the blisters on them. I asked her why she just didn't take her shoes off if they were hurting her. She just said she didn't want to get her feet stepped on. She was recently voted for two separate categories in the year book. She won "most gullible" and "cutest girl." I guess they will only let her have one win so since she had the most votes in most gullible they gave her that. She was pretty upset that they gave her that one because she won that one last year. Oh well that fits her quite well.

Ryker is still loving preschool. He gets to make some cute things. He loved having Grandpa and Grandma here. I know he was not ready for them to leave. Poor Grandma was sick the whole time. But she was a trooper and still had a smiley face for everyone. Ryker asked me today if we could move to Grandpa's house. He sure misses them.

Thank You Grandpa and Grandma for visiting. We miss you.

2008-10-30T20:35:00.000-07:00

Well Ryker finally got Grandpa and Grandma to come and visit him today. He Just kept saying, "I so excited grandpa and grandma are coming". Well they did arrive. I don't think he could ask for anything else that would make him happy.

Jord's big day is tomorrow. He enters his catapult in the competition. He launched three pumpkins today and the farthest one went 250 feet. He told me that in order to qualify he had to launch a pumpkin 200 feet. He is pretty excited.

Kenzie is sad that Madison did not come with Grandma. Thanks Madi for getting her all excited. Just kidding. She was voted the "cutest girl" and the "most gullible" for the yearbook nominations this year. I guess they can only win one title so they gave her the most gullible since she had far more votes than anyone else. She is pretty bummed about it. She wont that title last year also. She is trying to save her money for a car next year. I told her I was not ready for her to drive yet. Getting the "most gullible" title has a little to do with that. Thinking and driving is probably going to be hard for her. HA!!! She is sweet and we love her.

We love you all. Miss you.

2008-10-28T07:47:00.000-07:00

Jordan is busy completing his catapult. He will be in the annual event this Friday.

2008-10-22T07:37:00.000-07:00

Well I thought I would write and let you know how the kids are doing.

Jordan is busy making his catapult for his physics class. Luckily mom and dad will be here to witness this great event. Schools and people from all over come to enter in this event. We have been lucky enough to store all the 30 pumpkins for the ammunition for the catapults. Jord is getting excited.

Kenzie is loving gymnastics. They are giving her private lessons now. She has advanced ahead of her class so this way she is not being held back. She is learning side flips, standing back flips and so much more. She is very excited to go to class every week. She was feeling a little under the weather yesterday and wanted to stay home from school. Then she remembered that she had gym and decided she couldn't miss school or there would be no gym. So needless to say she went to school and gym that day. But today she is home sick. I guess gym should be every day.

Ryker is so excited to see Grandpa and Grandma Nielson. He is on the phone to grandpa almost every day for at least 30 minutes. Sorry grandpa. He can talk your ear off. He is doing well in preschool and is so excited to ride the bus next year.

Congrats Kim and Jr. We are so happy to hear of your good news. I hope you are both happy.

I better go. We love you all and miss you.

2008-10-11T01:26:00.000-07:00

We had the first real snow today, i am up at 2:30 am waching it, i still can't belive my eyes i am sooooo pumpped for winter! you can barely see it but when you see my car or the sky you can tell there is snow