backyard fun II

in the very south end of our yard we have a portion that isn't fenced and that is where all the extra dirt was pushed to. the dirt isn't actually on our yard, but close enough. well, it makes the PERFECT sledding hill for two little boys. and...to be completely honest...kevin and i took a few runs down it and had a jolly time!


the boys making their way to the snow hill.



not the best pictures...but you get the idea. kevin and owen.


kevin and wesley. wesley REALLY enjoyed this!

my frozen little wes-a-bug!

afterwards, we came inside for a nice hot mug of cocoa!
what a great afternoon! it's so fun to have daddy home on a saturday like this.

backyard fun

saturday we had the greatest snowfall yet! the snowflakes were HUGE, the snow was PERFECT packing snow, the sun was out, and the temperature was in the thirties! so we spent a good portion of the morning playing in our backyard.


owen LOVES to eat the snow.


wesley loves to be pulled around in the sled.

kevin and owen building a snowman.

my snowmen!

miracles and blessings

it seems like most of my thoughts and conversations the weekend have been concerning my aunt eja and her family. on thursday they (my aunt, three of her daughters...stacey, jennifer, and trisha, a granddaughter...carlee, and my grandma) were driving from idaho falls to slc with the intentions of flying out to arizona the next day for a sunny vacation. but, just after they hit utah their car met a patch of ice, spun out of control and rolled.

what could have been a MAJOR tragedy for this family turned into a miracle. most of them walked away with minor injuries, including my ninety year old grandma! most of them were hospitalized over night but have since been released. my thoughts are still with them in their recovery and pain.

my aunt eja was the unfortunate one. both her lungs were punctured, several ribs were broken, a damaged kidney, a portion of her liver was torn, and a compression fracture in her lumbar spine. she has had two surgeries and they have had her in an induced coma since. and in order to help her recover they are keeping in her in an induced coma for the next several days.

the doctors are optimistic! and we feel so blessed that she is recovering. what a miracle that she is still with us and fighting so hard. today, especially, she has been in my thought and prayers...and if you feel so inclined we could use your thoughts and prayers as well.

also, a blog has been set-up where you can read about her recovery and also make a donation to help in this long financial road ahead of her. http://ejaallen.blogspot.com/

happy birthday keagen!

another family picture for a birthday post. happy birthday to my nephew keagen! he turns 7 today!


the murdoch clan: keagen, payson, blake, melissa holding micah, and jamis

keagen is mr. focused! it seems like he puts 100% into everything he does. he is serious about his sports! he's a great cousin and good big brother. and...he is so handsome!

happy birthday keagen! we love you and wish you lived closer!

to say i've let myself go would be an understatement

okay, you beggars! (; i will do an update on my blog.

it's hard to blog when i really haven't been up to too much. and i mean that in every way.

i have stopped doing my hair...makeup is optional...i have laundry constantly nagging me to put it away...i took a three week break from the gym (BAD IDEA)...and i have been eating whatever i want.

i know that being pregnant warrants me to some of this...but i need to kick it in gear.

on a brighter note, i have had more energy the last few days so i am hoping to get back in the swing of things before the weekend comes. we shall see! i am proud to report that right now i am dressed, my hair is done, i have makeup on, the laundry is put away, i baked cookies, cleaned the bathrooms, and yesterday i did 30 minutes of cardio. see...i told you will be back before the weekend comes.

alright, so for updates. two weeks ago all three of kevin's sisters paid us a visit. we did feel quite privileged as one of them traveled all the way from COLORADO. it was fun to spend time with them and see them together.


staci and laura enjoying some ice cream (a staple in my fridge lately)

rosanne, staci, and laura

the boys LOVE their aunts and all the love and attention they shower them with. i thought this picture was so cute of wesley bonding with aunt laura.



also, three weeks ago kevin and i purchased our first vehicle together. we both had cars before we meet and we have been making due with both of them for the past six years. but, for the last several months kevin has been keeping a close watch on autotrader.com and found a beautiful honda pilot in rigby, id (it's hard to find used pilots around here). we took it for a test drive and then drove it right home. and we have LOVED IT! i feel silly taking a picture of it but i found one online that looks EXACTLY like it so i will share that with you.

it's so fun to be in an SUV. owen adores it and refers to it as "the new honda pilot". he has even been begging to sleep in it, but we are trying to hold off on the request until the summer! (:

happy birthday elena!

my sister-in-law, elena, turns thirty-three today!


the manwaring clan

if i have a last-minute craving or a last-minute desire to do something i know that elena will always be willing to indulge me. elena's always ready to talk and is fun to talk with. she keeps a level-head and doesn't sweat the small stuff (things that i need to learn).

elena, i hope you have a great day celebrating! happy, happy birthday! we love you!

bringing in the new year

this year, our new year's celebration was very quiet. luckily, staci and kyle showed up or i am afraid i would have bailed off to bed at 10pm with the kids.

kevin had to work until 7pm so our celebrating didn't start until nearly 8pm. we had some pizza, played some wii, and then we rang in the new year with new york at 10pm and sent the boys off to bed.


owen watching the ball drop


"cheers" - staci and kyle

wesley-waiting patiently for approval to drink his bubbly.

after the kids were in bed we played a game, ticket to ride...thanks rosanne, and almost missed the midnight countdown! and it wasn't long after that when we all decided that our beds were SCREAMING our names! a great new year's eve.

thanks for sharing it with us staci and kyle!

extra special new year's eve

on new year's eve kevin and i went and had some pictures taken. not of each other, but...of our new little baby!

due july 15th...and we are just hoping it doesn't come on owen's birthday, the 13th!

another little miracle! we are SO THRILLED! happy new year!

happy birthday fred!

happy birthday to my father-in-law, fred!

fred is self-less, kind, patient, hard working, has a strong and firm understanding of his purpose here on earth, and a deep love for his Savior and Heavenly Father. he is a great example to all of us!


staci and fred dancing on her wedding day

happy birthday fred! we hope to see you soon. we love you!

happy birthday tyler!

our little nephew, tyler, turns 1 years old today!


sam holding tyler, and brian

tyler is full of energy and VERY independent! he is always on the go. happy birthday tyler! hope you had a SUPER fun day today! we love you!

christmas recap II

here are just a few more shots of the boys opening some gifts. hope you all had a great christmas!

christmas morning

christmas morning the boys woke up at 7:30am! we couldn't believe it. they usually wake up around 6:30am. so, i guess that was their gift to us!

we enjoyed our stocking and gifts from santa until breakfast was ready and then we took a break for some egg casserole.


wesley enjoying his santa gift.

owen enjoying his santa gift...and wesley admiring (good thing mom and dad had the intuition to buy wesley his owen geotrax train that he could use on owen's tracks)!

after breakfast we opened the gifts from each other and from the grandmas and grandpas. we were spoiled! thank you!

kevin also gave me some super festive, soft, and comfy jammies on christmas eve. and this is the best shot i could find. not too many pictures of the old people here.

and kevin hates when i spend money of christmas pj's for him, so instead i bought him some nice comfy nike pants that he can lounge around in. again, the best shot i could find of kevin in his "pj's".

christmas recap

things have finally slowed down enough that i can sit and blog our christmas! and i must say it was one of our best ever. something about having to excited, anxious, little boys makes christmas so magical and fun!

on christmas eve we went and enjoyed a delicious dinner at my grandpa freidenberger & shirley's home. this has been a tradition for as long as i can remember and so we look forward to it! thanks for the yummy food and great hospitality grandpa and shirley!

then, we went over to my parents house for some eggnog, cookies, and a few quick games. and the boys were able to open their present from grandma and grandpa manwaring. NEW PJ's! i have been excited about these for MONTHS. these boys needed new warm jammies and that is just what they got. thanks mom and dad!


this is the best picture i could get of them in their pj's christmas eve! don't they look cozy?!

also, once we got home we let the boys open a present from grandma and grandpa ward and then one from kevin. they played with these toys for awhile and then it was off to bed...and they went without a peep!

kevin and i prepared the house for santa's arrival and then went off to bed ourselves. kevin even let me put a sheet up like we did growing up. this ensures that the kiddies don't take off and enjoy christmas without us...and i love the anticipation that comes with being stuck behind a sheet until your parents say you can take it down. and, as our boys get older, i am sure they will come up with sneaky ways to sneak a peek before we wake up...unless i can convince kevin to sleep by the sheet like my dad use to do! (;


our tree with gifts under it...finally. with two little boys we didn't pull any presents out until christmas eve.

"the sheet"

and...santa did not disappoint!



santa gave owen geotrax and wesley a black & decker tool bench.

our christmas greeting

our christmas progressive...snacking

with saturday being the last byu football game and the day that we had scheduled our progressive dinner we had to make some adjustments. so we started early and instead of doing a progressive dinner we did progressive...snacking.

first stop was in blackfoot at justin and amber's home. they fed us fried ravioli and steak, pork, chicken, and ham kebabs. they had plenty of food which is good because at the first stop we always eat ALOT. DELICIOUS!

second stop, shelley, at emily and brandon's. they served bacon-wrapped water chestnuts and artichoke dip served with chips. YUMMY!

third stop, back to idaho falls, at jarom and elena's. they served meatball subs with all the CHEESE you could ask for! SO FILLING!

fourth stop, ben and kaylin's for shui jiao's (pot stickers). even though we were all stuffed to the max we still managed to eat the 100+ pot stickers they produced! TASTY!


and, as tradition goes...dad was kind enough to take our family picture in front of our tree. brandon & emily; elena, jarom, kate, halle, carter, & alyssa; amber holding truman, justin, ogden, anna, & ellie; kaylin holding eli & ben

since my parents hosted the christmas dinner the night before we were kind enough to leave them off the rotation and made the final stop our house.

we were in charge of dessert and served individual servings of chocolate passion bowls in champagne glasses...topped with maraschino cherries! and...of course i got the recipe from kraftfoods.com so check it out. it was so yummy.

kevin, me holding wesley, & owen

kick-off was at 6pm so we can only imagine how busy the ladies were entertaining 20 kids for four hours. the night before we got together and built 21 graham cracker houses for the kids to decorate and the work paid off. they took great pride in their little houses! and the clean-up wasn't even close to how bad i feared it would be.

mom, jamis, natalie, owen, kate, the whole house building crew, and wesley

afterwards, grandma surprised all the kids with a new game, horton hears a who! and aunt nat was kind enough to lead this rowdy crew in a round or two.

what a fun and exhausting weekend!