WALL FAMILY

We had lots of pictures taken of our Christmas tree so I thought I'd add one here...Tis the season! Here is a little project I came up with because all the cards falling down everywhere was driving me crazy!  It didn't take too long and didn't cost anything since I had everything on hand.  Kinda fun! Rylee made this cute letter with the candycane heart!  It says I love Mom, I love Dad, I love Dylan, I love myself, I love Jordan, I love Rusty....So cute!  And we all love Rylee! Rylee's class had a Christmas Elf party at school.  They were so cute and had fun!  Everything they did was for elves.  They made mini elf barbells (a pretzel stick with marshmallows on the ends) Elf cones (bugle chips with canned cheese squirted into them) Elf trail mix,  and mini milkshakes (made in baby food jar).  What fun!

Dylan is now a Pre-Teen!!  That is how he likes to look at it.  His birthday fell on Thanksgiving this year so he didn't get to do a whole lot to celebrate with friends.  But he did get his presents and a big old dinner and a visit from his Grandma and Grandpa.  He chose to have pie in place of his birthday cake since he was going to have the cake for his party the following weekend and it was Thanksgiving after all!  This is Rylee's present for Dylan which he had just bought at a thrift store for himself just the day before.  But the gesture was sweet and it was so fun to wrap a present for his brother! The weekend after Dylan's birthday we planned a sleepover with some friends.  I didn't get a whole lot of pictures because they spent most of their time down in Dylan's room.  Here are a couple though when they finally surfaced for cake and ice-cream.    The ice-cream we made in ziplock baggies...cute idea but a little messy!...

Dylan and Rylee love to come and help me at my work.  I don't really understand this because they don't like to do things at home but at least I get to see my kids when I wouldn't be able to otherwise. On this day my co-workers son came to work with her too.  The younger kids got to do some dishes while Dylan got to make some coffee and help make cookies.  I was going through the pictures on my phone and I found out what happens when you let your 5 year old play with the phone...he takes LOTS of pictures!  Here are just a couple of the many, many pictures on my phone.   And just in the last couple of days Rylee has really liked to talk on the phone. This all started with when he got one of his friends' phone numbers.  Now I have to really watch him cause he calls and if he doesn't get an answer then he calls again and again.  I think I'm in trouble! On the phone with his friend Kaden!

In October we went to Salt Lake.  We wanted to see Jordan, meet my neice Elora and see family that we haven't seen in awhile. My Mom and Dad, Vera and her kids and Amanda & Jammie came also so we could see everyone!  Once again I was lost without my camera, I only have a few pictures of our visit from my cell phone.  I wish I would have taken more of everyone that we got to see.  I guess we will have to keep the memories in our head. Here are all the kids holding Elora, they absolutely loved her!! Playing outside... We stopped by the hospital to see my nephew and the rest of the family.  He was hurt playing a football game.  We are glad we got to see them for a little bit but wish it could have been longer and NOT at the hospital.   Kirk's brother, James and his family...Darcy, Hayden, Derek and Christina Cousins... And then there is Halloween in October!  Rylee was a vampire, Dylan was a sag...

Our house was in desperate need of a paint job!  You could see it peeling in some areas, especially on the wall that catches all the wind, rain and snow.  At the beginning of summer True Value had an awesome paint sale, buy one gallon get one free.  So that is the beginning of a long summer for Kirk!  He did all the work himself, with just a tiny bit of help from us. Here is a before picture... Kirk had to powerwash the entire house. Then he had to scrape and caulk the whole thing too, especially this wall.  Here he is taking a break.  I saw him out the kitchen window and I came out to take a picture and make sure he wasn't asleep up there!  And here is the 'almost' finished product.  Looks so much better! Kirk spent a lot of time on this and his hard work paid off!  Hopefully it wont be as attractive to the extremely annoying box elder bugs that like light colored buildings in the fall and spring for the warmth that is reflect...

Jordan went to her homecoming dance with her friend Trevor.  She said they danced the whole time and had alot of fun!!   She looks so cute, doesn't she!  Sure wish we could have been there to see her for ourselves but we are very happy to get to at least see her pictures.  The internet is a wonderful thing sometimes! The boys both participated in the homecoming activites at school.  They had a different dress up day each week.  One day they wear a certain color, another is pajama day or black and orange day and so on.  This is Rylee on pajama day.  The football players came in and signed their shirts that there were going to wear in the parade and read to them too!  How fun!!  There was a homecoming parade and both Rylee and Dylan were in it too. I dont have a picture of Rylee in the parade because they had the Kindergardners in a bus and even though I could see him waving my camera couldn't.  Oh well. Dylan on the other...

September 2011... It's a new school year again!  Rylee started Kindergarden, Dylan started 6th grade in Middle School and Jordan is in 10th Grade now!  The boys were both so excited about their new classes and Jordan says she likes her school too! Rylee's teacher is Ms. Grandbuche and Jordan and Dylan have way too many teachers to name!  Here are some pictures of the boys on their first day. Even though we didn't get to take pictures of Jordan on her first day cause she lives so far away, I grabbed one from her facebook of her in school this year.                                Shortly after school started Dylan's grade all got to go to Science Camp!  He was excited to go probably because he would be away from home for 4 days!  This is the first time he's been away from us for that long...