I just need to brag for a second

Report cards came home the other day and I love my boys!!! Dakoda brought home another honor roll report card. He had a couple of B's but they were in his harder classes (like Algebra 2 and English) so we were okay with that. Dylan on the other hand was not okay that he was going to get one A- so he went and talked to the teacher. She said anyone that worried about his grade deserved an A. He was only a percentage off anyways. That boy has it figured out. Sucking up is not out of the question. So he brought home a perfect report card - 4.0. Devin got a couple of B's too and was madder than heck that he didn't get to buy something from the Nike store for his efforts. But straight A's is quite an accomplishment, he deserved a treat.

Okay, I'm done bragging. I'm really just so proud of them, they make being a mom a breeze right now and I sure appreciate their efforts and love.

Busy Beaver

Devin is a busy little monkey. He went up to the canal to walk on the ice. He found these flat, hard chunks of snow and packed them clear to the house to show me. The canal is at least 100 yards or so and you can tell that they were a little big and awkward for him. But he thought I should see them and take a picture of his hard ward. I had to agree.

John Wesley Powell Report

Devin did a report on John Wesley Powell for fourth grade. He read the bibliography to me and had me write down notes for him. After that he was on his own. He typed for 2 days and ended up with 6 typed pages for his report. He did the oral report on January 6th. I didn't get to go but he did the report in front of our family a few times and did a great job. I'm sure that he ROCKED at school. He wore Dakoda's shirt from the Church Trek and looked just like a little explorer. I sent my cowboy hat (if you can call it that) but he was too embarrased to wear it. Dev makes being a mom easy. He does his work and entertains himself. I often have to look him up because he has vanished. He is usually in his room playing with his toys or on the computer checking his email. He has a birthday in May and wants contacts so bad. Thank goodness I work for an eye doctor or two and can take care of that. I borrowed this picture off of his teacher's blog (Miss Snapp).

Capital Reef Vacation

Dean can't help playing with the kids
Mom got her camera stolen

Nice pose Devin

No jumping off the edge?

1... 2... 3... GO

Huge tree!!!

Why do I always look like I'm freezing???

My babe!!

Devin tripped walking up the hill so he wouldn't smile.

Cutest kids huh?

Dylan was sure he could catch these deer. They were not afraid of anything. He got about 10-15 feet away from them before they really cared.

Dakoda had a tournament at Wayne High School down south right outside Capital Reef so we decided that it would be fun to head down there and see some new country. Neither Dean nor I had been there before. It was beautiful!!! We hit it during the off season so we had to find the only hotel with an open pool for the boys to swim in since that is all they wanted to do. Dakoda stayed with the team so he didn't get to play in the pool. The Varsity didn't do so well but the JV took second down there. Dakoda got a few seconds of varsity time and that made it pretty fun. He is praying he grows soon.

Chukkar Hunting????

Devin loves snow... Anywhere... Anytime...

I was beginning to think that Chukkar hunting was kind of like snipe hunting as a kid. Looking for something that is never there. We eventually found two of them but they got away. The boys had more fun shooting snowballs that Dean and Devin were making for them. Who needs a skeet shooter when you've got Dean?? We went up Lake Canyon and thought that we would be the only ones up there. We probably passed 10 trucks full of men and tons of four-wheelers. There must of been a cow elk hunt going on because there was not that many chukkars anywhere. Dean has a way of putting a little hunting into every day. The boys don't mind at all and honestly neither do I. We get to do tons as a family, I just don't like hiking. Too bad for me everyone else does so I get to go too.

Christmas Morn

Christmas morning is crazy. The boys woke us up about 6 a.m. Not bad this year. I usually make them stay in their room until 6 but they didn't run around and wake us up until then this year. The mess was huge, the smiles too. They got what they were asking for. Dakoda- a stereo for his room, Dylan- an ipod touch, and Devin- a Zune mp3 player. Dean and I had already bought and used our Christmas presents. The joys of being a grownup. We went over to Dean's mom's for Christmas Dinner. There were so many people that there wasn't enough room and everyone didn't show up. I think with the kids getting bigger the room is getting smaller.

The Day Before the Night Before Christmas

My family loves me and my camera... I'm sure of it. We went to eat lunch so that I didn't have to cook. Got to love that. The resteraunt forgot to turn on the heat so we ate with our coats on. After lunch we went for a drive up Moon Lake. We didn't make it up all the way due to all the snow. We turned around at Twin Pots where you could see that tons of people had slid into the ditch. We also drove up Rock Creek. The snow on the pine trees is so beautiful and peaceful. After we got down to where the snow wasn't so deep on the road, Dylan wanted pulled on the sleigh. I had to keep reminding Dean that he was back there... we were going a little (TON) too fast!

After we made it back from our long day of playing we had our long-standing traditional breakfast feast on Christmas Eve. I brought this little tradition along with marrying Dean from my mom and Ryan when we were kids. As long as I can remember I have had breakfast on Christmas Eve. After dinner the boys get to open their one present. It is always PJ's. We have always watched "The King is Born." A cartoon nativity story that I absolutely love. We had it before our home burned down and I found it online this year so that we could have it again.