Another Year Older and Wiser too!

It's a little late, but better late then never. She is finally 5!!! Every year for my kids' birthday I take their picture. I try to make it creative and pretty. It's easy to do with Savana, she is absolutely gorgeous!! She is a pure joy in our lives. She loves to sing and dance and play ALL the time. She is getting so responsible, and I am proud to have her as my daughter!
Happy Birthday Savana!







(Siera always has to do everything that Savana does, including pictures!)

The New, IMPROVED Office Space

We finally have an OFFICE! The computer has shared rooms with a lot of people over the years, but it finally has its own room. Timothy was bunking in the former NURFICE (nursery/office) but he was old enough to move downstairs with the rest of the kids, and is now sharing his room with Tomas. That left me to my ideas of what I could do in the office. Since almost all of my design ideas fit MY style, I thought I would make the office "Josh's space". There is now a very cool "manly" wall treatment, and with all the outdoorsy stuff we had it was a perfect match. There is now room on the walls for other trophy's that we might get. But it is a perfect starter room for our beloved computer who has been with us for so long!!!

Meet the FISH

Meet Lenny (named after one of the sharks in "Shark Tales"). Tommy got this fish for his 5th birthday. He eats A LOT, and is a great pet.

Meet Rapunzel. Yes, Savana named it. And if anyones asks it is a girl fish. She also got this fish for her 5th birthday. So far "she" has been great. Savana loves to give her fishy kisses through the glass.

And so you have met our two fish. And the tradition has started, when you turn 5, you get a fish.

Cherry Picking

At home we have a "few" (and by that I mean a lot) branches that droop over the fence into our backyard. There is a constant flock of birds and squirrels knocking down cherries and apples in the grass. Well this year we decided to pick the cherries. (The apples don't look so good.) Well, the kids LOVED this activity. We had a great time, and we got pounds and pounds of cherries. Well, Josh got the FANTASTIC idea to make cherry pie filling. And so we researched, and we found the recipe, and mixed, measured, and finally made a very, very scrumptious pie filling.

What do you do with pie filling? Make a Cherry Cheesecake. This is 100% home made Cherry Cheesecake. And it was GOOD too!

It's ok if you drool a little bit =)

Things that make daddy laugh

Working as far away as I do, I miss out on a lot of fun and special times with the kids. So, when I am actually home, I try to capture everything I can. These videos are from the last couple months and were both times that I was laughing so hard I was almost in tears. Sorry for the quality, they are off of my cell phone, but I hope everyone gets a good kick out of Timothy and Siera at, I think, their funniest EVER!

First up, Timbo was being a little fuss-butt during story time. So, for an unknown reason, I put the back of his shirt over his head. Obviously, the fussing stopped when he became the center of attention. Heidi couldn't even keep reading.

Next is Siera playing Wii boxing. I had been trying to coach her, but she started to shake her tush more and more with each punch and kept crouching lower too, so I had to pull out the phone and get a picture (again, I am sorry for the quality here). I was trying not to laugh out loud so that it wouldn't affect her boxing, but sometimes I couldn't restrain it.

The Foam Monster

The festivities continue... Each year in Soda Springs, Idaho, to celebrate the 4th of July, the fire department sprays foam out into the grass. Tons and tons and tons of foam. (Although I don't think it actually weighs tons, but its a lot). We first arrived and my kids didn't even want to try it. But, thankfully Uncle Jake forced them to do it. They all had fun- except for Timothy, he wanted nothing to do with the foam. I even tried it, of course I was thrown in by Uncle Jake =).
What a way to celebrate!!!

Savana's not so sure, and Tommy slides in... SAFE!

Sammy was not happy to get rinsed by the big fire hose, but being a good Auntie I went with her and we both got soaked- but it didn't clean us off very well.


I think Siera and Tommy had the most fun of all!

Timothy did NOT have fun.

Look at Sammy- She LOVES this stuff!

Tommy and Siera frolick in the foam!

Then it's Uncle Jake and Tommy versus...THE FOAM!!

Fun on the Fourth of July

Happy Independence Day!!! What a great day to enjoy our freedoms. As a parent we are supposed to teach our children about everything. So, today was a perfect opportunity to teach my children about freedom. I don't know if I did very well, but they at least gave me the courtesy of being quiet while I was talking.



Every year to celebrate the 4th of July, there is always a breakfast, then a parade and then fireworks at Josh's Uncle Mike's house. It's a big deal. Above are pictures of the parade. Timothy was a little confused at what the whole thing was about but once he figured out they were throwing candy we could hardly keep him out of the street. We got a HUGE bag full of treats.

Later, after a much needed nap, we headed for the fireworks portion of the evening. Timothy was just in awe watching everything. I tried to give him a pop rock, but he didn't throw it. Which is really out of character for him- he throws EVERYTHING!!! But at least Siera liked them. She went through at least 4 or 5 boxes of them by herself. They liked stepping on them best. Tommy was playing monkey, and was even able to light a few big fireworks (with the help of an adult). Savana just played and I loved watching them. Too bad that Josh couldn't be with us, he had to work. He LOVES fireworks.

Watching, waiting, and then Siera and her pop rocks.


(Savana took this picture)

The sparklers were awesome. Timbo got this crazed look on his face- "FIRE"
I still don't know about him. He is such a sweet little boy most of the time, and then these strange little quirks appear- throwing stuff really hard, being crazed with fire, and beating up his sister. We'll figure him out yet.


Happy 4th everyone. I am proud to be an American.

ANOTHER Trip to Utah?

Well, we apparently like Utah because we have been there so many times this summer already. But I finally got to meet up with my friend, Aimee, whom I haven't seen for almost eight years. So when the opportunity came to meet up with her I couldn't pass it up. We didn't do anything spectacular, we just went to a park and visited while our kids played around. I will say it was well worth the trip. I sure miss you Aimee!!

Calee and Gavin Toomey- Aimee's kids (one is missing- he was sick)

Me and Aimee

What poser's I have for kids. They love to play and they love the camera!

And they love to play WITH the camera!!

In a land far, far away...

June has been a busy, busy month for us. We have been travelin all over, visiting friends, family, and far away places. This fun little park is located in the city of... Layton. Yeah, it seems far away but nope- it's in Utah. The kids and I went to visit my sister and they showed us this great park. The kids had a ton of fun. Savana loved pretending that she was a princess and this was her castle.



Timothy really enjoyed the slides, swings, monkey bars and the dirt!!


How cute is she?

What great fun we all had.

(Did you notice they are all wearing jackets- It was still chilly in June, can you believe it?)

On the road again

Well every family has at least one story. This is our story of our trip to South Dakota.

Why South Dakota you ask, well FAMILY is the only answer I have. The Dickhaut family reunion was held in Aberdeen, South Dakota. I have to admit that when we first arranged to go to this family reunion I was a little pesimistic. I thought we were going to some whole in the middle of the country. But, I was pleasantly proved wrong. The drive through Montana, North Dakota and South Dakota was long but beautiful. The kids did really well in the car amazingly. We camped out in our tents, with campfires and everything. They LOVED that. Then, we arrived to the most beautiful place. We camped at a place called Wylie Park. There they had a game park, a lake, bikes, parks, and Storybook Land (pictures below). We got to meet some great people that we are related to. We got some geneology and it was just really great. I have to give my father-in-law some praise because he put the whole thing together and he did a great job. Other than the reunion we went to a water park, that was a whole lot of fun. Tommy went down the fast slide and said at the bottom, "That was a blast!". We all had a blast. Then we spent time at Storybook land. It's like a Wizard of Oz theme park kind of. They had a yellow brick road, the scarecrow, tin man, lion, Glinda, Dorothy, a twister, and even the munchkins. Then they also had all the fairy tales too, like Humpty Dumpty, 3 little pigs, etc. We could have spent all day there.

The fun didn't end. Wylie Park had go karts, and bumper boats. The girls and I, along with Elyssa (my sister-in-law) did the bumper boats. And if anyone has done it- you get SOAKED!!! We sure did, but it was fun. Then all the family did go karts. Siera just screamed for pure joy all the way around. Tommy was a maniac shouting at people as he and Josh passed everyone. I only went once, but I had a great time.

Once the reunion was over it was time to pack up and hit the road again. We traveled out to Tolstoy, South Dakota, which is where Gary's Dad was raised. We went out to the old house and got some relics. I got a pitch fork!!! Then it was on to Mount Rushmore. I tell you it was while in the car but once we got there it was really incredible. The majesty of those mountains is too much to describe. I just recommend that if you have a chance to go- GO!! It is definitely worth seeing.

After Rushmore we headed home through Wyoming this time, and back into Montana. There we stopped at the Battle of Little Bighorn National Monument. It was pretty cool. The kids wanted to see real Indians. It was interesting to explain. But it was nice to see part of History.

Once again back in the car for more hours and hours of driving. But finally we made it home!!!! The first thing the kids did was ask to ride their bikes. So we let them play outside to combat the hours upon hours upon hours in the car. It was a long trip, but I'm glad that we did it. We definitely bonded as a family, and had a ton of fun. I hope you enjoy the pictures, cuz we sure enjoyed being part of them!!

Follow the yellow brick road, follow the yellow brick road!!!!

Elyssa found her knight in shining armor at Storybook Land!!