Family Is...The Place You Call Home

December 2011, Happy New Year 2012, Coop's First Day of School, and Scot's Cheer

2012-02-04T08:43:00.002-08:00

Scotlyn started cheerleading in September. She had her first performance Jan. 17, 2012. We are so proud of her and how hard she practiced. She came home everyday and practiced her splits and jumps. She is 8 years and 5 months.

She was the highest jumper out on the floor. She had so much fun and loved every minute of it.

One week after the new year, I was told that we had one spot open in our preschool program. So with that little news we quickly got kicked into high gear and potty trained Mr. Cooper. He was fully potty trained in two days!!! Yahoo! He was also completely without diapers, even at night, by 4 days. I was so proud of him. Here he is in his first preschool performance at Barnes & Noble singing his little heart out. Cooper is 2 years and 8 months. Parker is 3 years and 9 months.

Scotlyn cheering again!!!

First day of school pictures. He was so happy to be able to carry his own lunch box. He called SRMS "Parker's School" for so long that that name stuck and now that's still what he calls it. He still loves going everyday and tells me when I pick him up what a big boy he is now.

Grandchildren with Grandma & Grandpa Mikkelson at New Years

Happy New Year 2012!!! G&G Mikkelson were up visiting with us. We also had Debbie and Logan over for the night to play games and eat lots of junk food. The kids had a blast playing Wii, Skip Bo, letting off poppers, and just being silly.

Such hams these little boys are...

We were able to take the kids ice skating over the break. It was really hard for the boys. I had Parker and Wendy had Cooper and it took us both about 30 min. to get around the whole rink and that was it. The boys were tired and their feet hurt so, they sat up in the window gallery with Matt and watched us all skate the whole time. Then Scotlyn hurt her ankle so we ended up only being there about an hour total time.

Christmas Time!!! I was really short on taking pictures during Christmas. There was so much going on that I forgot and spaced it. Nana & Papa Novak came up from down south and spent some time with us. We had fun and the kids did some baking with Nana. We all watched for the first time "It's a Wonderful Life".

Apple Picking at 65th Street Apples and Cider Pressing...

2011-12-02T10:17:00.000-08:00

The kids were able to go pick many boxes of apples and have some fresh pressed cider at a local Apple Field near our house. They had so much fun and Grandma Wendy was able to make lots of jars of apple pie filling for us to use. This was actually in early October before Halloween when the weather was just barely starting to turn cold. The cider press was very messy and sticky but it was neat to see how many apples it took to make a small glass of juice. All the kids got to turn the cider press and catch the juice coming out the bottom.

My Favorite Monkeys...

2011-12-02T10:04:00.000-08:00

Happy Halloween 2011

2011-11-15T18:15:00.000-08:00

Cooper was a penguin this year...shh..don't tell him Parker wore it last year. He still thinks it's cool to wear Parker's hand me downs. I hope he continues to think that because he has another few years ahead to get those.

The gang: Scotlyn (the fairy/gogo dancer/ballerina), Parker (the dalmation), and Cooper (the penguin)

Scottie and Parker outside

Here is Parker at school in his Fall Parade. He was a little embarrassed, but gave me a big smile anyway. He had to walk past my classroom and all my students were saying hi Parker to him.

Outside with our pumpkins the kids carved.

Nana and Cooper hard at work picking out all those pumpkin seeds that Nana ending up burning in the oven.

Miss Scotlyn

Daddy helping the boys.

Auntie Sarah looks thrilled to be carving pumpkins this evening.

This was taken on the first day of school. Scotlyn is in 3rd grade and Parker is in preschool still.

Labor Day Weekend 2011

2011-09-05T18:48:00.000-07:00

Over Labor Day weekend we went to the Idaho Falls Airport for some old World War II airplanes that had flown in for the weekend. I think they were B-15 or B-17's. The kids enjoyed taking a tour of them and being out at the airport. Above is a picture of Parker looking down below from the airplane.

Here is Scotlyn looking down below at me so I could take her picture.

Cooper wasn't much into climbing through the airplane but he sure enjoyed walking around it.

Parker and Scotlyn posing nicely for me. Cooper wanted nothing to do with this picture.

He did pose for this picture though.

The next day, we decided to take the kids to the Eastern Idaho State Fair. Scotlyn wanted to do this water bubble thing where they run inside a plastic bubble on water. She had a great time and it tired her out. We had a lot of fun watching her make her way across the water.

While Auntie Sarah and Scotlyn went on the rides, the boys were content with riding in these free cars provided by a local hospital.

Here is Auntie Sarah asking about owning a bunny. She is thinking that since she isn't going to be getting a dog...a bunny would be the next best thing. Will someone talk some sense into this girl?

Scotlyn Turns 8 !!! August 27, 2011

2011-08-30T17:12:00.000-07:00

For Scotlyn's 8th birthday, we went to Salt Lake City and stayed in a hotel. For her special day, we went to Build A Bear, played at the Discovery Children's Museum, and played in the water fountain at the mall. In the picture above, Cooper and Scotlyn are playing at the museum.

Here is daddy and the birthday girl.

Mommy and the birthday girl.

Cooper gassing up his ride at the museum.

Kitura and Scotlyn at the museum sitting in the helicopter.

Daddy and Cooper in the helicopter.

Build A Bear Workshop is always a must when it's your birthday.

Auntie Sarah and Scotlyn

Aunt Jennifer and Scotlyn

For dinner, we went to eat at "The Mayan Adventure." The food wasn't that great, but the atmosphere was wonderful. It was decorated to look like a jungle inside, had cliff divers into water, fire dancers, and rope swingers from the roof. We had a total of 20 people in our dinner party. It was a fun adventure.

Jen, Rod, Josh, and Scotlyn

At the table was: Mommy, Daddy, Parker, Cooper, Auntie Sarah, Jason, Grandma Wendy, Grandpa Russ, Jennifer, Rodney, Josh, David, Cortney, Deann, Jeff, Kitura, Kambria, their two foster sons and Scotlyn.

A Visit from the Jones' Family - August 12 & 13

2011-08-25T13:25:00.000-07:00

Here is everyone sitting watching the animal show at..."The Zoo". I didn't lie when I said that we took all of our visitors to the zoo.

The kids are feeding the animals.

This is a great picture of the kids in front of the Idaho Falls. We walked a lot this day and it was so hot. When we got lazy because we had walked so far, we called my sister and she came to pick us all up in her car. The six 6 kids piled in the back, with no car seats, and Brit and I sat in the passenger side. Plus we crammed our double and umbrella strollers in her hatchback. She drives a little Pontiac. This was very safe. I should state, so no one calls CPS on us, that we only drove down the street to a shaded area, maybe a mile.

Here is our little Cooper sitting on my counter. Every time I cook, he comes over to me and says, "Me help too, Me help too." So this is what I get: a cute little dude that takes up half my counter space and occasionally spills the ingredients. This morning we were making Swedish pancakes, which are one of the kids favorite breakfast.

Hurricane, Utah in August 2011

2011-08-09T14:46:00.000-07:00

Little Miss Scotlyn out on on Papa's boat. She loves the water and to go fast. Now if we can only get her to try out the water ski's.

Parker wasn't too sure of the ride at first, but loved it in the end. He kept asking Papa to go faster and do it again.

Driving the boat was the best part for all the kids.

This was Cooper's expression the whole time on the boat. The next few pictures were taken at the Hurricane Splash Pad. It was hotter than h%#l in Hurricane. We would have just about melted if it hadn't been for the Washington Rec. Center or this splash pad. The boys had a great time running through the water and I was able to get some cute pics of them. Scotlyn was still on her vacation with Nana at this time.

Here are the kids helping Nana wash her car.

Wendy (Grandma), Jen, Josh, Scotlyn, Parker, and me all got to go see the "Little Mermaid" at Tuacahn. Wendy had bought us tickets in early July, which was good because they had had a sold out show for 29 consecutive days. It was a wonderful show and the kids loved it.

Flintstones, Bedrock City, South Dakota 7/17/2011

2011-07-29T16:15:00.000-07:00

This is actually Parker and Cooper at Mount Rushmore. Notice the scratch on Parker's nose. When we first arrived, he fell down on the concrete sidewalk and scratched it.

Flinstones: Bedrock City...here we come!

Iowa : July 6- 16, 2011

2011-07-29T14:45:00.000-07:00

We went back to Iowa to visit and so Matt could help clean out his grandparents farm. There was a lot to do and he was busy the whole time he was there. He had a great time strolling down memory lane with his family and finding lots of old items that his grandpa had hidden away. I'm surprised we didn't come back with anything on a trailer. Everyone was helping to get ready for an auction on September 11. They pulled out 15 tractors, I think, and 6 old cars that they decided were too sentimental to sell. Here is one of them with the kids posing next to it. I think the cars name is "Vicky". Matt was successful in getting all of the cars at least running, some not so well but they made noise. We had a great time even though it was very hot, humid, and the kids looked like they had chicken pox from all of their mosquito bites. Parker even had a visit to the ER for a bite, spider we think, that made his forehead and eyes swell.

Here are all the Great Grandkids: Madison, Josh, Morgan, Madi, Josie, Scotlyn, CJ, Parker, and Cooper.

Miss Scotlyn loves to pose for pictures.

The Grandkids: Kristie, Jennifer, Matt, and Cheri

"Thank you Aunt Jennifer for helping me with my hot dog." Parker kept dropping his hot dog in the coals and getting black on it.

We had a bonfire, a small one, and roasted hot dogs, marshmallows, and made smore's.

Matt and Parker were just getting to mow the back woods and side yard with this monstrous mower. Parker and Cooper loved taking rides on these tractors. In the afternoon when Cooper needed to take a nap, we would just take him for a tractor or 4 wheeler ride and he would fall fast asleep.

Parker loved to climb up and down and sit there pretending to drive the tractors. He didn't mind posing for pictures as long as he was on a tractor.

In this picture, you can tell that his face is swollen from the spider bite. It didn't hurt, itch, and wasn't red but it sure looked yucky.

Cooper getting a trailer ride on the back of the mower.

Cheri, Jen, Bonnie, and Wendy were washing and taking pictures of the tractors for the auction guy.

Kristie gave all the kids a ride in the trailer all around the yard.

Parker and CJ

Cooper was so tired each afternoon.

If Matt was fixing a car, then Cooper and Parker were right there, sometimes under his feet wanted to help him.

Matt and Steve discussing how to get the car running.

More washing tractor pictures.

Cooper and Parker taking a ride in the Galaxy 500 with Matt driving.

The girls: (Morgan, Madi, Josie, and Scotlyn) and Josh having a good time hanging out.

Matt, Parker, and Cooper

My little Scottie

Cooper in front of the corn field.

Cooper always wanted to be by a tractor. He was jealous because Parker could climb up on them and he couldn't.

Thanks dad for helping me up on the tractor.

Visitors From Other Places - June & July 2011

2011-07-29T14:13:00.001-07:00

When our visitors come here from out of town, we go to the zoo a lot. Idaho Falls has an awesome zoo for our small city. It's very affordable and kids 3 and under are free which is even better. Here is Cooper on the copper lion.

Scotlyn & Alicia, Brandon & Parker are very happy to pose for me to take a picture. Cooper and Robert wanted nothing to do with any pictures.

Scotlyn and Brandon having a great time.

Scotlyn, Brandon, and Alicia

Parker, "Hey mom, look at me."

Parker and Robert are 5 months apart in age. Robert was born in October and Parker was in March.

Deann and I have been friends for over 10 years and have lots of fun together. She and her girls have been up to Idaho to visit us every year since we have moved from Southern Utah. We always have a great time and find lots of stuff to do together.

Kitura and Scotlyn found a moss pool...ewww!

Parker and Cooper

Again...Parker and Cooper at the zoo again.

All the kids down by the Idaho Falls. We walked down here after we visited the Farmer's Market.

The boys': Parker, Cooper, Jeff, and Matt down by the falls.

Kitura, Kambria, and Scotlyn at the zoo.

Kitura and Scoltyn

4th of July 2011

2011-07-29T13:54:00.000-07:00

Parker was watching Scotlyn and Logan Sumo wrestle at the town fair.

Cooper and Parker watching the fire trucks pass by.

Matt bought this hat from a street vendor for way too much money but he thought he needed it. After we bought it, the sky went cloudy.

Trying to pose for a family picture but mom is the one that has to take the picture. They all still look pretty cute though.

We did a few fireworks in front of our house.

May, June, and Our First 5K...

2011-06-24T19:38:00.000-07:00

School is finally out and we have been very busy so far. Grandma Wendy was able to come stay for a week so I could finish up cleaning my classroom and Matt and I could do a little playing. He had a business day trip to San Francisco. So, I got to tag along and we had lunch at Fisherman's Wharf and strolled along the shops. We brought the kids back a crab made out of sourdough bread.

We took a drive to Island Park the end of May and expected it to be a comfortable temperature. Instead, it was 32 degrees and was snowing. Instead of seeing fish we just had lunch and made the hour and a half drive back home.

Scotlyn and I decided to do our first 5k. Well, I walked the 5k and she ran a mile. I told her to run her heart out and she did. She finished in just under 10 minutes. When she passed the finish line she ran right to the bathroom to puke. We look forward to much more of these after we build up some endurance. These can be addicting.

There are 2 pictures of the boys at the local money hole (the carnival) that rolled through town. I love the smiles, amusement, and pleasure that we get from these things. They are just so darn expensive. I dropped 30 bucks for each kid to ride 4 rides. I would have much rather gone to Disneyland!!

Kite Festival at Sandy Downs...

2011-04-30T19:02:00.000-07:00

We took the kids to The Kite Festival today and had a great time. Only in Idaho Falls does it snow one day and then we have a kite festival the next. It was a little chilly but luckily the wind cooperated. We attempted to fly Matt's airplane (of course we have an airplane kite) but in the end it was Parker's Lightning McQueen car kite that was the easiest. The kids had fun eating hot dogs and watching all the neat kites flying around us.

2011-04-24T18:59:00.000-07:00

Cooper Turned 2 on April 20 and because it was such a busy day. He got glazed donuts as his birthday treat; which he quite enjoyed because he had 3 of them. My aide, Linda, gave him a toy truck and he got a bug catching kit from his daycare. We had dinner at 5 Guys Hamburgers and he was just as happy as could be. We sure love this little guy though. He is so much fun to have around.

We celebrated Easter with our neighbors, The Wards, and had an egg hunt. Matt got a remote control airplane for his birthday so he took that out. He also got some rockets and shot them off for the boys to watch. It was a beautiful day to be outside. Scotlyn had just finished up her week of plays at church. She was in 5 shows of the musical "Arise" at Calvary this past week. What a wonderful Sunday it was.

Only 5 more weeks until "Summertime" arrives for us and then it's 3 months of playing...Yay!!!

Birthdays & Mini Trips

2011-04-03T18:33:00.000-07:00

Parker Magnus turned 3 on March 7. I turned thirtysomething on March 6. We had a Baskin Robins ice cream cake for a treat.

Sarah and I decided to take the kids to Jackson on a Saturday when we had nice weather.

Matt and I drove to Arizona for Spring Break this year. He had classes so Scotlyn and I drove to Tucson to spend some time with my Aunt Billie. We visited Sonora Canyon, swam, and had lots of fun. She was also watching Nathan & Lucas Baker, some friends kids of hers. We dropped the boys off in Hurricane to spend the week with all the grandparents. It was about a 15 hour drive from our home to our hotel in Arizona.

December & Walt Disney World 2010

2010-12-29T19:21:00.001-08:00

As an early Christmas present to ourselves we decided to take Scotlyn to Walt Disney World in Florida. Matt's friend, Vince, was getting married and we thought to make a small vacation out of it. We had such a good time at both the wedding and the park. I don't think Scotlyn takes after me in my love for Disney since she cried on almost every ride from being scared, but towards the end of the night after being there all day...she began to enjoy herself and after I had to bribe her to go on most of the rides. Matt's parents came up to watch the boys along with my sister who helped out. I think Parker knew we were at a place that had Mickey Mouse because he said his name everytime I talked to him on the phone. The wedding was beautiful and we were happy to be able to share in Vince and Stephanie's joyous day. What a great end to a great year.

The Corn Maze & Carving Pumpkins 11/6/2010

2010-11-06T18:56:00.001-07:00

2010 School Pictures

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Scotlyn Arline - 7 years old, 2nd grade, Snake River Montessori, Mrs. Taylor

Parker Magnus - 2 1/2 years, Preschool, Snake River Montessori, Ms. Joanie

Cooper Lynn - 18 months, Daycare and stays with mommy at Snake River Montessori

Happy Halloween 2010

2010-10-30T10:52:00.000-07:00

We went to Boo at the Zoo on Friday night and had a wonderful time. It was a little cold but that didn't stop the kids from eating all the candy that they put in their buckets. Scotlyn was a vampire, Parker a penguin, and Cooper was chicken. Nana was able to stay an extra day and go with us. She had been with them since Tuesday so we could attend Matts grandpa's funeral in Iowa.

Bear World 2010....

2010-09-19T17:15:00.000-07:00

Today we decided to go to Bear World for the day before the bears went into hibernation for the winter. What a wonderful day we had. Auntie Sarah had never been so we did the whole shabang...drove through the park, rode the rides, petted the animals, fed the bears, fed the fish, and even bought some fudge. I think everyone left tired and happy (some a little more cranky than others).

Summertime!!!! 8/21/2010

2010-08-21T18:31:00.000-07:00

My dad came to visit for a few days and we had a great time while he was here. I didn't pull out the camera as much as I wanted to but I got a few shots. We went swimming, fishing, and had a marshmallow roast.

The weekend after he left, Matt and I took the kids for a drive to Mesa Falls and Big Springs trout pond in Idaho. It was a full day drive but it was fun. We had lunch at a wonderful restaurant at Mac's Inn in Island Park. The kids were a little cranky when we got home, but after all is said and done...we would do it again.

Aunt Billie, Jin, & the kids... August 2010

2010-08-09T16:22:00.000-07:00

We had a visit from my Aunt Billie, cousin Jinnefer, and her 3 kids. We had so much fun while they were here. Wendy and Russ brought the boys back from St. George for us after our trip to Texas, so they were able to be here for the visit as well. Parker and Robert are 5 months apart and Alicia and Cooper are 5 weeks apart. They played so good together. We decided to celebrate Brandon's bday (7/22) and Scotlyn's bday (8/27) together since we don't get to see each other that often. We had many campfires and roasted marshmallows both inside the house and outside the house, we spent Saturday at Reed's Dairy, rode a horse, milked a fake cow, ran a milk man obstacle race (Scotlyn won 1st place and a $20 gift card), had some yummy ice cream, and went roller skating. We had a great 3 days and were sad to have them leave.

2010-08-03T14:49:00.000-07:00

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We have had a great couple of weeks. First, we had my mom and some great friends from St. George come visit us: Deann, Jeff, Kitura, & Kambria Stratton. They were able to spend a fun filled week with us. We went to an air show, drove to Jackson, Wyoming, took a carriage ride and had lunch, went to the zoo, swam with the Staples family who also happened to stop by on their way to Ashton, and just had tons of fun.

The following weekend Matt had a trip to Wichita Falls, Texas come up with a stop over in St. George so the grandparents were happy to take the boys for a few days. We were also able to make a short stop in for Jen's Bday party to celebrate her 39th birthday (mostly for the ice cream cake). While in Texas we drove to Oklahoma so Scotlyn could add that to her states she's traveled this summer; which now totals 11. We went bowling, went to a water park, shopped, and ate a lot of frozen yogurt & sushi.

a vacation to Iowa....(warning, many cute pics to follow!)

2010-07-15T15:17:00.000-07:00

We spent a week in Iowa visiting Matt's side of the family. It was an eighteen hour drive that we managed to turn into 22, both ways! I don't think the kids want to take any long drives in the near future. We go there every two years and everyone seems to always enjoy themselves. His grandma and grandpa live on a farm with many tractors, barn kitties, and a million mosquitoes. This year Parker and Cooper got a taste of what it was like for Matt as a kid riding on tractors. Parker was in love with all the machinery. Following are many pics of the fabulous vacation. I, who rarely takes many pictures, took 126. Don't worry, I've posted just a small amount.

Parker liked to helped Great Grandma water the plants around the farm. He loved the golf cart and always wanted to drive it. He and Cooper fought over who would have the steering wheel.

Great Grandma uses an old plastic tub to take wash down to the basement, Cooper thought it was fun to just sit in and he liked to have someone push him in it.

Matt mowed the lawn for his grandpa, it took him 2 days to finish. Parker fell asleep while he was helping dad. He must of thought that it was a tiring job.

Scotlyn and Josie were both born on the same day, August 27th, and seem to have about the same personality, always want to be in charge and not afraid to speak their mind. They had a great time playing: dress up, washing cars and garages, playing with barn kitties, sleeping in a trailer by the lake, swimming, and just being silly girls.

Cooper just loved to go up and give hugs to CJ, who is Josie's brother. He was very loving and kept calling him and Parker bud or buddy. He was very sweet with both boys.

Steve, Matt's uncle, has a boat that the boys wanted to ride on. They had such a good time on Rice Lake, where Bonnie and Steve live. I think Cooper would have jumped in if we would have let him.

Every year Great Grandma Ramsey's sister, Elaine, has a family get together at her house to watch the parade for "July Jubilee". Cheri, Matt's cousin, made a candy target and it worked well because the cooler was half filled with candy after the parade.

Tthe four girls: Madi, Josie, Morgan, and Scotlyn are all within 3 years of age from each other. When ever they get together, you'd think they played together all the time. They have so much fun and look forward to these visits.

Our lil' miss Scotlyn won 2nd place in the tractor peddle races at "July Jubilee". She was so proud of herself after she finished. She peddled her little heart out when she got on that tractor. Matt was at the end of the race yelling and I think she just really wanted to win.

For the 4th of July, we spent the evening with our neighbors and had a great time watching the fireworks. Idaho Falls puts on a wonderful firework display.

2010-06-08T15:02:00.000-07:00

It's so hard to get a good picture of all three of them together.

May Random Pics.....

2010-06-01T15:58:00.000-07:00

Cooper sitting on Matt's lap while flying home. He couldn't sit there for very long because he wanted to touch everything...which isn't good when you're in the air.

Parker sitting right seat with Matt on our way home from St.George.

Scotlyn and Parker flying a kite in front of my mom's house in Hurricane. Parker let it go so, my mom and Scotlyn chased it about 2 blocks.

Scotlyn and Ole down by the falls at the Farmers Market.

Parker and Cooper taking a stroll at the Farmers Market. Neither of them look very happy here. However, they both are pretty happy boys.

Scotlyn was in the ballet "Wizard of Oz." She played a flower pot and was literally on stage for about 2 minutes. The whole show was about 2 hours. But, she had fun and really enjoyed getting all dolled up.

Parker was a bluebird for his end of the year performance. I had to sit on stage with him so he would sing. Which he doesn't talk so....he made fish faces.

Our Coopster turned 1 on April 20. What a little monster this guy is. He has to do everything his brother does, then Parker does it louder or harder, and that's how the day goes. They try to out do each other.

A trip for Scotlyn.

2010-04-16T17:58:00.001-07:00

Matt and Scotlyn walking along the boardwalk.

Scotlyn feeding birds @ an Ostrich Farm.

Aunt Billie and Scotlyn went on a train ride after dinner.

We stopped off to take a break from driving at an Indian Reservation.

Scotlyn posing by a grave she thought was funny. Aunt Billie took us to "Old Tucson Studios". It was such beautiful weather and was nice to get out of the cold and snow for a week.

Scotlyn, Great Grandpa and Great Grandma watching a gunfight show.

My sweet girl.

Mom and Scotlyn at Old Tucson Studios

Indian Reservation again.

After a 15 hour drive, we were ready to take a break. We left the boys in S. Utah with the grandparents for a week and while Matt attended school, Scotlyn and I visited with family in Tucson. We were actually only there for 3 days. We spent a day in Vegas and then a couple in S.Utah. It was a much needed Scotlyn trip.

Our "terrible" two year old turns 2 !!!!!!

2010-03-19T12:45:00.000-07:00

Coop playing in the balls.

"I love my brother"

Scotlyn and her Nana making cupcakes for Parker's party.

Cooper licking the frosting off our stove left from the leprachaun's feet!!

Parker's not one for us singing to him...I think he thought if he closed his eyes we would disappear.

He had to pet the lobster before his birthday dinner.

relaxing on his day...watched "Cars" 4 times.

My sweet Cooper

Love those cupcakes...

Coop hanging with a friend.

Again...not one for being sung to.

My little cowboy Cooper.

2010-02-28T11:55:00.000-08:00

Coop and Parker playing...

My mom, Parker, & Scotlyn going outside to sled.

Our Little Coop.

My future Dr............

or...maybe a baker?

The light of my life!!!!

Wow! Where did 2009 go? Here are some pics from the past few months. Parker & Scotlyn made a huge mess when they made sugar cookies with my mom at Christmas time, but they had so much fun. One of Parkers favorite things to do is play doctor with Cooper. He likes to pretend to listen to his heart. Coop has no idea and usually just crawls away. Parker turns 2 next week and Coop turns 1 next month, so....if I can keep on top of things then I will post some pics of their B-days.

November happenings...

2009-12-05T20:37:00.000-08:00

November came and went and I'm not sure I even took a breath! We were able to fly down to Vegas for a few days to celebrate my dad's 50th birthday. Unfortunately, I only took one pic of my lil' sis and I. We had a fabu time and would love to have another mini vaca. Matt's parents were able to come up to Idaho for Thanksgiving. We enjoyed having them and look forward to my parents at Christmas time. Some of the pics include Scotlyn and Parker playing on the computer. He loves watching her play Webkinz and watching Matt play Farmville on Facebook. Some pics of Scotlyn at the Harvest Festival and helping me make pies. The boys all wintered up at the Harvest Festival and Cooper in his exersaucer, which he no longer like because he wants to always be on the go.

Cooper...

2009-10-04T08:22:00.000-07:00

I noticed as I looked at my other posts...Coop gets left out quite a bit. So, this post is devoted just to Cooper. Here are some recent ones of our smiley guy.

What happened in September?

2009-10-04T07:26:00.000-07:00

Like I mentioned before...I will do my best to keep this blog updated. The month of September has flown by with a few milestones. Our little girl turned 6 the end of August. We had a tea party for her with a few friends. She loved it! Her favorite snack now is cucumber sandwiches with butter. She also started 1st grade and Parker started preschool. They both seem to be enjoying themselves. I went back to work part time. This makes for busy week days...but such nice, relaxing weekends. Lil' Coop gets to be with me in the classroom...I have a great co-teacher! The kids love him and make lists of who gets to hold him at recess. One month down, only 8 months to go! My mom was able to bring my grandparents up for a visit before it got too cold for them here. We had a wonderful time (no pics though ):) . Cooper has started to get up on all 4 and move back and forth getting ready to crawl. I not sure I am quite ready for that. All in all we had a great month. We're happy fall is here and welcome the crisp and cold mornings! We'll see you at the end of October for Halloween pics.

2009-08-03T12:18:00.000-07:00

Last Sunday we took one of Matt's friends plane up for a spin around the city. P loves airplanes, maybe he'll take after Matt!

2009-08-03T11:55:00.000-07:00

My mother was in 7th heaven on this vacation! We had a wonderful time in Southern CA. We left Wednesday morning (7/22), picked up my mom and Scotlyn in Hurricane then headed to Las Vegas to have dinner with Matt (he was there for work). P started to not feel so well so we got him some Motrin and headed to state line to stay the night. All through the night he kept waking up and had a raging fever. So, @ 6 the next morning I ran him and Coop (also not feeling well) into Vegas to an Insta Care. After driving around for 2 hours looking for one that would take my insurance, they sent me to the Children's ER for a pediatric dr. Long story short....after a$200 copay and Augmentin, we were on our way to CA. We had a great day in the Magical Kingdom and yes...It is the happiest place on earth! We also got to visti my cousin Jin and her great family. Brandon, her son, had a birthday at a great bounce house place. We ate lots of great Mexican food and spent a day at the beach. My camera ran out of batteries so I have no pics of the beach. As you can see from the pics P was very tired and just fell asleep just about anywhere! Scotlyn also enjoyed her nana dressing up as a princess with her on our trip to the Magical Park. Eat your heart out Cinderella...you have nothing on these princesses! Scotlyn also lost her first tooth while there. The tooth fairy was able to find us...but only had big bills so, she got a $20 bill for her first tooth! We all need CA tooth fairies.

Our trip to Disneyland!

2009-08-03T11:51:00.001-07:00

2009-07-11T14:18:00.000-07:00

We took the kids to the local minor league baseball game. They had a great time eating junk food and playing in the stands...don't think they watched much of the game. They like the stomping of feet when our home team got a run! Parker liked the ice cream the best, Scotlyn liked the Chucker bird the best, and Coop was just happy to be held.

2009-07-11T14:12:00.000-07:00

Happy July to all! I've finally realized that I just can't keep up with it all...even taking a break from work through the summer. So...I think I'll stick to just one post a month and if I can fit in more I will! Here are some 4th of July pics. Parker had a pretty rough day not napping at the right time and being afraid of the loud bang of fireworks. As long as Coop had his bink, he was good. Our little princess was just happy all the way around!

2009-06-13T17:24:00.000-07:00

Here are some June pictures of our kiddies. Of course when you have an older sister, you will most likely play with dolls and strollers...so one of P's favorite toy is a baby stroller which Scotlyn graciously gave to him. He is so in love with Cooper that he always wants to love on him. Coopers not too sure about it sometimes, but sits while Parker pets him. Scotlyn is also very excited to show off her new glasses. She loves them and wants to wear them all the time but only needs them for reading and watching tv. We managed to get a great pic of Cooper smiling...I think he had gas.

2009-05-29T19:34:00.000-07:00

It's been a month since I last posted some pics of our new little guy...so here are some new ones. We are down south in Utah visiting some family while Matt goes on a motorcycle trip with some friends. We had a great time. Cooper is now just over a month old and Parker seems to be enjoying being the big brother.

2009-04-28T07:36:00.000-07:00

Cooper is now 1 week old and has slept through most of it! I have to say it has been really nice staying home with the kids...I have help from my mom (which makes it even nicer) and Matt's parents will be here next week. They are definately spoiling me!

our big baby!

2009-04-22T17:43:00.000-07:00

Our little Parker thinks he is still the baby...he kind of fit in Cooper's hospital crib!

the newest member...

2009-04-22T16:37:00.000-07:00

Cooper Lynn Mikkelson was born on Monday night at 9:37 pm. We went into the hospital having some labor pains and they decided it was time for the world to welcome him. Matt and I were sure he was going to come out a girl...so imagine our surprise when he didn't have girlie parts! It took us a couple days to decide on his name but finally agreed he looked like a Cooper. He was born on Matt's grandpa's birthday so that's where Lynn comes in. He is doing very well and doesn't cry too much. He has been the smallest of our bunch weighing in at 7 lb. 12 oun. and 20 1/2 inches long. We get to go home on Thursday. Parker seems to think he's interesting and Scotlyn is happy she gets to be the only princess!

2009-03-07T15:11:00.000-08:00

We took P for his second plane ride last weekend when we went to Salt Lake for a wedding. Our girl, as always, loves to be her dad's co-pilot, but this time she had to share her seat with her brother. He loved it, but I was happy the ride only lasted 50 minutes because he did get restless and wanted to crawl all over the place!

2009-03-07T14:53:00.000-08:00

Hello to all! I know it's been awhile since my last post...time goes by way too fast! Our little boy has just turned one today. For those of you who attended our girl's big shin dig and Luau for her 1st birthday, I felt P needed a little more than just a birthday cake put in front of him. So, we decided to have a swim party (since it's only 20 degrees outside) at our local gym. I invited some friends and classmates that have gotten really close to him over the year and my mom and dad came up from down south. We had a great time and enjoyed the nice indoor warm water.

We only have 7 weeks until we should expect our newest little one. I don't have a scheduled c-section date just yet, but will be delivering at 39 weeks. I have had some early contractions, so we're taking it easy just a bit. We thought since P's birthday is right next to mine then maybe this next one will be right next to Matt's, which is April 12th! We'll see...we know it will come when it's ready. We still haven't found out a sex yet and are waiting for that big day to decide on a name. Our girl has an idea for Stelluna if it's a girl!

Our New Addition!

2009-01-01T15:00:00.000-08:00

Here are pics of the newest addition to our family...Milo Mikkelson. Matt didn't think that soon to be 3 kids and 1 dog were enough, so he added another member to our family. This dog was found roaming a few towns north of us by another family, they had him neutered and got him the shots he needed. They were giving him away and Matt thought Ole needed a friend...so here is!

Merry Christmas and Happy New Year!!

2008-12-30T18:14:00.000-08:00

Merry Christ-mas a little late and Happy New Year a little early...May your year be filled with love, joy, laughter, and good health! Hopefully this year won't go as fast as last, but it's kind of like a roll of toilet paper...the closer you get to the end...the faster it goes. We'd love to get to visit more family and friends...it's not looking too prosperous, but not totally out of the question! We have tons of snow, so if anyone is up for a good ski run, we're minutes from one!

Our Snow...

2008-12-23T17:11:00.000-08:00

For all you St.George wimps that had a snow day because you had 3 inches of snow...here are our pics of the kids playing on our 15 inches of snow. Nothing has been closed down, we went Christmas shopping in it and Matt has had to plow our driveway too many times. It did take my sister awhile to dig her car out because she tried to plow through a snow bank in front of her car rather than listen to Matt! It took 4 men to dig her out! We are looking forward to a winter white Christmas!

first pics with Santa!

2008-12-14T08:39:00.000-08:00

We had our first visit with Santa on Friday night. A friend of ours nicely asked Santa if he wouldn't mind coming to her house for a visit and to have some cookies! P did great and loved him...especially the candy cane after. Our girl gave Santa her very tiny wish that only included an American Girl baby. They both had a good time and loved every minute!

2008-12-07T12:47:00.000-08:00

Matt had a business trip to North Dakota for 3 days and he was able to take our girl with him. He does a great job at taking pictures. He's actually the photographer in our family...I think he gets it from his mom! They had so much fun that everytime I talked to her she wasn't ready to come home. As you can see in the pictures of the hotel room, Matt lets her get away with a lot more than I do...aka the messy room with clothes all over and she's eating on the floor and not a table. They were able to go to a children's museum and do some sight seeing. I love the picture of the two of them in front of the river. I always heard that it would be daddy's girls...it sure is! I'm sure it doesn't hurt that he spoils her and buys here whatever she wants!

Happy Thanksgiving...

2008-11-28T18:27:00.000-08:00

My parents and grandma came up from St. George to spend the holiday with us. We had a great time and even managed to fight the crowds and get some good deals early Friday morning!! My girl had a great time helping me make the pies (she actually just played with the dough) and P just hung out eating cheerios! Her nana is always such a great sport to play dress up with her and have a tea party. We want to say that we are so grateful for each and every one of you. Each family or person we know play a special role in our our lives, whether we talk to you once a year or everyday, and we are so blessed to have you in our lives!! Happy Thanksgiving and enjoy this holiday season.

an early x-mas present for our girl...

2008-11-13T09:38:00.000-08:00

So Matt thought our girl needed an early x-mas present. I told him not to get his hopes up for her to be very excited. She wasn't...she said but I wanted an American Girl doll. Here is also an updated photo of the garage. They proved me wrong...Matt will be painting this week and move in next week! He is very excited to get this done and so am I to have my garage back for the winter.

Another Update...

2008-10-31T19:31:00.000-07:00

Their giving me some hope...we have walls and and now a roof (after the picture was taken). Matt is in the process of getting the electrical done and went to get the siding. I think they might just be able to beat the snow! P has been having fun being daddy's little helper also.

Happy Halloween!!

2008-10-31T19:13:00.000-07:00

We wish everyone a Happy Halloween and hope yours was as fun as ours. P was a doctor, our girl was Raggedy Ann, Ole was a witch, and Sarah was a nerd. We went to a halloween party for one of our girl's classmates, then to the mall to trick or treat, then home for some more trick or treating. I think a good time was had by all. I actually think our girl had more fun waiting for trick or treaters to come to our door. With all the candy she had collected, she had decided we only needed the chocolate candy bar kind, so she decided to recycle it and put it in our give out candy. I was ok with that to cut down on the amount we had in the house. Surprisingly, P went totally candy free the whole day! Our girl and P want to thank both their wonderful grandmama's for sending them such wonderful Halloween packages. They were both filled with many goodies and we know lots of love! They both know how lucky they are to have such fantastic sets of grandparents!

Update on the garage...

2008-10-24T19:26:00.000-07:00

As you can see in the picture we now have some sides going up with walls. However, we had a guy knock over our fence dropping off the trusses, our cement guy splashed cement on our neighbors suburban, our fence that we just had restained a couple months ago is getting broken and scratched, and one day I came home and had to take a picture because 2 of the 3 construction workers were walking around talking on their cells phones for a bit (and we're paying for this!) I'm still betting on next spring, but their giving me some hope!

Happy Harvest!

2008-10-24T19:10:00.001-07:00

Sarah and I took the kids to a local pumpkin patch here in Idaho Falls called "The Red Barn" to pick pumpkins and go through the corn maze! I'm not sure who had more fun...Sarah or Scotlyn. We carved pumpkins and had a great time watching Parker trying to eat the top of all the pumpkins!

picture posing...

2008-10-12T18:45:00.000-07:00

My girl and I were playing with the camera and P. We decided to take some candid shots of him in his new winter hat and in a pre Halloween get up. He's deciding to maybe be a pumpkin this year. We're not sure...

Doing some construction...how long will it take?

2008-10-11T14:56:00.001-07:00

We have been ask to post pics of the construction of Matt's "new home!" We had a beautiful big backyard with 2 fruit trees and now those are gone, along with the shed and a quarter of the yard. Matt felt I needed my own garage (i.e. he has too much s*** too fit in the one that came with the house) so when everyone else is preparing for a recession...he decides to build another garage! We'll post pics along the way so you can see the process. It has taken about 3-4 weeks just to get the concrete poured. Now he knows what it's like when the shoes on the other foot (he used to be one of those construction guys). He is now waiting for them to pour the walls...we'll see how long that takes. Hopefully, we'll get it done soon before there's too much snow. Our girl has had fun playing in the dirt hills and driving the excavator with Matt. Hopefully, this won't take too much longer...he's saying 2-3 weeks...I'm saying next spring!

another april birthday...

2008-09-25T07:45:00.000-07:00

I went to the doctor yesterday...and we have a date, well roughly! Our new little one should be here the middle to the end of April. I had Parker near my birthday...so maybe I'll have this one near Matt's, which is the 12th. I'm about 9 weeks right now...so the count down in on. For those of you that do not know, we have decided not find out what this one is. We want to be surprised. Please just pray for a healthy baby. We'll keep you updated as the months pass!

David & Cortney's Wedding

2008-09-13T21:04:00.000-07:00

We went down to Midway this weekend for the wedding of David and Cortney (for those of you that don't know them...it's Matt's cousin). We had such a great time catching up with old friends (London 2011?), making new ones, and visiting family. We stayed at the beautiful Homestead Resort, which was where the wedding took place. David and Cortney looked beautiful together and we had a wonderful weekend. We were able to take some really good pictures. I didn't get all the people I wanted, but hopefully at the next one (Ryan? Sarah?) Just Kidding!

a small vaca!!

2008-09-06T20:17:00.000-07:00

Matt and I were able to go away for the weekend with the help of a very dear friend of ours who adores the kids. Matt had a trip to Seattle and wanted me to tag along. It was hard leaving my boy for the first time (and yes my girl too), but we (I) managed through it (after I cried a little when we left) and we had a great time. We went to the famous Pike's Place Market, ate fresh seafood, toured the Seattle Needle, rode a monorail, and shopped. It was fun playing tourists and getting a full nights sleep (ahh). Hopefully, we'll be able to do it again some time!