Birthday Streamers

Emmie's birthday isn't until Valentine's Day but she has been looking
forward to her birthday for over a month.
One request she had this year is that we hang "birthday streamers"
from her doorway. She saw this idea at her friend's house and thought
it was the best idea ever!

I went to the dollar store the other day and started to gather some supplies
for the upcoming party - and I picked up some streamers.

Emmie said, "Don't you think we should hang them now so we can enjoy
them for a couple of weeks?"

Good idea!

Bronson's Science Fair Project

Bronson finished his science project last night after much
"encouragement" from me. It's not due until next week but with
more play costumes to make, Merit Badge requirements to do before Saturday,
Emmie's birthday celebrations, and Valentine's Day
coming up, I wanted to get this project done!

His project was figuring out
"Which Gum's Flavor Lasts the Longest?"

We still need to make a big "header" for the top
but the majority of it is finished.

FYI - Bronson found that Juicy Fruit's flavor lasted the longest!

Posing in front of his project...

It took 3 tries to get a good picture - SHOCKER!

Bronson's Chin-Up's

Bronson got a chin-up bar for Christmas and he has a routine
of doing chin-ups at bedtime. He does about 10 then lays on his bed
and watches a movie for about 20 minutes and then does 10 more.
This kid is getting strong!

Happy "18th" Birthday Maddie

I don't know where all the time went but this darling baby
is turning 18 years old today!

I wanted to fill this post with fun pictures of Maddie's past
but my scanner isn't working and I can't get Dave to stop playing
"Angry Birds" and fix it! :)
Here is last years post... CLICK HERE

Here are 18 things I love about Maddie...

1. That she isn't in Jr. High anymore! :)
2. I love that she's been stuck in the "80's" since the day she was born.
Because of that we have the exact same taste in music!
3. I love watching her dance.
4. I love that she has "ocd" like me and likes to keep things clean and organized.
5. I love that she has the same shoe size as me so we can at least share shoes.
6. I love how responsible she is and I can depend on her when I need her.
7. I love that she loves the gospel and is strong in her values.
8. I love that she loves her brother so much, even when he doesn't love her back.
9. I love that she has high hopes for her furture.
10. I love how much she loves her dad :)
11. I love how much she loves her grandpa and calls him more for things
she wants so he buys them instead of me. ;)
12. I love that we love the same foods and she's a meat hater like me.
13. I love the fact that she's a true friend and has MANY friends.
14. I love that that "tries" to get along with Talbie even when
they share clothes (and someone can't find what they borrowed, later!)
15. I love that after 18 years it's getting easier (a little) to get her up to
get ready for church.
16. I love the good cook she's becoming and her homemade
macaroni and cheese!
17. I love that she's "trying" to get a job!
18. I love that she's one of my best friends and she can tell
me absolutely everything!

We love you Maddie!
Happy Birthday!!

Out of Business?

We went by Dave's mom's house last night and we were looking through some old
photos with her. We came across this newspaper article that made the front page on
August 24, 1977 in Baker, Oregon

The title read "Out of Business?"
The caption read
"Earlier this week, Dean Bowman (holding the glass) and David Bennion (Dave's name before he became Dave Knowles when his mom remarried and he had his name changed), both seven, opened what they hoped would be a prosperous business on Colorado Street selling cookies and Kool-aid as relief from the warm weather. Today's rain has probably put the pair out of business, temporarily."

Isn't that the cutest thing ever? I thought so :)

When I'm 35...

I don't know about you, but I'm VERY glad school is starting
again tomorrow! 2 weeks is a very long time for some kids (Bronson in particular)
to be home.

Yesterday I was at my wits end and I LOST IT with him. I sent him to his room
and as he was walking up the stairs Dave heard him say under his breath

"When I'm 35 I'm totally out of here!"

I won't survive him that long!

Sledding

Today Dave took the kids sledding at Aunt Jen's house with Devan.
Bronson and Emmie had a great time!

Brigham and Lauren

Our nephew, Brigham Heaps got married yesterday to

Lauren Brown. It was a beautiful ceremony and so wonderful to see so
many family and friends!

The kids outside the temple

Dave with his sisters Sandy, Lynn, and Marianne

Dave and his mommy

I had a few issues with my new camera and the card it came with crashed!
I'm in the process of recovering the rest of the pictures and getting a new card.
I still love it though :)

Running Home from Church

I am loving playing with my new camera and trying to
figure everything out. I took some fun pictures of the family running
home from Church on Sunday in the rain. These were taken 2 houses away and
they aren't blurry!!

Mommy's Christmas Miracle!

I don't know how Dave pulled this off - especially because we
weren't buying presents for each other this year and this definitely
wasn't in our Christmas budget, but

Look what he gave me today...

The Nikon D70
...with this lens (75-240mm)

I'm SO EXCITED! You all know how much I've hated my camera although
it's served us well (kind of). I'm just so thrilled to be able to get better pictures
of the kids before they are grown and gone! Now I just need to figure it
all out and how to use all the different functions.

Anyone have this camera and want to give me some pointers, I'd love it!