WHITE OUT!

This weather is CRAZY. We are going to need a snowmobile to get out tomorrow. The wind is blowing very loudly. I can't even see out the front windows anymore because of the snow. This picture is 5 hours old. We now have big drifts everywhere. This is when I am so glad I have 4 wheel drive. It is nine at night and they just announced NO SCHOOL tomorrow. The kids of course love it. If only the babies would sleep in!! I think I will go cozy up and drink hot chocolate. I wish the writers would stop their strike. I never have anything recorded anymore. Jenn, your California weather looks awesome! Are you missing the snow Mom and Dad?

Driving down the road to home.

A block away from my house. This is the highschool. Not so great visibility and I live in town. Those poor country folk.

Music to our Ears!

Mikayla finally started violin lessons. She has been wanting to for over 1 year. For the last 2 Christmas's she has asked for a violin. We finally tracked one down to rent. What a process. She is excited and practicing all the time. I wonder how long that will last.

Snowboard or Dryer?

Too late! I already chose. I am very happy with my decision except when I go to do laundry once a week and it takes me 2 days. What do you expect with a dryer that is going on its 30th birthday? How often do we just go all out on ourselves? It seems like there is always other items that take priority - mainly kids - well not this time - I indulged myself. I kind of feel guilty but I sure am loving it when I am up carving on the mountain.

Hectic

I have decided I have got to get a planner. I missed a few things last week and was late to another couple of things. Today, I have mapped out the week on a calendar. Hopefully this helps. On Saturday I forgot I had signed up Ashley and Mikayla for cheer camp. I remembered after it was already 3 hours over. They were crushed so I decided we would have a girls afternoon together. This ended up being better than going to cheer camp. We did manicures and pedicures, made and ate cooking dough, danced, and watched American Idol. We had a great time. Cade was busy at a friends house playing rock band and Dave was working so they didn't miss us at all. We definitely need to do nothing more often.

Ashley's day at tumbling

Ashley and her buddies! Tori, Kiera, Maycee, Ashley.

Spiderweb hair! Have you ever tried it? This took me quite some time since I am not a hair person. It turned out cute though - at least Ashley was happy for the moment.

I would like to say that I saw all of their meet and was able to take great pictures but that would not be the case. Valerie lasted about 5 minutes and was then ready to go join them on the floor. She can do a summersault from being a frequent observer but I didn't want her to steal the show. I even had to pull out my emergency food to keep her calm - you guessed it a SUCKER! I let her go to town on that thing. So not only was I chasing her all over the place but she was sticky and leaving prints everywhere. Ashley did good though even though I didn't capture it on tape.

Steph to the rescue!

Not only did I have to rescue Brandon on the freeway but Valerie was in need of being rescued from Hailey. Good thing I live where I do or Brandon might still be trying to hitch hike. There are not a lot of gas stations along this area so sometimes you might just run out! Valerie got a new crusty hair do. Hailey combed her hair and sprayed it with the hair glue hairspray. Lets just say her hair was not moving and neither was anything else in the bathroom. This is what happens when I post.

Mikayla's tumbling pass!

Mikayla goes to tumbling once a week for 1 hour. She has just learned how to go into a backbend all by herself. She is now working on her kickover. Half way through the year they have a meet with their class and perform for the parents. She performed 2 different passes and on the balance beam. It is a good way to run off some extra energy after school!

Good Grub!

Valerie is starting to feed herself. She seemed to know exactly what to do after finishing her food. She licked her plate clean. Where could she have learned this??? Dad??? Today, Cade and I braved a blizzard to go snowboarding. We are still trying to un-thaw. The powder was great but the lift ride - not so great. Handwarmers are a definite must! Why didn't I know about these until last year. School or snow day tomorrow?

Farewell Mom & Dad!

Mom and Dad stopped by to say good-bye on their drive to Mexico. Good luck to you both. You will be great missionaries. I am going to try and make a blogspot for them so we can check out their latest news.

CUTE BABIES

Valerie loves her new baby doll she got from Christmas. She pushes it around in her stroller all day long. She is starting to say lots of words now. Half the time when she talks she growls. It makes us laugh.

My brother Todd and their adorable baby, 4 month old Claire. Their family stopped by to see us on their way home to California. What a drive!

The newest members of our family on the Keller side - Quincy and Claire.

I was so glad that our church time changed to 11:00am instead of 9:00am. With Dave gone in the mornings, it is a lot of work to get everyone ready, especially girls and HAIR. We actually made it on time this week. Hailey had her big day as a sunbeam! She has graduated from nursery. She was so excited to be a big girl and sing, "I am a child of God."

Make a scrapbook - it's easy!

New Years Get Away!

We had such a great time being with all of the Keller Family. A highlight of our trip was sledding down Simplot Hill. We made it right in time before all of the snow melted. Even Valerie enjoyed her first sledding experience.



The girls had a great time playing with their cousins. They played barbies and Hannah Montana non-stop. Cade and Garret even got into playing Hannah Montana on the wii. They claim to have beat the game! I must say they did learn some new dance moves. Boxing on the wii also seemed to be a hit for the adults.


Of course, we had to go to the BYU/BSU basketball game. We took the whole family. We did a lot of cheering but it was not enough. BSU pulled off the upset. We sat there stunned. We had a good time though. You can't go wrong with lots of snacks.

The girls went over to the Bergs house and got pampered by Jessica. She curled their hair, did their nails, and put on makeup. They then had a photo shoot and played singstar. The night was not over until they had their tea party. They were in heaven. They didn't even seem to notice that a lot of us were gone snowboarding.

Weighing in at a whopping 22 lbs is VALERIE SHIRLEY! Valerie did great this trip. She is a little bit off schedule - if you call off schedule staying up until midnight and missing naps. We hope to get back in a routine soon. It is hard to believe we are starting a new year. It is so great to have family to share memories with. My mom and dad had their farewell last Sunday. We will surely miss them. We were able to laugh and cry as we talked and watched home videos. We loved seeing everybody. Stop by our town anytime!