"You'll shoot your eye out!"

Now I totally get why the mom in "A Christmas Story" say's that about her little boy wanting a BB gun! I TOTALLY GET IT!

Brandon and a few of his buddies decided to take their boys out for a little pheasant hunt a couple of weeks ago. Chance was the youngest boy that went, and he was also the only one that hadn't received his very own gun yet. Brandon wanted to give it to him for Christmas but this was the perfect opportunity to surprise him...ON HIS FIRST HUNT!!!

 Such a big day for FATHER AND SON:)
CHANCE WAS SOOOOO EXCITED!

 Brandon: giving Chance a tutorial on the gun, it's components, and SAFETY OF COURSE!

Off they went...guns on their shoulders! I was so excited for them. However; I did make sure that Chance had the finest pair of SAFETY GOGGLES EVER!

A new bike!

*DISCLAIMER: THIS STORY TOOK PLACE TWO MONTHS AGO. WE DID NOT BUY A NEW BIKE THIS WEEK, IN THIS WEATHER, RIGHT BEFORE XMAS. WE ARE IDIOTS... BUT NOT COMPLETE IDIOTS!

 Once upon a time, I kept noticing a pink barbie bike in my garage. It would be in the most random places. Behind the garbage can, under a table, etc.  Then one day, the little boy up the street knocked on our door and said, "have you seen my sisters (she is 4) barbie bike?" I said, "yes, it's in the garage I think?" 
So we walked in there and sure enough it was hidden behind my car...again! I said, "why does she keep leaving it in here?" He says, "she doesn't, Easton keeps stealing it!" 

Oh great...that's just great!

The next day, the little girl's mom calls and says, "I'm not home, but my kids just called and said Easton just stole Abby's bike out of our garage and took it home again." The mom is laughing...I am not!
And again, there was that darn bike out in the garage hidden behind the snowblower! I scolded Easton and told him to promptly return the stinkin' BIKE!!!!!
Then I may or may not (being the good mom i am) have teased him for stealing such a girly bike...that part is a little foggy in my mind:)

Finally, I called Brandon and said, "WE REALLY NEED TO GET THIS KID HIS OWN BIKE, I'M SICK AND TIRED OF HIM STEALING THE NEIGHBORS, and it's getting EMBARRASSING!"

So, my awesome husband, took Easton that very night and let him pick out his very first "real" bike! AND THE BARBIE BIKE WAS NEVER TO BE SEEN AGAIN!!!
                                                                          The end.

Missionary Chance

I've been wanting to post about this for awhile and somehow the pictures got lost in the shuffle. But I found them the other day, and didn't want to miss cute story for my scrapbook:

A few months ago at church, Chance's primary teacher gave each child in the class a little Book of Mormon, and wanted them to write a little note inside of it and give it to someone they loved that was a friend or family member.

Chance chose one of his little BFF's down the street.  He couldn't wait to get home from church and run it over.... for MY child that is SO SHY, he certainly took this assignment seriously! He just melts my heart. And the note he wrote inside made Brandon and I... JUST SMILE:)

 

AS SIMPLE AS THAT.

"OUR HEAVENLY FATHER LOVES US"...BEST MESSAGE IN THE WORLD AS FAR AS I'M CONCERNED!! 

CHANCE, THANKS FOR THE SWEET REMINDER AND FOR BEING SUCH A GOOD FRIEND!

Halloween 2010

It's never too late to post about our Halloween adventures....here it goes!

Brandon and the boys kicked the season off by decorating their pumpkins!

 Chance really likes to take his time and be very serious when creating his jack-o-lantern!

 Eastons creation.



Next up....Easton's preschool party!

 His teacher mixed up some potion of glue and shaving cream, which created somewhat of a puff paint. The kids went nuts...most of them loved getting right into it!

Precious little Ninja of mine!!

 Easton is so different than his Daddy and Chance. They despise getting messy....and "E" adores it!

Look at the other kids watching "E"...hilarious. What a weirdo:)


Elementary Parade

 Addie: Princess               Chance: Skeleton Biker

 Yep, 2 days out of the hospital...that's Margo!!! The crazy woman walked to the elementary because she can't ride in a car for 3 months! People seriously mobbed her at the parade...I can't even remember if we saw our kids??? lol

 Brandon at the parade....typical "man" on his phone during the parade:) At least he dressed classy!

 This is my friend "Angies" little boy. I had to get a picture. Best costume of the year for sure!

Addie and her girlies:)

We had some time in between the parade and doing Addie's class party, so Easton decided to have lunch with the 5th graders. He thought he was hot stuff hangin' with Zac and Austin!




The night of Halloween, we went to the Erskines for a little chili, cornbread, and homemade root beer!

Again, another one of his "classy" t-shirts!

 Ha, ha, ha....she looks like the girl on sixteen candles that couldn't drink from the water fountain because of her head gear!

 And Rick and Jason really came through on the hayride again this year! The kids really look forward to it, and it is such a fun tradition!

Brandon's sister and some of her kiddos came to visit that week all the way from Pennsylvania! So, we had a little "Halloween" family party.

 We had a taco bar, more homemade root beer, Robbyn's famous buffalo chicken dip, and birthday cake! Yummy.

 Here's baby Colton (Zac & Sara's) new baby, with his Great Grandma Maureen.

 It wouldn't be a family party around here, without a game of football!

 What a loser I am...this is the only photo I got of Robbyn. I can't believe that. But anywho, it was so fun to have all the family together. It was the first time in a long time that Bob and Maureen have had ALL their kids together under one roof! Sooooo fun:)

 Easton can't get enough of that baby!

Happy Birthday to Mckay!

Another great Halloween! Busy as usual....and EXTRA FUN!

Well... "Gosh Dang it!!"

Apparently my picasa account is full. Which means I can't upload ANY MORE photos until I...
A- purchase more space or B- delete some photos (yeah right) or C- print a blog book
The only logical solution is to purchase more space until I have the time to edit and print my first blog book! If you have any other suggestions...please let me know!
So be patient, I will be back!!! I just have to get el' cheapo (aka Brandon) to stay in town (yeah right again) and bust out his wallet (he loves that) and figure all of this out! So it may take a couple days:)
Love/peace
Liz
*note: on my side bar, i only got Hannah and Addies new pictures uploaded before my computer pooped all over my hopes and dreams! So no, I did not sell Chance and Easton (yet), I just can't upload their dang pictures! *(&* %^* flippin fargin**^%^

Cheer Competitions 2010

The past couple of weeks have been cheer, cheer, cheer! Hannah is on the 8th grade team and has had competition practice and football games nearly every night of the week and Addie is on the 6th grade team and I am the cheer mom/coach for that squad! And we have had practice 3-4 nights a week for 2-3 hours each night! All while trying to juggle the house, kids, dinners, and other activities.
But, all of our hard work paid off these last two Saturdays....
Westlake Cheer ROCKED at competition!
I couldn't have been more proud of all our teams! These cute girls worked soooo hard.

 Addie: left side 2nd row

 Addie: left side 2nd row

 Addie: right front side...middle

 Hannah

 Hannah: up in the air/ right side of pyramid

 Hannah

Hannah: in the air with sign

 Hannah: right side stunt

 2nd Place!!!

(thanks jenn...for the beautiful photos)

Crying...just thinking about what to call this post???

My dear friend Margo and her family were in a terrible accident this week. One that "headlined" every news station late Sunday evening! One that's title read:

"Accident in Bluffdale, leaves 2 dead..one in critical condition"
  (Margo was the one in critical condition) here's a few photo's of the rubble

The other car just came spinning across Redwood Road out of nowhere and slammed right into the Lybberts car.  Rick and the kids were a little bumped and bruised. However, Margo was taken to the nearest hospital where they found out she had a broken neck. Her c6-c7 vertebrae was fractured and moved like 6mm. She had to be put in a "halo" which gives me nightmares to even think about, and once they had her spine back in place, they were able to go in and repair the damage. She had part of her hip bone removed to make part of the repair and fuse the spine back together. I kid you not....the doctors absolutely are scratching their heads in disbelief that she wasn't paralyzed in any way...THANK GOODNESS!!!
She has soared through this thing...she is my hero. I love her with all my heart.  I am so lucky to have her in my life. I can't help but laugh and smile when I am with her.  She feeds my soul!
Tomorrow she comes home....
There will be many struggles left to overcome as she has to wear a neckbrace 24/7 for the next 6-12 weeks, and she will be in quite a bit of pain during recovery! But she is "Super Margo" and she will fly through it all with such dignity.
Lisa and I are in charge of keeping track of the folks that want to help with kids, cleaning, and dinners. Let me just tell you, THERE IS NOW A WAITING LIST. We may have to start taking applications:) Margo is truly loved!
Here are a few photo's of her in the hospital. I know she will hate them now, but someday she will love me for taking them! Please continue to pray for her and her sweet family.  We still don't know much about the couple in the other car except that they were in their 70's and driving super out of control. So sad for them and their families also.

 Lisa and I took her kids up to the hospital last night for the first time....this is them picking out the perfect bouquet for their Mama.

Troy, Lindsie, and Mallory...ready to go see their Mom for the first time. They were so excited!

 I wanted to post this picture just to show Margo how "rock bottom" I hit! That darn "Lisa" snuck in a shower while I was at cheer practice. But she pretty much looked as hammered as me all day. We were trying to take care of the house, the puppy, the kids (we kept all 10 between the 3 families) out of school on Monday, the laundry, and most of all the tremendous amount of phone calls between friends and neighbors! It was a full time job in itself:) Not to mention, we were emotionally a wreck...everytime I had one minute to myself in the car, I would just break down and cry. I mean "really" cry.   Margo usually takes care of us...so this time, IT WAS OUR TURN. And we felt honored. There's not much you can ever do for that girl!!!!!

 She is going to "cut me" for taking this. But look how sweet Mallory is looking at her! The funny thing is, she was asking Margo "how the paramedics cut her clothes off without seeing her naked?" That really concerned her:) lol

And lets not forget her sweet husband "Rick." I have never seen this man so emotional. He has not left her side in 4 days now...not even for a minute! He is so grateful for the outcome of this whole thing. This is him talking to our Bishop and his wife Jolie.  Jolie is crying because she just saw the xrays of Margo's spine. It is a miracle. Life is so precious!


Now, here's my favorite photo of all....that's my girl!  I cry every time i look at it!!!
Her first walk!!! yipeeeeee

Love you "Margarita!"