THE YEAGER FAMILY

Thing ONE!

2011-12-07T19:37:00.002-07:00

Still catching up on our blog. I really don't want to give up, so I will try again! Still in June...

Little Parker turned ONE this summer!

His cute Mamma put in a TON of time and effort into his first big birthday bash.

He had an amazing Dr. Seuss themed party and he was just adorable.

He REALLY got into the cake.

There was a face painter and a bounce house.

I was having camera issues so these are all the pics I was able to get.

{yes there were green eggs and ham}

The party was amazing, despite a thunderstorm that rolled through.

Parker is always adorable.

We love that kid and can't believe how big he is!

Why not add FOUR more?!?

2011-09-14T04:13:00.005-06:00

We were planning a family camping trip to Shoshone Falls and thought, why not let the kids bring friends?

We have a family that we are friends with through school that pretty much have a kid each of our kids' ages so they seemed the perfect candidates.
So one Friday in June, we loaded everyone up and off we went.

We camped at Nat-Soo-Pah Hot Springs. It is actually quite far away. And we weren't sure where we were going to camp so we had stopped at a few before we got there. There is a surprisingly small amount of good campgrounds near Shoshone Falls.

So it was mid afternoon when we pulled in. By the time we set up camp, fed the crew and explored the campground it was quite late in the afternoon.

The campground has a fabulous hot spring pool.

But, with it being so close to dinner and other fun, we decided not to let the kids swim there. Mean, huh? Well it would have been over $50 for our crew and it was only going to be for a little bit of time. So, we made a decision. No pool.

The campground does have a natural hot spring creek thing running through it and we let the kids have free range of that.

{how sad, not much water, but it was warm and they had fun}

{Jack opted not to get in his trunks because he was sure it wasn't enough water. He was cold later.}

{there was a spot where it was a little deeper}

{they had fun with the squirt guns anyway}

We had fun that night roasting hot dogs and s'mores.

The campground has a big open field and the kids had lots of fun playing tag and just running around.

When it got dark, we broke out the glow in the dark stuff.

It was hilarious watching the boys play. It was super dark. You could only see the glow sticks they were throwing at each other. They were trying to run and throw them at the other boys and hit them with the glow stick. So you would hear a kid running and then a "ow! you got me! Not so close!" then more running and you'd see another glow stick flying.

Good times.

The girls went in the trailer and used their glow sticks to decorate. :)

{the next morning at breakfast}

{other end of the table}

{cute bekah}

{the falls}

{all 8 kids lined up in order of age}

The highlight of the trip was when Jack found the coolest LIZARD.

I didn't even know we had those here!

They named him Blueberry and begged to bring him home!

{Blueberry}

{and this is why his name is Blueberry!}

{proud Jack}

{everyone loved him}

{more falls}

{I loved the rainbow}

{Olivia wanted me to take her picture}

{more falls}

{this is what I got to sit by all the way home. I know, I am blessed.}

Prepare the Dungeon!

2011-09-14T04:10:00.000-06:00

She is just growing up too fast and I swear she gets more gorgeous each day.

We will soon need to just hide her in the dungeon!!

Our little Katie Boo turned 12 on June 15th.

Seems unreal that she can be that big.

She wears bigger shoes than her mom already- she wears a size 9 in women's shoes!!

She is almost as tall as her mom.

It is just a bit much to take.

It is a good thing she is just so awesome.

We just adore this kid. She keeps us laughing, keeps us in awe of her tender heart and consideration that she has for others, and keeps us in wonder at how we can just keep loving her more and more.

Lately, I have been calling her VICE MOM.

She has been my right hand this summer when I really needed her.

Her birthday was going to land during GIRLS' CAMP- so we had her party the Friday before.

She invited all girls and went with a

"GLOW- IN -THE- DARK" theme.

{she has been getting a lot of attention for looking so "grown up" and it embarrasses her to no end!!}

{the girls getting the glow stuff all ready :)}

{there was a bunch of girls- they had a great time and I LOVED that they included Bekah and Liv so sweetly!}

{hanging out on the tramp together listening to music}

{present time}

{we just put glow-in-the-dark bracelets around the cupcakes}

{make a wish}

Here she is ready to head out to girls' camp.

I promise she was excited to go. She was just SO EMBARRASSED that her mom would DARE take a picture!!

Her Dad spent the first night up at camp and then got to spend her Birthday with her as a guide for the hike. We hear it was a little speedy. :) I was glad he could be there with her. It was REALLY weird not to be with my kid on her birthday.

WE LOVE YOU KATIE!

Bummer Summer for Baseball....

2011-07-12T15:26:00.004-06:00

This summer just hasn't been Jack's best.

Especially for his baseball season.

On June 9th, he tagged a kid out at 3rd. The kid and his mitt hand kind of jammed together.

OUCH.

It immediately swelled and bruised and bruised and swelled some more.

Scott's broken his hands enough, he decided the best thing to do was to ice and wrap with an ace bandage and give it 5-6 weeks to heal.

So, our schedule was less crazy, but he's really missed playing.

And we've really missed watching him play.

He missed the end of regular season, the city tournament and ALL of all stars!

In fact, the tournament is this weekend in BOISE and he is really bummed.

He can't do a lot of his favorite things.

Overall, he's had a great attitude about it and finds other ways to have fun, but every once in a while, I see it.

He just wants it to be over and have his hand back.

Poor kid.

{after one of his games "pre-accident" with parker}

{you can kind of see some swelling here}

{poor little guy}

It's almost better now. Hopefully he'll be 100% soon.

FOOTBALL starts August 1st!

CRAZYEAGERS

2011-07-10T18:25:00.007-06:00

All I am going to say is....

We have WAY too much fun!

Joyful Day

2011-07-10T16:55:00.008-06:00

Rebekah counted down until she could finally be baptized for SO LONG.

I've never seen a kid so excited to be baptized!

She prepared well- she read several books about baptism and wrote a lot about it in her journal.

June 4th was her special day.

She wanted a simple white summer dress. I asked her if she was sure.

I said, "are you sure you don't want one of those mini wedding dresses?"

She said, "mom. seriously, I am not getting married!"

so she looks adorable in her white eyelet dress.

Her Aunt Tyree made her a bracelet and headband and a flower for her dress and bought her a cute sweater.

We think she's gorgeous.

{Saturday morning, ready to head to the church}

{she wanted her hair in a bun- one of her favorites}

{bekah's special day was doubly special as her cousin emma was baptized too!}

{me n my girl-

funny enough there were several cute little red headed girls getting baptized that day}

{daddy/daughter all in white}

I just have to say- I am so grateful for Scotty! Seeing him all in white took me back to his baptism day. We are so blessed to have him in our lives.

He is a great daddy with amazing faith in God.

{so excited}

Afterward, we took some time for some photos. Karina had to run to the bank or some such nonsense so she isn't in these. Bummer.

Here are a couple of my favorites

{baptism buddies}

{these two have a special bond}

{charlie's angels pose?}

{beautiful girl}

{special day}

{love this picture of bekah and her grandma}

{the reds}

{the family we were so lucky to have join us on Bekah's special day}

{camille and her family came- LOVE them}

{picture of idaho falls temple from grandma and grandpa}

After the baptism, luncheon, cleanup and naptime were over, we were ready to party again.

We wanted to sled the sand dunes, but with the beer festival out there it was a little crowded.

Not the scene we were looking for on such a special day.

So, we all took off for Grandma and Grandpa's house.

They have a fire pit and playground behind their house, so we got to roast hot dogs, brats, and s'mores, and have some fun.

{scotty and parker}

{karina, scott and little parker}

{parker and the bekster]

{parker and karina- so glad they were a part of our day}

{she wanted braids before bed to she could have wavy hair for church!}

{ready for church to be introduced to the congregation as the newest official member!}

Wild Things!

2011-07-10T16:22:00.007-06:00

Year two for this cutest of tee ball teams.

There was vast improvements! I have to say, the tee ball tackling problem is no longer an issue. We had kids in the right positions in the field- something we couldn't seem to do last year.

The kids started to understand "outs" and tried hard to get as many as they could (yes we bribed them, but whatever works, right?)

And some of them even learned the names of some of the positions!

We bumped up to the 6-7 year league because we had a few 6 year olds, one 7 year old and even 1 8 year old. But the vast majority was still five. So, we had a little hard time competing with the other teams in the league. But --

if you ask any of the kids on our team, they would have no idea. They had a blast and were always asking if we were winning :)

And that really is the whole point, isn't it?

Even if the coaches are a little nutty competitive and need to yell through the whole game- sometimes needing some serious decompressing time after those intense games!

Overall, I absolutely love it.

I think Amber and I are a dynamic duo not to be underestimated.

GO WILD THINGS!

She absolutely LOVES to play ball.

Thankfully, this year she didn't break anything and could play every game!

{the fierce "wild" pose.

I was just following instructions, but it looks like maybe I took it too far?}

{me and my girl}

{my favorite little wild thing}

Number Three Turned EIGHT!

2011-07-10T14:35:00.008-06:00

We absolutely adore our third child. Rebekah Mae is someone we count ourselves lucky to know. She can light up any one's day and lift any one's spirits. It's almost like there are bubbles inside her. She is just that fun.

Here are some pictures of sweet Bekah through the years....

{finishing off her 5th birthday cake}

{such a cute four year old!}

{3rd birthday breakfast}

{gotta love the wax lips-- age 3}

{classic Bekah face around 18 months old}

{sweetest little 2 year old!}

{about 8 months old}

And now, this year.

EIGHT YEARS OLD!

wow did it go quick.

These are actually backwards in order.

{happy birthday girl- she gave out homemade chocolate chip cookies to her class for her birthday treat and got to go home from school early }

{she got some La-la-loopsy dolls for her birthday. You can't see very well but the dolls table and chairs are made out of cookies. So, quick cake, but she loved it.}

{this was a family year- and her birthday fell on a busy weekday. so we just had BLTs and then a little cake and ice cream with the six of us. A week or so later, Grandma and Grandpa Larsen took us all out to the movies to see Kung Fu Panda 2 and dinner, followed by brownie monster desert at their house. }

{her first love-- NUTELLA--

she had written it on her birthday list TWICE and in parentheses it said (my greatest one!) funny kid.}

{ birthday present fun.}

{8th birthday breakfast}

We are so grateful to have Rebekah be a part of our family. We love her and couldn't imagine life without her!

Living the Dream....

2011-05-09T09:46:00.004-06:00

Ever since I can remember, all I have wanted was to be a mom.

My mom tells me it goes even before I can remember -that I loved on baby dolls at just 3 months old.

As a teenager, I would have paid people to let me babysit their kids.

I am just like that.

So I am so, so, so, so, happy and blessed to be a mama!

I can't believe how much I love my kids and how grateful I am to have them. I can't believe how fast it is flying by. They are amazing and I can't believe I get to be their mom.

And it just keeps going!

Karina's little Parker is going to be one next month and he is just such an amazing kid!

We ADORE him.-

Mother's Day is my favorite.

It is a whole day about my favorite thing. Being a mom.

I wake up to breakfast in bed- this year I ate a ton of bacon. Yum.

Scott dotes on me and so do my kids.

I get cards with my kids sweet words on them.

And food.

The food is always so delicious!!

This year it was Sish-Kabobs!

So here are some of my mother's day joys here.

Funny thing, I took pictures of Olivia's preschool card and cookies with my phone and somehow they are permanently upside down! I have rotated them. Still upside down. Rotated again. Still upside down. So, just turn your computer upside down or stand on your head :)

She is always saying things like this to me- she is incredible!

Kambria went above and beyond with preschool that day!

The cookies were delicious!

Rebekah gave me a coupon book and she is dying for me to start cashing them in!
So am I!

Karina got me this cake.

HEAVENLY.

I ate it for lunch :) {she also got me flowers! what a great kid:)}

Random Recent Events

2011-05-09T07:49:00.003-06:00

Here are some random pictures from our recent past.

I will try harder here forward to keep up with our family blog.

I really like to have all the craziness documented; it is just going so fast.

{bekah at a ball game trying NOT to show her Nanny McPhee tooth}

{Olivia LOVES her brother. The other day, she jumped into the suburban next to him and said, "Hi Jack, sweet love!"

{I am afraid Rebekah got the super cheese from me. If you happen to see my childhood photos, this is the only smile you will see. }

It happened.

Katie is old enough to want to hang at the mall with her friends.
I remember being that age and thinking that was what I was "supposed" to do.
I tried it once or twice.
I hated it. I am just allergic to shopping.
So, you can understand how selfless it was for us to take the girls and their pals to the mall for some shopping "fun".

{katie and her friend sporting the colored hair clip things}

{bekah and her buddy got some fake nails- but they hadn't been attached in this pic yet}

One day I opened up my pantry, jumped, and then burst out laughing.

Because this is what I found:

Apparently Bekah needed a snack and some alone time??

This kid is just too much fun.

{silly girl}

Z is for ZOO.

We were on the letter Z, so of course we needed a field trip to the zoo!

Here are the cute little preschoolers at the zoo on an almost decent spring day.

{cute kiddos}

{our littlest chick. she is getting big so fast.}

Here is another tooth loss picture of Bekah.

This was before Nanny McPhee and her first tooth the dentist didn't have to yank.

{cute kid}

Baseball Begins....

2011-05-08T21:59:00.003-06:00

Here are some pics of the beginning of Jack's baseball season.

It's been interesting- we'll just leave it at that.

Some pics of Mesquite from the Eater tournament, some of his darling fans and of course, baseball boy, himself.

{the drive was worth it- the weather was beautiful. Bekah found an amazing "baby" carrot. :)}

{a pile of Yeager girls}

It was such a nice break away from cold. We really enjoyed the summer like weather.

{we got in late at night, but here they are first thing the next morning :)}

{here are the girls resting in the van at another tournament- in Utah, not as warm}

Baseball Boy

{Jack}

{mid- pitch}

{gotta love getting slide stains out :)}

Well, we love watching this kid play- unfortunately he had a wicked stomach flu and missed games, and now the rain is pouring so he is just itching to get out there.

I'm sure there will be more baseball posts to follow.

And Tee ball.

Just wait for pictures of the Wildthings!!

Our tee ball kids are going to have an amazing season. They have grown so much since last year.

We can't wait.

And, hopefully, Olivia won't be breaking her arm this year :)

Easter 2011

2011-05-08T21:46:00.002-06:00

This Easter was just different.

The week before was just CRAZY.

Scott had insane amounts of school work, we had colds, we had roadshow rehearsals, company stuff to do and needed to be in Mesquite NV for a baseball tournament that Thursday.

So, for FHE we did the eggs.

You CAN'T have Easter without colored eggs, can you?

We even had a friend over to help :)

Katie got really creative with her "distressed" egg.
Lots of steps resulted in this amazing egg.

They made 30 eggs.

And that's about it for Easter.

They didn't get new church duds, no Easter egg hunt and it was just fine.

The Easter Bunny did manage to find them in the hotel in Mesquite and chocolate bunnies were had.

Different, but good.

No More Nanny McPhee

2011-05-08T20:54:00.004-06:00

Little Bekah is squeamish when it comes to blood.

When a tooth comes out there is blood.

Blood, and a little pain.

So, Little Bekah doesn't work too hard on her loose teeth to get them out.

The permanent teeth push and try from their end, but it is ridiculous how long we wait for her to get a tooth out. We have had to have the dentist pull them before.

Well, one of her top teeth really needed to come out.

The permanent tooth came in behind and pushed.

Only it pushed straight forward.

This resulted in a tooth that gave her a certain look.

A Nanny McPhee look.

Finally, one day all the kids were downstairs and I was upstairs. They were becoming a little exuberant and I could tell they were rough housing. A lot.

You know those moments when, as a parent you just know someone is going to take it too far and it will end in tears?

It was one of those moments.

I waited a hair too long (thankfully) and I heard a thud, an "OW!" and then, "I'm sorry I fell on your face are you okay?"

and then,

"WHERE'S MY TOOTH?"

Well she found her tooth, overcame the blood- not too pale this time, and no longer looks like Nanny Mcphee!

{all gone!}

{she really didn't want these pictures out to the public....}

{someday she'll laugh, right??}

Since Christmas. . .

2011-05-08T15:48:00.004-06:00

Let's see...

after Christmas the January Blahs set in. But they did take longer because this year was something new.

Scott went back to school.

Full time.

It was a big deal; it's been a long time since either one of us was in school.

So that took up some time and added some stress for sure.

We now have one full semester behind us.

Notice how I say "we".

It seems I am legally entitled to half of everything.

We had the usual family fun and the blues did come.

Winter seems endless here, like Narnia where it's always winter and never Christmas.

But, here are some of the few photos we did take over the last few months.

These pictures are in no particular order of time or importance. Just a general catch up today.

Karina had a birthday.

We missed hers because we were out of town for a baseball tournament.

So the next week we had a redo at our house.

I made a german chocolate cake - her favorite- it was yummy.

I think Olivia made her about 50 birthday cards. :)

Here's proof about our endless winter.

This picture is of our house on April 29th.

{spring? no.}

Rebekah had a music class performance. It was so fun. Her music teacher is fantastic.

I think we can easily say that Rebekah is the cutest kid in her class- hands down, bar none.

No bias even needed.

It is just a fact.

{these are from my phone, so a little fuzzy, but still.}

Here are more random pics.

{the "little girls" all matchy}

{I love the daddy he is.}

GO BEARS!!!

The kids each got something "Chicago Bears" for Christmas from Nana,

and it was perfect when the Bears were in the playoffs this year.

Sadly, that's all they were in, stupid Packers. :(

{Four Fantastic Fans}

{Sharing a listen to the ipod}

{Mr. Snowman-}

In March, we were so excited to have Uncle Benton, Aunt Lisa and their cute kids come stay for a weekend. Our sectional couch makes the best "cousins" bed. They had fun staying up late watching a movie together.

{the only two boy cousins this side of the Mississippi}

{lots-o-girls}

It was the MOST wonderful time of the year...

2011-03-20T14:10:00.009-06:00

This Christmas season was not too different from the last two years, unfortunately.

To review: 2008 Scott had back surgery

2009 Scott separated a rib

and for 2010-

he messed up his knee.

That is as technical as I can get with the description, because he really wouldn't go see a doctor.

It wasn't as bad as years past but when it came right down to the heart of the season, the busiest of all, he was down and unavailable.

I had to do most of the shopping, gift delivery, and snow shoveling alone.

Again.

Enough of the whining and on to the joy of the season.

There was some. :)

How can we not have holiday joy with four of the best kids on the planet??
They love the whole deal. Decorating the tree is always an adventure. We don't have a themed tree- in fact it is a tree most of you would be embarrassed to have in your homes. The kids decorate it and I really don't go in after them to "fix" it.
This year we put the tree in the basement. There is just more room down there and it really worked out better. Even if people who came by wondered about our lack of a tree...

{Rebekah}

{Bekah and Olivia- getting so big!!}

We also managed to squeeze in a drive through town to see the lights while listening to Christmas music, ate our weight in Christmas Goodies, watched countless Christmas Specials, and made some delicious potato pancakes for Hannakuh. :)
Each year we go over to Grandma and Grandpa Larsen's house for Christmas Eve Dinner, program and the opening of the first presents.
Pajamas.

{Jack}

{Bekah}

{Katie}

{Liv}

This next picture was one that just showed up in my camera. One the kids managed to take while I was either not looking or not at home.

I laughed out loud for quite a while.

Here are the kids plus some cousins on Christmas Eve- poor JC, being the only boy in town really stinks.

{Girly Cousins}

Each year we deliver some goodies or small gift to the people in our neighborhood.

This year we thought it was a good idea to make holiday coasters.

We made about 150 of them and still ran short.

So if you happen to live near us and didn't receive any, it might be that we ran out and couldn't stand the sight of them to make anymore!

They were tedious and we were all sick of the "coaster factory" our home had become.

They did turn out so cute, though...

Santa made it to our house!

Christmas morning is so fun. They have it down pretty good now. They know not to even try to get us up until 7:00.

{All Jack really wanted was a pocket knife and Madden 11}

{Our Katie is growing up fast. She only wanted clothes and jewelry.}

{Bekah and Liv each wanted American Girl dolls. Santa understands that those are a little out of our price range, so he brought Our Generation dolls- Target's version. Rebekah was really great about it. She loves her red headed, freckle faced doll, Eva.}

{Liv got a blondie with green eyes. Her name is Jenny and Olivia has really enjoyed her.}

{Karina's hubby had to work out of town for Christmas too! So of course, we convinced Karina that she and Parker should stay for Christmas. We were so excited to have Parker's first Christmas at our house. He is so much fun and really loved all the wrapping paper and bows.}

{Olivia and Jenny in their matching purple velour sweatsuits :)}

{Bekah and Eva got the suits too :)}

{ Olivia loves her "Sammy Bear" she got from her grandparents}

{Grandma and Grandpa gave Olivia the Barbie Cruise Ship. She LOVES it}

{Here's the girls relaxing after a swim on the fabulous cruise boat. I have to admit, I am a little jealous. A cruise sounds really nice. Even if it is just on the kitchen table.}

We had a fun Christmas Season. We are blessed well beyond what we deserve.

We loved time with each other, hot cocoa, fun movies, games and visiting with family.

For New Year's, Grandma and Grandpa had the kids over for a sleepover and we got to enjoy a relaxing Anniversary alone. We went out to dinner, watched a movie, and played some fun games. We have been married for twelve long, hard years now! Just kidding, it seems like it was just yesterday we found each other. We are so glad Chalene insisted on DEATH BY CHOCOLATE! We are still attached at the hip, spending every second together we can and we can still talk the sun up. Love you Scotty!

November.

2011-03-20T13:32:00.003-06:00

So, November wasn't that recent. I am aware.

However, we must recap the past four months' activities for the Yeager Family.

This was a hard winter for me.

As my old friend Anne Shirley would say, I have been in the "depths of despair". I honestly didn't take many pictures at all. Watch out though. This spring is going to be different.

Things are looking up. I have solved some medical mysteries and I am feeling much more myself. SO I am determined not to let our memories go. I love having our family story written here and now I am actually up for the task.

So, onto THANKSGIVING :)

This year, a few days before Turkey Day, Karina called so sick with the flu, she needed some help getting to the Dr. Her hubby was working out of town and so we got to keep her and Parker for most of the week. We moved her into our guest room and Parker into our room and, as sorry as we were that she was so sick, we loved every minute of loving on Parker.

We've tried to tell her that she doesn't have to be so sick to come visit.

Really. Anytime, come on by. We love you no matter what. :)

In spite of her sickness we had a great Thanksgiving.

We had family in town that we just love.

We went to see Tangled. We love that movie.

We celebrated Aunt Tyree's birthday with a huge table at Carino's.

And of course everybody but the Yeagers did the Black Friday. Thanks for doing that so we don't have to!!

He is getting so big now, but this is how adorable he was that week.

{Sweet baby Parker}

{And here we have a random picture of Bekah in that same time period. We just love her.}

{This kid has the best smile!}

We got some good snow this year.
Here are some pics of that kind of fun.

{Liv loves riding with Dad.}

{Some kids and a dog. Goliath LOVES winter- might have something to do with being part sled dog. We just need to get him a harness and he can pull the kids around all winter!!}

Remember Halloween? Yeah, we did that too...

2010-11-28T19:02:00.000-07:00

We really enjoyed our long beautiful fall. The fall weather this year was stunning. We were so grateful to not need snow boots and down coats for trick'or'treating. (I have many memories of those kinds of Halloweens when I was a kid...)

We had a fun Halloween. Olivia and I did the Trick or Treat at the library, which was not too impressive for Olivia anymore. The Friday before the kids' school put on an amazing carnival. It was craziness- the kind kids just LOVE.

Saturday was a fun Trunk'or'Treat and some old school door to door trick'or'treating.

It wasn't Katie's best Halloween. She was still gimpy with the kneecap dislocation and couldn't really keep up at the carnival and was sore and slow trick'or'treating and so called it good early. She is getting so big, she doesn't have much trick'or'treat time left!

Here's our crew...

{Jack-in-the-Box}

{Little Red Riding Hood}

{Black Cat}

{White Bunny Rabbit}

{Group shot}

Part of the carnival at the school was a cake decorating contest/fundraiser/auction.

We bought a cake in the auction.

Every year we have a perfect place to take some spooky food. My parents throw a big Halloween themed dinner party. It's a super fun tradition that the kids look forward to every year. This year we were going to have the coolest cake to bring.

Then, the dinner party got canceled!

My parents were over scheduled and sick and it just wouldn't have worked.

So no one got to see our beautiful cake.

Don't worry, we took pictures.

See how cute?

Pumpkin Party

2010-11-19T21:59:00.000-07:00

Our garden produced some fantastic pumpkins this year!

We had a fun family night designing and carving our pumpkins, and roasting some delicious seeds. I think they were our most delicious yet.

The kids are getting pretty good at this whole pumpkin thing.

TA DA!

An Ex-"cell"-ent Project

2010-11-10T14:17:00.002-07:00

So, one day Katie says to me, "Uh, Mom? Apparently, I have to do a science project about the cell."

Me: "Really? When is it due?"

Katie: "I don't know, but people are turning them in already..."

Me: "When was it assigned?"
Katie: "I don't know, but it needs to be a 3D model of a cell."

Oh, the joys of parenting.

She did find out what needed to be done and when it needed to be turned in. So, it was turned in on time and was what she needed. Sheesh.
We had fun making a 3D model of an animal cell.

Her teacher gave us a heads up that if she keeps it, she might be able to use it again in highschool! It will be nice to have one just ready to turn in when Katie realized it is due again :)

Hurricane Paula :)

2010-11-02T06:29:00.009-06:00

Did you hear Hurricane Paula blew through town?

I am totally kidding. It is just kind of funny that during Scott's mom's visit to see us, there was in fact a hurricane named Paula- and that happens to be her name!

Grammy had not come to visit for 2 whole years, so it was exciting to have her come.

It probably wasn't her favorite visit. Rebekah was sick for the first several days she was here, I had a horrible cold, Katie's knee had dislocated just before she got here (should do another blog post just about that) and couldn't bend her knee or do much, and we were finishing up a house and were super busy.

But we are sure glad she came. The kids really needed to get some "Grammy Love"

She even gave Scott and I a couple of much needed days of alone time. We escaped to Lava Hot Springs. It was nice to be alone, well when Scott wasn't on the phone for work. But there were so many FLIES! In our room and out. It was a little gross.

We did make sure she got to get out and see some of the beauty of the west for at least one day.

We drove the loop, starting in Jackson.

We stopped at the park for a picnic and to let the kids stretch their legs. Except Katie. It was hard for her not to be able to move well.

{Motorcycle Mama- Olivia loved this springy toy}

{Bekah loved the rock wall}

{Happy Little Livvie}

{Had to force this cutie to smile for me. Oh, and she just got her new glasses!}

{Rebekah eating a red vine inside out}

Jenny's Lake. Such a pretty place.

{she was a good sport and limped right on down to the lake}

{we spent some time skipping rocks}

{Grammy, Me, and the kiddos}

{the whole gang- jack was not in a good photo shoot mood }

{Love this place}

{the weather was perfect}

{cute redheads}

{one of our great kids took this shot- it's hard not to cut off daddy's head!}

{three pretty yeager girls}

{out front of the general store at old faithful}

{little liv}

{she loves her daddy}

{gotta love the buffalo}

{we stopped for dinner on the way home in West Yellowstone}

{an actual smile from jack-even if he does have a mouth full of food}

Rebekah has decided that she is going to be a beautician when she gets big.

She practices on her sisters.

Where did she come from??

{mani}

{she's got liv lookin' luscious!}

{eyes closed shot- so you can see the gorgeous lavender eye shadow}

{one last pic of Grammy with her grandkiddos at the SLC airport before she had to go}

We are so blessed to have a Grammy that loves these kids so much!

Thanks for coming to see us!

We miss you already!!

Double Digit Boy

2010-10-10T17:14:00.006-06:00

Jack Christopher Yeager is 10! Double Digits!

He had a marathon birthday celebration yesterday.

We started the day with his breakfast of choice: chocolate chip pancakes, buttermilk syrup, and whipped cream with cherries on top with bacon and sausages on the side. Yum.

Then, he got to open some presents from the family. He got some Lego's and a Lego's book and some Nerf weaponry. He was thrilled.

Then a brief trip to Sam's Club for Katie's Optical exam and some party supplies. (side note: she could hardly see a thing and her new glasses should be ready to pick up next Saturday- yes, it was one of my more proud parenting moments. )

Then, we were off to the park for his little party with his friends.

A "FOOTBALL PARTY"

Here is the cake:

Here is the shelter.

He was lucky to have Grammy in town from Chicago for the festivities. Plus, his Grandma and Grandpa that live here in town were able to come to the park as well.

They played all kinds of football games and contests.

Make a wish, football boy!

The crew

Opening presents

While the boys were busy playing, the girls had a mini photo shoot.

Boy, do they like to pose.

{Lovely Livvie}

{Beautiful Bekah}

{Kissable Katie}

{Silly Sisters}

{The Boys}

{Grammy and her girls}

After we got home from the park, we grabbed gear for the dunes and away we went for party number 2. We invited more family and friends and had so much fun playing at the dunes again. We had a huge crowd and made fun memories.

We played until the sun went down, and then we huddled around the fire pit for warmth while the kids played with glow sticks.

We brought home dirty, tired kids, plus Jack's friend for a sleepover.

They were so tired, it was a quiet sleepover.

So tired, Olivia slept entirely through church today.

And we don't have church until 1:00 p.m.!

{here's a taste of how great it was. this is the recently retired principle of our kids' school with FIVE kids in our sled, plus an extra pushing all the way down. it was a blast}

{fire pit fun}

Sandy September Sledding

2010-10-03T20:49:00.005-06:00

We went sledding last month.

We are loving the "Dune" at Sandy Downs.

It is closer than St. Anthony and there is enough sand.

I promise.

Even after all the sand we dumped out of our shoes, pockets, socks, and other unmentionable places. :)

We played with some super fun friends and we had so much fun. It really was the perfect night. The weather was ideal, the food was yummy and the sand dune was a blast. And, I might add, a mighty good workout. It was a treadmill of quicksand close to the top of the dune!

Here are some pictures of the sandy good times.

{our "big" sled-it goes fast if you pack enough people in!}

{these three girls had endless fun together}

{so did these three}

{it was so much fun watching them come down}

{the best action shot of the night}

{literally "plowing" through the sand}

{somebody likes s'mores...}

{Liv lovin' the good stuff}

{Jack had some "guys" around~always a treat for him.}

{bekah after some s'mores}

{sooo funny when his foot was stuck in the bucket}

{he thought the tassel right in his face was so funny. Isn't he so cute?}

{such. a. cute. kid.}

Anyway, it was a great night filled with great memories.

This is a tradition we plan to continue for sure!

The baby can't be FIVE, can she??

2010-09-12T09:58:00.006-06:00

Our baby, the 4th kid, the caboose, Olivia, turned 5 on September 2nd.

It is weird to not have a little one around anymore, and let's face it.

Olivia is a big kid.

I have been told that, she reminds me of it.

But, at the same time, she is becoming such a fun kid!! She was always fun, but her personality is developing, she is expressive and funny and very comfortable with who she is.

We love having her around.

To start off the birthday celebrations, Olivia asked for "donuts" for her special birthday breakfast. I groaned inside. I would rather start our day out with something a little healthier than deep fried sugar. So I asked her if she was sure she wanted to go out for donuts. She said, "Yeah, I like donuts. Can we have the salmon cream cheese on them?"

I said, "Are you sure you don't mean bagels?"

She laughed and said, "oh yeah, bagels and cream cheese!"

In her defense, they are both round with holes in the center. :)

She got to open her presents at breakfast before the kids left for school.

{she got the Polly Pocket set she had been wanting}

{it is so fun and her hair changes colors!}

{her birthday duds}

Her Grandma and Grandpa picked her up for a birthday lunch date. They took her out for lunch and she loved it. It is so fun to get your grandparents all to yourself!

This was Olivia's first "friend party". She did not want anyone to feel left out and wanted an Olivia the Pig birthday party. I was thinking dress up and asked her if it was a party just for girls. She said, "I have boyfriends too, Mom!"
So, we invited all the kids in her age group that live in our neighborhood. (I hope. If we left anyone out, we feel terrible and it was unintented)
I think we had about 18 kids come!
We had her party at a local park, so there were plenty of tables and room to play.

{party piggies downing pizza and apple juice- Olivia's request}

{the cake}

I forgot to add her smile!!!

Ugh. oh well, of course I didn't remember until every last piece was gone!

{happy birthday to you...}

{make a wish}

They ate pizza, then they played games like duck duck goose, only Katie had them change it to Oink, Oink, Pig and red light green light. They played on the playground equipment.

We had cake and ice cream, then it was time for presents!

She loved everything she got!

{liv and jo-partners in crime:)}

{everyone wanted to see}

I think she had a fabulous day. We are so blessed that she is our little caboose.

Life would be boring without her!

Stretchy

2010-09-11T23:48:00.001-06:00

The kids found a friend in their back yard. His name is Stretchy.

Funny enough, he is just a stupid snake.

THREE times, they were able to go outside and find this snake for some playtime!

One time, he didn't even need to be caught! Jack simply put his hand down and Stretchy just slithered right into Jack's gloved hands.

Silly Snake.

He was fun for a minute and required no care at all.

See ya later, Stretchy!

Gonna be a football hero....

2010-09-09T19:17:00.004-06:00

Jack is playing his first year of GRID KID FOOTBALL!

There was much excitement. Especially when he got his pads.

He said, "I can't wait to hit somebody!"

Yikes.

And yet, it is really nice that he has an outlet to let out all his aggressions, frustrations, and pent up energy.

But still, moms worry.

He is having a blast and is doing quite well. He has been playing NOSE GUARD, DEFENSIVE END, and OFFENSIVE TACKLE.

He played iron man at the 2nd game, he is loving the tackling!

{gotta love seeing that name on a jersey}

{beautiful weather the first game}

{Go number 53!!}

Well the team has lost both of their first games, but Jack has played amazing.

After the first game we just had to celebrate.

We told him to play 212% and we would take him out to dinner. We couldn't have asked for more, he played hard.

So, he chose Texas Roadhouse.

{Liv, Jack, and Scotty}

{Mykee, Katie, and Bekah}

{Liv, and her hero~her big brother Jack (she wants to be a cheerleader at his games)}

Back to School 2010

2010-09-09T11:30:00.005-06:00

We started school on August 18th.

It felt like summer was just getting under way. The last day of summer vacation, we went to Ross Park and soaked up the sun. Jack had football practice that night and it just didn't seem like we would really be off to school in the morning.

But we were.

Rebekah was our most excited kid.

Jack and Katie waited until that morning to have a bit of anticipation to see their friends again.
All of them are now officially too cool to have their picture taken anywhere near the school grounds.

{on the way to school}

{Olivia}

We thought she might be lonely and bored with the crew going back to school, but that first morning when I woke them up, she looked up at me and smiled. She said, "I think it's going to be the Three Musketeers today! Just me, you, and Dad!"

She is eating the attention up.

Rebekah is a big 2nd Grader now!
She is adorable, loves going to school, doing her homework, reading her books, and playing with her friends.

Jack is in 4th grade already!

He is enjoying being back in school where he can play with all his friends all recess long.

He brings his football in his back pack every day.

He will be soaking up the Idaho History this year!

Katie is in 6th grade this year and is officially going by Katelyn.

She is still Katie Boo still at home and doesn't really like it when we call her that in public.

Anyway she was least thrilled about getting back into school. It is real work for her now.

We hope she has a good year.

We love this kid like you wouldn't believe.

The Boys and Girls of Summer..

2010-09-08T21:57:00.003-06:00

Summer 2010 was a fun baseball/teeball filled summer.

My friend Amber and I teamed up to coach a 4/5 year old tee-ball team. We tie-dyed their shirts and called them THE WILD THINGS! They were so much fun. It was a blast. Other than Olivia breaking her arm just as she was getting the "swing" of hitting, it was a great season. By the end of the season there was:

less tackling for the ball,

more kids understanding what bases to run to next and when,

and moms that had fun having an excuse to see each other more often!

Scott got roped into coaching Jack's baseball team with Joe. They were lucky to have him, and I'm not just saying that. They were undefeated (one tie) the whole season and didn't lose post season until the division championship game! The pitching definitely had a lot to do with that.

Speaking of pitching, Jack had his first year being a pitcher!

And can I just say how amazing that kid is??

He loved being on the mound, and had a great season.

We couldn't have done it without him. :)

{aren't they just bad to the bone? hee hee}

Most of the people in this picture have mouths FILLED with seeds.

It was also the summer of seeds.

Our little girls are now quite good at spitting.

Not sure how we feel about that....

I just scanned these pics in, and clearly, I need to learn a little about that.

So...

After an amazing win (we actually had "slaughter rule" and ended the game early!), we went as a team to Cal Ripken night at the Chukar's game.

Tons. of. Fun.

Can't wait to see how our lil' sluggers do next year!

Perfect Little Parker

2010-09-08T19:54:00.004-06:00

So, little Parker was born this summer and we are so in love with him!

He is so beautiful, has the best personality and he is growing like the cutest weed ever!

{the new family}

His Blessing Day was August 22 and he cried through his whole blessing. It was fantastic.

Karina put on a beautiful luncheon.

We were so happy to be there.

{isn't she such a cute new mommy?}

More Summer Fun 2010...

2010-09-08T19:19:00.005-06:00

Here is a smattering of random summer pictures because I am tired of catching up...

This group covers a quick get away to SLC, some summer swimming at our pathetic campout in Victor/Driggs campout (pathetic both because we were there to work more than play, and because we were sick with terrible colds!), and our redheads crazy curler pics.

Happy Viewing!

{JC}

{Olivia}

{the girls wanted some curly hair one random summer day}

{here's the goofy shot}

{Katie~gift shop~Planetarium}

{Scotty~gift shop~Planetarium}

{Jack and Olivia IMAX~Planetarium}

{Liv-Bees Game- She can still do her tongue trick}

{Yeager Girls on the moon-Planetarium}

{ Katie, Livvie and Buzz}

{the "little girls" in the pool at the campground in Victor}

{Kate sports the goggles}

{Jack chillin by the pool}

R.I.P. Panda Pig

2010-09-08T18:49:00.003-06:00

{Still Catching Up}

Katie's pet guinea pig, Panda died unexpectedly this July. It was horrible.

She was heartbroken.

It is one of the reasons we let our kids have pets.

They learn about "life" and "death" first hand.

Panda Pig was JUST Katie's guinea pig. Years ago, when she told us she wanted one, over and over and over, Scott finally told her she could have one

IF:

she could keep her room clean for one whole month.

We felt pretty safe.

About a year later, she actually pulled it off! We couldn't believe it. And so off to buy Panda we went. It was love at first sight.

It was her resposibility to take care of him- food, water, cage cleaning. She has learned to be quite a responsible pet owner. Also, if her room didn't stay clean (or get cleaned up when we noticed how not clean it was), then no more guinea pig.

It was heart wrenching to have her run up the stairs and tell us with panic stricken, tear stained face that Panda was gone.

We think he choked on his own bedding, which is just weird.

So for our Family Home Evening that night, we went to Grandma and Grandpa's house- {the only place Katie would even consider fit for Panda's burial grounds} for the service.

After the service, Katie just wanted to go to a pet store to "look" at the guinea pigs. Just to feel better by being around them. We figured it would help, so away we went. Really, she could have asked for anything and gotten it that night-anything to take away her suffering.

We didn't come home empty handed.

Katie found a little female guinea pig that caught her eye.

Meet Trixie:

She can't take Panda's place, but she sure has helped Katie. She has a fun, sweet little personality, and didn't take long at all to get used to us. Trixie is a sweet little pig that has captured Katie's heart and for that we are grateful.

4th of July Weekend!

2010-09-07T12:17:00.002-06:00

We broke from our newish traditions for 4th of July this year because my sister, Angel and her five fabulous kids were in town! They live in Tennessee and we NEVER get to see them, so we were willing to do whatever they had in mind just to spend time with them. Their son, Hudson, and our son, Jack have SO much in common it is uncanny. They are like 2 peas in a pod- except Hudson is the blond haired, blue eyed version. Whenever they do get to see each other, they are inseparable. It breaks my heart that they don't get to live closer to each other.

While they were here, we had some fun times. We made tinfoil dinners and roasted marshmallows on Grandpa's fire-pit complete with homemade root beer. We played in the yard, we watched movies, we went to Yellowstone Park and Jackson, we ate square ice cream cones, we didn't have enough time for all the fun to be had!

We played some ball:

{our niece Sara}

{Bekah Mae}

{the view of our suburban when we got to have the "older, quieter" crowd}

{the view of our suburban with the "crazy kid crowd"}

{all the boy cousins he has- poor kid}

{little Thomas}

Funny story about our little nephew Tom. He was following me around a LOT. I was thrilled, because I never get to see him. When we had our turn with the little kids in our car, I heard a lot of giggling and a lot of "Aunt Mykee". My nephew Derreck announced a secret he had been asked to keep-" Tom has a crush on you!" His sister helped explain on how many levels that wouldn't work. She said, "for one thing, she is too old for you, she is your Aunt, and she is already married!" He said (very dejectedly) , " yeah, she already married him (Scott) because he is the strongest." My niece, Jenessa added, "and the silliest!"

Such perceptive kids... I do love my strong, silly Scotty!

{old faithful}

{the grand canyon of yellowstone park}

{some of the whole family}

{late night stop at the wendy's in jackson, wy}

{pals}

When we drove by the swan valley commissary, it was WAY too late for ice cream, but our TN cousins just HAD to have some, so before they left we stopped and had some in town.

{liv}

{goofy jack and his boy hudson}

{one more group shot}

Then, the cousins from afar had to head on the road to the airport and we were left to celebrate the birth of this great nation with our utah cousins!

We went to a chukars' game and then to our uncle's house on the river for food and fireworks!

{charlie and the gang}

{our own little baseball boy}

{livvie, jenessa, and aunt chalene}

{kate, showing off her awesome autograph from charlie the chukar}

{snuggle time- these kids were exhausted from all the fun}

California Post

2010-07-26T15:39:00.005-06:00

We got to go on a mini-vacation this last weekend!

We left the kids in Grandma and Grandpa's loving care and off we went to SoCal to see one of Scotty's best buddies get married.

We flew out of our own home town airport. With the air show in town, we were treated to our own private show. The Blue Angels were practicing as we waited for our departure! They were right next to the terminal. This picture was taken from inside. Compared to some of the travel stories of Scott's friends (cancelled flights, erupting Coca-Colas, detours to Miami, over booked flights, and delays), we had a smooth trip. Our only complaint being sickness. We were both still under the weather when we left with a cold/flu thing that just wouldn't quit.

Thursday night we ventured out to North Hollywood to Mark's house to have the "bachelor party". Scotty brought me along. No one seemed to mind- there were other girlfriends/wives there too. Mark is a chef. He managed to make some of the most delicious food in a small kitchen and tiny patio. There was tons of food and so many varieties and it was all way too good.

It was fun to see Scott with some of the guys from back in the day. I got to hear some crazy stories, some new and some I had heard before. Mark's brother Tim came in from Argentina and brought beautiful Lucia with him. Mark's littlest brother Matt, flew in from Chicago. It was great to see all three Ostrom brothers together.

{some of the crew}

Friday we went to Venice Beach to see all the freaks. We saw "Muscle Beach", saw some great skate boarding, heard some good music, ate some yummy food and relaxed in the sand. Friday night we skipped out on the festivities, ordered pizza to the hotel room and an in-room movie and relaxed. We slept in so late the next day it was blissful. Our sicko bodies really needed the rest.

Saturday was the wedding. We barely got to the Shangri-La in Santa Monica in time to catch the shuttle to the beach in Malibu. Our hotel was 4 miles away. It took us 30 minutes to get there. The traffic in L.A. is MISERABLE.
The wedding was on the beach in Malibu and it was beautiful.
The reception was at the Shangri-La in Santa Monica and it was amazing.
The food was delicious, the music was moving, and the people were perfect.
We were happy to be a part of it. Mark is one of Scott's best friends in the world.

{The Yeagers at the beach in Malibu}

{where the wedding took place}

{Mark's brother Matt}

{Mark's brother, Tim and the Maid of Honor, Tia }

{the view from the reception}

{later that night}

Let's go Swimming!

2010-07-13T13:14:00.004-06:00

We went to Dr. yesterday to get Olivia's cast off!

I brought all four of the kids.

The excitement was building.

We were going to go to Ross Park for Family Home Evening, but we decided it was WAY too windy for that, plus I really wasn't feeling good yesterday.

They x-rayed it after the cast came off and said it is healing great.

However,

she needs to be careful with it for 2 MORE WEEKS!

It never ends.

Her arm is peeling all nasty.

As soon as it was off, we stopped in the bathroom to wash up before X-rays.

Even though it was windy, she played in her kiddy pool in the backyard for a little while.

She loved it.

{The Cast}

{See her tan line?}

{Buzzing it off}

Olivia’s Teeter-Totter Trick

2010-07-08T23:00:00.003-06:00

June 17, we were at Jack's baseball game. The game was at our least favorite field. The field is terrible. It is so rough and rocky usually both coaches agree on a no sliding policy- just so we don't have any Emergency Room trips.

Also, this field's playground is a little outdated. It consists of an old merry-go-round, swings, slide and teeter-totters. All made out of metal- no plastic or rubber or anything at all recent. Well, while Jack is playing and Dad is busy coaching and Mom is busy keeping the book for the team, the girls are usually busy having fun at whatever playground is currently available. So, this particular night, Olivia was living it up on the teeter-totter. Somehow (I'm not sure how- I've heard a few different stories from eye witnesses) she managed a magnificent accident and hurt her arm quite bad. There was screaming.

I had to hand off the book and leave Jack on the mound minus a cheering section.. We dashed off to the Dr. for some x-rays. It was a long wait. After we got her sweatshirt off, we could see that Olivia's elbow looked very wrong. After some excruciating x-rays, we were told that she had indeed fractured her elbow and to get with the Orthopedic specialist. They put her in a soft cast and a sling and sent us on our way.

She was just getting the "swing" of things in Tee-ball. (Hee Hee)

We had to miss the church camp-out the next day. Also, we were having the coldest summer ever until she broke it. Then suddenly SUMMER began- and she couldn't swim, run through the sprinklers, go to the splash park, slip-n-slide, nope. None of it.

The next Monday, we got into the Orthopedic and got the real cast. HOT PInK.

It has been hard work to try to keep her from going too crazy. Right away when she got her cast, she and some other kids decided to make a "nest" for the birds out of grass.

Grass is itchy in a cast. The next baseball game it was sand. Also a little abrasive. They did more x-rays the next week and told us it is healing nicely. She gets it off July 12^th at 1pm after which we will be going SWIMMING!

She has absolutely LOVED the attention and has hardly complained, even though it has got to be miserably hot and sweaty in there, not to mention all the dirt/sand/grass/rocks she has gotten in there. She is so much fun!

ELEVEN? YOU HAVE GOT TO BE KIDDING ME...

2010-07-07T15:59:00.004-06:00

June 15th Katie turned

ELEVEN!

Can you believe it? We sure can't.

Katie will be in 6th Grade next year. Weird, right?

Katie wears the same size shoes and shirts that I do. Which means, that I'll be getting Hand-me-Downs soon.

Katie is growing up so fast and she is so much fun to be around. She is tall - not sure how tall, but its weird to not to have to look so far down. She is so funny- in a really creative and spontaneous kind of way. She has a very mature sense of humor. She can get the adults laughing even though sometimes her friends don't get her.

Most importantly, We have FINALLY reached the stage where we have a live in BABYSITTER!

Oh yeah.

Katie is a fantastic babysitter. She has been babysitting for families in the neighborhood and she loves it. She is so cautious and is such a worrier, it's perfect. It's so fun watching her experience new things.

Next summer, she'll be going to GIRLS' CAMP!

This year was Katie's "family party" year. Also, it was a "baseball day". So we had to break up our party a little. We started with presents before breakfast, then went to Daylight Donuts for her special birthday breakfast- her choice. We also went to the zoo, just for fun. Then, Jack's baseball game and then her Great Aunt Cathy took us all to Subway for dinner after. We did the cake and candle thing on Father's Day, just because it was a convenient time and the family was all there anyway.

The day after her birthday, we had Katie Moss come over and pierce her ears! She had them pierced when she was eight, but they were so infected no matter what we did that we eventually just took them out and let them grow over. So Katie Moss has piercing experience and was so patient when Katie freaked out and changed her mind last minute. So far, she loves having them pierced!

I hope she had a good birthday, we sure love her and are so lucky to have her be ours!

One "trick" candle really "tricked" her.

She couldn't get it out!

She really wanted a Sand Pail cake. They are so easy, I certainly didn't try to talk her out of it!

Katie getting ready to get her ears pierced.
Panicking, really.

All done!

Katie chose DONUTS for breakfast!

(these are the whole family's, not just Katie's :))

Our "little girls" with flowers in their hair

A Daddy and his Daughters

Poor Little Bekah

2010-07-07T15:07:00.004-06:00

Rebekah has had lots of friends lose teeth before her. I expected that. Jack didn't lose one tooth until he was almost eight! So, we weren't too serious about checking for lose teeth. We were even less diligent about checking for teeth coming in before they were invited! Rebekah showed us two permanent teeth coming in on her bottome front. They were quite visible in her mouth! Her baby teeth weren't even budging.

I finally got around to calling the dentist. I HATE paying to have baby teeth taken out! That is supposed to be free! By the time her appointment came around, her bottom front teeth were loose. But of course he couldn't just tell me to go home and let her pull them, he tells me that the permanent teeth are as big as four baby teeth and only two were even a little ready. So, yep poor kid had to have all four bottom teeth yanked.

My little Rebekah, who is a professional giggler and never walks or even runs anytime she could be skipping, cried like a little baby. It was heart breaking to watch. Just pathetic little sobs. It hurt to deaden it, and it hurt to have them pulled. ( I hear red-heads need extra numbing- and he did use a ton, but still...)

As we were leaving, the dentist gave us his instructions.

"She'll need some ibuprofen, keep changing her gauze, watch to make sure she doesn't chew on her cheek, and put her in drama, she'll do great."

He just rattled off the list so casually, I almost didn't catch that last part. Silly dentist. Don't you know that cracking jokes doesn't make us giving you all our money any easier?

Perhaps the most pathetic part of the day was after we were home. Rebekah wanted to see her mouth. So she went into the bathroom, took out the gauze, looked in the mirror, ....

and nearly passed out.

She is a squeamish little thing. For about an hour and a half afterward, she couldn't sit up, she was so white she was green and soooo clammy. She said when she saw the blood she got dizzy and felt like she was going to be sick. This happened once when she had to have some blood work done. Crazy.

In an attempt to catch up...Memorial Day Weekend

2010-06-19T10:16:00.006-06:00

The last two years have included a weekend with Aunt Chalene in May. We think its a fun tradition that should continue! This year, we went as a family and brought the tent trailer. We enjoyed some much needed sunshine! We went to the Gateway Mall and shopped a little, ate at Tacano's, saw the latest Shrek movie in 3D and went to a Bee's game. We had a BBQ with some fantastic family, made s'mores, and stopped at In-n-Out on our way home. It was a great weekend!

The girls loved meeting "Bumble Bee"

FLOWER POWER!

2010-06-01T18:06:00.005-06:00

Our little Rebekah is now SEVEN! We can't hardly believe she has gotten so big. She is so much fun to have around. She always keeps us laughing. Her giggle is absolutely contagious! She is responsible with school work, helpful around the house, easy going and usually happy. When she's not though.... watch out! The red head is definitely a red head ;)

She started the day with her favorite breakfast- chocolate chip pancakes with whip cream, plus the addition of strawberries! Very yummy.

For her party, she had a FLOWER POWER party. So fun. The girls each got to make flower shirts. We wrote the all the girls' names that attended the party at the bottom for grass and drew stems. Then the girls got to make flowers with their thumbs and fingers! They loved it.

We had a flower "cupcake cake" and the girls each got to decorate their own cupcakes with a plethora of sprinkles to choose from.

They loved that too!

Here's our little cutie with her cake.

The cake.

After the party, we had Grandma and Grandpa stop by bearing gifts. They brought Rebekah the one present she wanted most. Scriptures.

Isn't she a great kid?

After everyone was gone and the boys were off to baseball practice, I asked Rebekah where she wanted to go for her birthday dinner. Guess where little Bekah picked?

Old McDonald's (that is what Olivia calls it)

{Our three girls}

{Bekah and some friends enjoying highly decorated cupcakes}

One of the other presents from Grandma and Grandpa was a darling little ceramic tea set.

So, naturally, we had to have a "tea party"!

The kids enjoyed hot chocolate and oreo cookies.

It was fun.

Happy Birthday, Bekah!

Thanks for being a Yeager!
We love you!

Almost there...

2010-05-16T18:22:00.002-06:00

Just getting back on track on this blogging thing. I aplogize to anyone who actually enjoys reading this thing, I just have NOT wanted to get online and do it. I'm glad I do. I love going back and remembering things I thought I would remember but didn't. Anyway, I still need to get some pictures and journaling about Jack's baseball team. They are doing awesome! School has two weeks left and there is always so much going on. Tee ball is coming up too!
For now, I got one post for each kid. So enjoy! :)

I swear we don't watch MTV...

2010-05-16T18:06:00.003-06:00

Our little Olivia has got Moves.

It can be a little embarrassing at times, but that girl is always movin" those hips!

She sings along as well.

Lately, it's been a few oh, oh, uh, uh, 's with a cute little melody about being a rock star. Could have something to do with Hannah Montana, but it is different enough that I'm not sure.

One day at the mall, while waiting for Katie to try on some clothes, she found some shades and a mirror and rocked out to the music. It was hilarious!

She also loves to strike a pose.

Here she is a Sam's Club. While waiting to check out she says,

"Mom, take my picture."

Seriously?

Thanks a lot, Disney Channel!!

Sheesh.

Run, Bekah, Run!!

2010-05-16T17:52:00.005-06:00

Rebekah is finally playing soccer this year!
She has been wanting to play since she was about 18 months old running after Katie and JC at their soccer events. For some reason, we have missed registration, been too busy, too strapped or whatever else that this is her first time playing.

She is on an all- girl team: THE PURPLE DRAGONS

Intimidating, huh?

She is the only 1st grader on a team of 2nd graders and is maybe the only one that hasn't played previously. No matter, she is Loving it!

She gets better each game. She is getting more aggressive and has more contact with the ball! We are pretty pleased with how hard she is trying. We wondered how aggressive Bekah could possibly be-I mean, she is sugar and spice- literally the sweetest thing. But the progress is fun to see!

At the last game, her shoe fell off while she was running. She turned to us and put her hand over her mouth to cover up the cutest giggles ever. It was the highlight of the game for her.

Such a silly girl.

We love her:)

She DARED to Graduate!

2010-05-16T17:40:00.003-06:00

We had a "graduation" to attend recently. Katie has officially graduated from D.A.R.E.!

We spent a couple precious hours congratulating three 5th grade classes on their completion of the program. She is now quite educated about drugs and alcohol.

Part of the program was the "pop challenge". Katie accepted the challenge and was able to have NO SODA for THREE MONTHS! We were quite proud of her.

It was a fun little program. They had a cute slide show of the kids learning and video of them saying "no" to drugs in a variety of ways. They had some award winning essays read. They handed them their diplomas.

Then the rock concert started.

That's right the officers put on a rock concert for those kids. They had a whole band on stage, and rocked it out for quite a few songs. The 5th graders even rushed the stage and did some great dancing by the band.

It was so loud. I loved that they would go to such trouble for those 5th graders. It meant so much to them.

When we got home, Katie's request for treats?

Root Beer Floats.

Hooray for Soda! :)

{Katie and some friends from school}

Our little "Graduate"

Let's hope she always remembers what she learned this year...

His Fast Green Car...

2010-05-16T17:28:00.005-06:00

So we are finally posting this year's pinewood derby pictures.

Jack did better than last year- he won a few of the races, but didn't come in the top 3. (we aren't sure where he landed, they only told us the top 3).

He had a blast, loved every minute of it. He had fun designing and building his car with his dad and loved race night.

Interestingly enough, they gave every single boy one of these fancy shelf things. (that is what we told him it was. he did not win and so should not have a trophy! when did we begin to give trophies to everyone? competition is not so bad, we think- anyway, i digress)

{Happy Jack and his beautiful green car}

{The beginning of a race...}

SPRING BREAK, BABY!!

2010-04-07T11:31:00.008-06:00

Last Year's Spring Break:

This Year's Spring Break:

No one was wearing shorts this year for Spring Break!

We have had the wackiest weather. Not fun for a family of four kids home for two weeks of Spring Break and no trip planned. A lot of indoor time!

The kids got the Spring Break ball rolling with a lovely bout of stomach flu.
Yuck. No fun.
We went to the library and got lots of books to read- Rebekah read 5 Cam Jansen books (she really loves them right now)
We went to see THE TOOTH FAIRY- it was a cute movie. The kids loved it.
We went to play the slots, I mean arcade games at Leo's. They always love that.
They got to have a sleep-over at Grandma's and Grandpa's house.
One day, we went BOWLING! Fun Fun! The place was packed. Apparently we aren't the only ones with good ideas.
Katie took this picture of me.

Scott smoked us all- really not hard to do.
We really stink at bowling.
But we had a good time doing it!

We colored eggs!

The kids always enjoy this Easter tradition- and all four love eating hard boiled eggs the next few days.

{Silly Katie}

{Olivia had fun making some creative eggs}

{Rebekah with her "rockstar" egg}

{Jack and his "landscape egg"}

{pretty eggs}

We really enjoyed Conference. It was the first in awhile that we weren't traveling during conference weekend. So we loved relaxing for church in our jammies:)

We played "conference bingo" and used Cheerios as our pieces. After conference was over, Olivia was just munching on her Cheerios. Scott fell asleep on the couch and she decided to share with him. So of course we had to take pictures...

Easter morning came bright and early for our kids. They were so excited.

{Olivia got pom-poms}

{Jack got baseball cards for his collection}

{Rebekah got a Little Mermaid diary}

{Katie got a sleep mask}

Everyone got a new T-shirt, but it seems we will just keep needing to wear our sweaters. The Tuesday after Spring Break was over, we woke up to 5 inches of snow and got a SNOW DAY from school! Crazy indeed.

All in all, we enjoyed being together and not stressing out about homework every night!

It was a good break from school. We are ready to face the last TWO MONTHS of school before

SUMMER BREAK!

(I wonder if we will go sledding during summer vacation?? Hopefully only at the sand dunes!)

Pretty girls, buddy boys and Yep, we could easily add to our family...

2010-03-30T20:52:00.003-06:00

Earlier this month, some friends of ours landed a fabulous all inclusive vacation.

They asked us to take care of their darling children for part of the time that they were gone.

They are THREE and ONE.

We had such a good time with them. We literally fell in love with these kids.

The little boy became Jack's shadow. He was so upset when we had to take him to school or scouts... All he wanted to do was play with Jack. It was so cute.

We made sure they got plenty of love while their mommy and daddy were gone.

At one point, Scott looked at me and said, "Yep. We could so easily add to our family. It would be so easy to love more kids."

I couldn't agree more.

Here is about the only decent shot we got while they were with us.

{feeding the ducks and geese at the river}

{That sweet little boy now calls me, "MAMA YEAGER"}

How jealous are you?

And here are some gorgeous head shots of our girls one Sunday before church.

Not sure why we don't have one of Jack. He often isn't too excited when the camera comes out.

We love him and think he is devastatingly handsome, but we'll have to work on getting the shot.

{our girls}

Flat Stanley Tags Along...

2010-03-20T11:35:00.002-06:00

Our niece Sara, who lives in Tennessee sent Flat Stanely to visit. So, we were thrilled when our friends invited us to go to a cabin with them for the weekend. Because, really, how else are we going to show Flat Stanley a good time in February??

Not the most exciting month in these parts.

He loved it.

And so did we.

It was nice to get away for the weekend to just relax.

Here's our pal Stan relaxing with us.

The cabin was in the Ashton, ID area and there was quite a bit of snow there this winter!

We didn't even pack proper snow gear for our kids- (I guess part of me started relaxing before we even got there!). So they tried to play in the snow. But it was DEEP.

There was one fun run on a sled down the hill, but it ended in tears when all the girls' bare hands ended up in snow. :)
Here are some kids taking a simple walk.

We didn't pack snow shoes either.

All in all, it was just so refreshing to NOT be in our house with all the things that I've been procrastinating staring at me all weekend.

We ate yummy food, played, and rested.

Good times.

Baby Boy, Bunkbeds, and Bling

2010-03-07T21:38:00.006-07:00

When I was in the Young Women's program in a different ward, I had a laurel that sort of became an honorary Yeager. Now, she is all grown up, married and expecting her first baby. When she found out the sex, she wanted to come over with a plate of cookies all decorated in the frosting color of the sex of the baby. She really tried hard. All day, and several botched batches later, she called and asked me to come over.
She told us she is having a baby boy in July!

We are so excited.

We helped her make blue cupcakes to tell her family and friends.

We are excited for the 4th of July to get here!

Olivia and Bekah's room was seeming quite cramped and they really wanted their beds to be put into "bunkbed form". They waited and waited for Scott's ribs to heal. Finally, they got their wish. Bunkbeds.

Much more room to play now.

Bekah on the bunk bed, she gets top bunk.

So, alot of ladies and girls in our hood have been showing up with shiny strands in their hair. Katie is a little, well, a lot more adventurous with her hair than I am. She asked for blue hair extensions! I said, lets check out this shiny hair thing.

So, we found out our friend Rachel Holdaway does the Bling Strands business in her house.

Go Here for more info.

Katie struck up a deal to trade bling for babysitting and she got her strands.

Then, of course all of Katie's friends at school wanted it, not to mention Rebekah and Olivia so we had to throw a Bling Strand Party. It was fun. Not a lot of people came, but we had a good time.

Scott and Jack had a night out for the boys.

Here is Bekah getting her bling on.

Katie and Katelyn entertained everyone with singing, dancing, skits.... they were actually pretty funny. Silly girl.

The time I ran over my own kid...

2010-03-03T09:28:00.005-07:00

I am WAY behind on blogging. Not sure why. I think it has something to do with the winter blues, or my self diagnosed S.A.D. I just haven't wanted to do it. But, to update, we'll start with our sledding trip on MLK day.

We went to the Ucon pit.

We got a new sled from Santa this last Christmas we were dying to try out.

It is big- it can hold all four kids or a mom or dad and a couple of them.

{Note how thrilled Katie is to be a part of our Mandatory Family Fun}

The landing. Good Times.

Olivia LOVED sledding and went down and climbed up the hill over and over. (we purposely left the four-wheeler at home so they would get some good exercise and be TIRED) She would have gone on climbing that hill forever.

However, we had a little accident.

Katie and Bekah were at the bottom of the hill, and Olivia and I were just starting our run. (You can see what's coming, huh?)

Well, yep, our sled turned and at full speed with me screaming at the top of my lungs, "MOVE, BEK, MOVE!!" We took our out at the legs and she went down hard.

She had a nice sized bruise on her poor little calf and spent the rest of the time in the suburban. I felt so terrible, I stayed with her and kept her company until we had to drag Olivia and Jack into the car to go home.

Great Memories!

GENEALOGY, We are doing it!

2010-01-22T10:27:00.012-07:00

We are on a quest.

We have been for some time.

It started out looking for Scott's dad. He left when Scott was just little. He stopped calling, and Scott just didn't know where he was.

He was an alcoholic who was raised by alcoholics. Turns out, alcohol doesn't really help create happy families. {Scott's mom, it must be said, is a super strong woman, who managed to raise the most amazing guy ever. She turned out one incredible man, and I, for one, am thankful.}

Scott really wanted to talk to his dad; to tell him about our four amazing kids.

Two years ago, this April, we found him.

We found out he passed away in 2005.

We also found out that in a later marriage (there were a few), he had another daughter.

So now, we have Aunt Ashley, Uncle Zack, and two adorable cousins for our kids!

We met Ashely and the boys at Disneyland last Spring Break.

Then, a couple of weeks ago, I googled Scott's dad's name: Theodore Jackson Yeager. Through the years, I have googled Ted's name THOUSANDS of times. We have just been at a dead end forever. This time, however, I found an entry on a Yeager family history forum dated 2002 from a guy in Ohio who had some of Ted's mementos. Turns out, Ted rented a room in this guy's grandmother's house a long time ago. She passed on and left it with her daughter. She passed on and left it to this guy. He has been holding on to it since 2002!! I was sure he would have gotten rid of it by now, but he was sure there was family out there that would appreciate it. And we do!!

The box came today.

Inside, were pictures of Grandpa Ted's Navy days, Navy documents and certificates, his Navy "yearbook" of sorts, his stencils to label his stuff in the Navy, Navy stationary, a love letter from a Conie "brown eyes", his high school letter, football and basketball pins, and a letter from Mrs. Conley in Stow, OH (no idea??).

It was amazing.

Last week, I again googled Ted's name and came across Rootsweb, a family history website. I think it is part of Ancestry.com. Anyway, Scott's grandfather's name came up. Theodore Jackson Yeager born in 1923 with four children, one named Theodore Jackson Yeager. I say, "That's your Grandpa!"

We clicked on it. His parents popped up. We clicked on that and HIS parents popped up. We kept clicking and clicking until we were in Germany in 1665!! Turns out his Ancestor Hans Martin Yeager helped colonize Germantown in PA . He was married in PA in 1720.

Unbelievable.

We thought it would be nearly impossible to find any family history information for his dad's side of the family. Boy were we wrong.

But, his Grandmother (father's mother) is another dead end. We don't know her parents and we aren't really even sure about her maiden name. We think she took off on the family (I mentioned the alcohol, right?) and headed for AZ and got remarried. So, the line stops with her for sure.

So, we are looking for living relatives. Ted had two brothers- Jimmie and Ronald or Roland, and one sister- Roxanne. But rumor has it that after their mom left the state took them away and adopted them out. So you see the difficulty level of our quest.

You just can't have too much family.
It is the most important thing.

{These are pictures that Ashley gave us!}

This is Theodore Jackson Yeager III

This COULD be one of our missing uncles.

Have you seen this man?

(The one on the left)

This is Scott's Grandpa Yeager!

Here is Grandma Yeager.

Could be Wanda McCellen or Wanda McClellen...

These are Ted's grandparents- Scott's Great-Grandparents-

But we don't know which side!!

Maybe Ashley can help us.

A young Ted.

{the one with his arms folded, of course}

An even younger Ted with his Daddy.

{our kids' grandpa and great-grandpa!}

Cute little boy Ted.

Who dressed this kid up?
He looks so handsome.

We went to the LDS Family History library here and did some more research. It turns out that we have some LDS Yeager relations- most of the temple work has already been completed!

We were shocked.
Happy shocked.

There is always work to do.
No rest for the wicked. :)

This Picture has a Story

2010-01-18T21:34:00.002-07:00

I was tagged with,

"This Picture has a Story".

Rules:

*Open your first photo folder*

Scroll down to the 10th picture in that folder

(If you don't have 10 pictures in that folder go to the next folder)

*Post the photo and then tell your story behind the photo

This is adorable Rebekah almost 3 years old. I don't remember anything about this, but my guess would be this:

Who could say to no to a kid that cute??

If you were a pink ball and she wanted to take you home, wouldn't you want to?

I think everyone should do this tag.

If you're reading this, make this your next post!

SURPRISE!!!

2010-01-06T08:51:00.007-07:00

My mom's Birthday is today.

It's a big one, so on Saturday, while we still had family in town, we threw her a surprise birthday party. It was so much fun.

We had the patio room at Johnny Carino's. We decorated it like a Birthday Princess should have it decorated. There were goodie bags for all the kids at the party. We were playing Spirograph and play dough while we waited for our food.

{My Mom}

{Blowing out the candles~with help from grand kids, of course!}

{Yummy Food and Fun People}

{The Cake}

{Here she is getting her surprise- although she had it pretty much figured out by the time she got to the parking lot- and seeing our car just proved it to her}

{After all the eating, cake, and presents we sang a little bit of "Let's Go to the Movies"- from Annie for her. She LOVES musicals. Here is my sister with her "jazz hands"}

{We saw Planet 51 and had a blast just being together. Here's some of the crew}

{Here is my mom loving on one of her grand babies.}

I am so blessed to have my mom because:

She loves her family deeply and unconditionally
She has a powerful testimony of our Savior and always shared it with me
She really never seemed to mind being up at night with me when I was sick or scared or couldn't sleep. (I still need to work on this one)
She taught me a deep love of music
Her creativity is fun- she tells stories and makes up songs so amazingly well.
She is so talented, artistically. She sings, paints, plays the piano, plays the guitar....
She taught me to appreciate beauty all around me
She loves everyone. Differences in people always fascinate her-never bother her
She loves to spoil people; she finds out what it is you love and then is always giving it
She lives service. Growing up, she was always bringing in meals to people, having us sing at old folks homes, taking treats to neighbors...
She is a fun Grandma. My kids moan when I come to pick them up from a visit with Grandma.
She teaches my kids piano lessons- they love it and are learning so much.
She loves me- really, her most important job, after all. :)

HAPPY BIRTHDAY, MOM!

I LOVE YOU!

So Long 2009!

2010-01-03T10:17:00.006-07:00

Our 11th Anniversary was New Year's Eve!

So, we decided to celebrate with 16 of our favorite family members!

Really, we just had family in town for New Year's and had to party like there was no tomorrow.

Here is the group- minus Scott, who was taking the picture, Olivia who had already gone to bed, and Grandma and Grandpa, who weren't up for a sleep over.

She was so tired, she decided she needed sleep more than partying- so this picture is of Olivia the next day. She demanded that she have her party then, with pictures! Things got so crazy at our party, my niece ended up BEDAZZLED!

Cute, though, huh?
Katie had SO much fun.

Such a party animal.

Jack loved that he had one of his very few boy cousins in town.

Picture of the table. Streamers, Confetti, Noise Makers. Oooh La la!

Rebekah livin' it up

This was the table BEFORE midnight- my sister had everything so organized and distributed it evenly to all.

Aunt Chalene was the hero of the day. She ordered an ENORMOUS box from Oriental Trading with fun things for the kids to do at the party. They decorated aprpons, piggy banks, and inflatable bats. We also had some fun hats, decorations, party supplies, etc.

Here are some decorated aprons.

And here are some decorated piggy banks. She had sticky foam letters to put on them.

Jack wrote "Mission Savings" on his.

Cool kid.

I even got to make a bank.

The craft area we set up in our basement.

Katie.

Her apron looks more like a bib, doesn't it?

She is growing up so fast!

Look at her funky hair. She is so much fun.

The Happy Couple

11 Years of Pure Bliss.

Little Olivia

Anyway, we had tons of fun.

People were sleeping everywhere. Kids were so noisy. We are all exhausted.

It is a memory we'll cherish forever.

I think we could do it again next year!

2009 was as busy, hard, and wonderful as the next year. I'm sure 2010 won't be any different! I'd love to have 2010 be our year we get to adopt a sweet baby!

On a completely unrelated topic:

Both Jack and Olivia got robots for Christmas.

Jack's was a kit for a build your own robot.

Livvie asked Santa for a robot that could clean her room. So far, he can hardly walk, but she doesn't seem to care.

The other day, they decided to have

ROBOT RACES

Jack's kept turning and attacking Olivia's.

Not sure who won.

But they had fun!

The most wonderful time of the year...

2009-12-26T10:45:00.007-07:00

Christmas.

Craziness.

This year was a little too much like last year.

Last year: Scott had back surgery December 11th

This year: Scott separated a rib December 9th

Both years: A completely useless, hurting and needy husband.

Last year: Katie came down with a stomach bug on Christmas Eve and was quite sick for Christmas.

This year: Scott came down with the flu Christmas Eve and is still not feeling well!

So, once again, I am shoveling snow (thankfully, not too much this year), shopping alone, parenting alone, taking care of hurting hubby, and not really loving the new tradition.

If next year looks like this again, I really don't think I can call it "The most wonderful time of the year"

Before the season began, the kids made me promise we wouldn't schedule any back surgeries or treatments for Daddy so that we could be sure to have a better Christmas. Last year we were just unable to get some of our favorite traditions completed. So, I promised. And he didn't hurt his back.

Anyway, enough complaining. I know how selfish I sound. Poor Scotty is what I should be typing right now. And I do feel sorry for him. He absolutely wishes he wasn't injured. Or sick.

We are actually very grateful for the MANY blessings that are ours.

We baked the month right through. We were constantly making something for someone and the kids loved helping in the kitchen. We love all the goody plates from our amazing neighbors and friends. We love living where we do when we do and are sure this is where we are supposed to be. Our kids' last day of school was December 11th and have been loving being out of school for Christmas break. We are grateful to know what the season is really about and have had great talks about the Savior's birthday party and what He really wants from us for His birthday.

And we have been blessed with a wonderful family on both sides that all love to spoil us rotten.

Here are some of our shots of our Christmas this year.

Christmas Eve, every year we go to my parents' house for a big Christmas Eve dinner/party. This year, we were in charge of the ham. 1/2 hour after being put in the oven, the power went out. Luckily, Grandma and Grandpa still had power, so we packed up everything for the party and left a litle early so that the ham could continue. The kids all get to open 1 present on Christmas Eve. You'll see some pictures of the adorable pajamas they got this year. Thank you Grandma and Grandpa! They also had a piano recital (Grandma is their piano teacher). Katie, Jack and Rebekah are taking and they all did fantastic.

Christmas morning was fun. (They were told they couldn't get up before 7:00 a.m.- in years past we have had issues with this). They came in to get us at 6:59 and no interruptions during the night! We'll take it. It was a great Christmas all in all!

Olivia

Rebekah in her Christmas Jammies

Rebekah and her Santa loot

Katie enjoying a Hershey Santa from her stocking

Olivia loved that she got an orange in her stocking again!

Katie introduing her piano piece: "Jolly Old St. Nicholas"

Jack loving his Marshmallow Santa Christmas morning

Jack in his new PJ's making his crazy happy face

Katie in her new Froggie PJs

Jack playing his piano piece : "Little Drummer Boy"

Rebekah introducing her piano piece "Go Tell it on the Mountian"

Rebekah playing her song

Merry Christmas, Happy New Year and Happy Holidays Everyone!

Basketball and Ballerinas

2009-12-20T18:52:00.004-07:00

Finally, I managed to get a battery in the camera!

We didn't want to miss these precious shots.

Jack had his last basketball game of this season Saturday morning. It was an early game: 8:10 a.m. He and I braved the early morning fog alone. Scott has a separated rib, (this year's Christmas time injury) and the girls were just not moving fast enough.

It was all okay though. Grandma and Grandpa were already at the game when we arrived.

Turned out it was his best game yet. Great note to end the season on.

He was a superstar.

Rebekah and Olivia have been taking dance this year. The big recital was also on Saturday.

Look at the beautiful (expensive) tutu's they got to wear!

They were most excited for:

the costumes

the side buns

the make-up.

They were darling.

We especially loved the giggling Olivia let loose with her thrill of spinning in circles.

Adorable.

Rebekah really was happier than she seems.

Such cute ballerina princess sisters.

And here we are before church this morning.

You can see how great our morning was by the look on Jack's face. :)

They look adorable.

Thanks for the beautiful Christmas clothes, Grandma and Grandpa!

We are getting so excited for the big day!

Merry Christmas Everyone!

Finally, the Halloween Post!

2009-11-29T20:41:00.004-07:00

Halloween was not so recent anymore, but we did celebrate.

We LOVE holidays and the traditions that make them so fun.

Here is our Halloween 2009.

Rebekah was a witch~ with black hair and green face. No warty nose, though. She drew the line there. She told me that she didn't want to be an ugly witch. :) I guess she is cute enought to pull off the green face and black straggly hair.

Poor Jack.

He was Darth Vader AGAIN. He makes a great one. We had a great costume planned, but due to unforseen complications (Scott), we were unable to deliver. So, Jack was a great sport and happliy wore the Darth Vader costume again.

Olivia was THRILLED to be the unicorn this year. She couldn't wait for Halloween to arrive and gloried in the glitter she got to wear.

She is so much fun.

Katie was terrifying as a "Goth Vampire Girl".
She was so happy to finally have her dream of black hair for Halloween come true.
She was a little scary to some kids.

Here is the spooky crew.

We had a ton of fun. We went to a carnival, but didn't dress up. We went to a fabulous Halloween Dinner Party at Grandma and Granpa's house complete with spooky food galore. We hit our Trunk-or-Treat, and even did some Trick-or-Treating old school style~Door to Door.

Then came the true horror.

Washing out the black hair.

It is a good thing the girls had so much fun with that, because it was probably the last time.

Ever.

That stuff is horrible, the bathroom was covered in inky blackness!

Recent Randomness...

2009-11-04T21:03:00.003-07:00

Just some of the Random Things the Yeagers have been up to {and documented}

We went hunting as a family one day. We went to the Tex Creek area.

We saw several MOOSE, a cyote, but no MULE DEER, which is what we were after. However, we had a great time. It was good to get away and enjoy nature. The fall leaves were beautiful, we took a little hike {an educational nature hike- the kids are getting better at identifying tracks and droppings:) }, and we had a fantastic lunch break at the Pizza Parlor at Heise.

Here is Olivia at lunch.

A while back we spent a couple of evenings at the Sand Dunes at Sandy Downs.

We had a ball. The kids loved sledding down the hill on their sleds, playing in the sand, and eating s'mores. We loved having the hill be our free babysitter for the night while we relaxed and enjoyed the company of good friends.

We'll definitely be doing that again next year.

Here is a terrible picture I took on my cell phone

{forgot the camera!}

One evening, we went to the Idaho Falls Temple Visitor Center for Family Home Evening.

We walked around the grounds a bit, took this silly picture, and watched "On the Lord's Errand" about the prophet Thomas S. Monson. It was fabulous. We highly recommend it.

Rebekah had to have a picture of her wearing her super cool scarf that came with her super cool Hannah Montana shirt.

We got to go on a get-away without the kids! We went back to where it all began.
Arizona.
We ate at all our old favorites.
We saw some old friends.
We went to an ASU game, lounged in the hot tub, hiked "A" mountain, went to the zoo (part of our 1st date), ate at a yummy deli (corned beef sandwich!) that happened to be owned by a guy that actually went to the same highschool as Scott, and had a fantastic time.
Here is the view from the top of "A" mountain.

We took the Principle of our school and her husband to the zoo. We had a great time, the kids love them. Here are the monkeys we tried to deposit at the monkey house. I guess they were full, because we brought them home. :)

That's all for now. We will get Halloween on here soon. Still catching up!

The Boy Turned NINE!

2009-11-02T09:30:00.003-07:00

Jack's birthday was October 9th.

His GOLDEN birthday. Nine on the ninth.

It turned out to be my day for volunteering in the classroom, so I stayed after and had lunch with him and the girls at school. It was pizza day. Yum.

Then, after volleyball practice, we went out for a wild night of excitement.

We went to Game World and partied like there was no tomorrow (even though there was a tomorrow- Katie had an EARLY volleyball game the next morning. We were tired)

It was his "Family" year. Our kids only get "friend" parties every other year.

So, for poor Jack, that means that he was the only boy there. He has girl cousins and sisters a plenty. Well, Grandpa was there too. (Daddy was gone hunting- but he made up for it by taking Jack hunting the next week- just the two of them)

Anyway, he was surrounded by girls, but was such a good sport about the whole day.

Can't believe he is growing up so fast.

We love you Jack!

All he wanted for his cake, was a favorite dessert. "Chocolate Heaven"

"Free" School

2009-11-01T19:21:00.001-07:00

We have started a neighborhood Co-op preschool that I like to call "free" school. Olivia just LOVES it. Six adorable little kids. Three boys, three girls.

I found out I really enjoy my turn to teach! It is a lot more fun than I thought it would be.

The kids are adorable, sweet, and fun to work with.

Here she is on her 1st day of school

This Labor Day...

2009-11-01T16:35:00.003-07:00

...we went to Odgen UT to buy a truck. Scott needed a vehicle that would be more reliable, and he found the right one on ksl.com. So, away we went. My brother and his wife and cute kids live in Ogden, so finally we got to spend some time with them.

The kids loved it.

Our Friend, the Wallaby

2009-11-01T16:27:00.003-07:00

A while back, we went to our local zoo with my brother and sister in law and had a great experience. ALL of the animals were in rare form. We actually saw the snow leopard, the otters were swimming, the monkeys were screaming, the tigers were pacing, - you get the idea. Good night at the zoo.

The best part was this little wallaby.

He jumped the fence to get to know us a little better.

So sweet.

Sending prayers your way. . .

2009-09-17T16:30:00.002-06:00

We are aware of a certain young girl who is pregnant and faced with a huge decision.

She should know that we are praying for her.
You are loved, and you will be blessed.

If you feel so inclined, please call or email.

We would love to meet you.

All of us.

Long Time No Post

2009-09-06T20:07:00.001-06:00

I think that is the longest we have gone without updating our blog! Well, we finally did.

Scroll on down, I have just posted the recent happenings of the Yeager Family!

Olivia is a FOUR year old!!

2009-09-06T19:42:00.005-06:00

Olivia had a birthday!

September 2nd she turned four years old.

We can't believe how fast it has gone- and how much fun she has been!

After much deliberation (first she wanted an American Flag cake because she saw a "cool" one at scouts, then it was a puppy cake, and I can't remember all the other ideas) she decided to want a

MONKEY CAKE!

This was fun to make, she helped! She put the eyes on for us.

Olivia's birthday was a fun day. She started with the usual special breakfast: Chocolate Chip Pancakes with Whipped Cream. Then she opened her presents.

She really NEEDED this Dr. kit. She has been band aid stealing. And sticking band aids to everything in sight. Right away she said to Bekah. "Sit still. I am going to fix your body." :)

While the kids were at school, we took Livvie to lunch and then to shop at Toys R Us. Her Uncle Christopher sent her some money and it was burning a hole. We spent SO much time there. She wanted to look at everything, but couldn't narrow it down to what she wanted to bring home. Finally, we bought a Wii game for her. Littlest Pet Shop. We still haven't actually played it, but it should be fun!

After we picked up the kids, we were off to the first day of Ballet! Olivia and Rebekah are now taking creative ballet on Wednesdays. They were so cute in their leotards and tights. I'll take a picture next Wednesday.

Then we stopped at Sam's Club for some "cheese pizza"(what Livvie had been asking for). But when we got there, all she wanted was a hot dog. Go figure.

Then, we went to Iona Park for playtime, Cake & Ice Cream, and presents from Grandma and Grandpa and the cousins.

She had a good day.

Just for Fun. . .

2009-09-06T19:30:00.002-06:00

We have such fun grandparents. They are always sending home fun things with the kids. Recently, Grandpa sent home some wax/fang/lip things.

The kids thought they were so funny!

Nunn's Park

2009-09-06T16:05:00.006-06:00

We went to a family reunion in UT for my (Mykalee) Dad's side of the family. It was over the weekend of Aug. 21. We brought our pop up tent trailer and camped. We had a ton of fun. We got to see cousins galore, eat yummy food, enjoy nature and RIDE HORSES!

My Aunt Dorothy brought horses for the kids to ride. Katie was in heaven. She has loved horses forever. The other three found out they love them too.

We walked to Bridal Falls and we were just getting the kids organized for a photo when two bikers came plowing through. Olivia tried to get out of the way, but actually ran in front of the bike and got ran over! It is clearly posted that right in front of the falls, it is pedestrians only. For the obvious reasons like this one. We couldn't believe it. So we didn't get that picture because she was crying so hard. She was fine, she got a little scrape on her ear and was qute upset, but it passed quickly.

We had so much fun. My sister Chalene camped with us one night, the kids were so excited. The highlight was probably Jack and his auction purchase. Every other year they have this reunion. Everyone is asked to bring items to donate to the auction. The proceeds from the auction pay for the next reunion. My aunt had donated hand made pillow covers from Ireland. Chalene said she would love those and the next thing you hear is a bidding war between JC and my Aunt Dorothy. I asked him if he was bidding with his money or ours and he assured me he would pay. He won the bid, and immediately handed the pillow cover to his Aunt Chalene. "Here, this is for you!" he said.

What a boy.