Basketball

This year Drew was old enough to play basketball at the rec center. He was so excited and was randomly put on a team. He knew just a couple of the kids on the team, but he quickly made friends. His team was coached by an amazing coach, who is also the girls high school basketball coach. The team had practice for a half hour before the games and they went undefeated! Drew made several baskets throughout the season and really loved being out on the court.

Its blurry, but he made the shot!  

Mason wanted a picture of him taken, so I said ok, but I get to pose you. He said ok, so here's a picture of Mason!

The last game of the season. He was sad that it was over, but so excited to get the ribbon and a cookie that looked like a basketball. Oh the simple pleasures! 

Taysom loved being in the noisy gym. He has a really high pitch squeal when he talks and he was able to just squeal to his hearts desires! 

So Sweet!

Once in a while Sam and Mason are so sweet to one another. Usually, they are rough housing and chasing each other. So when I see they are getting along so well it almost makes me want to cry!

Idaho Falls & Blowouts

 This last Friday, Taysom and I decided to go on a road trip to Idaho Falls. My Uncle Marlow's Mother passed away and they were having a funeral for her Rigby. My mom was going to go up to it and so I decided we'd go over too. 

I decided I would take Vaughn's car since he would have the three other kids and it turned out it was not a good choice on my part. I was probably 40 minutes into the two hour drive when I realized that the car was not getting warm. Taysom was bundled up in his car seat and I really wasn't that cold, so I decided to just keep on going. 

By the time I got to Idaho Falls I was frozen!! I couldn't really move my fingers and my toes...oh boy! They were icicles! I sent out a post on FB asking if anyone knew of any mechanics open for the next day, a Saturday, and literally in no time at all, I received a call from an old friend that grew next door. He lives in Idaho Falls and had been contacted by his sister in-law that saw my post. He was so very kind and asked if I had a place to stay and if I needed a ride. I told him I was ok and with my mom. He told me of some places to go and if I couldn't get it figured out that he could fix it for me. I was so grateful for his willingness and told him I would let him know, but I was sure I could get it figured out with the information he gave me.

Don't mind the gross dust on the dash!

The thermostat broke and it has a fail safe feature that just turns off the heat, so the car doesn't overheat. 

Saturday morning we drove out to Driggs to go to the funeral. We got there early enough to go to the viewing and for me to feed Taysom before it started. Right after I fed him he had a MAJOR blowout! It was everywhere!! I finally got him changed and back into the chapel just as it was about to start.

Taysom and I headed home after eating lunch at Jimmy Johns with my mom and decided that in the day time it wouldn't be as cold, and so I could make it home and not freeze. I couldn't have been more wrong! I was almost frozen before I even got to Pocatello! Taysom was bundled up nice and cozy in his car seat and he slept the whole way there and back. 

When I got back to Jerome, my legs and toes were dark purple!! It seriously took all night for me to get the full feeling back in them! Even with all of this, I am glad that we went. We had fun and it was nice to see some cousins and my aunt and uncle. 

So I think this church outfit of his is cursed! After getting home, I scrubbed the outfit and got it all nice and clean for him to wear the next day. Right when we got home he had another blow out!! This kid and his blowouts. Seriously, so gross!

Citizen of the Month

Today, when Drew came home from school today was so excited to tell me that he had been made Citizen of the Month. Not just once but twice in December! I didn't even know that was possible! His teacher, Mr. Avery, chose him for the award and the playground teacher, Mrs. Butts, also picked him! He was so excited! Grandma Linkenhoker was excited for him as well and promised him that she would take him to dinner, to a place of his choice, the next time we went down to Utah.

Taysom's First Cereal

Taysom had his 4 month check up this last Friday and I was told to start Taysom on cereal. I really didn't want too, but I figured I would do it once to see how he liked it.

He was not a fan. None of my kids have liked the cereal.

After gagging down most of it, I felt I had subjected him to enough torture. I got him all cleaned up and he then threw it all back up. It was pretty gross!

At his appointment he weighed 15 lbs! He is sleeping through the night and is a very laid back, happy baby. He loves to smile, talk and laugh. His laugh is contagious and is like a toddlers laugh! His brothers and sister are usually happy to help me with him, and love holding him and giving him hugs and kisses.

Taysom & Max

I've caught Max a few times in the past few months over by Taysom's crib, gently smelling him! Tonight we had Taysom sit next to Max and pet him. It was so sweet to see Max be extra gentle with him and Taysom wasn't too sure what to think, but he pulled his ears and his hair!

I bet this is the beginning of a life long friendship!

Sleeping Taysom

After a long weekend of people being sick and the holiday, it felt like we needed a vacation to get past the long dreary weekend! Taysom must have felt it too, because he slept a lot the week after New Years.

New Years

The week between Christmas and New Years was pretty uneventful. The kids and I hung out around the house and played games, watched movies, read books, and just enjoyed not having to do the running around which has since become our life!

We were all looking forward to New Years, because my mom was coming! Wahoo! We were so excited! And then Sam got sick. She was sick for about a day and then it went away. Well Sunday almost right after church I started to feel not so great. I wasn't sure what was wrong, but I just didn't feel good at all. I knew that if my mom knew I was sick she would go home and I did not want that! We had waited all week for her to come and I wasn't going to let myself get sick. That is until about 4 am on Monday morning. It was really weird. I was sick for about six or seven hours and as soon as I got it all out of my system I was still a little queasy, but I felt better than I had. I was so glad that it passed so quickly. 

Monday, Vaughn woke up not feeling well. He had to call into work and his his day, but he did not even move during the day. He obviously got it a lot worse than I did. My mom planned on going home New Years Eve, so that she wouldn't get sick and I was selfish and talked her into staying. Since I was feeling better I was ready to go have fun and enjoy the New Year. 

She ended up staying and on Monday night we went to my Aunt Ilene's house to play games with her, my grandma, Aunt Debbie, Uncle Garth, Cindy, Carolyn, Ben and Nathan. We had so much fun and decided to celebrate the new at 10 pm since everyone was tired and I was feeling guilty that Vaughn was home alone on New Years. 

New Years day my mom came out of her room and said she was sick. I was so mad at myself that I had insisted that she stay longer with us. She probably wouldn't have been sick if I hadn't been selfish and just let her go. She left early that morning and made it home and spent the rest of the day in her bed. We were happy she was here, but not so happy that she picked up our germs.

Anyway, a week before Christmas or so, Vaughn and I were watching the food network and saw this recipe for a burger that looked so delicious! We decided to try and make it while my mom was here and it turned out sooo good! It tasted like a burger you could get at a fancy restaurant! Yum, Yum, Yum!!  Vaughn was in charge of it and he did a great job!!

This was a cajun pulled pork and coleslaw burger. 

It was soooo good!!!