sweet cheeks

We love this baby!  Although he is our most high maintenance  child he still is sweet as can be.  And those cheeks are delicious.

The shirt that won't die!

So I have been MIA. Today I was looking back through my blog and was feeling super guilty. There are so many fun thins I have put on here over the last 5 years! So here we go again, but I am not going promise any kind of regular posts.

So.....today while looking through old photos I came across the pictures from the hospital when Chandler was born and noticed David's Adidas shirt I have been trying to get rid of for the last 7 years. Apparently it has some significance considering he has wore it to the birth of our two sons! Ha ha ha if only it had been washed when I had Brinlee.

Brinlee, Chicken whisperer.

This video pretty much sums up how Brin's feels about the chickens.  I think she is starting to think she is one.

Valentine's Day

Valentine's Day at our house usually consists of eating a lot of candy and going to bed early. This year that was not to be the case. David surprised me with tickets to Thanksgiving Point's Valentine Dinner and Dance. Having seen the pictures on the website we decided we better get all dolled up for the event.

(Please note all photos have been digitally enhanced:)

Dear sweet Jodi watch the little ones for us and helped us out with our modeling shoot. Thanks Jodi! Notice David thinking of all the fun we were going to have, and Ronni with her big eyes wondering if she would have to fast dance.

When we arrived our salads were ready for us. We sat with three other couples; A college couple that was way too cool for the rest of us, an older couple with kids out of the house and a couple in their thirties (we don't know if the had kids or not). While we dined a live band played the likes of Frank Sinatra, Neil Diamond, Adele, Michael Buble and Queen. It was a very interesting mix to say the least. After dinner we enjoyed some dancing and then desert. It was really fun to get dressed up and go out on the town with my honey. We need to do it much more often.

Hope you all had a Happy Valentine's Day!

Why did the chicken go to preschool?

To go to show and tell of course!

Chandler asked if he could take one of the chickens to show and tell a few weeks ago. We called Mrs. Julie and she said it would be okay, so Jessie was able to show off for the kids.
She walked around and checked out everything and didn't even poop on the floor or in the car.
Chandler told the kids how he feeds them, puts them in their coop and collects the eggs each morning.

Summer

In August we went to Colorado to visit Grandpa and Grandma Black on their mission. We had so much fun. We visited some fun towns and rode the train.
I could live in any of these homes. Georgetown was the most adorable town I have ever seen.
The Silver Plume train ride.
We purchased a season pass to the Dinosaur museum in Ogden. With the pass we also get in to the Union Station, the Zoo for 1/2 price and the Tracy Aviary. The kids love the Aviary and mom pretends she is in another world.

And a few more.

Chandlers second first day of preschool.David and his 10K victory.
Christmas.
There is no rhyme or reason to these last posts, but please enjoy anyway.

Some pictures.

I ain't chicken.

We are not animal people. I am not a bird person, remember this post? But David thought that we should try out chickens.

So like most people do we drove down to the local cal-ranch and purchased ourselves 10 baby chicks. 4 were for eating and 6 for eggs. Long story short....we raised the roasting birds and butchered them in our garage (it was humane, but I don't think we will be doing this next year). While at Jill's wedding 3 of our egg hens died, it was very sad. Poor Sheila. I forgot to tell you, we name our chickens. Our three surviving chickens Sally, Jessie, and Raphael(white) continued growing and thriving. Until that morning mom woke to a very loud rooster crow. Poor Raphael was dinner that night, it was an interesting dinner to say the least.

So now we are down to just Sally and Jessie. I have to say they are the best pets a small family could ask for. They pretty much take care of themselves. They roam the backyard and go into their coup at sundown. The kids love them, in fact they go out and pet them every morning. They give us two eggs a day and only chase you because they love you.

We are alive! I know you were worried.

My dear friend Amy did a cute year in review on her blog. And since I am not creative nor do I want to figure out some awesome way of doing this I will steal her idea.

Brinlee Rae

(aka: Brinner brinner chicken dinner, coco butter, stinky, binny and of couse princess)

At 2 Brinlee:

• Loves Tangled. Sometimes I catch her spinning in circles singing "When will my life begin!"
• Loves nursery. From the moment we enter the church she is wanting to know when she can go.
• Loves the chickens. I bet you didn't know we have chickens.
• Wants to potty train.
• "Shut the front door" is her saying of choice.
• Loves cousin Christian and always talks about him.
• Wants to kiss daddy all sacrament meeting and makes it known to all of the congregation(more on that later).
• We have had our share of coloring on the walls, emptied tubes of toothpaste and diaper rash cream, bite marks on various parts of our bodies(Chandler has had them on his bum), spilled or throw drinks at the dinner table, destroyed toys, destroyed DVDs , destroyed important paper work, emptied filling cabinets. Needless to say she is extremely busy and we love her very much; I think it is just a phase, well hopefully.

Chandler

(aka: Chancho, bubba, buggaboo,)

At four Chandler:

• Is loving his second year of the Busy Bee Preschool.
• Can recognize all letters and their sounds.
• Writes his name.
• Loves to play outside.
• Is the official egg collector.
• Is not a fan of church and loves to talk about how much he HATES it in his loud voice during the sacrament.
• Can beat the star wars Lego and Lego pirates wii games.
• Is the official dishwasher unloader
• Wants to play at Briggy's house everyday.
• Loves his army guys.
• Could possibly be an angel. This kid is so helpful and content to do just about anything. He doesn't like it when he hurts peoples feelings and is very sensitive to others.

David

(aka: Daverino, Dave, Dad, and sexy Dave but only by his wife)

David at 29 1/2:

• Is busy! Between work and his new calling as 1st counselor in the bishopric he is on the go.
• He took first place in the 25-29 age range for the Onion Days 10K.
• Went deer hunting for the first time since being married.
• Is training for a half marathon.
• Pumped the iron at Golds all summer.
• Went golfing all summer. Including some memorable moments with Ronni.
• Loving his chickens Sally and Jessie
• Raised 4 Cornish Hens and then butchered them in the garage with his true love. They were delicious.
• Is currently on vacation enjoying life.

Ronni

(aka: Mom, mommy, Ronster, Ronni Brin )

Ronni at 26:

• Grew a killer garden this year. Bottled 30 quarts of pickles, 30 pints of tomatoes, apple sauce, grape juice, salsa, and peaches.
• Pumped the iron all summer with Daverino.
• Is on her fourth class in the primary, and they are perfect angels.
• Might not be so afraid of chickens anymore.
• Plays on a ladies volleyball team and hopes she can move the next day and not pee her pants while jumping.
• Cooks, cleans and does all of her motherly duties with a smile (haha).

In 2012 we hope to:

• Grow another garden.
• Install new flooring in our home.
• Go to Easterfest with the Van Ausdal family.
• Visit Scott and Kelly in San Diego.
• Expand our family (chickens or children).
• Go Camping.
• Love each other.
• Be more service oriented.
• Live at the park all summer

One for Lori.

It has been a while, six months plus! I am here though ready to fill the void that my blog-less blog has put into your lives. My dear sister in law Lori had to have a minor surgery and now is in bed blog-stalking (according to her hubby). So Lori this is for you, blog-stalk away!