We had family pictures taken last week for the first time in years! So here are some of our favorites, enjoy!

The Past Few Weeks

Daniel had his first soccer practice yesterday and he loved it! So, I loved it too. We had a great time going to the park and watching all the clueless kids and laughing at their cuteness. Mark saw some guys from work and we are slowly getting to know people here in town.

The boys love their uncle Tim. He took them on a ride in Mark's kayak that he built and they had a great time running from pirates and looking for fish etc. Good Times!

We thought we would go to the Potato Museum but it was closed so we just took a picture infront of the giant potato and played on the caboose. Having 2 kids is a lot easier with 2 other adults around. I enjoyed having them here sooooo much.

My mom thought the kids needed more sugar. Hahaha my parents came up to Blackfoot for the Pride Days and we watched Snowmobilers race across the water, Daniel climbed the rock wall, we rode a choo choo and my dad got to see all the cool old cars.

Idaho Falls has the coolest little zoo. It is soo clean and has a few real big animals like Lions and Tigers and Zebras etc. We went there as a family and had a blast. We didn't even bother to bring a stroller because we knew the boys would never stay in one and they did just fine walking/running the whole way. We've been to that zoo like 5 times now in the past 2 yrs. and it is fun every time.

Having a 4 1/2 yr old boy

I hear that having teenagers is really trying. That your kids talk back to you, they don't obey, they think they know everything and they are lazy. Well I guess I have a teenager. Daniel is going through this "phaze" with me and just with me. He dosn't do it to his dad or anyone else... just ME! AHHHH! His new favorite phrase is "yeah...I knoowww" Then mine is, "Then why did I have to get after you?" I don't know how to get him in check. I just want him to say the words "Yes mommy" at least a few times a day. And overall Daniel is a really carring kid who just wants to be loved but lately it is tough love. I try to keep him busy and active. And we do lots of fun things but he can't do anything without arguing with me about it first. From putting on shoes to going to the store to which park we play at and when we go where. I'm pulling my hair out from sun up to sun down. Any advise? I'm about to go to a specialist.

PS I Love Daniel Truely. I just want him to be the best person I know he can be without this attitude.

Our front yard is almost done

This is a picture from the corner of our property. We have a really big yard to take care of and it keeps us busy.

My newly finished flower beds.

The soon to be pond/waterfall

I dug all the weeds out of this bed and layed the bark and rocks and pavers all by myself today. It was a beast finding that grass barrier that was burried in the grass.

Its getting there.

So I was talking with my friend Emily on the phone yesturday and she said that I should post some pictures of our house. So here they are. We have been working every day on the water feature in the front of our house and on dressing up the flower beds and stuff. When we bought the house there was just dirt in the flower beds and the fountain/pond didn't have power running to it so you had to drag an extention cord out to it to turn it on. And it was dirty and didn't flow right so we have taken the whole thing apart and cleaned it and Mark the electrician wired it to the house so we can turn it on from the garage with a light switch. We should be done with it either today or tomorow and I can't wait.

Being without Internet & Disneyland

The Pirate Island, they had just hosted the World Premier of Pirates of the Carribean there and we got to go on the boat that Johnny Depp was on. eeeewwwwhhh. hahaha

First Minute of Disneyland. All smiles and confusion.

I don't think we look as cute as the boys do.

Don't touch his cotton candy!!!

This is why we went.

We had the great fortune of being able to go on our first Mark and Ashley Family Vacation!!! Yes, it was great to have my family there too but we all were able to do our own thing and have sooo much fun. The drive was HORRIBLE! But the time in California was great. I have to say that the magic fairy that just comes and cleans up every day after we left the hotel was one of my favorite things about the whole trip! We left on a Friday, Jake threw up in the car 2 times and we had to stop and stay the night in a hotel and go wash a bunch of stuff at my sister's apartment in Provo. So we didn't get very far the first day... thus we drove all the way from Provo to LA in ONE DAY! ahhhh! I hated the drive!!! Sunday we ended up going to a Spanish Ward on accident, Monday we went to Disneyland and Danile cried on all the inside kid rides. Tuesday was spent at the LA zoo where we had a great time seeing giraffes and gorillas and elephants. Wednesday was back at Disneyland where we got to go on some bigger rides and we got there before the park opened so we did the whole wait on Main Street thing, so FUN! We didn't have as much fun at the Huntington Beach on Thursday as I would have liked. Jake started crying nonstop after a few hours because he felt dirty. ugh. So we went back to the hotel and just enjoyed a lazy day. Then Friday was my favorite because we did everything we didn't squeeze into the other days and we did the "World of Color" lazer show that was one of my favorite things I have EVER done! So cool. Then we drove all the way to SLC the next day and Mark got sick with a cold and swimmer's ear so he was TOTALLY miserable. Sunday we went to church with Mark's fam and had a great dinner together then hit the road. I drove the rest of the way and boy were we glad to be out of the car! I think our ward thinks we are inactive. We have been gone for 5 Sundays (2 in UT for Drew's homecoming, Roz's blessing, California 2) and we had Stake Conf. on Sunday so it has been 6 weeks since we hava attended our regular ward. hmmm.

Newest Info and House!!!

So we are moving to Blackfoot in 2 weeks. Mark got a job there last year but we didn't think that we could stay because we thought they couldn't pay Mark as much as we wanted, so we got a job in Elko, NV and went there to buy a house. We get there, find one, buy it and the next day after we get home Mark's employers give him the raise we wanted so we decided to stay with his company in Blackfoot. Everything worked out too because they hadn't deposited our earnest money check so we were able to get out of buying the Elko house and weren't even out any money. It was VERY stressfull but Mark felt good about being wanted so much. So yep, we are in Idaho for a long time! I am excited to be living close to Mark's work and hopefully have him home a little more (he spends about 1hr/day commuting now. It's not bad but it is still an hour we could have him home for).

With the move coming up we are excited, but there will be a lot of work to do before we move in. We are going to paint the WHOLE house from top to bottom. And paint the cabinets! I can't wait to get started but it will be one heck of a job. The house is on 1 acre and has a great yard with a garden, basketball court, porch outside. Inside it has 5 bd, an office, Living Rm, Family Rm, 3 bath and they all need to be painted! It will be a great house when we move in.

Other than that we've been having a great time celebrating my birthday, Mark's birthday, Valentine's day and having a new niece born. We've been staying busy and the next few weeks won't be any different.

Jan. 2011

This is our birthday season so Daniel had his birthday on the 9th of Jan. and he is now 4 yrs old!!! This is Jake and Daniel with frosting mustaches, the morning after his party.

We had some family from the area that joined us in the birthday celebration. My dad's cousin Jen and her son Payton came, then my cousin Cameron, Daniel, Jake, and my niece Lexi!!!

. Someone got a little spoiled for his b-day. Cars and trucks gallor, scooter, picture fram of Daniel and Lexi (sooo cute), football, soccer, hover craft, hamster that rolls around (hilarious!) and more!

This is Jake and Soliel (Courtney's brother's daughter) at an elk ranch cabin we stayed at for New Years... so fun!

And her are the babcock cousins! Daniel, Maelle, Will, Jake and Lily! We went to go see them for the day in SLC but the roads were sooo bad I thought we were going to die on the way down. It was just me and the boys and I thought that if the weather is too bad we'll turn around and go back home. But... the exits were all snowed over with like a foot of snow and there was no way my honda accord was going to be able to turn on them, so we just kept going. In the end we stayed the night with Mark's parents who are so wonderful and I got to go to Gardner Villiage with my Babcock mom and sisters! AH HA so fun!!! But after lunch at Archibalds I had to pick the boys up and head home. The roads were great and we survived!

I had to include this picture of my dad helping Daniel put together a Home Depot tool set that you can build a car with. They stayed busy for quite a while and Daniel had a blast!