New Years Eve

We had a very busy day. We first went to Great Grandpa and Little Grandma Reafsnyder's house (Kami's Grandparents). Great Aunt Letha was there. We had lunch and even dad showed up even though he was working. We slept all the way home.

Later that night we went to the Tanner's for our annual New Years Eve party. Unlike past years all three kids made it to Midnight. Mom and Dad played bowling on the WII. Mom hit her head on the Patio at the Tanner's (don't ask). At Midnight we counted down and set of some noise makers. Then we went home and went right to bed. We even slept in in the morning.


I know that this is really late and have no pictures at this time. I will be posting more later.

Christmas Day 2008

As a family we started a tradition of dad turning on the Lights and starting a fire before we go down the hall. Every one meets in mom and dads room first. Well this year Tristan decides that he wants to see what Santa brought first. He came back to the room and was so excited about what he saw. He wanted so bad to tell the other two. Well mom and dad kept telling him that we would call Santa to come and take it back if he said anything. He did not care and out of the side of his month said "Bikes". I don't think they heard and he was relieved that he said it. So no harm no foul. So we get to the tree and they see all the stuff sent from Grandma Sue in Texas and their Bikes and Gavin's scooter. It was over before it started. Good thing we have it on film so we can go back to see it.

Later we went to the Barlow breakfast where we figured that we had 46 grand kids and we were still missing 59 grand kids. It was at the Marks older brothers house. Lots of fun.

Diner was small this year at the Fisher house, One of Mark's sisters house. More food and family time and we were off to home. We did not spend any time with our new toys until the day after.


I will have to add pictures later. I just wanted to get these last post up before the end of the year. We hope the everyone has a Safe and Happy New Year!!! News Year Eve post will be on Jan 1, 2009..

Christmas Eve

We spent Christmas Eve at the Collins house. The kids got lots of gifts and watched a movie. A few of the cousins we have (much less then the Barlow side) were there. We missed the 2 in Vegas this year, they were not able to make it out. Diner was great and we had more then enough food and deserts. The adults no longer exchange gifts we each bring a small gift and have a White Elephant game. This year there were I think 4 Aqua Globes, seeing a trend? We all must be lazy and kill plants. I know I have a brown thumb! Mom and Dad did get a park bench, way cool. After a long day we went home to recharge for the next day.

Tristan and Allyson turn 5!

Yes that is right Tristan and Allyson turned 5 on December 24th. Not Christmas eve. We are trying to keep them separate. The day started like any other. They got what they wanted for breakfast. Tristan wanted eggs with cheese and katsup and Allyson wanted pancakes. When Gavin told me what he wanted, his choices were eggs or pancakes, Allyson told me that he did not get to pick since it was not his birthday. I told her that although she was correct he had to eat as well. She was okay with that. Grandma Vicki came over to see us. It was cold and rainy outside so we had to play inside. We watched movies most of the morning while Mom got ready for Christmas Eve. Later that day we went to the Collins home for diner and Birthday presents and cake.

Mark's Big Day

It Happens to everyone sooner or later. Yes that is right Mark turned 40 on December 22. He handled it very well. He says that 40 is no big deal. I hung up some "40" , "Over the Hill" and a "Happy 40th Mark" sign on the garage door. He did not find my humor very funny, then he laughed about it. I received a call earlier in the day from Carolyn Bogh asking if we were going to be home that night. I told her yes and she said that she would be over after 5:30 pm. When the door bell rang I told Mark that it was for him. Not knowing what it was, he answered the door. His first reaction was that he was going to kill me. I told him that it was not from me. He thought that he knew the guy at the door but could not place him, it was Carolyn's Brother In Law Kevin from out of town. He was then handed a clip board to sign. On the paper it said "Happy Birthday Old Man, Carolyn & Michael". I though that he was going to fall over in laughter. She came in to see him and say happy Birthday. You will have to look at the pictures for what it was. I could never do it justice.

If you can not read it, it says "In loving Memory of Mark". Later that night Michael called to give me his condolences and see if I needed to have meals brought in. Mark told them that he has 5 months until Carolyn turns 40 to get back at her. Later that night being FHE I made him diner (Prime Rib, Twice baked potatoes and Veggies). Jolene brought him Brownies. All in all he said that it was a good day.

Random Stuff

I really love this idea of slide shows. I can never decide what pictures to put on our blog. So Here are some random pictures of the kids by the fire, in mom and dads bed and outside from the last weekend. Every one is getting better. There are some of the house with the lights and decorations, just during the day. My hope is that all the runny and stuffy noses are gone by Christmas.

Santa Came to our Town

Only in Highland, I say that because until we moved here I had never heard (literally) or saw anything like this. Well on Thursday December 17th after the kids went to bed and dad had gone to the gym, Mom heard a lot of noise outside. She went out to see what was the matter. She heard lots of sirens and saw a Helicopter with its light shining down. Could it be, well it is the right time of the year, and he comes every year. She decides to get the kids out of bed at 8:30pm and take a ride in the car. Sure it was late and cold, but what the heck. Kids are only young and excited about this sort of stuff for a short time. So we venture off and call dad on his cell phone so he does not come home and his family is not there.
We followed the helicopter light and sure enough it was a Santa sighting on his flat bed truck with loud music followed by 4 Fire Engines and what looked to be like the whole Highland police force (well not really). We pulled over in front of the Bogh's house (Michael & Carolyn), who never came out, I even called them. The line of cars was long. The kids did not want to get out of their seats. It was loud. Allyson hates loud noises! We called the Tanners to let them know but they had already seen him. We then followed them up to the Tanner's, how lucky are the Bogh's and Tanner's, Santa went down both streets. So we continue to follow to a rest stop for Santa. Dad finds us and we get out of the car. We get up to Santa and Gavin decides that this is not the year to see him. He hides his face in moms neck. Tristan and Allyson waived at him but with the crowd could not get real close. By this time we realize that we did not grab the camera. Oh well, maybe next year.

What a weekend. Dec 12-14

Well I am really trying to keep up to date with all the news that comes out of our house. But this last weekend was a bummer! Really! I will try to keep this mild.

Well let me start from the top. Imagine you are out to diner with your loving husband with no kids on a Friday night, you get a call from the babysitter (Kaitlyn Tanner) telling you that Gavin just throw up all over the rug. He is in the bath tub. Where do you want me to put the rug?

Okay?? Well you give instruction and then tell her that we are on our way. She has it all under control. Gavin is in bed and it is all cleaned up. Mom is up most of the night with him while dad sleeps on the couch. He lets mom sleep in (what a guy). So I get up and start to clean like a mad women. Just in case I want every one to have a clean toilet. The day goes on and Gavin is getting better. Then Tristan starts and an hour later Allyson follows. Dad is such a trooper this time around and helps out. So it is Saturday night, with 2 sick kids in the bathroom's. With the lingering sickness we can only dream of getting some sleep. Although everyone is holding down water we still don't get much sleep that night. Sunday is much better, we stay in the house and work on getting better for the coming week.

The kids miss out on Santa this year and the weekend is shot! No Christmas Party for us. That is okay, since every year one of my kids seems to get this around Thanksgiving or Christmas. Our only hope this year that is that this is it! Wishful Thinking? I will have to let you know.

Gingerbread House

We built a gingerbread house, well mom built the house the kids just ate the candy until it was time to put candy on the house. They seem to love it. They don't mind waiting until mom is done, since they are occupied with eating the candy. No worries, we always seem to have enough for the house. Did I mention that they love to eat the candy?? If you don't see dad in any of the pictures it is because he took them all.

Redlands Parade

Dec 6th was a very busy day for us. We finished that day off by going to the Redlands Parade with out Dad. He is not a big fan of parades. Well Mom ventured out by herself and it took her 20 minutes to find a parking spot. Then we had to walk about 10 minutes to where the Tanners were set up. It must have been a sight. There was mom with a chair, blanket and bag of goodies. There were the 3 kids all holding their own jacket. It was not cold but took our sweat jackets just in case. We made it just in time for the first band. They passed by us and gave out candy, toothbrushes and just about anything else, Tristan was the only one paying attention and would run back to mom and put it in the bag. The other 2 were eating the candy that Blake had. Good thing we had help getting back to the car. Thanks Tanners as usual!!

I wonder who takes these pictures??

Gavin!!!! This is what you get when a 3 year old gets a hold of the Camera! Kinda abstract?

Allyson's new hair style (December 6th)

Allyson is always wanting to wear her hair down and has a hard time when we brush it. She is so active that if we leave it down she gets lots of tangles. If mom would say that we will just cut it she would respond with okay. So we finally just cut it. She loves it. Check it out.

Another Family Tradition (Reafsnyder style) Dec 6th

The Reafsnyder Family (Kami's, Mom's side) have a tridition of having Chili and Soup with lots of goodies. They have had it for as long as I can remember. It started out on Christmas Eve but as the years went by and the Families grew (Grandpa is 1 of 10 kids), we started to have it on a Saturday in December. This year they had a jump house for the kids. They had a blast. It was great to see everyone there.

Allyson's first injury

Well I guess it was bound to happen sooner or later. Mom wishes later rather then sooner. However, it was not all here fault. Now let me start by saying that it was a complete accident. She was at the store with the day care on Dec 3rd, and from the way I remember it she was standing next to the sliding door of the big van she now calls the big gray shark, as the door was closing she bent her elbow backwards and right in the way of the closing door. Not as bad as first thought. She is all better, but she says it still hurts a little. It took a few tries to get a good picture of it.