Apology!

Sorry I went retro on everyone but I have to get these things up when I can and some are not meant to be skipped. I hope you enjoy those posts and again, sorry for being off of the "timeline".

The Nativity Story

We were so lucky to have the Drydens down for Christmas, thanks to Corley getting married!;) With them they brought their tradition of re-enacting the Nativity Story. It was so much fun, but also sweet and reminding of the true reason of Christmas.
Never, ever have there been a more serious and reverent Joseph and Mary, than Sophie and Ben. They nailed their parts!!
None of the older boys wanted to be Joseph. Are they scared of having a "wife"? Funny to me that they all wanted to be sheep and donkeys!! LOL

RETRO Christmas

This is never good to see Gary and Mick in a corner!! I'm sure the conversation is about me and how bossy I am! LOL!!

Here are some family shots of Christmas that I just got from Uncle Willie!

Dedge, the one of you and Elle is adorable, I think.

Uncle Danny is a ROCK STAR!!!

Whenever Uncle Danny is in town, the kids go nuts! He is so much fun to be around and play with. He is constantly doing "spaghetti and meatball" things and getting the kids pumped up in mini gymnastic classes. They are all willing to pay attention and wait for their turn to flip their cartwheel or do their roll and receive praise from the group and more importantly, Uncle Danny!!

Is this Tucker?

Okay, I have always heard that Sam looks like my nephew Tucker, BUT my brother and sister in Utah are really bad at sharing photos of their family so I'm not quite sure if he does or not. (they have 6 kids so I will cut them some slack) So I need all the people that live close to them in Utah and witnessed Tucker at Sam's age to confirm this please. Thanks!

P.S. Tucker if you are out there and reading this, I take it as a HUGE compliment because you are one handsome dude!!;)

Mick's celebrity look alikes

http://www.myheritage.com

My celebrity look alikes!

http://www.myheritage.com

There is a story here........

So, we took a beach trip with Derek, January, Lauren and Emily last August, as well as the Ginters and a good chunk of the Kempffers being there. Well, Emily was at the age where teething and biting were just a part of the age and mood she was in. We have all had experience with that. But Sam has the memory of an elephant and was not all that pleased when he and Emily met up again for the first time after the beach. I think the pictures say it all, especially the last one where he gives me the peace sign, all is good and right in the world if he can just ride by himself.

The most endearing thing in this series of pictures is the pure concern on Emily. Look how her concern is all about Sam. The way she tilts her head at the end makes me wonder what she was thinking. I can imagine it was something like, "don't worry Sammers, I don't want to bite you anymore, just take me for a spin since I can't drive myself without running over one of the dogs".

Now feel free to comment on my blog and give me your own interpretation.

The "boys" golf session

So, here's the thing, Ben loves every sport, and if there is anything that he can do with the dads, the older male cousins, etc., he is in pure heaven. Hence the HUGE smile on his face in the picture with Ryan. I think it is precious. He has good form though don't you think? Sam on the other hand, he just has a style of his own!!! Next time any of you are around him, ask him to play golf or putt-putt and check out his swing.

More Charlotte

Elsa and Jan, FYI, if you want any of these pictures just click on them and when they come up, right click and save as in your picture file. ;)

Visit to Charlotte

We went up to Charlotte to visit with some of our closest friends. Elsa and Ryan, with their little girl Macy, and Derek and January, with their daughters Lauren and Emily. We had a good time and the kids had a blast playing. Macy says on guard!! And Lauren made the cupcakes ALL by herself, you can see that the kids enjoyed them!!!

REDNECK CAMPING

So, when you can't get time to go camping for a whole weekend what do you do down south? Why you put the tent right in your front yard! YEEHAW! The boys love it though. In fact if one our cars breaks down we may just set it up and use it as a toy! It's all about making it fun for the kids right??? Ha ha!

Soccer

Ben is doing really well in soccer and picking the game up quickly. He is a true defenseman, wonder where he gets that from?? Sam is adjusting to life at the soccer field. He gets out there on breaks and after the games. They have started letting him practice with the team, he thinks he is soo cool when the scrimmage.

Ben's birthday

We had a great day of playing golf and other games with cousins and friends. It was at Mimi's so they had plenty of room to wear themselves out. These are Ben's favorite friends besides his cousins, of course. This is Abby and Jacob. Abby is as tough as these boys which is why she and Ben get along so well together.
This is Sam's buddy Micah. These two can get into some trouble together. This is their second year of school together and they rule the roost in their classroom.

OLYMPICS 2020

We are sooooooo going to the Olympics in 2020. The only thing we need is for them to induct the sport of Backyard Trampoline Ghetto Hockey.
I'm not even kidding. To say that the boys are obsessed with hockey is such an understatement that it's not even funny. So, the way you play this game is get your bike helmet on (this would be your hockey helmet), grab your hockey stick (we have one, so Sam usually plays with a bat--oh and for indoor hockey, a backscratcher), get a puck (we try to discourage the real puck so they play with a chuck-a-puck or a ball, sometimes even a golf ball). Then before you play, you must grab the hose and completely soak the trampoline. Explanation: It has to be slippery like the ice. All I can say is thank goodness we have a trampoline with a net, which by the way means there is an endless opportunity for scoring. And before it all goes down? Sam: "Let's, play, HOCKEY!!" After every goal is scored you must go through the whole song that is played at the Columbus Cottonmouths hockey game....duh da nah nuh, HEY! da nuh na nuh, etc., Go Snakes, Go Snakes, Go Snakes, GO!

Can you feel me people? It's a hoot!