They Call Me Mama

Our New Addition

2012-01-14T19:06:00.000-06:00

The kids worked really hard and put together a garage sale a couple of weeks ago in hopes to raise enough money to get a new dog for our family. The plan was to wait until summer when they were out of school, but plans change. Scott had his heart pretty set on wanting a German Shorthair Pointer this time and I have been looking at Craigslist daily to see if the right puppy would surface. We were going to go with another Lab or a Pointer. I just so happened to come across a listing one day and texted them asking if they had any girls left. The reply was that only 3 boys were left and so I thought that would be the end. A little later the owner sent me a link to video of the pups and I was a little taken with them. I never wanted a boy dog, have always preferred females, but this little boy was cute enough to warrant a visit out with the entire family. We all fell in love with him right away. He had the best temperment of the 4 pups that were there (including a little girl who was already sold) and the kids had made just enough money to work out a little deal for him. SO we are happy to have 4 paws back in our house and he is getting a lot of attention. Meet Maverick our new baby boy! It took a little while to all agree on a name, but Phoebe came up with Maverick and it seems to fit and we all like it. Pretty good for 6 people to agree.

Maverick 7 week old little stud!

He has a little bleach spot on his head, but that will go away when new hair grows in

there aren't enough hours in the day for everyone to cuddle on him enough

A Teenager in the House

2012-01-13T18:48:00.000-06:00

Ethen had his golden birthday and with that he also became an official teenager! He turned 13 on Friday the thirteenth 2012. Scott and I spent an hour and a half blowing up around 200 balloons and filled his room with them while he was sleeping. He is a pretty hard sleeper so we were not worried about him waking up during the process.

He had to dig down under the balloons to find his basketball clothes he had laid out for practice.

We got lucky and were able to get a cake from The Cake Stand (thank you Tina) and I thought it would be funny to just put his BBall on top. It worked.

Happy Birthday Ethen. We sure love you!!!!

A Wedding!

2011-12-31T18:03:00.000-06:00

We were soooooo thrilled to be able to attend the wedding of my brother John to Liz in the Salt Lake City Temple. They are a beautiful couple and we feel blessed to have gotten to know Liz so well and have her join our family. She is just perfect for John and we love her so much. Paisley was taken with her the second they met and we are happy to have them so close to us here in Texas. They both looked incredible on the wedding day and so so happy.

All the Perriton kids, we were just missing Alana who recently had a baby and it was a little early to travel so far from Australia

Mom and Dad with the bride and groom. Ethen and Graeme are in the corner there.

Cousin boys Graeme, Ethen and Max were in charge of the hot chocolate and drinks at the reception

Cousin girls Claire, Annie, and Phoebe were in charge of the french toast and other food to be refilled. (And Look at my baby bro James all grown up and hott)

Paisley eating some cheesecake after getting out of her dress

Lots of Perriton Cousins were able to attend. It was so good to see everyone

Scott was sure to have the car decorated a little for embarrasment factor, and yes he spelled incorrectly

Off they go :)

Christmas Morning 2011

2011-12-29T10:37:00.000-06:00

This year we spent Christmas in Utah at my parents new house. We headed there the week before to see John and Liz get married in the Salt Lake City LDS Temple. It was a beautiful day that I will blog about later. My parents house is giant and we had such a great time with so much family visiting. Nathan and Jen and kids all came and stayed there too so the cousins could get in as much together time as possible. Christmas morning was all full of excitement for the kids as we had them line up at the top of the stairs and wait til all the grownups in the house were settled in the family room. It was good torture as it is every year, but they finally were able to come down and we had a great morning together. We were only missing Alana, Brian and new baby Hailey.

Waiting at the top of the stairs to be told they can come down

Luke in StarWars Heaven

Some sweet headphones from Nana and Papa

A super thoughtful gift to Ethen from Graeme. He made a longboard for himself and bought one his teacher made for Ethen. It is so cool!

Thank you Grandma Bergen for the sewing kit

Christmas Eve 2011

2011-12-27T10:23:00.000-06:00

Jen reading a story to the kids

The kids in new Christmas jammies

Graeme rocking out some tunes

Cousins reenacting the Nativity

Mom helping Toby get some of his costume off

Dad taking pictures with the tripod attached :)

James' beautiful picture of the Christmas Tree

Skiing Powder Mountain

2011-12-26T18:47:00.000-06:00

We had an amazing day of skiing on Powder Mountain as a family. For the first time we were all able to go together! It was a such a great feeling to have all the kids with us and do a fun, bonding activity together. This was Paisley's 1st time on skis and Luke decided to skip the board this year and try out skiing as well. Luke took right to it and was flying down the mountain with us trailing behind him. He only rode the lift up with me about 2 times and then didn't want to wait for us so he was riding all by himself or with Ethen. Paisley only needed a few times on the bunny hill and had pretty good control so we took her up the lift and she had a blast. She would go most of the way herself and only needed to a little help down the steepest parts. It was so much fun and no one complained all day! Paisley started crying at the end of the day and didn't want to leave. The only way we got her to take off her skis was when we told her that John and Liz would be at the house when we got back. Thankfully they were there when we arrived. We are looking forward to many ski trips back to our favorite resort, Pow Mow!!

Waiting for the shuttle

Paisley all bundled up in her cute snow jumpsuit! It kept her cozy warm all day.

Ethen on top of the world

Scott in his element

Taking a little break to refuel. Paisley had to put all her gear on by herself.

Luke and Mama on the lift

Phoebe and Mama on the lift

Our incredible kids at the top of Powder Mountain

Paisley riding her way down

Ice Skating Fun

2011-12-18T23:00:00.000-06:00

We had a fun afternoon ice skating one day in Utah. Phoebe and James worked on some sweet moves and I think only Luke and I succeeded in injuring ourselves. Mine was from trying to get too confident in my skating ability and crashing on my knees. Luke's was more ligitimate and he suffered a skate scrape to the side. Luckily they happened at the end of our skate time. Sorry no footage of the wrecks, but here is Phoebe and James!!!

Ethen's Christmas Choir Concert

2011-12-15T22:55:00.000-06:00

Ethen had a Holiday Choir Concert that was really great. It was held in the high school auditorium and he really enjoyed singing the bass line in Mr. Grinch.

Paisley's Preschool Christmas Program

2011-12-13T22:47:00.000-06:00

This is our last Christmas program to have a child in at Little Saints. All of my children have gone to preschool at Little Saints and I was crying on the way home because it is hard to believe we won't be going there anymore after next year. This performance marks our 8th one. Paisley was very excited to perform and she looked adorable singing in her cute Christmas dress with hair done in bows.

walking up to sing

Mrs. Ellen has taught all of my children for at least a year. She is a wonderful teacher and we LOVE her.

White Christmas Tree

2011-12-12T05:38:00.000-06:00

This year we are foregoing the large green tree and just put up our white one. The house feels festive now! Red and white like a candy cane :)

Ipod pictures at the beach

2011-12-11T11:26:00.007-06:00

Ok these are the last of them. I am still wishing we were at the beach. I really wouldn't mind just moving to one permanently! Although I do know that it wouldn't have the same affect on the kids if we lived there full time (or maybe it would!)

Stingray sighting

Sunsets on the Beach

2011-11-30T09:34:00.007-06:00

We experienced some amazing sunsets on the beach on this trip. They were incredible and I had to take a lot of pictures. So sorry for all the picture overload, but this is where I put everything for myself to look back on later. I just couldn't decided which to leave out so there are a lot here.

Feeding Seagulls

2011-11-29T14:18:00.005-06:00

Beach seagulls can see food from miles away and we had some fun feeding them a loaf of bread one day. The kids got brave and would put a piece on top of their heads. Some of the birds would actually come down and snatch it away too.

If you zoom in on this picture Ethen is making the funniest face! There were so many birds

Thankfully, the only shark we saw. A little playground by the pier

One of the beautiful sunsets we enjoyed. If you look really close you can see a sliver of a moon in the middle of this pic and one shinning star.

Digging a Sand Pit

2011-11-29T12:59:00.007-06:00

Ethen was on a mission to dig a sand pit that was deep. At first he thought going up to his waist would be good, but as he kept digging down he wanted it to be over his head. After a lot of hours digging and playing he did manage to dig deep enough to cover his head. He had to even put a step in the side wall so that he could get out. Each of the kids had fun taking turns getting in and being stranded for a bit. I just love how the simplest things at the beach bring so much joy.

Digging Deeper

2011-11-29T11:49:00.001-06:00

Sand Sculptures and a Day with Wild Dolphins

2011-11-29T11:35:00.007-06:00

We had a lot of fun digging in the sand in Fort Walton, Florida for Thanksgiving break. Here are some of the masterpieces we created.

Luke is a crab and thought it was funny to be in sand up to his neck

Paisley is our little mermaid. She liked it so much she stayed there for a really long time and kept smoothing out her tail fin.

We started to just bury Ethen deep and then decided he would look so funny as a mermaid as well. The sun was right in his eyes

so Dad's shades completed the look.

Phoebe formed a starfish and dolphin, but I didn't get a picture of the dolphin.

This turtle was made by someone else and was what got our creative juices flowing. Eventually the turtle became a cake after a few days.

We were pleasantly surprised, on our first day at the beach, to have a pod of dolphins hang out with us for most of the day. My battery died on the camera so I didn't get any pictures except for this one. There were probably a total of about 12-14 swimming right off shore from us. They were having a good time playing in the water and Ethen and Phoebe even got to swim right by them. They were floating out on the boogie boards and came within 3 to 5 yards of them. It was so amazing and cool to watch. After that day we didn't see them the rest of the week, so we felt pretty lucky to have had such a great day with them.

Thanksgiving Preschool Feast

2011-11-17T22:02:00.003-06:00

Paisley's preschool had thier Thanksgiving feast yesterday. She made a drum and her own indian costume at school. Since she is our 4th child to attend the same fantastic school, we have heard these songs for many years and I never grow tired of them. They are so cute singing and happy and all dressed up like little Indians. Paisley was very happy to beat on her drum really loud and do all the hand motions that went with the song. Can't believe this will be our last preschool Thanksgiving feast! Over the years the school has learned that the little kids prefer chicken nuggets over a real turkey and tatter tots instead of mashed potatoes. Not the healthiest of meals, but a small feast non-the-less.

Last game

2011-11-08T16:29:00.005-06:00

Last night was Ethen's final football game of the year. A storm rolled in an it only lasted about 6 minutes, but in that time both teams scored. Happily we came out with the win 8-6. These are the only pictures Ethen would let me get of him off of the field, but I know that someday he will be glad I made him take them. It was a great football season and so fun to watch Ethen on the field.

Proud Dad

1st Banditz gig

2011-11-07T17:13:00.003-06:00

Phoebe's band The Banditz had their 1st official gig this past weekend. We had some sound/technical difficulties in the beggining, but they performed great. I mostly took video so I don't have very many pictures. They all did such a great job and lots of people come out to support them. It was a great night with yummy food at Petra Mexican Restaurant.

Lucky 4 Leaf Clover

2011-11-06T18:57:00.005-06:00

Today Luke found a four leaf clover in our yard. It was the only one and I don't know how he spotted it, but he was sooo excited and keeps asking why he is so lucky. I am hoping it brings our home some good luck. Nothing quite like finding a four leaf clover in your own yard!

Halloween 2011

2011-11-01T15:03:00.005-05:00

This year Halloween was a busy night. Not only was it on a school night, but Ethen had a football game as well. Scott, Grandma, John and Liz all went to the football game to cheer Ethen on, and I took the little kids out to trick or treat. Phoebe was out at 6 with a group of friends making quick work of the neighborhood and I didn't see her til 9. She is beyond loaded with candy now. Thank you to Grandma Bergen for making a great Spirit costume for Phoebe! Luke and Paisley were with me and some friends and Paisley was done pretty early on, however after carrying her for 2 blocks she got a second wind and made about 8 more stops. She was more concerned with eating the candy than getting it :) ! I had fun doing the makeup again, but next year I am hoping they won't all want full face makeup as removal is very time consuming. Here are pictures from our night.

Luke's loot

Paisley's loot

Phoebe's loot

Happy Halloween

2011-10-30T09:32:00.004-05:00

We had our annual Trunk or Treat activity last night and here are some pictures of my creepy goblins. Everyone wanted to be something scary this year. Ethen wasn't into dressing up for this one this year and he has a football game on Halloween. Paisley is Lady Dracula, Luke is a skeleton and Phoebe is a Spirit. It was fun doing their makeup.

Crazy Hair Day

2011-10-28T09:29:00.001-05:00

It was crazy hair day at school for the kids. I had fun coming up with these crazy hairstyles!

Adult Halloween Party

2011-10-16T09:05:00.004-05:00

Scott and I had fun dressing up as Snooki and The Situation for a Halloween Party. He came up with the idea and I think we pulled it off perfectly. It was a fun time and the kids just thought the whole getup was hilarious. We had a great night "partying" with friends :)

Ethen's 1st Choir Concert

2011-10-07T20:53:00.001-05:00

I only got a little video before I ran out of space on my camera. These boys surprised us and sounded really good. I was shocked when Ethen decided he wanted to take choir this year, but he has really enjoyed it and is doing so well. His choir teacher, Mr Chritchfield, is amazing and has a great gift. I wish I had more of this song it gets really fun, and the boys were all smiling and received lots of applause from the crowd!

Tractors On the Square

2011-10-01T08:40:00.003-05:00

Our town square had some cool old tractors on display one weekend, so we ventured out to have a look and play around a little. There had been a large pumpkin display, but they had already removed it so we just took some funny pictures by the stand.

Chasing Butterflies

2011-09-29T08:30:00.005-05:00

Paisley and I had a fun morning at the park. There are butterflies in bloom all over here and we had some fun chasing them. I love the simple joys in a child's mind.

SWING!!!!

Fall Sports X 3

2011-09-27T11:27:00.002-05:00

This Fall Ethen is playing football, Phoebe is playing volleyball, and Luke is playing soccer. Ethen made the A team at his school for his 7th grade team. He is starting defense and plays some offense as well. We play in the high school stadium here and all his games are at night, so I am unable to really get pictures of him on the field. They turn out too dark. He is doing great and I just love watching him play. He is number #35.Phoebe decided it would be fun to try out volleyball this year and she is having a good time learning how to bump the ball. The rules are a bit different than when I played in school so we are learning together.
Luke is back on his team Speed. Soccer is such a fantastic sport for him with the constant running around. He had a lot of energy and chases after that ball like no other.

Slip N Slide Trampoline

2011-09-20T16:49:00.004-05:00

The kids say the ground is too hard for sliding so they came up with the brilliant idea to stick it up on the trampoline. Here are some pictures of our sliding fun :)

Hairstyles

2011-09-05T08:12:00.004-05:00

I have been enjoying trying some hairstyles on the girls recently. If I have time and they are willing then we usually try something cute. These are a few that I actually took pictures of. Most of the time that doesn't happen though. I have been very into french braids recently and finally am able to do them fairly quickly.

straight waterfall braid

curled waterfall braid

don't have a name for this one, but its basically a wrap french braid

side inside out french braid

simple connecting ponies

This one takes some time, but I love the look. It's called a fish tail/bone braid (depending on who your talking to).

star

Gretel twist buns

Ice Skating cool down

2011-09-05T08:06:00.004-05:00

It has been a HOT summer here this year. Scott took the kids ice skating for a last activity before school started and had a few hours of cold. It felt great to need a jacket again. Paisley was even able to skate around on her own. There were a few tumbles and scrapes by the end, but everyone still had a great time. It only took Phoebe a couple weeks for her arm to heal and Ethen looked like a tough guy at football practice because he already had scrapes on his arm.
h

Scott body surfing

2011-09-04T20:35:00.003-05:00

Always entertaining for me and the kids. Don't know why we haven't tried body surfing before now, but it turned out to be loads of fun!

End of Summer boating

2011-09-03T18:28:00.008-05:00

We took the boat out this final Holiday weekend of the summer for some fun. The lake is pretty low since we haven't had rain this summer so everyone had to pile into the boat and I had to swim out to get on after I parked the car/trailer. The nice thing is that we did get some rain last week and so the water felt nice and cool. Usually this late in the season the water feels really warm and it isn't even refreshing to jump into. We tried a couple new things this time and had some fun body surfing. They day would have ended on a great upnote if I had some backwards driving skills at all and it didn't take me forever to back the trailer down straight and while doing that I bent the hand crank and Scott had to fix it so we could get the boat on the trailer. I think I may be officially grounded from helping. Scott was so very patient with me though. I know there are a lot of pictures, but I love taking them and couldn't choose.

Ethen body surfing

Phoebe and Ethen before taking a hard spillEthen being a great big brother and helping Paisley

Phoebe body surfing

1st day of school 2011

2011-08-28T16:42:00.005-05:00

Summer free time ended and school has started. You wouldn't know it by the triple digits we are still experiencing every day here in Texas. The kids were all excited for the 1st day. They would never admit that to you, but Phoebe had her outfit picked out for at least a week. Ethen was anxious to get 7th grade started and looking forward to playing football for his school. He had no interest in fulfilling my need to take 1st day of school pictures so these were all I got. He has to be up at 5:50 a.m. to get to school for practice so that is a bit tough on all of us.

It is still pitch black outside! I almost feel bad for him.

Here is a fun picture Phoebe took looking serious. I did a cute inside-out side braid for her hairstyle.Luke 1st grade, Phoebe 5th grade

Phoebe is 10

2011-08-05T09:19:00.005-05:00

My girl hit double digits this past week. I put together a luau themed party with 14 friends and we had 3 hours of non-stop fun. Phoebe was able to go with her Aunt Tina to make a cake again this year. Lots of fun colors on this one. It was red velvet with chocolate buttercream inside....oh so yummy!!!! I planned lots of activities and didn't even have enough time to do them all. We ate fruit kabobs and Scott grilled Hawaiian Chicken kabobs that the girls gobbled right up. We played water balloon games and made flower leis. I didn't get pictures of everythign because I was having too much fun being involved. Ethen was a huge help in blowing up extra water balloons and keeping things running. Can't believe Phoebe is already 10 and growing up too fast.

Whip Cream Faces after the bubblegum game

It's over 100 degrees here so we had a slide (thankyou friends) to cool off

The hit that ended it for Hula Girl

Splash Pad Cool Off

2011-08-05T08:58:00.004-05:00

I recently discovered a new splash pad and sand area close by. While the older kids were off to Utah with grandparents I took the littles and a friend to cool off and get out of the house one day. It is a pretty fun place. They do a water light show in the evenings but I haven't been to see that yet. They had fun running around in the cool water and playing in the sand.

sneaky boys following Paisley

Makes me want to play at a real beach. Ok lets be real...makes me want to LIVE at a beach!

Conversation with Luke

2011-07-21T22:26:00.002-05:00

Tonight while talking with Luke: "I am the one who gets the most ouchies is our family"
Mom: I think Paisley gets a lot too.
Luke: I get the most though.
Mom: Maybe because you do the most crazy activities.
Luke: Like climbing trees? I think that is what I am meant to do. Being a monkey.

I love this kid. He thinks and says the best stuff. And he is right. He is very much like a monkey.

swim videos from champs

2011-07-19T10:09:00.004-05:00

Trade Days

2011-07-19T09:53:00.002-05:00

We have a local flea market called Trade Days here in our town. It happens one weekend every month and so on Saturday we decided to take the crew down and check it out. I didn't get very many pictures becuase it was HOT. We managed to stay a couple hours I think but then decided to get back into some air conditioning. The kids really like puppy row and everyone had fun looking at all the adorable pooches. The kids all tried talking the adults into getting a new puppy, but to no avail. However, Nana was VERY temped to bring one home. Maybe next time :)

Nana might be the coolest grandmother around. Here she is getting feathers in her hair

Annie found this great button I just had to take a picture of

This is how we bowl

2011-07-16T09:27:00.001-05:00

We had a lot of fun this week with Nana, Papa, Graeme, and Annie visiting. I signed the kids up for some free bowling passes (you do have to pay shoe rental) and we had a good couple hours of bowling. A lot of us even got a few strikes!

Annie looking good

Phoebe and Paisley

Mom was by far the most accurate

Graeme and Luke waiting happily for their turn

The kids with their preferred balls

Cupcake camp fun

2011-07-15T09:47:00.003-05:00

Phoebe and Annie were able to go to a cupcake class from a friend here locally that is a professional baker. They made filled cupcakes, cake balls, frosting, flowers, and marshmallow dipped cupcakes. They both had a really fun time, but did have sugar overload for a couple of days I think. They turned out so cute.

Phoebe's tray

Annie's tray

Champs Swim Meet

2011-07-13T09:39:00.003-05:00

My parents drove out this week to see Phoebe and Luke swim in their Champs swim meet. They were both so happy that Nana and Papa could come to watch and they brought cousins with them!! Here are some pictures from that morning. They each swam in 4 events and did great. We are still waiting on results, but both of their relays qualified for All-Stars! It has been a great swim season and fun to see how much they have improved on their strokes.
Luke likes to hike up his suit. Someday this will be an embarrassing picture to him!

Thank you to Mom, Dad, John, and Annie for coming out to watch and support

Swimming Action

2011-07-02T10:25:00.006-05:00

I should put it out here that I did not take the 1st 4 of these pictures. My camera doesn't let in the awesome light that some of these are showing. I can only wish that someday I will have a sweet camera that does.

We are so proud of both Luke and Phoebe and how much they have improved over the season. They both really love swimming and it is so fun to watch them competing. They are both so driven.

Leaving the nest

2011-06-29T13:41:00.001-05:00

The birds have ventured out of the nest. One was out a few days ago and I am pretty sure has taken flight and left us already. These two are probably not far behind.

Action Shots

2011-06-28T21:34:00.004-05:00

Phoebe is in the middle

Luke doing the backstroke

Evenings at the pool

2011-06-27T08:41:00.003-05:00

It is super hot here in Texas already and we pretty much live at the pool these days. It is nice in the evenings when the sun isn't up high anymore and we can enjoy some family time.

We see a lot of this from Paisley when she doesn't get her way, but most of the time she is smiling when in the water.

Colored Rice Art Craft

2011-06-26T10:33:00.006-05:00

Summer days are getting longer at our house and I am put Phoebe in the task of researching for some fun craft ideas. This one is colored rice. We took a half cup of rice and put in about 1/2 a teaspoon of rubbing alcohol then added food coloring. We just stuck with the 4 basic colors and they all made some pictures with glue. It kept us busy for about an hour and they had fun. Really this ended up being 2 activities because they liked coloring the rice about as much as making the pictures with it.

The finished project

Another swim meet

2011-06-26T09:08:00.000-05:00

Hungry baby birds

2011-06-25T13:58:00.002-05:00

They are getting bigger and now make a little sound. The mama and papa are both taking turns feeding them for most of the day. I assume they will be ready to fly in about a week.

Scott's High Adventure Scout trip 2011

2011-06-22T08:35:00.002-05:00

Scott is in the Young Men's organization in our church and every year they boys age 14-18 go on a high adventure trip. This year they went to Colorado for a 3 day white water rafting excursion and then they hiked Pike's Peak. Thankfully no one got injured and they made it home safely, worn out and spiritually fed as well. Scott's raft only flipped once on the first day and only after the 1st ten minutes in the water. It was probably a good thing that it happened early on because the boys were able to realize they had to have their heads on and paying attention the entire time. With all the snow this year the river is running very high and it is very fast. Scot had to swim to shore and get picked up a 1/2 mile down river after the topple. Thankfully they had wetsuits as part of the gear given to them.

Hiking up Pike's Peak, still in the tree line

above tree line and getting harder to breath

a storm started to roll in and it snowed, hailed, and rained on them.

Hatched

2011-06-21T08:34:00.002-05:00

3 of the 4 eggs hatched! They are so tiny right now and don't even make a peep yet, but I can tell they are growing as there is more feather fuzz in the second picture that was taken an couple days apart. I am not positive but think these are northern mockingbirds.

SwimTeam pictures

2011-06-16T11:22:00.003-05:00

This year I took my own pictures for swim team. It saved me time on a hot summer day and $. These two are so adorable.

Basketball for Ethen

2011-06-15T12:23:00.004-05:00

Ethen has decided to try out basketball this summer. He's doing pretty good.

Nest Eggs

2011-06-14T12:18:00.000-05:00

A mama bird has made a gorgeous nest in a small tree in our backyard. I was able to get the camera close enough while she was away for a bit to get a picture. 4 beautiful eggs. She is very dedicated and only leaves for about and hour a day. Hope to see little babies chirping soon.

1st Swim Meet 2011

2011-06-13T12:00:00.000-05:00

The swim season is here and this year we have two swimmers! Luke and Phoebe are both competing and they both did great at the first swim meet of the year.

Phoebe's FreeRelay took 1st

Luke's FreeRelay won 1st place

Look at his determined face

Popsicle break to cool off

Grandma Bergen came out to support the kids

Phoebe getting ready

Phoebe was amazing and got all 1st place in her 9-10 age group

Luke was so happy to get his ribbons

Luke's 1st Swim Meet Video

2011-06-13T10:01:00.002-05:00

Phoebe Backstroke Video

2011-06-13T09:18:00.000-05:00

Phoebe rockin it!

2011-06-06T00:19:00.000-05:00

Opening Band at Cadillac Pizza

2011-06-05T21:59:00.003-05:00

Phoebe's band opened up the night of performances at a local Pizza restaurant on the town square. It was so fun and cool to watch my girl up on stage singing to a packed house. The entire band did awesome and I am so proud of these girls for being so brave and awesome!!!

Phoebe's 4th grade program

2011-06-03T22:09:00.000-05:00

My girl is officially a 5th grader :( I can't believe she is already done with her 4th grade year. She did so well in all her classes and her teachers love her. Even teachers she doesn't have love her and tell me she is always so happy and smiling. I am so grateful that she loves school and loves learning. I never once had to tell her to finish her homework this year. She would always get it done way before it was even due. Phoebe is such a happy girl and we are so very proud of her.

Banditz "We Got the Beat"

2011-06-02T17:51:00.001-05:00

SCROLL DOWN TO THE BOTTOM OF THIS PAGE TO MUTE THE AUTO MUSIC SO YOU CAN HEAR PHOEBE SINGING

The Banditz

2011-06-01T22:50:00.000-05:00

Phoebe is the lead singer in an all girl band with a few of her friends from school. They are so adorable and did an awesome job at the school talent show. Here Phoebe is with some of her band mates after their awesome performance.

Luke's Kindergarten Graduation

2011-05-31T23:59:00.000-05:00

Luke had a great 1st year of school. His teacher was wonderful and he learned so much. We are so happy he enjoyed school so much this year and are so grateful to have our kids in awesome schools.

Country Shop

2011-05-31T23:58:00.002-05:00

We went into a little local store on our trip to the lake and came across some fun/funny items. I do love bacon, but this is taking it a little too far!!!!!

Scott Surf Spin

2011-05-31T21:42:00.002-05:00

Memorial Day Vaca 2011

2011-05-30T21:38:00.008-05:00

This year we had a little vacation for our Memorial Day weekend camping/boating trip. We drove about 3 hours out to East Texas and camped at a place called Lake O' the Pines. The campsite was very nice, well maintained and all the giant pine trees made for some great shade. We spent 3 nights camping and had two other families join us for part of the time. Ethen brought his friend Chandler with him and Phoebe had Tierney join us as well. With 2 extra bodies and all our gear we ended up taking 2 cars to get everyone there. But I think that actually worked out nicely to separate the kids a little. We ate lots of junkie camp food, got dirty and played in the water to our hearts content. I love these simple kind of vacations. They don't require too much planning, everyone has a great time and is worn out afterwards.

This lake is FULL of clams. Phoebe decided to cook one up over the fire. She couldn't get anyone to try this dish.

the kids enjoying a mud bath that later turned into a mud fight
All mud fights end up with at least one casualty. I was pretty sure this crying was more for show than hurt. Seriously such sick mud.

It was Luke's birthday the day we started. Can't quite believe my little man is now 6. He wanted a cookie cake and I was thrilled with how great that would work out for camping!

O Captain, My Captain

Ethen and Scott double surfing

nightly ghost stories
A leisurely ice cream stop

Phoebe's solo

2011-05-23T20:58:00.003-05:00

Phoebe spent a lot of time practicing and preparing to try out for a solo spot in her 4th grade choir this year. We are so proud of her for being so brave. She was able to sing one performance on her choir trip. Everyone keep telling us how great she sings. Doesn't she sound like an angel?

Easter Festivities

2011-05-15T22:37:00.006-05:00

Easter Morning we were able to snap a quick family picture

Phoebe's hair-do for Easter. Thanks to Jen for the great hairclip!

Here we are dying the eggs (that turn into yummy deviled eggs!). The kids look forward to this every year and we used our handy whisks for dipping again this year. I almost forgot to put them out but the kids reminded me and I just love how easy it makes coloring the eggs for the younger kids.

We have a great neighborhood Easter party every year. I tried so hard to get all the kids with the Easter Bunny but Paisley is still freaked out by large people dressed up as animals. She knows they are people inside, but can not get within 10 feet of one. And Ethen was just embarrassed at me trying to get him away from a friendly game of basketball to take pictures with the bunny. We had a good time playing games and the kids scored a good bit of candy as well.

My new favorite food website

2011-04-05T12:09:00.005-05:00

TasteSpotting.com.This site is so yummy to just look at the pictures, but I LOVE how you get the recipe when clicking on the picture. There are so many great and different food finds on here I will never run out of ideas. I hardly have time to cook or bake currently but I have several things on my "to make" list.

Spring Soccer

2011-04-02T17:41:00.003-05:00

Luke and Phoebe are both playing soccer this Spring. It is so fun to watch them out on the field. They both really love it and are having a lot of fun. Thankfully we don't have any overlapping games so we don't have to be two places at once. Phoebe is #2 and Luke picked #13.

Handy Man

2011-03-24T23:04:00.003-05:00

Scott is amazingly handy. It's one of the reasons I love him so much, and I just think there is something super sexy about a man building things. Our front fence was looking pretty bad so Scott decided to put an entire new one up one day. He pretty much did all the work by himself with a tiny bit of help from Ethen and I. It is perfectly spaced and level. It looks beautiful and I love pulling into the driveway and seeing it every day now.

The Beautiful Finished Project!!!!

Luke Star of the Week

2011-03-22T22:52:00.000-05:00

Luke was the star of the week for his Kindergarten class.

Girl hair

2011-02-27T17:29:00.003-06:00

I love playing with my girls hair and trying new styles out. I wish I could be as creative with my own hair, but it is harder to do on myself and most of the things I do don't really work on a mama. Here are a few pictures I have taken of some of the things I have done. Sorry lots of them are pretty blurry, but you get the basic idea.

Back Cracking

2011-02-27T17:21:00.003-06:00

My brother, John, is in Chiropractic school here in TX and we LOVE having him so close by. Not only is he a fun guy to have around, but he is really good at cracking our backs and necks and anywhere else that may need some adjusting.

Here's Luke enjoying a little adjustment

Happy Birthday to Paisley

2011-02-24T09:46:00.004-06:00

Our baby turned 4 on Valentine's Day. It seems hardly possible for her to be this old already. She is our fiesty independent girl and brings so much laughter to our home. Tina and Phoebe made a sweet heart cake that was so big that I was able to save the top layer for her little party with friends.

We went to Build A Bear on her big day and got her a new bear she named Pinky

The party was thrown together at the last minute and only lasted an hour, but they had fun and Paisley was happy (even though I forgot to invite 1 of her church girlfriends). The little girls made cereal necklaces and frosted heart shaped rice krispie treats.

New Tile

2011-02-18T10:08:00.002-06:00

Scott found the perfect tile for our kitchen backsplash. It helped to have some family in town when doing this project. It went pretty quickly with Scott and John doing most of the work. The kitchen feels totally new and I love it!

Ethen's Deacon Quorum Initiation

2011-02-06T08:51:00.002-06:00

Apparently Ethen thought it was Scott trying to get him up from sleep, but he quickly realized that was not the case. They took him out to IHOP for breakfast

Feeding Ducks on a Cold Day

2011-02-04T12:07:00.001-06:00

While Nana was visiting we took an afternoon and went over to Town Lake to feed the ducks. The wind was blowing pretty strong and cold that day, but it felt pretty good in the sun and the ducks seemed to really appreciate our donation. The seagulls even hovered over our heads in swarms. Paisley didn't like that very much. They got too close and look a little scary in such large groups. It was good to get out for a little, even in the cold.

Winter Won't Stop

2011-01-28T10:08:00.000-06:00

We came home from our Utah trip and winter just won't stop. It has been unusually cold for Texas and we keep getting snow and ice storms.

Deacon Ordination

2011-01-16T11:54:00.001-06:00

Ethen was ordained as a deacon in The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter Day Saints on January 16, 2011. We are very proud that he is living worthily to hold the priesthood. My parents were able to be there along with my brother, John, and the Barr family. It was a very special day.

Happy Birthday to Ethen

2011-01-13T10:38:00.000-06:00

He is 12! Can't believe it. We had a fun family party with my Mom, Alana, and John and Liz. Thanks to everyone for being here on his big day

Paisley sledding & eating snow

2011-01-08T16:56:00.003-06:00

Sledding in Eden

2011-01-08T16:08:00.004-06:00

We had some fun in the snow making angels, snow forts, and sledding. This place was named really well, it is a slice of heaven.

Christmas Vacation 2010

2011-01-08T14:23:00.007-06:00

A quick stop in to visit with Grandma and the Kilts and make a snowman

We spent the rest of the week with all of my family up in a condo on Powder Mountain. We got a great storm that week and Scott was in heaven with lots of powder to snowboard in. He went out all 5 days, I went 3 and the kids did 3 days as well. Luke only took in one day on the mountain and Paisley had her fill with sledding and hot- tubing. It was a wonderful week together with everyone from the Perriton side being there together once again. It has been over 6 years since we have all been together like that so we were very overdue for a gathering. The cousins love to see eachother and all get along so well. I only wish we lived closer together so we could hang out more often.

The crew of adults at the top (L-R Nathan, Dad, John, Scott, Alana, Brian, me)

Feeding Luke chewy treats on the lift

Luke taking a break for a granola bar Dad and I (my many layers making me look like a marshmallow)

Phoebe on the trail

Alana and Brian (still acting like newlyweds)

Bergen's at the top

We did take one evening and headed down to Temple Square to see all the pretty Christmas lights up. It was freezing, but we were able to duck into a building every now and then to warm up a little. We also picked up Grandma Bergen who is serving a mission there and she was able to join us for the evening.

Christmas in Utah 2010

2011-01-07T13:46:00.000-06:00

Making gingerbread cookies for Santa

We had a great trip out to Utah for Christmas with my family. We spent a few days at my parents house in Draper with John. On Christmas Eve we read from the Bible about Jesus' birth and sang some carols. Luke enlightened Papa and Nana (Grandmother) with his in-depth knowledge of the different meanings of Christmas representation. On Christmas morning the kids had the usual torture of having to line up and wait to come out to the Christmas tree and see what Santa had brought. We spent a lot of hours opening gifts one by one. Everyone was so happy and I even got surprised with a new Ipod touch. Scott and I had decided to not get gifts for eachother this year, but he made my day with that. I did get him some candy that he loves and some new phones for our house, but he really outdid me. He's sweet like that. The day continued with Nathan and Jen and kids coming up for dinner and more gift exchanging. We had a great time and I loved being with all the family.

Happy Birthday to Scott

2010-12-21T18:23:00.004-06:00

Scott had his birthday back on Dec. 9th. Another year older and another year wiser. Phoebe was in charge of his cake this year and made it with the younger kids help. She was very nice to let them help her do the mixing and frosting. It was tasty as always.

Scott came up with the yummy idea to make Christmas shaped rice krispie treats. Scott cut them out and the kids all enjoyed pouring on sprinkles and decorating them. They made a great treat and were fun to put in the kids lunches for the next few days.

Gingerbread House

2010-12-14T17:25:00.005-06:00

Every year we purchase a gingerbread kit and everyone takes part in decorating it. This year the kit even came with some fondant to decorate the door with. Phoebe was very excited about that and for some reason it smelled really good and was hard to keep from just eating. I think we made it maybe one day before the kids started eating pieces , Yum!

Trying to get The shot

2010-12-08T22:44:00.003-06:00

I tried to get everyone in some semi coordinating outfits and smiling happily to capture our family this year. As you can see they did not turn out. Either Paisley was making some crazy face, Luke was crying, Scott's head was chopped off, or someone was out of place. Oh well, I guess that is why people pay photographers to take the picture instead of trying to get your kids to smile for an extended period of time while the camera beeps to the self timer. Oh and then there is also the fact that they all want to jump out of place right after the picture is taken to see how it turned out on the screen. At least I have something documented for this year!

I don't know what Paisley and Luke were thinkning

This is the only one that turned out semi o.k. but Scott has an antler growing out of his head.

Isn't she just CUTE!

2010-12-05T21:45:00.004-06:00

I just had to put this one up of Paisley. She can just be so cute!

Ethen's 1st Fish Gutting

2010-12-05T15:41:00.007-06:00

That title is probably innacurate, but I didn't know what to call it. Ethen went on an overnight scout trip this past weekend and did some fishing and hiking. He caught a large mouth bass and brought it home to skin and eat. Luckily Scott knows how to do all that kind of stuff. I just take the pictures. Here is Ethen doing his first gutting. He got 2 nice fillets and will eat them today. I also took some video but the files are too large to put on here.

The finished product. It was pretty tasty!

Paisley's Thanksgiving Feast

2010-11-28T09:14:00.002-06:00

Paisley had a little Thanksgiving fest at her preschool. She sang some cute turkey songs.

Luke's Kindergarten Thanksgiving Feast

2010-11-28T08:51:00.004-06:00

Luke was an Indian and sang some cute songs for his Kindergarten Thanksgiving feast.

Halloween 2010

2010-10-31T21:51:00.007-05:00

I just love Halloween. It might be because the color orange is at the center of everything but I love carving pumpkins, I love getting the kids dressed up, and I love going door to door collecting tons of candy and seeing all the adorable kids dressed up as well as hearing parents comments. This year we acquired a ridiculous amount of candy that the kids came home and traded right away with each-other. I pretty much let them gorge themselves with it til they get sick and then there is usually a lot left over that never even gets eaten. I must also add how I love living in Texas where we can trick-or-treat with t-shirts and flip-flops.

Mariposa (Barbie Butterfly Fairy)

Sir Knight Luke

Garden Witch

Zombie

Look! My sugar high is already setting in!

Luke and Paisley checking out their loot

Ethen and Phoebe with most of their candy. As you can see....ridiculous amounts!

Ethen with the Sack

2010-10-17T23:09:00.003-05:00

Pumpkin Patch 2010

2010-10-17T09:56:00.004-05:00

The kids had a 1/2 day of school this past Wednesday so Scott took the kids to the pumpkin patch with a group of friends. There was a hayride, animals to feed, and pumpkins to pick right off the patch.

Texas State Fair 2010

2010-10-12T21:14:00.005-05:00

We decided to hit up the State Fair again this year after taking last year off. One of my co-workers gave us a few tickets and that was so AWESOME! There is never enough time to do everything and we must have done at least 10 laps back and forth through the place. I had a half day of work and so we picked up the kids early from school and headed downtown. Apparently, middle school doesn't think your a cool or nice mom when you tell them you are taking your kid out early to go to the fair. We ate more than enough fried food to last the year, rode a few crazy rides, watched some fun shows, and enjoyed the animals. The Texas State Fair is famous for it's original fried food that is conjured up every year. The corn-dog was invented here many, many years ago. So part of the experience is to try some new kinds of fried yumminess. We had a fun time and ended the night with a pretty cool water, light, and fire show.

I think this ride even made Scott sick, but Paisley and Luke loved it!

Phoebe (AKA daredevil) riding a CRAZY spinner ride

Feeding Goats

Look, it's Donkey!

Bird right over our heads at the Bird Show

Everyone's favorite FUNNEL CAKE!!!! We loved these so much that Ethen came home and found a recipe online for us to make some at home. We did wait a few days before frying up our own.

Oh, soooo yummy Fried Snickers. Yes that is a whole Snicker's bar deep fried. We also tried fried cheesecake, but I didn't get a picture of that one.

Ethen taking a bite

Paisley enjoying a nibble
Luke getting hand-fed

Touchdown

2010-10-10T19:46:00.003-05:00

Another touchdown for Ethen this week! This is starting to become a nice habit of his! I didn't do the best job with the camera, but you get the basic idea.

Cheer and Football

2010-10-03T08:52:00.003-05:00

It's that time of year again. Phoebe and Ethen are full swing into the football and cheer season. Ethen is having an amazing year of play with tons of great plays like interceptions, recovering fumbles and, so far, a touchdown everytime he is given the ball. He plays both offense and defense, and loves both of them. He loves to get in there and hit hard. Phoebe LOVES to cheer. She is adorable to watch and is always so happy to be out there. Her smile is just infectious!

Ethen is on the end there #25

Can she be any cuter?

Cheering loud for all to hear

Phoebe's smile just makes me smile

This is what Paisley likes to do at the games

Interception Ethen

2010-09-30T23:34:00.002-05:00

Goodbye to our best friend

2010-09-17T22:38:00.004-05:00

We had to make the hardest decision this week. We didn't really see it coming and have probably been in denial about it for some time now, but it was time to put Kia to rest. She has been the best dog ever. She was with us for almost 14 years and we consider her our 1st born. Scott and I got her, as a puppy, just a few months after we were married. She has traveled all over the United States, climbed to the top of mountains, watched 4 children join our family and grow up, and basically been there everyday of our lives. Just her presence and breathing in the house was a comfort. The kids have never known a life without Kia in it and we have always been a dog family. I didn' t know I could love a dog so much until we had her and we all miss her terribly. We find ourselves doing things out of habit even though she isn't here anymore. She got to the point where she was unable to stand up on her own anymore and was not eating hardly anything at all. It was the most dificult decision to make, but we know it was the right one. Everyone took some time with her to say goodbye and John helped us dig a grave in our backyard under the Hale tree. Scott and I took her in together and were with her as she quickly slipped away into a peaceful sleep on Tuesday Sept. 14th. She is now buried in our backyard and I wouldn't want her anywhere else.