Happy Birthday MGpa!!

For anyone who does not understand who MGpa is, it is my father, who Paige started calling the moustache Grandpa years ago!! It has just been shortened over time to MGpa!

We are so sorry that you had to spend your birthday all alone and thousands of miles away!! Can't wait to celebrate when you return home! (Paige is hoping you are wanting your belated birthday dinner to be at Chuck-A-Rama!!!)

Oh, and thanks for being such a fabulous grandpa to all those little people dog-piling you!

Happy Birthday Zach-O!!

A Very Happy Birthday to one of our favorite little boys!

Happy Birthday Zach!

Can't wait for you to come see us soon!!!

Oh, Christmas Tree..

For as long as I can remember, my family has gone up to the Pine Basin area to cut down a Christmas Tree. We started going just as the 6 of us, and then a few years later we started inviting my parents good friends the Parker's. Now, years later I bring my husband and children, and some of the Parker's children bring theirs as well. It is so fun to spend the day with family and good friends. As soon as we arrive, we dress all the kids in the snow clothes, and this year, the boys started a lengthy snowball fight. From the pictures you can tell, we didn't have much snow, but they were still able to find some. I can remember going years ago, when the snow was so deep we could barely walk. Here's hoping we get a little bit of that this year sometime.

All the little kiddo's were loving throwing snowballs at the Daddy's!

Carson and I tried to walk up the hill and help, but he could not walk because it was so slippery. So we started down the hill and waited in the truck for everyone to return.

Stephanie was so sweet to help the little ones sled down the hill. She almost had to push with her hands the whole way down the hill to keep them moving. (Morgan says Thanks- Steph!)

My children look forward to this tradition every year, even though we bought an artificial tree 3 years ago. They love to help Grandma and Grandpa pick one out, and go out to eat at the Black Angus afterwords. We have so much fun playing in the snow and seeing good friends again!

A week in review...

So I feel the need to post a disclaimer...FYI, lots of pictures, and lots of possibly uninteresting info (info that is interesting and funny to me and the hubbo, but probably not for anyone else!) I am finally getting around to documenting this little vacation. Unfortunately, I am having a little bit of trouble getting everything at our house back in order.

This first picture is a lovely view of us sailing away from San Diego. I was feeling a little bit sick to my stomach that I was sailing away for a week without my kiddos. San Diego was like 90 degrees, so we were a little warm in our long pants and jackets, that we wore on the plane!

The next day was a day at sea, while we traveled to Cabo. I though this would be a boring day, but it was fabulous. We slept in, laid out in the sun, read in a comfy sun-tanning loungers, ate till we were sleepy, and went to bed early! It was really nice to relax for an entire day.

The next morning we opened our curtains, and saw this lovely scene. We decided to spend half of the day on a little snorkeling trip. We went out sailing to a place called Chileno Bay.

Aaron took this picture of the guys who were in charge of our tour. They were so nice, and so much fun!. The entire time we were on the boat, they had the music on, and for this picture, they were trying to get all of us to dance to the YMCA song and the "Macarena."

They sailed us by a few famous landmarks, and then we headed to Chileno Bay.

Lover's Beach-the water was so pretty, it has been forever since I have seen that pretty ocean water.

The Arch.

This is Chileno Bay, where we snorkeled. We saw fish, then we swam to the beach and sat in the sun for a while. The water was so warm, I could have stayed in it all day. I have no other pictures, because we swam to shore, so I had to leave my camera on the boat!

A little view of Cabo. I could not believe how pretty and lush the beaches looked, and how dry the mountains were in the back.

Our Boat. Those things are Ginormous. It is truly amazing that they float.

Our last view of Cabo, as we were sailing away. It was such a beautiful day. The weather was in the 90's (great if you get in the water) and the sunset was amazing!

I had to take a picture of the most expensive phone I have ever used. Unfortunately, our lovely cell phones did not work on our boat. (We did switch carriers today!) So not only did I get to leave my kids, but I could barely call them. I called my Mom on Tuesday, to tell her our phones would not work, and the bill we received for a 2 minute call was $20.

Oh, to be rich and be able to talk to your children...I was wondering if 5 minutes cost $100??? I called once more to see if they were all doing well, and our grand total for less than 3 minutes (both calls combined!) of talking was over $40.

Every night, after dinner, we would come back to our cabin to find a new towel animal. We thought our kids would like to see some of them.

This was our favorite place to eat on the boat. That middle deck, never too busy, and when you do not live by by the ocean, you want to soak it all in. We ate here for almost every meal.

We spent another day at sea-more relaxing-and then we spent a day in Ensenada. Aaron wanted to go horseback riding. I agreed, because I figured they would be old, slow, and well trained horses. They were well trained, but for some reason I got a feisty one. If another horse stood by him, he would turn and start biting it's neck. I had a bad experience on a horse once, so I was a wee bit afraid. Especially when they gave me the horse that wanted to start fights. He also really wanted to run, and would try to pass the slower horse in front of him. I don't mind sitting on a horse while it walks, but I am not much of a galloper.

The only cowboy with us that spoke English, was named Miguel, and he was hilarious. He had us laughing the entire time. We went on a four mile ride, along some scary cliffs (maybe not scary to everyone, but plenty scary to me!), up to a beautiful view of the ocean. I didn't take a picture, because I was didn't want to let go of the reins! I should have given the camera to Aaron who is much better on a horse than myself!

We arrived in San Diego the next day, and I was thrilled to have cell phone service to check on my kids, and my Mom. Thanks again to my parents for sacrificing 7 days to babysit my three little ones. We had the greatest time, as long as I wasn't thinking too hard about how far away I was from my children.

Thanks to my husband who strongly encouraged me to even say yes to go on this trip, it was planned very last minute, and I was a bit leery to go!

So glad we went! It was so much fun, and I hope it isn't another ten years before we do it again:)

Heading South...

The Hubbo and I are headed on a little vacation to Mexico tomorrow! I know my kiddo's are in great hands, but still a little nervous because I have never left them this long!! A big Thanks to my Mom and Dad for babysitting, you guys are the greatest. To pay you back, I will clean your whole house before all the company comes for Christmas!! See you all next week!

A little dinner conversation....

So tonight at dinner, Morgan asks,

"Mom, we have three little cans of root beer (you know the half sized cans from Walmart?) out in the fridge, can Paige, Carson, and me have them with dinner?

I debated for a minute, and then said OK. I was feeling a little guilty telling them no when I had already had more than my share of diet Cherry Coke that day. It isn't their fault that I am such a rotten example, they cannot help that I love that bubbly stuff. (Just so you know, we don't so this every night for dinner, they just begged for those cute little soda's at Walmart, and I had a week moment!)

So Morgan goes to the garage and gets the pop, and gives one to her brother and sister. Paige promptly turns the can around to read the label and excitedly tells us:

This pop has zero fattness!

She does not know how bad I wish that were true.

We might need to explain how calories work next!

Next my little boy opens his pop, pours it in a cup, and starts licking it like a kitty. We were about to tell him to stop, when he looked at all of us and said:

MMMMMM....... TASTY!!!

We all started laughing, and so after that every bite of his dinner he would tell us again! Lucky for us, never a dull moment at dinner !!

Happy Birthday Meghan!

Thirteen tears ago this young lady (on the right) became the first niece and granddaughter in my little family. I cannot believe that she is a teenager now. I think I will forever think of her as little "May May." Megs, I hope you had a fabulous birthday, and that you will have a great birthday party! Since we can't be around to celebrate with you, we though we would post our Top Ten Favorite things about Meghan!!

1. She is the most willing babysitter, especially to that little brother!

2. She loves to play with my kids, and they love to play with her. When Meghan is around, I don't even see my daughters.

3. She is incredibly creative. Our entire family loves a great short story written by Megs!

4. She is quite funny, I especially love it when she teases her Mom.

5. She is the sweetest big sister ever!

6. She is an artist, we all love her artwork- it can be rather funny as well.

7. She is a great help on the computer- I think she knows how to run it far better than me.

8. She makes the BEST brownies in the West!

9. She Never backs down from a water fight, and on the 4th of July when we have a yearly tradition of a huge family water fight, she is out with the boys (The big ones!) for hours.

10. She has a such a strong ambition to do what is good and right, I love that she is such a great example to my kids.

We hope you have a great day lady! We miss you so much, and wish we could come spend the day with you! We will just have to make up for it at Christmas. We love you!!

Happy Halloween!

Today was a different Halloween than I am used to! Kids home from school, no class parties to attend, no trunk or treat, just a somewhat relaxing day. I had my kids ready early, and I didn' t feel like I spent the entire day running like a crazy lunatic.

I think I could really enjoy Halloween if it could always be like that.

Also, I am such a fan of it falling on a Friday. What good is Halloween, when you have to get home and get your kids to bed by 8-which never happens for us- and then I have to drag them out of bed the next day for school. Don't you think Halloween should be the on the last Friday in October -you know, kinda follow the Thanksgiving rule.

We had a great night, we set out all our candy on the step, and went around the neighborhood as a family for once. It was so nice to have such great weather! Carson did not want to go up to any of the doors, he just sat in the stroller, and ate off his sisters candy.

Morgan was a witch, Paige was a butterfly, and Carson was a bat. Carson wanted to be a "gary" bat, not a nice one. He loved chasing his sisters around, and they were nice enough to play along, that they actually were scared of him.

The only house my boy would walk up to was Grandpa and Grandma Williamson's. He REALLY wanted to scare Grandpa (which was hilarious!) While we were visiting, we realized Carson likes to hand out candy, rather than walk up to doors and trick-or-treat. Every time the doorbell rang, he would run like crazy to beat his sisters. Here are some pictures, and a lovely video of Carson and Morgan (sorry, I am not smart enough to figure out how to flip it!).

Pumpkin Carving Fun/Mess

Because we had something on Monday, Wednesday, and Thursday night, we decided to carve our pumpkins on Tuesday night! The kids were awfully excited, Carson had even tried to take the pizza cutter to the pumpkins many times throughout the day:) On Tuesday though, Aaron had to work late, and Morgan had piano lessons, so the kids had to wait for what seemed like forever (to them and me!)

Carson REALLY likes to do things with his Dad, so we decided we would put the girls in charge of one pumpkin, and the boys in charge of the other! Carson really wanted to do a "gary" (scary) one.

The girls were great at removing the crud, but my little boy was not such a trooper! He put his hand in once, and then just folded his arms the rest of the time saying it was "too messy!"

I don't understand. He never seems to think that smearing peanut butter on my walls is messy -why does he not do the one messy thing I am actually encouraging him to do?

The boy's "gary" pumpkin,

and the girls very large mouthed pumpkin! (Don't look too close MGpa!! You might see something a wee bit familiar!

Oh, and I should have tried to photoshop out the mess on my counters.

Buddies...I think

These two either fight or play great! Here is one of those moments that I quite enjoy, when they are getting along, and I can cook dinner in a quiet kitchen.

Just thought I would document good behavior, so I could actually remember sometimes that it happens! Those kids can be pretty cute, I just wish they would do it for more that 15 minutes!

Ready..Set..RACE!

So lately the Lowry children are already suffering from Cabin Fever. They are loud, wild, and wrestling whenever all three of them are home at the same time. The other night- so I could get the dishes done in peace- Aaron took them outside. He is much more fun, and far more creative than I am, so they were rather excited. He started having them race, and then he started to add obstacles -going around the trampoline, jumping through the hula hoop, riding the scooters, and so on.

I love how Carson never wins, but he still runs and runs. As the night goes on he gets slower and slower. Maybe sometime his big sisters ought to let him win.

Now, if only I could find someway to make them do this all winter long, we would be in good shape! They sleep like rocks after they run like crazy for a half hour or so. Here is what they look like when the race time is over!

Is it all a phase???

So, I am hoping everyone is going to leave me a comment that says, "Yes, it is a phase in a few weeks he will be back to his sweet little self!"

If you are the mother of a boy, or a busy little girl that acts like my little boy, I have a question. A little while ago, the little man in my life was being such a good little boy. We were enjoying our time while his sisters were in school, he was being sweet, and I was thinking, "I made it! He is officially not a terrible 2 or 3 year old! Smooth sailing here we come!"

I guess I have not made it though. We seem to be slipping back into a serious naughty phase. Today, I found him in my living room, with a knife, chopping red onions and jalapenos. Yesterday, he was sitting on my couch, and I found him filling up a colander with ketchup. A couple of days ago, he put almost everything in the bathroom in the bathtub with him. (Including my old toilet brush, that I keep on hand in case I run out of the disposable stuff. That was a lovely mess. I had to throw away or clean everything again-including him!) So, as you can see the boy is really bored, or I am totally in for it again!

So I 'm asking- Does this naughtiness ever go away??

Remembering Grandpa Lyle

I just looked at my sisters blog, and she posted about my sweet, sweet grandparents! They both died from cancer about 4 years ago, but today is my Grandpa Lyles birthday! As I remember him today, I miss him so much! He truly was the kindest, funniest, and the best example of a Grandpa I have ever seen. It is so hard to narrow down my favorite memories of him, I could write a novel.

I feel very fortunate, that I was able to spend a lot of time with him. They lived in Sacramento, and I was lucky enough to spend a a few months staying with them, for a few summers in a row. I remember my Grandpa as being the most creative person! We would make bamboo houses, he made a golf course in his backyard (complete with a green, that he hand cut with hedging shears!), and we went to San Francisco to baseball games where he fed me my first taste of chinese food (in Chinatown!) I will always remember how I was not bored for a minute at his house. He was always thinking of some crazy thing for us to do.

I remember the Christmas where everyone got a hyper driver (a little battery operated car that went VERY fast!) They were all personalized with our names on them, and after we opened all our presents, we went to my uncles work and raced the cars with my cousins! I still remember that I won the demolition derby, and I received a hand made trophy. My grandpa had made a trophy with The Incredible Hulk, crashing a car into pieces!

I love that I have some video of him with Morgan. Grandpa and Grandma had to move to Idaho, when Morgan was 18 months, because my Grandpa had a stroke and they needed a little bit of help. I know it was a hard move for them, they loved the wonderful weather of California, and it was a hard circumstance. I truly loved it though! I got to watch my sweet grandparents develop a relationship with my little girl. She loved them and loved to visit. Morgan and Grandpa had a funny relationship. They would tease each other, and everytime we would come visit, he had something new for her to do! (Hiding Swiper the Fox, filled with chocolate treats would be my favorite example!)

I will always remember his sheepish grins when he would get in trouble from Grandma, the fact that he loved milkshakes (which meant he was always buying them for all of us!) and what a great example of a loving husband he was. I only hope I can be more like him each day.

Snow....Already???

I thought it was pretty, then it kept snowing and snowing today, and my kids were in the house all day, and they were getting more and more wild, and I was thinking of dealing with this lovely weather for nine months, and then I decided it wasn't all that pretty anymore! Thus, I am not quite ready for winter!!! My kids on the other hand could not wait to get out there!!

Carson wanted to shovel the grass! This lovely picture is of him asking his dad for a shovel!!

Morgan found enough snow to make her first snowman of the year! I thought it was pretty cute! Carson kept walking and walking all over the plave, I asked him what he was doing, and he said he was making "poop prints." (footprints!) I tried to get a video of him saying it, because it was pretty funny, but he would not cooperate! Instead, this is what he gave me!

Another Tag!

My sister in law hubby tagged me, so here we go!

1. Where did you meet? He asked out my roomate while going to Ricks College!

2. How long did we date before we were married? 2 years

3. How long have we been married? 11 years

4. He surprises me by...I don't know, after 11 years, not so many surprises. He always tries to give thoughtful gifts, and take the kiddos when I need a break!

5. My favorite feature of his...his tender heart, even though he tries hard to hide it:)

6. His nicknames for me are... Bren

7. His favorite food...meat and potatoes, and he also really likes Mexican!

8. His favorite sport... he isn't a big sports guy! He likes a little football and basketball, if the right teams are playing!

9. Where was our first kiss? Outside my apartment at Ricks.

10. Our favorite thing to do? Go out on any kind of date.

11. Any children? Morgan, Paige, and Carson

12. Any hidden talents? He is really good at building things, and fixing them! I just turn all of that stuff over to him!!

13. How old is he? 33

14. Who said I love you first? He did.

15. Favorite type of music? He likes a little bit of everything!

16. I admire him most for... how hard he works for our family.

17. Do you think he will read this? Yes.

Try-It-Tuesday Recipe

A friend of mine has started a Tuesday trend. She calls it Try-It-Tuesday! She posts a recipe on her blog every Tuesday, and invites others to leave a comment of the name of a recipe, and then post it on your own blog to share. I have used some of her great recipes, and so I thought I would join in the fun! This recipe is from another favorite blogging recipe, called Delicious Recipes. We LOVE it at our house!

Zucchini Coconut Bread

3 Eggs
3/4 C. Oil
1 1/2 C. Sugar
1 tsp. Vanilla
2 C. grated Zucchini
2 1/3 C. Flour
1/4 tsp. Soda
1/4 tsp. Baking Powder
1 tsp. Salt
1 sm. Pkg Pistachio pudding (if I don't have pistachio pudding, I have also used vanilla or cheesecake)
1 C. Coconut (optional)

Beat together eggs, oil, and sugar. Add the vanilla and zucchini. Mix all dry ingredients and add to the other mixture. Pour into 2 greased bread pans. Bake 350 for 50 minutes.

Coconut Glaze

1/2 C. Sugar
1/4 C. Water
1 T Butter or Margarine
1/2 tsp. Coconut Extract

Bring sugar, water, and butter to a boil for 2 minutes. Remove from heat and add extract. Pour over warm bread and let it cool completely before removing from pans.

Happy Birthday Shelly!!

Happy Birthday Shelly! Don't you just love how the Lowry's do pajamas? I don't think any of the tops and bottoms match!! Paige is just being Paige at the end of this lovely video!

Hope you had a great day, and good luck getting ready for your trip! I will try not to think about the fun you will be having without me at "Wicked!" Enjoy!!!

Jackson

For the last 4 years we have made a yearly trip to Grand Teton National Park with my parents. It is one of my favorite trips of the year. We stay in the park, usually go on a hike, listen to the elk bugel , and go swimming at the Jackson Rec Center! This year we stayed at Signal Mountain. It was a little cabin with the prettiest view of Jackson Lake and the Teton Range.

As soon as we got our things unloaded the kids and Aaron and Grandpa went right down to the lake to throw rocks! Carson wanted Grandpa to throw the biggest rocks he could find!

Paige was quite proud of her special rock! She thought it looked like a moose footprint!

That night we went and watched the elk. We saw so many, and Carson was darling. He kept saying a a really sweet voice, Come here Elky! It was much nicer than last year, when he was so afraid, that he cried until he threw up in a walmart bag in our car!

The next morning we got up and got ready to take the kids on a boat ride and a short hike! Carson loved the boat ride, and he tolerrated the hike! The trees were so pretty, and we could not have asked for nicer weather the entire weekend. On our little hike we saw a moose and a lot of chipmkunks .(Grandma was paying the girls a nickel a chipmunck, to help boost moral! It worked like a charm!)

The last day we always take the kids to swim at the Rec Center in Jackson. They LOVE the waterslide. Carson had to be held to go down it, and that's all he wanted to do, so the four adults got quite a workout walking up the stairs about 15 times for each of us! The girls loved that they were big enough to ride it all by themselves. After about 3 hours we were too exhausted to play anymore, so we loaded up and drove home.

Thanks Mom and Dad for another wonderful weekend!