LAST 4 MONTHS OF STUFF I HAVE HAD INTENTIONS OF POSTING....

Yea I know, it has been awhile.

Here is Aydan's birthday.......in January!!!

This is JD, a boy Jacks age, he and his mom were baptised.  The tall boy next to Jack is 13 and only a year older than Jack in school.

This is our oil truck.......the boys know more about semi's than I ever would have imagined!  They have been in heaven going with Brandon for rides.

The Easter Bunny found us all the way in North Dakota.  We spent Sunday at some friends house eating and hunting eggs.

This was Ike and Sam BEFORE they ate their egg they colored

This was Sam AFTER he took a bite.....he was in the middle of saying "yuck"

The Pinewood Derby!  Ayd took first in his pack and 3rd in the district for Bears.  He was so excited!

(he was holding the excitement in:))

OUR DECEMBER....FINALY!

We started out our celebration of Christmas with a trip to Utah.  My mom and dad went to the MTC on the 19th of December.  It was so crazy that day that I didn't even get any pictures of our Christmas party:(  But my mom started a blog so you can check them out in Australia.  Next was Grandma and Grandpa Mortenson's  for their Christmas Party.  The grandkids get cars every year for Christmas, they are always excited to see which one they get.  It is getting harder to get a good picture!

Temple Square

The last two nights we headed to Logan to visit our bestest friends, Griffin, Davis, Dallin, Travis, and of course John and Klair!  We where so sad to leave.

We got back in time for Santa to come.  It was a good Christmas, one we will not forget!

THANKSGIVING TURKEY BOWL!

First Thanksgiving away from family.....wasn't to bad.  The young men all decided to get together to have the annual turkey bowl, which doesn't happen often cause of weather.  They all said last year was -50 with 2 feet of snow on the ground.   But this year was beautiful.....no snow or wind and in the +50s.  Brandon even got in on the action and I am still hearing about his chest injury!  We had a great time eating turkey with some new friends who invited us over.  We did miss all of our family and remembered how grateful we are to have them in our lives.  This year, believe it or not, I am grateful for North  Dakota.  It has been a great place to bring our family to.  It has made me realize how lucky I am to have 4 healthy misbehaved boys that I love, a husband who is willing to try new things, and the  Church of Jesus Christ of Latter Day Saints.  It is really the same no matter where you are.

 Sam was so glad to have a day to play outside!  And he loves balls, no matter what kind.

 Ike just wanted to play with the big kids,  Jack apparently didn't want him to.

 But.... he had more fun with his truck anyway.

 Ayd had a blast and even got to play quarterback a few times.

Some of the men....what a nice day!

HAPPY (LATE) HALLOWEEN!

 Happy Halloween a little late!  But that is just me......always a little late getting to my blog.  It was a good Halloween with three nights of activities.

 First night was a carnival, with games and a spook alley at the local Armory.   Ike and Sam and me all went in the spook alley.......I hid behind Ike.

Second night was our trunk-or-treat at the church.  It was super cold that night and the parking lot was empty within 30 min.  But it was a good time.

Third night was actually Halloween!  We went to some peoples house from our branch and let the kids trick-or-treat in a neighborhood.  They had fun and got LOTS of treats, we are still eating them.  I did take my camera but didn't get any pictures:(.  It is so hard to get a good picture of Aydan!  He is just to silly.  We really missed our home and porch and all of our traditions......but glad to have the opportunity to make new ones.

NORTH DAKOTA

Two weeks and one day ago we packed up our stuff and left our home of 12 years and headed to North Dakota.  There were many tears saying goodby to all of our family and friends, but decided it was the right thing to do.

After two and a half days of driving we got here.  It is really flat and yellow.  No big mountains or trees, just yellow grass on rolling hills with an oil rig every once in awhile and lots of wind.  

There is a university in our town.  It makes it feel a little more familiar.

This is our church house.  Right now we are meeting in an elementary school because they are finishing the chapel part of the church.  They used to only meet in the building on the right side, but because the branch is growing they had to add on.  Everyone is saying it still won't be big enough.  3 years ago they only had 25 members now there are over 200.

This is our new neighborhood!  No, not as nice as our last.  We wonder everyday how long living in the trailer will last.  So far it hasn't been to bad, we just try to stay busy.

We have been talking semi's a lot and Brandon found these ones for Ike and Sam.  Jack and Ayd let their feelings on not getting on be made known many times that night and since.  Jack and Ayd are liking school a little more everyday.  We all miss our friends back home and hope we will go back one day.  For now we are trying to have fun and stay positive.

SAM AND IKE

HAPPY BIRTHDAY'S

Our Sammy turned 2, two weeks ago.  I knew for awhile what he really needed for his birthday.  He loves basketball!  It is so funny to watch him play,  every time he makes the ball go in he does a little dance.  And he dances alot cause it goes in alot.

Today is Ike's birthday and since I am tired of packing and I have Brandon home to do it today,  I am blogging while listening to conference!  Ike is 5, he has already had his cake and presents cause he just couldn't wait anymore.  He loves school, bugging Sam and playing with his friends.  This is his bestest friend who moved in across the street in June.  They are just alike and play nonstop somedays.  WE will miss Travis!

WHERE HAVE WE BEEN ALL SUMMER!

COLORADO

Brandon got a job building a cabin for my sister's in laws the Ivins in Colorado.  Brandon started it in May and once the boys got done with school we joined him a week or two at a time.  But of course we were doing baseball at the same time so this summer the boys learned how to sit in the car for long periods of time (8 hours one way) and I learned how to stay calm!   The one thing I really wanted was to see a bear (from a safe distance). Jack and Aydan got to see a mama bear and her cubs (from a safe distance) all I saw was a water snake!  Yuck!  Oh ya and TONS of chipmunks and mice.  I even got to share my bed with a mouse one night, and they ate my peaches on our counter another night.  The mice I defiantly won't miss!

Places we've been

Four Corners

Mesa Verde

Blanding to see Foffy and cousin Jake

Monticello

Lone Cone for lunch

Arches National Park

 Now some of my people won't blog because they say we all just share our perfect lives on our blog.  So..........just for those people I will say Colorado was A LOT of work!  Packing the trailer, van, truck, driving 8-10 hours with 4 kids, keeping the trailer clean after the kids ate potato chips and crackers, the mud ohhhh the mud, the mice crap, the fighting in confined spaces, the unpacking, and trying not to miss any sporting events back home, I got tired and grouchy.  But...........I would do it all over.  Sometimes the memories are worth the headache.  That is why I blog, so I have something to look at that is good, so I forget all the tiredness, cuss words, and fighting!