It Was Carol, Not Me. I Promise...

Yes, it's true another year has passed and Tyler is now 9 (Feb 1.). It just can't be, and yet, it is. We had a good weekend. First, Tyler got signed up for Little League on Saturday morning, which was his main birthday present this year. It will be really good for him, and he will enjoy it immensely. Next up, Carol and I made our annual trip to the Portland Auto Show with my dad. It was good to go, but it seems each year it gets a little smaller and a little less exciting. Dang economy. After the auto show, we went to another auto show of sorts; Tyler's Pinewood Derby. I enjoy cars that look good, and since Tyler really doesn't want to put any effort into making his own car, I have to lead the way (although I've promised him that he has to do it all next year). So this is the design I came up with. I think it looks cool, but as for speed...Well, this year we left the speed tires at home. His car didn't win a single race (and there were a ton of them), but he didn't care. He was a good sport and had fun, as did the rest of our family.

After the racing was over we celebrated Tyler's birthday with both sets of grandparents and we all had a good time, of course.

Other than that, we just keep pluggin' along and enjoying these kids of ours (most of the time). We now have Caden in the toddler bed and Ammon in the crib and out of our room, FINALLY. He is doing pretty well at crying himself back to sleep, so we are enjoying the increase in sleep and space in our room. The kids are doing well in school, and both just recently received awards at school for their performance (as you will see below). And of course, they are still very funny, so without further delay, enjoy the funnies...

So Tyler and Bailey have both earned rewards at school (not the same as the ones pictured below) for a free kids’ meal at Applebees. Carol took them on MLK day for lunch and invited her parents. The kids wanted more after finishing, so Carol told them: “You guys aren’t going to eat your dinner.” Then Carol’s dad asked them: “Are you kids gonna eat your supper?” Trevin replied: “Supper?” Then Bailey explained: “Supper’s like dinner. Old people call it supper.”

Each night I like to call to give Carol a heads up that I’m on my way home from work. Many times Bailey answers the phone, and usually I try to trick her by disguising my voice. However, she almost always knows that it’s me. The other day, I tried again, but she was on to me right away. I made some kind of comment about it, and she said. “Dad, you can’t trick me. I know it’s you.” She then took a shot at her brother and offered: “Maybe you can trick Tyler.”

Carol told Trevin he couldn’t do something, but she can’t remember exactly what it was. Anyways, he proved her wrong and did it, and then he said: “Ah hah, I did do it. You’re not smart.” Carol then asked: “I’m not smart?” he replied: “You’re old.”

So the missionaries were giving us a spiritual thought after eating dinner with us one night and as part of the message they were telling the kids that they should always listen to their parents. Elder Deloach told them that their parents know everything there is to know. So of course the kids’ minds went into overdrive and then Bailey said very matter-of-factly: “Oh yeah, they don’t know the second time when Jesus is going to come.” No one could argue with that.

According to Tyler, how many people know you, is what makes you popular at school. So he informed us the other night that Jordan was the most popular kid in his class cuz he got hit by a baseball and had a black eye. Then he said: “I’m hovering in about fifth.”

When Carol gives the kids a bath at night, she doesn’t have them change their underwear again the next morning. Also, Tyler and Bailey always put their school clothes in the bathroom the night before a school day. Bailey had put another clean pair in the bathroom after just taking a bath and putting on a clean pair. Carol called out to her: “Bailey, you don’t need undies tomorrow.” Of course, I didn’t pass on that and said: “Well Bailey, you do need undies.” Carol corrected herself, and then Tyler joined the conversation and said from way out in left field: “Bailey, if you wear underwear, you’ll be protected from harm.”

Trevin asked me the other day: “Dad, do you like Oreo Double Stuff?” I told him I didn’t. He asked me why, and I said I didn’t know, but I just don’t like them. He then presented a very good argument and said in a pleading tone: “But Dad, they are cookies. And they have frosting.” I really couldn’t come up with a good counter-argument to that.

We have kidney beans whenever we have tacos or haystacks and Caden really likes them. The other night Carol decided to change it up and do black beans instead. She put Caden’s plate on the table in front of him and after one look he said under his breath: “What the heck? Are you kidding me?” I wonder who he learned that from???

Twins four years apart

Love that Tongue
Pull it any tighter and she'll have a face lift
Bailey reliving the good old days
Tyler "not" proudly displaying his award
Bailey earned three on the same day
Caden can really find interesting places to lay down and take a nap

Grandpa Shirts and Ammon
Grandma Shirts and Ammon
Can you take a picture of me?

Self-taken portrait
Brothers in arms
Me and my boy just chillin'

What Would He Think If He Ever Saw “Free Willy?”

So a lot has happened since I wasn’t lazy. The holidays came and went just like that, but we had a great time. We went to cut down our Christmas Tree as we always do, and found a really nice one. We spent Christmas Eve and Christmas Day in Eugene with my family. Only one of my siblings who live far away came, though, so it was pretty quiet really. Our kids really had a good Christmas and they always love spending time with their uncle Cory. The boys got baseball equipment and jerseys and several other baseball and football-related gifts. They were pretty happy. Bailey got a new easel as well as magnetic dry-erase board and several accessories for them, which she totally loves. Caden got a little ride-on car (Flinstone-operated) and Ammon got a Red Sox shirt. Gotta start ‘em young. After the day in Eugene, we headed back home so we could celebrate Christmas with Carol’s family on Saturday. The entire gang was present (12 adults & 24 grandkids), except Nathan who is serving a mission. The kids really loved being with their cousins, many of whom they had never met. We spent as much time with them as we could and our kids never got tired of it. It was a lot of fun. There are countless details that could be added, but instead, I’ll just get to the funnies and the photos. Enjoy...

My home teaching companion is named Richard Woods, but everyone calls him “Woody”. His wife and he sent us a Christmas card which was signed: “Marian and Woody.” I read it out loud and then said to Carol: “It’s funny; his name is Richard, but everyone calls him Woody, even his wife.” Tyler must have missed me mention his first name, though, because he asked: “What’s his real name: “Woodurin?”

Caden and I were in the car together and we were going down a street with the giant speed humps. There was a truck in front of me and I did not realize how slow it was going over the humps. As I approached one, I had to hit the brakes pretty hard, because this truck was literally going so slow it was almost parked on top of it, no exaggerating. So I said very quietly: “What the crap? Are you kidding me?” However, it wasn’t quiet enough. Caden responded from the back seat: “Yeah, I am kidding you.”

While taking Caden to the bathroom recently, he said, as I was pulling up his pants: “Can you see my willy?” Before I could I even answer, he asked: “Dad, can I see your willy?”

Caden, Trevin and I sat down to a good old game of Candy Land the other day and after Trevin drew the first card and moved his piece, he said: “Whoever gets to this one first (pointing to the final multi-color square) wins. I’m gonna win. I’m going to crush you guys.”

Then, not even two minutes later, as I was writing the previous comment down, Caden was messing up the game, which caused Trevin a little irritation. He approached me and said: “Dad, can we just give Caden away? Cuz he keeps wrecking up our game.”

I was in with the kids at bedtime, and I climbed up onto Tyler’s bed (top bunk) and said to the other three kids, “I killed Tyler, I squished him.” Tyler started to tell me about his day but Caden said something to me. I didn’t hear him, so I said “what, Caden?” Bailey answered for him and told me that he had said: “Dad, I want to see.” So I asked him: “You want to see what?” He answered: “I want to see Tyler dead.” I told him I was joking, that Tyler wasn’t dead, but he wouldn’t stop till Tyler sat up so he could see him.

I had Ammon and he unfortunately made boom-boom in his pants. Carol was giving Bailey a bath, and Ammon was next, so she didn’t want me to change his diaper. That meant I just had to hold him and wait. I headed into the bathroom and said: “Ammon, your poop stinks.” Bailey, still in the tub commented: “Dad, everyone’s poop stinks.” Before I could even reply, she said: “Well, it does.”

Tyler and Trevin got mini MLB and NFL pennants for Christmas, which are now hanging on their walls. Tyler told me that 19 teams were named after something, then proceeded to point each one out to me. I told him that they were all named after something. So he started picking out some names one by one and I kept explaining what they were named after. He got to the Tennessee Titans, and said “what’s a Titan?” I was trying to write in my journal, so I said look it up in the dictionary. He asked: “You don’t know what a Titan is?” to which I replied “do you?” He then said: “Oh come on, they’re tights.”

Jacob and Ammon
Love that tongue
Alora and Bailey
A bunch of kids

A new Red Sox fan is born
Trevin and Benjamin
Bowling buddies
Devin, Trevin and Kimberly
The "teens & tweens"
Whole lotta grandkids

Dan and Ammon
Kaitlyn, Bailey and Kiersten
Allison and Ammon


Caden couldn't handle the late nights
Rhonda and a sleepy Ammon
Mr. Potato Head

Happy boy in a basket
Pitch it right in here
A boy and his "dum dum"




Santa and the gang
Silly kids Goofy Faces

Christmas Tree cutting

Scary boy