White Christmas!

We made it to Wyoming. My sister Katie was able to come with us at the last minute and surprised my family-all of us were here together for the first time in several years! It was really nice!

Christmas eve was especially nice for me. We sat around the tree singing Christmas carols (we would call out the name of one and my grandpa would play it on the piano-no music, no practice, just feel it out and play it) then we read the traditional story, did a silly play with plenty of bath towels, and opened a few presents. We all felt a good spirit that evening.

The next day was a flurry of unwrapping presents at Gina's house (that's where we stayed the night) then back to my parent's home for another gift exchange. Mom and dad gave all of the grandchildren stocking caps that my mother had knitted-multicolored for the girls and pastels for the boys. The grown up children got slippers and chocolate!

During the melée my sister Gina stood up and whispered to me "Bek, come here" I obediently stood up to follow her and was promptly tackled from behind by Jennifer. They wrestled me to the ground and joined by Katie, David and Trenton proceded to thump on my chest, lick my face and tickle me until I named 10 candy bars! Evidently they had planned this coup for several months to try and get back at me for the years of torture I had rained down upon them (I'm an oldest, what do you expect?). This was suppose to teach me a lesson...I'm not sure it stuck I still enjoy torturing them!

We have had some fun times on the sleds and playing in the snow I'm sure there will be more of that to come!

Hope you all had a joyous Christmas!

Barenaked for the Holidays!!!

Monday night we went to Tucson with Christian and Leslie to the Barenaked Ladies concert! Thanks to Hattie and April for watching our kids so we could go-it was a fun time!

Their concert was a holiday themed one with a group called the "LeeVees" opening for them. The LeeVees are a Jewish band that played Hannauka (How do you spell that? hee hee-that's the name of one of their songs) songs-what a riot!!



I think this is the fourth concert we've been to see BNL together! We will go again when they come! We had such a great time. Thanks to Leslie for snagging tickets for us!

They played some old songs from their "Born on a Pirate Ship" album and also from "Shoebox" and some from their Holiday album. Many of the songs were old and we hadn't heard them in concert before! It was a blast!





The highlight of the evening for Adam was meeting Steven Page!!! What a nice guy-willing to pose and sign autographs. We also got autographs from the other members of the band, but sadly no pictures!

Poor sick boys...

I'ts never fun to have sick kids... or hubbies for that matter, but when they are all sick at the same time it makes for a miserable week!

The good thing about sick boys is that they will let you snuggle them! Dallin and Garrett are such busy-bodies I can't often hold them down long enough to get a good snuggle, but when they are sick that's all they want to do. By the time they feel better I've had about all the snuggling I can stand!

Daddy and Dallin were sick buddies while mom took care of Garrett. Adam is such a great daddy to his sick boys they always want him to hold them and make them feel better.

Two-year-old-speak translation:

Garrett, the two year old, is kinda' tough to understand. We have taught him some sign language that has helped tremendously, but there are still some things we have had to decipher with regards to his speech. Dallin was the same way at his age and grew into language by the time he was 3 1/2. It makes me a little nervous when I compare their speech to other toddlers in the neighborhood, (like Niah next door who is barely two and says complete sentences) but I have to remind myself that every kid is different!

So, friends and family around the world, in the event you want to talk to Garrett on the phone, this will help:

ma-ma-da-da: Daddy
ma-ma: Mommy
da-bo: Doggie or Parker (our dog)
wee-oh: Dallin or any other person that is not mom or dad.
na-nee: Blankie, his favorite blanket that Aunt Lisa made for him
num-num: Candy, or any other treat
na-na: Banana
it: Sit
ot: Off
da-bo bit: Parker bit me
ma-ma-da-da bit: Daddy bit me
bat: Bath
uh-uh: no
baa-baa: Back pack
oot: Shoes
oot-ot: Shoes off
lot: Locked
uck: stuck
[slurp]: drink of juice
pee: Please
pee-peet: messy diaper
pee-peet da-bo: I stepped in doggie doo
buh-bye: Goodbye!

Garrett's speaking ability may be a little slow, but his gross motor skills are highly developed! How many two year olds do you know that can scale the back fence to throw balls in the neighbor's pool? Yeah, that's my boy!

It's Project time!!

This Thanksgiving weekend we (meaning I) decided that since Adam had TWO WHOLE DAYS off from work, it was time to do some projects!!

Project #1: Re-decorate the bathroom and get rid of the giant "RMS Titanic" lettering . We pulled wall-paper off the ceiling, textured, added crown moulding (thanks hubby) and painted...ahhh, much better!















Project #2: Scrape the 'popcorn' ceiling in the playroom-it went so fast we (meaning I) decided we should do the boy's bedroom too!!! Thanks to Christian, it didn't take very long. Then on to patching....when that didn't work we textured the ceilings and painted them. Thanks to Katie for all the help painting the ceilings and trim!

Project #3: Painting the boys' room! Sophia was such a great help! Oh, and Leslie helped a little ;-)

The wainscoating (sp??) is a navy blue, the trim white, and the wall above a tanish color (I am getting rid of my millions of quarts by mixing them!)















Dallin was instrumental in placement of the furniture of his room. He wanted the maps so he could see them when lying in his bed.











Project #4: Painting the playroom! I wanted to do some fun stripes and heard about a good way to get a perfect line; After taping, put a small amount of PAINTABLE caulk on the edge of the tape and smear it flat sealing the tape to the wall. Paint, then pull it off when it's dry and TA-DA, perfectly straight lines. Leslie is a great model for the technique.









SEE!? Perfect stripes! and NO touch-ups! Michelle, you gotta' try this! But, don't forget to use PAINTABLE CAULK (hee hee, Leslie told me the story of Delilas' house).










The blue color on the top is a mixture of several colors I had in the garage, and the blue on the bottom was left over from our previous house. The yellow "Kayak Yellow" to be exact is from Michelle-the color she painted Marlo's first bedroom!

Project #5???? Sleep for three days and try to recover!!! SHEESH! What a huge venture to try and do three rooms all at once. It will be a while till I put my painting clothes on again!

Hmmm, when's the next holiday? No wonder Adam never has time off from work! GRINS!

Now this is what I call a DOG PILE!

Parker is such a patient pooch. I really do like him, even though he drives me crazy most of the time....it's like he's two years old. He and Garrett can create all sorts of havoc when they put their minds to it!

We're sure glad Katie is staying with us! The boys love her and she is a great house-guest, quiet as a mouse and very helpful.

I love SNUGGLING with my boys!

On a cold moring there is nothing better than lying in bed procrastinating the mad rush of the day.

I think I'm COLOR BLIND!

No, not the kind where you can't tell red from green, but when it comes to shades of colors I have such a hard time. Warm colors, cool colors...I can never tell the difference. And to try to choose between one shade of color and another on a little swatch from the store??? Impossible!
MICHELLE, WHERE ARE YOU WHEN I NEED YOU?!?

I was trying to choose paint to match the walls in my family room (I want to paint a window seat the same color) and I had such a hard time! I finally called Leslie to come over and help! She is much better at choosing color than I am, but we botyh lamented the fact that Michelle wasn't here to help us. I guess some people have the gift and some don't. I DON'T.


Soooo, here's the picture of my paint color....Michelle, what color is it? (Just kidding, I think we figured it out, it's called "Serene Peach")

The same color blindness applies when I try to choose a color of paint for a room in my house. I generally have a picture in my head of what I want it to look like or how I want it to feel
but can't seem to put my finger on a good color. I tend to buy a quart of paint and put it on the wall, then decide I don't like it and go buy another quart of something else. I have just about any color you would want (in a quart size) in my garage. Someday I'll use them on something!

Veteran's Day Parade!

Thanks to Leslie for calling us and inviting us to the parade today in Mesa! We all had a great time watching the fire trucks, boy scout troops, marching bands, boy scout troops, old cars, boy scout troops, and dance clubs (did I mention boy scout troops?) It was a fun, small town feeling parade that reminded me of Star Valley. We were sure glad Leslie remembered chairs and blankets to sit on.

Great Playmates!

I love that my boys play together. Some days it is more like harassing, but deep down I know they love each other.

Today I was mowing the lawn and Dallin was out riding his bicycle. Garrett wanted to join but couldn't reach the pedals to his tricycle. Dallin (in his high squeaky voice he reserves for babies and puppies) said; "It's okay Garrett, don't cry, I will take you for a ride." What a sweet brother.

Back and forth, up and down the sidewalk until I was finished with the lawn.


It was such a nice evening we spent it outside working in the yard and swinging on our new swing set. Our grass is nice and green (our water bill is astronomical), the fruit on the trees are beginning to ripen, and the flowers I planted are just peeping out of the dirt-I love to work in the yard. I wish I had more time for planting and tending a garden....maybe next season.

Our new swing set!!

I've been looking into getting one for the boys for Christmas and hadn't found what we wanted, so yesterday I posted a message on the Coupon Sense website. A woman responded saying that she had one she didn't use and if I wanted it, come and get it-FREE!

So, I loaded the boys into the truck, and made the trek to Good Year and loaded it up. We were planning on keeping it a secret until Christmas, but as I was loading the parts, Dallin yells out, "It's a swing set!!!" they were so excited we came home and put it together. We're really not very good at waiting for Christmas....


The swing set has this fun back-to-back swing. It also has a swing that looks like a porch swing with a canopy and a small swing for a baby that we can attach if we want.

FUN FUN FUN!

Tug of War

This is a favorite past-time of Garrett and Parker. Parker pulls on the blanket and Garrett jumps on it. Garrett gets a little ride, then he pulls on the blanket and Parker jumps on it. Back and forth, back and forth until they both collapse on the blanket for a rest.

Some days I'm not sure if I have two children and a puppy, or a litter of puppies.

Beware of Sharks!

Adam the shark that is! He's been hustling five-year olds for their favorite rocks and Hotwheels.

Dallin and Garrett love playing with their dad. They watch him show off, then they take turns learning to hold a stick and hit the ball. It's fun to watch them carry around the step stool so they can reach the table.






Adam wanted a pool table for Christmas-it's a little early, but we never could wait!

(I think one of the reasons he wanted it so badly was to give this room a purpose-he's always been so confused as to what this room is for....now he knows, it's the pool room!)

Dallin is a Super Hero!

He's got the pose, the costumes, and the muscles to prove it! His identity is a secret, it changes from Superman to Batman then Spiderman...

He loves to pose in his superhero PJs.













For his fifth birthday, 'Batman' invited his friends to his Bat Cave. We covered the windows, hung bats from the ceiling with black, purple and white crepe paper. Everyone had batman masks to wear and a bat-cake that stained our teeth red!

Friends (from left to right): Ava, Jace, Keaton, Sammy, Kaisa, Dallin, Keaton Harris,(hiding behind Dallin) Britt, Annika, and Garrett.

Russell Report

Welcome to the Russell Report!

We finally jumped on the wagon (I hope we won't need rehabilitation later).



Howdy to all our friends and family around the world! This is what is happening in our lives:



Dallin and Garrett are getting older and cuter.....is that a word, cuter?

Adam is a busy guy working 12 hr days and getting grey hair. He wanted a position where he felt needed and he got what he wished for.

He is the National Sales Manager (so important) for Lane Award Mfg. I keep telling him he works too much, and he reminds me of the house we live in, the cars we drive andthe food we eat...

In his spare time (ha ha) he likes to play racquetball, watch monster movies and wrestle alligators (namely Dallin and Garrett).


He got this big chocolate bar for Christmas last year...I think he's still trying to finish it!!



Dallin is five years old! He loves going to school and learning to read and write. His teacher is Mrs. Campbell. He walks 2 blocks to school with a friend that lives across the road.

Some of his favorite things to do are play with friends (he has found many in our new neighborhood) and write 'letters' to everyone he knows.




We told him if he made that face it might get stuck like that....you should see his school picture!


Garrett is TWO! He is everything you can imagine it means to be two years old. It's a good thing he's so darn cute or he wouldn't live to see three.

As I type, Adam is putting him back into bed for the 12th time tonight. This crazy boy is up at the crack of dark and sometimes doesn't go to bed until he's sure everyone else is asleep-he hates to miss out on the fun.



He is such a ham! Any time a camera comes close, he poses and says 'cheese'!


Parker is 7 months old! What?!? You didn't know about the new addition to our family? Adam took pity on a scroungy, louse infested puppy that was abandoned in the parking lot of Lane Award Mfg. (hence the name Parker).

We cleaned him up and think he's pretty cute. The only problem with cute puppies is that they turn into dogs!




This a picture of him the week we brought him home-so innocent looking!




Garrett and Parker are such great playmates! Garrett picks on Parker endlessly and vice versa.

Dallin is good at helping us train him to sit, stay, lie down and chase cats-he's getting really good at the latter.








We often find them lying on each other watching TV or after a good romp.

Parker has a sweet disposition and is really great with the boys. He's a timid dog but has warmed up to our friends.





Parker is now 7 months old and weighs about 40 pounds...we hope he stops growing. If you look closely, you might see the doggie door he still manages to squeeze through-it was part of our new house when we moved in and was made for much smaller dogs!


Speaking of new house-this is it!!! We love the house Leslie found for us at a yard sale! We literally bought the yard and the house! We have loved it!










Oh, and what do I do???? Well, I sit around all day eating bon-bons and watching HGTV! ;)

Bekki