One down, one to go

So we have successfully weaned Andrew. I never imagined I would nurse him until he was 17 months old, but sometimes life goes in ways you wouldn't expect. But after all is said and done, we are finished. It does seem that he is sleeping better at night now that he is weaned. I'd like to thank all of you for your helpful advice, tips, etc about weaning. They were helpful.

Now I just have to get Cole potty trained. We started today. After a rough start this morning, we had a successful afternoon and evening. Now we'll see how the rest of the week goes. Wish me luck. (And as always, I'm open for advice.) Thanks.

Merry Christmas.

Our trip to Niagara Falls

Hello all - it's been forever since I've actually posted something on the blog, so that tells you how monumental this occasion is. Well, as I'm sure you all know, I just recently returned to Utah after a 3 1/2 week stint in Maine with the Barretts. I had a FABULOUS time and added several new states to my list of places visited. A few of my favorites from this trip were seeing the Boston temple; a visit to Acadia National Park (Maine); stopping at the Hill Cumorah & the Sacred Grove in Palmyra (New York); and HELLO! standing next to Niagara Falls! What an action-packed vacation, if I do say so myself!

Anyway, I thought you might enjoy a few pictures of Niagara Falls. I took hoards of pictures everywhere we went, but I won't overwhelm you with my photos (especially since quite a few didn't turn out as well as I had hoped). So, I hope you enjoy the few of Niagara Falls that are presented here. The pics don't begin to do the spectacular place justice, but hey, it's the best we could do.

Ann kept trying to convince me to go over the falls with her, but I insisted that it wasn't a very good idea. She finally talked me into it, however, and off we went (see picture below). Cole and Andrew, on the other hand, were very wise in their choice to remain on shore. After we paid our $25,000 fine and convinced the border patrol and park security that putting us in jail was a bad idea, we were finally able to leave the state of New York and go back to Maine...Okay, so maybe it didn't happen QUITE like that, but it sure is fun to joke about : ) I couldn't resist editing the photo to put us in it.

October....

October was a grand month. I've had a lot of ups and downs with the guys in my life. (Dennis/DJ has decided he likes me again, but I'm kind of dating this other kid...)I'm trying not to fail block, but Cooney dislikes me so I don't know how that's going to work out. I have become the resident cheerleader for speech and debate as well as fencing and band.I have attended one speech meet and two concerts in the past two days. Anyway, I've had a lot of fun. I had a movie party and I've spent lots of time with Josh <3. Hope you guys are having a great November so far.

October Fun

We started out the month with cold and snowy weather. We took Katie out to play, and she liked it.
The other pictures are from when we went to the mall in Idaho Falls to do some shopping and to distract Katie while Justin looked at a few things. And there's one picture of katie and the little girl I babysit.

It's Been A While

So I haven't posted on here in ages it seems like. So I thought I'd give you a quick update. Things are going swell. We love Maine. It is beautiful and the people we've met are really nice. Dan is enjoying teaching at the university and all of his colleagues are super. It has its moments of stress and busyness, but overall is a good experience. Cole is actually growing. He has inordinate amounts of energy and keeps us going every minute. He loves to read and help me with the dishes. Andrew is a born climber and I get tired of fetching him down off our steep stairs a million times a day. But I'm convinced he's part mountain goat or something. It's in his soul and there is no stopping him. I am enjoying the beautiful fall season of New England. It has only begun and is extremely gorgeous. I love fall; it is my favorite season. I absolutely love the reds and yellows and oranges.

Dan and I have callings in our new ward which are ones that neither of us have done before. I serve as the CTR 6 teacher in primary, which is an adventure sometimes. I have two little girls and I confess I don't know what to do with them sometimes. I am used to working with boys. I did cub scouts for a year and with my men at home, that's what I'm used to. I guess I'll figure it out. Dan serves as the ward music director. Basically, they want him to start up a functioning choir. He also has been called to be the 11 year old scout leader. I think he is a little nervous since he know nothing about scouting, as he has never done any of it. He will be great though.

Anyway, I think I have rambled on long enough and need to get my bread in the oven. Later.

Weird Encounter

Ok, so I am an aide for Ruffier. YAY! and I was making copies in the teachers' office and Mr. Samples came in. So there I was, making my 240 copies and he was like, "So how's April?" and I was like wait a second! You know who i am?! It was so weird. But anyway, he told me to say hi to April, Jane, and Mary. I figured this was the best way to say hi for him to all of you. :)

Maine pics continued

Maine pics

A marble board!!!

A couple of years ago, I was on a crazed, determined quest to acquire a marble board for our family. You may remember all my solicitations for help, after attempts to find one online failed. Jill and I pieced all the details together (confirmed them with Matt, who had a marble board--still does) and I set out to make my own board. Kade and I were in the process of selling our first home, and we didn't have the proper tools, but we managed to throw something together really quick, using the biggest drill bit he had for his drill, to placate me for the moment. We sold our home, moved into our new one, spent the summer getting organized, then with a very busy school year and being pregnant with Joshua, the marble board was pushed to the back. Well, thanks to Mary, who is on her own quest to own an elusive marble board, she resurrected my quest, and I've succeeded. We don't have many woodworking tools, and didn't know what to do about not having a drill press. We finally solved the problem this time by finding a drill bit which attaches to Kade's typical drill, that does the job perfectly, and lets you bypass having to have access to a drill press. I finally finished staining and sealing the board yesterday, so we played on the board last night. Everyone loved it (we had played before on my makeshift board a couple of years ago, but this time was fabulous.) Sorry for the long post. I've included photos of the first board, and my new one. Anyway, there's hope if you're interested in the same thing. Just get in touch with me for some details:)

A California August

Hi, all. So it's September 8th, and I'm posting about August. Gotta problem with that??!! :) Anyway, we're all well, although in shock that we've been in school for a month now. Crazy!!!! Kade and I celebrated our 14th wedding anniversary back on the 18th. Fourteen sounds like such a long time, but it's hard to believe how fast the time has flown. Joshua turned 16 months on Sunday. I'm convinced I'm in some kind of time warp. Anyone feel that way too? Here's a few photos for your viewing pleasure.

Maine

HEY! So I got home from Maine last Wednesday. I am very happy to be home. I'll post pictures when I get the chance, but right now I have to go do my pre-calc homework...so anyway, ttyl.

Anniversary

Happy Anniversary to everyone who has August Anniversaries. I usually forget to send a card or an email...so Hope everyone has a good anniversary.

Montana Stock Shindig reply

I'm making this a post so it's more obvious than a comment, because, again, Toni and Amber, it needs to be said what a terrific event you put on. You guys did such an amazing job. I think you two should do it again, because of your fabulous skills. I don't necessarily want to be the host of the reunion (in Montana, of course), but I'd be willing to step up if you guys are burned out and no one else cares to, just so we can continue this wonderful family legacy preservation device:) The photos are on their way. I'm burning dvd's as we speak. We had such a great time!

Montana Stock Shindig

I just wanted to thank everyone for coming to the family reunion and for making it a huge success. I really appreciate that everyone worked hard to get along, be cooperative, and participate in the activities we had planned. We somehow managed to be together for 3 full days without too much drama - hooray for our side! I really hope that you all had a good time and made some memories that will last a lifetime. And I really think the icing on the cake was that we were able to get a picture of all 12 of us--the first time in 11 years! That is something that I will definitely treasure for the rest of my life. We'll definitely have to do it again in a couple of years. Finally, I want to publicly thank Amber for all of her support in planning & executing the reunion. She was a tremendous help to me - I really could not have pulled it off without her. I was somewhat of a slave driver during those three days, and she did everything I asked (okay, maybe commanded) her to do without complaint. Thanks so much Amber - you're the best!

A sneak peak:)

edit: just an edit to the post below. I accidently uploaded the same photo twice, and missed one I had planned to include with Mom in it. I deleted the duplicate but don't have time to upload the missing one. I'll be back later.

Just a sneak peak of what you'll be receiving shortly. Hope you all had as much fun as we Petersens had. Toni and Amber, you did an amazing job planning and executing this huge undertaking. Thanks for everything. We miss everyone already.

Family Reunion

Well, I thought the family reunion was a success. I'm glad you could all come. :) We missed Denise, but maybe next time she can come too. :)

Hip Hip Hurray!

The 2009 Stevens Family Reunion is in less than a week! Get excited!!!!!!

May Flowers and Weeds:)

Hi, all, I thought I better do a May recap to preserve the family legacy although I'm hoping to see you all in person very shortly. May flew by in a whirlwind. We celebrated the boys' birthdays this month, with Joshua turning a year and Caleb nine. My school honeys are unofficially done, but will party this week until the end on Friday. Maryn, Joshua, and I couldn't help but keep strolling past the school on our walk this morning to spy on Elise as she ran through the school sprinklers in the field on "Water Day." I tried to drag the walk out so I could spy on the third graders (ie, Caleb and his best friend Dylan) who were coming next, but after 75 minutes in the stroller and Maryn was ready to get out, hop the fence and join the fun. We also unofficially acquired a "pet" a week or so ago. We have a mole or gopher digging up our front lawn, after our neighbor, whose backyard borders our side yard, landscaped said backyard. Well, anyway, happy June until we meet!
The photo is one of all the honeys after a full day of Memorial Day commemoration activities. Yes, I bribed them to sit still for half a second--they're not impressed with all my preserving the family legacy.

Amber in the Month of May

iiiiiiiiHola Chicas!!!!!!!!!
Hello. I'm kinda hyper, so pardon me if I'm a little bit loony. Anyway, only about a week and a half of school for Amber. :D Hip hip Hooray! So, I went to youth leg which was kinda fun (no, I will not explain what it is) and yeah. So, I'm carrying out an "open long distance relationship" with a boy from Great Falls named Sam Martin. He's crazy, but in a good way. lol Mom is going nutso cuz I'm failing my journalism class. Don't worry, it's all because of my own stupid laziness. :) It doesn't bother me. I don't need the credit anyway. :) I'm excited for the family reunion. :) It makes me happy.

Catch Up!

Since it has been quite a while since I last blogged - here goes!
Alexus is getting ready to end her first year of formal education. I can't believe it has flown by so quickly. She has her Kindergarten graduation on June 3rd and is very excited. She almost talks about nothing else. Alexus also recently started our garden-in the house and in starter pellets. We still have snow up here so its hard to say when our peas, watermelons, and carrots will end up in the ground. She hasn't been feeling well so she wasn't too keen on a picture.
Tyse is nearing his third birthday very quickly! He has decided on a cowboy cake with a rope on it. He has become obsessed with roping and guns and horses and cowboys - at least for today. He definately is all boy and is testing his limits as much as he can. He also has acquired glasses which look absolutely adorable on him!
As for me, its pretty much the same old thing - working and chasing kiddos and taking care of sick kids for about the last two to three weeks. I recently broke down and read the Twilight Saga after Harry Potter was bumped because of the Twilight movie release. I actually really enjoyed them and read them all in less than a week, unfortunately my poor house suffered, so I am playing catch-up on that. The joys of house cleaning - lol.

Congratulations!

Congratulations Mary, Don and family!
We are so happy for you and glad to hear that everything is going well! We are so excited to see everyone. Alexus and Tyse are really excited to see Emma and Ethan and Ainsley and the new baby, Lenay (sorry, I think I spelled it wrong). She has been talking about seeing her cousins with the really blonde hair that plays with her all the time. I hope everything is going well for you guys!

April finishes April:)

Well, April has come and gone in a blink of an eye. Its conclusion has actually brought May showers, which we desperately need. We concluded April with Caleb's cub scout pack meeting. Pack meetings are supposed to be family affairs and they sure are in our ward. My girls look forward to the meetings just as much as Caleb does. This month's theme was dinosaurs and found us digging for bones on the church's property. Just a little over a month of school left--Yeah!

For Amber

April beat me to posting...but here I am giving Amber the post she ordered. i second amber's email about being more in touch with each other especially as the blog is such a great tool. I'm really grateful for it. Anyway, I'll get off my soap box

We went on a picnic today in St. Anthony which is a 15 minute drive from Rexburg. There's a little park right on the river. I saw a fish jump, and Katie tried out a baby swing for the first time. We were sad to come home.

Justin starts school up again on Monday which I am mourning. I feel like I hardly had anytime with him on his week off. We went to Salt Lake to check out the University of Utah for grad school, and I got to play with Toni for two days. That was fun. She took us to this really neat planetarium and then we also went for a drive in the mountains. There's something about mountains that are good for the soul.

I think that's all that is going on in our lives. can't wait to see everyone at the family reunion!

Alright, I'll post:)

For a while there, it seemed like I was the only one posting, so I backed off a bit. For more in-depth details of our own family, you can visit kapandcompany.blogspot.com. Stevens family members don't comment much on the posts or on my own blog, so it's hard to guage if anyone cares or is paying attention. Kade's family and a number of friends who've moved away all blog up a storm, and it's impossible for me to keep up and comment on all their posts, but I've always tried to comment on all my own family members posts so you all know I'm paying attention to your lives, even if that attention is being paid at nearly midnight:)

My honeys had a week of easter vacation ending with Easter, and Kade's vacation began with Easter so we haven't been in our normal routine which is nice. We've finally kicked the pinkeye thing (well, we eradicated it a little while ago.) Lately, I've been trying to teach Haleigh, Caleb and Elise how to play the piano. Haleigh's been teaching herself for a couple of years now, with some minor interference on my part, but now I'm trying to push her more. I've posted Easter photos on my blog for any interested parties, but here I've included a few of my latest favorite photos of my honeys.

Post!

Am I the only one who posts on here anymore? Honestly!

Post!

Am I the only one who posts on here anymore? Honestly!

DC Trip

Hey. I got back from DC last night. (Thank you so darn much for paying for it, Toni.) I had a lot of fun, except at the dance, but i won't go into that. Anyhoo, here's some pics. I have a TON more on a disc. :)

SHOCKING NEWS!!!!

:) Enjoy! Too much time in the bathroom, I guess...or really tired at 1 in the morning...anyhoo...

HELLO!!!!!!!!!!!! NEYAAAAAA!!!!!!!!!!!

Hey guys! I like messing with my camera, so I'm gonna post some junk. :)ANYHOO!!!! I was gonna post a better vid of the shane-a-beast, but thought it might be considered "porn" since he never wears stuff besides his undies...oh well...you'll get the general idea of my current fave pastime.

Ethan's Baptism

We attended Ethan's baptism yesterday, and we are so proud of him. He is such a good example. He always surprises us by his deep thoughts and good decisions. Congratulations Ethan!

Alive and well, we think!

Hi, folks! It's good to see everyone posting again. Good job, Jill, leading the charge. You can click on the thumbnail photos above for a larger image; then click the large image again to reduce it.
We are doing well, despite the wild financial and climate roller-coaster of life in California these days. Education is being hit extremely hard with all the budget woes, but we feel positive and hopeful that Kade will get to stay as a counselor at his school site. His district is extremely well-run, and it's definitely paying off with the crisis. We've also been keeping an eye on our local school district and how the cuts will impact our children's school. We'll just have to see.
My baby girl princess turns three in just a couple of weeks which seems so crazy. Mr. J will hit the ten-month mark and has gotten so busy. He likes to sit on Maryn's tricycle and pretend he's driving it.
Our older three are coasting on the downslope of the school year.
I deleted Jill's request for this post, so I'm referencing the rest of yours to answer the questions.
Favorite dessert--usually anything with chocolate. My favorite ice cream is Denali's Moosetracks.
Favorite shoes--I love wearing socks and shoes in general, but I'm pretty functional about what I own.
Games--our latest family favorite is SWAP--even Maryn can play it with us. It's an inexpensive card game that I'd recommend for some cheap entertainment.
Books--I don't have favorites, so the most recent one I've read was actually re-reading Elantris by Brandon Sanderson--such a great book.
As to a movie--I don't have favorites here either, but the most recent one I watched and loved was "Cranford." For all you Jane Austen fans out there, you'd love this one. Kade and I loved it. I would definitely recommend it.
Well, I think that's all. Hope everyone's doing well.

A Snippet Continued...

forgot the rest. whoops!
2.I love most of my shoes! I really like my Crocs right now...
3.Clue!!!!!! Hurrah!!!!! I love games!!!
4.Bookity, Book book. hmm...so many to choose from! I'll randomly pick Sense and Sensibility. :)

A Snippet from the Crazy Life of Amber

1. DESSERT!!!! RUN FOR IT!!! YUMMY!! YUMMY!!!! Currently, reeses peanut butter cups are my favorite...ask Mom, I'm eating her out of house and home.

Hello from sunny AZ

We've had an eventful 2009 so far. January brought a host of events. I celebrated my 28th birthday (Can I really be that old?), Cole lost his hearing for about 21/2 weeks, Mom came to visit for a couple of days because she had another conference. February brought more. Cole's hearing thankfully returned. Dan is currently in Carson City where he will perform with the Carson City Symphony. He has been gone 21/2 days and will be gone for 2 1/2 more. It seems like forever. Anyway, like I mentioned above, Cole's hearing has returned and it is fun to have him back. We are back to being silly and singing and all sorts of mischief. He's back to telling me he's "just too busy" or that he's "just doing things" when I call for him. He is still obsessed with sports. Andrew is 7 months old and is army crawling. Nothing and nowhere (and noone) is safe anymore. He's a man with a mission. He is usually mild and very happy and smiley. He's currently working on two teeth and has a bit of a cold, so it's not always pleasant. I'm just trying to survive all the changes in our family and manage all the doctor's visits.

Between Cole and Andrew these days, I could probably invest in some kind of medical stock or something. But they are pretty healthy and happy despite our minor challenges, for which one must be thankful. Dan is finishing up his last semester with all the accompanying major exams, dissertations, and the such. We have applied for several jobs and are hoping to have a job for the fall somewhere. Anyplace is looking good right now, as long as we have a job. Well, that's about us.

Favorite Dessert: almost anything (I have a mouth full of sweet teeth.) Ice cream is definitely among the top.
Favorite pair of shoes: none or flip flops. I don't really like wearing shoes.
Favorite game: I don't think I have one.
Favorite book or movie: Again, I like many a good book and movie, but no favorite.

The Days

Well, not much new is going on for us. Justin is plugging away at school and work, and I'm loving my time at home with Katelyn. Justin has been looking for an internship for the summer, but we haven't felt very good about any of them so we'll see if we go somewhere or end up staying put for the summer.
1.Favorite Dessert --like Mary it depends, but usually cheesecake or cookies are a safe choice

2. shoes-my doc martens with the buckles...my whole life I wanted shoes like these and then two years ago I found these at a thrift store.

3. game -I love pictionary, but I think my favorite is Taboo

4. Book: the Hiding Place by Corrie ten Boom, Movie: I don't think I could pick but I really like Rigoletto, National Treasure, Gettysburg, and Ever After

Nothing much new on the Ostler front. No news is good news, right?
1. Dessert - depends on the day
2. shoes- none
3. game - depends on the day, but I'm not much of a gamer
4. we go through cycles on the movies, but Wizard of Oz, Great Race are a few keepers

Mary

The Virginia Stevens-February '09

Shannon's Favorites...
1. Favorite Dessert--CHOCOLATE-in almost any form-cheesecake, cupcake, icecream...
2. Favorite Pair of Shoes - flip flops, because they're the closest thing to bare feet without having my skin touch icky things in the road
3. Favorite Board or Card Game- I guess Scrabble or something like that, but we often play on the Wii-I know it's an evil video game, but there's nothing like looking like an idiot to prove that you love your children.
4. Favorite Book or Movie - I definitely can't pick a favorite here. I LOVE to read, and it really depends on my mood. We'd exceed our bandwith if I even tried to start listing favorites.

So now you know a little bit about me...otherwise, our family is doing the same old thing. We work, go to school, swim, eat dinner, go to bed, and do it all again the next day. We did finally break down and let Cody get a cellphone. We are so not in favor of young kids having cellphones, but he comes home to an empty house each afternoon for about 20 minutes. I'm a huge worrywart, so...hence, it had to be done. He pretty much has no freedom on the thing. Don't tell him though, because he doesn't know just how limited it is. ; )

All three of the boys actually made honor roll in the same grading period. That was strange. Poor Hunter usually struggles with that, but he's started kicking some butt. Parker always makes straight As and could probably use a little humbling. Cody just finished taking his first semester exams. I don't remember exams in sixth grade. It's nuts!

Matt and I are pretty much the same-thankfully that includes being employeed for the time being. Our school district, like many others, is working on a limited budget. Luckily, special ed teachers are some of the last to go. Thank heavens for the IDEA.

Well, that's all folks! I hope y'all are doing great and that February brings many wonderful things for you and your families.

Happy Birthday, Jane and Justin!

Hey you two. Wishing you a happy birthday from rainy Northern California. In honor of your birthdays, I'm doing 20 loads of laundry:) Hope your day has been more relaxing than mine on a Monday.