Long Adventures

More Easter Pictures that Nick took

2009-04-18T21:58:00.000-07:00

I figured out how to get the best pictures at family parties. Hand your camera to your 12 year old and tell him to go have some fun.
Tori would never have given me this pose, but for her big cousin Nick, it was a done deal.
I wish there was a way to get rid of this blur because this is such a good one of William.
Hey look it's Alice in Wonderland about to jump into the Rabbit Hole with Cinderella and Prince Charming who would rather be in a Power Ranger suit but was told that would be inappropriate for Easter.
See...here again....I tried to get a smile earlier, but no luck. Nick asks and she complies.
Guitar bonding...that was too short. Hey family we all can sing and enjoy it, I think. Why don't we do this more often.
And this is what having six bigger people, who do everything you want all the time, looks like when those six refuse to obey.

Happy Easter!

2009-04-18T21:17:00.000-07:00

It was so good to have two of my sisters in Cali for Easter. It felt like no time had passed; like we just live a few miles apart again. No big deal. Just a regular holiday gathering spent in Aunt Edie's backyard.
The kids enjoyed Papa Ken's train. Do you think he'd mind if we just put a little dirty sand in here??

Eagan loved the train too. He's at the age though where you have to watch his every move so once again the whole event passed me by. Were there adults at this party?
Here are the kids before the Easter egg hunt eating their lunch so we can hide the eggs. Hey kids, save some room for some chocolate and jelly beans.
And here's Jason and Caleb enjoying their prizes. They all did really well since we have a slight problem with communication in our family and we forgot to tell each other that we were all bringing some eggs.

Adam and Eagan's Relationship

2009-04-18T20:50:00.001-07:00

Adam has always been fond of Eagan. When Eagan was a little baby we had to watch Adam carefully because he wanted to squish him non-stop. It was actually the cutest thing and now he does it to his baby sister Jill. But it didn't matter that Eagan had gained in stature and strength, Adam was smitten again.
Maybe it was the curly hair wings they both share or the fondness for paci's. It could be that Eagan seems to be wearing all his clothes. Or maybe he just appreciates another cute messy face. Whatever the case.....

Eagan would have none of it. Sorry Adam. There will be a day when he'll squish you back.

Skelly Visit

2009-04-18T20:19:00.001-07:00

I couldn't help but pick the picture that tells the best story of our last few weeks. My big sis and her family came to stay with us and our house was......LOUD. I think we were all surprised in the end how well it really went, and we really are all still friends.
We got to know baby Jill, who is the quietest baby I've ever met. The boys taught her how to be crazy like them and Braden managed to get her to grab his face and make grunting noises. It was hysterical until Jocelyn realized she forgot to push the record button on her camera. The grand prize video was lost forever.
Gage and Nick by far had the hardest task. They gave up their room and helped entertain when boredom would strike. By the end of the journey they were not only hearing their names from Mom and Dad, but Uncle Andrew and Auntie Jocelyn were often calling on them for help. I know they secretly wanted to pack one of them in their suitcase.
Someday I need to ask Beth, "What is it like to have all these older cousins who truly adore you?" I guess you really don't need to wear a princess hat because being adored in this way is what makes you know deep down that you really are a princess.

Crazy Hair

2009-01-17T09:16:00.000-08:00

He can sing and he's got the crazy hair to go with the look. None of the other boys had any curls. So we are having lots of fun watching Eagan's hairdo develop. It just keeps getting crazier.

Can you sing?

2009-01-17T08:47:00.000-08:00

We all watched American Idol this week. Eagan decided he wants to be the next American Idol. After watching people sing over and over again, he began to do this. Now when you ask him, "Eagan, can you sing?" This is what you get.

Looking Back...Christmas Morning

2009-01-16T16:12:00.000-08:00

And after a long tortuous wait, the day finally arrived. Grandma Debbie showed up early and watched all the present opening and then we had a yummy waffle breakfast. Grandma and Grandpa Mac came for the afternoon. We had a yummy Turkey dinner, opened more presents, and then attempted to make lefse (our favorite Norwegian goodie Grandma always used to make). I got burned and a spatula was destroyed, but we laughed and did get to enjoy a few good bites. Thanks Mom.
And after a long tortuous wait, the day finally arrived. Grandma Debbie showed up early and watched all the present opening and then we had a yummy waffle breakfast. Grandma and Grandpa Mac came for the afternoon. We had a yummy Turkey dinner and

Looking Back...Gingerbread Houses

2009-01-16T12:24:00.000-08:00

It's now a tradition that can't be broken. We always make gingerbread houses with our Aunt Edie, and all our cousins for Christmas. This year we went to Sara's house and she made all the house parts so that every child could make a house. There were somewhere around 15 houses. She did such a good job organizing, we've decided she gets to do this every year. Go Sara! Caleb gets the award for filling his yard with the most goodies.

Gage gets the award for the happiest house.

Nick for the best lights and making a surfboard for his gingerbread man.

I think Braden used the most licorice ropes. We were so proud of our creative decorators.

Looking Back...Thanksgiving

2009-01-16T12:03:00.000-08:00

We spent Thanksgiving in Arizona this year. We have lots of family there, and we got to meet our new adopted cousins who came from Ethiopia. There were 14 children at this party and only 8 adults. We played a game of croquet, ate an awesome meal, and got to know each other deeper. Thank you Delight for hosting us.
The other half of our trip was spent with Stacy's mom, Grandma, and Aunt. We always have a blast with these wild Canadians. There's always lots of laughing and competitive sequence games. One of the days we went to a glass display at the Arizona Botanical Gardens.
We walked through a maze of cacti and amazing displays of crazy glass shapes. We all wanted to take home one of these glass balls, but we didn't think the security guard would let us jump on the boat and get one. Eagan was making his usual, "uh, uh, uh" noises when he saw the balls.

Looking Back...Knotts

2009-01-16T11:45:00.000-08:00

I know it's the middle of January, but we had some fun times over the holidays, and I really want to share them. So here begins my holiday look back. Maybe I'll get it all done now, or maybe it will take me weeks, but here goes. We surprised the boys one morning in early December with a trip to Knott's Berry Farm. Caleb had never been and Braden couldn't remember going when he was younger. They had an absolute blast and so did we. The park was very empty so we got to go on all the rides 3 or 4 times. Eagan was perfect all day and loved watching Snoopy on Ice. The big boys all loved Jaguar, but stayed away from the upside down rides. Caleb says his favorite ride is the Log Ride even though he refused to go on it a second time when given the opportunity. He decided next time when he is 6, he'll be brave enough to ride again.

Eagan walks

2008-11-25T19:51:00.000-08:00

Check out our little walker. He started taking steps right when he turned one. Now it's all he wants to do.

The latest and the greatest

2008-11-06T19:05:00.001-08:00

Here are some of the latest pictures of the boys. Caleb has been living in his cowboy gear for a couple months now. Eveyone knows when Caleb has been wearing his cowboy boots, because he stinks up the house when he takes them off.

Braden loves to take Eagan for a ride on the big wheel. It's a bit frightening to watch, but he's in good hands. Eagan laughs and smiles all the way.

After studying the Wright Brother's, we decided to be really creative for Halloween. Gage was Orville and Nick was Wilbur. They received a lot of compliments for their effort.

No, this was not Halloween. The boys do Awana's on Wednesday nights. Every week there is a different theme. This was scientist night. Stacy thought they should dress like this more often. It's more like the messy rocker look. Actually many rock stars really do dress like this.

Eagan is one!

2008-11-06T18:21:00.001-08:00

On November 4th Eagan celebrated his first birthday. It was fitting that this day was the day our country watched in amazement as Obama became President. Last year Eagan was born on the day of the time change at 11:04 on 11/04/07. And I believe we are on our way to some big changes. We should all start praying for Obama whether we wanted him in office or not.
Eagan could certainly care less. He just lives in the moment and enjoys himself (unless he's tired or has something in his pants).

Eagan was'nt sure why all of sudden everyone started looking at him and singing him this silly song, but he smiled really big when he saw the light on this big pile of food mommy just put in front of him. Caleb blew out the candle before he had a chance to try, but the cake made up for it. Eagan, we love you. May God bless you with another awesome year.

Redeem Halloween!

2008-10-31T12:27:00.001-07:00

Braden turns 9!

2008-10-28T20:39:00.000-07:00

Braden has one more year before he is permenantly in the double digits. This year he decided it would be best to have a sleepover with 3 of his closest friends and his 3 brothers. I was very happy with this plan because adding just 3 more boys to this bunch isn't too difficult for me. They played some fun party games and stayed up until the wee hours of the night (I think 1am was the latest). Braden is really easy to please and was very excited to get a new remote control jeep. I think the group woke up all of our neighbors sending the jeep flying over a makeshift jump in our parking lot.

Braden is doing really well this year in school (home of course). He is very quick and finishes everything before anyone else. We had Stacy's family over last week, and his Grandma asked, "Does Braden ever stop moving?" "Not very often," was my response.

Braden is the one I catch playing with Eagan the most. He's a little guy and carry's Eagan around without a problem. We get nervous watching, but Eagan loves him and reaches his hands up to him all the time. Physical affection is definetely Braden's love language.

Kindergarten is here!

2008-09-20T20:39:00.000-07:00

Here's our fourth little man when he was about two. He's now 5 1/2 and loving doing all kinds of new school stuff with his brothers. He doesn't really get why the balloon blew up when we poured baking soda in a bottle of vinegar, but he sure thought it was cool to watch. He already knows his ABC's and 123's, but now it's time to get them on paper in an orderly fashion. He doesn't much like that. He loves to read, but still won't eat anything green. Today he got to be a part of a filming over in Hollywood. Grandma had a friend who needed some boys and well we got lots of them, so off we went. By the end of the day, they had used most of their film up on him. He really didn't have a clue what he was doing, but he sure is a good listener and the big people with the cameras seem to like that. Well it could've also been the dimples.

Museum

2008-08-28T21:28:00.000-07:00

School has begun and here we are learning all about history at the Museum of Natural History. It's too bad the display's don't come alive like the movie, "Night at the Museum." But the boys sure made it look like something was after them over and over again. Our favorite part of the museum was the live bug display. It was awesome to see all the crazy bugs you don't get to see everyday in the backyard. Unless of course you decide to go to Burma like daddy and sleep in a hut with giant spiders hanging over your head. We were very content to view them through the glass, thank you very much.

Crawling machine

2008-08-08T14:42:00.000-07:00

Eagan is now nine months old and crawling everywhere. Quick! We need a baby gate, and all the baby proofing items. When he's awake, I can't get anything done unless his brother's will watch him. He's on their chore list now. They all fight over who get's him. And when I take him upstairs to be with his brothers, he practically jumps out of my arms with excitement. It's not such a chore when you know how much you are favored. And then there's Braden who just wants to squish him all day long because he can't stand not to. He has had several pet names for Eagan like: bushes, squishy ma gushy, George Bush (because of his red, white, and blue outfit), and David Hasselhoff (I have no idea why but it cracks us all up). Eagan loves it when daddy plays the guitar and likes to put his mouth on it so he can feel the vibrations. OH to be 9 months old; gimme my peas and bananas and something to test with my mouth.

shadow kids

2008-08-08T14:37:00.000-07:00

Can you guess who this wild bunch of kids are and where they were when this was taken?

July

2008-07-24T21:56:00.000-07:00

July is almost over. What a whirlwind! We celebrated the 4th, said goodbye to the Skelly's (my sister's family), and celebrated my 33rd birthday. We had a blast at the Montgomery's house watching fireworks in the street. I had more than one moment where I thought to myself, "oh this is how so many people end up in the emergency room without their fingers on the fourth." But we all survived and kept all of our fingers and toes.

Zoran visits

2008-06-05T12:59:00.000-07:00

Our friend Zoran came from Bosnia to visit us this last week. His brother was married in Oklahoma to an American and he couldn't resist coming to the states without visiting us in sunny California. Actually we would be pretty upset if he didn't come see us. Zoran is like a brother to us now and we miss him dearly. We took him to the beach and after about two hours he finally braved the cold ocean. He was so proud of himself for swimming in the Pacific.

Gage and Nick don't mind the cold ocean at all. They are taking their first steps towards surfing like Dad. No more playing with buckets of water and building sand castles for these two. They are in the water the entire time we are at the beach now. I think I'll now have three guys in my house going out for an early morning surf.

Eagan is 6 months old

2008-05-11T17:27:00.000-07:00

It's hard to believe he's already six months old. Time goes by fast when you don't get a lot of sleep. He has been our most challenging sleeper. He takes short cat naps during the day and wakes up talking in the middle of the night. He's already trying to crawl which seems unusual to us. It's hard to get this kid to smile. Whenever I point the camera at him, he just tries to reach for it so he can stick it in his mouth and check it out.

Rocket Science

2008-05-11T17:18:00.000-07:00

What do you do when you have a lot of boys in your house? Go to the nearest field and shoot of rockets, of course. Stacy told us this thing would go REALLY far, but we had no idea what we got ourselves into. We discovered that rockets go really really far up and travel a good distance away from the launching point. It landed just a few feet away from the High School pool behind us. Luckily the janitor was roaming around and helped us get it back. So until we find a bigger spot to launch there will be no more rocket flying.

Go Dodgers

2008-04-30T12:28:00.000-07:00

With the help of our good friend, Judy, we went to see our first Dodger game. The night would've been perfect if it hadn't rained all over us during the 3rd inning. The night would've been perfect if there wasn't a group of drunk people sitting just below us cursing and yelling (5 were kicked out during the course of the game). The night would've been perfect if it weren't for the arctic winds blowing on us all night. The night would've been perfect if the Dodger's actually won. Oh well maybe we'll try an Angel game next time.

Big Smiles

2008-03-28T19:32:00.000-07:00

Eagan is finally starting to laugh. He gets super excited when his big brothers come around him. It's not really easy to make him smile so this picture is actually a big deal. Most of the time he just looks at us like we are a bunch of crazies. Well we do act kind of nuts trying to get him to react.

Happy Easter

2008-03-28T19:07:00.000-07:00

Caleb enjoyed his first Easter in America. Easter for him has been a cold day in Bosnia where we get to go to Max and Liz's house and find eggs with a plastic bag. But of course all the eggs get quickly returned to be used for next year's celebration. Unless the eggs are real then you give them to all the mommies because they have to peel dozens of them to add to all the salads that get brought. And then we eat egg salad, tuna salad with eggs, and chicken salad with eggs. But we all seem to go home hungry because those salads look pretty gross with all those funny colors mixed in them.

The tradition we do miss about Easter in Bosnia is the way all of our neighbors made these amazing decorative eggs and handed them out to everyone. It makes egg decorating a lot more meaningful when you know you'll be sharing your creations. Even the adults paint eggs and get into the fun. We've traded that for sunshine, Easter outfits, and a bunny in a costume at Wal-Mart. Oh wait! Isn't Easter about Jesus?

Eagan is 4 months old

2008-03-05T14:33:00.000-08:00

Arizona cousins

2008-02-28T21:03:00.001-08:00

Doesn't it look like I interrupted an important conversation. This is Eagan with his cousin Jacob. We just spent a week in Arizona introducing Eagan to both sides of the family. With the Elonen's we have all together 10 kids. And they are adopting so it will soon be 12 when we hang out. It's a good thing they all get along so well.

Here come the teens

2008-02-28T20:56:00.000-08:00

I can't believe how big these guys are getting. Titus (who is just a couple weeks younger than Gage) is now taller than me. It wasn't that long ago that we were following them all around in their diapers trying to snap photos of them playing together. As two year olds they didn't get along very well, but now they have lots of things to talk about.

Braden's buds

2008-02-28T20:46:00.000-08:00

Braden with Simeon and Braden with Isaac.

desert princess

2008-02-28T20:34:00.000-08:00

This is Caleb's favorite Arizona cousin. She's cute and she's just his size. Her name is Talia, but Caleb calls her "the girl with all the boys" because she has four older brothers. It was so cute to watch them play princess and Mr. Incredible.

Becoming a man

2008-02-28T18:23:00.000-08:00

This month was a big one for Gage. It was his golden birthday. Not only did he turn 13 but it happened on the 13th. Stacy decided to take this moment very seriously. He bought him a William Wallace sword and called him into manhood in front of all his peers in the junior high class. There were many tears as Stacy shared his love for Gage in front of everyone and presented the sword to him. This is a picture of all the junior high kids praying for him afterwards. This is a moment that won't easily be forgotten. And now the bar has been set high for the next four boys to have their entrance into the teens. Gage also got a trip to Medieval Times with some of his favorite men (including his brothers).

Think like a five year old

2008-02-28T18:09:00.000-08:00

Caleb turned five this month. This was his first birthday that we celebrated in the U.S. We had a barbeque with the family and ate this awesome cake. Caleb is so much fun to be around. He's a chatter box and asks the funniest questions. Recently after we got home from yet another church meeting, he asked, "Why do you have to go to church all the time? Don't you remember what God's about?" If only we still thought like a five year old, we might not be such worried stressed out adults. We would just believe in God, know that He loves us, and know that He has a good plan.

Caleb and Beth

2008-02-28T17:39:00.000-08:00

This is Caleb with his cousin Beth cute as buttons in their snow gear. These two are peas in a pod when we get together. Caleb loves to play with all Beth's girl stuff and she doesn't seem to mind that Caleb often ends up with a sword in his hand dressed up as some kind of superhero.

winter fun

2008-02-20T22:36:00.000-08:00

We had the chance to spend a weekend in Big Bear thanks to some family friends. The boys were so happy to finally get their tushies cold again sleding down some hills. Gage managed to keep himself low to the ground at all times. He wasn't taking any chances after breaking his arm twice in the last two years playing in the snow. Nick had the opportunity to finally try out his snowboard (when his dad wasn't hogging it). I was just happy to be driving down the mountain without any injuries.

Eagan smiles

2008-01-28T16:43:00.000-08:00

Eagan is now 3 months old and we are all getting used to having the little man around. The boys have tried endlessly for the last three months to get him to look into their eyes and smile. Stacy and I have also moved our heads in Eagan's gaze whistling, "Eagan, Eagan, look here." It's such a perfect picture of how God works in our lives. He speaks to us continuously. He helps us constantly. He listens to our every cry. And He longs for the day when we look at Him and smile. The first time Eagan focused on me and smiled, tears welled up in my eyes. Braden choked back his tears when it happened to him. And Nick talked about it for hours. Gage and Caleb are still longing for their moment to be smiled at. Can't you just see God crying his eyes out with joy the day we look up to Him and say, "Abba Father, I see You. Thank you for taking such good care of me."