Jo Jo & The Real World

May

2010-05-11T10:23:00.000-07:00

Almost 1!

Zach's in blue, can you find him at the Hope of America program? (it was amazing that we found him!)

A rare kick in between cartwheels and hugging players. Go Paige!

3rd Grade Rainforest Project

My hot date!

What are the kids doing?

2010-05-03T10:33:00.000-07:00

Trying to keep away from the stairs, (and the drawers, and frames, and plants, and toilets....)

Happy Birthday Buster! The kids threw a great party; singing, a veggie cake, and a fresh clean change of bedding. Can you believe I've had this animal in my house for a year?

Or downstairs making a donut out of bread...

Maybe doing some creative art projects in Ky's room,

Or taking photos. Zach's photography merit badge was on "spring flowers"
Have a great week!

SB Last Day

2010-04-29T11:00:00.000-07:00

Skipbo Champ! If anyone wants to play, Ky is ready!

Grandma and Grandpa Woods spent the night since they were on their way home from Cali. They had perfect timing since someone could ride in their car (just when the kids were getting bugged by each other!)

Hanging out at Brighams' house

Touring the beautiful tabernacle. Every prophet (except Joseph Smith) has spoken at this pulpit. Wow!

The St. George temple is really breathtaking!

Spring Break was a success!

Day Three

2010-04-29T10:43:00.000-07:00

Night golfing

Listons are everywhere!

More fun at Valley of Fire State Park!

SB Cont.

2010-04-29T10:27:00.000-07:00

Day Two brings us to the Clark County Fair! Sometimes the spontaneous days are the funnest! I'm glad we ran into this event and it filled our entire day! The kids really liked the hypnotist show. Paige and I danced on stage with the break dancers but I will not show that footage! I realized if we lived there, my kids would be competing in raising the biggest hog or trying to lasso a calf. The only downfall was nobody would ride the Zipper with Kyler! Poor kid!

Tribute to grandma

Spring Break

2010-04-28T21:25:00.000-07:00

What in the world would a family do in Mesquite for spring break? Well, they'd make their first stop in beautiful Snow Canyon.

Play a while in the sand dunes,

take short hikes,

Go exploring in some lava caves,

And climb on a bunch of rocks looking for lizards.

Life's going too fast!

2010-03-15T10:25:00.000-07:00

Even a king size bed can get squishy with miss Paige.

She's been learning to read, went to dance lessons, a lot of hula hooping, always helping me cook, laughing like all day (what's so funny anyway?) or crying cause it' got to be some drama! and getting excited for swim lessons today and soccer real soon! I love Paige!

Zach helping build a fort in our lovely "spring"weather.

He's been going to pow wows, had his priesthood preview, invited a girl (friend) over, getting ready for the talent show on his unicycle, snowboarding, and loving late weekend nights! He's the greatest brother to baby! I love Zach!

I can't get enough video!

He's crawling, pulling himself up, has three teeth, is so fast, is a human vacuum, the best sleeper, is a mama and daddy's boy, loves to play with the kids, makes our home happy! I love baby Troy!

He's kinda a turkey, beats me at chess every time, built a potato clock for the science fair, was in the spelling bee, getting ready for soccer, loves to be busy or playing, is so cute and tries to be good! I love being Kyler's mom!

Well, my kids are basically running my life right now. I'm afraid this little window of having them small is going too quickly!

Birthday Mama!

2010-01-14T10:12:00.000-08:00

I'm waiting for more pics and a video from Layne but I did want to say what a fun time we had celebrating this crazy, fun, pretty, strong, and young mama's b-day!

Kodey we missed you!

Thanks Jess for the great skit!

We love YOU!

Fun times!

My Hero!

2010-01-12T11:44:00.000-08:00

I really don't know how I could be any prouder! It has been an HONOR, and privilege to have my dad be a fire captain and safety officer and paramedic! I've always felt so safe! Thanks for taking care of us and thanks for the being such a great person! I must be awesome to have gotten him as my dad!!!

Happy Sailing!

Wow!

2010-01-05T07:58:00.000-08:00

We really are so lucky!

Happy Birthday mom!!!

Truly women to learn from! We love grandma's!

Birthday Girls

2009-12-30T09:29:00.000-08:00

(Kyler snuck in the birthday girls picture!) Here we are another year younger! She's a turkey for sure but always and forever my best birthday present!!!

All the animals that came to the party!
It was really a wonderful and party packed day!

Christmas Morning

2009-12-30T09:19:00.000-08:00

"his eyes are the size of the moon"
So Fun! Baby's first Christmas! He loved his toy!

Here's the little chef with her cupcake machine. She needed like a gallon of milk to wash that thing down! But so happy!

Kyler and his chess game, I've never played so much chess as in the last few days. I'm so glad it was a success!

The boys and their "inside" guns. You'll shoot your eye out!

My cute apron from Layne! Everyone was happy and we're having a great Christmas vacation! Hope everyone is having fun too!

Turkey Day

2009-11-27T09:10:00.000-08:00

Happy Thanksgiving! We have so much to be grateful for! Life is good!

Creepy Liston Family

2009-11-01T20:42:00.000-08:00

Happy Halloween Everybody! The kids had fun and of course M.J. had the funnest time dressing up. He's holding baby "blanket" (we only have one baby!) Another great year with fun times; scarecrow festival, carving pumpkins, caramel apples, and parties. We also will be visiting the dentist next week!

Fall pics

2009-10-19T10:25:00.000-07:00

The boys just got their school photos taken, so Paige and Troy needed an update too!

Her true colors!

Sorry these are so small, I'll always be technically challenged!

Almost 5 months! It's going too fast!!!

September

2009-09-29T13:08:00.000-07:00

September flew and October will be even faster I'm sure. Every year I forget how much I love this month!

The newest member

2009-08-26T13:30:00.000-07:00

Oh, Kyler, he really makes me smile!

What a great day to remember!

Future prom date and always great friends!

An energetic little monster disguised as a freckled faced princess. I love you too!

Here is my joy!

"Get me out of this monkey suit!"

2009-08-03T21:45:00.000-07:00

"Dad I'm so nervous, I don't want to be blessed"

"I don't want to get up in front of all those people"

So, in the end he basically went into a comatose state and pretended it didn't happen!

He knew Annabelle was going to be blessed so he had to be brave! Layne didn't even name him "Garfield" but stuck to Troy David and gave a beautiful blessing!

Dinner idea

2009-07-21T22:04:00.000-07:00

Sadly, this shows my computer skills and how I don't even know how to rotate a picture! Plus, Layne is in the shower and so I 'm so lazy, I'm going to leave it like this; (so there! you have to turn your head!) Anyway... here's a great dinner idea for those fizzling out on summer recipes. A good ole tin foil hobo dinner. The kids had fun and of course ate all their food since they made it themselves. (how come it works that way?)

We did cook it in the coals but you can even bake 'em in the oven!

Enjoy! (and send some ideas for dinner my way!)

Pic of baby Troy David since Zach dressed him in his soccer clothes and thought he looked so cute, we're loving him!!!

Happy Father's Day!

2009-06-22T15:04:00.000-07:00

Happy Father's Day! Layne may not teach our kids the best way to throw a football, but when I give him space, he really comes up with fun things for our family! Like a dutch oven dinner for a saturday night...

or cooking shrinky dinks on Sun. morning.....

Or wanting to get tickets to plays....

Or teaching our kids how to throw knives, (see, I never would have come up with that!)

Not to mention all the thousands of other things he does to be a great dad! We are lucky! Life is good!

By the way, I have the greatest dad ever! He is really hands on and always thinking of what I may need or want. I love how he simply asks " How are you?" And he really wants to know and cares about us! He really loves me and tells me that I'm his favorite! Although he tells each of my siblings this too! But then he'll wink and say, "but we really know who's the favorite" (this also he does with each of us kids) He is the first person I want when my kids are hurt or injured. One of the best things I've ever done in my life is to get to know him during all the hours we spent training for our marathons! I've always been proud of him and am so thankful to be his little girl! Happy Father's Day!!

Boy meets Girl

2009-06-19T18:46:00.000-07:00

Baby Troy has to be tough to survive miss Paige. She is literally smothering him with kisses and love! She's very happy he's here!

Here is the meeting of cousins Annabelle and Troy. He couldn't resist trying on one of her adorable bows! I hope these two have many fun times ahead playing together!!!

daddy the dentist

2009-06-16T11:52:00.000-07:00

If you have a wiggly tooth, seriously stay away from Layne (especially if he has pliers!)

Kyler on the other hand was thrilled, as losing teeth is about his only source of income.

I've forced the boys to do summer swim team this year. Today they had their first meet and I really had to beg, bribe, and threaten them to do their events. (It should'nt be this hard to have fun!) They finally gave in and did great! I'm such a mean mom I know!!!

Kyler coming in strong from his freestyle!

If nothing else, they're cute!

hospital days

2009-06-07T16:45:00.001-07:00

I do hate the hospital pictures. You think you look all good and then when you go back, you always look so tired and worn out but I had to post this one with the others since baby is so sweet and alert!

New kid in town

2009-06-07T13:13:00.000-07:00

We're in love with a new boy! He's name is Troy David Liston. Born May 26th. He weighed in at 7 lbs 14 oz and 18 1/2 inches long. He is so sweet! Thanks to everyone for all the help with entertaining my other kids and celebrating his welcome with us!

His first car ride, he looked so small in his carseat!

Our family feels complete now.

Please stay small for a while longer. We love you!!!

No school!

2009-03-09T20:23:00.000-07:00

I packed up the kids and headed to Hill air force base museum. I've never been there and have talked about going so today was the day since there was no school. We made good time and got there in an hour.

Sometimes at museums, my kids are really ready to get out of there after 15 minutes, but today they spent 2 full hours saying, "look at this," or "take a picture of this so we don't forget it!" It made the afternoon really fun since they all had a good time!

Of course Grandma is always ready for an adventure!

Thanks for coming along!

They had a hard time choosing their favorite planes, there were two huge rooms full of either bomber planes or fighter planes. The boys decided the best one was the "blackbird" which is made for speed and can fly 35 miles a minute. We liked the video on that one!

Maybe one of them will play into my secret ploy and become a pilot so I can travel! or not. Either way, we had a great day and are ready for school in the morning!

Love

2009-02-17T20:39:00.000-08:00

So, maybe when you think of Valentines day, your thoughts turn to hearts, candy, flowers, love...but what about the Monster Truck Show? Well, that's what these boys decided to do for the afternoon and they had a great time. They went with grandpa, and of course uncle Jake and Brady who drummed up the whole idea! They came home with stories and were very excited so it was a successful day! Sadly, Paige and I had to respectfully decline the invitation to go!

Here's all the lone girls without a date for Valentines, while the men were away! We did have fun and really, there is nobody quite like a sister! You can have no real plans and silly the afternoon away! (of course mom has now transformed into being our sista too!)

We ended with a nice "romantic" dinner for the family and a double hitter of movies. I'm always nervous cooking for Layne's dad but Layne and I won his praise! I was sad to see this fun day end! I love you! (you people know who you are!) JoJo

Kids!

2009-02-09T19:25:00.000-08:00

Even though Zach's birthday is in September, he was able to celebrate today. He had forgotten about a gift card from Target and it's really been burning a hole in his pocket since he found it last week. He searched all the aisles and settled on a hovering remote control aircraft. Well, we got home and the tears weren't far behind. On it's third flight he let Paige take the controls - right into the wall- and broke off a wing. It still hovers inches off the floor and so after a bit of sadness, he's back to playing. (I could've told him he was choosing a dud, but who wants something stable, like a board game?)

Paige admiring some of her gifts from her Valentine pixie.

Kyler did awesome on his first oral report ever! Mr. Milton S. Hershey was quite a guy, so if you'd like to know more, just ask Ky!

Trained Professionals?

2009-01-29T16:05:00.000-08:00

Layne and I are halfway through our CERT (community emergency response team) training course. We did some pretty cool looking bandages last night as you can see. I wonder if he has a head injury or is getting ready to do saturday cleaning?

We are learning some good things but the meetings are long and some people in our class really like to ask a thousand questions!! I entertain myself by writing notes to them to "Shut IT!" and then spend the rest of the time daring myself to pass it to them (which I never have done, YET!)

Let's just hope this big earthquake still waits a few hundred years!!! If not, don't worry, you're all in good hands!!

jam session

2009-01-16T15:26:00.000-08:00

Don't be surprised when these guys are famous. Just remember it all started in the living room. They may need suggestions for a band name....

"It really Sucks!"

2009-01-13T12:53:00.000-08:00

I think the dream was sparked over 10 years ago when we bought a house with a central vacuum system that didn't work. Layne was determined that someday he too would live the "good life" of being able to vacuum to his hearts content. Of course I like to put the brakes on his dreams sometimes, but I guess I never defused it completely. He found a "great deal" (which he refuses to tell me the price) and now is in process of tearing our house up to put it in the walls. "Oh I'm going to love it" he tells me with a dreamy look in his eye. How can I resist such yearning? I will admit that I do love the boys getting in on his projects. Kyler spent a good part of his Saturday working with dad and Zach really liked going in the attic. I don't know anyone else like Layne, he does make me laugh with all his quirky dreams. I hope he vacuums 'til the cows come home!!!

The Cabin

2009-01-06T10:54:00.000-08:00

New year's day at the cabin! Becky, Mike and boys came up for the day and the kids had fun sledding!

Jace and Paige making angels!

Does this look safe to anyone else? The big 10 year old with the huge helmet on his little stick of a brother? This was the last ride in this position!

My mom and dad stayed the night with me since Layne had to work and I guess I'm not big enough to sleep alone. They definately did make it so much easier and fun! My dad kept the cabin toasty and helped so much and my mom gave the kids a great snowball fight and me the biggest laugh when she went sledding! Oh! She looked so funny and screamed so loud! I'm laughing thinking about it now! Thanks again! Here's to 2009!!

Kidnapped!

2009-01-06T10:31:00.001-08:00

During Christmas break, I wanted to run away from the video games, movies, and the mess. I kidnapped my kids for the whole day and it turned out so great. We hopped onto trax and rode downtown SL right to temple square. (We did see some intereting people while riding the train.) We were there with 10 minutes to spare to see the joseph smith movie which I hadn't seen. It was really wonderful!

Next we ate at the cafe in the Joseph Smith building. Really cheap kids meal prices but all you really need is some big fat cinnamon rolls!

We walked all over temple square and the kids did so well!

Kyler saw a sister missionary with a flag from Brazil on her tag and impressed her with all his Portugese words he's learned from uncle Justin.

We had a tour of the conference center and my kids were the guides helpers. It was cool all the things we learned! Then we went to the church history museum and finished up before riding home! A great day was spent by all.

ps, we missed our daddy, maybe next time! (I sure do love that Layne Liston boy!!)

Jenn's Gift

2009-01-06T10:07:00.000-08:00

My sis Jenn gave us a great present. She made a disc for our family from her camera of any pictures we were in. Here are some of my top 5 fav's!!!

The photographer nerds!

Zach really stressing baby Kenzie out!

Riding with a road hog!

The tooth pulling nazi! Why does Kenz looks so scared?

And my fav, the baby snuggly!

(rated pg-13) hee-hee!

Princess Paige and Queen Joleen!

2008-12-28T16:24:00.000-08:00

Every Christmas night after all the fun and excitement, I lay in bed and instead of thinking, "I can't believe it's all over" I think, "I still have tomorrow!" My birthday has always been the day after Christmas, as I've never known anything else, I love it! My very best present will always be Paige born 4 years ago. I'm so happy we get to celebrate together! I was taken to breakfast by my fun friends and it started the day off just right! I like to pack everything in, so we tried our best! Paige had a fun princess party with all her little friends and loved the cake aunt Becky made!
The girls danced, made wands, colored, painted their nails and did make-up. It was kinda crazy but she's been talking about a party for a year!
This is Paige and I getting our own pedicures later in the afternoon, then we rushed to a movie.
Thanks Layne!
My mom made dinner and had gifts but the best was she was taking my kids the next day so I could have a day off. They left at 10 and were gone until 6. Layne and I had a lunch date and I went shopping and then took a nap!!! I had the best birthday ever!!!

Princess

2008-12-28T16:08:00.001-08:00

Christmas!!!

2008-12-28T15:52:00.000-08:00

Christmas morning is all about little kids and they sure made it fun! Here's Zach with his Ripstick. He said he got everything on his list! I especially loved how they wanted to give each other their presents before anything else! It was sweet!
Paige loved everything and she is such a girl!
Here's the dollhouse we updated from my own childhood. I hope she has lots of good memories too!
Kyler loved his drumset but they are already downstairs because of the noise!
We all had a great day! We talked to Uncle Justin in Brazil and had a christmas breakfast at my mom's. Later we had lunch at the SL and spent the rest of the day playing. The excitement was too much for Layne as he got violently sick at about 7:00. I think Santa's busiest Elf worked himself to death! We let the boys stay up and put themselves to bed that night. You just don't want it to end!!!

December 24th!

2008-12-28T15:37:00.000-08:00

We started the day with the Bishop's breakfast which we love! Then to get the kids wiggles out we went with friends to the gym and played. I think I really used to be able to climb the rope but no more! Those gymnists really know what their doing, I tried everything and found out I'm a wimp and not very strong!

Christmas eve was really nice with our little family (and Jess and my parents came for a bit) We had a delicious dinner with candle light until Zach nearly burned his arm when he reached over the flame. The highlight is Layne's video he shows of pictures from the year. It's called the "Year in Review" but Jess calls it the "urine review". It's all put to music and basically is lots of pictures of our kids. When it's over I think, "Hey, we really are a happy family and we've had lots of fun!" (music videos can do that!) Then we read the night before Christmas as always and the Christmas story out of Luke and it was time for bed. Paige kept looking out the window and opening the door to see if Santa was here. The boys followed Santa's flight on the internet and tracked him until he was in North America. I really love the 24th!!

December fun!

2008-12-28T15:08:00.001-08:00

December sped by! We were able to do alot of things, here are a few; I thought it might not snow but it finally came and never stopped! We definately had a white Christmas! The kids liked playing with the 4-wheeler and sled, building a fort, and sledding down hills!
Paige and Eliza had their dance recital, they mostly just looked real cute! The kids had fun at theire school class parties and the counting down to Christmas vacation!

We made cookies and made a mess, but had fun. The kids didn't even noticed I've thrown all the hardened cookies away.

Lots of fun parties like the Liston family party, (is that Santa or Scrooge?)

Farmer Ky

2008-12-18T08:47:00.000-08:00

I'm pretty sure that Kyler will be a farmer when he grows up because he is such a good milker! He milks his bedtime every night! We have him downstairs and for a long time he would hide waiting for us to tuck him in. Then it moved to boobie trapping us which sometimes the room looked quite dangerous. Lately he's been creating games. They have a board and you have to "move forward 5 places, or move back 10 places" so I don't know if winning and finishing the game is even an option. Last night he drew a picture with hidden objects to find and a search key on the back. Either this kid is really creative or really doesn't want to go to sleep! Either way, he keeps us smiling!

Finally after 10:00 saying, "Go to Sleep!" (Isn't his bedtime 8:30?)

Christmas Tag

2008-12-10T08:08:00.000-08:00

Lori, I am faster than you so how can you keep tagging me? Is it your marathon training?

Here goes my edited version...

1. Egg nog or hot chocolate? Definately both! But I'm pretty sure humans are not supposed to drink much egg nog, The Cocoa Motion is running all winter though and Zach's learned how to make it now, (although a few watery failures.)

2. Wrapped or unwrapped presents? If you can wrap it, it gets wrapped. I'm the worst wrapper though. I sometimes tell people that my kids wrap b-day gifts when it was really me.

3. Colored or white lights on tree or house? Is this a prejudice question? I have white on house and tree and colored on porch. (Layne was doing the whole house colored but they ran out at Costco after he was half way done, so we switched.)

4. Do I hang mistletoe? In our condo I did (newlyweds) but now our ceiling is too high (boring) My friend told me she has a tree in her bedroom though and many "presents" are given all month, so lucky them!

5. When do I decorate? Thanksgiving weekend, and I have to admit Layne does 90% of the work!

6. Favorite holiday memory as a child? Just trying to go to sleep and dreaming of all the gifts.

7. When did I learn about Santa? 6th grade my dad took me to Mcdonalds for a sundae and broke the news. You "know" but "maybe" is still there. Then I got to be an elf and when the little kids went to bed I filled their stockings and helped finish wrapping. It was cool.

8. Can I remember my favorite gift? I love the cedar chest Layne made the christmas we were engaged!

9. Favorite holiday treat? Homemade toffee, with chocolate and nuts. And pretty much everything else!

10. Holiday traditions? Making gingerbread houses growing up, looking at lights, going to see the live nativity by our house, some fun original game for our party like race cars, or shooting pellet guns, or Jeopardy, or D.I. Christmas, P.J.'s on Christmas Eve, stories and songs.

11. Favorite Christmas song? I love The First Noel cause that's my name. I just love all the songs and so I sing in the choir so their in my head. Last week I had to tell my friend Dana during practice to "Stop It!" cause she could not stop crying through all the songs and it was contageous. I love the spirit the songs messages bring!

If you feel ambitious, then you are tagged!!!

Little Mozart

2008-12-08T07:10:00.000-08:00

I can't believe Kenzie was baptized on Saturday. It was really wonderful! That means Kyler is next. My mom read a letter from Justin and it was awesome, he got to baptize a little 8 year old girl the same day in Brazil. Zach played all three verses of "I am a child of God" while the audience sang. He was nervous but he did great and when it was over he let out a huge audible sigh. I'm really proud of him and thanks to Aunt Becky, his piano teacher!!

Turkey Day!

2008-11-28T08:49:00.000-08:00

Happy Thanksgiving! We started the day out great with the Thanksgiving day run at the rec center. Lorilee, Jessie, Corrine, Rachel, Becky and me (missing is Dana, sick in bed). It was a little rainy when we got there but the race turned out beautiful. We really all did miss Dana as she was our excuse to maybe walk for a minute or two, but alas, we had to run. Thanks Dana!
You may think it's a shirt on my head, but Lori's original design of my pilgrim head wear was met with many jealous eyes!
Just two little pilgrims looking for the Mayflower and thankful the scurvey is over!
We are grateful most of all for family, gospel, prophet, uncle justin, work, Christ, food, and home!
We ate too much at Grandma Liston's and again at Grandma Woods. It was a very fun and full day!

Morning Lesson

2008-11-26T08:33:00.000-08:00

My boys are really into reading the back of the cereal boxes. I'm talking like the nutrition facts. Weird huh! I suppose they are just wanting to be real informed. So they read Vitamin A, Calcium, Iron Zinc.... A few minutes later I hear,

Kyler: "I think they put metal in this to make it crunchy"

Mom: "There's no metal in your Apple Jacks!"

Boys: "Yeah mom, there's iron!"

Mom: "I pretty sure it's a different kind of iron"

Zach: "I promise mom, it's just tiny shards of it!"

So, I'm glad I'm just a dumb mom who doesn't know anything and can learn from my wise children. Thanks kids!

Tagged!

2008-11-10T09:11:00.000-08:00

This is my fourth pic from my fourth file. Layne titled this file "white trash photo studio". He wanted to take pictures last year and so he got a paint drop cloth, our bench, and his construction flourescent lights. He developed a whole bunch in black and white and our skin just didn't look right. I finally made a little comment on how you could see every one of my freckles and then he went and bought this home photo kit with real lamp lighting. The above picture of the scary cousins show the real pro job, much better! Although who could resist this little guy ever! Ky's smile is always cute!

I tag Becky, Mindy, Lorilee, and Cissy to find 4th file and 4th pic. Good Luck!

Trick-or-treating!

2008-11-03T07:07:00.000-08:00

Zach, Kyler, and Paige Halloween 2008

The two little "Stinkerbells"

Zach and cousin Carly had fun going around together. It was a success!

Week of Halloween

2008-10-29T09:58:00.000-07:00

Woods grandkids!

We've been having fun at some spooky Halloween parties. The kids never like their picture taken but grandma still persists to which the rest of us are all thankful!!

Creepiest food award! I couldn't choke it down especially since recently visiting "Body Worlds"

Honestly, how many husbands? I know, don't be jealous!

Watch out Incredible Hulk!!! (I think he still has green armpits, it was a beast to clean off) Oh, Layne, you are so fun!

When wigs go Bad!

2008-10-26T20:10:00.000-07:00

You know the obsession with hair is bad when you find this!

Paige has always wanted hair, even beginning with wearing a baby burp towel on her head pretended it's long locks.

She really runs around the neighborhood like this, and to the store, but I do pull the stops for school though!

Little does she know that her mom hopes she always keeps a cute little bob!

Fall Break Fun!

2008-10-21T09:05:00.000-07:00

Thanks Amber for helping Paige with her pumpkin at the ward picnic!

The boys were let loose with spray paint, never a good idea (notice Zach's yellow shoes!)

Thanksgiving Point at the scarecrow festival. The boys ran back in line and went 6 times straight on the rock wall. They're like little mountain goats.

We had a fun day with cousins and friends, but of course I'm ready for school again!

Fun at the Cabin!

2008-10-21T08:48:00.000-07:00

Cute cousins Paige, Warren, and Brady!

We had fun at the cabin for a couple days. The leaves were so pretty and the weather was beautiful! We ate, played games, watched movies, rode the 4-wheelers, and ate some more. Thanks everyone for coming!

Kenzie and Kyler really are best friends when no one else is competing for their attention. They can play all day and they never need anything. I hope it lasts for a long time! Here they built a "secret hide out" behind the cabin.

Zach helping with baby Simon.

Is Layne really sharing his toy and letting the boys try his car?

Lots of four wheeling. Zach's an old pro starting at age 6.

Happy Birthday Layne!

2008-10-12T15:55:00.000-07:00

I'm married to an old man! Layne turned 36 yesterday! Aren't I still like 23? I guess 40 is right around the corner and then maybe we'll feel grown up. Layne can and does still wear clothing items sometimes from high school (I tried to hide a tye dyed Edy Brickell shirt once and got in trouble). So besides the grey hair that's quickly sneaking in, I think he could pass as a 20 something.
The reason I married Layne is because of how he makes me feel. He can always make me laugh. Just recently we played tag in the yard and of course he had a putty knife, measuring tape, pencil, phone, and screws in his pockets so he was running with his hands straight down so nothing would fall out. He was FAST and I chased him around the house like 5 times and could never catch him cause he looked so funny. He may be skinny but don't under estimate his racing skills.
Also I love Layne because he loves me! He puts up with a crazy girl and I need to treat him more like he treats me! He is definately a better person than me and I am one lucky girl!

Happy Happy Birthday Layne! I hope you have the greatest weekend ever! And eat lots of cheescake!

2008-10-09T16:24:00.001-07:00

Sorry People!

2008-10-09T15:49:00.000-07:00

Okay, my friend Lorilee just tagged me and I don't know if I like this game. Here goes, but I'm changing it to 6's. Sorry!

6 t.v. shows I like

1. The Office (but I haven't even seen it this season and tonite is round table so I miss again.)

2. King of Queen reruns

3. Oprah like once a week

4. Everybody loves Raymond reruns.

5. Antique roadshow

6. Nature

(I feel like a loser already, see why I didn't want to play!)

6 things that happened yesterday

1. Took my kids to fire safety carnival at station 3 (they loved the popcorn and cotton candy)

2. Parent/teacher conferences with boys. Way to go kids!

3. Did a tinkerbell puzzle with Paige

4. Costco shopping for Layne now that he's packing a lunch.

5. Ran about 5 miles with sis-in -laws

6. Took PTA election boxes to school for red ribbon week (vote yes to be drug free or no to drugs!)

6. Favorite Places to Eat

1. California Pizza Kitchen

2. GoodWood

3. Jason's Deli

4. Las Tarascas

5. Wendy's

6. The Harvest at Thanksgiving Point

6. Things I'm looking forward to

1. Halloween of course (I have the best costume for Layne)

2. Our date tomorrow night

3. Going to the cabin for fall break

4. Yoga tonite if I can make it

5. Paige's cast tomorrow so we don't have to be so careful

6. Kids bedtime

6 things I wish for

1. Tickets to "Wicked"

2. Going to see "Body Works" in SL

3. The downstairs bathroom to get finished

4. The cat that's sleeping on my outside chair cushion to dissapear.

5. Paige would stop waking me up at night.

6. My kids knew how awesome I am!

6 people I tag

1. Jessie

2. Rachel

3. Becky

4. Dana

5. Jenne

6. Lauren

P.S. No touch backs and I'm out FOREVER!!!

Father knows Best!

2008-10-08T12:57:00.000-07:00

Jo: "Layne can we please get a trampoline?"

Layne: "No, I think they're dangerous!"

Jo: "We had trampolines growing up, please?"

Layne: "No, someone will break their arm."

Well, in an effort to prove her daddy right, little Paige broke her arm Monday afternoon on the trampoline. (Of course it was at the neighbors since we don't "believe" in trampolines, right!) Big brother Zach and friends were really trying to include Paige in their game and making her laugh. I guess a ten year old really can smash a 3 year old girl. They felt so bad but they were just trying to play with her, so this is just part of being a kid I guess.

I found out I really am useless in an emergency though. One look at her deformed arm and my brain no longer functioned. I couldn't remember Layne's number or my dad's cell number, or what channel cartoons are on (while my mom and dad rushed over.) Thankfully my friend Edy was calmed and helped me through it! I did manage to give Paige 2 giant tablespoons of ib profen and my dad wondered why she was so sleepy (was that helping or hurting?) I know every family has a broken bone story, but it is intense when it's your baby! She did great and her bones will heal. Our bodies really are miraculous! She'll be as good as new soon. She gets her cast on Friday and for the doctors sake, I hope they have a "pink, sparkly, princess one."

Waiting in ER for her to be "put under" so they could straighten the bones. She was sad they cut the sleeve off her shirt.

Thanks for the treat Warren!

Paige wondered if it was her birthday the following day since she recieved so many phone calls, cards, visits and gifts. Thank-You!!!

I truly went to bed feeling blessed! This could've been so much worse and I feel like she was protected. All the little things along the way fell into place and reminded me how lucky I am; my calm friend, my parents to the rescue, Layne working close by, the fact we have insurance, that it was only her arm, and that she was comfortable and quickly taken care of, the love shown to us! Life is pretty good!

October's Here!

2008-10-08T12:46:00.000-07:00

Here are the kids doing some pumpkins. Thanks to my mom for bringing cute eyes and ears that could attach so we didn't actually have to carve. We'll have to save that for closer to Halloween.

Little miss pumpkin head!

This scary person is Jessie, she thinks she's so funny! Actually it always is a party when she comes to town! Kyler and Kenzie especially couldn't stop laughing at her! Check Jessie's blog at Decker Decker on my home page.

Don't you think these cute cousins look like siblings?

We had a fun night while the boys went to Priesthood meeting! I love October!

My plan Worked!

2008-10-04T12:22:00.001-07:00

Special Thanks to Keith Johnson for helping us last night with our computer. We know you thought you were coming to dinner, but it was really my snare to have you fix my blogging problems! You are a genius! And thanks Megan for marrying Keith. (Claudine, Kenny, Rachel, Mike, you were just pawns in my ploy to get my way!) Hee! Hee! Always and forever thanks to Layne as he loves me and technology.

Liston Fun!

2008-10-04T11:59:00.000-07:00

Cute cousins!

The merchandise.

Strike a pose.

Sure shot!

My Loverboys!

When you think of a fun and relaxing weekend, some may imagine a bbq with friends, or an exciting movie, or just lounging around listening to music; not so for the Liston boys. A fun weekend for them includes driving until 11:00pm to Baker Nevada in the dark to find Grandpa and uncle Larry doing pinenuts. The dads were going to show their kids a good time at any expense. They weathered sage bush allergies, and rodent infested living conditions, let everybody get as dirty as humanly possible and endured the car ride with energetic cousins all in the name of good old fashion fun. In reality, I am really thankful the boys will have these memories. They hiked to an arch and toured the cave, went shooting and tried to catch lizards, they worked on painting a shed and ate lots of junk.. Honestly what else could any little boy wish for?

Move over Laura Ingalls

2008-09-26T09:22:00.000-07:00

So, Layne's and his brother Russell are always full of ideas. They like to do the same things sometimes, for example, one will say,"I'm getting a new bed" and the other will say,"I'm getting a new bed." or, "we're having a baby," and then the next day the other will say, "Oh, well, we're having a baby." So it wasn't surprising when Layne really liked Russell's idea of installing a wood stove in case the big destruction happens. After months of discussions, (were they really discussions, since Layne gets EVERYTHING he wants?) the new stove came yesterday. This meant, tearing out our beautiful gas fireplace, mantel, and Santa's entrance to put in the stove. The boys are thrilled that they will now get to light fires "inside the house." I on the other hand I am very sceptical as to how clean it will be. I'm sure all the fireplace guys who think they're so wonderful don't actually do the cleaning at their houses. But, I am happy that Layne is trying to take care of us and be a good scout. The wood is piled outside, now we're just going to have to wait for cold weather to come. Now I secretly hope something really terrible happens so we'll be ready, everyone is invited over! Maybe Russell's next great idea can focus on water preparedness and can include a swimming pool!

Good-Bye Pacman

2008-09-25T12:50:00.000-07:00

Unless I can learn how to get the pictures off my camera to the computer, and then how to easily download multiple pictures (I think my little apple computer needs to have some tricks), I may be seeing my last blogging days. It was well lived while it lasted right! Just kidding, I can't give up that easily. It's just frustrating and Layno is so danged busy (does he really need to sleep). Anyway, I have lots of ideas to share but I'm going to wait for the picture lesson; hopefully next week.

Besides everything else crazy in my life, I 've been tearing apart my storage room looking for my old Pacman watch that I got from Santa when I was about 9 years old. I think it may have gone the ways of the world but my brother Jason tells me if I just say a little prayer I'll be able to find it. He is actually the one who really wants it. He thinks it would be so cool in the back row of elders quorum to start playing pacman. It was really awesome and now on e-bay there like $200. Oh, how I'd love to find it for him! It's affecting my sleep now. But I think I have to tell him it's nowhere. Of course he has saved everything cool that he's ever had and somehow knows that in the future he'll need these classic items, but I throw things away. I feel like I'm in grade school again trying to make my big bro happy and make him proud of me. Well, I'm officially calling off the search. Maybe Pacman will surface someday! Keep me in your prayers! This is a serious one!

Sweet boy

2008-09-20T10:46:00.001-07:00

So, this is Kyler's 2nd grade teacher Ms. Timothy. It is her very first year teaching and Kyler just loves her. I ask if he is being good and he says that he is. So to brag, he told me the other day she said, "Is Kyler the only one that knows all the answers?" Of course I'm sure he just likes to talk but that made me proud. Well, very sad news yesterday after Ky came home he told me that "teachers mom died" and he was sad. He got on the computer and wrote this note..."Dear miss timothy I'm sore that your mom dide I would like to give her some flowrse. From Kyler" This note is on my counter for him to give on Monday and if anyone sees me with wet eyes today they'll know why. He is a sweet boy! I love you Kyler!

starting a blog is hard for the techno-challenged!

2008-09-18T20:51:00.000-07:00

So, It's almost 10:00 and my baby really wants to take a shower but instead he helped me try to learn how to blog. He even got on "cutest blog on the block" See why I love my life!!! See ya soon and hope I can learn quickly how to do all this blog stuff.