The Farris'

2009-12-21T15:10:00.000-08:00

Family Pictures

2009-12-21T14:23:00.000-08:00

Thanks to our friends Tyler & Janell Burkett....they took our pictures a couple of days ago and did a wonderful job. It's not easy getting a family of 6 to all look at the camera at the same time and to get a half way decent shot. We love the pictures!

To get Crew to look Tyler kept telling Crew to look at him and find him in his camera lense, so here is Crew squinting trying to find Tyler in the lense.....so funny, that's our Crewser!

Lots of Pictures

2009-11-22T16:33:00.000-08:00

Here is our little princess ballerina Marlee. This little girl will be 10 months tomorrow and I can't stand it. It's amazing how fast time does fly. She's getting so much fun. She's taking steps and will be walking here all too soon. She loves baby dolls and likes to kiss and hug them. She say's "dada" and all kinds of other ramblings. LOVES to be with her mom but she is getting better at exploring her surroundings and playing with the kids. Is still a stinker when it comes to sleep....she thinks it's totally overrated! I'm dreaming of the day when I get a full nights sleep.
We all love this little girl, can't imagine life without her...even when I'm totally exhausted I can't help but pick her up and love on her. She's our last so I'm counting on all my brother's wives to keep those babies coming so I don't get baby hungry!

2009-11-22T16:24:00.000-08:00

Everybody came home to celebrate my dads birthday on Halloween. It was fun for all the little cousins to get together and go to the carnival together.

Here is grandma Braelyn Goodman....such a cute little old lady.

Crew the Batman.

Lillyan the baby ghost.

Madisen the Rock Star!

2009-11-22T16:15:00.000-08:00

Here is Travis, Brent's friend, holding little Lilly. Travis is pretty much like family, he fits right in with this crazy bunch.

My dad's birthday is on Halloween so we celebrated before we all got the kids ready for the carnival. All the grand kids wanted to "help" papa blow out the candles.

Isn't she so cute?!

This was a rare occasion. She let uncle Brent hold her and she even fell asleep on him. Now putting her down in her crib was a whole other story but it was fun while it lasted.

2009-11-22T16:07:00.000-08:00

Marlee, Madisen and cousin Lilly. Notice how I have to hold Marlee's hands down, she just wanted to get at Lilly....mainly her pacifier since it's just like hers.

Madi loves holding her little baby cousins.

Mama and Marlee. This is where you will usually find her, attached to my hip. She puts a whole new meaning to the term mama's girl!

Cheese!!!

2009-11-22T15:57:00.000-08:00

Here is the newest addition to our family...Lillyan. She is so sweet. She makes Marlee seem so big and I'm not so sure I'm ready for my baby to be growing up so fast.

Marlee likes to give her mom kisses along with her baby doll. It's so cute to watch her with her baby. You ask here "where's your baby" and she will go find it and kiss it and love it....it's so sweet.

This picture cracked me up of little Braelyn's hair....another sweet little girl. You have to see this girl dance, she can really shake her booty!

I loved Crew's face in this picture.

Madisen's first day of school. She loves these boots!

Family Home Evening

2009-09-25T14:08:00.001-07:00

I was trying to figure out what to do for FHE the other night so I pulled out the Friend and found this story. I started to laugh because our Madi had a "Grumpy Morning" the previous day. I told Madisen to read it and to give our lesson on this story. She did a good job and learned a lesson about being grumpy. We thought it was cute because it kind of looks like her, same name and she definantly has her grumpy moments.

Here is her 1st grade picture. I thought it turned out so cute. We love our Mad Dog, she's smart, funny, beautiful, sassy, momma's helper and yes, even grumpy from time to time! Love you bunches, Madi!

Family

2009-08-18T13:36:00.000-07:00

My nephew Kade was baptised on the 4th of July in Lehi, Utah. The whole family was able to go and be together which was so fun because that doesn't happen often with Denton and his family living in Utah. Here is me with my brother Denton. I'm the only girl with 4 brothers. They are the best brothers and take good care of me, I love them all so much! Here is my mom and dad, Denton, Jen and Kade.

We had some good food afterwards at the Church. Just enjoying being together.

Koye loving on his sister.

2009-08-18T13:29:00.000-07:00

Denton bought a bunch of fireworks that we let off in his street. We could also see the big ones from his house.

We had yummy shakes to eat while we watched. Braelyn is enjoying some with her mommy.

Here is Kali and Madi. These two are stuck together like glue when they are together...too bad they live in Utah.

Marlee got a good view from my shoulders. She didn't make a peep the whole time we were watching the fireworks and they got pretty loud.

Happy 4th of July

2009-08-18T13:22:00.000-07:00

Here are all the grand kids. It was so funny to see all of us parents singing, making noises, dancing, just to get the kids to look at us and try to smile. The best picture would have been of all the parents.

Hanging out and enjoing the food.

Isn't she so cute! It's not the 4th of July without Watermelon.

2009-08-18T13:18:00.000-07:00

We loved being able to hang out in the grass in Denton's front lawn, the weather was perfect. We would eat, play football and just enjoy the company.

Cute picture of Braelyn and her daddy.

2009-07-17T11:38:00.000-07:00

Kade roasting hot dogs.

The boys eating.

Madi wanted to roast her own hot dog.

Mimi and Marlee.

Trip To Temple Square

2009-07-17T11:18:00.000-07:00

Denton's kids and my kids couldn't resist the water. We just knew at any moment one of them was going to fall in.

Crew's hair got all wet, he was loving splashing himself. He thought his hair was pretty funny.

The family.

Me, brothers, mom & dad.

SMOOCH!

2009-06-11T15:27:00.001-07:00

I LOVE this picture. Marlee gives the best kisses! She is getting so much fun now. She is almost 5 months old. She rolls from her back to her tummy and tummy to her back now. If she sees you drinking out of a cup you better give her some or else. She loves to lay on her back and play with her feet (I think that is the cutest). We love her so much, the boys are always kissing on her and wanting to be in her face all the time. Madisen is so good with her and helps me out with her. What a bunch of fun, CRAZY, cute kids we have!

Cute Kids

2009-06-11T15:24:00.000-07:00

I hope my sister-in-law Brooke doesn't mind but I stole these pictures she took off her blog. I thought they were so cute I had to share them. One of Crew's MANY faces!

Koye is like his dad, when he doesn't want to smile there is nothing you can do to make him.

Slip N Slide

2009-06-01T15:31:00.001-07:00

Grandma and grandpa bought the kids this slip in slide, which they loved and had so much fun with. I forgot to pack their swim suits so in their underwear they went.

Koye got it down pretty good and went pretty far after a while.

Madisen would start on her knees and then go on her belly but eventually got the hang of it, also.

One For You, One For Me

2009-06-01T15:27:00.000-07:00

This is Crew and his great-grandma Doris. The kids love getting rides on her cart and visiting with grandma.

The family dog Dayzee loves following all the grandkids around in hopes of getting fed or finding some crumbs on the floor to clean up. She sat down right next to Crew and he decided to share his chips with her. What a good kid to share, even if it is with a dog.

Trip To Eagar

2009-06-01T15:16:00.000-07:00

We went on a little trip with my parents to Eagar to see my grandma. When we were growing up we always stopped at this camp site for a picnic so we had to keep with tradition and stop here to eat on our way. Koye thought this fire pit was interesting and had to play in it, pretty gross if you ask me. Then somehow we never got the camera out again to take anymore pictures while we were actually in Eagar. I was so mad, so if you want to see some look at my cousins Alex and Chellis blog, she took some fun pictures of our kids playing. They loved playing with their new found cousins. It was hard to get them to come back home. They wanted to spend every waking moment with them.

Marlee talked grandma into getting her out of her car seat.

The kids were having fun just getting out of the car and enjoying the beautiful weather.

Marlee has had it I think. She really does love her Papa!

2009-06-01T15:10:00.000-07:00

Koye was being a stinker and didn't want in the picture.

Me, mom and Marlee. Marlee LOVES to drink water out of cups and if you are drinking anything you better give her some. Here she is atacking the water bottle trying to suck it out of the side.

Our little Crew loved walking around and just getting out of the car for a minute.

Here is Marlee being a good girl in her seat.....for a minute anyway.

We Have A Graduate!

2009-06-01T15:01:00.000-07:00

Madisen graduated from Kindergarten May 18th. She was lucky because she got to start Kindergarten in Sherwood, Oregon and finish here in Pomerene, Arizona. She misses her friends in her class in Oregon but still keeps in touch with them through e-mail. She had a lot of fun here in Pomerene and made friends quickly. Also, she got to go all day here. In Oregon she only went for 2 1/2 hours a day. She loved being able to eat in the cafeteria and have 3 recesses a day.

"Our future is so bright we gotta wear shades!"

She graduated a Pomerene Panther just like her mom and her uncles. Go Panthers!!

Getting her certificate from her teacher. She had a lot of fun her first year of school. She's a smart little girl and I would like to take the credit for that but I think she gets her brains from her dad.

Happy Birthday Koye Boy

2009-06-01T14:49:00.000-07:00

Koye turned 4 on May 12th. He came into this world really fast and caused his mother a lot of pain. Thank goodness my water did not break because if it did the doctor said we would have had a baby on the freeway. Also, thank goodness for my sister-in-law Shelley being my nurse because she got me an epidural even though I was dilated to a 10 when I got there....I still thank her for that! We celebrated by going to Chuck E Cheese with his grandparents , brother and sisters. We didn't get any pictures of Chuck E Cheese because our camera is still on the outs. Thank goodness for grandparents taking pictures. Grandma Farris got him these cup cakes so we could sing to him and of course make a wish and blow out the candles.

A happy little 4 year old boy.

Fun With Cousins

2009-05-02T18:28:00.000-07:00

Here is Madi, Kali, Gage and Koye. They had so much fun playing together. Madi and Kali were the bestest of friends.....we wished they didn't live in Utah so they could play more.

We took the kids to the park and this is how Marlee enjoyed her time there.

Crewser always has a good time at the park.

Marlee's Blessing Day

2009-05-02T18:21:00.000-07:00

This is Marlee's blessing day. This is my dad and three of my bothers, Denton, Brent and Chris, not sure where Chad was. Denton and his family live in Utah and we don't get to see them as often as we would like so it was special that he got to be there for her blessing. She was such a princess and did so well while Billy was blessing her.

Here we all are after church, we had to hurry and catch this picture before the kids started tearing their church clothes off.

Mommy and her little girl.

Farris Family

2009-04-20T09:18:00.000-07:00

Our friend Tyler Burkett took some pictures for us. He also did my whole family with a bunch of grand kids which was so funny to try to get all of them looking at the camera at the same time.

Crew LOVES to kiss Marlee. He snapped this one real quick and it's one of my favorites.

We're Back.....

2009-04-20T09:02:00.000-07:00

I know it's been a while but we have had some changes in our lives since I've last posted. We left Oregon and moved back to Arizona at the end of March. We loved our friends in Oregon and will miss them but home is where we are glad to be. We are living with my parents for the time being while Billy is in the final stages of applying for the Border Patrol. If that does not work out then he will probably head back to school.....probably in the nursing field. To say the least things have been crazy with trying to pack up a house in Oregon with a 2 month old, driving for two days in a car (thanks to my brother Chad for driving us while Billy drove the moving truck) with 4 children....I think Chad will never have kids of his own now, moving all our stuff in one place while we are staying in another and figuring that all out which is madness all in itself. We are so glad to be back home next to family again, we missed that so much while we were away. Things do happen for a reason and we are hoping for the best.

My camera is not working at the moment so I don't have any new pictures to post but hopefully soon. We did get some family pictures done so I can at least post that.

Marlee Is One Month Old

2009-02-24T08:41:00.001-08:00

I put her in bed with Billy one morning while I took a shower and this is how she fell asleep, with her arms spread all out.

Here she is her first time to church. We kept her away for a few weeks before we took her. Paranoid mother....I know. Look at those cheeks getting chunky!

I hate the look of these ugly pacifiers but she seems to like it and keeps it in her mouth easier than the other ones. They do make them in pink which I have but these one's are softer.

She does like her swing on occasion, depends on her mood. Her favorite place is being held. Wouldn't you know it, my last baby is a "hold me" baby just like her sister was.

Crew Turns 2

2009-02-24T08:33:00.000-08:00

Crew turned 2 on February 21st. We love our crazy Crew, never a dull moment with him around. We celebrated by going to Chuck E Cheese the day before and then did cake and presents on his actual bday. He got this McQueen bike from papa and mimi. He really wanted to help dad put it together.

I'm not to sure that he even knew what was going on but he went with it!

He loved this part, he knew just what to do.

He was terrified of the big rat. Every time Chuck E came around him he would shake and run away. Sound familiar uncle Chris.

The nice thing about him playing on games is he thinks he's playing and you don't even have to put money in. Billy did put money in this one later and helped him drive.

Fun With Family

2009-02-23T21:58:00.000-08:00

Chris and Shelley came to visit us. We were so glad to have family around. We didn't know what to do with ourselves when everybody had left. Shelley made sugar cookies with Madisen and Koye. What a good aunt she is! The kids loved it, especially Madi.

2009-02-23T21:54:00.000-08:00

We took Chris and Shelley to see Silver Falls.

Here is Crew striking his signature pose.

Koye didn't want his picture taken so he didn't smile.

Braelyn being so cute with Marlee. She was so good with her. She didn't even get jealous when her mommy was loving on Marlee.

2009-02-23T21:47:00.000-08:00

Braelyn kept eyeing this sucker! Finally Koye let her have some, he actually let her have quite a few licks....he must really love her to share her slobber and drool because he is really weird about that kind of thing.

We went walking in down town Portland. You can't tell from the picture but they were standing on this grate thing where you could see the road right under you. It scared Madisen to stand on it but finally she followed Koye and did it.

It was freezing that day....don't know what we were thinking. Here is Madi and Bill by the Williamette River.

I thought this was such a cute picture of Shelley and Braelyn.

All three of us......freezing!

Pictures of Marlee

2009-02-09T11:59:00.000-08:00

I caught her smiling....probably gas but still so cute!

This is Madisen's favorite thing to do lately. She is such a big help to me, sometimes too much help.

Another sweet picture of our sweet girl.

2009-02-09T11:54:00.000-08:00

We thought this picture of Crew was pretty funny. Billy went in to check on him and this is how we found him.

Bill and Carol came up to see us after Marlee was born. Billy took them to Silver Falls with the kids. There was some snow still on the ground in some places.

Here's grandma, Madisen and Koye checking out the view.

The three little munchkins.

Here She Is

2009-01-28T18:00:00.000-08:00

Our little Marlee Rae decided to come a little early for mom, which I am really thankful for! She was born on January 23rd at 2:04 p.m. She weighed 7 lbs. 5 oz. and was 20 1/2 inches long (exactly like Koye). Here we are, the happy family of 6.

Koye loves his little sister and couldn't understand why he couldn't take her home that night.

Madisen is in baby heaven having a sister. She is a big help to mom and I'm glad to have the help.

Here she is coming home from the hospital. She didn't make a peep the whole way home....maybe we will be lucky and she will like her car seat.

She is a little ticked off here because she wanted to eat and not have her picture taken. She looks a lot like Madisen and Koye.....it's the eyes! What little hair she has is dark brown, we will see if it stays that way, or even stays at all. She is so sweet and we all just love her. Grandma and Grandpa Farris are here with us right now helping out and we are enjoying having them here. My parents will be here on Sunday and get to stay for a week and then Chris, Shelley & Braelyn are coming after that. We are so happy that we can have family around to help and to just be here with us. Billy is playing Mr. Mom right now and is being such a huge help to me, I couldn't do it without him and I'm glad he get's to spend some time at home with us. Love you Bill!

Playing In The Snow

2009-01-16T16:34:00.000-08:00

We were in Arizona for Christmas and missed the really big snow storm they had up here. It started snowing again one night so the kids wanted to take advantage of it.

It wasn't much and it was all melted by morning but they had fun for the 15 minutes that they were brave enough to play in it.

Craft Day At The Farris'

2009-01-16T16:27:00.000-08:00

Madisen got this easel for Christmas and loves to paint and draw. Her and Koye are trying it out and are painting some real masterpieces.

Not quite sure what this is supposed to be.

Bill made me take this picture...I was making bows for Madisen and the baby. Not too often that you will catch me being "crafty", I guess he wanted to capture it.

Christmas Day

2009-01-01T13:13:00.000-08:00

After spending Christmas Eve and morning with the Goodman gang (can't believe that I didn't get any pictures of Christmas morning but got video) we headed to Marana to spend time with the Farris clan. Crew really liked this box. Once or twice I really wanted to tape it all up and return him back to a store....any store!

Uncle Chris is helping Koye open up one of his toys. Uncle Chris has two girls so I think any chance to get to play with boy stuff he takes it. My kids love their Uncle Chris and Aunt Christi!

I loved this picture of papa playing with Crew and his Hulk. Don't you just love the look on his face. We had so much fun being in Arizona with family and friends for Christmas. It was really hard to come back. We were gone a little over two weeks, with 4 days of driving in that time. I was really surprised at how well the kids did on the drive down there and on the way home. I think we all had it by the end of the trip but every one made it home in one piece. Thanks to everybody who took such good care of us while we were there. I know everybody says this but we couldn't ask for better families than the ones we have. We love and appreciate you all!!

Christmas Eve PJ Time

2009-01-01T13:06:00.000-08:00

My cute sister-in-law Brooke and I all comfy waiting for Santa to come.

Crewser and Brazer hanging out before bedtime.

Koye and Madisen opening up their pj's. We didn't know it yet but Koye had strep throat here. He had woken up with a fever and telling me his throat hurt that morning. We kept Motrin down him all day and on Christmas day. Finally we were able to get him to a dr. and confirmed that he had strep. He gave the gift that keeps on giving.....sorry Uncle Brent, we hope you are feeling better and hope we didn't spread the cheer on to anybody else.

Crew and Koa playing tug with Koa's toy. It was fun to watch them play, Koa is such a fun, crazy, hyper little dog and Crew is usually following him around trying to play with him....or bug him.

Christmas Eve Party

2009-01-01T13:00:00.000-08:00

Here is cute little Braelyn and Uncle Chad dressed as Angels for the Nativity.

Dan and I taking pictures of each other at the same time.

This is my cousin Brett. I hope he doesn't kill me for posting this but every year he always gets these crazy pajamas for Christmas Eve. I'll let the picture speak for itself.

Braelyn loves hair and saw an opportunity to get Madisen's while she was supposed to be sitting still.

2009-01-01T12:55:00.000-08:00

Crew liked to sneak on top of these presents and get into grandmas tree.

Koye got an early present from papa and mimi.......a Spiderman scooter. He rode this thing all over.

My mom has a bunch of these toys that dance and make noise and of course Crew wouldn't leave them alone. His favorite was this Snowman that would get tall and then melt. Here he is stealing a kiss from him.

This Santa danced to the "Move It" song from Madagascar and he shook his booty at you. Crew couldn't help but grab it every time Santa put it in his face!

The Polar Express in Williams, AZ

2009-01-01T12:37:00.000-08:00

Mom and dad Farris got us all tickets to the Polar Express train ride for Christmas this year. The kids absolutely loved it and were so excited to ride on the train to the North Pole to see Santa Clause. This is mimi with cousin Ella.

Koye, Taylen and Madi looking at the North Pole as we drove by.

The three boys waiting for the train ride to start. Koye was so excited to see Santa. When he got on the train his eyes got really big and he said "that's the REAL Santa". Santa came around and passed out bells to each of the kids and got to talk to them for a quick second. We had so much fun and the snow added to the magic of it all. It snowed on us from the time we got there until we left. It wasn't just drifting snow it was more like snow blowing at us sideways like a blizzard! Papa and mimi got us the whole package which included a hotel for the night with dinner and breakfast included. It was so much fun, we made some good memories and I know the kids will remember this for a long time. Thanks mom and dad....what a fun present!

2009-01-01T12:32:00.000-08:00

The kids had so much fun playing in the snow.

This is cousin Jace, Crew and Koye looking at the little Polar Express train they had set up.

Couldn't resist taking this picture, they are all checking out the snow outside.

Crew loved the snow, this is on the first day that we were there so their wasn't that much on the ground yet.

Koye loved playing in it also.

Deception Pass - Puget Sound

2008-12-04T16:55:00.000-08:00

Robin and Tracy took us to Deception Pass which is a group of islands in the northern Puget Sound. The ocean was as calm as a lake. The kids had a lot of fun hiking and throwing rocks in the water.

Crew is a big fan of rocks so he was in rock heaven here. Instead of sand it was just a bunch of small rocks for a beach.

The trees in this area had witches hair hanging from them, I have never seen anything like this before.

Robin took us on a crazy hike through the forest in the rain. It was either go by a cliff on slippery rocks or crouching and ducking through thick trees and bushes. We chose the bushes.

2008-12-04T16:47:00.000-08:00

This was Fort Ebey. It is a bunker that was built during WW II in case of Japanese invasion. It reminds you of the movie Saving Private Ryan when they invade the beach on D Day. Crew is running trying to catch up to everyone who are standing at the edge of the cliff overlooking the ocean. You had to keep the kids on the trail because the drop off was about 100 feet down.

Here's Koye and Bill overlooking the ocean.

This is the bunker we walked through. It was pitch dark inside so thankfully we had a flashlight to be able to see all the different rooms throughout it. This is Robin, his girls Regan, Isabelle and Baylen and then Madi and Crew. We tried to get the date that is on top of the bunker...1942.

From there we took the ferry boat back to Seattle. It was kind of fun driving your car up onto the ferry. Then we went to the upper deck to check out the view. As you can tell from Madi's expression it was freezing and very windy but they still liked it.

Thanksgiving In Seattle

2008-12-04T11:33:00.001-08:00

We spent Thanksgiving in Seattle with our friends the Hartley's. They are such good friends and always show us a great time when we go there. This is Madi and their daughter Isabelle having some hot chocolate.

Kids table...don't they look excited to start eating.

Here is Billy with his yummy Sweet Potato Pie. This certain recipe tastes just like pumpkin pie with pecan pie topping. We made had to make 3 or 4 batches of this stuff because we just kept eating it.

Here is our master chef Robin. He's a great cook and made the BEST turkey...it was so juicy. We ate until we couldn't eat anymore, everything was soooo good. I don't want to have to step on the scale at the doctors this week!

2008-12-04T11:28:00.000-08:00

What's Thanksgiving without a game of Twister? Here are all the kids after they were tired from playing.

Bill, Madi and Regan are getting their Twist on here. Madi is hidden behind Regan.

It was pretty funny to watch these girls. I didn't think I should try playing....I didn't want to show them all up or anything.

Naked Boy And Shoes

2008-12-04T11:19:00.000-08:00

I just had to take this picture! Crew loves to put shoes on all the time. In this pictures he has on Koye's but he loves to clomp around in mine and his dad's shoes also. I got him ready to put in the bath so he ran off and found some shoes real quick.

We did a little "blocking out" of a certain part here, didn't want to offend anybody or anything! We thought Crew might appreciate that further on down the road.

While Mom Is Away.....

2008-11-17T19:28:00.000-08:00

I was gone for a couple of hours today so I left dad in charge. It was kind of quiet so he went looking for Crew and this is where he found him, taking a nap on the sink. Probably not the most comfortable place to sleep but I guess he was tired enough.

He loves to climb up onto my bathroom counter and get into all kinds of trouble, it's become his favorite spot lately.

Notice the mess on the floor, nothing more fun than cotton balls and Q-tips. He also loves to go through my makeup bag and put a lot of Q-tips in his mouth. He was awake when I got home so Billy showed me the pictures on the camera.

Happy Halloween

2008-11-04T16:47:00.000-08:00

Here are some pictures of the kids in their Halloween costumes.

Our cute little Cheerleader.

Koye is the Black Spikerman. You should see some of his moves, pretty awesome!

Here is our little Batman. He actually wore the mask for a little while but it didn't last too long.

Halloween was also my dad's birthday. I wish we could have been there with him to celebrate! Growing up as kids he always had to take us to the annual carnival they had at the Pomerene School, which you know you loved it dad deep down somewhere, right?! Glad you had a good birthday dad, we love you.

Best Surprise Ever!

2008-10-29T11:30:00.000-07:00

Shelley, my sister-in-law, decided that she wanted to come up and surprise me for a visit. Chris told her to come on up so she invited my other sister-in-law Brooke and my mom. Bill was obviously in on it but I was clueless. On Thursday Bill told me he was going out of town for work and would be home late. Well, 7:30 rolls around and I get a phone call from Shelley so I'm talking to her explaining that I'm waiting for Bill to get home (she's in my garage) and the next thing I know Billy comes walking in with Braelyn, her little girl. I let out this scream, hang up on Shelley because I know she is here at this point. I was thinking that her and Chris came so I run to the garage and I see Shelley, my mom and Brooke. I was so happy I was crying! It was so much fun to see them, especially Braelyn. We left AZ right when she was born and only saw her a couple of times. She's so cute and so much fun. She loved being right down on the floor and playing cars with the boys. I'm also so happy my mom got to come. I'm not sure how she got away without my dad but she did and we loved every minute of it.

Here she is with Aunt Brooke. Her mom had her dressed in the cutest outfits everyday!

I thought this was a fun picture of her mother doing her hair.

Here she is again playing with the boys. I was very tempted to send them, especially Crew, home on the plane with them to keep Braelyn entertained. Crew has been a little hard lately with being a mommas boy which has been so hard for me because he has been so easy up to this point. I threatened him several times that I was going to send him back to Arizona.

I love this picture. Brazer is wearing a coon skin cap. The very same one Crew loves to stuff the tail up his nose! We had so much fun while they were here and I couldn't have asked for a better 4 days. Thanks girls for coming, we miss not having family around and this was such a treat for us!

Portland Temple

2008-10-29T11:27:00.000-07:00

2008-10-29T11:18:00.000-07:00

We took everybody to see the Multnomah Falls. It was pretty up there. We stopped to take a picture of the kids on this log. You should have heard all the people ohh and ahhh over these four.

Here is Brooke, Mom and me.

We stuffed Madi and Koye in this old tree log.

This was the funniest picture. Koye wanted to "pose" for this picture and this is what he came up with?! Notice the crossed legs and arms. Braelyn was just having fun hanging out.

2008-10-29T11:16:00.000-07:00

Beautiful Day At The Park

2008-10-29T11:09:00.000-07:00

We decided to take advantage of the nice weather and take food to the park and eat. Shelley made some yummy chicken tacos, Bill made salsa and guacamole and then we had home made ice cream waiting for us at home. Grandma made us all get together for this picture.

Can you tell that Madisen just loves this little girl. She couldn't get enough of her. Poor Braelyn.

Koye thought she was pretty cute, too. He would keep saying "she's so cute"!

A Visit To The Roloff Farms

2008-10-29T10:59:00.000-07:00

Not sure how many people watch Little People Big World on the TLC channel but they live here in Oregon. We decided we would go and visit their pumpkin patch one day. Amy Roloff was standing outside meeting and taking pictures with people so we waited in line to get ours taken. Koye was a little unsure of her, as you can see in this picture. He just would look at her. She was such a nice lady to take the time to stand out there and greet all the people visiting their farm. Anyway, it felt like meeting a celebrity.

We pulled the kids around in this along with our pumpkins.

I thought this picture was sweet of Braelyn sleeping on her Uncle Bill.

We took a tour of the farm in this tractor pulled ride. The kids really wanted to go on it. Koye kept telling me "mom, this is going to be so much fun"!

They let us off at a little place that was like a ghost town and explore. Braelyn did so good, there was a lot going on and she just took it all in.

2008-10-29T10:54:00.000-07:00

2008-10-29T10:50:00.000-07:00

The kids wanted to hold this snake, a little creepy if you ask me. Shelley even made Braelyn touch it.

Koye loved this! The snake's head kept creeping up by his face.

Madisen thought this was fun, also. There were two other one's that were much bigger than this one.

Camping At The Farris House

2008-10-18T10:30:00.000-07:00

I was tired of the TV being on all day so we tried to think of some fun things to do. I suggested roasting marshmallows in the fire place and then that turned into "camping".

We even pulled out the sleeping bags.

It's Offical.....We Got a Van

2008-10-18T10:23:00.000-07:00

After looking at our options and numerous vehicles we decided that a van was best for us. Especially after gas being what it is up here and our kids being the age that they are. All around this had the most options for the money and the lowest miles. We never thought we would be van people (sorry to those who have vans) but after having it we really love it!
These are pictures for the family since they have been asking to see what we got.

This part is the absolute best, not only for our kids but for mom and dad, too! This will come in really handy for the trip to AZ for Christmas.

Shark Attack

2008-10-18T10:19:00.000-07:00

Billy brought this home for Koye the other day as a clothes hamper but it turned into a "fort".
Madisen loved this thing more than Koye did, she's really into making forts lately and thought this would be perfect.

Fall is in the air

2008-10-06T13:54:00.000-07:00

The trees around here are starting to change colors. It's hard to really capture on camera (mine anyways) the beautiful colors that they are turning into.
This one is my favorite, it's a bright pink color.

These are the trees in our backyard. Like I said before the pictures don't do it justice at all. They are this beautiful pink color. I've never seen trees turn so many different colors. Yes, I'm an Arizona girl who grew up where there was not a lot of trees that did this in the Fall. I'm sure some of you are thinking so what, they are trees and they change color. We really need to go get some family pictures done by some of these.

Belly pictures

2008-10-06T13:46:00.000-07:00

I don't really LOVE being pregnant and don't really LOVE posting pictures of myself pregnant either but some family members are requesting that I do this so here it is.
I don't feel as big as I was with Crew at this point but after looking at these maybe I'm wrong. By the time it's all said and done I'm going to wish I was this size again. My belly just goes straight out! It's times like these I wish I was a little taller so that I had some place for growing room.

Kids playing some ball

2008-10-06T13:40:00.000-07:00

Koye just likes to run around and chase the ball.
Crew and his fishy face.

Dad trying to teach Crew how it's done.
He's got the right idea here.
If only I was a little taller.

Fun Run!

2008-09-26T11:16:00.000-07:00

Today was Madisen's Fun Run for her school. It's a big fund raiser that they do. The kids get pledges to sponsor them for however many laps they run. Or you can just donate a flat fee. Thanks a bunch to all of Madi's Grandma's and Grandpa's, Aunts and Uncles who donated money for her. She was so excited about this and also excited about all the pledges she got, excited because she can will prizes herself depending on how much money she raised.
Here she is in action. She actually did really well, better than I could have done. She ran 4 laps, about a mile. Even parents could get in on the running action. You know, being pregnant and all I just decided to sit this one out......otherwise I totally would have done it! :)
Here is Crew cheering on Madisen. We had to try to keep him from getting run over. He wanted to run with the kids.

2008-09-26T11:11:00.000-07:00

Here's Madisen with her class getting ready to go back in after the Fun Run.
They got to cool down with popcicles after it was all over.

We all came out to cheer on our Madisen. She did so good!

Having fun in the sun

2008-09-26T11:07:00.000-07:00

We had a little while between Fun Run and Madisen to be done with school so the kids took advantage of the nice weather and played on the playground.
Here's Billy "shakin" Koye up.

Crew has really started to love the swing, sometimes dad gets him going a little too high, but he still loves it!

It's a...............

2008-09-25T20:00:00.000-07:00

GIRL!! We had our ultrasound today and this is our verdict. Madisen is so excited to have a baby sister. I think she is picturing a real life doll to dress up and play house with. Koye is even excited to have a sister. He told me that he wanted a girl baby. So, looks like we got what we all wanted. Billy was hoping for a boy. He thinks having daughters will make him worry too much, especially during those dating, teenage years! I guess he wants to hang on to as much of his hair as he possibly can.

Tear, tear....sniff, sniff

2008-09-25T19:56:00.001-07:00

We watched this drive away today, sad day in the Farris household. We finally sold our truck because no matter how hard we try we just aren't going to fit another kid in the back seat. We have had many great times and memories in this truck. Who knew a vehicle could make you so sad when it is gone. Billy just said "that's okay, I'll get another one some day". Glad he is being positive about it. I think I even took it harder than Billy. I was impressed how well he did. This little girl is already causing him heartache!

Madisen's crazy picture taking: Part 2

2008-09-25T19:45:00.000-07:00

These top two pictures of Crew I actually took because Crew is a weird kid. Papa Farris bought Koye this coon skin cap a while back and Crew has discovered the tail on it. He loves to suck his fingers (Farris kids habit) and then stick the end of this tail up his nose. Of course when I tried to get the picture of him with it up his nose he wouldn't do it. So occasionally he will put it in his ear or on his toes. I'm the first to admit that we have weird kids!

Once again Madisen has captured some really goofy pictures of herself and the boys. They made me laugh so I had to share.

This one of Crew especially made me laugh, with the crazy hair and all!

First day of school.....Hooray!!

2008-09-04T10:57:00.000-07:00

Sorry if this is picture overload but it was her first day of Kindergarten today and I promised her two mimi's some pictures. She had orientation on Tuesday so that they can become familiar with the classroom and their teacher. She was really nervous on that day. Today she was a lot better and excited to go. Doesn't that face scream EXCITEMENT!

Here she is in her classroom. You can tell she is a little shy, she gets that from her mother. As I was leaving her and walking down the hall the principal got on the intercom and said "Welcome the class of 2021 today, the new kindergarten class". That made me a little sad as I was leaving her, it's kind of funny the emotions you feel about dropping your first child off at kindergarten. I know before too long she is going to be graduating from high school. We love our Madisen, I know she is going to do great!

Trip to Seattle

2008-09-02T22:16:00.000-07:00

We all went to Seattle, well actually Bothell, to see our friends the Hartley's for the weekend. They were kind enough to take us in and show is a good time in Seattle. This is the famous Farmers Market. Right under the sign is also the famous fish market where they throw the fish. We never really got to see them throw one because you have to buy one for them to throw it. There was a ton of people just standing around waiting for something to happen but nobody wanted to buy.
This is Koye, Isabelle and Madisen sitting by a water fountain. There was a guy playing the bongo drum close by and Koye couldn't help but bust a move. He had those hips moving!
This is the kids playing at the Ocean one day. It was cold so this is as far as they would go.
This picture doesn't quite show it but Crew was a MESS. There is something about this kid and sand. He loves to eat it. He had a sand mustache and a sand beard plus some ketchup in his hair from Billy dripping it from his hamburger and then his shirt was dripping with chocolate ice cream. He was a wreck but he sure did have fun.

2008-09-02T22:09:00.000-07:00

Here we are with a cool view of the city in the background.
This picture says it all.........we have crazy, but fun, kids.
Of course it wouldn't be a trip to Seattle without a picture of the Space Needle.
This is our friend Robin, Koye and I. Just to let you see all the people that are there. It was craziness trying to walk through but there was a lot of fun stuff to look at.
This is Raigan, Isabelle, Madisen and Crew on the "lucky pig". You put money in it and it's supposed to bring you luck. We shall see.

Two little monkeys........

2008-09-02T22:05:00.000-07:00

Crew has discovered that he can climb. He kept watching Madi and Koye climb on top of the bunk bed so he thought he should be able to do it.
I will hear all this laughing and squealing and go in the boys room and find him here. He loves it up there. He likes to drive his cars along the shelf on the wall.
He also loves to climb on top of the table and play up there. Koye decided to get in on the action with him. That crazy face Crew is making is his "cheese" face whenever you point a camera at him.

Madisen's crazy picture taking

2008-09-02T22:02:00.000-07:00

I usually go through my pictures in my camera to see what I have on there and I will occasionally find some that Madisen took. This one I thought was funny that she took of herself.

Horse Riding

2008-08-28T16:09:00.001-07:00

Our friends the Kelly's have horses so they invited us over for dinner and to let us ride them. They were perfect riding horses for young kids because they are really old horses, like 20+ years so they like to go slow. Perfect for a fat, pregnant lady...you should have seen me try to get up on her with a belly in the way!
Billy and Koye got to ride the more "spunky" horse. You really have to control her and not let her control you. Koye was nervous about getting on her at first but after this he loved it and went a couple more times.
He got brave enough to ride by himself and let Billy walk the horse.
This little girl would not get off the horse. She wanted to keep riding and riding. She went with me at first and then did it all by herself with no one walking her. It's such a gentle horse. We showed her how to turn her left and right and how to stop her. She even had her trotting a little bit. She rode her about 30 minutes just around the field and now wants a horse to put in her backyard.
Crew on the other hand did not enjoy the whole horse experience. He was alright if she just sat still but the minute she started to move he would freak out. He liked the two cows a lot more! He loved feeding the cows apples and I think it was the whole "an apple for you.....a bite for me", thing. We caught him eating these almost rotten apples and was loving every minute of it. He then found some dirt clods and would throw them at the cows and say "paple". Thanks to the Kelly's for having us over and letting us enjoy the horses. The kids loved it.

Hotel fun

2008-08-16T18:05:00.000-07:00

Since Oregon was having a heat wave (104 degrees) we decided that it would be fun to get a hotel and let the kids go swimming. This is out of order because this is bed time after swimming. Crew loved these beds, doesn't he look comfy.
This is Madisen and Koye all set for bed. Koye really liked those Spider Man goggles, I think he wore them all night. He's such a crazy kid!

Swimming

2008-08-16T17:50:00.000-07:00

Madisen stayed close to the stairs most of the time.
Crew was freezing, he wasn't too interested in the pool. He had more fun running around the pool and checking things out.
Koye really liked being in this tube. He would just kick his way all around the pool.
He LOVED the Spider Man goggles, in fact he is wearing them right at this moment.
They both liked wearing the goggles but didn't really like to go under......go figure.

2008-08-16T17:42:00.000-07:00

This is how Koye started out....just testing the waters. It was actually pretty cold.
Crew liked to just sit and splash in the water.
Billy was trying to teach Madisen how to swim, notice the panicked look on her face.
Same thing with Koye, Billy was trying to just teach him the basics but he was a little nervous.
This is Crew's face right as Billy put him in the water, he was not too happy about it at first but ended up liking it.

Shake, shake a shake it......

2008-08-16T17:38:00.000-07:00

Crew loves music and to dance! Billy had this song on the computer that says "shake, shake, shake, shake a shake it"! He loves this song because the beat is so fast. We left the room for something and he climbed up on the computer chair and started shaking it!

Off to work

2008-08-16T17:36:00.001-07:00

We had to take this picture of dad on his way out the door to work. We thought he looked cute in his pink shirt. We had to capture it because someday down the road he may not remember that he actually wore pink shirts.

Going...Going....Gone!

2008-08-10T16:53:00.000-07:00

Billy, Chad and Brent went white water rafting with some friends of ours. This is the Dechutes River in Central Oregon. Here they are about to go over a class 3 rapid. Billy, Chad and Brent are in the front. Be sure and watch where Billy is now and see where he ends up in the last picture.
They just hit the rapid, about a 4 foot drop. Chad is totally covered in water.
The whole boat gets soaked. I don't see Brent in this picture, I think he was falling inside at this point.
Here Billy is hanging on by one leg.
And now he is totally gone. Notice how they are all looking over the edge for him. He got tossed right out and took a nice trip down the rapids by himself. The guys had a blast and came back totally sunburned!

Blackberry picking

2008-08-06T17:39:00.000-07:00

Blackberries grow like crazy along the sides of the road so we decided to take the kids and let them pick some. They have a ton of thorns all around them so you really have to be careful. Here is Madisen picking some. She only picked a few because she kept hearing Billy and I yelling "ouch" from getting poked.

Koye had fun eating them. We gave them each a bowl to put their berries in. Koye's was always empty because as soon as he picked them off the vine they went straight into his mouth. We made him pose with these two for evidence that he did pick some.
Crew was the same way, instantly went to the mouth. I couldn't pick them fast enough for him. Here is our finished product. We thought these might be good on vanilla ice cream. Guess what we are having for dessert tonight!

Sad good bye's :(

2008-07-29T09:32:00.000-07:00

I really hate good bye's! Here we are dropping everybody off at the airport. The kids really loved being with their Aunt Brooke and Uncle Brent, who is taking the picture.
Mom and Dad with the kids. They really were going to try and kidnap them and put them in their luggage.
One last picture before they left. It really wasn't this happy. It was actually quite sad, I had to come home to an empty house because Billy is in Las Vegas for the big furniture market convention until Friday. Oh well....it was a blast having everybody here, we loved every minute of it and hope everybody can come back soon.

Bowling

2008-07-29T09:23:00.000-07:00

We all decided to go bowling one day which was a lot of fun. The kids had a blast. Koye soon discovered that air blew out of this vent and kept putting his head over it.
So of course Madisen had to try it out.
Koye would get so mad at Madisen if she tried to help him roll his ball down this little contraption.
This is Koye being excited about knocking a pin down. And yes...shorts and bowling shoes go GREAT together!
I had to post this of Brooke, she just got a strike, one of many strikes she bowled that day. Notice in the left side you can barley see Brent's arm. That is him on his butt. He fell and his wife bowls a strike. She was rubbing it in his face just a little bit.

Up, up and away

2008-07-22T12:41:00.000-07:00

Crew and Koye love to have their daddy throw them up in the air. We caught some good one's of them flying high! This is Crew in this one.
Koye loves this.

Crew flew the highest.
If you look close, it looks like Crew is balancing on the tip of Billy's thumb.

More of the Coast

2008-07-22T12:35:00.000-07:00

The kids had a good time playing in the sand. We need to take them to a warm beach so they can get the right idea how a beach should be.
This was a cute picture of Crew and Madisen. Mom took this right before Crew stuck a hand full of sand in his mouth.
Madisen was taking Crew for a walk.
Mom was burying Crew's feet in the sand to keep them warm.
This was a fun game if you could stop the wind from blowing. It would just catch the balls in the air and blow them away.

2008-07-22T12:31:00.000-07:00

Here is Brooke trying to keep warm by twirling Koye around.
I think my teeth were chattering, it was so cold.
Cool hat Billy....and he's eating a burrito to go with the hat.
They were trying to build a sandcastle.
All bundled up!

A trip to the Coast

2008-07-22T12:25:00.000-07:00

The coast is so beautiful... except for the freezing wind!

If these were normal conditions they would all be in the water. Notice the sweatshirts and everybody just standing by the water instead of in it.
The kids bundled up at first until they got used to it and then they started playing in the sand.

Silver Falls

2008-07-22T12:17:00.000-07:00

Here is Crewser and mimi taking a break on the trail.
Crew wanted to go under this fence but really couldn't quite figure it out.
The funny story behind this picture is that this is the "short cut" back up the trail. Madisen wanted to go on it so Billy took her and Koye, Chad went with them thankfully because it was literally straight up the side of the mountain. We, of course, beat them and were waiting for them and had to help pull Koye and Madisen up.

More of Silver Falls

2008-07-22T12:11:00.000-07:00

Here is Billy with the kids, they loved running around and exploring.
Me and Brooke, I love this girl! I really do have the best sister-in-laws.
Here is uncle Chad, or Chaddy wack is what the kids call him. Madisen and Koye found a little cave.
Here we all are on one of the trails. I don't know why I didn't take this in color because everything was so pretty and green.

A day at Silver Falls

2008-07-22T12:04:00.000-07:00

We decided to pack a lunch before exploring the falls.
I love this picture of Brent with Crew, he likes to give smooches and sometimes they are really slobbery!
Here's papa and mimi with Crewser with the falls in the background.

We thought this picture fit Koye rather well......Hazardous! Notice the people walking right by the sign that says not to go in. Bill, Brent and Chad ignored that same sign.

Hooray for family visiting

2008-07-22T11:46:00.000-07:00

My mom, dad, Chad, Brent & Brooke came up on Saturday and are getting to stay until next Saturday and as you can imagine we are so glad to have family around! Here is Brooke, Koye, Madisen, mom and me.
The kids LOVE their Auntie Brooke.
Here's Madisen, papa, Crew and Koye. We took them downtown to the Robin Hood Festival.
Brooke, Crew, Brent and Chad. We were at Silver Falls here.

So sweet...when they are asleep

2008-07-07T08:01:00.000-07:00

See they do love each other.....when they are sleeping. Koye has his own bed but likes to sleep with Madisen because she has a queen bed. They usually watch a movie for quiet time before they fall asleep so that's what started Koye sleeping with Madi. Every now and then Koye will like to sleep in is own room which makes Madisen upset because she likes it when Koye sleeps with her. She's much more of a chicken than Koye.

Toilet Boy

2008-07-07T07:48:00.000-07:00

This little stinker has been my worst kid EVER when it come to playing in the toilet. He can open the bathroom door, open the toilet lid so we have to keep our eye on him. He comes running into the room yesterday and sits right on my lap soaking wet. Notice the hair, it looks like he gave himself a swirly in the toilet! Right away we knew he was playing in the toilet. Billy wanted to take a picture of it. At least there was no pee or poop in it this time. He has been caught playing in it when the kids forgot to flush the toilet.....SO YUCK!
To capture the moment Billy was trying to get him to play in it again which really confused him because usually we are screaming at him to stay out. Once he figured he had permission he was right back in. He found these two wash cloths and that's what he was playing with and using to "wash" his hair.
Don't you love the "toilet swirly" hair do?? Billy and I were cracking up at him. At first we thought he stuck his head in but when we came in we realized he had wash cloths and was putting them on his head. His new nick name is now toilet boy.

Yummy Ice Cream

2008-07-07T07:40:00.000-07:00

Papa and Mimi Farris sent us some money to go out to ice cream. The kids loved it and had fun eating their ice cream. Thanks Papa and Mimi!

So many choices, Koye took a while to figure out what flavor he wanted.
Crew was enjoying it, Billy was sharing with him so there was a lot of slobber on his!

Waffles & Steak

2008-07-07T07:32:00.000-07:00

Billy wanted to show a picture of this dinner. Billy made some really good steaks, we had mashed potatoes and gravy and corn. Well, Koye didn't want steaks he wanted WAFFLES so I made the kid waffles. We just thought it was funny that we were having this really good dinner and Koye wanted waffles. Notice he is picking his nose, also. Gotta love our Koye.

Happy 4th of July

2008-07-05T15:31:00.000-07:00

We had a fun and exciting day. We woke up early to go to the annual ward breakfast at some members home and then headed over to one of our friends, the Kelly's houses, for a BBQ and some fireworks. The kids had a ball playing the with other kids and being able to light a few fireworks of their own. The hit of the night was sparklers for the little kids. I remember when I was a kid we would all go to my Grandma Hall's house in Eagar with all my other cousins. We would have a blast going to the parade, and then that night sitting in my grandma's back yard and watching the fireworks. After they were over we would do sparklers and my uncle Butch would always have some fireworks of this own to light off. We really missed our families yesterday but I'm thankful for friends that we have up here that are so good to us. I'm also thankful for our freedoms that we have and for those who fought so hard for our freedom. We forgot our camera so Billy used his cell phone, which doesn't take all that great of a picture so sorry about the quality. We only took a couple....I hate it when I forget my camera.

4th of July fun

2008-07-05T15:26:00.000-07:00

Crew wanted a turn holding a sparkler. I had to help him because he was going crazy with it.
This glow stick kept him pretty entertained the whole night.
Koye had a blast with the sparklers and the rest of the fireworks that were being let off.
Here's Madisen between poppers and sparklers.
This kid loved anything to do with sparklers or anything else that you had to light on fire.

Daddy Daughter Camp out

2008-06-21T13:39:00.000-07:00

It was Madisen's turn to go on a camp out with her daddy. She wanted to go so bad when Billy and Koye went on the father sons one. Here she is getting ready for bed.
It looks like she just woke up here. Billy said she slept good but he didn't get much sleep. She's not the early riser type so she was asleep in the car when they came home.

Here she is playing with sticks in the fire. Billy said it was one of her favorite things about camping.
All the girls got in a huge water fight with their dads and this is Madisen trying to stay out of it.

Our little Hulk

2008-06-21T13:35:00.000-07:00

Koye got these Hulk hands for his birthday but Crew really loves to wear them. You have to be on the look out when he's got them on because you are likely to get a punch to the head.

He was very interested in the goat in this picture, this kid loves to watch TV.