Why aren't you blogging?

"Why aren't you blogging?"

I have been asked this question a lot lately.

And how nice to know that I have loyal followers that miss me.

Even if it is a handful of you.

It is nice to be missed.

And in all honesty I have really missed blogging.

I rarely have spare time any more.

BUT I am going to make time.

I MEAN IT!

So here we go.

A little catch up for you of the last few months.

And then maybe we can get this 

blog thing really rolling again.

Cheer me on!

Maybe that will help!

:)

HERE WE GO!

Well this was before Christmas.

My friend Cheryl and I after racing each other

to the bottom of the hill.

Facefulls of snow....

Refreshing!

And here is my crazy boy and his friend.

Took off their shirts and went for it.

...Refreshing?

Time for a cocoa break!

Just what we needed to warm up before

the next sledding session.

Me & my snowbunny girls.

Cheryl, Joanna, Kim & me...

Nothing like a tea party to warm you 

up on a cold winters day.

My girlies during the break.

JoBugs played in her first doubles tennis tournament.

They won a match and lost a match.

Way to go sweetie!

My sweet Hubs turned the big 40!!

Thanks to my talented friend Wendi for the 

tombstone cake.

It was amazing AND delicious.

And thanks to some great friends

who helped us celebrate.

My sweet beautiful Googles turned 8 years old.

In our church that is the age for baptism.

She was smiley and glowed on her special day.

Her cousin, Ty, was also baptized.

He is on her left in the picture.

A great group shot of both sides of the fam that came.

 Thank you family!

My sister, my niece and me.

Cooking for New Year's Eve.

So much fun.

I so wish they lived closer!!!

And more recently...

Trev and I got to go to Maui together.

It was WONDERFUL!

He did a lot of this...kiteboarding.

We did a lot of relaxing

and just taking in the beautiful surroundings.

I think I can hear the ocean waves right now...

I have video!
I ziplined for my first time!
SO FUN!
Ok...I did scream.
But it was a happy scream!

And I will leave you with that!
Until next time...

Cute dogs and stuff.

For some reason, there are a lot of dog pictures in this post.

I think we have cute dogs.

Really cute dogs.

The kids aren't too bad either.

Here is Googles and Jasper.  

Check out that tongue.

Here is Monkey C and her tennis partner winning a tournament.

Just a fun fact for ya...

her partner is my tennis partner's daughter.

Pretty cool, huh?

The girls and their pumpkins.

I kind of forgot to buy pumpkins for the whole fam this year...

great mom, huh?

As fate would have it, Monkey A had homework and couldn't carve anyway,

so Trev and I helped the girls.

My boy did his own.

At least we got 3 awesome jack-o-lanterns.

Costumes!

My mom hosted a party this year, so we still got to dress up

and have fun.

Did you know that Trev and I are secretly Trekker nerds?

Yup, it's true.

JoBug's friend Jeff joined us this year too.

(cowgirl, army guy, ninja, army guy, janitor, Star Trek)

More dog pictures.

I could eat them up.

Especially that Jasper boy.

Another fun fact for you...

we call our dogs Cottonball Jones and Jasper Jones.

I am  not sure why.

Our last name is not Jones.

This little guy loves sunny patches too.

Just like me!!

See?  He belongs.

I told you...lots of dog pictures.

This body pillow case was warm from the dryer.

They stuck him in there, and he didn't want to get out.

Daddy and daughter.

They borrowed the hats from my son and hung out together.

Too cute.

Holidays are coming!

Yay!

I'll end this post with the perfect quote I found.

Remember how I LOVE fall?

Well, I have enjoyed it immensely this year.

I know it is almost over but... 

"Delicious autumn!

My very soul is wedded to it, and if I were a bird

I would fly about the earth 

seeking the successive autumns."

 - George Eliot

Last camp out.

I think you know we are an outdoorsy family.

We wanted one more camping getaway before it got too cold.

So we packed everybody up and went to Hepner, Oregon for the weekend.

Good campground, beautiful trails and trees, & not too far from home.

And of course we took our quads & bikes.

Good Morning me! 

And dogs!

Yes, my camper is wonderful.  LOVE it.

Started the day off with a good breakfast!

Oatmeal, raspberries & toast!

Say yummy!

We hit the trails.

Why do I love all the blond hair coming out from my daughters' helmets?

Because they are all cute tomboys?

Don't know why, but I do.

How many times have we posed on these rocks?

Pyramid Rocks.

We all still love to stop here on this trail and climb.

And pose.

And their true natures...

Our turn.  

Hee.

Is that a dirt biker totem pole?

Or my son?

The girls on our hike.

It was a beautiful day.

Not too cold, not too hot.

So fun to see the fall colors.

Collecting roasting sticks in the forest.

Had such a great time with Trev and the kids.

My favorite parts were just hanging out with the family,

the hike with the girls, roasting marshmallows with the sticks

the girls carved, and watching Raising Hope together before bed.

Have you seen Raising Hope?

Love it.  It's a laugh and a half.

Well, I think that's it for our camping this year.

Good bye lovely camper!

See you next year!

Homecoming, Two Peas & an Apology.

I think it would make sense to start this post with an apology & an explanation.

I don't know how many people look at my blog.

And although it is nice to have followers, 

I blog for four good reasons.

My children.  Monkeys A, B, C, & D.

I make books from my blog posts.

They are sort of journal/picture books.

My kids already love to look at them, and read about themselves.

I think it is nice for them to have an inside to my thoughts and feelings.

Maybe they can know their mom a bit better.

That is my explanation.

Now for my apology.

I'm sorry children.

I used to make blogging a priority.

I have fantastic intentions, but as you all know, we are one busy family.

Please forgive me, and know that I am doing my best.

Because this family of ours is so so important, I want to capture all of it in a book for you.

But I also want to live it.

I'm trying to find the balance.

So don't give up on me, I will try to keep the posts coming!

My sweet oldest girl went to Homecoming!

Her first formal dance.

And you can tell because we took tons of pictures.

(Sorry if this is a repeat for those of you who Facebook).

I thought they looked stunning.  And excited.  :)

Her cousin Chelsea came over and did her hair.

Thanks so much Chels, you did a beautiful job!!

And it was so fun!

Ta-Da!

I'm sorry, but I will just say it.

I couldn't get over how beautiful she looked and how excited I was for her.

And I want you all to know that this girl's inside beauty matches the out.

All moms say that right?

I don't care.

It's true.

I loved being a part of the next picture.

Chels & I were the make-up & hair crew.

Just had to celebrate.

They were both a bit nervous at first.

What do we do with these corsage thingies?

Cute.

How do I pin this thing on?

We all loved that it was Trev who jumped in and helped .

They had a great time!!

Hooray!

And...

remember the Breast Cancer Benefit I do every year with Elece?

It came a little earlier this year, but we made sure we were there!

We love this one!!

"For The Love of The Girls"

Warming up!

A shot of the group.

They gave us pink towels with our team name this year!

We love these!

"Two Peas In A Pod", that is us.

We played against other teams that had great names like...

The Maidenforms,

The TaTa's,

The Double D-faults...

Didn't get a picture with Elece at the end,

but we got to take home these lovely first place flower baskets.

Thanks Lecey Lou, it is ALWAYS fun with you!

And I saved the best picture for last.

A typical morning for my GG.

A bowl of cereal in a sunny patch, reading Calvin & Hobbes.

I love my kiddos.

And my peas.

hee.