Bowling!

Last Saturday I was feeling a bit down-in-the-dumps, so my wonderful husband decided to cheer me up by taking me & the boys bowling. I LOVE BOWLING!! I am by no means GOOD at bowling, but I love it anyway. I always try to beat Dave, and I have at least once - but this particular evening I was off my game. I think the boys even beat me the last game! Anyway, I took a few pictures...

Dave's approach to bowling is to throw the ball as hard as possible. It works for him :)

Coop ALWAYS starts clapping his hands when it's his turn :)

Hunter is EXTREMELY competitive! If he doesn't do well he slumps in a chair and pouts. He seriously thinks he should get a strike every time! He gets much better, though, as the game goes on. Thank goodness!

If any of you ever want to go bowling, give us a call! We'll be there!

The Loss of Someone Special

This is my dear Uncle Leif, who tragically passed away this past Thursday. It has been extremely hard for me to accept that he's gone. I've been wandering around my house thinking about him, remembering and wishing I could do something to make it all better. The only thing I could think of was posting a blog about him. So here goes...

When I met my Uncle Leif about 26 years ago, I instantly liked him. He was silly and fun. And we could tell he liked us too. He would talk like Donald Duck, which made us giggle and giggle. And he & Aunt Mel gave us the best Christmas presents. :) He would play with us, open all our hard-to-get-into gifts with his handy pocket knife, take us for rides on his 4-wheeler, and let us drink as much Pepsi as we wanted. He thought it was ridiculous that us girls would get grossed out when he poured horseradish all over his roast beef!

He was into the latest technology, and always had a new camera or video camera. Nearly everywhere we went, he had the camera around his neck, documenting the fun we were having. He was a fun-loving guy, who knew how to make you laugh and feel comfortable. He loved my Aunt Melinda and his son Trevyn with all his heart, and he did many wonderful things for them and with them. He was a great husband and Daddy.

I was so pleased when I found this photo of him on my computer. I cropped everyone else out of the picture so it would just be him. I'm sure in this picture he was telling us a great story and making us all laugh. In fact, I can hear that great laugh of his in my head right now. It is a beautiful sound which I hope I'll never forget.

So this is my tribute to him; my testimony of what a great man he was. I hope he knew just how special he was to us. But just in case, I'll tell him one more time...I LOVE YOU UNCLE LEIF. I miss you terribly, but I'll never forget you.

Apparently, sledding can be dangerous!

...or in my case, just walking around in the yard when there is snow on the ground can be dangerous. But I'm sure that doesn't come as a surprise to many of you - I have never been what you would call "graceful" .

We were so excited Friday when we woke up to snow! We hadn't been sledding yet (even though Papa had bought us a new sled), so Dave & I bundled up, along with the kids, and we trekked out to our back yard, which is on a pretty good slope. Now, I have been known to slip down this slope even in the summer, when there isn't any snow... so you can imagine how hard it was for me to go up and down this hill IN the snow!

The first time I fell, I got up quickly and said, giggling, "Haha! I fell down!" No one had seen me :) The second time, though, they were watching. I started down the hill to go inside to get a few carrots for our snowman. I knew they were watching, so I turned around to tell them to stop watching, and felt myself start to go. I attempted to make a run for it, since the deck was within reach, but it didn't work. I was airborne for what seemed like forever, then I came down flat on my back and my head banged into the ground. I didn't get up so quickly that time...I couldn't! My back hurt too bad! Plus, I was a tad-bit mortified. Dave fell to the ground laughing...holding-his-breath-laughing :) I told him later that I don't think I've EVER heard him laugh like that! EVER!

Dave made me get up early the next morning and get in the hot tub. Thank goodness for that thing - it helped so much!

Coop didn't want to sled, until we MADE him get on, then he wouldn't stop!

Hunter is like his Daddy - doesn't mind the cold weather or being soaking wet...just wants to have fun!

I think next time we decide to do this, I'll just stay at the bottom and take pictures...I AM thirty now, you know!

Old-Fashioned Trevino Christmas

I look forward to Christmas at my parents' house every year. Mom cooks a huge delicious breakfast, we open presents, we snack, we eat a nice lunch, we play games, we snack...haha! Can you tell which part is my favorite?

Dad & Mom go a little overboard sometimes when it comes to buying presents, but there are never any complaints. They put so much thought and effort into buying just the right things for everyone - especially the boys! This year they got an air hockey table! WooHoo!

I always get so wrapped up in the moment that I usually forget to take pictures, but we did manage to get a few...

We had to set it up right away - Mommy wanted to play!

Mom & Dad MADE these signs for each of us! They were definitely the most special gifts of the day.

Dave was getting a bad cold, so wasn't feeling that great, but this cheered him up!

Indiana Jones legos!

A Christmas angel...LOL...I am full of myself.

Can you tell what Cooper's saying? "CHEEEEEESE"

Thank you, Mom & Dad, for always making Christmas special. Can't wait 'til next year!

Our Very Merry Christmas

We had such a wonderful Christmas this year! Each year, I make a comment like "this was the best Christmas ever..." But this one has definitely topped the cake! I really feel that it is because of the past few sermons Pastor Paul has preached. They were about "not missing Christmas"...getting so caught up in the hurry and worry and hustle and bustle of the season that we actually MISS why the season is so special in the first place! And that is the fact that our Savior was born!

Those sermons really spoke to me, because it is very easy for me to get caught up in everything - the shopping, the wrapping, the baking and the gatherings. But this year, each time I felt myself starting to get anxious and worried that I wouldn't get everything done, I stopped and thought about why we have Christmas, and reflecting on what was important always brought me back to reality. And, quite frankly, made me a lot more joyful!

Of course, something else made me very joyful, too... the fact that my sweet husband bought me a new wedding ring for Christmas! I couldn't stop crying :)

Coop's favorite present was his bike. He likes to sit on it and make motorcycle noises. AND - he asked us in a very stern tone, "Where is my helmet? I have to have a helmet when I ride my bike!" I guess we'll be buying him a helmet.

Hunter's favorite present was his PSP. We made him open it last, and everything he opened prior to that was like a huge let-down. We have lots of pictures of him holding things up with a disappointed look on his face, like this...check out the difference.

Boring...

Woo Hoo!

Dave's favorite present was his snowmobiling backpack. He showed it to me in his magazine right before Christmas, and thankfully I managed to order it in time.

Of course we got a ton of other stuff, too...especially at my parents house, but that deserves a whole blog to itself, so look for that in a couple of days. For now, I am filled with peace and joy knowing this wonderful celebration signifies something much greater...a chance for all of us to have eternal life with our Savior!

Our Two Handsome Sons

I took these pics of the boys today after we got home from church. They looked so cute in their "fancy clothes", I just had to share them with you all!

I realize I haven't put up a new blog in a couple of weeks, but we have been extremely busy...as I'm sure all of you have been, too! I've been trying to bake some goodies to put in the freezer for various get-togethers we'll be attending. So far, I've made more peppermint bark and peanut butter balls, fudge, chocolate chip cookies, peanut blossom cookies and gingersnaps.

Last week, I was at Hunter's school three days in a row: Wednesday I helped for a few hours in the evening at his book fair. He went with me and we had tons of fun! Then Thursday we went to his Christmas concert. It was VERY cute! The 1st graders were, by far, the loudest singers. :) Friday, Coop and I went to Hunter's Christmas party...more fun!

We are all really looking forward to Christmas Eve and Christmas. I have a little more wrapping and a little more baking to do, but I'm determined to get it all done in the next couple of days. I hope you all have a blessed Christmas with your loved ones!

Fun-Filled Saturday!

I was invited to my sweet sister-in-law's house for her 1st annual baking day with her sisters and her mom. We each brought recipes and ingredients for a Christmas treat and we all kind-of chipped in. Actually, now that I think about it, I didn't really help anyone else...hmmmmm. Anyway - I didn't get pictures of all of the treats, but I can attest to the fact that they were all very delicious! We split them up so we all could have some! Thank you, Jamie, for always including me in your fun family stuff! I had a blast!

Peanut Butter balls

Homemade almond roca! YUMMY!

My contribution was the Marbled Peppermint Bark. It actually turned out pretty good. My family wished I'd made more!

THEN....Saturday night was the Lighted Parade in Sunnyside. My dad and his co-workers had spent a great deal of time decorating their small dump truck for the event so we wanted to get a good spot. We took our truck down to the high school parking lot and parked it there around 3:00 PM. Then we came home really fast, ate some dinner, grabbed our blankets and Mr. Heater and shot back to the school. We sat in the bed of the truck and enjoyed the parade and were very toasty warm! James, Jamie and Taylor also joined us, as well as Jamie's sisters and their kids! It was so much fun!

The top pics are of my dad's float. It looked awesome!!

We all had a great time that night, and were thankful for our family and friends who joined in the fun!