Tuesday, July 28, 2009

Party and Parade:)

Friday was Grandpa Anderson’s 85th birthday; we had a barbeque for him over in Uncle Danny’s garden. It was fun trying to sneak pictures of grandma and grandpa (thank goodness for zoom lenses, lol:) Aunt Kelly and little Michael came to join the party; it was good to see them.

The next morning we took the kids to the Cowley parade since we missed the others this summer. Carissa had fun shakin her bootie, and they all got more than enough candy:)

Tuesday, July 21, 2009

Adventures in ARIZONA


WOW, where to begin. Who thought you could pack so much into one week! We took the kids to Arizona last week to watch their Daddy graduate from UOP, Chad has completed his MBA and we are so proud of all his hard work, we had to go CELEBRATE! We left early last Tuesday to catch our flight out of Billings to Mesa. We took all the kids, they had been counting down the days until they could go on the airplane. They were awesome little travelers (THANK GOODNESS:)








We have some really good friends in Mesa who were kind enough to let us stay with them for the week. When we left Billings it was raining and 65 and when we stepped off the plane it was dry and already 115, wow. Fortunately Bill and Oma have pool in their back yard and the kids couldn’t get into it fast enough when we got there.
Tuesday we relaxed and played in the pool and that night John and Kendra came over for dinner and we spent the rest of the night laughing at John and Chad.









The next day we took the kids to the Arizona World War II Army Airfields, Chad loved it and the kids had fun checking out the aircrafts. That night I got a hold of my awesome cousin Audra and she brought Kirstin over to play in pool and catch up a little that night. It was kind of late when we finally got together so we made plans to meet at Peter Piper Pizza (similar to Chuck E. Cheese) for dinner the next night.



The next day Oma planned for us to go to the Science center, there were tons of hands on activities for the kids to do, Lego Land was the first stop and then we just went from room to room after that. The kids had so much fun. Oma invited one of her neighbors to go with us so we could have one adult per kid (thanks for hanging out with us Lynn.) We also hit the movie SHARKS at the IMAX, it was 3D and the kids loved it. After lunch we headed back to Oma’s for some much needed R&R before dinner.





















After sending Audra and JR on a goose chase to find us, we finally met up at the right Peter Piper and the kids had a blast. The little cousins hit it off immediately and had so much fun playing together. It was so good to catch up a little and meet JR, he is a sweetie. (We definitely need to keep in touch Audra, love ya!)

















Friday was the BIG day and we spent the morning getting ready for the graduation; Chad hung out at the house and played in the pool with the kids while I got to hang out with Oma. We hit the grocery store for snacks and since we had time we ran to Walmart for a new camera too. Then it was off to the Stadium for the graduation, the facility was huge and the ceremony was very nice. The kids made it through the entire time with only a few trips to the potty. They were such little troopers and as sleep deprived and off schedule as they were they were great!










We took Chad to In N Out Burger for his graduation dinner (his choice.)
Happy boy waiting for his double doubles Animal Style:)

We had such a great time with the Godina’s, they are some of the kindest, most giving people in the world and we will never be able to repay them for everything they have done and continually do for our family. The kids absolutely fell in love with them, WE LOVE YOU GUYS!! Thanks for the FUN week


Sunday, July 12, 2009

A Day Out With Thomas!

We took the kids to “A Day Out With Thomas” in Billings on Saturday, they all love Thomas and Friends and they were so excited they got to go! They had so many fun activities for the kids to do while we were there waiting to ride on Thomas. They each got to pick out a “Day Out With Thomas” shirt and Grandma let them each pick out a train. CJ picked the Troublesome Trucks, Quinn picked Evil Diesel and Carissa chose Lady.

Quinn and Carissa got to play bongos in the band and dance.


They all got to make pictures, and play in the Thomas Lego Land, and even see Sir. Topham Hatt himself!







Then it was time to go meet Thomas and go for a ride! It was the first time the kids had ever been on a train and the fact that it was Thomas made it that much better.






They were all so good and had a blast! Thanks for spending our day out with Thomas with us Grandma:)!



Monday, July 6, 2009

Little Highlanders

I posted earlier about our time in Billings at Zoo Montana for the Highland games, I found some more pics. and an awesome video that I had to share! The kids kept busy during the day when there were breaks between the events looking at the animals and posing for pictures and after they big guys were done they even got a turn!! It was such a fun day!















After the guys were done it was the little guys turn. Here CJ and Quinn are throwing the Caber(the mini version). After they each had a turn Quinn asked if they had a mini version of each of the events:)


Sunday, July 5, 2009

Celeste's Blessing


We blessed our sweet little Celeste today, we had everyone come over to the house and Celeste received a sweet, special blessing from her daddy. She looked beautiful in her blessing gown; Chad blessed her, and grandpa, great grandpa and Bishop Winterholler where in the circle. Some of the blessings she received were the ability to be a leader and an example. She was also blessed that she would listen to the Holy Ghost to know right from wrong. She is such a sweet spirit in our family and we are so blessed to have her as part of our lives.




Summer FUN!!

This summer is just flying by for us and we are trying to get in as much as possible before it is gone. Chad didn’t have to work Friday and neither did mom so we headed up to 5 Springs. The kids had fun playing in the creek, throwing rocks and pinecones (and whatever else they could find on the ground.) We cooked hotdogs and made s’mores around the campfire and even made the hike to the falls with the little ones. They did great; the falls were so full it was so pretty to see all the water.

Chad and the kiddos
Tyler roasting shmallows

Grandpa and Carissa jamin out


Boys eating more s'mores


Kids by the lower falls




CJ showing off the snail shells they found on the hike to the falls.
LOVELL'S DAYS

Lovell's Days was a little different for us this year. We had our fourth annual strongman competition this year and since I just had a baby and Chad was saving up for the Highland Games we didn’t participate this year. We also squeezed in the Follies that night. The kids absolutely loved the show! Quinn started the show off with a bang by running out to the medium strip and dancing with the little can can girls. CJ’s favorite part was the dancing girls, when they came on to dance he started whistling. He whispered to his aunt Jodi that he was going to date one of the girls, lol. Carissa was busting out her moves from her seat with the help of grandpa’s choreography. Thursday we went over to Kim’s for a bar-b-que. Nick and Lindi came to town for the big celebration so we got to hang out with them for a while as well, so good to see them. Never long enough, but fun when we can.


Saturday we headed up to Zoo Montana in Billings to watch Chad and Tyler in the Highland games. Yes, kilts, Celtic dancers and even accordion players. We had so much fun; there were so many fun things for the kids to see! The guys did great taking 1st and 2nd over all, not bad for their first competition with very little practice with their make shift implements:) They are looking forward to more competitions.