FLASHBACK FRIDAY - JACKSON HOLE, WY

Have YOU been to Jackson Hole, Wyoming?!?

In August we decided to go.  I have a good friend who told me her kids love to go, so we thought we would try it out.  I can say I did not enjoy the drive there - not that it wasn't pretty, but I get so car sick that I just put the air blowing on me and closed my eyes! 

We had heard of the Alpine slides and knew that would be something fun to do...it was a bit pricey but so fun!  The first time down, Adam rode with Harrison and I took McKenna:

.Tyler couldn't decide if he wanted to go or not!?!...decisions, decisions...

The second time down, Kenna and Harrison decided to brave it on their own! and after much deliberation, Ty decided to go down with dad...his smile shows how much fun it was!!

The ride up the mountain..

such a pretty view from the top- with a crazy cute boy as well!

Great view of the Tetons too!

After a great time at the Alpine slides, we went into town and saw the infamous shoot up at town square.  Harrison was a little nervous and kept asking, "are they using real bullets?  Are you sure they aren't real?!?"  So, they had to meet the cast of the "amazing production" afterwards...(sorry about the lack of clothing on Kenna and Ty...neither could handle the heat)

In one of the gift shops we stopped at Tyler found this necklace...I literally had to tear it off him so we could leave!  He is a little obsessed with keys and there is a key on the chain...Tyler finally agreed to take it off if I took a picture of him with the necklace...crazy kid!?!

We also went to the Ripley's Believe it or Not Museum - which Harrison was very excited about after checking out a few of their books from the library.  Addie loved the stuffed animals....

There weren't too many amazingly weird things there, so I only took a few shots...this is a mountain lion made out of 1 million dollar bills shredded up...believe it - or not!

One of the first bicycles made for parapalegics....believe it - or not!

A couch made out of a full buffalo's skin....gross!  Believe it - or not!

We finished off the day trip with pizza from a local pizzeria and then hit the road back home.  We had a great time! 

MONSTER TRUCK SHOW!

Our brother-in-law takes his boys to the annual Monster Truck show every spring. We decided to take our kids this year (minus Addison) and we had a great time!! We went a little early to have our pics taken with some of the "stars" of the show...(so much dust in the air, the camera caught it)

The line-up...

The tricks the trucks performed were amazing! I almost got car sick just watching!

Some amazing jumps....

and some amazing landings...all in all, we saw one tire fly off, this truck land on its side, another land on its top, and we watched the Ghost Rider do a 360 flip!

We already have the show for next year marked on the calendar (along with a note to take ear plugs)!!

FAMILY PICTURES 2010

I have always been pretty good about having an annual family picture taken...until Tyler came along...I don't know what happened to my life, but family pictures just didn't happen - for 2 1/2 years! So, I decided that I was going to get on top of it again.


We had our pictures taken the first weekend of November and the weather was just perfect and the colors outside were great! Here's a run down of our family shots ...with my critique of the photos, of course...

First picture taken -

The Good: We are all smiles and all looking at the camera; not a bad shot of us

The Bad: I'm not quite sure where I'm going...

Second shot of the day -

The Good: Once again, love all the smiles and the foliage in the background

The Bad: Addie was having a hard time looking at the camera, and I told the photographer NOT to get a shot of Adam's white socks- grrr...I guess that's what photoshop is for! (is that being too picky?!?)

Third times the charm?

The Good: umm...nice foliage...and McKenna looks good, Addie looks good.

The Bad: This shot is probably my least favorite. I look like I'm getting ready to play a quick game of the hokey pokey (you put your right leg in, you put your right leg out...), Tyler looks less than excited to have this picture taken.

Last Chance:

The Good: We are all, once again, looking at the camera - all smiles even! Great color in the background!

The Bad: Through the whole shoot, I kept telling myself, "neck stretched, chin down" (that's the movie stars secret), but I didn't listen to my own advice....

o.k..all in all, I DO think the pictures turned out great! We are always our worst critic! I'm happy to mark that off my "to do" list and now all I need to do is pick my favorite and put it up on the wall (before it's out of date)!

TYLER AT TWO

Tyler.....

loves his new baby sister, "Baby Addie" as he calls her

loves Buzz Lightyear (Buzz Ight-ear); He runs around the house saying, "To Infinity and Beyond!" He saw this swimsuit and he could not let go of it....and wore it for 2 days straight before I could get it off of him!

loves swimming!! Jumps right on in (thank heavens for life jackets) and when he jumps he yells out, "To infinity and Beyond"!

always want to watch "The Three Little Pigs"...I found the original 1930's version on You Tube...he'll watch it over and over...and sometimes, if I'm lucky, he'll fall asleep watching it!

(still on the Three Little Pigs) saw this guy dressed up for the DARE program "Dr. Slaughters Haunted House" and thought it was the Big Bad Wolf; he wanted to have his picture taken with him (I'm sure the guy was a little annoyed that he wasn't seen as some scary creature, only the Big Bad Wolf)

3 SISTERS

Three sisters - pregnant at the same time and due within 4 weeks of each other:

All three babies arrived happy and healthy!!

WELCOME BABY #4

Our family has grown with our new baby girl!! Baby Cromwell #4 was due on July 4th, but she decided to come a week early (of course, in the middle of the night) but we are SO EXCITED to have her here - happy and healthy!!

Here I am getting ready to get things going and anxiously awaiting my epidural!! When I was in labor, Dr. Leavitt came in and asked Adam to "scrub in"; he was able to assist in the delivery (I wish I would've had my camera in hand to take a picture of him in the scrubs, but I was a little busy...

So, here SHE is - happy as a clam to be here:

A few weeks before Addison was born, I was talking with McKenna and Harrison about the birth of babies and we got on the subject of the baby crying when they are born. I told them how doctors use to spank the baby's bum to make them cry; that was one of the first questions asked by McKenna after Addison was born, "Mom, did the doctor have to spank her bum?!?" As you can see by the pictures above, she didn't need any help with learning how to use her lungs.

I have been lucky to have an epidural every time I have given birth, but for both Kenna and now Addison, the epidural has caused a peculiar side effect on me - "saggy eye" - I call it...so annoying while in labor because I feel like a pirate with one eye - I guess I should've gotten me an eye patch just in case:

Oh, how great to be a mother!!

HAPPY HOLIDAYS 2009

We have so much to be thankful for this year!

Everyone had a great year! Here's a litte bit of what we've been up to:

Adam is enjoying more time off from the Mail Center this year - we have been lucky to have such great employees...and the kids love having him around - McKenna hates going to school when dad is home because she thinks we party all day without her... if only she knew how uneventful everyday is around here.

I am enjoying being home with the kids and we are expecting our 4th child coming July 2010. I am Primary President (since June 2009) and feel so comfortable with the children! It's a lot of work, but fun!! I'm also still trying to keep up on blogging and look forward to putting together my first book beginning of next year!

McKenna is doing great in 1st grade! Her teacher has nothing but great things to say about her - she is great with reading and does it whenever she has a moment to sit (or whenever Hannah Montana or Suite Life on Deck isn't on). She is still doing dance - working towards her 5 year award next year!

Harrison is still rambuncious as ever! He is really into ninja's (he calls them "aninjas") and is wanting to join a karate class...I'm still trying to decide if fighting skills are really what he needs!?! He is in preschool and likes that and he is picking up on Kenna's math skills left and right! He and Tyler do pretty good playing together during the day, but he would prefer to be watching t.v. or playing Wii games with dad - he loves "boy time" as they call it.

Tyler is a total cutie! He's talking up a storm as he's approaching his birthday - he can now sing the ABC's and sings while walking around the house all the time! He is a pretty patient child - I sure hope he keeps his calm demeanor as he hits toddlerhood! Right now he is in love with Mickey Mouse and Elmo and will ask to watch Elmo's World almost everyday!

- We are hoping for another great year in 2010 -

HOLIDAY GREETINGS

Trying to get a holiday card together to send to everyone - I have failed at having an ACTUAL family picture taken this year and am running out of time!! So, it's now up to me and my photography skills....yikes!

attempt #1- everyone look at the camera...

attempt #2 - I said, ...everyone look at the camera...

attempt #3 - too shadowy...

my last attempt - not bad, but....

Wait - why not kill 2 birds with 1 stone!!

We'll try putting the camera in auto mode with everyone (I can get my family picture AND holiday card).... that's great!! Now it's off to get these processed!!

I just love how I wait until the last minute!

DISNEYLAND - FALL 2009

Well, Thanksgiving break is here and we are ready for another dose of Disney! All 3 kids are on antibiotics for strepthroat and ear infections; never a better time to travel - no worries of getting sick!!

Both Kenna and Harrison say we need one of these in our backyard!!...yeah, we'll get right on that!

The Merry-Go-Round is always a favorite!!

Wasting a few moments while waiting for the Toy Story Ride -

It's a tradition to always take a picture at Pooh Bear's Honey Pots!

Cute one of the kids with Brother Bear

We had a great trip this time. The weather was perfect! The only down part of the trip was the flight back to I.F. which left at 6:30a on Thanksgiving morning...we made the plane, arrived in I.F. just in time for Thanksgiving dinner with Adam's family! We'll probably see you in a few months Disney!

FLASHBACK FRIDAY - WHAT'S OLD IS NEW AGAIN

So, I am coming to the realization that I am getting older...I know, not REALLY old, but that I'm getting old enough to have the alleged "fashion cycle" start another round. I was at the store the other day looking for shoes and came across these:

Does anyone else remember having a pair of these in about 8th grade?!? I swear I owned a pair EXACTLY like these...I even remember having arguments with my mom about wanting to wear them without socks and she was worried my feet would get cold (because it was winter of course) but I would refuse...now, you hardly can find shoes that are meant to be worn with socks...and that really makes me mad, because I don't want my feet to get cold!

I went to the clearance aisle and found this style of sandal: Once again, I had a pair of these, only white, way back in 6th or 7th grade!! I remember me and my best friend, Tausha, had matching sandals! Am I making anyone else feel old?!?

Now onto clothes - When I was in 6th grade, I had this favorite top, that was a TUNIC, and I would wear it with my favorite pair of turqoise LEGGINGS!! Leggings similar to this pair:


When leggings went out of style, I swore I would never wear a pair again...and with my body now, I'm sticking to that promise!!

I was shopping for school clothes for McKenna and started seeing vests and mach-vests everywhere!!

I had a favorite vest outfit back in 8th grade!! My cirlce of friends and I had decided for 8th grade we were "too good" for the average pair of jean and t-shirt. We were going to dress things up and only wear slacks and khakis. I loved my green paisley vest with my black slacks and my black flats (from the picture up above)

Now, I am not judging anyone for wearing these items or having their children wear these items...I am grateful they have updated most of them...My tunic was shaped like a potato sack and had ribbing around the bottom - I actually own some tunics right now and my daughter owns and wears leggings (although it took me awhile to warm up to them again). I am just having a "I feel old" day and seeing some of those trends that were around 20 YEARS ago has not helped!! I just hope the hammer pants don't come back!!!