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! 

HIDDEN TREASURE

We did our annual fall cleanup...

and found hidden treasure! (minus one, Addison)

 

love our kids!

WE'RE ROLLING...IN STYLE!

Adam and I have been wanting to rent segways for awhile now. We had tried to rent some for our anniversary date, but they were all rented out. When my dad's birthday came around I thought it would be a lot of fun for him (and everyone else) to try...I am really into "experience" birthday present for our parents now - they have EVERYTHING! I think he had a great time cruising around the cul-de-sac!

I think everyone had a great time riding around on the segways and we only had one injury....my sister Steph had to bail on a fast moving machine before she crashed into a curb - she mangled her toes pretty good....so almost a spotless record! We took them over to my parents house for the evening!

Dallie and Tyler didn't ride the segways that night...but they always have a great time together!

The next day we took a few more spins around our neighorhood on them and even let a few neighbors try them out!

The segways made another road trip up to Adam's parents home for a few more test runs...we just had to share the fun with everyone!

Both McKenna and Harrison are now asking for a segway for Christmas...I really hope Santa doesn't get too crazy and grant that wish....

BACK TO SCHOOL

Today is a wonderful day..for the kids are going away....not to the circus, not to the zoo..can't you see they're going back to school! 

This year, McKenna (3rd grade) and Harrison (1st grade) will be in the same class! It's called a spectrum class where there are 1st-3rd graders in the class. Harrison is really anxious to be a 1st grader. McKenna is a little nervous because she won't know so many kids in her class this year. I know they will both do great and I hope being in the same class together will be a good experience for them.

Tyler is starting preschool with "Miss Kris" and he goes twice a week. He is really excited to be like the big kids and going to school.

I wish my kids the best of luck for this school year! I can't believe how fast they are growing!

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)!

"HUNDRED-AIRES"

A year or so ago, Adam had a salesman come in wanting to place a small, spinnning vending machine in the mail center - Adam agreed to let him. Well, the man never came and serviced it, so you would always seem to get crusty Hot Tamales, and stale peanuts whenever you used it (yuck).

So, the salesman came in a few months ago and Adam asked him if the guy made any money with the machine and the man told him that he actually wanted to get rid of it....Adam, always the entrepeneur, asked how much he wanted for it. Adam ended up buying the machine and came home to tell the kids they were about to start their first business! (cute huh)

Since then, McKenna and Harrison have been keeping candy filled up in the machine (with a HUGE help from Adam) and they get the money from the machine to put in their bank accounts...I am happy to report that we have two "hundredaires" in our family now from this lucrative business!

The kids love it when Adam comes home to show them how much money he pulled out of the machine, and it is a really good idea to help them learn how a business works! I just love my business minded husband!

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)

KID FAVORITES

Here is our annual 2010 "favorites" list from the kids:

McKenna
favorite color - red
favorite book - Fablehaven book 1 (currently reading)
favorite toy - ankle jumprope
favorite song - Love Story by Taylor Swift
favorite food - snowcone (not surprised - she is our SUGARBABY)
favorite movie - Despicable Me (we just saw it last night)
favorite tv show - Wizards of Waverly Place
favorite thing to do - play softball and swim
favorite place to go - Disneyland

Harrison
favorite color - blue
favorite book - Pirates of the Caribbean
favorite toy - guns (yikes!)
favorite song - Let's Get it Started by Black Eyed Peas
favorite food - snowcone
favorite movie - Pirates of the Caribbean
favorite tv show - Spongebob Squarepants
favorite thing to do - play with dad and mom
favorite place to go - Salt Lake hotel because they have a swimming pool and hot tub

Tyler
favorite color - blue
favorite book - Ping Ping Panda
favorite toy - Buzz Lightyear
favorite song - I'm A Be by Black Eyed Peas
favorite food - fruit snacks
favorite movie - Toy Story 3
favorite tv show - Mickey Mouse Clubhouse
favorite thing to do - dance
favorite place to go - Bear Lake cabin

MY LITTLE BABIES

Addison's jaundice levels were high enough that she has neede to be on a billiblanket for a few days. I went into my room to check on her and found my two little babies asleep:

I have actually had a hard time calling her Addison - I keep slipping and calling her Tyler because he's been my baby for so long. It's funny how the baby of the family "grows up" when a new baby joins the family!

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!!