oldbusdriver

McCall Winter Carnival

2011-02-07T12:16:00.000-08:00

James and I took our annual trek up to McCall to take in the Winter Carnival and all the lovely ice/snow sculptures. It was a zoo up there, but we were able to take some in, eat and drink with our pal Jeanne, and make some snow angels. We had such a fun time that we've decided having Jeanne come along might have to be incorporated into the annual tradition.

Maecy is wondering where dad went. . .

2011-01-10T21:08:00.000-08:00

And she thinks she figured out how to follow.

Sledding! January 2010

2011-01-10T21:04:00.001-08:00

We took the kids sledding the weekend before school resumed. This is the only photo taken because the battery died directly thereafter. The boys really did go. A good time was had by all.

The girls enjoy Maecy's new Radio Flyer trike

2011-01-10T21:00:00.000-08:00

Maecy's pal Fiona

Maecy opens her gifts

2011-01-10T20:56:00.000-08:00

Maecy is surrounded by friends for her second birthday

2011-01-10T20:50:00.000-08:00

Sweet sisters

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Something tells me I'll be pulling this photo out in about 10 years to remind the girls that at least at one time they were very kind to each other.

Christmas with family

2011-01-10T20:44:00.000-08:00

Maecy and Grandma Crooks

Nana Edi and our cousin Jessica

Maecy and her aunt Lynea

Christmas conflict

2011-01-10T20:38:00.000-08:00

Isaac, Ethan and Poppa Brian engage in a nerf battle to end all battles. Actually, I think it ended in a draw. And then I found darts for weeks. Everywhere.

Maecy and dad- December 2010

2011-01-10T20:34:00.000-08:00

2011-01-10T20:30:00.000-08:00

It took both James and "poppa" Brian to figure out the girls' zhu zhu maze.

Isaac has the Christmas spirit as he enjoys a new DS game.

James, tuckered out from Christmas gift opening.

Christmas 2010

2011-01-10T20:25:00.001-08:00

The season reminded me that we are blessed to have four healthy, beautiful children.

Our 14 foot tree!

2011-01-10T20:21:00.000-08:00

One of our greatest Craigslist finds had to be this massive tree.

The candy haul!

2011-01-10T20:16:00.001-08:00

Ethan's Halloween costume was: a handsome teenager. Yay! October brought Ethan home from the weekend with a new haircut.

Lordy lordy look who's 40!

2011-01-10T20:10:00.000-08:00

October 20 James hit the big 4-0. We celebrated with a small gathering of 80 or so of his closest friends. It was, according to James, "the best party [he's] had since birth!" It was a blast. I love you James!

Once again I seem to have documented a significant event in our lives with photographs only of food. What does this say about me?

The Ol' Pumpkin Patch

2011-01-10T20:03:00.000-08:00

Fall also finds James in school

2011-01-10T19:59:00.000-08:00

James returned to college to get his bachelor's degree. He started as a junior this fall at Boise State University. Here Maecy is helping him to study for a test. She's looking up the answers (the heavy lifting) while dad writes out the notecards (the easy stuff).

Halloween 2010- "Ima bee, Ima bee, Ima Ima Ima bee!"

2011-01-10T19:48:00.000-08:00

I found a little bee costume for Maecy at a local thrift store. When I tried it on her Piper declared that she also wanted to be a bee.

Luckily, Isaac got the memo that this years' theme was yellow and black. He's a ninja. In case you couldn't tell.

And this is just plain cute. Isaac is such a sweet big brother.

Killer bee.

Busy bee- Maecy at her school Halloween Party

2011-01-10T19:44:00.000-08:00

Boating bee.

Sliding bee.

Departing bee.

Cute fall photos of the girls

2011-01-10T19:34:00.000-08:00

Optimist Football

2011-01-10T19:32:00.000-08:00

Isaac played his first year of football with Optimist this fall, and sadly this is the only photo I had on my camera. James will have to add some from his camera card. These are the cupcakes I made when it was his turn to bring snacks.

Lego inventions

2011-01-10T19:27:00.000-08:00

This summer brought relocation for all the kids but Ethan, and redecorating of each of their rooms. Here Isaac proudly sits by his lego invention on the window seat lego base now in his room.

The whole gang, plus parents

2011-01-10T19:24:00.001-08:00

September takes Tessie to Tennessee!

2011-01-10T19:21:00.001-08:00

One of Tessie's best friends, and a "law girl", Anne Pond, got married in Kingsport, Tennessee. Here is a picture of the lovely Anne Pond, now Hendrickson.

Maecy's first haircut (August 2010)

2011-01-10T17:29:00.000-08:00

In dire need of a haircut? Nah!

First snip.

She's thinking, "Not too much off the length!"

She's a trooper.

Yay! All done-- and it wasn't so bad after all.

Maecy wanted in on the act!

2011-01-10T17:27:00.001-08:00

At one and a half it's clear that the backpack is still a little too heavy, and the shoes too big. That did little to deter her efforts!

Ethan's first day of high school- August 2010

2011-01-10T17:25:00.000-08:00

As you can see, Ethan was very happy that I insisted on keeping up the tradition of taking photos of the kids on their first day of school. He drew the line, however, at me making him pose in front of the Riverglen sign!

First day of school- August 2010

2011-01-10T17:16:00.001-08:00

This year Piper started all-day Kindergarten. She was so excited to start and even more excited once she found a couple of her friends from preschool in her class. Isaac was a very helpful big brother who showed her the ropes.

Finally- a return to blogging

2011-01-10T17:13:00.000-08:00

After months and months of being blocked from my ability to add to our blog, it only took crashing my computer to somehow reacquire the access to do so. That means I will now spend the evening updating our blog with photos and harkening back into my memory to see if I can adequately describe what was happening in the photos! Hope you enjoy. It's good to be back.

Basking in the glory of the Lagoon

2010-04-11T10:04:00.001-07:00

Kayaking in Kailua

2010-04-11T10:02:00.000-07:00

Tejon and I braved the ocean for some (TOUGH!) kayaking, while James and Maecy watched from the beach. While Maecy was eating sand, Tejon was eating the ocean-- then kindly pushed me over too!

Germaine's Luau

2010-04-11T09:59:00.000-07:00

This did not have the greatest food that we were hoping for, but the show was great and the setting superb!

International Marketplace

2010-04-11T09:57:00.000-07:00

We went surfing-- NOT! At the International Marketplace in addition to having awesome and affordable food from all over, and cheap souvenirs, they had this surfboard back-drop.

Makani Catamaran

2010-04-11T09:54:00.000-07:00

Here it is docked. We really did go on it-- James was just too seasick to take pics! That, and we caught a big wave over the back when the captain had to quickly turn on the engine and back away from the pod of whales that surfaced less than 30 feet from us! In addition to those 6 whales we saw a sea turtle and some of the most beautiful ocean around.

Our trip to Sea Life

2010-04-11T09:52:00.001-07:00

View from the Pali Highway lookout

2010-04-11T09:51:00.001-07:00

PCC

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PCC

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Polynesian Cultural Center (PCC)

2010-04-11T09:43:00.000-07:00

Waikiki

2010-04-11T09:41:00.001-07:00

Isaac lost another tooth

2010-03-09T13:11:00.001-08:00

Tessie's Dad had a heart attack- and survived!

2010-03-09T13:06:00.002-08:00

I never pass up a photo opp!

This is the ultrasound of the pterodactyl in his chest-- or his heart valves according to the nurse (I am not convinced!).

Here he is all linked up to the machines, awaiting surgery.

Finally long enough to put into pigtails

2010-03-09T13:06:00.001-08:00

Law Girls 2010

2010-03-09T13:02:00.001-08:00

Unfortunately one of our clan experienced a tragedy that forced us to get together a little rush weekend. It was nice to spend time together to try to help her through it. In the process Maecy got spoiled by her "aunties"- go figure!

Maecy's third hand

2010-03-09T13:00:00.000-08:00

Safety First

2010-02-01T14:31:00.000-08:00

This summer, when Ethan, Isaac and Piper spend the weekday at Cesha's I plan on riding my ike to work. I finally found a helmet that fits Maecy.

She's not sure if she likes it just yet!

Sloppy Joes-- Mmm good.

2010-02-01T14:28:00.000-08:00

Isaac LOVES his baby sister!

2010-02-01T14:26:00.001-08:00

Even when she's crabby!

Maecy- growing up!

2010-02-01T14:24:00.001-08:00

Moving from bottle to sippy cup. . .

Maecy sitting proud with her 'big girl' breakfast!

Isaac's Lego Creation

2010-02-01T14:17:00.000-08:00

The Garden City Library had a lego competition a couple of weeks ago. Isaac made a large Coast Guard station and a boat towing a man, then he made "water" out of blue construction paper and glitter. He completed it with a shark circling the water ski guy. Here are the pictures he took of it in his room, prior to putting it altogether. Ethan has pictures of that on his camera and we're in the process of looking for the cord to download them.

2010-01-02T22:01:00.001-08:00

Gifts from Piper and Nathan (Auntie Galen's son). Can you guess which one Piper did?

Yet more of Maecy's party

2010-01-02T21:44:00.000-08:00

More of Maecy's birthday party

2010-01-02T21:40:00.000-08:00

We had a small celebration today with some of Maecy's favorite "aunts" in attendance, as well as her brothers and sister, her nana and poppa. She had fun fighting over her new dog with her little buddy Flynn.

Maecy celebrates 1!

2010-01-02T21:38:00.001-08:00

Isaac and Piper by the Christmas Tree

2009-12-26T19:51:00.001-08:00

More Christmas

2009-12-26T19:47:00.001-08:00

Christmas at home (day after w/the kids)

2009-12-26T19:42:00.001-08:00

Maecy and her new bath toys

Isaac and one of his favorite gifts: a Lego watch!

Isaac shows off his new DS game

Piper is excited that Santa brought her a DS!

Ethan with his 10 megapixel digital camera.

Christmas in Hailey

2009-12-26T19:36:00.000-08:00

Maecy and her new stuffed horse.

Maecy and a new elephant from Poppa Brian.

Maecy meets Cami for the first time. She likes her!

Maecy goes sledding

2009-12-26T19:29:00.000-08:00

We went to Hailey (near Sun Valley) to spend Christmas with my mom. Maecy took her first ride on a sled with Brian's granddaughter Nevaeh.

Maecy discovers Sadie's water dish

2009-12-26T18:13:00.000-08:00

This does not bode well with her penchant for sticking her tongue on things, as you can see.

Kid's Kampus Christmas Party

2009-12-26T18:11:00.001-08:00

Piper's 5th birthday

2009-12-26T18:04:00.000-08:00

We just had a small celebration at home this year. Here are picutres of her with her presents, then some of her favorites.

Grandma Crooks made Piper a beautiful Christmas dress for her birthday.

Here is a Breyer horse Nana gave her.

Maecy and her beloved elephant(s)

2009-12-26T18:02:00.000-08:00

Like Piper's monkey, Maecy is hooked on the elephant. We bought three for instances when one or the other couldn't be found; many times Maecy has two or all three in tow.

Piper and Maecy in their special sister t's

2009-12-26T18:01:00.000-08:00

Maecy discovers popcorn

2009-12-26T18:00:00.001-08:00

Maecy crawled over to see what all the hype about popcorn is, and was hooked!

Maecy- Chillin' and Eatin'

2009-12-26T16:40:00.001-08:00

Thanksgiving

2009-12-26T16:32:00.000-08:00

We had a houseful for Thanksgiving: Jacob & Erica (James' brother and his girlfriend), Julie (James's sister), Edi & Brian (my mom and her boyfriend), Tejon (my brother), Chessye (Brian's daughter), Jeanne (one of my best firends) and James, me and the kids. I think we all ate too much and had fun. If not, wisely no one told me otherwise!

And so it begins. . .

2009-11-17T12:12:00.001-08:00

This morning Maecy made her way around the corner and discovered the stairs. . . Time for the baby gate to go up!

Grandparents visit

2009-11-17T12:11:00.001-08:00

Sherwin and Jill came for a visit, prompting us to get some cute family photos, but surprisingly none of THEM with the g-kids!!

Maecy going on a cold November jog

2009-11-17T12:10:00.002-08:00

Maecy sitting pretty waiting to go to church

2009-11-17T12:10:00.001-08:00

Maecy discovers the reflective quality of glass

2009-11-17T12:09:00.000-08:00

Piper playing around

2009-10-31T20:39:00.001-07:00

Piper put on my hat and said, "Now I'm a Rock Star!"

Maecy w/the 35 lb pumpkin!

2009-10-31T20:37:00.000-07:00

Halloween- getting ready

2009-10-31T20:36:00.001-07:00

Ready to go Trick-or-Treating

2009-10-31T20:35:00.001-07:00

Isaac and Piper with their Big Score

2009-10-31T20:34:00.000-07:00

Halloween Party at Kid's Kampus- 3 part series

2009-10-29T20:32:00.000-07:00

More Halloween party

2009-10-29T20:27:00.000-07:00

Halloween Party at the girls' school

2009-10-29T20:17:00.000-07:00

Sickness in the Page house again

2009-10-27T20:37:00.000-07:00

Well, Maecy came home with a GI bug that had her puking most of Sunday. It cleared up mid-morning Monday but she was still cranky and lethargic. Then last night Piper woke me up because she'd started puking at 1:30, and continued until this morning. Isaac woke me at 2:30 because he started puking, and continued through today. He's still down for the count, and also running a fever. Poor little guy. Then James came home from work, and Ethan came home from school, and both have sick bellies. Only good news so far is I seem to be untouched (and keeping my fingers crossed). Here are some pictures of the kids earlier, then Piper who rebounded pretty well, and me, trying to play it off!

Maecy LOVES taking a bath

2009-10-27T20:28:00.000-07:00

Swine Flu hits the Page House

2009-10-12T19:42:00.000-07:00

First I got it-- laid up most of last week (Wednesday through Sunday) and now Ethan has it. Please keep him in your prayers. So far he seems to be faring pretty well though he is running a high fever. The doctor prescribed me cough medicine with narcotics in it but nothing for poor Ethan. The medicine, after our insurance paid its' share, was $40! I was outraged, and careful not to spill any of my "liquid gold." James chuckled and showed me the label; so I had to take a picture and put it up here.

Piper can read!

2009-10-12T19:41:00.001-07:00

We had bought Isaac the Bob book series a couple years ago when he started to learn to read. This summer we started working with Piper on it and she's doing quite well!

Isaac's creations

2009-10-12T19:39:00.000-07:00

Everyone knows Isaac loves his Legos. Here are a couple that he built-- the Indiana Jones one I think is from the instructions, the tank was his own invention.

More of Maecy

2009-10-12T19:35:00.000-07:00

Maecy was helping me organize the shoe bin a couple weekends ago.

Maecy, playing with her "Learn and Groove" table that Uncle Tejon got her.

Piper and Maecy playing in Piper's room. Piper is so good to her baby sister.

James drives an air-cooled

2009-10-12T19:26:00.000-07:00

And Maecy liked the van while it was going down the road, not so much when it was converted into her room. Translation: mom was up all night!

Here is James, ready to go camping.

Yes, I said it, James drove an air-cooled.
This one.

Maecy's new chair

2009-10-12T19:24:00.001-07:00

So about a month ago Maecy decided she was too big and was getting too active for the bumbo, and we haven't the room for a high chair, so I found this dandy invention on Craig's List. I love Craig.

UPDATE

2009-09-18T14:13:00.000-07:00

Maecy is getting a second tooth! Short of holding her down and prying her mouth open as she valliantly fights me off, I cannot get a picture of these teeth. But they are there- I promise!

Ethan is in photography class and doing a pretty cool assignment right now-- working on finding letters made of ordinary things, then he's supposed to make a word. I hope he will share it so I can post it on here for you all to see. He has quite the eye for photography.

Isaac and Piper- nothing new here. Both are doing well and enjoying school. When I get some pictures I'll post them.

2009-09-11T14:26:00.000-07:00

Maecy at the IPAA Conference picnic

2009-09-08T07:40:00.001-07:00

Weekend Update

2009-09-08T07:16:00.001-07:00

Maecy got her first tooth! No pictures because it's just barely broken the surface, but you can feel it! Oh how the time flies.

The kids all started school last Monday and they all seem to enjoy it so far. Ethan had his first assignments this weekend and got right on it. He is set to get his braces off here soon. Isaac is still plugging away building Lego's, entering contests even. He hopes to win the $1000 Lego Card with his latest entry. Piper has started to read and is really getting pretty good at sounding out words. Her latest book is about Dot, so now all dolls are named Dot!

The requisite Maecy eating picture. . .

2009-09-07T08:12:00.001-07:00

Again mom?

A new cook in the house

2009-09-07T08:10:00.001-07:00

Maecy enjoying some utensils this morning.

September 6- Maecy at play

2009-09-07T08:09:00.001-07:00

Maecy says goodbye

2009-09-07T08:06:00.000-07:00

Mom leaves on her first trip away from the baby. When asked, "Does she miss me?" James replied, "Actually she's much better when you aren't around. She's been pretty happy." OUCH!

Maecy in the Jump-a-Roo

2009-07-18T00:25:00.000-07:00

4th of July

2009-07-15T09:41:00.001-07:00

Isaac thinks it's cool, Piper. . . not so much.

Maecy just doesn't know WHAT to think.

Isaac says, "Hey, just 'cause I'm working a sparkler here doesn't mean I can't take time to wave to my fans!"

Ethan-- must chug some Dew before kicking off the big show.

Maecy, getting some rays before the night comes down and the fireworks come out.

Maecy starts daycare

2009-06-12T08:07:00.001-07:00

Hey, it's cool. I can do this.

Okay, you didn't say you were leaving!

Me and my pals.

This isn't so bad.

Mad Maecy

2009-06-12T08:05:00.000-07:00

For those of you who say, "What a good baby." Ha ha.