December 18, 2010

Well here we are just as we usually are. No fancy coordination of colors, or beautiful hair styles. This is "everyone is going to stand here and take a picture and LIKE IT!" I think it turned out pretty good, and I didn't have to photo shop anything. :)

As for an update. Wow, in 18 months a lot of stuff has happened. For the moment, I will have to wait to do an overwhelming update. I am in the process of organizing my pictures and my life, so for now, we are all doing really good!

Odds and Ends

Aly graduated from Pre school for the third time!

Tyler turned 10!

We fed Lydia to the shark.

Tyler is quite the dare devil.

Our little family at Thanksgiving Point.

It is hard to see him, but this is Dalton making a splash!

Casey and those glasses!

Lydia turned 2 on may 31! No more baby!

At Karate I had a board drop on my foot. It wasn't broken thankfully, but bone bruises, really hurt!

This is the look Isis gives me when she wants me to stop taking pictures of her.

Can't beat cake mix! Lydia helped me make Russ's cake.

Here is the cake Lyddie and I made for Russ. It is a slot canyon that he is rappelling into.

This is the cake that Chelsey made for my birthday. It was so cool!

We don't often get rainbows, not to mention a double rainbow! Fun!

Tyler is doing really well in Lacrosse this year!

Ouch!

Well, for Family Night on June 29th , we decided to go play baseball. As Tyler and Aly were walking out to the field, Tyler picks up his ball, throws it up in the air, and swings, hitting Aly who was 2 steps behind him. It all happened so quickly that I couldn't believe my eyes, but the sound it produced made me sick to my stomach. I was behind the kids and I was just so terrified that he had hit her nose or temple. Thankfully he hit her in a pretty sturdy place. but it swelled up to about a half golf ball size.


This is the morning after it happened, June 30th. The swelling on the eyebrow has gone into her eye lid. She was very excited that she could open her eye just a little. Casey reminded her that "at least she still had one good eye." Tyler was just mortified when it happened. He still feels just awful. Aly knew it was an accident and hasn't held it against him. She is very forgiving and when people ask what happened she is very honest but kind about the whole thing.

Quarterly Review,

Lydia is the typical two year old. She repeats everything you say and throws tantrums when she is getting the short end of the stick. Full of energy and addicted to Dora the Explorer!

Aly is my mini me! Here she is clipping things from the sunday newspaper. This activity occupied 1 hour of her time! Wow.

Dalton had a great day at Chuck E Cheese! He hit the bonus of like 200 tickets. He was so excited!


Tylers derby car won first place! He was ecstatic!


Aliens landed. Lydia was the only witness.


Alyson stuck these tweezers in her night light plug pass. She got shocked, but I think because it was thru the night light, a bit of the voltage was diverted away from her. Scary! See the melted tip?


I cut my hair, and it has been great!


Casey has been falling apart, yanked teeth, cavities, broken thumb, split open chin! Lots of doctor bills!

Merry Christmas

Merry Christmas! 2008 Another year, how quickly they pass. Here is our family update!

Russ has decided to join the Utah County Search and Rescue Team. It seams he doesn't get enough excitement in his 9-5 job at Footnote.com. The first year is a lot of training and he is excited to get all the fun gear like GPS and beacons! It is all about the gadgets! Russ has gone on some great hikes and trips this year to Zions, Arches, and Moab. His greatest adventure is when he comes home and is ambushed by all the kids!
Tyler is 9 and in the 4th grade. He really likes his teacher and class this year. He is involved in the violin program at school and still takes piano from his grandma. Tyler also takes Karate at the Rec center with his mom! Tyler's favorite things this year are the Wii, Pokemon, science projects, photography and reading.
Casey is 7 and in the 2nd grade. He is involved in Soccer, karate, and piano this year. Casey's energy and desire for fun is overwhelming at times. Molli thinks it is very funny to watch Casey play the Wii because he jumps around and kicks just like the characters in the game. Casey's favorite thing is to stay up late and talk to Tyler and Dalton way into the wee hours of the night. Which explains why it is so hard to get him out of bed in the morning. We are hoping he will grow out of that trend before he is a teenager! Fat Chance!
Alyson is 5 and in pre school for the 3rd year! Alas for her mom, Aly missed the kindergarten deadline this year. So to pre school she goes, but only 2 days a week this year. Aly is very smart. She is reading small books already and can sound out 4-5 letter words all by herself. Aly also loves to go to Karate with Dalton and Casey once a week. Most of her time is spent playing with Littlest Pet Shops and inviting friends over to play. Way back in March Aly tore open her middle toe on a piece of sheet metal while visiting family in Saint George. It severed her tendon and took 6 stitches to heal. That was not much fun for poor Aly.
Lydia is 18 months and runs the place! She is never more than 5 feet from Molli during her waking hours. Lydia is already a comedian and likes to get the kids laughing at the things that she does. She is starting to say real words like, more, up, done, grandpa, mom, baby, no, and how you doin'. Soon all the baby will be gone, which makes her mommy very sad. C'est la vie!
Dalton is 7 and in the 2nd grade. Dalton is Molli's brother. He is staying here for a few months and going to school with Tyler and Casey at Vineyard Elementary. Dalton too is very much addicted to the Wii like Tyler and Casey. Every spare moment those boys are playing some game together on the Wii. As for non electric things he loves to play with Legos and Magnetx. Dalton had the not so fun experience of breaking his arm in August. It was a nasty break, the Radius slipped right off the growth plate and broke the Ulna! It was very disturbing to look at! But 6 weeks in a cast and all is better.
Molli is just trying to stay afloat the sea of misplaced items and kids homework! Having 5 kids to wrangle and manage is proving to be a great challenge. When she has a moment to herself she tries to scrapbook or organize photos on the computer. Molli has a new passion in Karate, only, she has little time to practice at home so advancement is slow! It is hard for a 32 year old to take a class with a bunch of 8-10 year olds, but hey, you gotta start somewhere! During the summer she is involved in the Timpanogos Storytelling Festival which is a lot of fun for her. At church Molli is still the Activities Committee Chair, which she does not enjoy very much. Thank goodness the Ward Christmas Party is finally over! She gets to kick back now and enjoy the holiday!

We wish you all the best holiday season and for Christmas to truly be wonderful this year!

Love, The Blacks

Let it Snow!

Here we are all ready for a fun day sledding.