Derby Time

Last night was the Pinewood Derby. Good times! Seth designed and created an awesome shark-rocket. It was as fast as a rocket too! It shot right on down that race track. You could see a little snarl on the shark as he zipped on down. Seth won 4 races and came in second on 2 races. All of the tracks were not created equal. I have never seen so many wipe outs on a derby track before. It made it rather exciting to see a car spin off and take out its neighbors. They didn't have a true "race-off" so there wasn't a clear winner. But the guy who had the most wins is also someone that Seth beat. His dad and I were so pleased by his good sportsmanship. He cheered on his friends and humbly accepted victory!

Kaleb eagerly watched each race. He loved every minute of it.

Seth finally received his Bobcat last night. He turned 8 in May and earned it that same day. Due to our pending move we didn't register him in scouts in Kentucky, so he couldn't receive it there. Then it took us six months to get him registered here- so he just barely received it. He has completed all requirements for his Wolf- with the exception of participation in an outdoor flag ceremony. He hopes he won't half to wait until Spring for that.

We love that he loves scouts! I love adding to my "mom" pins. :)

More Snow!

It snowed again, and again and again. It snowed Friday and Saturday and Sunday.

That means shovelling the driveway- 3 times in one weekend!

That is also a lot of fort building, 4-wheeling, sledding, snowmen and snowball fights.

Keep it coming! We love it!

Saturday in Review

Oh my- Saturday we spent three hours with the tile guy- hammering out our options and making decisions. Glad that is done. We came home intending to head to the temple- but a plumber called and said he could come over and fix our water heater, so we had to stay for that. Meanwhile- Brigham built this amazing :) representation of a chandelier. We were trying to figure out how big of a light we need for our great room. Pretty clever-eh. Of course, then a lady at church told me there is a mathematical equation to figure out the best size for a room. What fun is that though? This was much better.

That night- Katry and Seth had their final soccer game. Here we are coaching and cheering from the sideline.

Yea, they won! Katry got so frustrated last week because her team was just not trying hard enough. Katry and Seth both run their hearts out on the field and it can be pretty frustrating to have others giving it just half an effort. You can be sure- they always give a hundred percent.

They love having Dad as their coach. Probably because he is just so good looking. At the end of the game Katry and Seth were taking their break. They saw there was just a minute left and they both asked to go back in. Since they had just come out- I thought that was crazy. After some more begging- Brigham relented. I asked him why and he said, "Its not a big deal and I live with them. Now they are happy." Its nice to be able to bully the coach. :) What a great dad.

After the game we came outside to find our vehicle a victim of thievery. Nice- eh. I am glad its only 14 degrees outside. Any colder and we might have frozen on the drive home. It appears I left my purse in plain sight- so it was absconded. Oddly enough, as we were talking to the police- I just felt so sorry for whoever was so desperate. I think from now on I will just take the purse and leave the car unlocked. The biggest annoyance is just replacing the window. I hope they enjoy our gift certificates to Texas Roadhouse, our special $2 dollar bills and our immunization records. Darn- I wish I could just get those back, that is going to be a bugger to replace.

National Geography Bee

Katry rocked her fifth grade class to become the class representative in the school Geography Bee. She loved being in first place until she heard what her prize would be- a trip to the entire school's Bee. Katry is not a fan of being in front of everyone. I am just kicking myself for forgetting my camera. Katry sat up on the stage with the rest of the finalists. She looked so sweet sitting up there. I knew she wanted to just run away, but she bravely answered each question in turn. She did an awesome job. After she got out, only three contestants remained, and they were out after just the next question. We celebrated after the assembly with a delicious Jamba juice. Katry we are so proud of you for bravely doing something you really didn't like. You are wonderful! We love you!

Seeing Redd

Brigham, Seth and Kaleb all walked in one morning wearing red striped shirts. Not wanting to be left out, Katry and Brig went and changed into red striped shirts as well. So....what do you do when that happens?Why you make a pyramid and take a picture of course! Happy Wednesday!

Billiard Baby

If you are in need of a fun FHE game- give Billiard Baby a try. First you place a willing infant in the middle of a mini pool table. Place all of the pool balls around him. Each player chooses a color. The willing infant then randomly picks up balls and throws them back down. Cheer on the infant to pick up your colored ball. The lucky winner is the first one with all their balls in the side pocket.

It is a game sure to please. Try it out- tonight!

Snow Options

If you don't shovel the snow off your driveway right away... then you have the option of using it as a sledding hill. Good times, right out your front door

If you are crazy...then you have the option of making a snow angel right next to the hot tub.

We were very surprised, but even Kaleb jumped right into the mix....twice!

The Year of the Ox! 2009

Welcome 2009- The year of the ox. Uncle James, Krystal and a few other little helpers created this realistic ox head for us to smash open on New Years Eve. We were quite impressed with their work of art. As usual, we had a fantastic party with the Redd clan. The day was spent shopping and preparing tons of different, delicious appetizer type dishes. There is always a huge feast to give thanks for the bounty of the preceding year and to ring in the new year. The night is spent watching movies on a huge screen and playing games galore.
The kids love it when it is pinata time.
Here is Katry just after giving it a good whack.
King of the ox. Brig is sporting the head-post candy. It didn't make it out of the 11 year olds this year.
Seth and Kaleb both make a big dent in it.

Even little Kai gave it a whack, although when it turned around to face him, he looked a little fearful.

Once the countdown was over the noise began. There was a lot of pot banging, horns blowing and tooting. The kids all marched down the street making as much ruckus as possible. There was also a lot of hugging and kissing and rejoicing. Then we pulled out the bubbly and everyone got to make a toast to the new year. I was ridiculously tired and said something terribly incoherent like- "To a healthy, mental brain." I imagine I know a little of what it feels like to be drunk, I was surely loopy. There was a range of other silly things like the tearing of ones socks in honor of Mike serving in Germany (Don't ask- its an inside story). We also all got to speak with Sperry on Skype. He is serving in Iraq and we are looking forward to them both being back on American soil in the near future.

Brigham's Grandad was there, so we were thrilled to get in a four generation shot with all the boys.

It was a great party and we love being with the fun loving Redds. Thanks for a great week!

Christmas Day and Weekend!

Okay- my pictures came in backwards again- so I'll start on Sunday. The Sunday after Christmas we had our annual Mexi-Feast. It is outstandingly delicious every year. Thanks Mom.

This is the whole crew minus the Angeleries who took off before I remembered to get the camera out. It was lovely being with the Angeleries and we hope your back is better Mike.

This picture was taken on Christmas Day. My Dad worked on a dandy sledding hill with Auntie J and here he is trying it out. Jaleah was outside playing in the snow for a good five hours. I have dubbed her the "Snow Queen". Our family got a cute, cherry red four wheeler for Christmas. The kids rode and pulled sleds with it for hours. It was so much fun watching them play. Kaleb and Lindsey joined us that afternoon. Loved having them there. We had a traditional Christmas dinner and went to the church and played basketball with the whole crew. It was hilarious. Then we came back and played games like Curses and Diplomacy well into the night.

On Friday the "Grands" left. Everyone else went sledding at the sand dunes. Then we came home, grabbed some lunch and headed to the pool for some swimming and some hot tub relaxation. The uncles got all the kids to head out to roll around in the snow and then come back in and jump in the hot tub. Crazies! After swimming, we raced home, showered and then headed out to catch a flick- Bedtime Stories. It was cute. We came back loaded up on pizza and played games well into the night again. Although, some of us just went to bed. Exhausted. It was a fantastic few days. I just love my family. They are so much fun. Thanks for coming and making such great memories with us!

Christmas Morning

Christmas morning the kids all woke up in the basement about six o'clock. They weren't allowed to come up stairs until we opened the door. Funny thing is we (the parents) didn't wake up until 8am. So they were really chomping at the bit. We got the last bit of preparations done, blasted the Christmas tunes -(well actually it was just a rousing Tchaikovsky- cause we couldn't find any of our Christmas CD's - they are in a box somewhere), and threw balloons on the kids as they marched up the stairs in order of age. Another Redd Family tradition. Everyone had a great time opening up their presents. Brig and Seth got the air soft guns they desperately desired. Katry loves her gum ball machine among other things, and Kaleb loves his remote control jeep. Seth got one too and they have had a jolly time racing them around, through, and over things.

After presents, Gmat and Grandpa made us our very own delicious Swedish Thin Pancakes, and lets not forget the best eggnog on the planet. Mmmm good. My mom makes it from scratch. My Dad and Mom usually put on the feast for all of our grandparents, uncles, aunts, cousins, and various friends from off the streets every Christmas morning. But this year we were treated in our very own home. It was DELIGHTFUL!

Christmas Eve Nativity

Brigham's family has been putting on a Nativity every Christmas Eve since he was a tiny tot. They have it all video taped, so it is fun to see Brigham and his siblings as they change year after year in the same roles. We have loved carrying on this tradition in our own family as well. We have everything from Brig as a tiny baby Jesus in the manger to the Wise Guy...ahem..... Wise Man he portrayed this year. This year we loved having Gmat, Grandpa, Grandma & Grandpa N., Staven & Ashlee, and cute Auntie J with us for the festivities.

Oh so angelic!

Brigham insisted Kai's costume should be a birthday suit. He didn't seem to mind. He was a darling, but discontent baby in the manger.