Christmas Celebrations

Dallan, DEC 30 2008

Greetings from the land snowed under. We had a delightful Christmas. The toys were opened, the clothes ignored, The chocolate smeared, and the surprises surprised. Jon and I did not try to strangle or hurt each other Christmas Eve in regards to a new bed. Jon had the brilliant idea that a few days before Christmas we could “break” Erica’s bed. Then haul it to the shop to “fix” it and have more than 12 hours to paint the thing. This sounded like a good plan. So When She was watching a movie I removed a few choice bolts and then let the bed lie in pieces in her room. Later when I sent her to her room to “pick up 10 things” She soon emerged from her room with the biggest crocodile tears and heaving sobs while carrying her foot board into the kitchen to “Show me that ‘Hunter’ broke her bed!” I expressed my concern for her broken bed and assured her that Daddy could fix it out in the shop. So Jon came in later and carted the “broken” bed to the shop. We painted the little pink bed a beautiful metallic blue and were quite excited to set up the beds. After the kids were sleeping (which was gratefully by 10:30) we began our assembly project. Jon ventured out into the freezing cold snow storm to bring gifts in from their hiding placed out in the shop. I pretended I was working on something inside. We had everything put together and the Christmas tree presents ready to go by 12:30. At about 7:30 we heard the footstep pounding up the stairs and we were soon swarmed over by our eager children. They coxed and prodded and pleaded with us to please get out of bed. We did and we were soon amid flying packages. We had our kids open up their clothes first. And Erica decided to try some of her new clothes on. So she picked them up and hurried off to her room before Jon and I realized that she was bursting in on her big Christmas surprise. I heard a cute little girl gasp and then a giggly shriek before I realized what had happened. Jon and I jumped up and raced to her room to see her reaction. She was of course looking a beautiful new daybed all white with pink flowers and all done up in her strawberry shortcake bedding motif. She was standing shockingly still with her mouth hanging open. Jon asked her what “that” was. She said “Dad you fixed my bed.” Jon and I laughed and asked her if Dad made her bed bigger “Yes you made it so big!” Hunter just wanted to get back into his crib. He is slowly adjusting to the toddler bed. We were snowed in for Christmas. All of the roads were closed or had advisories to only travel them in the case of an emergency. So we hung out at home. Then the next day we slowly packed up and headed to the farm on some pretty yucky roads. We arrived safe and sound with out any problems and settled into visiting and playing at the farm. Until Monday afternoon when the roads were clear again and we figured we had better head home. (we had eaten all the food by then anyway) . Now I am trying to dig myself out from all of last weeks laundry. It is a huge mountain but like every week I do manage to conquer it only to have it built up around me again next week.
Hunter continues to make unbelievable messes, Just during this letter he tried to drink a bottle of strawberry flavored conditioner. The bathroom is a bit slippery now. He then tried to chase the conditioner down with the syrup left on the table from breakfast. The kitchen is a bit stickier now. And currently he is covered in a brown chocolaty hue. He has spread candy wrappers near and far and we had to order our children Christmas morning to hide all candy back into the depths of their Christmas socks or else they would lose it to Hunter. He even ripped the wrapping paper off the gift to Uncle Rex from Mom and Dad! I think that Hunter slipped under the radar for being Naughty this year. Because Santa did spoil him with more toys than anybody else in this house.
Anyway I can hear the laundry has beeped and that means I need to get back to work. We love you and Hope you had a great Christmas. I loved talking to you. And yes one day I will write my book. But in the mean time my most important job is that of a mommy and not that of an author. Keep working hard. Your most important job right now is to be a missionary. Keep up the good Work and keep writing each week. We need your letters like we need oxygen. Otherwise there is no way Mom would be able to let you go away for so long. Have a great new years celebration even if you are suppose to be in bed by a decent hour.

Love Monica and all of her snot-nosed goblins.

Dallan Letter Dec 21 VOMIT MONSTER

Dallan, Merry Christmas! DEC, 21 2008(Vomit Monster)
Well Dallan, you know how two weeks ago I wrote to you and told you what a klutz I am and that I was sporting a huge gash down my shin from tripping over a drawer. We double my klutziness. I know have two gashes on my shin. How does this kind of thing happen twice you might ask. Well I will just put it into one word “HUNTER”. See Hunter is really trying to out do his oldest brother. And has discovered that if he pulls out the drawers that go under my bed that the drawer becomes a convenient step stool and he is able to crawl up on my bed with ease. Therefore the reason I continue to trip over my drawers is because Hunter is pulling them out and I am not realizing that they are out until it is the middle of the night and the room is dark.
My kids have been having a blast trying to speak in Spanish. You would laugh so hard at their efforts. They are all the time saying “gracias.” and “Feliez Navidad” And counting to ten. I am glad I did take Spanish in high school because for years I have felt like it we a complete waste of time. But now it is so fun to name things like “la Leche” and “hermano, Y hermana,” My kids think I am so smart, and they laugh when I tell them to “get back to trabajo!” (that does mean “work “ doesn’t it?) Just laugh at me OKAY!
This week has been like any other crazy week. We were visited by a few different unwelcome guests. Our first guest tried to kill us, until we tore it apart. Our second guest jumped around and attempted to gross every one out and our third guest showed up on the rebound and has me home from church today. Who are these guests? Let me tell you about them.
In our living room there are 7 large single pane windows. While cosmetically appealing they do not keep the Idaho cold out as well as a lizard like myself would desire. No problem someone in the past had the same attitude and installed a wood burning pellet stove. On Monday I turned the said stove on and had it burning for a while, to take the chill off. Then for some reason it went off and I had a large amount of smoke come into the room. Well that wasn’t too cool but I turned the stove on again to get it going and eliminate the smoke this worked until the fire suddenly went out and deposited a large billowing cloud of smoke in the house again. I figured that the chimney must somehow be clogged with snow or something and did not bother with the stove again. I turned down the thermostat all the way so that it would not try and turn itself on again. As the day went on I forgot the mess but could still smell smoke and figured it was from the earlier smoking moments. Well about 4 pm my carbon monoxide alarm went off. And I realized that I had not turned the fireplace all the way off somehow. So I unplugged the thing and opened some doors and windows, turned on fans, Turned off the furnace , and packed all of the kids out of the house for a visit to grandmas. We waited for a few hours and then Jon checked the chimney all seemed clear and the detector wasn’t beeping anymore so we turned on the heat and tucked our kids in bed. At almost midnight the carbon monoxide detector starting beeping again. So Jon and I got up and went to our now evil looking fireplace and scratched our heads trying to figure out why It kept on trying to kill us. We used a flashlight and in the beam we were able to see smoke still coming out of the cursed thing. So we did what anybody would do to their enemy. We starting tearing the thing to pieces. And finally we found our problem. There was a smoldering fire UNDER the fireplace area. So the smoke wasn’t going up the chimney it was just floating out the vent. So we cleaned that out and opened all the windows and doors again. Threw extra blankets on all the kids and jumped back in bed. See What had happened was the last time I had cleaned out the fireplace I had dislodged a key like piece that sits in the ceramic stone where the fire normally burns. I didn’t know I had done this so as I was using the fireplace the pellets were falling all the way through and made a pile under the fireplace . That was what had caught fire and was smoldering underneath. WE count our blessings that we are not dead.
Our next visitor showed up the next night in the form of Vomit. Erica showed her unlikely friend on the way to the ward party and then again at the ward party, but we persevered so as to see SANTA. Then in the night our visitor because fast friends with Hunter and in the morning had a split personality and jumped ship to Marcus. I had to rescue the school from his wrath. Back home we laid about and hung out close to the porcelain bus and about the minute I thought perhaps I could make it to the grocery store Hunter let us know that He still was being visited by an unfriendly friend. All puke aside we had a lovely Friday and Saturday.
Sunday morning greeted us will another round of upchuck all over Marcus’s bed and I mean ALL OVER his bed. So Marcus, Hunter, Will and I are skipping Church. Jon left feeling as if somehow he had been conned and that it should be his job to stay home with the kids. I pointed out to him that he had a lesson to teach and I did not have anything like that. Also I have been feeling sick all week and would rather not go. And I was only sending him with 2 children and keeping 3. And one of those was very likely to barf all over something and the other two could easily blow poop out of their diapers. If I went to church I would expect he keep the three “explosive” children. He decided that Stiles and Erica were the better choice, although he did leave here throwing dark looks and muttering under his breath, something about a game on TV.
I am hoping our guests will soon depart and leave us alone for the next few holiday weeks. But if they don’t I guess we will just try not the spread the “Joy” of their visits with any of those who we love and appreciate.
Good luck to you and Merry Christmas. I am looking in the mailbox everyday hoping your letter will show before Thursday so I can share it with the rest of the family over the holidays. We love you and miss you. Our hearts ache that you will be missing from our celebrations this year but we smile in spite of it and know that we would not have it any other way. We pray that your efforts will bless our brothers and sisters in Mexico and that they may come to know their Savior, Jesus Christ. Work hard. The Church is true. President Monson is a Prophet. Joseph Smith restored the gospel to the earth. The Book of Mormon is the word of God. It was prepared for us in our day. There is amazing power and testimony in that book of scriptures.

Love Monica, Jon, Stiles, Marcus, Erica, Hunter, and William. (But not the vomit monster)

BLEHK

SO the vomit bug has shown his ugly face at our house. First it was Erica on the way to the ward party and then again at the ward party. Hunter was hit next in the middle of the night and the next morning a few minutes before the school called and asked me to come get Marcus who then spent the rest of the day in bed or on the bathroom floor. Just when I thought we were mostly past this demon Hunter spilled his guts again-thankfully on the kitchen floor. After all of this mayham I needed a long hot bath. I had just settled in with a good book and strict instructions to my kids that I was not to be bugged unless someone was bleeding. Less than 5 minutes into my bath I was called out. Hunter was not bleeding but had stuck his hand into the toaster, While it was on. So he had burned his little fingers. Not to bad- no emergency room but definitely painful little blisters. He is tough. After a while I decided that since my bath was ruined and the temperature was now not as hot as I would like it I threw my Hunter in much to his delight. The water relived the pain in his hand, and much to my delight he quit crying. Where is Jon in all of this-HUNTING.

Christmas on KLCE

Our local radio Station KLCE "Klassy" is known for playing Christmas music all through the month of December. So my radio has been tuned to their station and is usally on and playing softly in the background for the better part of the day. Today Erica came up to me and told me that "Christmas comes from KLCE." Who knew that she was listening that close. Then she asked if we could listen to "the KLCE Christmas song" (The radio station jingle) I was in tears because I was laughing so hard. Then Marcus told her that "Christmas dosn't come from KLCE it comes from Santa, and they are not the same guy."
Stiles explaination of how Reindeer fly goes something like this. " Santa has a magic whippin' whip and the whippin' whip gets the reindeer to go fast enough that they fly." remember that Stiles calls the wooden spoon the "whippin' spoon."
Marcus is sure that reindeer don't really fly but that they run so fast that it just looks like they are flying.
Stiles informed Marcus that the Santa at the ward party wasn't the real Santa. "Because Santa can't be everywhere so he has lots of helpers."
Oh the Joys of Children and their belief in the magic of Christmas.

What have your children said to show you that they BELIEVE?

MERRY CHRISTMAS!!

Dec 15 2008 Happy Birthday Marcus.

Dallan Dec 15, 2008
Well another week has managed to escape me again. And No I did not get my house all put back together after the shin dig for Mckinzie. I might have if I had been a bit more diligent and if my kids were a bit slower on the search out and destroy mission they always seem to be on. I did manage to get my Christmas letter finished and I took them to the post office this morning and yes I even got yours posted. So it will be a bit late but if you got all of your holiday cheer in one day you might burst. So my letter might be more of a new years glad tidings message.
Yesterday was Marcus 6th birthday. It is crazy in my mind that 6 years ago I was looking at my alien eyes child and then he morphed into a lemon head ,and then this silly little blond kid, into my cowboy, and now he goes to Kindergarten and is usually instructing all of us about the rules and showing me how he can read! Anyway we invited all to his party, but apparently you were a no-show AGAIN. Camille backed out at the last minute something about really bad snow and ice covered roads. (wimp) But we did end up with a bunch of little cousins and we ate and had the blue cake that Marcus had requested. His main request for his birthday was a bike. A green one. Well I frosted his blue cake and with green frosting drew a bike. As he blew out his candles I pointed out that on his cake was his green bike. While Jon wheeled in the shiny new specimen, under cover of a blanket. Marcus was thrilled. However I think he is twice as jazzed about the bow and arrow set that Stiles got for him at the dollar store. He has been hiding behind corners and shooting at us all day. Even the piece of cardboard that the plastic bow was attached to has gained a reverenced spot in his bedroom. It doesn’t matter that Jon forked over $60.00 green backs for the begged for bike the cheep bow and arrow set that will be broken and dead before Christmas still ends up the biggest winner. I think the Bike might have been a bit more favored if it wasn’t single digit temperatures outside and there wasn’t a bunch of snow everywhere. I keep telling Marcus to get bundled and head out to the big shop but I think he is waiting for Stiles to show up.
Speaking of Stiles, I got a call from the school today, apparently Stiles had a accident in PE that involved some kind of board. IT hit him in the face and made a gusher of a bloody nose and cut his lip. They were requesting new clothes for him since his were pretty messed up. Jon ran over to the school to deliver a new shirt and brought back the sweatshirt that was very much indeed covered in blood. Jon said that it looked like someone had whacked him with a two by four down the center of his face. I am expecting a fairly bruised up little guy to get off the bus today. Oh the joys of childhood and the dangers of PE.
Speaking of PE Marcus said the funniest thing yesterday in church. MR. Bybee the PE teacher is in the other ward that meets in our same church building. Yesterday we saw him as we were getting ready to leave. Marcus said “MOM. That is Mr. Bybee, HE knows everything.” I thought it was great.
Speaking of school teachers and Plays, On Saturday Jon and I had a real live date. We drove to Blackfoot and dropped the kids off at Jason and Camilles, Then we had dinner and went to the Nuart theatre to see Jason in his play. IT was perfect casting in my opinion. Jason was Cast as the father who would rather not have anything thing to do with the Christmas pageant at the church. IT was so fun to watch him. The Play was done almost entirely with kids from the JR high where Jason teaches. When it was Jason’s turn to take his bow the kids on stage with him literally went wild with applause. IT is very evident that they really enjoy having Jason as their teacher.
I am in the process of weaning William to a bottle. IT seems to be going well. He is not to stressed with the idea and it is making things a bit easier on me. I wouldn’t be trying to wean him so early in his babyhood but Jon and I are going to Hawaii the end of January, and they don’t allow kids on the trip. So Will has to stay behind. And I think my babysitters will like me a whole lot better if he is already okay with the idea of a bottle before I abandon him on them.
Hunter is a true Hudini when it comes to getting out of his crib/cage. It is very much time to move him into a toddler bed. Jon and I have great plans for this for Christmas. Erica is getting a full size bed and Hunter will be moved to her Toddler bed. This means we have to change the pink theme of her bed to something a bit more masculine. SO Santa’s elves have agreed that in the dead of the night on Christmas Eve, we will be painting and rearranging furniture until Jon and I are sure we don’t like each other anymore. It should be a great Christmas to remember.
Anyway, I wanted to let you know that we love you and we pray for you always. WE miss you. And are looking forward to your hump day. It is coming up. But you already knew that. Wanted to say Merry Christmas and that we are so proud of you and are thankful for your example.

Love Monica , Jon and 5 helpful little elves.

Up to the shoulder blades

I realize that I messed up in my letter to Dallan and did not inform everyone of my "GOLDEN" experience that happened on Sunday. (Feel free to LAUGH OUT LOUD) While we were sitting in Sacrament meeting and enjoying the testimonies William let out a loud and juicy sounding sound. I could feel the movement of his little body because he was as most babies are seated snugly in Mommy's lap. I knew this was more than just a smigie of a mess and started to gather the necessary items. I then could smell the tell tell odor and leaned over to My dear sweet Jon and informed him of my intention to escape with the baby. I hitched the diaper bag over my shoulder and swept out of the chapel. Halfway down the hall I looked down at my dear William and instantly realized that continuing to cuddle the little guy was not a good idea and immediately began holding him at arms length so as not to smear any goods. Once inside the ladies room the mommy who was already changing her dear precious saw my gooey predicament and instantly snatched her baby from the changing table. Some might say she was trying to be nice but I am sure she was more concerned with getting out the path of destruction. I layed my baby down and then proceeded to wash myself down first so as to not smear more items with the golden stuff. after I ascertained that I was no longer a threat to the sanitation of the room I began removing the gooey clothing from my son. He giggle and cooed at me while I continued to throw everything in a gratefully close sink. After using half of my diaper bag's stash of wet bum wipes and having to wash clear up to Williams shoulders and all the way down to his feet (yes even his socks did not make it out without a battle wound) I proceeded to clean up the changing table. Most the paper towels on the roll went towards this effort and then we were finally clean. All I had was a pair of sleeper Pajamas with Christmas Choo choo trains on them. -They seemed like a blessing. After carefully diapering (and I did for a moment deliberate if I should diaper with Hunter's larger size diaper should there be more poop in store) and dressing my smiley baby. I proceeded to wash out the offending clothing. I normally would have just attempted to deal with it at home but there was just TOO MUCH. After making a mess of yellow in the sink and on the surrounding counter top another sister entered with her little girl, on seeing the mess I had made they quickly excused themselves with excuses like they really didn't have to go (yeh right she was like 8 months pregnant!) and they left. As I was cleaning I realized that all though Wills vest didn't make it through the ordeal totally unscathed it would not be horrible to put it back on him over his Jammies and make him look a bit more dressed up. So I slapped the vest on him, put all the rest of the wet drippy, and still quite golden after much scrubbing, clothes in a plastic bag which I shoved to the bottom of the diaper bag in hopes that it would not wiggle itself back out before we got home. I cleaned the bathroom sink and counter the best I could with the remaining paper towels on the roll and headed back to sacrament meeting. Well to make matters worse we of course were early to the meeting to get a good seat and the door to the chapel is not in the back but rather in the front (stupid design!!) and as I tried to make it back to my seat I could not escape the notice of most of the family who instantly burst into quite fits of laughter and giggles in knowing that William had a blow-out. Well now they know ALL the details. HOPE I MADE YOU LAUGH!

I am a KLUTZ

Dear Dallan, HO! HO! HO! And all you other CRAZY people December 8, 2008
“OH the weather out side is frightful…” Yes that is right it is snowing this morning, not the big peaceful fluffy flakes but the usual Idaho piercing, biting ,coming down sideways, and slashing across any exposed skin kind of snow. But some how it puts us in the Christmas spirit. Last night we were able to listen the first presidency Christmas devotional. It was so much fun to have our kids all around us and listen to the hopeful messages from our prophet and his councilors. I hope you might have been able to her their message as well while you are sunning yourself there in Mexico.
Yesterday we had a big shin dig here at my house. Jason and Camille- well Jason blessed Mckenzie with the help of a lot of great men. And Camille put on a feast afterwards at my house. We were filled to the brim but every one had a little bit of elbow room. I had a ball cleaning my house and getting it all decorated for Christmas and now my task is to go clean it all up again. I am thankful we have such a large family and that we live close enough to all get together and celebrate special occasions. It reminds us that family is the MOST important relationships we can have. Jon and I’s attitude is that we don’t mind the mess because we love the people who keep bringing it. As Jason and Camille were leaving last night I told her she owed me big. And Jason said “NO! You still owe us for helping you move!“ I think he is right and we might be getting closer to even. We did miss you and MJ and Cody but since all of you were sunning yourselves in Mexico we didn’t feel too bad.
My family knows I can be a klutz. I have never felt like I had tremendous athletic ability. But this week shows that I am a major walking disaster in the dark. For starters there is a step in the stairwell up to Jon and I’s bedroom that is just a bit narrower that all the other ones (building codes were not strictly enforced when this house was built) Anyway I am very aware of this step and usually make sure my foot is solid on this step. Early Thursday morning as I am descending the steps in the dark to wake the kids for school I was not fully awake yet and my fuzzy pink slipper did just that. I slipped and fell down the stairs. As I lay at the bottom of the stairs on the cold linoleum kitchen floor and called out “OW! I HURT MYSELF!” No one in the house moved to come to my aid. I called again. And the house stayed silent. I decided that I had not broken anything and the bus was going to come at 7:15 anyway so I picked my fuzzy pink bathrobe clad self up off of the floor and went to work. I did wrench my shoulder pretty good and have been belly aching about it ever since. Then the very next morning about 4:00 am I got out of bed to Put William back into his crib and I of course could not see the open drawer sticking out from under my bed and I tripped over it. Well because I was holding William I couldn’t put my hands out and catch myself so instead I had to drag my leg along the corner of my drawer to get my feet out in front of me to catch myself and the sleeping baby (that was the most important part) So Now I have a long gash that runs the entire length of my shin. It smarts a little bit especially when the kids try to climb up my legs into my lap. Moral of the story I should stay in bed!
So those are the best stories I have for the day. But I do have to let you know that Jon just came in and asked what I was doing. I told him that I was writing to my brother. He asked if you had ever written a letter to me. You of all people know that the answer to that is in the negative zone. I told the truth and he called you a loser for not writing back. I told him that I have threatened you with no more letters if I did not receive a letter for Christmas. He did not seem convinced. I defended my sitting on his computer to write letters with the attitude that these letters go to all of my brothers and sisters and that his family also read them on our blog page. He still seems upset that I was sitting in his chair in the office. SO SELFISH! No not really. Jon is a sweetheart. He even brought me the prettiest pink roses on Saturday night just because
he loves me. What an awesome husband. (You could take a few notes for when you get married)
All the kids are doing well. They are counting down the days until Christmas with gusto and are beyond hyped up about the whole Christmas celebration. Jon and I are a little bit tickled about the season too.
Marcus birthday is next Sunday and we are planning another big shin dig at our house to celebrate him turning 6 you are invited but I think it is a little bit out of the mission boundaries. I can really not believe that he is 6! It feels like just yesterday he was playing baby Jesus in the family Christmas pageant. Now he is a wise man.
Keep up the good work and when you need a little pick me up remember Elder Eyrings talk about their family Christmas pageant and how Samuel the Lamanite was having to dodge the balls of tin foil. It definitely makes you think that if that kind of thing happens in the home of one our apostles then our home may not be to far lost to the adversary! We love you . The Church is true. Christ Lives! He died to save us all. And with out Easter there can be no Christmas. Love Monica.

sneek peek

So here is a sample of the pictures we had taken. I honestly had no idea that my hair has gotten so dark! I always thought I was a blond! I guess I lost that when I had kids right!


Here are my Momma's Boys

Daddy's Baby Girl

My Handful!

The Jonathan and Monica Woodin Family 2008

trimming the tree

Dear Dallan, DECEMBER 3 2008

GREEDY!!! GREEDY!?! What is this greedy stuff? I write you a good long letter almost every single week. Any YOU are calling ME “greedy.” You are lucky to be getting a letter this week after a comment like that. In fact after I get my Christmas letter from you, you just might not get any more letters from me. I’m good with that. No but seriously did you have a good thanksgiving? I did and I am almost caught back up on the laundry. -- nope Now I am not.
For Thanksgiving , While Mom, Dad, and Garrett were busy sunning themselves, We had Jon’s brothers Ed and Jason, and his wife, Nanette. Nanette’s brother and his roommate who is from Chicago with us. Only 15 folks 16 if you count William and 18 if you count the twins Nanette is carrying. We did the usual thing ate, ate, and ate. We smoked a turkey in Jon’s new smoker it was good but not quite the traditional Thanksgiving taste. We threw all of the kids in and out of the hot tub. Then early on Friday morning (4 am)we blasted out of here to fight the mad crowd of shoppers anxious to get the good deal. I got all the things That I wanted on my list so now we just need to get a couple more things and play the count down waiting game.
We had tickets to the Saturday night Jazz game and we thought we had them sold but at the last minute the guy backed out so Jon and I and Todd and Wendy found babysitters and headed down to SLC only to watch the Jazz get creamed! Then as we were traveling home we missed the Pocatello exit and were almost to Snowville when we realized our mistake. So By the time Sunday morning rolled around I was very very tired.
On Monday for FHE we decided that since it was the first day of Dec. it was a good day to decorate a tree. I had already VETOED the idea of cutting our own down and sent Jon off to town to find one. HE came home with a beautiful tree from LOWES and then we started hunting for our tree stand. Well long story short we couldn’t find it. We don’t know if it got moved when we moved or lost or whatever so I sent Jon back to town. He came home with a tree stand entitled “Santa’s Last Stand” I think it cost more than the tree but so far I LOVE, LOVE IT! It only required one spearing of the tree and no extra adjusting and there is no string attached to a hook in the ceiling to hold our tree up. I even moved the tree by myself and the thing did not even wobble and waver. If you are in the market for a tree stand don’t mess around! I highly recommend this kind of stand. Anyway by the time we got the tree up and had tested and threw away half of the strands of lights we have, we allowed the kids to put on only the cutest ornaments and then sent them to bed.
On Tuesday I finished decorating the tree and putting up Christmas decorations. It is no wonder why Mom would often lose her cool when we would try and “help” her put up Christmas. I truly now know why she did not enjoy it. And why we were often sent the other room. Christmas is for Kids but the decorating part is not that fun with kids.
William can now roll from his back to his tummy. He is in much greater danger now of being stepped on. Erica keeps dragging him around the house like a dolly. And Stiles loves to lift him up way over his head. Hunter continues to give him kisses on the head, so usually Will has a great big sticky slimy spot some where on his cranium. Marcus is often upset because someone else is “hogging William” when he wanted to play with him. Since Will started to giggle and wiggle he is a popular kid around our house lately.
Jon got on and rode our colt MAC on Saturday for the first time. Mac was totally cool with the whole deal. Jon was able to saddle him up and get on without Mac being tied up or anything. Jon has been watching a lot of U TUBE on how to train your horse. I must say it is awesome to watch Mac follow Jon around like a little puppy dog.
Marcus is on the count down to his birthday. He has it all marked on the calendar and is proud that he can count the days now. I can hardly believe that he is going to be 6! He has informed us that a green bike for his birthday would be awesome but a red one wouldn’t be so good because Stiles’s bike is red.
Hunter has figured out how to fold his arms during prayer. I didn’t think he was going to get it. I am not sure what put him over the edge, if it was Jon or Nursery but one day he just started doing it and he will usually hold the pose until the end of prayer. It is making all of our prayers a bit more reverent.
Anyway I really need to go now and clean and wash and fold and change and wipe and be a mommy.
The church is true.

Love Monica and the MONSTERS!!!

Happy Thanksgiving 2008

Dallan, And all you other people

I am so glad that Sunday is now over. I was asked to teach the RS lesson. It was the talk President packer gave in April about “THE TEWLVE” I was scared spit less. I have never been so nervous in all my life. I had to go to the bathroom to try and calm myself down. In the end nobody threw rotten tomatoes and I think that we were blessed with a little bit more understanding of the Apostles. I just hope they don’t ask me to teach in RS again anytime soon.
This week is Thanksgiving. As you know Mom and Dad and Garrett are sunning themselves on some beach in Hawaii. Jon’s Mom and Dad have gone to Seattle to spend the Holiday with Jon’s two sisters who live up there. So that left Jon and I kind of Stuck. Don’t worry we are Having Jason and Nanette’s Family join us and well as Nanette’s Brother and his friend and Ed has been invited over. We are excited for the day. And Jon is all Jazzed up to cook the Turkey in the new smoker he bought a Cabela’s. So on Thursday we will all be pleasantly stuffed and will have a great need to loosen our belts. I might think for a minute that it is Seth’s birthday and have an extra slice of pie in his honor. But then again I think I would have an extra slice anyway.
Hunter is cutting his two year old molars- Ouch it can not be fun not with all the bawling and bellyaching. And he opens up wide so I can administer the nasty tasting mouth numbing stuff. And if that wasn’t the worst of it his nose would be a gold mine if Snot and buggers were worth anything. We will get through this.
William is just as cute as ever, I know you haven’t seen him yet. And I am a rotten Sister to not send you any pictures but believe me I have some coming soon. Anyway he laughs and giggles and his two dimples will steal the show any day. He is of course growing like a weed. And it makes me so sad that they don’t stay just little tiny.
Marcus is shooting up through the roof. His pants are all high waters and every time I look at him I have to do a double take to make sure he is still my kid. He is so tired all the time right now because he is growing so fast. I feel so bad when I wake him up in the morning and send him to school because I can see how exhausted he is. He is looking forward to his birthday next month and I wish I could push the pause button.
Stiles brought home his report card this last week. He is doing fine. His handwriting could use some improvement. He has some bad habits that is going to make learning cursive writing a crap shoot for him. And I am a bad Mom and don’t give him too much grief. I am just happy when we finish his homework, I am not going to get to picky about his handwriting. Stiles has learned that if he does his homework on the bus then it doesn’t cut into his play time so much. I am so grateful for this. It cuts our after school homework fight/tantrum in half.
Erica still is and always will be the princess. She loves playing mommy with her dolls and is usually carrying one around. Preschool is the delight of her week. I am glad that my turn as the teacher is over for a few months. But it is a blast having all those boys tearing through the house every week. Did I tell you her group is all boys and Erica- She is right in her element.
Jon is still loving working with the YM. And I think they enjoy having him as their BB Coach. I think he is just glad to run out of the house most evenings and go play.
Well nothing much to report. We are still just hanging out. Trying to accomplish this and that. I am glad you are my brother and I am grateful for my Savior. Work hard we will miss you and I will be sure to have some pie on Thursday just for you! Happy Thanksgiving!

Love Monica, Jonathan, Stiles, Marcus, Erica, Hunter, & William.

nov 17 2008 letter to dallan

Dear Dallan,

How are you? Me well I can’t complain. The Holiday’s are barreling down on us and I am so grateful that they are here again. I always love the holidays. I just wish I didn’t have to shop with a bunch of other crazy people. I prefer to be the only crazy person in the store.
On Monday we had our family pictures taken. Jon was a good sport and Stiles, Marcus and Erica were on their best behavior. -Remember that their BEST behavior is only mediocre compared to others. Hunter was great for the family picture part but then the other poses he was not so cooperative. I’ll get the pictures next week. Cross your fingers and hope for the best right.
Hunter is such a stubborn little guy. I have been asking him where is nose is for 5 months now almost every time I change his diaper. I point it out I point my nose out and ask him where his nose is. Well in Nursery They had a lesson about ears. And I asked him where his nose was and he shook his head no then I asked if he knew where his ears were and he immediately grabbed both of his ears. It is pretty obvious to me that Bro. and Sister Ward are much better teachers than I am.
Speaking of teaching I was asked to teach the lesson next week in Relief Society. My topic is the talk Elder Packer gave in the April conference on The Twelve apostles. I have no idea how to teach it. I almost want to cheat and just watch his talk instead because he teaches it so well. Anyway good luck to me I guess.
Stiles and Marcus are still plugging away at school., They are doing well and there does not seem to be any complaints coming home from their teachers. Either my boys are on task or there are some real problem kids in their classes at school. I am impressed with how Marcus seems to be catching up. Since he was supposedly so far behind the first week of school. Stiles is devouring books and his AR grade is awesome. They are having a drawing for a bike at the school at the end of the year in connection with AR and Stiles is very hopeful. I hope he is not to disappointed when his name is not drawn out of the hat.
Erica loves to sit with Marcus when he is doing his letter fluency charts and I can tell she is paying very close attention to the name of the letters and the sounds they make when Marcus is studying them. I don’t think she will score way low when she enters school next fall.
This Friday we had a surprise Birthday party out in the barn for Jon’s brother, ED. It was fun. Ed had no idea what was going on. And we had quite a few people show up. But I was just asked this morning if I was willing to Host the Briscoe Christmas Party out in the barn. We will have to see. We had a hard time getting the loft of that barn warm enough. And it was not a cold cold day on Friday. I don’t know how it would work if the wind was howling and the temperatures way below freezing. But if we do have the party I’m sure it will be just fine.
Jon had Hunter sit on the potty chair on Saturday. It was not fruitful in any way. I think Jon is jumping the gun . I figure I have at least one more year of diapers for that boy. But this morning I found the Toilet totally plugged with toilet paper and I am sure that hunter is my culprit because he escaped from his crib/cage last night. After the rest of the kids had gone to bed. So perhaps his interest has been sparked. Oh well. I will not count any eggs in the basket until the poops in the potty really happen
Well I don’t think anything else has happened that I need to let any one know about so I will just end this letter and let you know that I think Grandpa is right. I think you are a rotten little brother. But I still love you and am glad that the pot was wise enough to call the kettle black. I am still laughing my head off.
Study and work hard. We miss you and pray for you always.

THANK YOU JONNY!!!

Thank you to Jonathan Woodin, Fred Woodin, Sam Hayward, Grandpa Woodland, Uncle Orlo Maughan, JD Phippen, Oliver Woodland, Great great grandpa Ephiram James Woodland. And all those other Men and Women who have served in our armed forces. And A very very big kudos and thanks go out to all those Wives and Husbands, mothers, fathers, sisters, brothers, daughters, sons, aunts, uncles, grandparents, and friends who have sacrificed so that their Solider could serve this great country. You are to be whole heartily thanked too.

pictures

Last night for FHE our family got all dolled up and had a photo shoot done of our family. Our photographer was so patient with us and Hunter actually cooperated for the first little bit. Then he got his bottle and we had a hard time getting it ditched so it wouldn't be in the pictures. I am anxiously waiting for the next two weeks to fly by, (which they will) and then I will be able to get my hands on those pictures. After the photo shoot we had a hurried dinner of cold cereal and Then jumped in the hot tub. It is so great to be a family. If only Monday night football didn't correspond with FHE then things would be great- right.

Nov 9th 2008 primary progam

This weeks letter to my brother Dallan who is serving a mission in Mexico

Dallan Nov, 9 2008

Wow Look at that date!!! They say that as you get older the faster and faster the time goes. I am nervous about how fast the time will go 10 years from now because right now it just feels as if it is flying by! IT seem like only yesterday we all gathered together on the stairs and had our family picture taken. Now we have 5 more members in the family and you gone on a mission. That picture ends up being out dated pretty quick but it is the most up to date one we’ve got. (In Case you are wondering who the 5 new people are I thought I would list them since it took me a minute to figure it out myself. Stetson, Juliet, William, Kade, & Mckenzie.)
Anyway as far as dates go this week was full of a few important ones. We had election day and the country elected our first colored president. I hope president Obama will be able to lead this nation through all of the tough times the scriptures tell us will befall all nations. I know I would not want the job. I just thought it was a good quote from an old black lady who said “I am so proud that my country has finally grown up and can see past the color.” And it made me think of the scriptures when the Lamanites were more righteous than the Nephites. And Samuel the Lamanite prophesied on the wall the coming of our Savior. It is not a matter of color or heritage it is a matter of righteous and wickedness. I hope and pray the nation has elected a righteous leader. Enough of politics-right - We need a division of church and state right. Maybe we need to rethink that idea- hmmm…
This Sunday we had the primary program. Erica said “The prophet holds all priesthood keys.” Very beautifully into the “mic” but got nervous right at the end and covered her face as she was stepping away. Marcus was finally assigned a part yesterday and was not well prepared for his part. However he was brave and showed no fear. His part was “I am created in His image. I have a divine destiny.” He said- “I am eat-ed in his mage. I have a vine density.” I think I was one of the few who knew what he was suppose to say. But HE has to be given Kudos for being brave. Stiles sang every song with lots of enthusiasm and stayed very still in his seat- well a ton better than expected. His part was “We read the scriptures. I learn about the scriptures at home and in Primary. I have a book about Noah.” He did well- He said his part VERY fast and was stepping away from the mic on the last part but on the whole he did very well and Jon and I were quite pleased. The Nursery Teacher had a part and Hunter tuned into his voice very quickly and stood up to try and find his teacher. It was neat to see him react that way. When he did find Bro. Ward on the stand Hunter started grinning from ear to ear. He went into Nursery with no problem today. -WHEW. There is a boy in our ward named Marcus who has some learning and behavior disabilities I am not sure all of his challenges but today he played on a guitar and sang the first verse to the song “Army of Helaman.” It was very neat to watch him with all of his trials, with the help of his mom and another sister in our ward help him to perform. There were not very many dry eyes.
Jon has been horse shopping and this week bought a 2 year old horse for $200.00 He is very gentle and getting used to us. He is only halter broke so Jon and I have a lot of work to get him ready to ride but Jon is excited with the project and The boys are tickled pink with the thought of a second horse. Most of our time is being spent out in the barn. Good thing it is such an awesome barn. I was complaining to Jon that we needed to wash up all the horse poop that is in front of the barn doors so that it wouldn’t be tracked into my house. His response was “Woman, Don’t you know you live on a ranch now?” I am not convinced. I guess I will have to drag out the pressure washer if I really want it cleaned up.
William continues to cry until 11:00 pm and then sleeps until about 7 am -I am not complaining. Jon and I usually end up watching a movie or jumping into the hot tub. He is going to cry and keep us up any way we might as well do something fun. So it is almost like we are dating again. Except I still end up cooking dinner.
I am grateful that you have chosen to serve a mission. It is such an example to my boys. They miss you and ask when they can see you again. They were very concerned about getting you a Christmas present. (sorry we don’t have you until next year, you will get your gift then.) I told them we would write you a special Christmas letter. They are really influenced by your example. Work hard. The church is true. The spirit will always testify to the truthfulness of this Gospel. It is Christ’s Church. He is in charge of it. He want’s all of us to partake in its blessings. Be true.

Love Monica

Sweetheart Tag

Each person answers questions about their sweethearts.


At the end of the post, the person then tags 6 people and posts their names; then goes to their blog and leaves them a comment, letting them know they have been tagged.

What is your husbands name? Jonathan Stiles Woodin


How long have you guys been married? 9 years 5 months


How long did you date? IT was very short. We went on our first date in November and were engaged Feb 20th, then we were married in June.


How old is he? Jon is 31 and complaing about being a old man and falling apart. I love his birthday. It is the same day as Erica's and His age this decade will always add up to be her age. I did miss him in the Hospital that day though.

Who is taller? Jon is taller, and I love it!

Who can sing best? We try not to.


Who is smarter? We have our own strenghts and weekness. He is awesome in Math, I can barely add. I love English, But Jon is horrible at english. He makes the money I spend it. We balance each other out.


Who does laundry? I do the mountain of laundry all day, every day. He will wash his hunting clothes though So I won't "stink them up with that fabric softner stuff". Hey I don't do specialty loads. He did do a ton of Laundry when we moved and I Had William all on the same week. That was major and he still thinks he should get a medal for it.

Who pays the bills? Jon takes care of the business. and I take care of the house. But He usally does more than his fair share.


Who sleeps on the right side of the bed? I do, He sleeps on the wrong side and does every night we get in a fight.


Who mows the lawn? Jon thinks it is his job, but loves for me to do it. I don't mind.

Who cooks dinner? I do, and Lunch and Breakfast, and after school snack, and mid morning snack. NO wonder we are putting on weight.

Who is the first to admit when they are wrong? We just quit talking to each other until I get a chance to take a nap because I am usually wrong, especailly when I am tired. But we never admit any wrongness. we only apologize for being stubborn. WE are NEVER wrong.

Who kissed who first? Jon kissed me and I was mad at him about it. He only kissed me on the forhead but He wasn't suppose to do anything like that. -The bugger.

Who wears the pants? He wears the pants, But I fight with him every day for that role-I am a control freak.




Thanks Shawna for the Tag


I tag Wendy, Heather, Camille, Crystal, My Mom, and Cody.

Now I am really in trouble

Just a few moments ago I changed William's diaper and then set him on the floor on his belly to watch Stiles building with mega blocks. I then resuced Hunter from the crib/cage and changed his diaper. (I am seeing a diaper changing pattern) When I turned back around to put Hunter down from the changing table William had rolled to his back and was giving me a goofy smile. So I thought he did it all on accident and so I put him back on his tummy and he immediatly rolled to his back. We played this back and forth game a few times. Now I ask you, am I in trouble or what?

For Sale

Jon and I are willing to sell our Terry camper trailer. It is a bumper-pull trailer that we bought last summer for our employees to sleep in while working up in Driggs. Every thing in the camper works. The fridge, heater, lights, a/c, plumbing, stove, oven ect. We are will to sell it to family for $1000.00. If no one is interested in it we are going to put it on Craigs list for $1600.00. We are willing to do payments with family as long as it is all paid for with in 12 months. the only draw back to this camper is it does not have cushions. They could be easily made. The camper sleeps 6 and has a ton of storage/cupboard space. Call me if you are interested.

letter to Dallan, @ halloween

Dallan…..imagine me cracking my knuckles and stretching out as if I am getting ready for a fight.
Well let me see. Many people follow my blog and since I post most of my day to day things on the blog as well as my letter to you to fill in other blanks I am finding my brain drawing a blank. I want to add my blog posts to the letter as well as provide some new insights.
We will go youngest to oldest how about that
William started out as a dragon for Halloween.- Then blew out his shorts and needed a new costume pronto. I had a devil costume waiting in the wings (pun intended) And viola a little devil. Actually he is an angel and is sleep most nights about 7 hours at a time twice this week he put in a 9 hour stretch- after 2 hours of crying of course. He smiles and his dimples melt any old crotchety heart. No rolling or sitting or any other crazy movement. I am okay with that. It is hard to grasp that tomorrow he will be 4 months old! He looks like a monster next to Mckenzie.
Hunter has been the focus of most of my recent blogging. I have been listing the things that he has done in the past little bit that should transfer the title of mass destruction from Stiles to Hunter. Camille has been laughing at the list and when she was here on Thursday told me I need to add -dumped out all my straight pins all over my sewing room- AHHH. He has broken to death Jon’s glasses twice, found the flour bucket, the candy stash, threw oatmeal all over the basement, Got into the kool-aid packets, unloaded files out of the filing cabinet, and unwrapped and shot off an entire box of tampons. Just to name a few of the messes. However he does have a new redeeming quality. He has learned a new word- UH-OH. He is desperately in need of a new word since his last word “MAAAM” usually brought me to the scene of the crime and spankings were issued. Now after I come he can with his darling curls and sparkly eyes say UH-OH and soften the wrath of the “MAAAM”
Erica has been trying to figure out time. And had said some very funny things as she tries to figure out what words like Next month, this weekend, yesterday, tomorrow, and Tuesday all mean. So when Jon in casual conversation with her asked her when she thought it might be fun to try and have a new baby sister (no this is not any type of an announcement of any kind- do not ready anything into this!) She responded “How about Thursday.” Then later she asked when she had preschool I told her on Thursday. She asked when that was . I told her tomorrow. She said “Oh, so it is yesterday!” Then the morning after Halloween She got us and asked us if Halloween was all over. We told her that indeed Halloween was over. Without missing a beat She said “SO…Now it’s CHRISTMAS!”
Marcus’s Teacher asked me to be in charge of their class Halloween party at school. It was really easy. I just made some phone calls and they all showed up and did their thing and all the kids went home with lots of Halloween loot. Marcus was so excited to see me at school and was jazzed to let the other kids know that his Mom had planned the party. - I just passed out juice and rang a bell every 10 minutes so the kids would move to the next game.-real hard. Anyway, He is learning in leaps and bounds. (And Sara is right The letter factory is awesome and even Erica is singing “every letter makes a sound the “N” says “NNNN”) He brought home several Halloween decorations from school and I hung them up on the walls in the kitchen. He was pleased.
Stiles was sick Thursday night (barf is awful) but he got it all in the toilet. Bless that child. (Erica didn’t do so good. She insisted someone else came in and threw up all over her bed and pillow and in her hair.-yeh right -Mom are you remembering the peuck in the Sunday shoes. Yeh I thought you were.) Anyway I made him stay home from school on Friday. HE was devastated that he missed he class Halloween party. He was feeling great by about 2 in the afternoon and made quite the pest out of himself the rest of the day wondering if we were EVER going to leave to go trick-or-treating. We did and they all had a ball. Even Hunter did when he realized that his bucket was getting heavier and heavier and gave up the first piece of candy in pursuit of larger more sticky items. Stiles was ever in pursuit of the Halloween holiday. He cleaned and helped and was almost cheerful in hopes of carving pumpkins and dressing up and eating more cavities into his mouth.
I made pumpkin pie out of the first pumpkin from our volunteer garden. It is a good fruit. I took some of the pies to the trunk or treat and had people track me down to complement me on the pie -Thanks for the lessons mom. Jon and I got the thermostat fixed in our hot tub and now it is HOT WATER. I am loving it. We keep on putting the kids to bed then sneaking out for a dip. The kids are not fooled but we threw them in on Saturday after lunch. And that was fun. Hunter loves to just float while wearing his life jacket. All my other kids would have freaked out!!! I am usually found digging myself out from under a mountain of laundry only to get a breath of fresh air before it is piled on me again. -Again Mom thank you for tackling the mountain every day. I have to tell you one funny thing I did last week. I had Erica’s preschool group over here and the lesson manual called for Playing with shaving cream. So I cleaned off the counter and let the kids have at the piles of foam I kept on spraying out the end of the can. We had foam everywhere, That was fun. It would be a blast at Powell I think, and then it just washes away.
Jon has been asked to coach the YM basketball program in our ward this year. He is excited to work with the youth in our ward. We have such a neat group of young men in our ward. And Young women too. He continues to work with Sis, our horse, and she and Jon are both getting better-at what I am not sure.
Anyway I have gone on long enough now and Jon is calling for my help. We Love you and pray for you. The church is true. This is Christ’s church. The Lord has a plan for each and every one of us. He knows who we are and loves us. We are his children.

Love, Monica and the rest of the Woodins she’s claims’ as her mess.

Happy Halloween -Whew glad that one is over!

So here is some Halloween Fun. I wanteed to let everyone know Saturday morning, after Halloween, Erica asked if Halloween was over. We replied that indeed it was. Her response was "So...now it's CHRISTMAS!"


This was Erica before We had to change her into a french maid. I let her wear her costume all day and by the time it was time to go trick-or-treating she had shredded the dress. Oh well she wore it last year too. At least she had some fun


This is Hunter pre candy. See how nice and clean he is. He loved his pumpkin Hat. He had never allowed me to put a hat on him period! But He wore this one all day and even asked me to put it back on him when it fell off. He threw a tantrum at bed time when I took it off and demanded it be back on his head on Saturday. Funny kid.



we did Carve Pumpkins on Halloween Eve. Erica's is the little one, Stiles the green one and Marcus did the big one. We had a ball and the kids were pleased with their "scary" creations. FYI Hunter was already in bed and William is too young to care.


this Was Erica dressed up for her Pre-school Halloween party. She is a "butterfly princess" She was so jazzed to be able to dress up twice! I am so glad we are done dressing up! But I totally dig her blue eye make-up. I guess I do like Halloween too.



William started out as a cute Dragon but then like all baby dragons blew poop out his diaper and was in need of a new costume. -the devil was waiting in the wings- (HA HA- Pun(s) if any intended)I thought he was cute and he didn't seem to mind being dressed with a bonnet on his head or wings stuck to his back.

So there are my Kids for Halloween. I wasn't fast enough to get Stiles and Marcus in their Vampire Bat costumes but if you want to view them Katherine took some pictures at her house and they are on her blog page.

still working for the title

Hunter smeared the contents of those baby bottle ice packs all over himself and the floor. Toilet papered my bathroom. Got into the yummy love lotions and poured them all over the sheets of my freshly made bed.Dumped William out of his car seat. Found the Halloween candy stash, Played in my wet shower with his footed pj's still on then sopped the floors with his wet feet. Threw the contents of Stiles penny bank all over the floor in the kitchen. and Dove into the flour bucket-Again. And this was all in the last 24hours. Watch out Stiles!!

Murphy!!!!

So mopped again today, My job last night was not steller, and we spilled at dinner again. SO out comes the Libman again. -That item should have made it onto my favorite things list. Good luck with your floors. Again

Murphys Law

On Tuesdays I usually give my floor a really good mop down. And I had every intention of doing so yesterday. But things got in the way, and I am just plain lazy and didn't do it. Even so The Murphy law for my house was not deterred. It was on a schedule. We managed to spill Orange Pop and two Glasses of milk. -We tricked old Murphy last night. And I mopped up after the kids went to bed. Now if I can just get my destructive Hunter locked out of every room in the house we might have a clean place to live.
Hope your clean floor lasts!-YEH RIGHT.

Where's William

Mom commented earlier this Week that I left out pictures of William.
Yes he sometimes is my forgotten child.
But here with the cutest Dimples, is My own little Will


AWWWW!



Look at those cute cute dimples!


So I pose the question
"Who do you think William looks like?"

Jon was bucked off

HERE IS MY WEEKLY LETTER TO MY MISSIONARY BROTHER

Dallan, and all other weirdo’s I love.
Well this week has been another plugger. Tuesday was picture day at the school. I was dreading this day because of Erica’s unsightly haircut, but a few days prior I realized that the frequent recent visits of the tooth fairy to Stiles pillow might be more cause for alarm. In the end Erica dolled up really nice and Stiles notified us that He took off his tie in Class and “forgot” to put it back on for his pictures. I’m sure it will all be okay, retakes are next month anyway, and then his jack-o-lantern smile will be mostly grown back in. I have posted the cutest picture of my little daughter on my blog page if you haven’t gone looking for it you should. It is at /jonandmonicawoodin.blogspot.com/ Look under the mullet to a million bucks heading.
Anyway also on Tuesday Jon when riding our new horse Sis. Well she hasn’t been ridden in 2 years and the time she was rode they rode her up hunting and worked her so hard they almost killed her. So Long story short she Bucked Jon off. He landed on the saddle horn twice and has many black and blue places where the sun don’t shine. He is a trooper and got right back on. But hasn’t let the kids near her. I’ve ridden her twice in the yard and she had been totally fine with me.
On Friday night there was a tack and saddle auction here in Pocatello. We hired Lisa to come baby sit the kids and Jon and I went. We came home with quite the load of items. For well below their retail price. Most saddles sold for $200.00 and retailed on average @ $2000.00. We had a fun night. Now Jon has a saddle big enough for him, I have one that fits me, and we have a saddle for Santa to bring for the kids. We only have one horse. But Jon is always shopping.
The primary program is coming up on the 9th of November. The kids are “excited“. Stiles is condemning Erica and Marcus for not singing, Erica cries any time they ask her to say her part into the microphone and Marcus somehow was overlooked and does not have a part in the script. I am grateful that I am not in charge of the primary program.
At church today they asked us if our family would clean the church house this week. We agreed but cautioned the brother that asked us, and told him that our children would probably do more damage than good. But in the end it will be a good learning experience for them and it will help them understand that they need to help take care of Heavenly Fathers house. -Maybe we will find a baby sitter.
Hunter is quite the menace. He is giving Stiles a run for his destruction title. Jon’s glasses have been the most expensive items in his path- Twice now. The first time the doctors office replaced them free of charge. Then Jon took them off and placed them on my kitchen counter. After chewing Jon out and telling him that the kitchen counter was not a safe place for his glasses I placed them on his desk in his office. With in two hours Hunter had found them and ripped off the ear piece. So my safe place was not so safe. Two days later Hunter started pulling files out of the filing cabinet and depositing them on the floor. -Jon has since fixed the latch to the door of his office so that the door will close tight and securely. Funny how thing like that are never important until AFTER damage is done.
It is getting cold, and oil furnace in the basement is being monitored daily trying to figure out if she should be traded in for a new younger model which would run on electricity instead of pricy oil. Our last quote would cost us about $2,000.00 this winter just in oil. WE shall see. We are toying with the idea of putting in a windmill to generate electricity. They are pretty expensive to begin with but they are suppose to pay them self’s off in 5-6 yrs. There are lots of thing to be done. Just not sure which to tackle first.
You look real nice and handsome in the pictures you sent. You almost look grown up, but I know that you really are not. Somewhere is my little brother who giggles when you call him Dally-wally-doddle-all-the-day. We love you and pray for you always. Thank you for being such a good example to me and my children. WE are all blessed by your service. Keep up the good work and you know you are required to write me my own letter for Christmas!?!

Love Monica and her Motley Crew.

working on that title

For those of you who are aware of Stiles' claim to destruction fame let it be known that Hunter is trying to take that title away. Hunter has now destroyed (as in pulled until busting off the ear pieces)Jon's glasses-Twice! And yesterday started pulling files out of the filing cabinet and throwing them on the floor. He has pooped all over the floor, and a chair, and some toys. Found the flour bucket-enough said. Opened up countless packets of instant oatmeal and decorated the basement floor with their contents. Unloaded all of the kool-aid packets onto the ground in the pantry. Pulled out a box of tampons unwrapped and "Shot them off". Painted with toothpaste all over a large section on the downstairs family room and the toys located there. Learned how to get out of his cage-I mean crib. It is a good thing Hunter has such gorgeous curls and striking eyes, and that Stiles came first to teach me patience, or Hunter would be in big trouble.
Did I say,I Love being a Mom!




Isn't he the cutest thing-Little Monster!

Snowman to snow tunnel

Two weeks ago it snowed and my children made 4 snowmen. the next afternoon they turned one snowman into a snow tunnel for thier toy trucks. and yes Erica has no shoes on and Hunter is just in a diaper and shirt. Who is their mother!?!

SIS

This is our new horse "Sis."

from Mullet to a Million bucks!

Today was picture day at the school so I thought I would let you have a sneak peek at what you will get in your christmas cards this year.

a hole in the ground

I thought I would post my letter to my missionary brother on my blog page so those of you I don't email it to might have a chance to read a bit more about what we are up to.

Dallan, and all other who might or might not care.
This week has been fraught with peril, "and you just can't argue with a word like fraught" -Tigger. Well actually Jon spent most of Friday and Saturday digging out a hydrant that was not siphoning the water back down properly. We might not have attacked the task but it was a hydrant that provides the water to two different corrals. earlier this fall one of our tenets’ informed us of the problem and his great desire to have it fixed before winter. Jon didn't seem to care all that much but on Friday one of his contractor/hunting buddies gave us his horse because he couldn't pay his bill to us. so we are now true equestrian people. So we have a horse named Sis she is about 13 and a very gentle horse. because We acquired this horse Jon now saw great need to fix the water to the corral for our horse. And went to work digging out the said broken hydrant. He dug and dug and dug. and not wanting to do more work than absolutely necessary dug a tight small hole directly around the pipe. I having seen the need for much larger holes in repairing mainline expressed a concern that the hole might need to be bigger but then left my dear husband to do the work seeing how I "was not helping" Well after digging a hole so deep that jon was standing on his head inside of the said hole and the diagnoses was that it was still not deep enough yet. Jon crawled out of the tiny narrow hole and we proceeded to dig a much larger and quite substantial hole. After much toil, rocks, and effort and a plethora of digging tools we managed to get to the "bottom" of the problem. We yanked out the broken part and installed a non broken water spigot. and Presto chango the water was turned back on and Jon and I were able to bathe and be ready for church. Well we did put Hunters socks and boots on IN Sacrament meeting.
So the kids are Jazzed about "finally" having a horse of our own. Jon is beyond Jazzed. They are calling Sis my horse, because Jon still wants to get other horses and if he deems a horse to someone other than himself then he can still get another one for himself. (He did the same thing when he bought the 4 wheelers -one for the wife then I'll get what I really want.) Kind of smart. I just wish he wanted things like oh say a garbage disposal or a new vacuum or a push broom perhaps.
Stiles and Marcus are plugging away at school. I was shocked when I was told that Marcus was way behind because he didn't know all of his letters the second week of school. I was kind of the assumption that they went to school to learn those things but apparently the 5 yr old kids of this world are suppose to know algebra and German upon entering the public school system and shame on those parents who have not had their child in structured preschool since they were 3 years old. I thought kids were suppose to play. but I guess I am wrong.
Erica loves to color and spends most of her time in pursuit of coloring any scrap of paper she can lay hers hands on. She fills a coloring book almost monthly and is always in need of a new picture to color. her favorite medium is crayons, however markers and paints do not scare her creativeness, she prefers not to work with colored pencils but will if no other coloring option is present.
Hunter is getting along great in Nursery. Still bawls a bit when you drop him off but is getting into the swing of things with the toys and the rocking chair in the room. We have found a bottle in his possession also makes the 2 hours less stressful on all those involved.
William is beginning to "sleep through the night" if you call from 11:00 pm to 4:00 am "through the night" But it is 6 hours straight and a few times He has even slept till 6:00. Sorry to brag about this Camille but your two little girls were angels for you. IT is my turn to have the amazingly easy baby for a while.
Jon is loving working with the priests in our ward. I am still trying to figure out what in the Sam hill I am suppose to be doing with the cub scouts and all is rolling along with the laundry and the dishes and spilled milk on the newly mopped floor.
Work hard and know that we love you. The Church is true, and nothing else matters
Love, Monica and my crazy family.

these are a few of my favorite things

I am always excited to find a product that makes my life a little bit easier. I have just discovered a product called Leather CPR. I bought it at Wal-mart and My leather couches look awesome. It is very easy to use and doesn't smell all funny. It claims to work wonders on anything leather IE. Luggage, clothing, baseball mitts, etc. But not anything suede. Anyhow I thought I would tell you about a few of my other favorite things as well.
Zout- for grass stains, Blood, baby poop, and spit-up.
Oxy-clean- for all my whites and as a companion to Zout.
Clorox2 - add some to your next load and -WOW- it really has saved many clothes of mine.
Future-floor finish-makes my linoleum floor looks great and makes it easier to clean the next time.
Pantine Pro-V hair smoother- even though my hair is curly I use it to help keep my curls from frizzing out. Works better than most defrizzing products I have tried.
LA-LOOKs Gel -Sport hold (its the blue one) to keep my curls under control all day.
flylady.com- helps me stay on top of my messy house 15 minutes at a time. she keeps my bed made, the laundry moving, my shoes on, my bathroom swiped and swished, And my sink shinny. Bless that fly lady.
Disney-and all of their movies to entertain my children for 60-130minutes at a time.
Mr Clean Magic eraser- for most messes my kids make
Goo-gone for Crayons on most surfaces
De-Solve-It for Crayon and oil in fabrics including carpet.
Clinique 3-Step- For my face.
Libman wonder mop- And the machine washable mop heads.
My dust pan with a tall handle like they have at amusement parks for the help to clean up the litter people drop. I love that I don't have to bend down to sweep up my floor. This was especially true when I was at the end of my pregnancy.
Jon
Stiles
Marcus
Erica
Hunter
William
These are a few of my favorite things
What are yours?

I Love My Family

I am so excited with the fun times I had this last weekend. I was the first to arrive at the chapel for Zac's baptism on Saturday (well except for Mark and Zac) And as I watched the members of the Briscoe family file in to the chapel and had a chance to see all of you. Well I was and still am impressed with all you wonderful people. I'm glad I get to claim you as part of my family. and when we were all seated and We were only missing (to my knowledge) Becky, Cindy, and Lori's family. I felt sad they couldn't be there. And I look forward to the day in heaven when We all get to sit down together and just BE TOGETHER. I Love you all and wish you a wonderful day!

Peaches and Snow

Thank you! Thank you! To Fred, Jason, and Jim for letting me borrow their very sweet wives last night to can the peaches off of our last peach tree. They worked tirelessly and gave me some good instructions on how to do the daunting canning task. I can not say that now I am a pro. But I feel like I could tackle the project again next fall without too much hesitation.
I'm glad we got the harvest in before the snow fell, (which it did last night) I love living in Idaho I only just removed my window A/C unit on Wednesday! My kids are tickled pink and turning pink outside in the snow. See all of their snow clothes are still at our other house. They didn't seem that important to move in July. SO my boys bundled up as best they could and ventured out. I had better go make them some hot chocolate. Have a great Saturday!

cock-a-doodle-doo

To all those who have been attacked, heard about an attack, or laughed at the attacked. rest assured that you may now visit our home without fears of being attacked by Our rooster. He is no more. And can I just say he was a tough old bird. We put in in the slow cooker for 24 hours! and he was still tough. So even though we made a valiant effort to eat him he was just thrown out.

And Just like that! He changes His Mind

On Sunday traveling home from the farm Jon and I ran over a rock. It banged pretty hard under the van, and we did turn the car around to inspect our attacker, then drove the almost 100 miles home. As we pulled into the garage we could smell burning oil. Jon quickly realized, judging from the oil trail left in our driveway,that we had put a hole in our oil pan, a gash about as long as your thunb, and pulled the van back out if the garage. We put a bucket under the van and collected almost a full gallon of oil. The mechanic quoted us $225.00 to fix it. So we mummbled and murmmered about doing all of the good thing we were suppose to such as watching conference, paying our tithing, I even did my visiting teaching! When we picked up the van Jon asked the mechanic if it was normal to have been able to drive that far without doing any additional damage. The Mechanic looked at us in disbilief and told us we were lucky we didn't lose our whole engine. Suddenly the bill seemed like a blessing from heaven and we are greatful the old green minivan is still part of our little family.

Mckenzie

I have the cutest Nieces in the world! I have seen and held little Mckenzie Catherine Winward, and Camille definitly has made another adorable baby girl. I still have to wish Jason Good luck in about 12-14 years when the hormones and estrogen in his house will go off the charts. I am glad I only have one prom dress to worry about. But I still want my Baby girl to have the joy of growing up with a sister or two. I know I love my sisters, and am so glad to have found dear friends in my sister-in-laws. And since I am being sappy about all the women who help shape my life I love my Mom and Mother-in-law with all my heart. I miss My grandma's and love to visit with the one I still have here. Okay I am done now

Girls rule!!!

I am not a good baby sitter

So I have been watching my sister(s) daughter(s) off and on on different days. On mondays and tuesdays I have little Juliet and As my Sister Camille counts down to delivering her baby (which she did today) I have been watching her girls while she goes to her doctor appointments. So this is how good of a babysitter I am. Becca, Camilles youngest,(well not anymore, but she was yesterday) Fell head over heels down my stairs. I was at the bottom and saw the whole thing. and off course as children do she was carting around two fistfulls of toys. In the process of falling she managed to pierce her chin just under her lip with a little star braclet that was in her hand. It required one little stitch. SO I am not the best aunt in the World but thankfully Camille forgave me and hauled her kids over again today and kicked them out the door of her van, while she and Jason headed to the delivery room at the hospital. I love my Nieces and I am so glad my sisters trust me with them. I am just waiting for Juliet to take a tumble or two down my stairs. I know it is coming!

The Hot Tub is working...sort of.

After much trial and error I think we have the hot tub running now. When I first filled it up I filled it too full. Apparently it has an overflow valve. I thought we had a leak and was so bumbed but it only drained out about 2 inches of water and quit draining. Then it took Jon and I quite a while to figure out that the tub was wired to the shop and not the house. When we turned the breaker on we knew we were getting power to the tub, but it still wouldn't run, So after Jon took apart the panal and so forth I remembered that Lance had said something about the Hot tub wouldn't run unless the door to the pump was shut. so we shut the door and viola it was running. Two days later the tub is still stone cold. We are afraid the element in the heater is crap. But Jon notices a reset button way in the back. We have heat. It only got to about 98 degrees before it topped out. We don't know why we can't get it up to the 104 we want it at but we all piled in for FHE last night and are so jazzed with the tub. So now the deck and bridges have been stained, the fence and flowerpots painted and the hot tub is working. To bad it is turning colder or else we might have felt like we should throw a party. Maybe we still will. Call before you come over.

Okay Okay I finally did it!

Jon is off hunting (again) and since I should be doing all sorts of other things I decided to finally set up my own blog spot and let you all come over and see what silly things me and my family are up to. Hopefully we will be entertaining, But I am afraid that you might be really really bored. Thanks for stopping by.
Monica