Ashton's Baseball Season

Ashton was on the Yankees again this year. Jeff was his coach again too. Ashton really enjoys having his dad there! This was Ashton's last season of coach pitch.



He had a lot of good hits, runs, and plays at short stop. Way to go Ashton!!

Spring Snow

Just when you think Spring is coming, the weather has to play games. I love that the boys are all dressed for football, then... it gets canceled because of SNOW!!

Outdoor Expo

Here are some photos of the boys (and a couple elk) from an Outdoor Expo we went to.

Aryk

Aryk went through a silly phase of "posing" for the camera. This is an afternoon with a cookie and a camera.

Easter

Yes... I have to go back to Easter! It was a nice quiet, Easter. The boys slept in a little. They found their Easter Baskets, then we had an indoor egg hunt.



Aryk hunted for a little while... until he found out there was candy in the eggs, and that he could just wait for the brothers to come dump their baskets. So he snuck their eggs, and ate candy, while the brothers finished the hunt!



We went to Grandpa and Grandma Likes for another egg hunt and Easter dinner. Grandma and Grandpa put candy in some eggs, and money in others. AJ struck it rich this year, he got a $1,000,000 bill! Wahoo!! Grandma and Grandpa also hide one toy for the boys. Aryk got a collection of books, and the big boys got Nerf Guns. Thanks Grandma & Grandpa!!

Boise Art Family Fieldtrip

AJ's Kindergarten teacher gave our whole family homework!! Can you believe? The City of Boise and the Public Art Program has published an Alphabet art book. It is about pieces of art you can see, just walking around Boise!! So the assignment was to read this book, pick 5 pieces of art from the book, and go find it in the city!! Then bring back something to show what you did. What a fun challenge.



The art pieces AJ chose were, B is for Bear; G is for Green; I is for Inside; R is for Rat; and T is for Train. Can you pick out which picture is which piece of art? Do you know WHERE in Boise these pieces of art are? This book was fun, and it gives you the address of where each of these pieces of art are too! If you want to find out more about Boise's public arts go to www.BoiseArtsAndHistory.org and have a Boise Art Family Field trip of your own! If you are an out-of-towner, come visit! We'll take you to see the sights!

Football

March and April 2010. The boys decided to play flag football. They loved it! They had GREAT coaches and teamates.

Don't forget the fans, of course! Aryk was at EVERY game, cold, sunny, or naptime! It was fun to hang out at the park every Saturday.



AJ played for The Raiders. His coach is a friend of Jeff's and did a wonderful job keeping AJ excited and moving.



Ashton played on The Panthers. They had good season, good coach, and good kids!



These are a series of pictures, where Ashton has the ball and is making a play. He even got a couple of touchdowns!!

Catching Up!

Sorry!! I have been a slacker!! Here's what Alyson has been up to, instead of blogging. I know I posted that I was called as YW President, which was my first slow down on posts. But that was almost a year ago!! Then I started babysitting full-time (which I am doing again), I'm still not sure why I didn't have time to post. Then, this summer I was too busy playing with my boys, I guess. So... I'm gonna take another crack at catching up... Here's what the family has been doing... Baseball, camping, Pioneer Trek, Girl's Camp, Cub Scouts, Birthdays, Back-to-School, Soccer, and More Baseball. Probably more that I have forgotten about, I will catch these as I back track through pictures (hopefully I took pictures of everything!). Thanks for your patience. Look forward to more blog posts soon!!

This photo album created with Smilebox

Puppies!

Early on Wednesday March 3, Elektra went into labor. This is her second litter, and she did GREAT!! I love being in the whelping box to help her. Especially since she does most of the work, and I get to hold the tiny puppies.

Elektra in labor.

We let the boys stay home from school, so that they could be part of it. They went to school, just before lunch time. Ashton is a GREAT helper. He gets in there and helps clean them up, and keep them warm.

Elektra delivered 7 healthy puppies. 2 Males and 5 Females. Here are the puppies all curled up with each other, just after the last one was born.

Elektra nursing her puppies. She was a GREAT mother! And the puppies are so sweet. It is nice experiencing the miracle of birth, when you aren't the one in pain! It really was amazing.

All the puppies have been sold (yes, it took me this long to post it!). They all went home between 7 & 9 weeks.

Teeth

AJ's permanent teeth had grown in behind his baby teeth, and the baby teeth weren't really loose. So... the dentist had to pull those baby teeth out!
AJ was brave, in fact, when we got home, he complained that the filling hurt, and the holes in his mouth were fine!
AJ was so proud of himself, he took his little tooth case and teeth to school, to show his class.
After waiting an extra day He was so excited to put his very own tooth fairy pillow under his pillow, and see what he got! We told him the tooth fairy is VERY generous when the dentist has to pull the teeth out. Well, that night must have been a late night for the tooth fairy, because she forgot to come to AJ's pillow!!
The next morning He was in tears! So devastated that he was skipped! After hugs, and promises, and daddy calling the tooth fairy's cell phone, he felt better, and was able to go on with his day.
The tooth fairy was VERY VERY generous the next night! Between dentists and busy schedules, AJ got $4 ($2 per tooth!). WOW!!! AJ was so excited to be remembered, he ran to our bedroom to show us what was left. He couldn't believe it!
Losing teeth is such a BIG deal at this age! Way to go dude!

HONESTY

Honesty- "refraining from lying, cheating, or stealing; being truthful, trustworthy, or upright."

At the boys school, February was the Character Trait of Honesty. Ashton was selected, by his teacher, as a student who was a good example of Honesty, throughout the month. At the end of the month, they did the character breakfast and awards.

Ashton is VERY honest, even at home. GREAT job dude. We LOVE You are so thankful for you and your honesty.

SiLLy BoyZ

Utah & a Baptism

In February we went to Utah for Tyler's Baptism. It was GREAT to see the cousins and Grandpa & Grandma Holbrook.

The Rose Family

Sweet Emma

Tyler with His Mom & Dad

Father & Son

Ashton enjoying treats!

AJ watching the little girls, and wondering..???

Smiley little Addy

(there has been debate about this spelling-

this was the easy way to spell it)

Tyler after his baptism with Grandma June and Grandpa Holbrook

I scream, You scream

We are mean parents! We don't let our kids have a lot of treats- except for Aryk, 'cause he's our favorite. ;) We made a deal with our kids a LONG time ago, that IF they eat their dinner they can have ONE treat. For example: ONE scoop of Ice Cream.

Ashton and AJ, occasionally ask if they can have an extra scoop of Ice Cream, we tell them if they eat an extra dinner. They both ate a good dinner one night in February, and Ashton asked if he could just eat all the ice cream left in the carton. It was about 2 or 3 scoops, and honestly, we didn't need to keep it in the freezer any longer. Mom thought it was too cold for Ice Cream, so she told him he could eat as much as he wanted, outside on the patio furniture (this was on Feb. 2, mind you.) Mom did tell him to put a coat on. So... AJ got excited, 'cause there was a second carton of ice cream (with A LOT of ice cream still in it), that he wanted to eat! So... same thing- Eat it outside, until you are too cold to eat any more, or finish it off.

Dad warned Mom that these boys would take a challenge like that and stay out, until the Ice Cream was gone. Mom was a little surprised at how long they were willing to stay out. Aryk didn't want to be left out, of course, so he got one scoop in a bowl, his coat, and out he went too. Ashton finished off his carton, Aryk didn't make it through the whole bowl, and AJ made a dent of at least 2 or 3 scoops out of his carton, before they all came in. Way to go boys!

I Scream, You Scream, We ALL scream for Ice Cream!

Sledding with the Youth

In January, one of our Youth Activities was sledding. So I figured it was a good activity to invite the family to join in on. Jeff helped load everything we need for the Youth and the Boys. He's GREAT!! I never could be Young Women's Pres. without him. We head up toward Pearl, Idaho (about 20 minutes north), and found a great snowy hill to have some fun.

Aryk stayed by the fire most of the time. I did take him on a sled for a minute, but we didn't get any pictures of that. He was pretty tired and cold by the end of the three hours.

AJ was a little more brave. He stayed toward the bottom of the hill and the fire. But he had fun building snow mounds and doing a little sledding.

Ashton thinks he is one of the youth. And the youth are so good to my boys. He was at the top of the hill going fast as can be. I couldn't believe he was so brave. He had so much fun!

Here are pictures of the youth and some of the leaders cruising the hill. It was a VERY fun day!

Devin's Wedding

The whole Holbrook side of the family came to Idaho for Devin's Wedding. The wedding was in Weiser, where Chelsey is from. It was BEAUTIFUL!! While we were waiting through pictures and for the ceremony to start, Jeff kept himself and ALL the boys (and the girls) busy taking pictures.

Some of the many random pictures of the family.

Aryk keeping busy

AJ trying to stay out of trouble

Ashton- probably causing more trouble than not.
But being very good at the same time. How does he do that?

The Wedding Ceremony. Chaplain Holbrook was able to perform the ceremony.
That was pretty special.

More random pictures of the family at the wedding.

Thanks for the GREAT excuse to get everyone to Idaho for a reunion Dev!
And welcome to the family Chelsey and B.

Holbrook Christmas

After Family Pictures, we had our Holbrook Christmas! Everyone was ripping open packages and laughing and smiling. It was GREAT!! I love it when we can all get together.

Aryk LOVED opening presents AGAIN!! He really got into it this year. Grandma Holbrook found matching Star Wars Pajama pants for all three boys. Aryk wanted them on right then. So... well I'm sure you can see... SO CUTE! So SPOILED!

Ashton and AJ asked Santa for a Skateboard for Christmas. Mom and Dad wrote a letter to Santa, telling him that Ashton all ready has a rip-stick and the boys have their Uncle's long board too. So... Santa was sneaky! Instead of bringing it on Christmas morning, he told Grandma and Grandpa Holbrook. They were happy to help out Santa. They even bought the safety pads to go with the skateboards too! LUCKY boys!

Ashton and AJ REALLY enjoyed having their cousins here! They get along so well and always have fun playing together!

This year all the siblings pitched in and purchased Season Tickets to a Playhouse in the Orem area (sorry I have forgotten the name), for Mom and Dad's Christmas gift. They love to go out on dates, and thanks to our older sister, we were able to send them someplace they enjoy!

Here are some random pictures I took of everyone else during the fun craziness. I LOVE MY FAMILY!!!