Happy, happy birthday, children dear . . .

Happy birthday to Noah (December 2) and Tallis (December 22)! Good things come in "twos!"

Ethan's Mom is Bragging

Hi, this is Ethan's mom, bragging about Ethan. He got high honors the first trimester of school this year! Middle school has a lot more homework and responsibility than elementary, but he was up to the challenge. Yay Ethan!

Weston's Story

A few months ago, Weston drew a beautiful picture and wrote a story to go with it. Here it is:

Just in case you can't read it, this is what it says: "Brennan flies a kite" by Weston Daw

One night Brennan flied a kite. Then his kite got stuck in his treehouse. Then he was sad, so he thinked of something to do. Then he knowed what to do. He looked for a wrench. He found a wrench by his dad's toolbox. And he got the wrench and he climed up the stairs on his treehouse and he got on the leaves and he pulled on the kitestring and he quickly got down the stairs. Then he rushed to the kite handle and he grabbed onto the kite handle. Then the kite was free. Then he was happy. The end.

A Festive Day of Thanks

Mila created a lovely Thanksgiving centerpiece for our table, including paper-plate turkey nut cups.

Belated Hallowe'en Pictures

Two delightfully wicked witches and a lovable fat bear haunted the streets of Sugar City this Hallowe'en. Milena was a charming witch, following the footsteps of her mom and Omi, and Tallis, worn out by his portrayal of "Po" (Kung-Fu Panda fame) slowly lost his innards (several pillows) throughout the night until he was a very skinny panda indeed.

Happy Birthday big boy Brennan!

A few days late...

Happy Birthday big boy Spencer!

A Story by Ethan

(When I cut and pasted this it messed up the paragraphs and indents, but you get the idea)

The Attack of the Rogue Mexican Jumping Beans

Prologue

It was a nice, warm, and sunny day in Mexico City. Two men were sitting near a taco shop. Pablo was eating his burrito when his brother, Pedro, told him, “My taco is shaking!”
“Heh heh. Yeah right, Pedro,” Pablo responded.
Suddenly something hit Pablo’s forehead. “Yow!”
“What’s wrong, Pablo?” Pedro asked, shocked by Pablo’s yelp.
“A bean hit me.”
“What the heck, there’s a hole in my taco,” Pedro said.
“Do you think that bean in your taco jumped out and hit me?” Pablo asked.
“It sounds crazy, but it would explain what just happened,” Pedro responded. A minute later, Pablo and Pedro got pelted by beans.
“Ay ay ay!” Pablo and Pedro yelled in unison.
“Run!” the shopkeeper yelled. “Save yoursel . . .” he continued as the beans ate him. Pablo and Pedro saw innocent civilians getting consumed by jumping beans.
“What the heck is going on?” Pablo yelled. They ran away until they found two llamas. They got on them and zipped away. They turned back to see the taco shop blow up, with Mexican jumping beans destroying everything.
“Not the taco shop!” Pablo howled. “Why? Why?”

Chapter 1
Eduardo the Traveler


Pablo and Pedro rode on the llamas until they found a lone traveler. “Hello! La, la, la,” the traveler said.
“What’s your name, good sir?” Pedro asked.
“Eduardo, good sir.” the traveler responded. Pedro jumped off his llama and onto Pablo’s.
“Here, you can use my llama,” Pedro told Eduardo.
“You shouldn’t trust strangers that easily,” Pablo whispered to Pedro.
“Meh,” Pedro replied. “He looks like a good guy,”
“He has a switchblade!” Pablo blurted out as he saw the hilt sticking out of Eduardo’s pocket.
“Self-defense” Pablo said in a calm mood. The duo, which was now a trio, headed off.
“I actually use it to cut pancakes.”
Chapter 2
Mexican Jumping Bean Capital

They came upon a town with Mexican jumping beans everywhere. One bean saw them and started jumping madly. A group of other beans jumped over to the first bean. Then they jumped on Pablo. “Aughhh!” Pablo yelled.
Eduardo took his switchblade and stabbed at the beans. One by one they fell to the ground. “Eat that, you tasteless beans!” Eduardo shouted.
They started for the road, but a booming voice stopped them in their tracks. A giant bean jumped out of a building. “Yo soy el Frijole Saltando de Mexico!! A.K.A. the Mexican Jumping Bean!!!” the bean boomed. Pablo grabbed the switchblade from Eduardo and wildly chucked it without warning.
“I challenge you to a duel . . .” the bean began, and then stopped as the looked at the switchblade sticking out of his stomach. “Oh come on . . .” were the bean’s final words. It blew up and billions of tiny jumping beans flew out of him.
“You have freed us! How can we thank you?” the beans cried.
“Give us a giant bean burrito!” Pedro and Pablo said.
“How ‘bout a watermelon?” the beans suggested in their squeaky little voices.
“Fine,” said the trio. They feasted on the melon and ate the giant bean. They went to bed, feeling pretty good.

FIN

Noah is a Big Boy

Noah has been wearing big boy underwear to school. Ever since we visited the tummy doctor he has been so good about going potty in the potty. We're so proud of him!

Ethan's Viking Adventure

(For school Ethan had to make a brochure about a space trip. Here are some of the highlights.)

It is called "Viking Mission Adventure Tours." Participants will visit the Moon, Saturn, and the constellation Aries. Exciting activities include bunjee jumping in the moon's craters, ice skating on Saturn's rings, and playing board games while listening to Greek and Roman myths. Participants should bring warm pajamas clothes, snacks and DVDs. Don't worry - - oxygen will be provided! For this amazing trip the price is only $200! It's all to pay for fuel, oxygen and the spacecraft itself. The chocolate mints on the bed are complementary! It's highly recommended to wear space diapers.

Sounds like fun!

An Astronaut and Red Riding Hood

Spaceman Spencer

From Astronaut and Riding Hood

Little Red Riding Ellie

From Astronaut and Riding Hood

Taylor was funny enough without dressing up

From Astronaut and Riding Hood

You can see a few more pictures at our picasa site

Happy Halloween

From the Daw cousins!

Beanie, Happy Birthday

Happy Birthday Beanie Girl! Hope you have a wonderful new year!!!

Gingerbread Men

Or, the men of ginger. Weston was "studying" the gingerbread man story at school, so we decided to make gingerbread men with Omi (Ginger) while she stayed with us.

There are two recipes you can use. Click here for the one Omi and the boys made. The recipe that Weston got from school is easy and fun, too:

One spice cake mix

Two eggs

1/3 cup vegetable oil

Mix together and then roll and cut out shapes. Bake at 350 degrees for 8-10 minutes. Makes about 2 dozen small cookies or one very large gingerbread man!
They bought white frosting, with sprinkles on the side, and used chocolate chips for eyes and buttons. They helped make the mix, bake the cookies, and finally decorate and EAT them!

Thanks Omi for all the fun!

At the Beach, By Ellie

We were at the beach for vacation. We found shells and we were catching fish and we were holding some. On that day, before that when we were at the beach earlier, there were some fish on the waves coming, but they were already dead.

I found so many shells. I liked it at the beach.

"Penguin" Woods, by Ethan

Yesterday I went golfing with my Dad. At one hole I hit a ball by a water hazard. It hit the water and then bounced off onto the land. Then I had to get past a sand trap. I hit the ball and it bounced over the sand trap and rolled onto the green. The ball was about 25 feet from the hole and I putted it and it made it in! The hole was a par 3 and I shot par! I felt awesome! I'm also taking golf in p.e. at school. At p.e. my friend Nick and I have two superstitious clubs. One is a 7 iron with "Foxx" on it, and we call it Mr. Foxy, and the other one has a bunch of blue paint on it and we call it Mr. Bluebird. We both take turns using the clubs. I really enjoy it.

Franky the fast turtle

Today we found a turtle. We found it on the road and we pick it up. We put it in the truck and took it home. You wouldn't believe this: he is very fast. I call him Franky fast. I put him in a box to keep him. He is black and yellow. I will take a picture and show it to you.

Ellie

A Poem from Tallis' Book

This poem comes from one of Tallis' books. Do you have a favorite poem?

CATS

Cats sleep
Anywhere,
Any table,
Any chair,
Top of piano,
Window-ledge,
In the middle,
On the edge,
Open drawer,
Empty shoe,
Anybody's
Lap will do,
Fitted in a
Cardboard box,
In the cupboard
With your frocks--
Anywhere!
They don't care!
Cats sleep
Anywhere.

by Eleanor Farjeon

Noah Says Thanks

This is Noah's mom, writing to say a big "Thank You!" to Unky Kimball for his wonderful InsideOut music. Noah asks to listen to it all the time. We keep it in the car and Noah just loves to sing along to all of the songs. He especially likes "The Priesthood is Restored" and of course the Snowman songs. We really appreciate Kimball's talent and the way he has shared it with the world!

Exercising Faith by Mila

This week my family exercised faith. We were on vacation and many things got lost. The first time dad's camera got lost. We prayed and found it. We also lost my camera; again we prayed and saw it. I think we should all pray when we lose something.

Learning the Ten Commandments, by Ethan

I learned how to memorize the ten commandments in primary. Number one, think of the sun, there is only one sun, so there is only one God and you should have no other gods before Him. Number two, think of "moo" like a cow, like the golden calf, don't worship idols. Number three think of a tree, which has leaves, which have veins, don't take the Lord's name in vain. Number four, think of a door, like the chapel doors, remember the Sabbath day to keep it holy. Number five, think of a hive, which has a family of bees, with parents, honor your father and mother. Number six, think of a stick, you could kill someone with a stick, thou shalt not kill. Number seven, think of heaven, you can't get to heaven if you commit adultery. Number eight think of a gate made of steel, thou shalt not steal. Number nine think of a line, which sounds like lying, thou shalt not lie. Number ten, think of a hen, thou shalt not covet (your neighbor's hen!)

Ellie's Firefly Book

We have lots of fireflies in Virginia. One night, I started playing with them and then I caught one. We watched it for a little and I thought I could write a poem about them. I wrote three poems about them and made a book. It's called "Fireflies."

Here are the poems:

"Fireflies"

Fireflies are sparkles
That glitter in the night.
They are very beautiful to look at,
And they don't like the day.

"I Caught a Firefly"

Did you know that I caught a firefly?
It was very cool.
I caught it and opened my hands
To let it free.
And then I sat by my mom
And watched for a little bit.

"Just Sparkly"

I really like fireflies
Because they glitter.
Sometimes at night I chase them a little.
They are fun to me--
These sparkly insects.

Spencer's hard work

Hi, Cousins. How are you doing?

I have been helping my dad a lot lately. We are making a stone walkway. Ellie and I are putting the rocks together in a puzzle. It is hard work, but it is fun.

Look at the spiders we found.

Weston got Stitches

I got hurt and I was bleeding and me and my mom went to the doctor. We got the stitches in and we put a bandaid on and then I got a popsicle and then I got two stickers. We went to Lake Powell and my mom took my stitches out then a few days later we went back home and me and my brother could play with our toys.

Mosquito Man (by Ethan)

I went to scout camp and got eaten alive by mosquitos. Please help me! (Note from Ethan's mom: I have never seen so many mosquito bites on a person before, there are literally hundreds. Ethan is a tough kid though, and he went to church this morning even though he wasn't feeling very well.)

Beanie’s adventures in Zooland

Yesterday I went to zoo art camp. It was lots of fun! I met some new friends and drew a crow. I started painting a penguin but I had to finish it at home. Soon a few barker cousins are coming to go to cousin’s camp. Also my mom is trying to sign me up for Junior Zookeeper 3! Then I can take care of some of the biggest animals at the zoo! Hopefully I get to go in the little animals cages too. I want to go in to the penguin cage!

This summer lots of cousins visited us and I visited them. All of the cousins we saw were Ethan, Noah, Calub, Crishton, Cepner, Carston, Caden, Weston, Aiden, and brenen. I got to go to Chicago and see Ethan. We got to see prince Caspian. Ethan said Reepacheep was cheese-y!

WELCOME from Milena
NOTICE: PROCEED WITH CAUTION

Tia Beebs was given a bunch of costumes that are too big for her boys right now. She sent them up to The Old Rock House to join the costume collection. Anyone in the family can use the costumes whenever they want to. Following is a list of the costumes and approximate sizes:

panda size 7
big bird size 2-4
bat size 8-9
clown(s) sizes 2, 3-6
race car driver size 7-8
bear hood size young child
lady bug cape size 4-8
dragon size 7-8
purple uinicorn size 6-8
brown horse size 6-8
Mr. Incredible size 4-6

PAST HERE ARE SINGLE ITEMS

cow girl boots
old fashioned BSA hat
bear slippers
red and black berets
white sailor hat
mexican sarape
black "spider woman" skirt
baby size bike helmet
black fake leather jacket
black clown hat with bells

CALL ME FOR HELP (208) 356-3281

Brand New!

I'm getting a brand new guinea pig this week. It is a girl to mate with my boy. If you want a baby, call me!

Hopefully you guys want one!

I went canoing and rafting this week and I thought it was really fun. We rode in the Snake river with Daw cousins and Barker cousins. We saw fish. We also got to see a sort of fish that has three eyes. It had more than six little legs sticking out of it. It was a prehistoric fish. It was fun.

Lake in the Hills Happenings

Hi, this is Ethan. I had a fun 4th of July weekend. First I went to the church and I played with my friends, Hyrum Crawford, Luke Rands, Kirk Bowman, Jared Moore, Ben Price, Kyle Reetz, and Anna Allred. A water fight broke out and soon it turned into an ice fight. I had the honor of dumping an entire gallon of water on Luke's head! Later that day I went to the Meza's house and I jumped into a gigantic swimming pool with a bunch of my friends. When we were about to leave and I was almost dry a kid squirted me with water. I was soaked! How immature! That evening I went to the Allred's house and I played on the trampoline with Kirk and Anna. Then we played Wii and then we watched fireworks. What a fun day:)

A Blog for the Cousins

Heidi made a great suggestion, that we should create a blog just for the cousins. So here it is! I'm making the first comment, but then it is up to the kids (or their parents if they are too little) to keep it up. Milena is here at the Garners with Ethan and Noah, so they'll all add a post tonight.