Merry Christmas 2010

Merry Christmas to all our family & friends. The wonderful day is now coming to a close. I'm exhausted & we even slept in until 9:30 am. We love it now that the kids sleep in too. So this first picture is for Ma Key & Poppa. Here is your gift. I'll ship it as soon as I know when you're headed home. Our framed family photo & a few crocheted wash cloths. Just a little something. Thank you for the gifts too! We're hoping you're having a great time with the Gillett family. We miss you & wish you a very Merry Christmas. As you can see our family is changing so much. The kids are getting so BIG. If anyone else wants some wash cloths just let me know. I've been going to town. Haven't done it for awhile since this month has been so busy.

These next pictures are as crazy as our family is. Austin thought it would be fun to attempt a few "Minute to Win It" games. We all had to go to the bathroom first to make sure that when we were laughing hysterically which we were that there weren't any accidents. These first two of me I put in the wrong order. The challenge was to start with the cookie on your forehead & through a little shimmy shake & twitches move the cookie to your mouth. I was laughing so hard I was shedding massive tears. But as you can see most of us eventually did it.

This next one doesn't show the tears but you can see I was laughing really hard. Of course the on lookers were laughing hard too which made it worse :)

Preston made each of these games look so easy. Then it was your turn & it wasn't easy, that's for sure. Have you all seen this show on tv? It's one of our favorites. The games are great family fun. If you haven't tried this at home maybe give it a whirl for New Years Eve. I think we're doing it again then with some friends. We'll try different games. Just look them up on the MTWI website.

Austin had the whole face movin & twitchin the whole time. Pretty fun I must say. The kiddos will remember this Christmas Eve for a long time.

Here's Whitney in the starting position. She twitched so much that the cookie kept falling off her face.

The next game we played was to stack three golf balls like a snowman. I didn't think there was any possible way to do this. Here's how it went for 3 of us. Give it a try. It's pretty cool. Be patient & don't let your hands shake (Poppa).

I know it doesn't look real but they really are stacked on top of each other. The pics look fake, huh?

Poor Whitney. No make up. She's been sick with the flu for the last 3 days. We quarantined her until Christmas Eve in her room. She got it from the two darling babies she had been babysitting earlier in the week. Feeling good on Christmas Eve though thank goodness. The first meal she'd had in 3 days. We ate Turkey Sandwiches with cranberry sauce & Havarti cheese. Yummy. Delicious. One of our favorites in the Herrick house.

Preston of course was the first one to accomplish the "mission" & the quickest of course. It took me like 10 minutes. I think he was under 2. Precision work of course!

Next game: No hands, using a straw (not a swirly one but it's all we had) inhale & attach a M&M to the straw & transfer it to another location. We were spitting, snorting & laughing amongst other noises. Austin was really good at this one.

The last game was to blow Christmas cards across a table & make the one side fall off so that it was hanging off the table. If you blew it all the way off you failed the mission. Mine kept collapsing before they even got to the end of the table. Really fun stuff! You all need to try these or many others that you would find incredible fun & entertaining. We love you all! Hope you all had a great Christmas day. We hope Santa made it to each of your homes as he did to ours. I'll share more photos tomorrow of the big day. I can't wait to share what I got. Santa was incredibly generous & insightful. Until then have a good night sleep. Happy Birthday tomorrow to JoLee. Wishing we could be there for your baptism. We still remember the night we were at your house & your Mom went to the hospital. We anxiously awaited the phone call to hear the good news! Happy 8th bday. We are so excited for you! Turning 8 & being baptized is a very memorable day for everyone. Enjoy! Merry Christmas from the Herrick household to yours!

Halloween 2010

I know this is an old picture but it's still my favorite Halloween pic of the two kiddos. I think Whitney was Dorothy for like 3 yrs or more. Austin's costume of Batman came from a friend. He was so serious in this picture. He looked so cool.

This is my other favorite picture of Austin. Austin the Magician. Wasn't sure if I had shared this pic before. Found it in the wrong "album" so thought I'd share my findings. Isn't he little & oh so cute.

So here's how he dressed up last night for the trunk n treat. An injured student. He has a pencil sticking out of his eye. You'll only understand the sign if you have to deal with the "Make Your Day" program in school. It's supposed to be funny. I was proud of Austin for thinking of the idea on his own. Then he made the patch, got out the glue gun, painted the patch, attached the string. You know they are grown up when they can do it on their own from start to finish. We got a laugh out of it & hope you do too. He's just like his dad when it comes to Halloween.

Whitney was a kitten again & Mom a "rapper". At least that's what I tried to be. Whitney turned me into more of a gangster. Sorry no pictures. If we weren't always running late. well....we got in the car & left the camera on the table at home. As soon as it was over so were the costumes. We had a great time at the trunk n treat. Wonderful costumes. Lots of laughs & candy too.

So here is how we celebrated Halloween tonight. MaKey & Poppa bought us eyeball ice cubes. We put them in our sprite drinks. Once the ice melted the antics began. Whitney & I couldn't eat them but the boys did. Austin said they were "chewy". Gross!!!!!!!!!!!! Hope you find this segment funny. Our dinner table was filled with laughter & lots of "oohhh gross". Here you'll see what I mean.

Which one is funnier? They both are.

Here is Whitney the beautiful Cyclops (sp?). This took a lot of tries as the eye was very cold & would slide down her forehead. Still funny though.

I should have used "distilled water" so it would have been clear. Didn't have any. Oh well.

The rest of our simple Halloween dinner consisted of mummies & our favorite Apple Snicker salad made with snickers from our goodie bags & Granny Smiths off of Poppa's tree here at the ranch. Simple, fun & like I said lots of laughs. Oh the mummy below has only one eye too because the mustard bottle opening was too large & Mom's a dork. Oh well it added to the laughter. You can see the eyeballs in the sprite but when frozen they floated upside down. what's with that?

HAPPY HALLOWEEN EVERYONE. We have sure enjoyed the pictures we've seen so far from the other cousins. They are so cute!!! Makes me wish (for just five seconds) that my kids were little again. Thank goodness for digital pictures.

YW Camp Ensign Ranch June 21-25th

Can't find the most impressive pic of all for Whit & Girls Camp. That would be her & 21 other YW stuffed inside a biffy. Gross! All us adult leaders knew what they were doing. We sat
around the fire trying to ignore them as if we acknowledged their activity they would
have gotten in trouble. ha ha. They thought it was cool especially when they broke the record.
Too bad they didn't do it on the first day when the biffy was the cleanest. Our camp is so fun. I told the Stake I would go because it was Whit's last year. So glad I went. Had a blast. Whit thinks I'm crazy & hopefully not too embarrassing. Mom's do that you know esp at girls camp.
Our camp is one of the best because of all the great theme songs they create. Then these
terrific YCL's come up with actions for it. The theme this year: Follow the yellow brick road.
Of course at the end of our yellow brick road is the temple. Here they are singing the
song & this is their action for the temple. Whit is on the back row right in the center. This group of girls the YCL (youth camp leaders) were the best. So fun. Such great
leaders to the younger girls. I was over the First Year Certification. I've forgotten how
little they are at 12 yrs old. So innocent. So nervous. So cute. Was I really 12 too once upon
a time? And it seems not that long ago.

The YCL's performing their skit. Whit is in the green tutu. The fairy of YW value knowledge.
Great skit. They love to act & perform on stage. Our stage was very different this year. We had the tee pee's to sleep in. This camp was set back in the woods. Very different than the long houses we've used almost every year except for the one year in A frames.

Then it was time for the Stake leader's skit. We tried to rap our message. I'm on the far left in

the red sweatshirt. Whit was laughing so hard at us crazy leaders rapping that she had a hard

time taking a pic. This was actually a little embarrasing but we got our message across &

had fun making fun of ourselves.

On our last evening together the YCL's did a wonderful job with their program. They dressed

up to look like the girlfriends of the Stripling Warriors. They presented a beautiful message & sang beautiful songs from the 2010 theme "Strong & Courageous". These YW shared personal experiences of how they stand strong amidst the temptations at school & around friends. A few were asked to share their testimonies.

Whitney was asked to share hers & all I can say is that she definitely has one. You had to be there. I was so proud of her! She is such a wonderful example to the other YW. The other YW just love her friendly, outgoing, fun loving personality. She has really learned a lot from Seminary & as she reads the scriptures (which she's faithful about every single day) & prays her testimony continues to grow. So proud of you, Whitney! You are a very strong & courageous Young Woman.

WHS Graduation 2010 - Whit's Friends

Well this is not Whitney's graduation although she wishes it would have been. All her dear,
close, bff's graduated. And as of this posting they are now all at college. Sad for Whit but
exciting for each one of them. They are all at BYU Provo or ID. Go BYU. Whitney misses
them all so much. They are all such wonderful YW. We are so grateful that Whit has had
such wonderful friends & still has. She wanted to hide out in their luggage & go with each one. This is Kailey Franklin. I'll post pics later of these two dressing up in tutu's or playing in the
sand & sprinklers when they were toddlers. My how they've changed!
Before I know it this will be Whit in her purple grad robe. She can't wait! If all goes as
planned she'll be graduating from WHS on June 12th & from WVC with her AA on June 19th.
Not sure about the exact dates.

Here's Whit & Carly Stone. She has a lot of knicknames we won't get into. Carly is the one

Whit will stay up with all night reading Harry Potter by candle light or reading something else

they both love. I thought Whit loved to read. Then I met Carly. Not sure there's much literature

out there that Carly hasn't read. Amazing readers they are.

The girls being dramatic & silly. That's Whit & Carly for ya. Always being silly.

This is just a small group of girls. The extra one here is Janessa Miller. New to Wenatchee

this year. Has become a real great, kind, caring, compassionate, friend to Whit. Aren't they

all so beautiful? The YM at BYU are going to go crazy for these cute girls. Watch out!

And here is Michael Sauer added to the mix. Just love this kid & his twin brother who isn't

in the picture. It was hard to find everyone for pics. Hundreds of kids, their families, their friends. I'm just thrilled they hold graduation in the Apple Bowl now. It was a very warm,

summer evening. Just perfect for these perfect graduates. Congratulations to them all! Thanks

again to all of Whitney's wonderful friends & may they have their dreams come true in the

years to come. We love you all!

Raymond WA Family Trip - May

Way back in May we took a family weekend trip to Raymond, WA. You drive towards the Ocean for about 5.5 hours to get there. We got there at night but this is what we woke up to the next morning. This is the view our friends have from their front window. Up close is the bay at Raymond & way out by the peninsula there is the Ocean.

Our friends the Johnsons have family that live there. When they talked about living right on
the ocean I couldn't imagine what that meant exactly. It was spectacular! All this property to
play around on. Very cool.

Brad, the cousin of Jon Johnson, build this rat rod that the kids are standing in.
Very neat rat rod if you like this sort of vehicle. All made with scraps. A little of this a little of
that.

We wanted to go find clams so here we are way out there walking out to the perfect

spot. The boys are on the 4 wheeler getting lessons on how not to get stuck in the mud.

I'd never gone claming. Don't like to eat clams. No one from my family ate them but we

had fun finding them, with our feet. They were butter clams. We placed them in a bucket, kept fresh water on them all day & then roasted them over the fire. The Johnson clan slurped them up. It was interesting & gross. Hunting them with our feet was really the funnest part.

We were so muddy & we'd only been going for a few minutes here. We spent hours doing this. Thank goodness I didn't lose my balance when my feet got stuck in the deep mud. Would have added to the fun & laughter.

The boys are trying to find the perfect branch to cut into roasting sticks for our campfire.
Give Austin a knife & he'll find something to cut. Of course he wanted the largest branch.

Whitney trying to whittle. Preston managed to create a double roasting stick. This brick wall behind them is the 50 foot wall at the end of the lawn in between the bay & their home. We went for a walk all along the water, 4 wheeled & dug for clams on their property. Would love to own this type of property. Below is where they build the large bon fires. We also had fun setting off a few fireworks from here once it got dark.

Roasted hot dogs, smores, baked beans, boiled butter clams & ate salads & fruit cobbler from the Johnson's Aunt. Very fun!

This sunset pic was taken from the campfire. Isn't it beautiful. We sat around the campfire till it was late into the night. What wonder & amazement Heavenly Father's landscape provides.

Apple Blossom Run

Here are some funny pics of our 10K for Apple Blossom. I'm using Austin's phone camera to take pics. I don't know how to use his phone as you can tell but I think they are cute & funny anyway. So this first one is just as we are getting started. We've just left triangle park. I'm liking it because my face looks slender don't you think? Pic is distorted a little. Oh & the wind is blowing so hard that the race number is practically hitting me in the chin.

Here's Alysa with my jogging friends. What a good sister she just fit right in like she's been doing it all along with us.

My friends & I. The gal in blue is Kathy Irving. She's new to our ward. She decided at the last minute to join us. She walks so fast that we can't keep up even when we are jogging. I don't know how people walk so fast.

So this next pic was a mistake but I really like it. I accidentally shot the ground but if you look close you'll see Alysa's shadow. Isn't it cool?

this last pic is after we are finished with the 10K. I think we look dang good for having just completed the 10K. Alysa, you are so photogenic! You don't even look like you broke a sweat. Why am I twice your size & then some? Oh well my goal is to keep losing weight & be able to jog for over an hour just like you. I am so proud of you! Keep it up & we'll get there together, right?

Catching up on family blog

Wow I know you are shocked. This might take awhile but I thought family would appreciate some pictures they've been waiting for. I sure enjoy looking at my sibling blogs & seeing what their kids are up to. So first thing we're catching up on is Whitney's 17th bday.

Here's what she wanted for her bday. A docking station for her iPod that serves as an alarm clock & a calligraphy set. If you look close you see socks. Can you guess who those were from? Yes that's right, Great Gma Pen. I bet you all get the same thing from Gma Pen along with some other little gift. The kiddos will always remember the funny socks they got from Gma Pen.

Her bday dessert (actual bday with family) was fruit pizza with fresh fruit. So we added bananas and cherry pie filling (that's not fresh fruit) but as close as we could get. It was yummy.

Here's one of my favorites - Strawberry Bruschetta. This was the dessert she & her friends made at her party. Her girlfriends came & I had them make these. I think I've shared the recipe with you all. Strawberries are coming soon so maybe add these ingredients to your shopping list. I wish I could make them right now! Oh it was delicious!

Here is the soup I made for the girls. It's in the family cookbook. Olive Garden's Pasta E Fioli. We ate this for the party & then it made so much we ate it for the entire week. It literally made so much it must have been 30 servings. I enjoyed every bowl. I shared it with everyone I could during that next week. My coworker thought it was pretty funny that I made so much. It sure was delicious! I even made homemade bread bowls. Whitney's friends thought that was cool. I have to say that is one of my talents. If you are interested in this soup recipe let me know because I have some great recommendations that change the ingredients so it's not so costly to make.

Does anyone recognize what the girls are doing? Only the older cousins will recognize this. We still have (because we don't throw anything away) the colored rice, funnels, cookie cutters, etc. They entertained themselves for at least 30 minutes playing with the rice. The last time Whitney did this I believe she was about 5 years old. They had fun. The next time family comes to visit someone with younger children needs to take all this home. It really is fun & the rice that falls off the sheet is easy to vacuum. Whitney has such wonderful special friends! The bday gifts were unexpected but so very very special. Thank you Kailey, Carly & Laura. Whit is going to miss them all in a couple months. They are all Seniors & are leaving too soon for BYU & BYU-I. What's scary but also exciting is that she too will be leaving soon hopefully for BYU Provo. She is so ready & she's got a whole year left. Yikkes!

Whitney wanted to eat all these by herself but I convinced her to share.

I guess I put a candle in one of the bruschettas. In addition to that & the soup, we also had more fresh fruit and that yummy fruit dip that's made with cream cheese & marshmallow creme. As you can tell Whitney loves to eat but you'd never know it looking at her. So speaking of eating, Whitney was asked the other day to introduce herself (we were at a YW Camp meeting) and tell something quirky about herself. Her mouth was full of food when it was her turn so she stood up and said "I love to eat....ALL THE TIME". She's so funny! We love our Whitney.

September to December Family Memories