he wants me to ignore his birthday

really jared??? really??? he doesn't want me to tell the kids, no cake, no dinner, no buying anything, no mention of it. well he's getting a blog post so THERE! my funny posing beefcake of a man is always cracking me up and keepin our house a wonderful place to be. Of COURSE i'm grateful he was born and for every year that he is alive and with me. i love that he enjoys his boys and all the fun things they do together. not only his sons but the young men from church totally have a special place in his heart. he loves to have his daddy dates with the kids, which make everyone else left at home completely jealous. but he's wonderful at doing the crafty holiday projects and having the patience to make our family fun times truly enjoyable. as his gushing wife i most selfishly am grateful for the even-keel demeanor by which he uses the priesthood power in our home. our greatest blessings that we enjoy year after year, moment after moment are those that the gospel brings us. mister jared randall daddy pants, we love you and happy stinkin' birthday!!!

just not feelin' it

this is how i feel about bloggin lately. i still haven't documented our little christmas together once we traveled home. the break was so nice, the kids and i totally vegged and chilled. once they returned i just haven't bounced back into my normal motivated self. blogging has taken a back seat. everything's fine, jared's been workin more on kendra's room, work and church are just fine. the kids were thrilled to go back to school--except kendra. raylee is a big girl in primary now at church and loves it. jared and her birthdays are coming up soon. those will push me back on the bloggin boat. sometimes my busy brain just needs a break.

christmas=water park, don't ya know?

this place had to be repeated, all the kids were just in heaven last year. so big papa hooked us up, we set up fort and got wet and wild at the great wolf lodge. Raylee was usually frolicing aroung the spouty fountain things, and kendra was grabbin a cousin and zippin down water slide after water slide. my boys (all 3 as you will see) were commonly found in the snake pool, where they climbed across the lily pads and tackled the floating snake and beaver. not sure why they enjoyed those so much but it gave me plenty of rides on the tornado with what ever brave souls i could find to go with me. this place is a blast and we appreciate my parents' generosity in providing such a fun family get together, makes me wonder what our next adventure will be. merry splashy christmas.

the best kind of christmas cookie

these zany VoFo kids are up to no good again. actually no. dad's plan for our special family service project was having the grandkids decorate sugar cookies for the same homeless shelter we took lunch and winter gear to last year. the nite before the frosting fest began, taylor and kendra rolled out, cut and baked up the cookies, and caden loved stirring the glazes and watching them change into their desired colors. the blank canvases quickly became mountains of sugar. there was close monitoring for some (hu hum, caden) then there were the meticulous ones who worked so hard to create their perfect edible masterpieces. it was fun for all the aunties, uncles, grandma and big papa to be at the kids' beckon call to help them out and create special cookies and special memories. the goodie drop off was short but sweet. we decided next year we gotta throw in a little VonTrapp caroling as we get the smiles and thank yous from the less fortunate people in the shelter. it was a wonderful way to start all the family fun that was coming up.

Santa pics on Santa's Day

this year's christmas was totally different. we are usually at home doing our normal little family thing but this year the big VonForell family trip was moved from thanksgiving to Christmas instead. so we packed up the blue beast (my new car) and headed up I-5 to good ol WA. the main event of the trip was to hang out at the Great Wolf Lodge--again, last year it was quite the hit. once we arrived the cousins were posing for lots of pics, and getting ready for tons of fun. we took advantage of the amenties the lodge had to offer, seeing santa, the big clocktower show with a snowfall, a bedtime story and big Papa got each child a stuffed animal to snuggle and remember the coziness of this fun place. the kids couldn't get enough of each other and were always smiling, hugging and having a blast. more stories and pictures to come.