THANKSGIVING 2008

Kids and puppy in the snow

This is Curtis' new puppy Polly Anna. Polly for short. She is a Black lab puppy who is now four months old and very busy! We got her for Curtis' 14th b-day in September as a surprise. She is a lot of work but a good addition to our family. Curtis, Wyatt and Abby had some fun with her in the snow today. There is over 3 feet now and it is growing by the minute. Abby is throwing Snow at Wyatt while he is not looking and throwing snow at Curtis while Polly is attacking him. That's my girl!! She takes her opportunities where she can get them!!

Jerika Painted Today

We didn't have enough to do for Christmas break (haha) so we added some projects into the mix. Jerika has been planning to paint her new room green for quite a while and today she finally got the chance. Her cousin Paige is visiting for the holidays so she had some help and they had fun! They got a lot of paint on themselves and each other. They seemed to have a lot on the bottom of their feet too.

Christmas Concert Cheney Middle School

Jerika waiting to play during one of the songs. Our beautiful girl!

Curtis had his first solo in this concert. He did a fantastic job!

Cheney Middle School Band Christmas Concert

Curtis and Jerika waitng to go to their concert. Jerika plays the flute in the Gold Band and Curtis plays the trumpet in the Jazz Band.

THANKSGIVING 2008

Me and all my sisters!! We always have so much fun together!
Sandra, LaBretta, Me, Serena, Debbie

THANKSGIVING 2008

Wyatt, Jerika, Curtis, Clarissa, Abigail

My brother had a friend come and take family pictures that day for everyone.

Abigail and Clarissa

Best Friends; For The Moment

THANKSGIVING 2008

This year our family was fortunate to ALL meet for Thanksgiving. We gathered at the Buntin Bldg. in Kennewick. The kids ran and played all over, the adults played games and even got in a game of basketball. We ate(of course) and afterwards, had a present exchange. To raise more money for the family fund...we auctioned off one of mom's beautiful quilts...the winner...Debbie Anderson!
As the day progressed, we ate, played, ate and played some more. All in all, it was a great time and we always look forward to being with our family!

Two little girls

I just have to write about my little girls. They are so funny sometimes. They are at the kitchen table right now still in their jammies. They are coloring and having their own little conversation. I am only half listening. A minute ago Abby says "mom, mom listen to me!" So I turn around and say "what?" Clarissa then scowls at me and says, "mom you not the mom, I the mom." I say "oh sorry" while I'm, trying not to laugh. Then I go back to what I'm doing and she starts singing.

She has been singing two songs for the last couple of weeks. I am a Child of God and You are My Sunshine. So cute right? Yesterday I was listening to her sing in her room and she is singing the second verse of sunshine and it is supposed to be "I dreamt I held you in my arms, when I awoke dear I was mistaken, so I hung my head and I cried." She is singing "When I awoke dear I was naked, so I hung my head and I cried." Makes me laugh every time I hear it now! I really should correct her but I haven't yet it is too funny!! They are so cute when they say things wrong even though it is our job to teach them to speak correctly sometimes I let a few things go on for longer than I should. Abby is five years old and still says "tonypail" instead of ponytail. I used to correct her but then decided it was too cute and she will be grown up too fast so I just let her be. I will be sad the day she figures it out and says it right.

We are thankful!

I love the Thanksgiving Holiday when we remember what we are thankful for. I believe that this should be a year-round activity and that if people would remember how blessed they truly are that there would be much less suffering and despair and more joy. I polled my family the other night about what they are grateful for and here are their replies.

Wyatt: Polly (Curtis' new puppy), The Book of Mormon
Abby: Rissa
Rissa: Jesus (This was the first thing that popped out of her mouth with no coaching, I have to
say that it warmed my heart. I must be doing something right).
Curtis: Pizza pockets, Scriptures
Jerika: Family, Books
Phil: Health, Family
Nicole: A gym with a play area so I can keep my sanity, appliances to help me in my work, my
great kids who keep me humble, my husband who loves me more every day, a house
that is big enough for my family, yet small enough to force me to get rid of the junk,
my friends and family who help me laugh at life, most of all the gospel that reminds me
of why I am doing all of this and why I should be grateful.

We have a new president! This has been a disappointing but historical night. Our family is grateful that we live in this great country of freedom. We are grateful we had the opportunity to vote for a new leader and that we were able to do so in safety and peace. There are so many people around the world who do not have the same great blessings that we do. We will continue to pray for the leaders of this country that they may use wisdom in their decisions.

FHE - Bowling at the Fun Spot

Well, in a last minute plan...Jacque Hoggan suggested that we go to the funspot for FHE tonight. We joined them along with the Boyd's and the Barr's. Bowling was the first order of business. Jerika led all scores until, of course, her dad finished with 8 points ahead of her! But then again...Mark Hoggan beat us all with an impressive score of 122 and he still had 2 frames to go - we played by the hour...yes, it took us that long to bowl one game :)
After bowling we retired to the back room - the new play room/jungle area. Some of us played pool and some ran out ALL their energy while the rest of us mingled and visited.
What a great night! THANKS Jacque!!!!

Halloween is over!! Now we can get on to the real holidays! Can you tell how much i dislike Halloween? This year was much better than in the past because Grandma Ramey took care of all the costumes! Took all the stress out of it for me! We did the trunk or treat at church on Thursday and trick or treating on base on Friday. In all the chaos I did not get pictures on Friday but the ones I do have are from Thursday. Friday would have been nice because Curtis was able to go on his own with friends this year and they were all dressed up and looked cute! (In a 14 yr. old way anyway) Jerika and Wyatt started out with us but ended up just meeting us at the house at the end. We can get away with that living on base. We started a new tradition that I hope we can keep up. We had friends over and Curtis and Jerika had some friends here after trick or treating and we had scones and hot cocoa. The kids goofed off outside playing basketball and capture the flag etc. Our friends left at after a bit and the kids stayed until I begged for mercy at 11:30 pm. I was falling asleep and they all had to leave. We all agreed that we would like to do it again next year! Just a little about the costumes.... Jerika looked gorgeous in her long black witch dress and my two litte ones Clarissa and Abigail were just tickled about their Little Red Riding Hood and Little Bo Peep costumes or should I say "outfits". Clarissa kept saying Abby was "Little Boy Peep". It was very cute in her two year old way of talking. Wyatt was happy about having something with a sword and Curtis was happy to have something like a "real" costume instead of trying to come up with something made up with whatever we have around here. (He is so deprived)

Boal and Woodland Families

Abigail, Curtis, Clarissa, Jerika, Wyatt by the barn at Aunt LaBretta's house

Family Pictures in Idaho

August 2008

Here are our pictures from summer! This was a fun day at Aunt LaBretta and Uncle Ryan's house in Blackfoot, ID. We had decided the day before that this would be the perfect time and place to do our family and the annual kid's pictures. My friend Connie (hey Connie!) was coming to see us and she is so sweet and did all the pictures for us! They turned out so good! We had a great time wrestling with all the kids to be good and smile and DON'T GET YOUR CLOTHES DIRTY OR YOU WILL BE IN SO MUCH TROUBLE!! You all know what I'm talking about! LaBretta and I were searching for white shirts that fit everyone and curling girls' hair. Connie had gotten her keys (and camera) locked in her car so we had to wait for evening when her husband Derek (hi Derek) came and saved the day after he got off work. It all worked out and we have the pictures to prove it. They stayed late and we had a great time visiting and having dinner. Earlier in the day the kids all got to ride the horse thanks to Uncle Ryan and had a great time! We LOVE going to Idaho and can't wait to go back!

Here we are!

Well I finally had (made) some time to begin this new venture. I have been inspired by my sister and my friends to get this started. I know how redundant it is to say how busy we are because WHO ISN'T??? Sometimes it seems almost comical (if you don't laugh you may cry) how crazy it gets here. The new things going on here are that we have a new puppy. She is Curtis' birthday present. He just turned 14 and we decided to go ahead. Her name is Polly and she is a black lab and very sweet. She will be perfect as soon as she learns how to behave!! Our other big project which is stretching out waaay too long is changing all the bedrooms around. Well soon I will learn to put some pictures on here and try to make this a cool blog like everyone else's.