The Lion and the Lamb

In this case it's the Knight and the Dragon. Here they are putting aside their differences and standing tall together in Unity:) The Dragon isn't blowing fire with it's mouth and the Knight isn't trying to "slay" the dragon. If I could liken this to everyday life. This was one of those moments in the day when the boys were getting along soooo well. Well, let's just say within a matter of minutes the Knight was trying to slay the Dragon and the Dragon was trying to burn the Knight with it's fiery breath!!!! Isn't it funny within a matter of minutes how things can change? It's hugging and then "I hate you." It's sharing and then throwing the object they just shared in a violent fit. It's play-fighting turn real-fighting turn play-fighting and thus the cycle continues. As I end this saga, I would like to throw in a tid-bit about ear canals. I dug a peanut M&M-size chunk of blue play dough out of Fisher's ear the other day. I was going to take a picture of it. But as my children were cleaning, they threw it away! The nerve of underage workers these days:) Fisher said he must have been itching his ear and had play dough on his finger. He won't give up the story, so it must have been a real BIG itch!!!

Fisher ScissorHands

What we have here is a "do it yourself Barber." If you've ever thought about letting your 5 year old cut his hair to his liking, well, this is what the end result would be like.
This is what happens when my visiting teacher comes over and my son gets bored!! My friend Rebbekah got the whole play-by-play over the phone, in a screaming like fashion from me! I had just got his hair grown out to the length I wanted. "I wanted," being the key here. It apparently wasn't what Fisher wanted!! He said he wanted a haircut like Hunters. If he just would have told me BEFORE he decided to cut his own hair, then I wouldn't have to retrieve all of his cuttings from my utensil drawer!!!
I cut Shylee's hair. It went the way it should have. No hair in the utensil drawer! She didn't like that I cut so much length off. I told her even trained Cosmetologists make mistakes:) She cried about the length 3 times in 2 days. That isn't a good sign:( But after all the compliments at school, she thinks it's pretty AOK. The edgy/choppy look turned out cool, and she loves it!

I wanted to throw in a picture of Rider pretending to read a book, with his feet! After we all came into the living room to witness this spectacular event Fisher asks "how does he turn the pages?" Well, true...true. That would prove to be difficult. Oh the memories we will have!

Extermination

"OUCH! I was eating and bit off one of my taste BUGS. Then it went out of my mouth." Trapper Allen

Consistency and a Beach Chair

I never thought that I needed winter to be over, or that I needed a bit of consistency in my life. But it is apparent that I do. I LOVE this background on my blog! When I don't use it I don't feel whole ( wish I could lose some of the whole, but you can't take this literally). When the Cute Blog on the Block was down, I thought I was going to lose a kidney or something as bad, when I accidentally deleted mine. Also, I needed the Christmas and winter reminders gone. I am still enjoying winter. But I DO catch myself closing my eyes, or even as I walk through the house, or when I'm washing dishes, sleeping...focus! Focus! I catch myself dreaming of a beach chair in a reclining position, facing the warm ocean, with a (virgin) Pina Colada sitting next to it, calling to me "Lori,come to me and bask in the sun's glory." Ok maybe that's extreme, but so is the winter here!!!

Personally Powerful Sky Rocketing Skill Crafting Confidence Building Boys

Did you know that Mr. Incredible had dread-locks and that Red Power Ranger rode horses (this one in particular happens to be Bulls Eye)?
I hope this post has been an introspective look into the special skills Super Heroes cultivate beyond their obvious powers. There is so much more to them then we give them credit for. Growing dreads takes a lot of patience! I almost did it during my pregnancy with Rider! That should tell you how often I brushed my hair:)

Wrinkly O'l Raisin

Here I am being the good, health-conscience mother. I offer my son, Fisher, a box of raisins (thank you Cally- part of our Christmas present:). At first he is excited. "Yea...!" But before he could even finish his excited yes, he quickly changes it to "raisins are for old people." and that was the end of that.

Another Day in Paradise

Another day, another snowfall. But who's complaining? Not me! I know that my friend, Erica, is enjoying her days in sunny side up California, and yes, I have days where I am jealous of her and her short-sleeve shirted family at Sea World. On the other hand, it's pretty spectacular to see glistening snow all around and a nice wood burning fireplace glowing in the living room. Sure, I have to stoke it every so often and there are wood chips from heck to breakfast in our living room, but who's complaining? Not me!
Even our dog Moqui

is enjoying frolicking in the flakes!
We are about to have a new septic put in, so the backhoe is out on our front lawn calling to the boys

"Come play on me!"
The guy who left it here actually told me to let the kids climb on it and have some fun! Isn't that cool? Maybe we could have our boys do some yard work, while they're at it! The nice part of all this, is that we aren't paying for this splendid event to take place, it's in escrow from the sellers of our home! It's reminiscent of Grandpa's backhoe and the kids getting the biggest kick out of watching and (of course) helping him move gravel and dig holes!

Screaming Hysterically from the Mountain Top!

I am soooo glad to have my computer back in business, thanks to Tim Paige from our ward!!! Shout out to Tim!! Life has been wonderfully chaotic and I want to share it with all my friends and family! I miss checking out your lives as well! The first two pictures are for Mellissa Hunt. This is a buggy, an Amish buggy! There is a Wal-mart about 20 minutes away that has buggy parking! There are no pooper-scoopers so Watch Out!! We are so blessed to be able to see these everyday! We are spectators into their everyday life, and we are very intrigued!


My mom came for Thanksgiving and we visited Kirtland, Ohio. We were able to see Newell K. Whitney's store where The Prophet and Emma and their children lived for a year and a half. The visitor's center is there, as well as the old town to tour. The temple was closed, but these are the pics from outside. It's only about 1 hour from our home! Our family will be going again! Would you like to join us?

We packed ourselves into the suburban and drove to Utah like sardines in a can! 32 straight hours we arrived in Utah!!

We were sooo thrilled to spend Christmas with Grandma and Grandpa in Escalante! It was surreal! Then hopped back in the truck and headed home. But before we left...

We were able to visit friends. Shylee was glued to her best friend, Hailey!

Goofed around as much as possible!

Went sledding and had fun doing some more serious goofing around with family!

It's nice that we are all crazy, that way, we can relate to each other! We are back to Ohio. Some of us are happy about it, and some are still coping with it! The kids are, as always, flourishing and doing better than Lance and I! I guess they haven't learned to wallow in self-pity! A skill we yet have to teach them! I hope everyone had awesome Holidays! I love all of you, and we can always pitch a tent in the yard for any visitors:)