The Owen Family

My 2011 Resolution..... Updating more often!

2010-11-28T18:21:00.000-08:00

I have not posted in a long time so here are a few pictures of the last few months! Anna had a great soccer season playing on the Pink Panthers, our first season since we moved to Prosper. We had a great Halloween with our cousins and loved that Blake and Noah were both Spider Man! We celebrated Michael's birthday a couple of weeks ago and had a nice quiet dinner at home. His birthday was celebrated the weekend before in Broken Bow with his parents! We are really excited to celebrate the Christmas Season this year in our new house and anticipate the upcoming birth of our newest Baby Boy in February!

Anna Starts School!

2010-08-23T19:25:00.000-07:00

Anna started her first day in Kindergarten today! We were so excited for her to start her first day.

Anna's 5th Birthday!

2010-01-19T18:40:00.000-08:00

Anna had a fun day opening presents and eating her favorite foods. We meet with family for dinner to celebrate her special day.

Anna Lost her 1st Tooth!

2009-12-08T18:21:00.000-08:00

It has been a while since we have had a 1st for Anna, but she lost her 1st tooth today just shy of her 5th birthday! Hopefully the tooth fairy brings her a nice shiny quarter!

Magic Kingdom....

2009-12-06T20:51:00.000-08:00

On the last day of our trip we went to Magic Kingdom again. We were able to celebrate Michael's birthday this day. We had a fun day riding our favorite rides and eating our favorite Disney Snacks. We ended our fun day by dining with Winnie the Pooh and his friends. We were able to sing happy birthday to and eat birthday cake. We had such a fun time at Disney World and can't wait to go back again soon!!

Epcot

2009-12-06T20:39:00.000-08:00

Day 4 was Epcot. There were a ton of fun, fast rides for Anna and Michael to have fun on. The kids also enjoyed the 3D shows. We ate dinner with the Disney princesses and had so much fun. Anna was mesmerized by all of them!

Animal Kingdom

2009-12-06T20:24:00.000-08:00

Day 3 we visited Animal Kingdom. We started the day off eating a huge breakfast with Minnie and her pals. The kids especially loved this because they came over to our table and sat and talked with us! We got back to Animal Kingdom around 12:00 and walked around looking at different animals and watching a few different shows. It was very warm that day so we left around 4:00 so that the kids could do some swimming! What another fun day!

Hollywood Studios

2009-12-06T20:03:00.000-08:00

On Day 2 we went to Hollywood Studios. Anna and Michael's first ride they went on was the Tower of Terror, they rode it 2 times! We had a fun day watching different shows and riding different rides. We ate lunch with different characters from PlayHouse Disney. This was one of Blake's favorite. Another fun day!

Magic Kingdom

2009-12-06T19:48:00.000-08:00

On Day 1 we visited Magic Kingdom. The kids had a blast riding all the rides and seeing different characters. That night we were able to eat dinner at the Grand Floridian Resort and see Cinderella, Prince Charming, Step mother and Step Sisters. It was awesome! By the time we got back to the hotel we were all exhausted, but we had a wonderful day!

Surprise Disney Trip!

2009-12-06T19:28:00.001-08:00

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Happy Birthday Michael!

2009-11-28T20:20:00.000-08:00

We were at Disney World to celebrate Michael's birthday and had a great dinner! Happy Birthday!! We love you!

2009-11-08T19:10:00.001-08:00

My Anna Girl

2009-10-22T07:13:00.000-07:00

Sometimes I am amazed at how big she is getting. I love this little girl, she is something else!

Anna's 1st Soccer Game

2009-09-19T19:03:00.001-07:00

Action Shot!

Coach Sarah explaining which direction to shoot the ball!

Anna's Fans!

Waiting to go back into the game!

Her 1st goal!

We had so much fun at her game and can't wait for the weeks to come.

Walt Disney World

2009-09-17T12:02:00.001-07:00

We have decided to take our little family to Disney World, but we need your help. If any of you have gone please I need advice! What is a must see and must do, what is not worth our time, what is? We are going in November for 6 nights and staying in Disney's Pop Century Hotel.

I have never been to Disney World but we are thrilled to go. We are keeping this a complete secret from Anna, but I want to make this the best trip ever!

Fall

2009-09-13T14:20:00.001-07:00

I love fall time, it is my favorite season! These are some cute pictures before we left for church.

1st Day of School!

2009-09-01T14:23:00.001-07:00

My Kids are Crazy!

2009-08-24T18:33:00.000-07:00

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So my kids love to sing and tonight they were totally crazy! Anna gets the tune right but makes up the words and it makes me laugh.

Denton's 50th Jubilee

2009-07-28T06:22:00.001-07:00

This is Anna in her Road Show costume, she was a little cockroach. Our ward did awesome! The weekend was fabulous. We started the weekend with the Roadshows on Saturday, the were so fun to watch. I then headed to a 14 stake youth fireside where Sister Elaine Dalton (General YW President) spoke to over 2000 youth. The turnout was amazing. After the fireside was the dance, oh the dance. For some reason the AC wasn't working in the High School where the fireside/dance was held so it made the dance interesting with all 2000 youth. I haven't been that hot in a long time, it was hotter than girls camp :). Michael was asked to be security so he was there with me too! On Sunday we had a special Sacrament meeting that was wonderful. To top off the weekend, I was invited along with all the other YW Presidents in the Stake to meet Sister Dalton in a smaller setting. It was wonderful talking with her about the YW in my ward and getting some council from her. What a wonderful fun weekend!

The Road Show

2009-07-22T19:59:00.000-07:00

This weekend the Denton Stake is hosting a Jubilee to celebrate it's 50th year in Denton. One of the fun things each ward gets to do is perform a road show. Anna gets to be a little roach in Denton 2nd wards road show. Tonight was her dress rehearsal. I sent her with Michael to the stake center to try her costume on and perform. He said she was totally in her element, loving every minute of the make up and costume. She is super excited to perform on Saturday! It is going to be a fun weekend.

4th of July!

2009-07-07T06:43:00.000-07:00

We had a fun 4th! We went to the Coppell fireworks on Friday and they were awesome. We started our 4th with our Ward pancake breakfast and ended with awesome fire works at UNT. We had a great time hanging with our friends and family!

Scott at the MTC!

2009-05-29T07:26:00.000-07:00

Scott went into the MTC on Wednesday. We are so excited for him and his decision to go, we know he is going to be a great missionary!

Airplanes!

2009-05-25T08:06:00.000-07:00

When Michael was a little boy he loved airplanes. This picture was taken when he was 4 years old, the first time he went up in an airplane. I think it is neat that Blake loves them as much as Michael does.

Blake's Birthday Festivities!

2009-05-25T07:54:00.001-07:00

The Saturday after Blake's birthday we were able to take him to do a fun things we thought that he would love. We took him to the boat store to check out a few boats and things. We then headed out to Arlington Airport where we met Walt to check out some cool airplane. Blake loved it! He was able to get into some awesome airplanes and see them up close. Thanks to Walt and Lynsi for helping make his birthday so much fun!!

Blake turns 2!

2009-05-16T08:59:00.000-07:00

It was a airplane, helicopter, race car birthday for Blake. He had such a fun day topped off with cake and ice cream with the family. We love Blake Austin and are blessed to have him in our family! Happy birthday dude.

He looks so grown up....

2009-05-06T06:27:00.000-07:00

I took this picture last night and it made me sad because he is getting so grown up! He is turning into a little boy and not a baby anymore. He is such a good little boy, very even tempered, and very handsome! Those eyes are a killer.

Mowing the Yard...

2009-04-29T09:22:00.001-07:00

Blake and Michael are best buddies. Anywhere Michael goes, Blake follows. He loves to be outside when Michael mows the yard, but always stays close so that I can see him. The funny thing about these pictures is the outfit of choice picked by Blake. He always wears his rain boots when he is outside playing (just in case he comes upon a puddle or two!) and his goofy camo hat that is to small. He looked absolutely hilarious!

Good Job Taylor!!

2009-04-29T08:44:00.000-07:00

On Saturday Tay's team had their last softball game of the season. Taylor was amazing and hit a HOMERUN! It was a great way to end the season.

Owen Look-alike Meter

2009-04-25T06:54:00.001-07:00

MyHeritage: Family tree - Genealogy - Celebrity - Collage - Morph

Owen Look-alike Meter

2009-04-25T06:45:00.001-07:00

MyHeritage: Look-alike Meter - Roots - Pedigree

Museum of Nature and Science....

2009-04-24T13:52:00.000-07:00

Today we were able to go to the Museum with all the cousins. It was CRAZY but a lot of fun! Thanks CC, Brooke and Cynthia for a fun day!

Fun Weekend!

2009-04-19T18:46:00.000-07:00

Easter 2009

2009-04-19T18:28:00.001-07:00

Michael and Anna had a fun time decorating Easter Eggs, and the kids had a blast at the neighborhood Easter Egg Hunt. As tradition my mom got the kids matching Easter clothes for Easter Sunday. Sorry the pictures are not that great, but we were running late Sunday morning, but the kids looked darling. We topped off the weekend with a wonderful dinner with the family.

Long Time, no post!

2009-03-10T17:02:00.000-07:00

Holy Cow, it has been a whole month since my last post. I have been super super busy with my calling! The Trek, Priest/Laurel prom, Girls camp, the Jubilee I don't think it stops. Good thing I have a great presidency and wonderful family to support me! Here are a few of the things that have kept us busy and worried over the last couple of weeks.

Oh the Pioneer Trek, this has consumed most of my time this last month, dresses, bonnets, skirts, holy cow. A million thanks to Brooke for making mine! We start Trekking Saturday morning, pray for good weather
My beautiful daughter and her style (and her look around!) She needs some spring clothes. She has also failed 2 hearing test, no good. Off we go to the Otolarynologist next Tuesday.
Our family party celebrating Thomas' new job with the Border Patrol !
Yes, Thomas and Cynthia are leaving us, but we are really excited for them.
Blake's single ant bite, that gave us quite a scare! One teeny ant bite did this. It is going to be a long summer.

Taos Skiing Vacation!

2009-02-07T17:25:00.000-08:00

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We were able to make a trip to Taos Ski Valley this past week. We had a blast skiing for three days. This was Anna's first time skiing and she did really good. There are some fun video's of us skiing (and of me falling)and more fun pictures!

Michael's fun weekend....

2009-01-12T21:05:00.000-08:00

Rarely do I post about Michael, but this weekend he got to hunting with his buddy Butch. He had a blast hanging out with is buddies. Now if these animals were not so mean and did not do so much destruction I would feel sad. These guys also gave all the meat to a homeless shelter, so a good deed was done!

He is a beast...

2009-01-12T20:54:00.001-08:00

Tonight we were driving home from family night and I looked back to see this monster. He is a sweet monster, but HUGE! He weighs in at 30.2 LBS (same as Anna). Where did we get him?

Sorry for the bad picture, it is the best my phone could do.

2009-01-11T17:26:00.000-08:00

Every year for my mom's birthday she asks for a family picture. So here is to 2008's picture.

Christmas, New Year's and such.....

2009-01-04T17:53:00.000-08:00

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We had a busy holiday season full of fun and family. We had a fun birthday party for Anna at Going Bonkers, 2nd annual Family Bowling night, Christmas Eve with the family, Christmas Day with the family and a whole week in Broken bow for Hillbilly New Years. We enjoyed each other's company by playing games, riding the 4 wheelers and playing the Wii. That was the family favorite this New Years. I have posted a few videos of the family playing the Wii fit, I hope you get a kick out of it like Wii did!!

Happy Birthday Sweet Anna!

2008-12-16T08:35:00.000-08:00

Anna is truely a blessing to our family. We are so excited to celebrate her 4th birthday today! We love you sweet Anna girl.

Tag-ilicious

2008-12-07T19:57:00.000-08:00

1. Where is your cell phone? On the counter.... I hope
2. Where is your significant other? Working
3. Your hair color? Brown
4. Your mother? Amazing
5. Your father? working on that one
6. Your favorite thing? family
7. Your dream last night? I can't remember
8. Your dream/goal? Eternal Life
9. The room you're in? office
10. Your hobby? Blogging
11. Your fear? Car Accidents
12. Where do you want to be in six years? Living life to its fullest
13. Where were you last night? Eating with my mom for her birthday
14. What you're not? organized
15. One of your wish list items? happiness for all my family
16. Where you grew up? Carrollton
17. The last thing you did? Watch 1st Presidency devotional with my YW
18. What are you wearing? Church Clothes
19. Your TV? off
20. Your pet? No thanks
21. Your computer? Mine is the Desktop, Michael's the Laptop
22. Your mood? tired
23. Missing someone? My Husband
24. Your car? Minivan!!
25. Something you're not wearing? wedding rings (left them at Brooke's last week)
26. Favorite store? Target
27. Your summer? Relaxing
28. Love someone? Michael
29. Favorite color? red
30. Last time you laughed? This morning at my kids
31. Last time you cried? Last Sunday in Young Women's

This is a fun one! I tag Brooke, Rachel T., and Teresa

Happy Birthday Ashley!

2008-12-07T06:51:00.001-08:00

We just want to wish Ashley a very Happy 3rd Birthday! We love you Ashley and hope you have a fun day!

Hillbilly Thanksgiving!

2008-11-27T21:53:00.000-08:00

Brooke made all of us the most awesome aprons. Anna was helping make fudge.
The first late night ride. As you can see, we go to great lengths to keep warm.
Uncle J and all the kids after eating at Papa's
Michael's new 4 wheeler!
Blake is always so excited to go riding. He is a stinker and thinks that he can drive.

We had a blast this Thanksgiving up in Broken Bow. We enjoyed good food, fun rides, exciting card games and a ton of family fun. We can't wait until Hillbilly New Years!

We have been busy!

2008-11-24T08:32:00.001-08:00

New Christmas Outfits! Blake would not smile.
Blake is definitely not liking his new suit, but Anna sure love her new dress.

Pretty Girl

Anna had a Dance Recital

Michael turned 28! Happy Birthday!!!!

It has been crazy busy around our house. Blake was finally able to go to nursery, some sweet relief for a somewhat relaxing Sunday, right? He is not to sure about it and does OK for about 10 minutes until he realizes we are gone. I also got a new calling as the Young Women's President, and that is keeping me super busy as well. We are all looking forward to some down time in Broken Bow for Thanksgiving. We hope you and your families have a great Thanksgiving!

Congratulations Angie and Justin!

2008-11-13T06:53:00.000-08:00

Ang and Justin got engaged last night! We are all very excited! They plan on getting married January 30th. Congratulations!!

I love my sisters....

2008-11-10T18:27:00.000-08:00

Basketball season has officially started for McKay and Taylor. They both made the freshman basketball team this year and we are excited for the season. These girls are amazing. I love the picture above because it shows the two of them in their own world and if you know the two of them very well, they visit their twin world often (and then Tay has her own world that some of us only dream of :) The girls and I are wonderful friends and have a truly unique relationship that I wouldn't change for the world.

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Just a little video of the girls in action!

Halloween Festivities

2008-11-01T09:03:00.000-07:00

Ahhh, beautiful Snow White

The back of his costume was equally as hysterical as the front.

Michael and I were thugs this year, he was a good sport.

Anna and Alivia at Trunk or Treat

He was not completely thrilled with his costume, but he looked adorable.

We had a fun night with the family (thanks to Cynthia)! We all got together had a wonderful dinner and were able to trick or treat with everyone. I think we are all Halloween'd out, but we sure had a blast.

Don't you love innocence.....

2008-10-26T19:49:00.000-07:00

So last night we were on our way home from my mom's ward carnival and we stopped to see Michael while he was on duty. Sometimes are stops are very brief depending on how busy he is but we got to chat for a minute. We usually talk about the calls he has been on, etc. But last night Anna chimed in. The conversation went as follows:

Dad, can I ask you a kestion? When you take people to jail, how long do they have to stay there? Well Anna, it depends. On what Daddy? Wellllll, umm how naughty they were. What kind of naughty things do they do to go to jail? We then got side tracked on Halloween candy and then we left. So one the way home we had this conversation...

Mom, is jail like timeout but for big people? I guess so Anna. So do they set a timer and when that beeps they get to get out? (Now at this point I am cracking up at the thought process she is putting into this). Well Anna, some people have to stay in there longer than others, it depends on what the Judge says. What is a judge? They decide how long they stay in jail. Ohhhh, they decide how long to set the microwave timer. Cool mom. Can I have a piece of candy when I get home?

That was the extent of the conversation. It was hilarious.

Carving Pumpkins

2008-10-21T09:40:00.000-07:00

Last night we went over to Brooke and Chad's, had family night, ate dinner and carved pumpkins. The kids were interested for about two minutes and then we took over. We had tons of fun! Thanks for a great night!!

Gymnastic of the Stars

2008-10-12T20:20:00.000-07:00

During the first intermission
I love this picture!
Eating dinner at Chili's

Enjoying the show

We were able to get some great tickets to see the gymnastics of the stars event. During the Olympics she LOVED watching the gymnastics and when we saw that the Olympic gymnasts were going to be here in Dallas we had to go. Michael and I took her out on a date. We had such a fun night together.

Looking Back

2008-10-12T20:14:00.001-07:00

Halloween 2005
Halloween 2006
Halloween 2007

Preschool Days....

2008-10-07T20:17:00.001-07:00

The girls wanted to see the cuffs but didn't know what to think once they were on. They all decided they never wanted to be handcuffed again.

Thanks to Occifer Michael for teaching stranger danger

Each of the Girls made their own Police vest, badge and hat

Today was my day to have preschool at our house. I lucked out and had to topic of Stranger Danger/Seat Belt Safety. With a little pleading, Michael came to the rescue and made a brief stop at the house to teach the girls (plus he looks handsome in his uniform). They were all excited to see a real police man, but boy were they quiet when he got there. They were all interested in his police gadgets on his belt and asked tons of questions. Thanks a bunch to him, the girls had a blast!

Pumpkin Patch...

2008-10-07T20:10:00.000-07:00

You have to show your mean face when you are wearing such a manly shirt
Anna and Ally in all the pumpkins
He would rather ride

This is one of our family's favorite fall activites. We all end up going a couple of times.

Sleeping Babies.....

2008-10-01T07:04:00.000-07:00

Anna kept feeling like she was going to throw up (funny it never happened). So I gave her a bucket. Silly girl just wanted to get out of her bed.
He loves his Ya Ya

The Prince and the Pea (I count 5 different blankets)

I think there is nothing better than sleeping babies. I am lucky because both of my kids are great sleepers and always have been. Blakey is a crazy sleeper though. We always laugh when we look at him at night. He always looks so uncomfortable.

Fun Family Night

2008-09-17T07:56:00.000-07:00

We had a fun night at the flying field so we thought we would take some pictures. It was such a fun and cool night.

Busy, Busy...

2008-09-14T20:02:00.000-07:00

Anna and LO
Always posing
Excuse me Mr. Officer!
New do!

We have been busy here at the Owen household. Anna started preschool two weeks ago, but have yet to post about that. We are doing a joy school type thing this year and the first week was at our house, so for me preschool started last week. Anna loves the girls that she goes to school with, and is really doing well in the learning department. She can almost write her whole name by herself and is recognizing her numbers well too. She still has another year after this current school year until she starts Kindergarten. She also started up dance again after a little summer break. She is doing ballet and Jazz and is able to do it with a lot of her friends. Blake went in for his 15 month check up and is doing well. He is 26 lbs (70%) and 2ft 8 inches (90%). He is starting to talk like crazy and he LOVES music and dancing. He is always making us laugh. Last but not least, Anna got her hair cut yesterday. To a normal person this would not be a big deal, but Anna lacks in the hair department. I told the lady I just needed her baby hair trimmed off and I guess that is what she did. Everyone says they like it, but it is really short. She loves it and that is all that matters.

A boy we call Blake!

2008-09-04T20:24:00.001-07:00

Yes they are hot, but get down!!
Doing the dishes!
This is a piece of cake! Stop complaining mom.
Just a little R&R

In the past couple of weeks Blake has turned into a Maniac (nice term for NIGHTMARE). He climbs on everything, opens everything and destroys everything. He is driving me nuts. This is just a few of him in the last week. He is sure getting grown up though.

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Labor Day!

2008-09-02T18:13:00.000-07:00

The Girls love to swim together
Do it Jeff!

Blake and Nate played more outside the pool!

These boys are crazy! The bet is on as to who is going to the ER first.

Handsome Boy.

We had so much fun hanging out at Brooke and Chad's. Their new pool is awesome (hopefully we will get to play in it more before it gets cold in October!!). We swam and had a mexican food buffet. So fun!

Congratulations Thomas!

2008-08-30T20:03:00.000-07:00

We celebrated Thomas' graduation last night by throwing him a party! We had a really fun time. We especially were glad to see cousin Dan before he heads off to California. Dan has served in the US Marines for the last eight years, and has been on several tours in Iraq. He now has the opportunity to work at a Federal Prison in Northern Cali. For any of you who wonder where Blakey gets his size, these pictures of the boys on my side of the family might help out a little. Danny and I are only 13 days in age apart, and he has always towered over me. There is a picture floating around somewhere of us together in a crib when we were 1 and he was tons bigger even back then!

Sunday pictures!

2008-08-17T18:42:00.000-07:00

Elder Blake A.

I just figured out that my camera that I have had for two years can snap shots in black and white. I love taking pictures of the kids Sunday's right before church because they look so cute. I hope you like.

My Crazy Kids...

2008-08-17T18:31:00.000-07:00

This afternoon my kids were CRAZY! My kitchen was a mess, Michael was gone to work, and the kids were driving me nuts. So I got out the camera and this is what I got. Please note Anna's leotard with her panties showing (since the Olympics she always practices her gymnastics) and Blake with only a diaper (with a diaper wedgie). Pure chaos.

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My old fart soap box and Anna the character....

2008-08-15T20:27:00.000-07:00

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Anna is a character, there is really nothing more to say about it. She loves to sing, and in my efforts to try and be hip and cool(while I am driving my minivan) I find myself listening to KISS FM a bunch. I have found though that I have to turn the station quick because of the inappropriate songs. She can pick up songs very easily, especially ones with a catchy tune, but always manages to change the words and cracks herself up. Today after hearing Anna's 15 different versions of Handlebars by Flobots in combination with KK and Tay's freshman orientation where the dress code specifically states that boys are not allowed to paint their nails and no facial jewelry of any kind that includes spacers, and the ridiculous fact that the school has raised over 25,000 in the last 4 years in cell phone confiscations, I have decided that I am getting old and I need to face the fact that I am not cool. When I was in high school we had pagers! I am actually embarrassed to admit that. The fact there has to be rule for boys that they can't wear nail polish is just ridiculous, and so the old lady comes out I guess. I need to stick to my church music. I am glad that I have my cute little family who delights in changing words to every song church or non church. I will climb down off my soap box and I hope you get a giggle out of Anna's post.

PS If you want to get a good listen to Anna you might need to pause the music at the bottom!

The introduction of Michael's new hobby!

2008-08-12T20:31:00.000-07:00

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Favorite Fun Pictures

2008-08-12T11:48:00.000-07:00

We made it!

2008-08-11T20:25:00.000-07:00

We made it to the beach! We were lucky but we thoroughly enjoyed our time with our family and relaxing on the beach. We have some great memories and hope to return in a couple of years.

Crab Hunting..

2008-08-11T19:46:00.000-07:00

Crab Hunting was the favorite night activity
Anna loved hunting being able to stay up
The twin cousins McKay, Taylor, Tony and Alina

In true crabbing fashion at the end of the hunt all crabbers bury their feet in the sand and all the crabs are released. The one who keeps their feet buried the longest is the winner for the night. Anna won the 2nd night of crabbing. She also was convinced that she has caught her own crab and that I take a picture of it, she still thinks that she caught one (even though it is a aluminum can tab, I think that they look similar, don't you?)

The Dolphin Watch and Fireworks!

2008-08-11T15:28:00.001-07:00

The Dolphins! These ones were following the wake of the boat.

We were able to go on a dolphin tour along with a fireworks show and we had a blast.

Watching the fireworks in the bay from the top of the boat.

Anna and Ashley posing at the end of the tour.

This crab was in the parking lot and scared us half to death. He was huge!

South Padre Island....... Or bust!

2008-07-28T20:13:00.001-07:00

So this is my bummer post. We (meaning the Sallaway/Blair/Bollinger side) have been planning a trip to SPI for almost a year now. Michael has never in the five years we have been married, been on a vacation with my side of the family or been to the beach for longer than 3 hours, so I was pumped about this. We have had the condos rented, fishing trips planned, driving arrangements set. Then came Dolly. Dumb hurricane. So hopefully you are feeling sorry for me and wish and hope that the power on the Island will be turned on soon (next couple of days), since we are scheduled to leave Sunday morning. Seven full fun beach filled days with the family. Wish us luck!

The Octopus... Bad Mom story #655

2008-07-27T18:32:00.000-07:00

So since I am confessing bad mom stories, I think this one is worth while. Somewhere, some how Anna picked up this fear of "the octopus". She has completely made it up in her mind that this octopus is something to fear. I have explained that the octopus will never hurt her, but she still has this fear. So... we have totally capitialized on it. The octopus have comes in various forms such has horn honks, doorbell rings, taps on the window, phone calls (yes this is true it is quite hilarious). Whenever she starts acting up and I hear some sort of noise, I tell her that the octopus is listening. It is amazing the change of behavior. She will go down for her nap (at 3 1/2) and will tell me to call the octopus and tell her not to come by because she going straight to sleep. And she does. Walmart trips, mall trips, etc are definately more bareable. The way I see it is that this is just like threatening with time outs or early bed times or spankings, which never work, and this does! So tell me what has worked for you?!

Bad Mom Story # 656

2008-07-27T17:56:00.001-07:00

Yes, this is Blake's highchair, the back of the chair on the ground and the seat cover hanging. We usually have his back facing the table because it has done this once before, but we were having family dinner and we wanted him to be facing us. We lost track of time and Michael was in a scramble to get ready for work, and Blake was not done eating. I heard him crying but figured he was out of food. I continued helping Michael get ready and answering the phone trying to help the missionaries figure out where they were to eat tonight, when in walks Blake. His chest is all red. I run into the kitchen to see the highchair like this.... So the bad mom story unfolds. I guess the back fell off and he was stuck and I just ignored him. He definitely deserved the Popsicle in the sink. And of course with Anna, monkey see, monkey do!

What's in a name....

2008-07-20T18:19:00.000-07:00

I saw this on Stephanie's blog and I thought it was hilarious.

1. My rock star name (first pet and current car): Buddy Odyssey
2. My gangsta name (favorite ice cream and favorite cookie): Vanilla chocolate chip
3. My "fly girl" name (1st inital of my 1st name and 1st 3 letters of my last): M Owe
4. My detective name (favorite color and favorite animal): Red puppy
5. My soap opera name (middle name and city you were born): Kimberly Rexburg
6. My star wars name (1st 3 letters of your last name & 1st 2 letters of your 1st name): Oweme
7. My superhero name (2nd Fav. color & favorite drink with "The in the front): The Pink Dr.Pepper
8. My nascar name (1st names of your grandfathers): Leroy Arthur
9. My lounge Singer name (name of your fav. perfume/cologne & fav. candy): Happy M&M
10. My witness protection name (mother's and father's middle name): Bollinger Reed

My favorite is my rock star name!

Happy 1st Birthday Nate!

2008-07-17T07:04:00.000-07:00

Just given a big birthday shout out to the birthday boy!

Spider....Man!

2008-07-15T19:13:00.000-07:00

So Blakey woke up this morning with these huge bumps on his face (added to the huge bruise on his forehead). He reacts crazy to any type of bite. So I throughly check his bed and there in his blanket I found a nasty spider. Agh! It totally gave me the willies. He has three bites, one on the side of his head, and two on his chops. Poor guy. It doesn't seem to bother him any. He is happy as can be.

Everybody loves a blue eyed boy....

2008-07-13T19:34:00.001-07:00

Tiny Dancer.....

2008-07-10T22:39:00.000-07:00

Today was Anna's first day of tap dance class. She loved it! She learned all new steps. She is going to have a blast.

4th of July

2008-07-10T22:20:00.001-07:00

We had a fun 4th. We loved seeing all the family and enjoyed the spirit of the day.

Our Cute Family
Loving the fireworks.....

Handsome Nate

Quite the spread

Just waiting for the fireworks....

Blake's Hair Cut.....

2008-07-06T22:34:00.001-07:00

I have always taken Blake to get his hair cut. Finally, I bought my self a new pair of clippers and "tried" to give him a faded hair cut. He had no patience for me, and he ended up with a buzz. These picture are evident of his lack of patience.

I really did think he would leave his make shift cape on.

You can sense the frustration (only about 3 minutes into the process)

Thoroughly irritated. He is such a boy!

What every boys wants.... FOOD!

He is going to have to get over this real fast. We have to many years of hair cuts ahead of us.

Flash Back....July

2008-07-01T19:43:00.000-07:00

I thought I would flash back to Anna's one year picture and compare the two. They do not look alike but they sure are beautiful babies!

Has it been a week?

2008-07-01T19:02:00.001-07:00

Thomas and Maia

Happy Birthday Ally

Ashley was not to sure of the whole Chuck E thing.

Birthday Girl

WEEEEEE!!!

The only one we are missing is Noah! All the cousins. Ally, Anna, Ashley, Maia, Blake and Noah.

No excuses, just plain old busy this past week. We got to celebrate Maia and Ally's birthday at Chuck E. Cheese. Ashley was in town and we were able to hang out with her too!

Blake and his food!

2008-06-22T17:20:00.001-07:00

Since Blake has been able to eat normal food he never wants for me to feed him. Which I mostly don't care about. But today, I don't know what I was thinking. We were cracking up at him and the mess he made and he obviously didn't like it.

Happy Happy Birthday!

2008-06-22T07:45:00.000-07:00

We have quite a few birthdays this month. So I am giving a shout out to all of them. Here they are:

McKay and Taylor- June 12th, 14 years old!

Noah- June 20th, 1 year old!

Thomas- June 21st, 25 years old!

Mark- June 21st, 12 years old

Ally- June 24th, 5 years old!

Happy birthday everyone!!!

Happy Fathers Day..... Ok, one day late!

2008-06-16T20:08:00.001-07:00

I just wanted to wish my brothers Johnny and Thomas a happy father's day. They are both wonderful fathers to their kids. Thanks for being so awesome. And then, most importantly, I wanted to say thank you to Michael for being a fabulous father to Anna and Blake. Both of the kids adore Michael and much prefer him over me. Thank you for taking such good care of our little family.

I love to see the Temple

2008-06-14T20:51:00.000-07:00

Anna's primary had an activity today at the Temple. They visited with the temple matron and was able to walk the Temple grounds and learn interesting facts about the building of the temple. What a great way to start the weekend.

Anna and Alivia

Anna and Lauren

Blake is learning to Walk

2008-06-12T18:55:00.000-07:00

So yet another milestone for Blake. It makes me sad to think that a year has gone by and my little baby is not a baby anymore. When I was pregnant with him I had a hard time imagining being able love two babies. But amazingly enough it was quite easy. HE MELTS ME! With the world as crazy as it is I could not imagine my life without him.

Hawaiian Falls...

2008-06-05T19:54:00.000-07:00

The Owen and Combs family got season passes for Hawaiian Falls.... and we are having a blast.

Carli and Anna talking about the cool ride they went down all by themselves (they did it over and over again)

Getting the kid slides down!

Blake and Michael on their way to the lazy river.

Carli and Brooke waiting in line for the half pipe.

Anna's first trip down the half pipe.

Doesn't that look a little scary?

Angie and Al's first trip down! Way to go Al.

Flash Back.....

2008-06-02T19:17:00.000-07:00

I thought it would be fun to flashback and compare pictures to recent ones. These ones compare last June to this June.

Not to big of a difference in Anna, I guess. She can still wear some of the same clothes, but now she is potty trained and acts like a big girl.

Why didn't anyone tell me my baby looked sickly? He was tiny! I promise I fed him.

7 Quirks or Facts about me .....

2008-06-01T18:04:00.000-07:00

So this week has been pretty mellow, and I was tagged so here is goes.

1. I HATE the feeling of paper on my skin, and I have ever since I can remember.

2. I can fall asleep anywhere any time of the day. This always amazes Michael, because he can lay in bed for hours before he falls asleep. The nights we go to bed at the same time, I usually fall asleep mid sentance.

3. I love Dr. Pepper, cookies and salty chips.

4. While growing up I had numerous nicknames (all given to me by my brothers). For example, Miss Hampster Squeezer, mother megan, 6 head.....

5. I love TV. Current shows I love and Tivo are Greys, So You Think You Can Dance, Desperate Housewives, Brothers and Sisters, Army wives, Little People Big World, The First 48, DEA. I usually watch these when Michael is working (weekend nights) and I am bored.

6. Wife of a Police Officer. This leads to lots of restless nights and weird dreams.

7. I am a total airhead and everyone knows it! My mom is always nice and tells me it is because I am so busy that I just forget things. But the truth is, I really am an air head.

So I tag..... Brooke, Karen, Katie and Tam

Splish Splash!

2008-05-25T18:30:00.000-07:00

Thomas and Maia

Cynthia and Anna

Tay, Ally and Anna

So this post is a fun one but also a huge milestone. The first picture is of Thomas and Maia. If you would have told me July of last year that Thomas would be going down water slides with the kids a year later, I would not have believed it. After 2 shattered legs, 2 broken arms, every rib broken, broken sternum, broken hip, and more, all odds were against him. He climbed those stairs probably 10 times taking Maia, Ally, and Anna down the slide. He pushed Blake around the pool and even played more rigorous games with Mckay and Taylor. It is so great to see him being able to do these fun things. If you look at him today you would never believe the trauma that he went through, that is how amazing he is doing. We love you thomp! Keep up the good work.

Open Shut Them......

2008-05-25T18:15:00.000-07:00

So most have already heard him sing (or say this), but I think it is so funny.

Our 5th Anniversary

2008-05-22T21:07:00.001-07:00

Our 5th Anniversay is tomorrow (23rd). I thought I would only post a couple of my favorite pictures, but there are to many to choose. We had the most the most incredible day, every minute of it. From our sealing, to our luncheon at Maggianos, to the reception the day could not have been better.

Anna's Spring Sing

2008-05-22T19:37:00.000-07:00

Last Week of Busy Bear

One of Anna's best friends at school

Anna and Ms. Doreen

Me and Anna

My cute family

Anna and Go - Go

Anna's Class

Anna's little space for her backpack

My Boys

2008-05-16T19:23:00.000-07:00

I had to post this awesome picture of the two of them.

Happy Birthday Blake!

2008-05-14T20:31:00.001-07:00

Blake was born May 15, 2007 in the middle of the afternoon. He weighed 7lbs 3oz.

BIG BLAKE'S BIRTHDAY BASH!

2008-05-13T18:30:00.000-07:00

Blake had so much fun eating his cake

He was in baby boy heaven

Birthday Fun!!

2008-05-13T18:28:00.001-07:00

2008-05-11T19:55:00.000-07:00

Happy Mother's Day!

We had a fun afternoon eating dinner together as a family.

Anna made me handprints in primary

All the girls (well most!)

Best Friends, but we miss Ashley!

Blake and Maia

Eatin' dinner together and causing trouble

Someday we will have room enough for everyone to sit at a table

Family dinner is not complete without a good old game of hockey!

2008-05-08T19:50:00.000-07:00

Talab"anna"!

For those of you who do not know my daughter Anna, one thing you should know about her is her amazing personality. Now I say amazing because she, on a daily basis, makes me irritated, frustrated, upset, and often wondering what I got myself into. Over the past two weeks she has tried my patience and made me cry numerous times. We do chore charts, preschool, bead system, rewards, time out, yet nothing works. How do I get through to her? She already has weird quirks (hence the Talab"anna" nickname), routines, and loves to do her own thing. She is very smart and logical, but loves to antagonize and innately do the opposite of everything I ask. Now the amazing comes out. In my quite moments when I look at her sleeping, I see the amazing girl that she is. My mom wisely reminded me that Heavenly Father sent her to me, not anyone else but me. She is my little girl. So I think about some of the irritating things she does and I realize that she is stronger and more confident than I ever was. It is my job to channel her energy and teach her all I know and I hope that her feisty, sassy pants attitude will make her one great women. She is a true Saturdays Warrior saved for these last days.

So one of her quirks is her love of long hair, but the poor girl has no hair. So she resorted to putting pants on her head to mimic pigtails (now called her Talabanna). Oh, ya she also has to sit in Blake's high chair in the middle of the kitchen so that she will actually finish a meal.

At three, although not allowed she will still find a binky (Blake's) and love to suck on it. I guess it is her Dr. Pepper.

Now that DeeDee has found a hair piece she is loving life and wearing it everywhere. She is a diva!

A Beautiful Day.....

2008-04-26T18:22:00.000-07:00

There are not many days like today. So we thought we would enjoy it outside.

Blake enjoying the wagon.

Anna getting better on her bike.

Blake would only stay on the blanket, he didn't like the grass.

Learning to ride.

Making cookies after riding.

My Favorite Mom "Must Haves"

2008-04-22T19:35:00.000-07:00

I love this because it keeps my seats clean and has come in handy when Anna had the flu.

I always clip a passy holder on the shoulder strap so that I can reach and find it when I am driving.

I am not big into nursing, but at least you can do it in style with the hooter hider.

I just got this a couple of weeks ago. I think that everyone needs a good umbrella stroller. It is super light weight and super cute!

So I will be the first to say that I NEVER wanted to own a van. I made Michael promise me that we would never get one. Now that I have kids, it is so nice to have (no glamour at all). But, the automatic side door openers are stinking awesome. So yes, I am a minivan mom!

April 20, 2008

2008-04-20T19:44:00.000-07:00

So as you can see I figured out how to work the slide show ( and that is it!) We had a great weekend with family campout's, princess parties, and such! Anna got a hair piece (from Dee Dee) and she thinks she has died and gone to heaven. She now has long hair!