Daycare Christmas Program

So the daycare had a christmas program today. Our kids are one in a million. Megan walked on stage waived hi and then wanted a hug from Mom. I couldn't get up there and so she broke out in tears and was done. Nik performed 1 song and stood there for another then he was done. I was able to get a couple of pictures so here they are. Small mircales Nik still had his shirt on this year.

Curtis Family Holiday Gathering...

Making chocolate covered Cinna Bears...

Pictures from Austin's Birthday

9 days to go....

I can't believe that it is almost Christmas. It seem like we just had Thanksgiving.

We celebrated Austin's 10Th Birthday a couple of weeks ago. He had his first friend party here at the house. They played Halo, ate pizza for lunch and then had cake and presents. He had so much fun even though only a few of his friends came. After his friend party we had the family party that night after we took him out to dinner. Most the family came over and he was so excited to have gotten a skateboard and Bagugon guys.

This past weekend we got together with all of Robert's brothers and sister and their family to celebrate the holidays, his dad was suppose to be there but called and said he was sick and wouldn't be able to join us. This was the first time that all the kids and their families have been together. It was a nice afternoon and all the kids (9 and 2 babies) played together and had a lot of fun playing guitar hero and rock bank on the X-box 360, plus Brian has a pool table and a couple of arcade games that the kids were able to play, which was nice because it kept them entertained so the adults could actually visit. It brought back alot of memories from growing up and how we would get together as a family and the kids would take over grandma's TV room and watch movies or MTV while the parents sat in the living room visiting.

I haven't sent out Christmas cards this year so I want to take a minute and wish all of you a wonderful and safe Holiday.

Vacation at last....

We survived the Thanksgiving holiday. It was a quiet day in our house. I cooked dinner and then we went over to some friends house for dessert. I had to work this last weekend because it was month end but I now have 5 days off. I will be preparing for Austin's 10Th Birthday and Christmas Shopping.

So it finally happen I received my first ticket ever...We were down in Spanish fork this weekend and I was pulled over for the plates being expired. the cop came to the window I was frantically searching for my driver's license which I thought I didn't have with but luckily I found it. I got the ticket for the expired plates and a warning for not having a valid insurance card in the van. Robert told me that I would get a ticket and he was right. I can't really complain since the cop could have given me a speeding ticket also because I was also going 10 over the speed limit but he was nice and didn't.

The Season to be Thankful...

I have updated our blog and I hope you enjoy the changes.

Halloween was fun for the kids. I had to work until about 10 that night so Robert go to enjoy the Trick or Treating with the kids for the first time in about 3 years. Austin was a Wrestler, Megan was Cinderella and Nikolai a pick crew member from the movie Cars. It is amazing how much the kids got from walking around the block once.

As we go into the month of November I am thinking how thankful I am for my Family and friends. The kids and Robert gives me great joy each day. I am amazed of how much they change each day and the fun little things that they do. I am blessed to have them in my life.

Haunted Trail....

So I took the kids to Murray Park tonight to do the Haunted trail that the Murray Park puts on every year. For a 1.50 you get a little fright and then a donut and hot coco. The kids were not impressed with the trail one bit. Nik scream and held on to me for dear life, Austin did not like it one bit and Megan made it through it but she was not impressed either. I don't think I have to worry about going next year.

Robert spent the month hunting every weekend for nothing but he had fun. I can not believe that October is almost over where does all the time go.

Where did the SUMMER go....

I can't believe it is almost October. Where has the time gone? School has been full swing for a month now. Austin is doing well, he enjoys his teacher and friends. He is completing his assignments this year and doing really well.
We went camping with Robert's dad, brother Paul and Marcus and there families and then his sister with the kids a couple of weeks ago. Everyone enjoyed the time away and with the fall leaving changing it was fun to see the mountain in full color. Megan went on her first hunting outing with dad (Mom is in trouble) she had fun and I think she is addicted. I am trying to get her to realize that if the boys are gone we can go shopping but it is not working to well.
The twin are growing and getting so big I can't believe that they are 4. They can recite there ABC and count up to 20 and they walk around the house all day sing any number of songs that they have learned from Daycare.
Work for me is good. My company is in a stable position with all the mortgage may ham that has been going on. We are not an origination shop we just service sub-prime loans which at this point is a benefit. We are going to be adding approximately 33,000 to our portfolio as of Oct 1. So that means lots of work for me.

Robert's first PIG hunt....

Robert went on his first pig hunt on Friday. There is a place up near Brigham city that you can plan a hunt and pay the fee and then go look for a pig, goat or mountain sheep. It is guaranteed so if you don't shoot anything you get your money back. This year Robert went for the pig. Three of his brothers and his dad all went. They started hunting around 9:30 and by noon all four of them had shot there pigs. He is so excited to go again and take Austin. His pig weight about 375 lbs. That means a lot of ham, bacon and sausage for us in a couple of weeks.

This is a picture of all boys with Robert and Marcus's pigs. Robert, Marcus (back) Brian, Paul and Brock (front).

Summer Days....

It has been a pretty quiet summer since we came back from vacation. Austin spent a couple days at cub scout camp. He really enjoyed it. He has been back at the Taylorsville Rec center in the mornings. He has enjoyed this as he is able to meet new friends, rock climb the rock wall, go swimming, and play many different sports. When school starts he will start going to the day care with the twins for an hour and then he will go to school.

Becky and her family left yesterday afternoon. They have been here for 2 weeks packing up her mom and dad's house after 23 years. They actually were able to get the house sold before they left which is a relief off there backs. I can not imaging having to pack Dad's house... They ended up getting 2 penske truck in order to get everything down to New Mexico. We had fun while they were here. Becky and I were able to go to a movie last weekend with Gina to dinner and a movie (Mamma Mia) it was fun. Robert had taken the boys camping so I just had Becky's sister and mom watched Megan.

Robert was playing on the computer the other day and downloaded something that he shouldn't have so the computer isn't really working. so he said we would go by an new laptop. So Friday night we did. Considering the computer was 5 years old it is nice to get a new one with a little more speed.

Robert is going Pig Hunting in 2 weeks and school starts in 3 weeks. Where has the SUMMER gone....

Megan is at it again....

So Megan has decided yet again that she need another haircut. Sunday morning I woke up to Nik saying Megan had cut her hair. She found a pair of scissor and hid in the dog kennel and cut her hair.


The evidence left on the floor
After the Haircut at great Clips. This is the only thing we could do to cover how short she had cut on the one side of her head.

Home Again...

We are home again. It was a 10 hour drive to come home but we made it by 9:30pm Saturday night. The kids are glad to be home but also sad that they had to leave all the kids at the Stagg house. With our 2 families and Drew's niece there was 13 all together (5 adults and 8 kids under the age of 10). We had alot of fun. We went to the Rio Grande Zoo, The Aquarium, we went and saw the new Disney movie WALL...E. Becky and I were also able to kid away for an afternoon to have a GIRL'S DAY- we went shopping and got Pedicure. The 4 adults were also able to enjoy a date night in which we rode the Sandia Tram which took us up to an elevation of over 10,000 feet, the views were spectacular and then we went to dinner and then back to the movies to see Hancock. On our last day there we went and spent some time in the Jemez mountains roasting hotdogs and letting the kids shoot the BB gun and .22 rifle. We tried on 2 occasions to go swimming however 1st day the pool was cleared out within the first 5 minutes of us getting in due to the threat of thunderstorms. Once they clear the pool for rain they have to wait 1 hour before letting anyone in. We got a rain check and planned on going back however when we went back the pool it was closed due to low water clarity (the water looked Green), so then we tried to go to another pool but as we where going in Austin's toe had an argument with the door and the toe LOST!. Austin lost the entire big toenail (picture below), so we had to run him to the urgent care to make sure everything was ok and get some antibiotics. All the kids enjoyed spending time together and we all had a fun time together. Becky and the kids will be here the first part of Austin to pack up her parents house (they are finally moving down to New Mexico)

Megan watching the fish at the aquarium
It a SHARK!!
Kids really didn't want their picture taken in front of the fish tank
Most of the kids in front of another tank. We are missing Ariana and Liem

Austin and his missing Toenail
The best we got for swimming. Cori and the kids in the pool in front of the house- Lorna, Myah, Wyatt and Megan
Megan and the kids
The Sandia Tram





Robert and Ariana at the Jemz Mountains
The kids playing in the weeds
Rebecca and Myah
Kids waiting behind the line to shoot the guns
Wyatt
Megan's first time shooting
Nikolai
Liem

I do have pictures of the other kids shooting the gunds however i am having issue posting them

The Rest of the kids shooting Guns

Here are the rest of the pictures of the kids shooting guns.

Ariana

Austin

We Made it!!

Well we made it to Rio Rancho, NM in about 12 hour with stops sometimes every 20 minutes. We spent the Fourth of July relaxing, Kids playing in the water and Robert slept most of the day. Drew had bought the biggest box of fireworks so it was about an hour and half of fireworks. Saturday we went to the zoo and I forgot my camera. We are going to see WALL..E tomorrow with the kids and then we may go to the Aquarium. I hopefully will not forget my camera this time. We have a week of activities planned but we will see how things go. We will be heading home on Saturday so that we can have a day to relax before going back to work.

HAPPY 4TH of JULY!!

On the road again, just can't wait to get on the road......... We are leaving today to drive to Albuquerque, New Mexico. 4 kids, (we are taking Becky's oldest son Wyatt home with us. He was spending some time with grandma and grandpa.) 1 dog and 2 tired adults should make a fun trip. We are all excited to be able to get a way and spend time with friends. It is going to be about a 10 hour trip depending on how many stops we have to take for the kids and dog. We will be gone until the 12th. Hopefully we can escape some of the heat. The weather is suppose to be in the triple digits.

I hope all you have a great holiday weekend and keep watching for picture of our vacation as I will post them as soon as I can.

4 YEAR'S HAVE FLOWN BY...

I can't hardly believe it has been 4 years since we welcomed Megan and Nikolai to our family. It seems like just yesterday we were bringing them home and getting settled into a new routine with 2 little babies. They have brought such joy to our lives and as they have gotten older pure entertainment.

We spent the day celebrating by taking them to The Pizza Factory for lunch and then we went to Fat Catz for some bowling. we got theough one game and decide that was enough so we will be going back this summer for round 2. The kids always have fun when they get to go bowling and it is so much fun to watch how excited they get when they knock the pins down.

Megan keeps telling us she is going to be a doctor when she grows up so we got her a doctor kit, to get her started down the path of her dreams. Nikolai has started bringing bugs to me so we got him a bug catcher box so hopefully the bugs make it in the box and not in my house.

Dad is out of town this weekend (camping in Colorado) so we will do the cake and ice-cream thing with every one when he is back. Megan keeps saying she want a Cinderella Cake and Nikolai wants a Darth Vader Cake..So hopefully I can full fill the additional wishes.

Summer has started and Austin has just finished his first week at Fun Fit and Sun program at the Rec center. He goes everyday from 8am to 12pm and then Robert picks him up and the twins to come home and take a nap. they do various activities and Crafts and Friday is swim day. He seem to be enjoying it. He goes again next week and the on July 3rd we head to New Mexico for 10 days. We are all excited to be able to get away and to go play with our friends.

At the beginning of June I took over the Supervisor position for the department I left bag in March of 2007. It has been extremely challenging, I went from being a supervisor of 2 to of supervisor of 8. How do you keep track of everyone? It has been good to go back to some that I have enjoyed doing. I have someone calling me at least everyday saying how glad they are to have back on the team, now they have a issue that they need my help with. (They are all just buttering me up so that I will help them.)

Memorial Day!

Our first camping trip of the season was cancelled Memorial day weekend. In February we had reserved a spot up Big Cottonwood Canyon at the Spruces with friends (Randal and his Family and Gina and June) so that we could spend Memorial day weekend camping. However due to the hard winter that we had the entire campground was still under 3 to 4 feet of snow plus it had snowed the week prior, so camping was not going to happen. The kids were bummed they were really looking forward to going camping. At the last minute we decided to drive to Logan and stay the night in a hotel and let the kids do some swimming (a mini vacation). On Sunday our friends (Randall and Stephanie Brady) and us headed to Logan. The kids were all excited and couldn't wait to get there. We reserved rooms at the Super 8 just at the edge of town. Once we got there all they want to do was go swimming. So before we went to dinner we head off to the pool. The twins were not sure what to think, this was the first time they had ever been in a pool. Nik quickly adjusted and had fun learning how to swim with daddy. Megan just wanted mommy but she didn't to learn to much as she had a death hold on my neck 80% of the time. Austin had fun splashing around and playing with our friends kids (Destiny and Ethan). We let the kids swim for an hour and decide it was time for dinner. After Dinner all they want to do was go back to the hotel and go swimming again. Here are some picture of the swimming.

Megan has her Death grip on.

Let's go Nik...Chicken fight with Randall and Destini in the deep end


On our way home Monday we decided to stop at Hill Air Force Air Museum. The kids had a lot of fun looking at all the air planes. This was the first time that I had been at the museum. It was cool to walk around and see all the planes and realize how far the technology has come over the years.

PINEWOOD DERBY!

Austin participated in his first Pinewood Derby Tuesday night. He did really well and place 6Th over all out of 17 boys.



This is a video of Austin's 1 race of the night. Austin's car is the first car you see. He came in second on this race with 2.833 seconds.

Here is the final scores listed. Austin is listed as car number 8- 2.833, 2.801,2.899 and 2.817 with and average of 2.82. As you notice car 9 was a friend of Austin and his average was 2.69 for the 4 races.

Austin and his dad had alot of fun building the car together. I never knew how much work the boys put in to the cars. The shaping, sanding and painting and making sure the weight is under 5 ounce. Who knew it took so much work.