Rowdy Rollins

Best Birthday Ever!

2012-02-08T22:15:00.004-07:00

HAWAII HERE WE COME!!

We spent a whole week in Maui without any children!

Thanks Mom and Dad for watching our kids!

Thank you Val and Joyce for taking us on this amazing trip!

We are so spoiled...and very grateful!

As soon as we got off the plane, we started out on our first adventure. We went to the Iao Needle. The amazing mountains were beautiful.

Then we headed to the gorgeous botanical gardens.

Our first whole day in Maui, we got up early and started on the road to Hana. We stopped and looked at the beautiful grounds of Mama's Fish House.

I wouldn't mind being stranded on a deserted island with this handsome guy!

The five Rollins boys looking just like the Tiki.

On one of our stops, the boys found some vines and decided to act like Tarzan. There goes Spencer swinging through the trees. I think there were only a couple injuries.

We loved walking through the amazing plant life.

There's a steep slope right behind us that you can't see in this picture. Right after we took this photo, I slipped, screamed, and almost fell down the hillside before Spencer caught me.

We enjoyed walking through one of the many bamboo forests on Maui.

The road to Hana took FOREVER, especially when we had to stop and wait for road construction. So we got out of our cars...had some snacks...

messed around...

and took some more photos.

When we finally got to Hana, we went to the Seven Sacred Pools. They were gorgeous and extremely fun! We swam and hiked through the pools. The crazy boys climbed the waterfalls and did a little cliff jumping. This photo shows Ben, Nathan, Clint, and Spencer enjoying the falls.

The pools flow into the beautiful, blue ocean.

After the pools, we headed to Hamoa Beach. We took advantage of the perfect waves and did some boogie-boarding.

We also enjoyed splashing in the fun waves.

Then we started the long drive back from Hana. We made a few more stops on the way and enjoyed the sunset.

Joyce got flowers for all the girls to wear: Laurie, Anna, Joyce, Melanie, and Niki.

This is the beginning of my birthday--best ever! We headed to the kayaking beach before dawn. We were all set for our exciting time: Clint, Val, Nate, Ben, Niki, Laurie, John, Melanie and Spencer.

I think the kayaking was my favorite activity of the whole trip.

We were so lucky to come across several humpback whales while kayaking. I was quite scared when we saw a huge baby whale swim right under our kayak, and then surface just a few feet away from us.

We paddled our kayaks over to a nice snorkeling area. We enjoyed exploring the lava tube, coral, and colorful fish.

The evening of my birthday, we went to an awesome luau at the Grand Wailea Hotel.

We loved watching all the Hawaiian dancers and were shocked at the amazing stunts from the fire dancers.

This is the whole adult Rollins family, except for Tammy and Dan who were home with a new baby: Nate, Val, Joyce, Anna, Melanie, Spencer, Laurie, John, Niki, Ben and Clint. No, this is not our wedding photo.

We enjoyed the food and the show late into the evening.

Spencer arranged for just the two of us to stay in the fabulous Grand Wailea Hotel for the night of my birthday. The lobby was amazing!

We loved exploring the beautiful Wailea grounds, pools, water-slides, and beaches.

We made a windy voyage on a whale boat. We saw lots of humpback whales and even witnessed a couple whales breaching.

The boys stood in the front of the boat to see if the wind would knock them down.

They enjoyed watching their faces blow in the wind.

We spent a fun day on the Haleakala Volcano. The top of the volcano was at about 10,000 feet. It was very cold and there were no trees and very few plants.

We had an exciting time biking all the way from the volcano summit, down almost to the beach.

We stopped part-way down the mountain to look down at the clouds. We jumped to look like we were falling through the sky.

Spencer and Melanie flying over the clouds!

Nathan has a friend who lives in Maui and he let us try paddle-surfing and one-man canoeing.

The paddle-boards are wide enough that we could stand on them in open water. I was surprised that most of us didn't fall.

I had fun paddling around on the canoe. Spencer tried following some whales on the canoe, but couldn't catch them.

We enjoyed shopping and eating "shave ice" in Lahaina. We also saw the huge banyan tree that covers a whole city block.

Spencer, Clint, John, Nate, and Ben tried climbing the banyan.

On the last day of our trip, Nate's friend took some of us on an amazing hike. We started the journey in a bamboo forest.

We had to swim through extremely cold fresh water to get to our destination. It was funny hearing, always polite, Niki scream the whole time she was swimming.

We hiked by several small waterfalls: Ben, Clint, Niki, Nate, Ryan (Nate's friend),
Spencer and Melanie.

When we arrived at the large waterfall, the boys enjoyed cliff jumping again.

This photo shows Ben and Clint watching Spencer flying toward the water.

After our hike, we headed back to the condo to get cleaned up for our 10:30pm flight home that night. We played so hard this whole trip. We've been home a week now and I'm still recovering.

We are so grateful to have enjoyed this amazing trip together!

It's Christmas Time!

2011-12-30T15:09:00.003-07:00

We love Christmas!

We enjoyed a fun, chilly night at the Ogden city lights with the Collier Grandparents.

The kids struck poses like the ice-skating light figures.

Our kids decided to line up like railroad cars for this photo.

We loved looking at the cute houses and lights with Grandma and Grandpa Collier.

For one FHE during December, we held our annual Christmas pageant. Leia is always Mary...one of the perks of being the only girl. This year Peter was Joseph, Ammon represented the shepherds, and Talmage held the treasure for the wise men.

We had a fun ward party where all the kids got to visit with Santa. I was a little sad that, for the first time, Talmage decided he was too old to sit on Santa's lap...but he helped all our other kids wait in line, and he did wave "hi" to Santa.

We celebrated the holidays with cousins and family at Grandma Rollins' home. Even though someone always ends up getting hurt, the kids love sliding down the stairs together.

The kids patiently listened to a Christmas message while waiting to open presents.

We also enjoyed wandering through the Layton City lights with Jake & Quin and Steve & Alysha.
Such a fun time of year! Merry Christmas!

In January, we finally got enough snow to build a snowman.

Leia decided to name the snowman Uno because he's holding up one finger. Our kids loved having Daddy help them build a huge snowman.

Haaaalloween...Haaaalloween...Lots of fun with Halloween!

2011-10-30T12:45:00.012-06:00

We love the beautiful fall leaves up at Fernwood near Spencer's parents' home.

We enjoyed a nice nature walk on a sunny Sunday afternoon.

Such cute and fun kids, and what a handsome Daddy!

Grandma Collier took everyone on a fun hayride at Day Farms.

We enjoyed the fun ride, then we all got to choose a pumpkin from the pumpkin patch. My kids all wanted the largest pumpkins, so I got a bit of a workout carrying several huge pumpkins to the trailor.

Our kids enjoyed carving their own pumpkins this year (with just a little help from mom and dad). Leia and Peter both ended up getting cut a little, but they recovered once they had bandaids on their hands. Leia and Ammon wanted their jack-o-lanterns to look happy. Talmage and Peter wanted their pumpkins to be scary/happy. They all did a great job!

This year, I was Little Bo Peep and Spencer reluctantly agreed to be my sheep. He was so cute and a really good sport. He wore his sheep costume to the ward carnival and to our family party.

Ammon and his cousin, Caleb, both ended up being ninjas for Halloween.

Peter is our Little Stinker!

We enjoyed a fun Halloween Carnival with our ward this year.

Ammon and Leia had a tough time eating the doughnuts on a string.

Peter got to eat a doughnut on a string at the Halloween party at Grandma Rollins' house.

Spencer and Ben conducted several fun games at the Rollins Halloween party.
The kids loved wrapping each other up like mummys.

Talmage and Ammon wrapped up their cousins Caleb and Shaylee.

Leia and Leah loved playing together the whole night.

Our kids enjoyed going to Spencer's office on Halloween to show off their costumes and sing a few spooky songs. They loved singing "Mean old witch with a hat" and "Lots of fun with Halloween" to the office staff. Then we went to the Collier's Trunk-or-treat and saw several friends we know in their ward. Afterward, we rushed home so our kids could trick-or-treat in our own neighborhood. Sheep, Bo Peep, Darth Vader, Ninja, Witch, and Skunk all enjoyed a wonderful Halloween season!

Leia's & Ammon's Birthdays!

2011-09-23T15:53:00.012-06:00

We celebrated Leia's 9th and Ammon's 6th birthdays this week!

Leia invited several friends, and Ammon invited his favorite friend to a party at Grandma Collier's house. The weather was just warm enough for the kids to enjoy playing on the slip-n-slide.

After they were done sliding, they all piled into the hot tub. When they were dry, we went inside to eat pizza and cupcakes, play games and open presents. We all had a wonderful time!

Grandma Rollins arranged a fun night away for our family in Midway for Ammon's and Leia's birthdays. She even made them both their very own cakes. We stayed the night in the condo, then spent the next day playing together.

We went to Trafalga and enjoyed the fun rides and games. We all got soaked on the bumper, spray boats.

We raced around the slick-track. Spencer was, once again, the blocker.

Cute Leia and her cheezy mommy!

We like riding their ancient carousel.

All of our kids enjoyed climbing the rock wall. Talmage and Spencer raced to the top of the wall...I think the race ended in a tie.

The kids rode this ride over and over. I got a little nauseous just watching them go up and down forever.

We loved celebrating Ammon's and Leia's birthdays, and we're so grateful we have these two amazing kids in our family.

Labor Day Camping

2011-09-15T22:08:00.003-06:00

My Dad reserved the Valley View stake camp for the family over Labor Day weekend. We hiked through the beautiful campground with my parents. We ended up having a wonderful trip with the Colliers and the Rollins.

Our kids loved exploring through nature, finding all sorts of weapons and treasures.

Peter and the other kids worked hard collecting rocks and firewood.

Our kids loved sleeping in a tent on the hard ground.

We enjoyed time together and kept warm by the huge fire.

Clint is spinning Talmage in the tube. We all took turns rolling in the tube to see if we would get hurt...pretty smart.

We enjoyed tubing down the chilly Ogden River. We loved getting away from busy life for a few days!

Summer slips by

2011-08-18T12:17:00.002-06:00

At our house, everyone is dreading going back to school next week. We LOVE our summers! We have enjoyed many fun days at the park playing volleyball while the kids played in the truck-pool or "trool" as Spencer calls it. This photo shows the trool being emptied onto Isaac, Peter, Leia, and Jayne. Talmage, Ammon and Jeffrey sat in the pool and tried not to be washed away.

We have enjoyed several fun days boating at Pineview.

Talmage and Spencer had fun splashing each other on the knee-boards.

Spencer tried to get Leia to go with him outside of the wake. Leia was a little concerned about that idea.

Both Ammon and Peter were brave enough to knee-board this summer.

Peter is such a daring little boy. When he was about to knee-board, we told him to hold on really tight to the rope. But when the board slipped away from him, he continued holding onto the rope while submarining through the water. We were concerned when we heard Spencer scream, "Let GO!" Eventually, the rope slipped out of Peter's hands...and he was ready to try again.

Ammon and Leia enjoyed a nice, calm ride with Grandma Collier.

Then they endured a wild ride with crazy Grandpa.

Leia and Ammon relaxing after their hard work out on the water.

Our kids enjoyed a fun day at the County Fair. Peter loved feeding all of the animals.

Leia and Kat liked watching the baby goat stand on the larger one.

Talmage admired the horns on this huge animal.

Leia and Laura liked brushing this enormous cow.

Ammon didn't like feeding the animals because he didn't want to get their spit on his hands (just like his mom), but he enjoyed watching the tiny pigs.

We are sad to have our summer end, but we're already excited for Spencer's fun plans for Labor Day vacation.

Reid Ranch

2011-07-28T15:13:00.002-06:00

We enjoyed going to Reid Ranch for our biennial Pearson Family Reunion!

Peter, Ammon and Leia enjoyed exploring the outdoors, while Talmage's favorite activity was playing Risk and Mafia with all of his fun cousins.

Leia and Jayne rode the ponies every day of the trip. Their favorite pony was named Lady.

Ammon enjoyed the pony ride also. We thought it was a little odd that they were required to wear helmets and life jackets while riding the ponies, but we obeyed the rules anyway.

Peter had a huge grin on his face the whole time he rode on his pony.

Talmage was happy that he was able to take a longer horse ride with the adults. He enjoyed riding on Blackie.

Our family, and especially Spencer, loved competing in various sporting and gaming activities on this trip. We played horseshoes, soccer, board games...

Shuffleboard, clay pigeon shooting, card games...

Foosball, volleyball, random family games, swimming in the pool...

Talmage and Shaylee enjoyed archery. Eric, Spencer and Ben found out that Rob Anderson is the best archer in the family.

At the request of his Mom, Spencer wrote a short script of funny memories Joyce has of her parents. All of the Rollins family participated in performing the cute, funny skits. We enjoyed being silly, while becoming more familiar with our sweet Grandparents who have passed on.

We had fun on paddle boats and canoes, and even fished a little.

We were busy having so much fun, that Peter fell asleep at the dinner table more than once...not very comfortable sleeping arrangements, but he was clearly exhausted.

We loved partying with this crazy Rollins Family!

Play Day

2011-07-27T13:35:00.000-06:00

Talmage and Leia participated in a Drama Camp this summer. They performed in the play, "The Little Mermaid and the adventures of the Pirates of the Caribbean." Leia was thrilled to be a mermaid, one of Ariel's sisters.

Talmage was cast as Prince Eric, so he had a lot of lines to memorize. But he also got to play a pirate at the very beginning of the show.

Here Prince Eric is locked in jail by the wicked pirates. When the pirates leave, Talmage says, "Here, doggy, doggy" while trying to get the dog to bring him the keys to the jail cell.

Prince Eric and Princess Ariel.

Captain Jack Sparrow threatening the handsome Prince Eric.

Several beautiful mermaids, Leia on the right.

Almost the entire cast of the show. Leia is far to the right, while Talmage is closer to the left.

I was so proud of Talmage and Leia while watching their show. They both did a great job memorizing their lines, songs, and actions. They were stars!

Happy 4th!

2011-07-14T11:28:00.000-06:00

Spencer is the party planner at our house, and this year he planned the funnest Fourth of July weekend ever! We played endless hours of volleyball with our awesome family and friends.

We enjoyed a huge BBQ at the Rollins' home and then cooled off on the Ultimate Slip-n-Slide. The children played on the slide for a little while, then the rowdy big kids took over.

We all had a great time, and nobody got hurt very bad.

We enjoyed a traditional night of doing our own firworks at the park, where the big boys ended up throwing flaming flowers at each other. The rest of us tried to keep a distance from the dangerous boys, but we had to be ready to jump up and run in case a fireball came flying toward us.

We concluded our celebrations by watching the Clearfield City fireworks.

The next day Ammon asked, "Mom, when can we do all that fun stuff again?"

Oh, what do you do in the Summertime?

2011-06-09T13:58:00.002-06:00

These are our three amazing Lymans: Lyman Rollins, Lyman Val Rollins and Spencer Lyman Rollins. We love visiting with Great-Grandpa Rollins, he is so sweet and funny.

Leia did an excellent job performing in her first piano recital.

Ammon loved preschool this year. He's really going to miss his friend Isaac and his sweet teacher.

We enjoyed a fun trip to the Dinosaur Park with the Collier Grandparents and lots of fun cousins. Aaahh!

Grandpa thought he could go down the slide, just like the rest of the kids. He got stuck and had to shimmy down to get out of the tunnel.

We all had a fun time looking at the dinosaurs, and we didn't even lose any of the kids.

We made a fun trip to Park City for Memorial Day.

Talmage and Leia enjoyed riding on the zip line at the Olympic Park.

We all had an exciting ride down the new Quicksilver Alpine Slide. It was especially scary when snow started falling on the slide, and our brakes stopped working.

Spencer, my Dad and I were crazy enough to try bobsledding!

Before the ride, my dad was trying to make me nervous by saying that we would be going 70 miles an hour. I didn't think it would be too bad since I drive that fast all the time on the freeway. My opinion quickly changed as I was flying through the air, bracing myself and trying not to black out. I think my dad had the hardest time though, as he walked bowlegged away from the sled.

Our kids are enjoying swimming lessons this week. Peter especially loves wearing his new Spiderman swimsuit, and we enjoy hearing him sing about the superhero.

We are planning on spending a lot of time at Cherry Hill this summer with our season passes. We've already been twice and plan on soaking in more fun in the sun. Yeah, for summertime!

Happy Easter

2011-04-25T11:26:00.002-06:00

The Rollins family, after collecting tons of eggs at Grandma Collier's eggstravaganza!

The younger kids always get a head start on their egg hunt, but all of the grandchildren ended up with a full bucket of eggs filled with candy and coins.

Our cute Collier bunnies!

We enjoyed our other traditional egg hunt with the Pearson family.

All of these cousins had a great time scrambling for eggs.

Grandma Rollins couldn't resist getting Easter dresses for these beautiful girls: Shaylee, Miriam and Leia.

Leia wore this dress to church today when she sang "I know that my Redeemer Lives" with me in sacrament meeting. We enjoyed singing about the Savior on this special Easter Sunday.

Peter's Parties

2011-04-10T21:35:00.003-06:00

Peter turned three this week! We first considered going to Cherry Hill to celebrate, but then we were surprised with a snowstorm on his birthday.

The kids enjoyed building snowmen on this chilly April birthday. Talmage made hot chocolate for everyone after they finished playing in the snow.

We had a fun party with Peter's grandparents at our house where we played several of Peter's favorite games: Hullabaloo, Twister, balloon toss, puzzles, Go Fish, etc.

We also had a fun party with the Rollins family.

No, Peter's head isn't quite in the cake.

Peter enjoyed singing "Happy Birthday" to himself and blowing out candles. The cake used to say Peter's name, until he sneakily got his fingers in the frosting.

Our Peter is a tough little guy and is ready to wrestle anyone at anytime.

He definitely keeps us on our toes!

We absolutely adore our sweet Peter!
He often gives us big hugs and says, "I love you more."

We are so blessed to have this fun-loving, darling boy in our family!

Last Row!

2011-03-23T15:54:00.001-06:00

Have you ever been to the very top of the ESA? We have! We had several free tickets to a Jazz game, so we decided to take all of our kids. We knew we didn't have very good seats, but we ended up hiking all the way to the very last row in the whole arena.

We still cheered and had a great time with Grandma and Grandpa Collier.

My kids LOVE swimming in the hot tub with Grandpa! He encourages them to jump out and make snow angels and then run back to the warmth of the water. So fun!

We are very proud that Talmage earned his Arrow of Light this month.

He's getting so big...and so smart...and just wonderful!

California Dreamin'

2011-03-10T11:38:00.003-07:00

We just enjoyed five wonderful days in the beautiful California sun! We stayed in Newport Beach for the first couple days.

We went swimming several times in the many pools at our resort. Our kids couldn't get enough of the water, they were like fish. My favorite part of our vacation was playing and relaxing in Newport Beach.

Happy Peter and his Mommy!

Ammon said his favorite part of our trip was when Spencer had us all play tag at the playground at our resort. I guess we need to go to our playgrounds at home more often.

Talmage was the die-hard tetherball player in our family, but everyone took turns competing.

We played on the sand and in the ocean at Huntington Beach. Spencer and Talmage enjoyed boogie-boarding, while the rest of us jumped in the shallow waves. This picture shows Leia and Ammon trying to escape a large wave. Leia got away, but only Ammon's hat managed to stay on top of the water.

We hiked around the beautiful beaches at Crystal Cove. We ate lunch at a nice restaurant nearby, and as we were leaving we were surprised to be stopped by two different groups commenting on the good behavior of our children during the meal. We were pleasantly surprised...even though Peter was asleep during most of the meal.

We were able to explore strange sea life in the tide pools.

You can't take children to Southern California without making a trip to DISNEYLAND! We enjoyed two days at Disneyland going on rides, waiting in long lines, walking forever, trying not to lose anyone, and visiting with Mickey Mouse.

We spent one day at California Adventure. We enjoyed shorter lines and were happy for our whole family to be able to ride on most rides. We bought Peter some heeled hiking boots so he could be that extra inch taller that he needed. Talmage and Leia loved going on the wild rides. When we finished riding Space Mountain, the Tower of Terror and a few other scary rides, Peter would say, "I'm not going again."

We had so much fun! The worst incident that happened on our trip was when we were waiting in an especially long line, and the kids were getting restless. Then we heard a woman near us start screaming, "No...Noooo!" I frantically looked over expecting to see someone bleeding, but instead I saw Peter squeezing a little girl's juice box. I quickly pulled Peter away and apologized, but after the mother stopped yelling, the little girl started screaming. Spencer wanted to offer a couple dollars for the spilled juice, but the mother was too furious to look at us as her little girl cried. We felt really bad...especially bad as we had to continue passing them as we weaved through the line.

We only got a couple photos of me and Spencer, Talmage and Leia insisted on taking them.

These wild kids are bustin' out!

Talmage and Leia were such great helpers on this trip. They pushed Ammon and Peter in strollers the majority of the time at the theme parks.

We are so grateful for Spencer for planning this wonderful family vacation!

Holiday Hoopla!

2011-01-07T16:38:00.000-07:00

We've been so busy partying, that we haven't had time to write about our fun. We enjoyed another wonderful Chrismas with our families. Here are all the Rollins grandchildren attempting a pyramid.

Here are the "big boys" showing us how a pyramid should be. Spencer, his four brothers and his Dad enjoying good times together.

We enjoyed welcoming in the new year with loud poppers and pans.

Peter loved banging on a pan, and not getting in trouble for doing it.

We exhausted ourselves by constantly playing for the last two weeks. We had fun racing on the slick track. Spencer loved blocking everyone else trying to speed by him. The older kids were able to race also (Peter just liked wearing a helmet).

We enjoyed a fun morning of snow sledding and then headed to the Nickelcade to play and warm up.

We sure love our strong horsey/Grandpa Collier!

We feel very blessed to be able to enjoy so much fun, family time together.

Amusing Ammon

2010-12-16T16:40:00.002-07:00

We all adore our outrageous 5-year-old Ammon.

A few days ago Leia, Ammon and Peter were eating Spaghetti O's. I noticed Leia had dripped some on her pants and told her to wash it off. Then I saw that Peter had spilled tomato sauce all over his shirt. Ammon looked down at his clothes and said, "Look Mom, I'm clean as a whistle!" I'm not sure where he heard that phrase, but he was definitely clean.

With our active children, we have frequent spills at our house. I find myself expressing gratitude when the spill is "just water." I guess Ammon had been listening to me, because the first thing he said after he dropped a jar of pickles all over the kitchen floor was, "At least it's just pickle juice."

Ammon LOVES going to preschool! Everyday when I drop him off at school, he makes the "I love you" sign with his hand and holds it up toward me as he runs to his school with his little backpack swinging behind him. I love dropping him off at school!

Sometimes I am frustrated having to tell my kids to do things over and over. Last week I had repeatedly told Ammon to do something, and in frustration I exclaimed, "I've told you that a million times!" Ammon calmly looked at me and said, "no, only like a hundred times." I guess he was probably right.

Family Time

2010-11-21T20:47:00.001-07:00

We had a fun evening this weekend at the Deseret Mill with Spencer's family. We canned food for our own food-storage and did a little service too. We love working and playing with our family.

Peter wasn't the most helpful worker in the factory,
but he sure was cute in his little hair net.

My kids love spending time with their grandparents and cousins. The other night, my parents were leaving our house after spending a fun day with us. The kids were begging them to stay, and Ammon said to me,

"I'm gonna miss those two...I wish they could sleep over."

Halloween!

2010-11-01T14:29:00.003-06:00

We had a wonderful Halloween this year! The rain came just in time for trick-or-treating, but that didn't stop us. The kids had a great time collecting candy at a trunk-or-treat with Jake and Quin's family.

Spencer and I got into the holiday spirit this year and dressed up.

Spencer was Flash Gordon and I was a Cheetah.

After loading up on tons of treats, we headed over to the Rollins' home for an exciting, spooky party. We enjoyed playing games, eating food and visiting with family and friends. Peter and Zoey were so cute dressed as a fairy and a skunk!

We love Halloween! So, ya better watch out, or we'll scare you! Boo!

Fright Nights

2010-10-28T17:04:00.002-06:00

We've enjoyed several fun evenings this fall at Frightmares. The kids loved trick-or-treating and walking through the little corn maze.

We made the mistake of taking our whole family into one of the scary haunted houses. Hopefully, our children won't be scarred for life.

Leia the butterfly, Peter the bee, and Talmage the spider.

Ammon was really excited to ride the zebra, and it shows!

While we're at Lagoon, we always have to get in a few stomach-turning rides.

We love it!

Wedding Day

2010-10-27T22:05:00.001-06:00

We had a wonderful day last week celebrating my youngest brother's wedding. Steve and Alysha are so cute and happy together.

All of the Collier kids are now married. "We're so old", Steve would say.

Some things never change. Aren't Spencer and Anthony so hot!?

Steve and Alysha's wedding really brought back memories for us. They had their reception in the same place we did, and they were married two days before our twelfth anniversary.

We enjoyed remembering the good-old-days as we sang together at the reception. I can't believe we've already been married twelve years!
I sure love my Spency-Baby!

Terrible or Terrific Twos?

2010-10-15T12:25:00.005-06:00

We had an exciting day yesterday! Our darling two-year-old seemed to get into everything!

While I was working on some primary stuff, Peter dumped a whole container of Quik pink milk powder all over the kitchen floor. A little water got into it and the entire floor was sticky, with little footprints tracked all over.

After scrubbing the floor and bathing the boy, I wiped up the bathroom floor that he had splashed water all over during his bath.

We needed to make cupcakes yesterday, so I thought Peter could help put the cupcake wrappers in the pan. When I turned around, the whole stack of wrappers was completely smashed and had to be thrown away.

While I was trying to get everyone else ready and dressed for the day, Peter decided he wanted to eat another cupcake. He climbed on the counter and dropped the messy cupcake onto the recently scrubbed kitchen floor. He then climbed down and ate the cupcake while smearing it all over his third outfit of the day.

I took him upstairs to wash in my bathroom sink. While I was getting some more clean clothes for him, he somehow flooded my vanity, including the drawers and cupboard, with water.

When we were all finally dressed and ready to leave, Peter walked up to me and Talmge completely naked except for his sandals. Talmage gasped in shock. Peter proudly stated, "I naked."

I dressed the boy for the fourth or fifth time that day, and we finally made it out of the house late in the afternoon. Then I looked in the backseat to find this perfect angel sitting behind me.

Leia's Baptism

2010-10-11T09:54:00.002-06:00

We are so proud of our beautiful princess for becoming a member of the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-Day Saints. She has been looking forward to this day for a long time.

Leia was blessed to have her Dad baptize and confirm her. After her confirmation, she sang "I'm trying to be like Jesus." Her angelic voice was perfect as she shared her testimony in song.

We enjoyed feeling the love and support of our wonderful family and friends in celebrating this special occasion.

Holding Hands

2010-10-11T09:42:00.000-06:00

I recently overheard this conversation between Leia and her cousin Luke.

"Luke, lets hold hands while we're swinging."

Luke replies, "what, you want to date me or something?"

Leia says, "no, it's just fun holding hands."

Funny, silly kids!

Soccer Season

2010-09-29T14:08:00.001-06:00

For the past couple months, our kids have been enjoying playing soccer. We've been cheering at six soccer games each week! I'm quite excited to have the season over with Talmage's last game tomorrow night.

Talmage has been a star player on his team this year, he scores a goal at most games. Leia runs fast and plays hard and enjoys playing goalie. Ammon also enjoys playing goalie, but he doesn't care too much for the running fast part yet. Peter is great at cheering. As soon as we sit down by the field, he starts yelling, "Go, Go, Go!"

We really enjoyed attending BYU's first game this season! The rest of the games haven't been quite as rewarding, but we still love our Cougs!

Ammon is Five!

2010-09-27T12:04:00.001-06:00

We spent a fun evening at Chuck E. Cheese's celebrating Ammon's birthday. We loved having the Rollins and Collier grandparents enjoy the chaotic party with us. Ok, this picture was actually taken at Boondocks, but we had fun there too, just a few weeks earlier.

Pajama Party!

2010-09-27T11:50:00.000-06:00

We had a fun pajama party for Leia's 8th birthday! We had 12 crazy girls doing each other's hair, getting their nails done, playing freeze dance, eating ice cream sundaes, running around screaming just for fun, etc.

We don't do sleep-overs, so we thought this was the perfect compromise.

Our boys enjoyed a night at Fat Cats, so we could have just a silly, girly night. My mom helped with the party so I didn't go crazy all by myself. I think we all had a great time!

Shower Surprise

2010-08-16T11:56:00.000-06:00

The other day, I turned on the shower to let the water warm up, then walked away for a minute. When I came back to get in, I found Peter enjoying my nice, warm shower with his diaper and pants on--little stinker!

Peter can sleep anywhere!

2010-08-01T15:59:00.002-06:00

Luckily, we noticed him sleeping before he fell off these stools.

How comfortable does that look?

He really wanted to finish his cupcake, but just couldn't stay awake.

I am totally jealous of this boy's sleeping ability!

I wish I could sleep anywhere, anytime.

Bear Lake #2

2010-07-17T15:45:00.006-06:00

We were lucky to make another fun trip to Bear Lake this week. We went with Spencer's family this time. We enjoyed boating, water-skiing and riding on the "big banana" (the nicest name anyone could come up with).

Spencer, John and the kids enjoyed making sand castles, villages and pyramids.

Dan took us to a shooting range and taught us all how to safely use firearms.

Even Talmage was able to learn how to shoot our 22.

This was my first time ever shooting a real gun. The shotgun was heavier than I expected, and I almost fell backward from the recoil of my first shot. Cole and Tammy were much better than I was at hitting the clay pigeons.

Spencer was very proud of his clay pigeon throwing abilities. We all had a great time learning how to shoot safely!

Talmage is very good at climbing rock walls, he easily climbed to the top of this wall and pushed the button at the top that sounds off a siren to notify everyone that the climber has reached the top.

After watching Talmage, Peter decided he wanted to climb the wall also. We got him all strapped in, and he climbed up about two steps and then got scared and got down. We encouraged him to try again, but he refused. When we finally got him unstrapped and started to walk away, he decided he wanted to try again. We spent the next half hour listening to Peter scream, "I push the button!!"

While staying at Ideal Beach, we played a few competitive games of mini golf. I think Spencer, Clint and Ben ended up winning the different golf games.

We hadn't been to Minnetonka for a few years, so we went through the cave with the Achters and Clint. We were pretty chilly even with our jackets, but all of the kids were tough and made it all the way through the cave. After our spelunking, we headed to Bloomington Canyon to hike up to the lake where the brave boys swung on the rope into the lake.

We loved laughing at the funny show at the Pickleville Playhouse. The kids especially enjoyed the silly bunny!

We enjoyed a nice afternoon riding surreys with the whole family. Spencer initiated a few wild races during the ride, but we all escaped the adventure unharmed. We loved spending time with our family up at Bear Lake this summer and hope to be able to do it all over again next year.

Bear Lake #1

2010-06-30T11:22:00.005-06:00

We are making two trips to Bear Lake this year. We enjoyed our camping trip with my family last week. We stopped on our way through Logan canyon to walk into some small caves and feel the cold spring water. My kids love exploring with Grandpa!

Ammon and Peter loved riding on Grandpa's boat, and they even took a calm ride with me on the tomcat.

Talmage enjoyed knee-boarding several times in the chilly Bear Lake water. He's very good at it!

We had fun hiking through the Paris Ice Caves. All four of my brave children climbed through the icey, snowy darkness of the caves.

This is the smallest section of the caves that we crawled through. (Well, I'm sure Steve found some other scary cracks to squeeze through.) Ammon kept his lucky feather with him at all times.

Talmage and Grandpa found another exit from the caves that the rest of us chose not to follow.

We always enjoy hiking up to Bloomington Lake, the glacier pools are so beautiful.

The lake was still mostly covered in ice because we made our trip earlier in the summer this year. Talmage and Steve were the only two psychos crazy enough to swing out into the frozen water.

At Bear Lake we always have to make time to build a few sandcastles on the beach. You just have to build fast before Peter comes and stomps on your castle.

Some of the nicest time camping is spent sitting and chatting by the campfire. We loved our first trip this year to Bear Lake! My kids loved spending time with their cousins, sleeping in a tent, and following clues to prizes from the Collier Clan Culprit (Grandma). We are excited to head out to Bear Lake again in a couple weeks with the Rollins Family.

Summertime...an' the livin' is easy

2010-06-15T19:26:00.003-06:00

I love summer vacation!

I love having my kids home from school!

I love being able to stay home and relax if we choose,

or going out to play if we want.

We had fun at the drive-in movie theater last night! We kept the kids out until about 2:30am, but it's alright beause it's summer! My parents stayed for both movies even though they both had to work the next morning. I think Steve and Alysha bailed around 1am, wimps!

Ok, most of the drive-in was fun, minus freezing through the second movie and Peter puking all over as we were leaving.

We played a non-competitive game of glow-in-the-dark mini golf at Fat Cats the other day.

We've enjoyed going to swimming lessons everyday and playing in the outside pool afterward! Talmage and Leia are excellent swimmers, and Ammon comes home singing "Motor Boat" or "The Hokey Pokey" after every lesson.

Today we made our first trip of the year to Lagoon.
We're excited to make good use of our season passes.

We were chilly at Lagoon-a-beach, so this little Ammon-creature decided to bundle up in the stroller after swimming.

So much fun and we've only been on summer break for
a week and a half!

Talmage is Ten!

2010-06-03T09:21:00.000-06:00

I can't believe my little boy is already ten years old. He is so big and sweet and amazing!

We enjoyed celebrating his birthday with several of his friends at the Syracuse Family Fun Center. The boys enjoyed bowling, eating pizza and brownies, and playing arcade games, but their favorite activity was playing laser tag!

We also enjoyed several family birthday celebrations at Grandparents' houses, watching the new Shrek movie, playing volleyball at the church, and eating at restaurants. We are so grateful to have our fun-loving Talmage!

Getting Older

2010-05-17T14:11:00.005-06:00

"When I look at your cheeks, it looks like you're one hundred. When I look at my cheeks, it looks like I'm ten." It's always "flattering" to hear things like that from my four-year-old. Although, I guess he more than doubled his own age also.

Then last night Spencer commented on how we both look older in our new family photos. Oh well, I guess you can't always look like you're 21 years old.

Grocery Check-out Line

2010-05-10T11:23:00.004-06:00

Checking out at the grocery store is always somewhat stressful for me. I frequently use price-matching and coupons at Walmart, so the cashiers are usually not very excited to help me in the first place. Then, I always have Ammon and Peter as my helpers.

It's good that Peter is buckled into the cart so he can't go anywhere, but I have had to run from the check-out stand several times to search for my blond child who has run away. Luckily, I usually find him looking at the cartoon pictures on the redbox machine.

Ammon likes to help move the groceries in and out of the cart. Occasionally that is helpful, but usually I'm too worried about the eggs or bread being smashed.

This week at the grocery store, Peter found something in my purse that kept him quite entertained during the check-out process. I looked over at him and saw a bright light flashing around him. He had a nice time snapping photos of himself while quietly waiting for Mommy to pay for the food.

Blue Blood

2010-05-06T14:42:00.002-06:00

A few weeks ago, we enjoyed a fun Saturday activity down at the BYU campus. The kids (and Spencer) were able to get autographs and play catch with several of the football players.

Then we watched the team practice in preparation for the exciting games coming in the fall.

Peter is already a True Blue Cougar fan, like his Dad!

We had a fun time at the Edwards Stadium with Niki and her kids and Spencer's Mom. Go BYU!!

My Baby is 2 Years Old!!

2010-04-09T13:03:00.002-06:00

Peter's birthday was yesterday and I can't believe my baby is already two! He is such a smart boy and very good at talking. Whenever he walks by anyone (at the store, church, etc.) he always says hi. Whenever he hears people laughing, he starts laughing too even though he usually doesn't know why. When he wants you to hold him, he reaches out his arms and says, "I hode you me."

We celebrated his birthday with bowling, pizza, cake, grandparents and family. Peter gives wonderful hugs, enjoys singing, likes reading and loves wrestling with his brothers. We are very grateful to have him in our family!

Egg Hunting

2010-04-08T11:48:00.004-06:00

We enjoyed this chilly Easter by searching for lots of eggs with family. Grandma Collier always arranges a fun egg hunt at a park by her house.

Peter and Jashon picked up a few eggs, then sat down to enjoy their treats.

Uncle Jake and uncle Steve usually hide the eggs, so finding them can be quite an adventure. Talmage worked really hard to get the eggs out of this tree and I was really glad he didn't fall.

Here are all twelve of the Collier Grandchildren enjoying the fun Easter party.

We were spoiled again at the Pearson/Rollins family egg hunt at a park in Roy.

On Easter Sunday we enjoyed listening to conference at the Rollins' home, and the kids opened special eggs that described the Atonement of Jesus Christ. We are filled with gratitude as we ponder the sacrifices and love our Savior has given us. We are also grateful to be able to spend so much quality time with our families, especially during the holidays.

Happy Easter!

Goin' to the Moon

2010-03-25T19:55:00.000-06:00

We enjoyed a fun trip to the Planetarium in Salt Lake with some friends last week. The kids loved walking on the Moon. Leia even talked me into letting her miss school so she could come with us on our trip. (One reason I let her come is because Talmage was going snowboarding that day for a school field trip, and Leia couldn't stand that everyone else was doing something fun without her.)

Leia, Ammon and Peter also enjoyed walking on Mars with many of their friends from our neighborhood.

They practiced being meteorologists. Leia makes a really cute weather girl.

We even rode on the FrontRunner for our first time back and forth from SLC. We had a fun day, and I don't even feel bad for letting Leia skip school, she learned more at the museum than she probably would have in first grade that day.

The Most Peaceful Time of Day

2010-03-16T12:24:00.001-06:00

I love spending time with my kids, but they seem so angelic when they're sleeping!

Talmage sleep-standing

I don't know how Leia can sleep like this!

Ammon, Talmage & Leia resting after a fun day at Disneyland

Our sweet little Peter with the dirty laundry

Talmage and Leia snoozing together

Somehow, our little 1-year-old Leia took a nap in this position.

Such quiet little angels, while they're sleeping!

Deja Vu

2010-02-20T22:42:00.002-07:00

Four months ago Ammon got the flu, was sick for a few days, then started having breathing problems. We took him to Wee Care, they tested his oxygen and then rushed him over to the ER. Ammon had to stay in the hospital for three days trying to feel better and get his oxygen levels back up.

That was the first time we've ever had one of our children stay in the hospital, and we never wanted to do it again!

Last week Peter got the flu, was sick for a few days, then started having breathing problems. We took him to Wee Care, they tested his oxygen and then rushed him over to the ER. Peter had to stay in the hospital for three days trying to feel better and get his oxygen levels back up.

So weird and sad, poor boys!

That's the best smellin' barf I've ever cleaned up!

2010-02-18T20:01:00.001-07:00

This poor baby has a bad cough, mild fever, runny nose, pink eye, and he just threw up. Fortunately for me, the only things he's eaten today are strawberries, fruit snacks and orange juice. His puke didn't smell too bad, just kinda fruity.

Grandma's Crazy Idea

2010-02-16T23:13:00.000-07:00

My mom is always thinking of creative, fun things for our kids to do. Last Friday she planned for our kids to go sledding. Unfortunately, most of our snow had melted. So Amelia and I suggested roller blading or riding scooters. But Grandma decided to bring the sleds, just in case.

Of course, the kids thought sledding on a tiny pile of snow on the sidewalk was a fabulous idea. There go Leia and Peter along the cement.

The kids were not at all discouraged with the lack of snow. They slid along the concrete again and again.

We finally took the kids to a nearby hill with a little more snow on it. They were completely drenched from the wet snow because I had them dressed for riding scooters, but they had a fantastic time. Never doubt the great ideas from Grandma!

Talmage helped Peter the whole time, what a wonderful big brother.

Mountain Goats

2010-02-04T09:37:00.000-07:00

I am used to Ammon climbing all over the place, but recently I found Peter standing on top of Ammon's dresser. Of course, as soon as Ammon saw, he had to join Peter on top of the furniture. My silly little mountain goats!

Number 33!

2010-02-03T15:45:00.008-07:00

Spencer and I enjoyed our 33rd birthdays! For our birthday celebrations, we both chose to go out to dinner without our kids one night, and then play volleyball with our family and friends the next day. Grandpa Rollins took everyone out to lunch after playing volleyball. We had a great time even though we were stinky and sweaty from volleyball!

The day after my birthday, I went to dinner and a show at the Desert Star Theater with seven other fun ladies from my ward. We had such a fun, silly time!

My Dad keeps asking me if I feel old because I turned 33 last week. I always answer...No! I feel great! (My Dad also keeps asking me when I'm going to have another baby. I always answer...None of your business!)

Party Pounds

2010-01-27T14:20:00.006-07:00

For the last few months we have been constantly eating and partying. We started with Thanksgiving and continued pigging out all through December, and then both of our birthdays are in January so there's lots of cake and restaurant meals to be eaten. We've enjoyed all of this gluttony, but now we need to get started on a strenuous exercise plan to take care of all these extra pounds. Volleyball anyone?

(Ha ha John, your eyes are closed!)

Phoenix

2010-01-18T17:10:00.003-07:00

Spencer and I were lucky to enjoy a quick trip to Phoenix this weekend. We celebrated Spencer's Grandpa's 90th birthday. He is such a cute little cowboy!

We love spending time with Grandpa Rollins, he has such great stories to tell. Spencer and I sang a silly song in the family talent show about the time Grandpa traded their refrigerator for a horse and how unhappy Grandma Lois was when she found out. The song was to the tune, "There's a hole in my bucket".

We enjoyed going to Grandpa's ward and then took some nice photos of the handsome Rollins men.

Grandpa Rollins has trained horses his whole life. I was able to go to my first horse race while we were in Phoenix. Spencer bet a couple dollars on his Grandpa's and his cousin's horses and was proud that he won about forty dollars.

I had a fun time with Spencer, John and Nate riding around in the cart, touring Grandpa's ranch.

We enjoyed visiting the horses on Grandpa's ranch. I was a little nervous at first, but Spencer talked me into petting a couple horses.

Our kids were happy to stay at Grandma Collier's house while Spencer and I were gone the two days. We didn't have much time for shopping, so their only souvenirs were the free hats we got at the race track.

Big Ball

2010-01-09T10:01:00.000-07:00

My kids love playing with my big exercise ball, but Leia and Peter found out that it can be a little dangerous when they bonked heads while climbing on the ball. Peter had a huge purple goose-egg on his forehead, and Leia's head was bruised too even though you can't see it in the photo. Crazy Kids!

Our Family Christmas

2010-01-04T21:04:00.006-07:00

On Chrismas Eve, our kids were lucky to be able to visit with Santa with both their Collier and Rollins Grandparents and cousins. Peter absolutely loved seeing "Ho Ho Ho"!

We were extremely surprised Christmas morning this year, when Spencer and I were the first ones to wake up. We were actually able to shower and get ready before the kids came running into our room. It was good that the kids got a good nights sleep, because we had a long, exciting, fun day ahead of us.

Our kids enjoyed opening their presents and giving their presents to each other at home. We asked Ammon what his favorite present was and he excitedly replied that it was his new sword from Leia (from the $1 store), not the new DS from Santa.

After we finished Christmasing at home, we spent the rest of the day celebrating with Grandparents and family. Ammon and Caleb were so cute playing their new Buzz Lightyear games in their new Buzz Lightyear pajamas.

Grandma Rollins always gives everyone cute matching pajamas for Christmas. Shaylee and Leia loved their fuzzy new jammies.

Uncle Nathan is really good at making Scrooge faces, but he sure had a big smile when the wrapping paper wrestling match started!

All the big kids and little kids rolled around, throwing wrapping paper and boxes at each other. Peter continued rolling and wrestling longer than anyone else. We are very grateful for all the fun time we are able to spend with our families, especially during the holidays!

Christmas Cheer!

2009-12-24T15:10:00.006-07:00

We have thoroughly enjoyed the Christmas season this year! This photo shows us participating in a fun sing-along at the ESA in SLC. My Dad got there early and saved us ten seats on the front row, only my Dad would be bold enough to fight off those crowds all by himself (ok maybe Spencer too). We had lots of fun singing and eating free hot dogs with Clint and my parents.

We love beautiful Christmas decorations! Peter has been pointing and shouting, "pretty" everywhere he sees Christmas lights all month.

After the sing-along, my parents came with us to see the beautiful lights at Temple Square.

We love visiting the gorgeous temple grounds every year. This December we've also enjoyed going to the John Schmidt concert and the Forgotten Carols with Spencer's family--They were fabulous, thanks Val and Joyce!

Talmage and Leia performed in their school's Christmas Program. There were way too many people at the performance (the Fire Captain even came and made some people leave to clear the walkways), but Talmage and Leia gave a nice performance. We especially enjoyed when Talmage took off his Santa hat and used it as a puppet to sing a few songs.

The Best Christmas Pageant Ever

2009-12-20T08:24:00.002-07:00

Every December we like to act out the Chritmas story with our kids. We usually have a challenging time staying focused on the story, but this year was especially exciting. Leia was, of course, Mary. Peter was Joseph because Talmage really wanted to be the donkey. Ammon ended up having a dual roll of shepherd and wiseman.

The story started nicely with Grandpa reading from Luke, Joseph leading the donkey with Mary on its back, and the wonderful angel bringing glad tidings (I was the angel, of course). But for some reason, halfway to Bethlehem Joseph started trying to bite the donkey, so it was a very bumpy ride for Mary. Once they arrived in the stable, the donkey had to take over reading from the scriptures because he couldn't stop wrestling with the shepherd. In the end, it was quite evident that Mary and Joseph both loved the newborn babe as they tugged and fought over who got to hold the child. The Christmas story becomes more and more interesting each year in our family.

Frozen Fun!

2009-12-06T09:35:00.003-07:00

Our kids were very excited to look out the window and see the winter wonderland yesterday. Talmage and Leia got out all the snow clothes and dressed themselves, and Ammon and Peter too. It usually takes twice as long to get everyone bundled as it does for the kids to play out in the snow, and yesterday was no exception. They enjoyed the fluffy powder and then were happy to come inside and warm up with chicken-noodle soup and hot chocolate.

Thankful for Thanksgiving

2009-12-05T07:29:00.003-07:00

We enjoyed a wonderful Thanksgiving day at my parents' house this year. The dinner was delicious, the weather was beautiful, and the kids enjoyed playing in the back yard with Grandpa Collier. Later in the afternoon, we even got to play some volleyball with friends and family at a nearby church. A perfect day!

New Moon!!

2009-11-20T21:06:00.000-07:00

I went with some friends to the midnight showing of "New Moon" last night. Stephanie and I made "Team Edward" shirts to wear on the big night (my shirt says I love sparkly vampires). There were about 20 ladies there from our ward at our Syracuse theater. It was so funny to see all the crazy silliness with people fighting over seats, women screaming for Edward or Jacob throughout the movie, and fans willing to humiliate themselves to win Twilight memorabilia. The movie was sooo good and we had such a fun girly night!

Oompa Loompa!

2009-11-11T14:31:00.001-07:00

Peter insisted on smearing his spaghetti all over his face, by the end of the meal he looked just like an oompa loompa to me.

Not the usual Halloween

2009-11-11T10:10:00.000-07:00

We were lucky that my Mom planned a Halloween party in the middle of October, so we were still able to have some Halloween fun even though we were sick at the end of the month. My kids and Adam's kids are here having fun together: Ammon, Laura, Rachel, Katherine, Leia, Tommy, Talmage, and Peter. They were able to go trick-or-treating to the many rooms in my parent's house, where us adults were waiting to hand out treats from Grandma. The kids loved it!

Peter and Rachel are very cute together, even though Tigger kept trying to tackle Tinker Bell.

Spencer took Leia, Talmage and Peter trunk-or-treating for about 20 minutes Halloween night. Ammon and I were still resting from H1N1. The next morning Ammon was rushed to the hospital with serious breathing problems. He spent three days at Primary Children's trying to get his oxygen levels back to normal. He is happy to be home now and feeling much better.

We have it and we don't like it!

2009-10-29T03:07:00.000-06:00

The flu has struck the Rollins household. First, Leia came home from school not feeling well on Friday. By Saturday night, she was coughing so hard she was throwing up and could barely breathe. She's had a fever off and on for the last five days. Then Tuesday, Peter started with a fever and the ugly chest bark. Sure enough, Ammon and I ended up sick on Wednesday. We won't be celebrating the usual Halloween festivities this year: Leia was devastated last night when she had to miss the Ward Fall Carnival, today I will be missing Talmage's class party that I was in charge of planning, most of us will miss the Rollins family party tomorrow night, and we're not sure if there will be any trick-or-treating for us this year. Hopefully, Talmage and Spencer can stay healthy and not endure this yucky sickness.

A Fun Fall Hike

2009-10-26T09:33:00.001-06:00

Look at those tough hikers and one very nice behind!

We enjoyed a beautiful hike through the fall leaves in Adam's canyon, even though it ended up taking a little longer than we expected.

My Dad told us he completed this hike with three kids in a couple hours, but we're quite certain they didn't make it all the way to the falls--right Dad!? We finished the hike in about three and a half hours. About an hour into the hike, I was singing the Pioneer Children walking song to keep the kids going. This is the point where we think my Dad's hike ended. Talmage, Leia and Ammon were still happy even though they all ended up with wet feet from slipping on rocks in the river.

Spencer's strength was quite impressive as he carried this 27 pound chub-a-lub all the way to the falls and back.

Talmage was a great helper and he carried the water for all of us throughout the whole hike.

The waterfall was very beautiful and worth the long hike to me, but I'm not sure if my kids would say the same. I think we'll wait a couple years before we try that hike again. But I'm very proud that we made it with four little ones, and that we were still smiling when we got back to the van.

Frightening Frightmares

2009-10-25T20:07:00.000-06:00

We enjoyed a fun evening at Lagoon, even though we didn't make it to most of the scary stuff. The spook alleys and terror rides were a little too scary for us this year. But we loved the trick-or-treating and the kids even liked the singing chainsaw zombies. I liked reminding the kids that their Dad used to sing and dance in the fun Lagoon shows.

Peter the Astronaut

Leia the Butterfly, Talmage the Bumblebee and Ammon the Spider

Talmage just Hangin' around :)

Talmage and Leia as Aladdin and Jasmine-- Aladdin seems quite happy about all this :)

Poor Fourth Child

2009-10-09T13:56:00.000-06:00

I guess by the time the fourth child comes around, Mom is so busy that he gets a little neglected. When Peter got tired today, the poor baby had to resort to taking a nap in the dirty-clothes basket. He's such a cute, funny boy!

Two Big Birthdays!

2009-09-22T13:14:00.000-06:00

We had a fun birthday weekend! Ammon's birthday was on Saturday and Leia's was on Sunday. We enjoyed a fun family party at Boondocks.

Peter, Ammon, Leia and her friend loved climbing in the huge play place.
Talmage loved racing on the slick track. You can see Talmage ahead of Spencer, who is blocking uncle Clint.

The kids also enjoyed spraying each other on the bumper boats. Talmage and Ammon were battling against Leia and Katie. Our kids are growing so fast and they are so much fun!

Over 1,000 Pounds

2009-09-11T13:06:00.000-06:00

This morning when my kids were getting ready for school, the boys were taking turns weighing themselves. They all stood on the scale together and were amazed at how much they weighed. Then they told me it was my turn. I reluctantly stepped onto the scale while they all watched and then said, "Woew"! Talmage asked me how high the scale could measure. I said I wasn't sure, maybe 300 or so. He replied that I weighed over 1,000 pounds and it still worked. Shocked, I said I don't weigh that much, and then I reminded him about the decimal point on our scale.

Today at my step aerobics and weight training classes, I made sure I worked extra hard so my son wouldn't think that I weigh more than 1,000 pounds!

Good old Bear Lake

2009-09-08T10:14:00.000-06:00

Since we moved back to Utah (about 6 years ago), we have gone to Bear Lake at least once every summer. Somehow, we didn't end up going this summer, so we decided to make a short trip up this Labor Day weekend. We had fun playing on the sandy beach.

Spencer dragged me and the kids to the Oregon Trail Museum, but we all ended up liking it even though we didn't think we would. The kids enjoyed the simulated wagon ride and the old-fashioned cash registers they got to play with.

We swam at the Ideal Beach pool after playing on the beach.

We love hiking up to Bloomington Lake--one of the beautiful glacier pools in a nearby canyon. Spencer and Talmage are always brave and swing on the long rope and drop into the chilly water. This year Spencer even talked me into swinging on the rope. It took me a while before I could breathe in the icy water, but it was really fun! Leia and Ammon said they wanted to try, but I told them they needed to wait a few more years.

We love good old Bear Lake!

I yuv you!

2009-08-27T09:26:00.000-06:00

I had a wonderful conversation with Ammon as I held him after he woke up this morning:

Ammon: I yuv you a million times, Mom.
Mom: I love you a million times, Ammon.
Ammon: I yuv you a billion times.
Mom: I love you a trillion times.
Ammon: I yuv you a billion, billion, trillion times.
Mom: I love you infinity.
Ammon: I yuv you infinity and beyond!

I like Buzz Lightyear even more now! I'm such a lucky Mom!

Aspen Grove

2009-08-17T08:46:00.000-06:00

We enjoyed a fun Pearson family reunion (Spencer's Mom's family) in Aspen Grove last week. We're all wearing our reunion shirts in this photo. We love Aspen Grove because we have lots of family time, and we also have time where the kids get to go to different groups and participate in fun activities while the parents get to do their own thing for a few hours each day.

Nathan and Spencer had fun competing in the championship horseshoe game. Nathan ended up taking the win. But Spencer was happy to be the shuffleboard champion of the week. Unfortunately, we were humbled on this trip in our volleyball and racquetball skills. We thought we were pretty good, but we played against others who were much, much better--but we still had a lot of fun playing!

Aspen Grove is owned and run by BYU, so on Sunday we enjoyed a nice sacrament meeting in their outdoor amphitheater.

We were busy the entire week, trying to fit in as many fun things as we could: Volleyball, racquetball, air rifle shooting, shuffleboard competing (Spencer and I competed together in the doubles shuffleboard championship game, but Val and Joyce won in he end), interesting lectures, hiking, ropes course/wall climbing, late-night game playing, no cooking or dish washing, singing in a family talent show, frolicing in the pool, playing family field games, mini golfing, playground playing, etc. We were completely exhausted at the end of each day. I even fell asleep in the middle of the day in a very uncomfortable chair while watching a rousing game of horseshoes.

Talmage was very good at climbing the rock wall. He did the two most difficult climbs and went all the way to the top on both.

The Rollins Family! We loved this wonderful family reunion!

The Bangs are Back!

2009-08-02T18:23:00.000-06:00

I have resisted having bangs for the last 15 years or so, but I finally gave in and had some cut recently. I had been pondering over this decision since I went to this "fabulous" hair stylist a few months ago, who told me that I might want to do something about that billboard on my forehead. (He is actually an amazing stylist, just maybe a little too honest about his opinion.) I blame my fear of bangs on my hair situation when I was in Jr. High--notice the scary 7th and 8th grade photos! I never wanted to go back to using Aqua Net, a blow dryer and a curling iron every morning. I guess my hair change is not that drastic, but for me it was quite a step.

Pineview Partying

2009-07-13T09:22:00.000-06:00

The day after Spencer and I returned from our trip, we left for a camping trip with my family to Pineview Reservoir. We loved playing in the water: skiing, knee-boarding, wake-boarding and tomcat riding! Go Spencer and Talmage on the tomcat!

I enjoyed a calm ride on the tomcat with all of my children.

Crazy Talmage, Leia, Ammon and Gabe had a fun ride together.

Grandma provided the kids with swords that they enjoyed battling with every chance they got.

We all enjoyed each others company playing games, eating dutch-oven cooking and Grandpa's fried eggs, boating, beach playing, campfire story telling, etc. Thanks Mom and Dad for another fun family trip.

Time Away!

2009-07-13T08:31:00.000-06:00

Last week Spencer and I enjoyed a rare get-away with just the two of us. We were able to go to a beautiful resort in Punta Cana in the Dominican Republic. We loved every minute of our fun vacation, and we're so grateful for generous grandparents who watched our kids while we were gone.

Our favorite activity of the trip was scuba diving. We both got scuba certified when we were in college, but we haven't been since we were married. We were able to do two dives on this trip and it was awesome! We saw beautiful sea life, coral, and we were so excited when we saw a sea turtle.

The all-inclusive resort had many fun activities we could participate in for free, so we took full advantage of that and stayed busy the whole trip. We enjoyed horse-back riding, kayaking, paddle-boat riding, hobie cat sailing, yoga/pilates classing (just me), swimming, and relaxing.

Some flamingos lived right outside our hotel room and we enjoyed watching them every time we passed. Leia loves flamingos so we took several photos of them.

We enjoyed eating all kinds of yummy food on our trip. This photo was taken in their Tepanyaki restaurant where I caught the shrimp with my mouth that Spencer had them throw at me. We loved this trip we had together. We will enjoy these memories forever.

RULES ARE MADE TO BE BROKEN!

2009-06-27T07:02:00.000-06:00

I spent this last week at Girl's Camp with our ward Young Women. I left the children home alone with Daddy for three and a half days, the longest that has ever happened. Spencer thought he should take the kids to do fun things while I was gone. He said he might take them to Lagoon. I told him that would be fun, but not to lose any of the kids and I suggested not going to the water park.

So, of course, Spencer took them to swim at Lagoon-a-Beach. My stubborn, sweet husband proved that he could take the children swimming alone, without any of them drowning.

They actually spent most of their Lagoon time at Pioneer village--much safer than the water park. But they found rules to break there too. They enjoyed feeding the "wild animals"--notice the sign at the beginning of the video.

They had some harmless fun looking at strange, new things in the village.

Spencer tried to get the boys to pose next to this picture, but they refused. Talmage explained later by saying, "No one but Leia was brave enough to stand by him or her." I asked Ammon why he wouldn't pose with Leia and he said, "Because he was too scary."

After their Lagoon adventure, Spencer decided he could handle anything and took all the children to Golden Corral--a buffet-style restaurant (because he had a coupon there, of course).

Spencer said the kids behaved quite well, until the dreaded balloon-man came. Then the children went wild with excitement.

During this excitement, an older lady at a nearby table chirped, "Excuse me...could you stop your kids from screaming?" With a slow grin, Spencer chuckled, "Yeah sure, I'm doing my best here." Then the old man with the woman replied, "doesn't look like your doing the best you can..." So then, as only Spencer can, he suggested, "you know, you can move to another table if you would like to." Spencer later described the following scene, "I just sat there eating my ice cream and smiled...and let my balloon swinging baby, the sword wielding toddler, the crazy hat-wearing 9-year-old, and the princess with the little bear-heart balloon battle and laugh and sing and squeal with glee...I could feel the old people's stares of disgust burning into the back of my head, and I...I quite enjoyed it."

Words my rebellious husband lives by: Rules are made to be Broken!

Sand Dunes

2009-06-15T07:27:00.000-06:00

We had a fun 3-day camping trip to the Sand Dunes last week with my family. When we first arrived, Peter was afraid of the loud noise from the quads. But by the end of the trip, he would cry when we would try to take him off of the big toys.

Leia adores her uncle Steve!

On Leia's first quad ride of the trip, I drove over a hill with too much of a bump and she hit her face on the handlebars. Good thing she's a tough girl and still had a great time.

We got a little chilly from the wind and rain on some of the quad trips. Grandma Collier shared her shirt with Ammon to keep him warm.

Talmage was determined to drive the quads while on this trip. Grandpa tried to resist letting him, but I guess Talmage was too persistant and was able to drive around a few times.

Peter ate a lot of dirt during this trip. (He hurt his eye at home, he's new at walking and falls into lots of things right now.)

Peter, Grandpa & Talmage! My kids were in heaven, out camping in the wild. We're grateful my parents let us come on their vacation. We had a great time!

Hooray for me and Talmage!!

2009-06-03T17:01:00.000-06:00

I completed my first official 5k run since I've been married (almost 11 years). My goal was to keep running the whole time...and I did it--3.3 miles, not too shabby! My Mom and Dad even came to cheer for me at the finish line--they're so great!

The 5k wasn't anything amazing compared to my friend who just ran in the Ogden marathon, but for me it was pretty good. My brother Matt was right though, running in the hot sun is a lot tougher than running on my treadmill at home.

The run was a fundraiser for Talmage's school, so he decided he would run in the one-mile race.

Go Talmage! He did great!

Temple Square Carriage Ride!

2009-05-27T14:01:00.000-06:00

We all had fun celebrating Grandma Rollins' birthday! We enjoyed a nice meal at the Lion House. Then we went on a carriage ride around temple square.
Peter liked the horses, he wasn't afraid at all.

Tammy, Leia, Ammon and Cole having a fun, silly time!

Peter loved hanging out with his wonderful uncles, John and Clint

Ammon and Peter had a nice conversation with Charlie, the horse!

Family Hike

2009-05-20T11:04:00.000-06:00

We enjoyed a fun hike with my family last Monday evening. We went up to Adam's Canyon in Layton. The scenery was beautiful!
Peter held on tight to Daddy's ears
This was toward the end of the hike and the boys were still happy and energetic.

We followed a beautiful stream up the canyon. We were hoping to make it to the waterfall at the end of the trail, but it started getting dark and we had to turn back, Leia was quite upset that she didn't get to see the waterfall. I guess we'll try again some other time.

Grandpa Collier helping Ammon near Kat and Tommy.

My handsome brother Matt with Leia and Gabe (hiding).
Good Times!

My Mother's Day

2009-05-11T07:18:00.000-06:00

I had a fun Mother's Day yesterday! Talmage told me to make a list of things that I wanted for Mother's Day so he and the other kids could vote to decide what they would give me. They decided on giving me one hour of uninterrupted reading time (maybe I'll use that today), no fighting for one week (so far, pretty good), and breakfast in bed. Talmage woke up early and started making breakfast. He decided he wanted to boil an egg for me, but I guess the egg was only half-way boiled and he gave up on that idea. Then he decided on some simpler choices and presented the wonderful meal to me while I was still in bed.

The creative breakfast consisted of: A piece of toast, tortilla chips, a box of raisins, and three pieces of leftover Easter candy. I was thrilled! My kids are so sweet! A little later in the morning Spencer made us a second breakfast--my favorite: French Toast! Yummy!

What a Man!!

2009-05-08T08:53:00.000-06:00

I am such a lucky woman! Only a true man would be willing to mow the lawn while carrying his one-year-old in a Snugglie. Peter loves hangin' out with Dad, so he had a great time too!

Happy Easter!

2009-04-19T08:35:00.000-06:00

We had a fun Easter weekend! Our kids are so happily spoiled by their Grandparents. They had a fun Easter egg hunt at a park that Grandma Collier had for them. Then she gave us all cute baskets full of treats and things.

The kids enjoyed another fun egg hunt at Grandma Rollins' house. Then they were given another nice basket full of candy and toys.

Even Peter enjoyed hunting for eggs.

I guess the Easter Bunny didn't need to come to our house after being spoiled by their Grandmas, but he came and the kids got to hunt for eggs and received baskets one more time.

Our kids are lucky to have such kind and generous Grandparents!

Peter's First Birthday!

2009-04-08T21:18:00.000-06:00

Happy Birthday Peter! We can't believe he's already a year old! What a cute cabbage patch kid!

We had a fun day yesterday celebrating his birthday at Boondocks. We raced on the slick track, rode bumper boats, played mini golf (once again Spencer won), ate pizza, played Lazer Tag, video games, etc.

Peter had a great time even though he couldn't participate in many of the activities. He had a fun time playing with Grandma, Anna and Tammy. Grandma gave him a big piece of chocolate cake that he really enjoyed.

Peter is such a sweet baby. He loves anything with buttons: remotes, phones, TVs, etc. The other day I found him asleep on the floor in the office while clutching a precious calculator.

Caution: Nudity

2009-03-22T14:46:00.000-06:00

Someday Leia's husband will freak out seeing this photo diplayed at her wedding reception. For now, everyone loves a cute shot of kids in the tub.

Las Vegas

2009-03-22T14:17:00.001-06:00

Last Summer we took a fun trip to Las Vegas. Spencer had a seminar down there, so he let me and the kids tag along. We had a fun time looking at the pirate ships, but we didn't stick around for the show cause its not very kid-friendly anymore.

We were a little crazy to go to Vegas in July when its so hot, but the kids were really tough walking around in the heat. We visited the old Mormon Fort, it was especially hot there. We felt really bad for those poor settlers without air conditioning.

Talmage and Leia are so cute. Bellagio always has new and beautiful things in their gardens.

I think our favorite activity on the trip was simply playing in the pools of our hotel. We stayed at the Rio and they had three nice pools that we enjoyed. Peter and Ammon are sunscreened and ready to swim.

Happy St. Patrick's Day!

2009-03-17T12:30:00.001-06:00

When I was young my mom would make St. Patrick's Day a big event. We would eat all sorts of green food all day. I remember having so much fun with it. So I decided to have some green fun with our family this year.

Ammon was so happy to have green eggs and ham--that is one of his favorite books--even though it ended up being green eggs and sausage. Tonight for dinner we might get to have green stroganoff with spinach and broccoli. Yum!

Krazy Kids!

2009-03-16T10:25:00.001-06:00

I have been somewhat intimidated in writing this second blog posting. I was trying to think of something profound or inspiring, but nothing has come to me. So I guess I will write about what I do everyday. I take care of my kids.

These are my four gorgeous babies. They are so much fun! Talmage is such a kind older brother. He is always willing to share and help his younger siblings. Leia is our emotional little sweetheart. She loves singing all the time--even when it drives big brother crazy. Ammon is such an energetic and fun little guy. He is our only blond child and he is always ready to wrestle anyone. Peter is a pleasant and happy baby. He makes everyone smile with his beautiful eyes and funny faces.

We have a noisy, but happy, house. My mom tells me that our kids' voices are so strong so they will all be great singers someday. For now, we try to stay away from quiet restaurants and struggle to remain in the chapel for all of sacrament meeting. But we're grateful for all four of these amazing kids. We feel very blessed to have them.

BLOG WILD!!

2009-03-02T14:12:00.000-07:00

We are officially going blog wild! Spencer always made fun of you bloggers, but we are finally joining the crowd and creating our own blog. I have never been very computer savvy, but I am slowly learning more and am ready to take the big step into the blog world. Here we are!!!