Thanksgiving in Maine

My cute nephew, Cohen
Kyle and Ranse loving the first snow

Our family with Nana Boutlier

Kyle, Michael, Taylor, Mallory and Benji

Ms. Snow Angel herself(or should I call her Ms. Eskimo)

My siblings, Eric, myself, Lyndsay and John. We're only missing Missy

Pig Pile on Caleb!!!

Mom, Nana and Aunt Moe

Matt and John

John and his monster dogs, 2 great danes and I can't remember the other one.

After our last trip cross country with three young kids we said we'd never do it again. Between the three kids we had around 12 vomit incidents while on the plane and to top it all off our luggage got lost and didn't arrive to my mom and dads until 3 days later! You're worst nightmare of traveling, well we were living it! I have to say it took us three long years before we could get the courage to try it again and this time we were able to travel vomit free. The kids did great, Michael was excited at first and then somewhere over Colorado he told me he was ready to get off the plane and go back to California. He was done, he no longer wanted to go to Maine. I asked him if he had a parachute, cause that was the only way he was getting off the plane.

While in Maine, Ranse and Lil' Ranse got to go deer hunting the whole first week. It was some good male bonding time. You'll have to ask Ranse about the one that got away..... he'll love me for mentioning that! While the guys were out hunting I enjoyed being lazy and just relaxing. My little sister was there with her six month old and I enjoyed cuddling with him. He's sooooo cute!!!

All of my family gathered at my uncle's house for Thanksgiving. I counted around 40 of us. Most all of my family lives in Maine, it was so great to see everyone.

We took all the cousins to see a movie one night and on the way home we got hit by a beautiful snow storm. I know beautiful is not a word you think of when you think of a storm but, it was! It was dark and these HUGE snowflakes were coming down, I'm talking gigantic snowflakes! As soon as we got to my mom and dads the kids grabbed some gloves and had a snow fight. It was great to see them so excited about the snow.

We had a great trip, it was hard to get back home and get back into the same routine. I'm already looking forward to another vacation.

Thanks Mom and Dad for putting up with a house full of people and taking care of us. We love you and can't wait to see you again :)

Super Bowl Champs!!!!!!!!!!

One of the many signs I made for the game. Want a piece of me?

Celebrate, good times, come on!!!

Ranse with Coach Bill and Coach Greg

JV Colts, Super Bowl Champs!

Ranse getting the tackle

Is this Ranse or the lead singer of KISS???

Colts waiting to receive their awards

The coveted trophy

Captains meeting center field

Where do I begin? This was the most AWESOME game of the year!!!! It was the perfect setting, two local teams, one common goal....to win it all! The Galt Colts vs. the Galt Warriors. The Warriors came out on top in their match up earlier in the season. The Colts came into the Superbowl as the underdogs with the heart and desire to win it all. The players and coaches were pumped, along with all the proud parents. This was the match up we all had been waiting for!!

Quick summary, defense for both teams in the first half were evenly matched. Things were looking pretty good. With 12 seconds left in the first half the Warriors were able to pull off a touchdown and go into halftime with a 8-0 lead. You could tell our boys were struggling as they walked off the field for halftime but, they came back in the third fired up. I don't remember all the details but, what I do know, is that we came back and kicked butt and won the game 24-8!!!

I was so excited before this game even started. I had made a gazillion signs for all the family to hold and for other parents. Gale told me I was a fool and that he thought I was crazy. Who goes to their sons Superbowl championship game without a sign? Come on now!!! Anyway, it was the most fun I have had in a long time. I was so proud of Ranse and his team, as was all the parents that were there. We screamed until we lost our voices and we ran up and down the sidelines with the team. Always keep your eyes open while doing this, I almost got trampled over by the varsity boys while I was running and screaming like a fool and not paying any attention to who was behind me. This was a night we'll always remember :)

GO COLTS!!!!!!!!!!

Barb's 70th Birthday Party!

A celebration of life
Some of the little ones

Barb wanting to replay the memory of smashing a bowl of ice cream on Ranse's head

Barb and the "Ladies Man"

Jenny Klopp and the "Ladies Man"

Marge and the "Ladies Man"

Marilyn, Barb, Judy and Brian looking at old photos

Pearl and once again the "Ladies Man" haaaaaaaa

Heather looking a lot like Grandma in her younger years

Kristin and Sydney

Michael and Ranse

Jenny, Debbie, Kori, David and me(looking like a dork!)

Taylor and Gale

Brian's turn on the microphone

Ranse teasing his mom as usual

Brad sharing his funny memories of Barb

Barb completely enjoying herself

Darin singing "Joseph"

Barb opening her gift from the family(picture of the grand kids)

Barb blowing out ALL 70 candles!

Earlier in the year, Barb requested a 70th birthday bash. All of the kids got together and planned out what we thought, would be a nice celebration of Barb's wonderful 70 years. Ranse of course loved to tease her and had her completely believing that her party was going to be a "roast" and she was in for it. All along, the plan was to make it something special and memorable. I think we were able to pull it off.

About 50 of Barb's closest friends and family were able to join us as we gathered at the church. The evening consisted of a slide show of Barb over the years while Kristin played Clair de Lune on the piano(one of her and Ron's Favorites). Brian read a poem that Ron had written for Barb on one of their anniversaries, Darin sang "Joseph"( a song Ron loved to sing), and Ranse played the harmonica. After all the sentimental stuff, the microphone was open for people to share some of their favorite memories of Barb. It started off all nice, but once Brad got the mic, it was over and all the boys had to join in and share some of their favorite funny stories about their mom. It was great:)

Paul came and played all the good oldies that Barb grew up listening to and she got to show off her dance moves with Ben McClaughlin. As you can tell by looking at the pictures, Paul was there enjoying all the ladies. I had to add those pictures, I thought it was too funny ;)

Happy Birthday was sung and Barb got to blow out the huge ball of flames. One of her special gifts was a photo of all her grand kids that she absolutely loves! We also collected peoples favorite stories of Barb and made a memory book for her. The evening was finished off with all the fixing's for banana splits. Oh, actually the party went on until 11 p.m., once it cleared out a little, Kori Harris jumped on the mic. and did a little karaoke. Hilarious!! Then the boys gathered around the piano, while Kristin played and sang songs from the hymn book.

Thanks to everyone for making Barbs 70th a night she'll cherish for years to come!

Soccer Playoffs

The Mad Cows
Queen of the world!


The Tunnel

The throw in

The battle is on!

A couple posts ago I mentioned we were heading into playoffs and I would let everyone know the outcome. So, here it is. Unfortunately, the Mad Cows did not advance to the finals, but they definitely gave teams a run for their money. They played two games a couple Saturdays ago and tied the first game with the #2 seed and lost their second game 3-1. They do a point system for this soccer league and the top teams advance to the championship game on Sunday. Taylor's team had a great season and were lots of fun to watch. Taylor really got aggressive this year and made her parents proud! Can't wait to watch her play next year!

Newest In-N-Out employee!

Can you believe it, Michael is the newest In-N-Out employee. He'll be joining his hero, Spongebob, flippin' burgers! haaaa We went to In-N-Out today and they gave him this. We had to go to a couple other stores and he wouldn't take the hat off. A couple people asked us if he could hook them up with a discount.

Soccer pizza parties

This was Michael's first year of soccer and he really had a blast. We enjoyed watching his games, the little kids are always fun to watch, because most of them are off doing their own thing and not paying attention. Michael included. At the beginning of the season he associated soccer with "I'll get a trophy and have my own pizza party!" He looked forward to his party from day one and as you can tell by the smile on his face he was VERY excited to get his own trophy.

Taylor is preparing for playoffs this Saturday. She has had a great time this year because Malia is on the same team. She has also been a great half back. All those girls better watch out when Taylor gets mad, she just runs right through them and boots the ball up field. It's been fun to see her so aggressive this year and finally coming out of her shell. I'll let everyone know how playoffs go this weekend.
GO MAD COWS!!
(yep, you're reading it right, Mad cows, we can thank the coach for that one!)

Halloween 2008

Another great Halloween, although I complained in my last blog, I always love seeing the kids decked out in their costumes! Star Wars was the theme this year. Ranse was actually going to be a chick magnet, but I couldn't find what I needed to make the costume. So, the night before Halloween, he asked if I could paint his face like Darth Maul(sp?) so he could fit in with Taylor and Michael's costumes. I said "WHY NOT?" So, a quick dash to the store to find some red and black paint and walah, Darth Maul! Taylor of course is Princess Leah, don't you love the buns? Michael is none other than Darth Vader! They had fun acting like they were killing eachother, probably didn't take much acting.