Eleven years? Really?

Time passes too quickly. If I think about it too long I realize that I am getting old. I must be if my oldest child just turned 11. ELEVEN!! That means 12 is not too far away. It's shocking, but also kind of fun. I really enjoy Noah. He's a great kid. He has a good sense of humor (meaning he gets my jokes) and a tender heart. He tries really hard to do the right thing and he will sometimes clean his room without throwing a fit. He's even fun to talk to.  I love him lots. 

We do birthday signs. I don't know why we just do. This year, Zack wanted to make Noah's. It's way better than anything I've ever done, so he will be making all future birthday signs--including his own.

This is absolutely the reaction we were going for.

 

One of about 100 first birthday cake pictures. 

He was clearly inexperienced in the whole posing thing.  Not any more.

 Every year I try to do something different for this cake averse birthday boy. This year, I went with a mini cake.  I have to admit that after 11 years of birthday cakes, I am burnt out. I used to care a lot. Now, I am just glad I have something to stick candles in.


From what I've been told, things go down hill at about age 12. I hope not. At least I've got another year to enjoy him.

The most dog pictures you will ever see on this blog

The boys really want a dog, so watching Twilight for a week was a good chance for them to live the dream.  I admit that I wasn't all that excited about dog-sitting. In spite of being raised on a farm, I am not really one for pets. But the kids did a surprisingly good job taking care of her.  I haven't changed my mind on the matter, but if I could be guaranteed that a dog would be as cute and well behaved as Twilight, I might give in.

Letterboxing

While we were in St. George we were introduced to a new activity.  This website is filled with different maps and clues to find different letterboxes hidden all over the country. Our first experience was at the Dixie Rock. It was really fun. 

The beginning:

 Thirty steps from this spot led to the next clue.

Trying to figure out where to go (we went left when we should have gone right).

 

On the "saddle."

 

This may or may not be the spot. Secrecy is imperative for proper letterbox hunting.

 

Inside the box is a stamp and a little book. The stamp is for you to use to stamp your own book as a record of finding the spot.  The little book is used to keep track of all the people who find the box. You need to have your own stamp and code name so that you can mark it in the book. It's fun to see how many people have found the box and where they are from.  When you are finished you re-hide the box exactly as you found it.  We are excited to find some of the boxes hidden in our area, Idaho and more in St. George.

After finding the box, we hiked around for a little bit. I don't think I've ever been to Dixie rock before. That's weird. It's great fun for energetic boys. There are lots of places to explore. 

 

  

Before a scout built this bridge for an Eagle project, climbing was the only way to get across. I was a little leery crossing the bridge.  I don't like heights. I am also a wimp.

 

 The reward for making it across is this great view. I still can't believe this was my first time coming here. I am sure we'll be coming back.

Valentine's Celebration

I didn't realize when we signed up for the soccer tournament that the games would start on Friday, February 12.  The Friday before Valentine's Day. The Friday of class parties, two of which I was supposed to help with. Unfortunately I realized it after Zack and I planned the craft project I was in charge of for his class party. Things were a little tense here when he learned that he would have to miss the party.  I tried to avoid the words party and Valentine as much as possible.  Planning our family Valentine's  party in St. George helped take his mind of the lameness of missing his party for "Noah's stupid soccer games."

We had fancy glasses,straws and drinks. 

We ate heart shaped pizza.

 We made a beautiful flower centerpiece complete with a fancy balloon. 

We ate cookies with heart designs on them.  

I am guaranteeing that our party was better than anything they did at the elementary school. 

The President's Cup

Noah played in his first outdoor soccer tournament over the weekend. They won, tied and lost which meant they didn't advance. Noah had one goal in the first game they won 4 to 3. The second was a 2-2 tie and then it was a 0-3 blowout. As great as it would have been for the team to go further, Ben and Zack were really tired of going to soccer games. And I have to admit that it was nice after the loss to not worry about getting to another game. Sometimes mediocrity is fantastic!


Let's all pretend this is a picture of Noah just before he scored. I was taking all sorts of pictures before his goal and had just put away the camera when it happened. I think that is the reason he scored, he's always complaining when I take pictures.  I am wondering though why he didn't score here.  I looks like a pretty easy shot. That's why it's best if we just pretend he did.

 Gray jerseys= lackluster play. Pretty blue sky though.  

 Win or lose, Noah absolutely loves soccer. 

This is pathetic!

January in summary: Fun times with David and Emily's family over New Years.  Ben starts basketball season. Noah starts second Futsal season. My camera is too crappy to take a decent picture of anything.

Christmas

Although it went way too fast, we had a busy and fun holiday break. Zack made sure our decorations were suitable for the season. He improved on our little nativity set by adding a star, palm tree & cart for the donkey. 

He also made this window festive. 

On Christmas Eve we enjoyed our usual traditions like eating,

drinking, 

opening pjs,

 & setting out cookies for Santa

We always watch The Polar Express before going to bed. This time the kids were all sleepy before it was over. They were tucked in bed and asleep by 10:00 and they didn't wake up until 6:15. 

 

Ben really wanted to go on a treasure hunt to find his presents. We had an arcade basketball hoop for the boys that was too big to move from its new home downstairs. I decided to surprise them using Ben's treasure hunt request. I made little clues and had a gift bag with the first clue hidden behind the tree.  It was a great plan until Zack, in his excitement to use the new markers Santa put in his stocking, went downstairs to get his marker board and saw the hoop. I didn't even think about it until I heard him yell, "Guys there is something awesome down here!" I made him swear to keep it a secret while we opened our presents. The surprise wasn't totally ruined, but didn't go exactly as I hoped. 

After the kids played with their new things for awhile, we loaded up and drove up to Idaho. This is the first year I can remember that the entire McGarry family was able to get together for a meal. It is definitely a houseful with my parents, all seven kids, 5 spouses, 1 fiance, 1 girlfriend, 10 grand kids, and an aunt, uncle and cousin. It's very loud, chaotic and super fun. 

On Saturday I realized that everyone in my family thinks that I am a wimp. They are probably right although I prefer to be considered cautious. We went snowmobiling and Matt asked Zack if he wanted to go for a ride with me. He was shocked and told him that "duh, Mom can't drive a snowmobile."  With my reputation on the line I had to prove him wrong. I'm glad I did. Riding a snowmobile fast is really fun.  I can now see the motivation to go out into the freezing cold. 

The kids also got to do some sledding. 

Before we left, we managed to get a picture of most of the grand kids. We are missing Wacy (on a mission in San Bernadino) and Shaylee.