Has anyone seen the gingerbread man?

Be on the look out for a run away gingerbread man. Hailey's kindergarten class has scared the gingerbread man away. They have looked all over the school for him, he is not any where. When Hailey got home from school the other day, she wanted to go wander the neighborhood looking for him. She even had me help her write a letter of apology to the gingerbread man, hoping that would make him return. Nothing seems to have worked.

Her teacher is using the escaped gingerbread man to lead into her world section. She has asked us parents to ask people out of the state or around the world to send post cards to her class saying that they have seen the gingerbread man in their area. When she gets the cards, she will go to the world map and point out the place. We asked Kristin to ask Bonnie, and also Scott asked to his co-worker to ask his son who is currently serving.

Hailey talks about the gingerbread man so much that Jeffrey is sick of it and tells her all the time that there is no such thing, and to quite looking for him. Oh well, I guess we will see how it goes.

Good luck gingerbread man, where ever you are.

Merry Christmas Everyone!!!

Merry Christmas everyone! We hope that many of you did not have to stay up too late wrapping presents. Our kids are so excited to unwrap presents, we will have to post their fav's later.

Our kids have now watched "Curious George, A very monkey Christmas" about 15 times. I guess this is now their favorite Christmas movie is.

Jeffrey took his tae kwon do test on Monday. He now has his red belt. Hopefully with a lot of hard work, he can be a black belt in the next year or so. It still boggles my mind that he is almost 12 years old now and will be passing the sacrament in just 3 short months.

Hailey is super excited for Christmas. She has sung the song she learned at school, Christmas is a time to..., to just about everyone she has seen, whether they were willing to listen to her or not. She has also told everyone that Santa will be bringing her a butterfly sled. Hopefully the Big Guy doesn't let her down.

You'll have to ask the kids what they all got for Christmas. They are very excited about everything.

Also, you'll have to see the mothers ring Tammy got from Santa Claus. I have it on good authority that Santa uses a little elf named LaMont to do all his jewelry work. The ring has a stone for each of the kids in their birthmonth; Jeffrey (March) Aquamarine, Hailey (June) Alexandrite, Caleb (August) Peridot, and a 4th stone, hopefully Emerald, should be placed in the ring around the month of May. You'll have to call for the details and ask the kids if they are getting a brother or sister.

Well, we hope everyone is having a good Christmas - now its time for me to go to bed before the Big Guy catches me still awake.

What have we been up to lately?

So before all this snow came down, there were actually some nice days to be had in the last few weeks. I thought I might share what we have been up to during that time. We spent the Thanksgiving holiday with several of Tammy's siblings out in the Uintah Basin. This picture was taken at Sherry and Dex's house just after Thanksgiving dinner. The kids loved to run around outside and it was very difficult to get them all together for this picture. It was obviously very bright and sunny outside. What I wouldn't give for another one of those days!

Jeffrey has gotten to be a real photography enthusiast. He went up exploring in the hills behind Sherry and Dex's house on Thanksgiving and took some pictures. There were really some pretty good pictures and scenery to be seen. This is a reservior and hill near Altamont where they live. Dex takes care of the reservior and surrounding area there.

After Thanksgiving, we had the opportunity to go on a Christmas tree hunt excursion up Nine-mile canyon. And in case you are ever in the area and want to explore Nine mile, don't be fooled by the name --- its actually more like 60 miles and on a dirt road. But great scenery to see when you have a day to waste.

We only went up about 5 miles into the canyon to search for our tree. Then we probably hiked another 5 miles or so (maybe I'm exaggerating a little) thru the hills and around the brush to find the perfect tree. The perfect tree was right by the road, and we could have been in and out in probably 5 minutes, but you can't do a tree hunt unless you actually hunt, Can you?
Jeffrey had to find (his) tree. I got to carry a sleeping Caleb up and down the hills, trying to keep up with Jeffrey. Once he found the tree he wanted, we had to get back to the group and back to the truck to get the chainsaw. And since he wanted to get the far away tree, I had him carry the chainsaw most of the way back to the spot. Would have been nice to have my GPS and marked the spot so we could have found it again easier. But it was an experience.

Back to the truck with the tree. Everyone still happy and awake! Dex cut down a couple more for himself, and a small one for grandmas house. Not bad all in all for $10/tree permit!
Good thing we have a fake tree we use most years, because cutting down and setting up a real tree is a lot of work! But I guess everyone has got to do the real tree the right way (cutting it down yourself) some time in their life!

Back to work, additional Christmas preparations continue. Santa Claus makes it a point to stop by my work each year, and the kids get to take advantage of seeing him every year and getting some good pictures! And no lines! As you can see, Caleb still isn't to happy to see him yet.

Hailey on the other hand just loves Santa! Not sure what all she asked for .... something about a butterfly sled or something. I think by next year she'll be asking for her 2 front teeth. As you can see, she lost her first tooth recently.

She was really excited to loose her first tooth. Happened just after Thanksgiving while we were still out visiting family in Myton. I had forgotten how small those teeth can be. The tooth fairy came and left her $1.00! Seems the tough economy doesn't affect the tooth fairy at all!

Caleb had a ball at grandmas. I think all the kids spent the entire weekend watching and rewatching Up! Caleb also loved to play with cousins and be just generally happy! A good age (sometimes)

Except at night lately. Jeffrey has been the good older brother and try to deal with Caleb when he doesn't want to go to bed yet. This is a scene that has been a little more common in our house at night. Jeffrey reading a book to Caleb in his crib before bedtime. He even lays down with him sometimes in the crib to get him to go to sleep. Some things only big brothers can do!

Do I have a big butt?

So Scott had a service project on Saturday morning. His scout's were to meet at a park and clean it. He decided to buy donuts since it was cold and early in the morning. Unfortunately, only Jeffrey and one other boy showed up. He ended up bringing about 8 donuts home. I haven't had a donut in about 2 years, and it started calling to me. So I had one when Hailey and Caleb had one. Now Hailey is worried that she is going to be FAT from eating one donut. She also told me that I was going to be fat from eating one donut. I tried to explain that eating one every once in a while wouldn't hurt, but she is still concerned.

She has told both Scott and I that we have big buts. Where is my 5 year old getting this obsession about being skinny. Maybe I need to stop watching Biggest Loser. Who knows what goes on in a 5 year old's mind.

Its The Great Pumpkin Charlie Brown!

Ouch! My back is still in pain! At least when Charlie Brown and Linus went out to the pumpkin patch they didn't have to haul the thing around! Sometimes sitting around and waiting but never actually getting what you wish for has its benefits. Be grateful Linus!
I'll have to admit it was quite an eye opening (and back breaking) experience being exposed to the world of giant pumpkins and giant pumpkin growers. I'll have to remember to keep a pallet around and make friends with someone with a forklift if I attempt this again. But we still have kids stopping by our house asking if the pumpkin is real and where we got it. As you can see from the pictures, the largest one weighed in officially at 392.5 lbs. The one Jason adopted was also quite large and unique in shape and weighed 257.5 lbs.


The kids have really taken to the pumpkin as if it were another sibling. Its certainly a bit quieter than the other 3 kids. Just not quite as cute or as active. But quite a bit heavier! I think it might weigh more than the whole family combined!

Do you think we ought to use this as our family Christmas card this year? Maybe we should have made a giant santa hat for the pumpkin. If only I would have thought about it sooner. I guess its not too late.

One of the many times we had to transport the pumpkin. We were grateful to have helpful strong neighbors and several brothers on hand to help. This contraption was put together by my dad to get the pumpkin to the Thanksgiving Point weighoff. It consisted of 2 long poles with some netting and a blanket on top of it to make a stretcher of sorts to load it onto the truck. We all felt like we were pallbearers at some large persons funeral!

After we finally got it to Thanksgiving Point, there was plenty of time for pictures with the family and checking out all the other pumpkins that were there. Apparently, we Wardles aren't the only weird, redneck-like family around. There were plenty others there that helped us fit in. It was quite fun and exciting for the kids.

So part of the excitement comes when the officials come around to each pumpkin and take measurements to estimate the weight based on the formula that they came up with. Apparently, if you add the circumference, the over the top (in the center) length from ground to ground, and the over the top (end to end) length added together, it can help estimate the weight. Our largest was estimated at about 325 pounds based on those measurements. The final circumference was about 113 inches.

Ahh, the 2 siblings with the 2 siblings. Its hard to believe these 2 pumpkins came from the same seed. Jason's pumpkin ended up being 257 pounds. Much more than we had estimated. These two must be extra thick inside (no jokes needed). There were probably about 40 or so pumpkins there at the weighoff, and our largest came in 20th place overall. The largest this year was only 919 pounds. They said it was a down year because of the wet June we had and several growers lost their plants to disease. We couldn't tell. Looked like a pretty good year to us!
The next week after the Thanksgiving point weighoff, we got to move the pumpkin to the Herriman pumpkin festival! We have been going to this festival for several years. This year our two pumpkins got to be displayed on either corner of the stage. They were the focal points of the pumpkin festival for sure! They even arranged to have a "guess the weight" competition with the winner getting a toy tractor. We all wanted to guess just to get the great prize! Several of our friends and neighbors were disqualified because of insider info. The 2 people that were closest each guessed 387 pounds, so we had a guess-off to determine the winner. They had to guess the weight of Jasons pumpkin. The guy that guessed closest was only 1 pound off on that one, guessing 256 pounds.

There were lots of things for the kids to play on while we were there. Caleb loved jumping around in this thing. I'm surprised he let us keep his hood on, he usually hats to have anything on his head. What a cute little Pooh bear!

Jeffrey was so busy playing on all the stuff they had that he was rarely seen, except by his cousin Jesse that followed him around everywhere.

Hailey was our little butterfly. I guess its appropriate that she choose to be a butterfly this year, because she is such the social butterfly. She loved bouncing around playing everywhere.

So now we have to ask the question about next year. Will there be another great pumpkin? Will we have the patience, real estate, desire to try to grow another one? I'm sure Jason will talk us into doing it again. I heard the lady that grew the 1725 pound pumpkin this year is giving away seeds. Have to check into that one.

Our California Vacation

So we decided to take our little family on a vacation to Southern California this year while there were out of school. It actually worked out pretty nice since we switched to the charter school - they were off all that week anyway. We were planning on driving out on that Friday afternoon but Jeffrey decided to get sick again, so we waited until he was starting to feel better and his numbers were coming down and his food was staying down also.
The drive was definitely the most relaxing part of the vacation. Seriously, why would you ever want to fly to Southern California when you can drive there and see things like aliens along the way? Apart from our little 3 aliens, we met this fine family of them in Death Valley. Hailey and Jeffrey thought there were cool, but Caleb was very afraid. This picture with Hailey is at that surprisingly big Alien Jerky store in Baker. Fortunately, I think its really beef jerky not alien jerky, and it was very tasty! It was 103 degrees while we were there. What I wouldn't give for a few moments at 103 degrees now!
The ride was long but interesting, and took about 11-12 hours altogether. When we got there late Saturday night in San Diego, they didn't have our reservation at the hotel. Thanks a lot Getawaytoday! Fortunately the hotel was able to find us a room that night (not as nice) and get us into the Kids Suite room we requested the next night.


We have never been to Seaworld before, so this was a fun experience for us. The lines weren't that bad on Sunday and Monday especially, and they had more fun rides and things to see than we had anticipated. This "Journey to Atlantis" ride had to be the highlight as far as rides were concerned for Jeffrey and I (Scott). This picture was the one time I actually got Tammy to ride. Hailey had her height measured more this week than I think she ever has had her entire life. And in case you were wondering, she is exactly 42 inches! The staff at SeaWorld (and Disneyland) are sticklers when it comes to making sure your kids are tall enough for the rides. The 2nd time Hailey rode this, the ride operator measured her, wasn't too sure of himself, called over another guy to check; still wasn't quite sure; then called over the supervisor lady. She checked and double checked for a few minutes (after we had been waiting in line for a while) until they finally decided she was o.k. to go. Gotta make sure she is safe, right? Its all about the insurance liability, I know.


So why is it that getting wet from a ride is all fun and good, but having a huge killer whale get you wet is not fun? Jeffrey had to get far up in the stands to avoid the water. I don't know, something about it being salty? We got some good pictures and were amazed at the things "Shamu" had been trained to do. We all had fun, and Caleb didn't complain about being drenched at the show, even though he had been sleeping when he first got drenched. Amazing things to see.

This was just a great picture in front of one of the many aquariums they have at SeaWorld. Love the reflection in the glass.

Look how wet we were! If you stand here for more than a minute, you get drenched by the people coming down the ride into the pool of water below. Don't we look cold?

Ahh Tinkerbell! After we left San Diego on Tuesday, we headed over to Disneyland and Hailey had to see all the princesses and especially Tinkerbell. Standing in line to get pictures with and autographs from the princesses was by far the longest lines we had to wait in while we were there. They need fast passes for the princesses.

At California Adventures, we got to see all the cousins and (well at least Kristins family, Randys family and Jasons family) - and we also got to see all the characters from Disney's Pixar movies - including To-Mater!

Thursday was our beach day with everyone. The sand seemed to go on forever, and Caleb loved playing in it every minute. Good thing we bought some sand toys, or else it would have been all over everywhere.

Jeffrey loved being out in the water most of the time conquering the waves. Made me a little nervous when he would get out too far, but from this distance to shore was fine with me. There were some good surfers and some good surf there at the time, as evidence by the guy off in the distance catching a good wave.

Randy and Jason were able to get Kristin out on the body board for a while. I kept closer to shore making sure the kids didn't run off too far or out too deep in the water. I think I've become too much of a worry-wort like dad in my old age.

Hailey is always up for a good time in her swimsuit. She loved the sand like Caleb and loved the water also. They spent a lot of time playing and making things in the sand.

Hailey's little mouse ears princess hat was a favorite for more than just Hailey. Caleb just had to get his picture taken with her hat. Cheese!

Good thing he is only 2 or I would have some concerns.

We were all worn out after all the hours of fun every day at Disneyland. Too bad we didn't all have a stroller to cruise around in like Caleb had. Someone needs to push me around in one. Fun vacation all in all, but once we got home it was nice to be home. I need a vacation from the vacation!

Happy Birthday to my Wonderful Husband!!!

Today is Scott's birthday. For the next few days, he and his brother, Ryan, are the same age. I don't know how Darla did it all with two babies under the age of 2. He is the most wonderful husband and father. So since today is his birthday, I thought I would write about him. He still loves statistics. If you want to be in on the football guessing, give him a call. I don't really know many people who know what they want to get their degree in as a teenager. He also loves sports, to play or watch. He tries to ride his bike into work at least once a week and this has allowed him to keep his lifetime weight at weight watchers for almost 3 years!

He is also dang cute and I find him very sexy! He is a wonderful provider for us and is willing to help out around the house. If you try a new dish at our house, it was more than likely made by Scott. I will gladly admit that he is a way better cook than me. Fortunately, he will never complain even if he didn't like what was made. He will just eat it any way.

I love him more and more every day and just want him to know that he is a fantastic person. So happy birthday Scott!