~Christmas 2009~

Our usual tradition for Christmas Eve was all shook up this year, as we are no longer by any family. The usual was go to Grandma & Grandpa Wallace's home were we would gather with family and a few Friends! The party got larger and larger each year. There would be 60 or more crammed into my parents little home. The tables and counters would be full of food and candies, the air full of cheer and good conversation.
Well that party happened from a distance. As we gathered with our little family here we enjoyed time together, watched Joy to the World (Movie of the Saviors birth), opened one gift usually p.j's from Grandma & Grandpa Lippy but this year was hot cocoa, ran a few treats to some elderly friends in our area, then just hung out as a family. Our first Christmas in our new home, all by ourselves was very quiet but enjoyable.
My most enjoyable moment as a mom this Christmas Season has been hearing the boys talk to one another or ask us questions about the Savior, his life and Resurrection. I love to see them gain a testimony of there own of the Savior.
Our boys are growing so quickly all three were so excited to see what Santa had brought them, they were up at 1:30 A.M I told Clayton to go back to bed and he got Cody up instead. I heard them run upstairs to see if Santa had come, then run back down and get Casen up. Oh what a night. We finally got them back to bed around 3:00 ish then alarm clocks started going off at 7:00 that's when the fun really began. The boys got lots of surprises and toys. We had a great Christmas!!
You would think that it were Christmas Eve again. It's 3:00 A.M. and I'm ready to open my gift. We are going to CDA today!!! I love to go home, I just hate the ride. 10 hours of driving, it is so so long.

We hope everyone enjoyed there Christmas!
Happy New Year!!
Make, Set and keep goals for the upcomming year!!

Our video card went out in our desk top.....so no updates or pictures until January14 that's when we get the replacement!! Sorry =(


Happy Holidays to all!!
We Love ya!
The Lippy's

Twas the Night before Thanksgiving......

Twas the night before Thanksgiving
and all was a blur........

We moved so quick, we moved with such ease.

We were gone with the wind and in with a breeze.

We're in our home that's all nice and good.

We're into our home and out of the hood.

We did most the work from the barn wood floors to the nice white doors.

Then on to the baking make no delay.

It's house building time in the kitchen today!

It's Losser & Lippy need I say more....

As parents we TRUST them to TEACH and explore.

We're Finished!! We're Finished!! We knew this time would come. We're Finished!! We're Finished!! Now my story is done!!

Happy Thanksgiving!!

Our Visit to CDA

The Boys and I had the opportunity to go to CDA for a week. Clayton was turning 9 on Monday. He wanted 2 things for his birthday:

#1 A Football (Easy Enough)

#2 Spend his birthday in Coeur d' Alene with family and friends!!

That 2nd wish was a little hard to make happen but we packed up and took off for a week.

On the Menu for his birthday dinner-(Homemade)

Pizza

Bread sticks

Root Beer Floats

Birthday Cake (Of Course)

He had a GREAT BIRTHDAY!!

We had all the family except JoAnn and her family she just had her 2nd gall bladder surgery and was a little under the weather. They wanted to make it up to Clayton so they invited us to the Croc Center with they a few nights later. I was getting sick so chose to stay out of the water but the boys had a blast. Uncle Jake, Casen, Sam, Cody and Jessica floating the lazy river. They couldn't get enough of it. Cody went down the big slide after I coached him a bit. Thomas went first! Then it was Cody's turn and down the stairs he came "Mom it's just to high" I would tell him again "just set up and you wont go very fast, then it's just long and FUN!!" Up he would go again this happened 3 or so times then to my surprise down he came, with a grin bigger than life!

Casen could go if Uncle Jake Caught him at the bottom. He jumped all over that! Jake went down then Sam then Casen.......We waited and waited for him to reach the bottom....and waited.........finally we saw him come around the last corner nudging himself forward to make it to the end. Cody scared to go, Casen not afraid until he was on the actual slide, he kept stopping and nudging forward a little then stop again. Not sure what would be around each corner.

Mom and Sarah brought all the kids to the park one day.

They played on the structure, swang, ran around and played football. They enjoyed themselves. It was so nice to be with cousins.

We had a Surprise Pamper Night for Sarah. (She will have her baby the 24th of November. We had a lady from Mom's ward wax our hands and pamper all the girls and niece's! It was a nice and relaxing evening!!

Thank You to all our family and friends who made our visit so nice!!

Halloween Prep

Casen went crazy carving his pumpkin. It was too deep for him to get his little arm into with out getting his shirt all gross, So the shirt had to go. I loosened up all the guts and seeds then he went to town. He thought it was the best!!
We drew the face of his choice on then we both held the knife and went to town. It was tricky but we do what we have to, to make our little guys feel important.

Cody hated the thoughts of pulling the guts out of his pumpkin. He just sat there looking at it thinking how am I going to get those guts out with out

touching that mess???? He tried about 5 long handled spoons, none of which did the job. Then he turned to old faithful MOM. I had to scrape out the insides and loosen everything up, then Cody would dump his pumpkin. I did the cutting with just a little help Bubba wouldn't touch it. He finally decided that it would be o.k to pop the shapes out as I cut them out.
Funny how one year they can't get enough of the guts and goop then the next year they can't stand it.
Clayton was all over it! We all went with his scout troop to a corn maze last week, which is where he picked his pumpkin. The rule from previous years is you pick it you pack it. This pumpkin was good sized but so heavy. He picked it and I packed it. Bless his heart he was set on this one and couldn't pack it.
Anyway, he jumped right in. He carved out a lid, but it wouldn't come out. I cut out the lid and still it wouldn't come out. With some extra work it finally come off. It was a fatty so full of guts. We hollowed that thing out and it weighed 20 lbs. lighter. Clayton got started and recruited Casen for help after 20 minutes of digging. It was a lot of fun!


For FHE I wanted to do something to fit the holiday and I found on the FHE blog Satan's Web. It was great!! When the kids got home from school they saw this web I had made between the entrance of there rooms. "What's that" they all asked "It's for FHE" I told them. "Then lets do FHE NOW" they said. It feels good to have them excited about FHE. It went really well talking about Satan's web and how he catches us etc. What we can do to avoid his web and Choose the Right! (In A Nutshell)


The boys look forward to FHE each week on Wednesday they ask me if tonight is FHE.
That feels so good. We're doing something right!

The Final Big Game!! THE BEARS WON!! This is a big thing they beat the team across town.
GO BEARS!!

~Men In Black~

They played there last game at the new High School. It was a huge deal!!

Clayton made this scare crow the legs are little guns, the body is a shoe box and the face a Raiders Football! Cute.

I made the boy these for dinner the other night!! We had mummy pizzas and Frankin Stein Cookies! It was a lot of fun! The boys made each of these for themselves.

Life of a Science teachers wife. I threw a few dirty dishes in the dish washer and the rest is full of test tubes from Aaron's Science classes.

This is a gardener snake that we found in our back yard the other day. YUCK~YUCK~YUCK and it's not straight there, that was a long snake.

In a nut shell that's what's up! Out side of the usual working on the house. Although busy life is good!!

~Thankful~

My life is so blessed, that often times blessings come my way and I over look the fact that they are blessings.
For Example~ We made this sudden move to Southern Idaho, I was not happy here so the boys and I went back home. (a year ago)We started struggled at home after being there 7 months without Aaron. We only saw him one weekend every 6 weeks if we were lucky. It was tough. When I finally gave up and wanted us to be together where ever it was, I put the house up on the market again. One week later it was sold and 3 weeks later we were here. That is a strange blessing but I am so thankful to be together as a family again!
When we started this whole building thing we picked out a lot and started the finance process of the deal. We had some problems with paper work at the bank (long weird story). We were let down and frustrated. But the bank drug its feet long enough, that we found another lot for 15,000 less just around the corner and closer to the park. Blessing in disguise.
My kids are happy and healthy. So many families struggle with the health of one or more of there children or spouse and we are all healthy and active.
My little guys try so hard to do whats right. They are learning daily, although they fall daily sometimes hourly they get back up dust off and try again. I love it when they ask me questions about the church. I see there little wheels in motion trying to understand where Jesus is and "Mom, tell me again why Jesus got Baptised." that comes from Casen my 4 year old. A little blessing that would of passed my by if I wasn't paying attention.
Two weeks ago we as a family had the opportunity to pick corn with some friends. We jumped on the opportunity. It was a lot of fun!! That night when we got home, 4 hours later. My eyes started itching. I itched they a little and wet my face down, took a cool shower but still my eyes swelled shut. They were swollen shut after 30 seconds. I have had allergies all my life but never a reaction so quick like that. I am very thankful for the ability to see. After my eyes being swollen shut for 2 days and huge nasty purple and red bags under my eyes. I was called the 1 eyed 1 horned flying purple people eater & the Elephant Woman. I am so thankful for sight.
Today we were working at the house of course. Aaron and I were working either in the garage or in the house. Casen comes running "Mom, help Cody is stuck in a hole". My first thought was a hole there arnt any big enough for him to be stuck in around here. Clayton jumped out of the back of Aaron's truck and said "mom I'll take care of it." He jumped down and ran, I had a bad feeling there really arnt any hole around he could be stuck in so whats going on?? I ran around back and sure enough he was stuck in a hole. They had been out the day before and dug for fences so for little guys of course you need to get in and explore them puppys. Cody kinked his leg getting in and had it stuck, every time Casen then Clayton and then I pulled him to get him up he screamed in pain. I couldn't see in the hole. It was too dark and not much open room around him. I throw off my coat and started shoveling dirt out with my hands when I saw his little leg folded in half, like an L in the hole so every time we pulled it lodged in tighter. Finally I took his little leg kinked it a little and pulled him out. He was so afraid. I am thankful for the spirit that told me to check on my little guy anyway.
Tonight we went to some friends home for a birthday party. We had a lot of fun it was nice. But I am so thankful for a husband that lives the same standards as I do. I am thankful for the gospel that sets guides for us for example: The Word of Wisdom.
This although it seems like a book is only a few things. The Lord has truly blessed my life and our lives as a family. We truly have so many things to be thankful for.

October & Snowing!

We have been so busy working on the house, we hardly noticed that it is October. Monday it was 93* here then it started cooling off gradually until this morning when we woke up to this..........

I know being from N. Idaho we should be use to this type of weather, but October 4th SNOWING. No that's even crazy for that area.

I just put out my little Halloween Decorations!!

I gathered wheat a couple of weeks ago for my table~it already seems out of season, now that we have snow on the ground.

We have accomplished a lot on our home in the last week. The inside is completely painted and the barn wood floors are put in the kitchen, entrance and hall way. WOW!! Karla (Aaron's Mom) Came here for a week to help us paint the inside and boy oh boy we did, but especially her and Aaron worked like troopers. When I would pull off to get the boys to bed Aaron and his mom were there working under lights for a few more hours. We are so thankful for her willingness to help us. Because of her help the inside is all painted!! Aaron and I were at the house Thursday night till 1:30am putting in part of the floor then each day from there on out all day into the night. It's been a chore but it's in. The floors are have paint dust and sheet rock dust on them from us all walking on them, that's the white dusty look on them. Now it's time to sand and seal them 4 times.

This is our OSHA approved platform=) We couldn't get high enough to do the cut ins, in this stair way. Karla was the cut in QUEEN she is cutting in around the stairwell and the beams!!

Me painting the bonus room. (Barn wood is the color)

The Latest!!

This is our home last week. This week they roofed, put in our sky lites and insulated! We have been working ourselves pretty hard. We went with this particular contractor because he would let us do quite a bit of sweat equity. Sweating is what we are doing. We have worked very hard putting the rock up all over our home. We're not quite done but I will get that done tomorrow. Next is dry-wall!

"Da Bears"

Aaron coached his first football game last night. There was no end to the chatter between coaches we were receiving calls and text messages until after 10:00 pm.

They WON!!!!

18-0

CONGRATULATIONS

TO
DA BEARS

Congratulations Aaron You did a great job coaching and Great job to all those young men on the team who gave it there all!!

What happened to August???

Wow........ the month of August flew by.

A lot has happened...... The boys and Aaron started school!! Clayton in now a 3rd grader, he seems to like his teacher and school in general. Cody is now a 1st grader, he absolutely hates going to school all day, not a day goes by that he doesn't comment "school is so long, I don't like it." They earn coins based on behavior in class then to do things like use the restroom you've got to trade your coins. Cody asks for quarters before school so he can use the restroom without loosing his golden coins. Aaron is in school~he is so happy, no one could love there job as much as he does, And he is GREAT at being a teacher/coach. He teaches 6th grade science and coaching 7th grade football. There first game is Tuesday so they have been putting a lot of time in preparing~ Good Luck Coach Lippy!!

We ran back to CDA for a funeral Aaron's Grand Mother passed away. We left Thursday morning and got back Sunday evening just in time to semi get everyone ready to run off to school Monday morning. Aaron's Grand Mother was special to us. We really got to know them the last few years. They lived in Plummer so the boys and I would go out and take care of them from time to time. Grandma loved the boys, when we saw them a month ago she couldn't get over the boys and how much she loved and missed them. It was nice to see them and spend some time with them. It was also nice to see the family together they have 9 kids and I don't know about grand kids or great grand kids other then they had them and a lot of them.

We raced back Sunday and Aaron's mom Karla raced here on Monday. We all started painting our home Tuesday. The body got done quick the trim got done pretty quick but the peaks not so nice. We tried to spray it Thursday night and couldn't due to wind. We tried again Friday night and again too windy. We decided that Saturday we would get up the crack of dawn and paint those peaks wind or none. With a lot of prayers and patience there was no wind all day long a we were able to get the peaks done. Since the exterior painting we have finished beams for inside and out paint and repaint, we have been so busy. We had our construction friends help us with the huge beam out front. They 3 of them Aaron and his dad George all had that thing up in 5 or 10 minutes. That's how ya get the job done.

We have a scratch coat of cement up so Labor day we will start putting up our textured stone. The scratch coat is all the gray looking areas on our home, that will soon be all rock. There are a lot of little time consuming steps that come in to play to get this far.

We are suppose to get the roof roofed this week and the dry-wall all up, so things are coming along.

Thank You to all who have helped this far!

note: Aaron I love you and appreciate all that you do for us! You are my knight in shining armour.

I know the only real difference is the doors and windows, but we did them! They framed in my fireplace and finished the stairs, I guess they did a few more things but they weren't as noticeable. This is where our home sets as of Friday. The roofers were scheduled to be there either Friday or Monday. The siders will be there towards the middle of the weeks or that's what we are hoping for. We are the clean-up crew! Friday morning at 7:00, we as a family beat everyone out and cleaned our lot down to sweeping the inside.

Our home will eventually be a 4 bedroom rancher with a bonus room above the garage. I am most excited for the gas insert, Aaron is going to rock around it. It's going to look so peaceful and nice. I am excited for my island in my kitchen. The boys favorite place you would think would be there rooms except they always share the same room they are excited until it's time to sleep alone then that excitement is GONE. So it would have to be the family room!

2 weeks later!

Our house 2 weeks later!

To our surprise we have had a few hick ups already. The stairs leading to the bonus room is suppose to have a rail, but to our surprise it's now a load bearing wall so we have had to use our imagination to make it work. If it works like we see it in our heads it should be o.k.

Sorry only a front view but this place is so dusty. Yuck Yuck Yuck.

We should be installing our windows Wednesday. Things are moving along FINALLY. With school starting in 2 weeks we are really going to have our hands full.

Trixie

We have had our dog for almost 2 years now. We got her when she was a puppy so she would learn how to treat the boys. She is the best dog. We got her from a breeder in Wa. he sold us a boy and the runt. We loved it so that's all that mattered. We named it beans and called it Beaners all the time. Beaners is a English Springer Spaniel. She truely lives up to her breed she springs over everything even the 6 foot high kennel I got for her, just to be out with the family. She has a record at my parents house. The neighbors called the police on her because she barked so much wanting to be in the house with us. She sets by the back door just waiting for us to come out and play with her.

We took him in to get him neutered and got a call from the vet asking us if we had a boy dog at home and or if we had grabbed the wrong one by accident. No that's the only dog we have. That's when we found out that our little he is really a she. We kept her name the same cause we thought it was cute. We had my little brother Matt and his family keep her until our home is done cause they don't allow dogs where we are staying. We brought here home with us when we came back, not knowing when we will make it back to N. Idaho. Then after finding out there is such a Mexican population here we decided unless we wanted problems we had to change her name. Coming from N. Idaho we had no clue. Boy is this area making us smart.(ha ha)

In short our boy dog is really a girl dog. Her name was Beaners and now is Trixie!

Casen and Cody love to crawl into here kennel with her. We all love our little Trixie!