The Staley Story

Working in the yard with daddy

2012-01-14T21:16:00.002-05:00

Blake got all dressed up on this chilly day to help daddy in the yard. He loves to be outside and believe it or not it was really cold.

Dad's birthday

2012-01-13T21:01:00.002-05:00

We went to Smokey Bone's for dad's birthday.

Blake, dad, Jack, Aunt Gayle, mom, Vance, and Bonnie

Thad, Will, and Mitchell

We were able to get the big room which happened to have a dart board in it. Blake was shooting darts the entire night.

Blake loves his grandpa

Showing off his darts

Blake grabbed a toothpick on the way out and put it in his mouth like a big boy. He loves to mimic what he sees.

Mitchell's new bike

2012-01-02T20:42:00.002-05:00

Mitchell has been begging for a new bike and we finally got him one. We wanted him to pick it out so we put a note in his stocking and took him shopping.

He was annoyed that I wanted to take a picture but I did anyway. I'm the mom, that's what I do.

Blake, of course, had to get in on the picture and bike riding.

Grand Floridian gingerbread houses

2011-12-28T21:36:00.000-05:00

Mom and I took Blake to see the gingerbread houses at the Grand Floridian and Contemporary hotel. It was amazing how big the house was.

This tree was at the Contemporary.

Christmas at Dad's

2011-12-26T22:01:00.002-05:00

We had a Christmas party at dads on the day after Christmas.

Mitchell opening his present from grandpa. It was a check in that big box. Mitchell loves money.

Here is Blake with his 4th annual Hess truck from grandpa. He loves these trucks.

Blake and Vance. Isn't Vance's outfit so cute?

Headphones from Aunt Bonnie. Thanks, now he really can't hear us.

This would have been cute if it wasn't blurry.

MERRY CHERISTMAS

2011-12-25T12:46:00.001-05:00

Christmas Morning!!!

Blake was so excited for Christmas. We had a count down calander which he changed every day and couldn't wait till Christmas morning.

Mitchell is at the age now that Christmas will come either at 6am or 9am. Blake got him up, early, and he was a little tired and took awhile to wake up.

Gingerbread houses

2011-12-22T21:48:00.002-05:00

Blake and I made gingerbread houses. I love that he loves to do that with me. He just couldn't wait to eat it.

Mom's house and Blake's house.

Mitchell and Noah

2011-12-21T21:37:00.002-05:00

Mitchell had his friend Noah stay the night. I was trying to get them to make gingerbread houses instead they decided to put the frosting on their faces.

Tie-dye t-shirt

2011-12-14T11:15:00.000-05:00

Over Thanksgiving, when we had our family reunion, we made tie-dye t-shirts for the kids. Mitchell wore his a couple of days ago and I put Blakes on today. He wasn't paying attention this morning when I dressed him but when he went to the bathroom and looked in the mirror he started giggling and came out and said mom look, Mitchell gave his shirt to me. He was so excited, then I told him he had one to, like Mitchell's. He was ok with that and liked that he has a shirt like Mitchell's.

Dedelow Family Reunion

2011-11-28T23:10:00.000-05:00

Where do I start? My family had a family reunion for the weekend. All 32 of us were together. It was wonderful. My 2 sisters and 1 brother got in on Tuesday with everyone following after. Wednesday afternoon, me and my brother and two brother-in-laws headed to Kissimmee and rented 3 campers for Beverly's family, Kristine's family and my family to stay in. Scott and Todd's family stayed at moms. I figured my house was to far and what easier way to have everyone in the same place. I talked some family members into staying in them, and it turned out pretty well, and made it convienient that we were all so close.

The reunion started Wednesday night, our theme for the weekend was holidays and on Wednesday night my sister-in-law, Erin, came over and painted faces and we had our own little Halloween party.

Thursday, of course, was Thanksgiving. What can I say, cooking all day eating all night. We had our dinner at my dads house.

Friday was BLACK FRIDAY. We did alot of shopping that day, We had a cookout and then lit a fire in our fire pit and enjoyed smores all evening.

Saturday morning we had our family pictures taken. We had to hire a photographer, there are just to many of us for a studio. We took our pictures at the Tuskawilla park. After pictures the kids played on the playground and then we went home for some lunch. Saturday afternoon we played some family games, tug a war, obstacle course and sac races. It was so much fun to watch everyone participate and it was amazing to see so many people and know that they are all my family. My parents did such a good job raising all of us. We all have wonderful families.

Sunday we went to church with mom and then went to her house for dinner. It was such a wonderful weekend and I think we all had a really great time.

THE CAMPERS

Dad bought a playground set for the kids which was a huge hit, the kids loved it. Convieniently my dad had built a dog run for Austin the dog (who died almost a year ago) and it was still up so that gave us a perfect place to put the swingset. We also put the fire pit in there and added lights around the fence. It was perfect.

My brother, William and my husband built a platform and put up a zipline for the kids which was probably the highlight of the weekend for the kids.

Babysitting Vance

2011-11-02T22:29:00.000-04:00

Blake and I were babysitting Vance this morning and Vance was getting into the books on the bookshelf. Blake was over there with Vance telling him "no no sweatheart, don't get that book". I guess Blake thinks that is what you are supposed to say. That's what mommy says all the time.

YAY!!! Halloween is here

2011-10-31T23:54:00.000-04:00

The finished pumpkins.

Mom's

Mitchell's

Aunt Erin is so wonderful to come over every Halloween and paint faces.

Blake looked amazing.

Here he is with Robbie.

We have friends and family over every year for Halloween. Chili and candy. We always have so much fun.

Dad, Blake Sydney, Lydia, Ellen (Jack's mom) and Will

Grandma with Blake

Grandpa with Blake

Pumpkin carving

2011-10-30T08:26:00.002-04:00

Time to carve the pumpkins. Blake had gone to a pumpkin patch with his school and they let the kids pick out a pumpkin and gave them money to buy them. Of course the money came from the parents before hand. Blake came home with this pumpkin and could not wait to carve it. We had two other pumpkins so I worked on those and dad worked on Blake's pumpkin with him. Blake was so excited.

We actually let Blake cut part of the pumpkin.

The finished product. Cute huh?

Daddy and Blake

Look at this proud boy.

Mitchell and I did one to but they were not done till late so pictures will come later.

Trunk r treat

2011-10-29T20:03:00.002-04:00

Watch out, here come the Staley's. We are headed out to a trunk r treat. We actually went to 2 of them. One for mom's ward and one for our's. Here we are ready to go.

Mitchell dressed up as Bruce Lee. I ordered the jacket from China.

Blake went as a dragon. I bought a costume last year on clearance. It was for How to train your dragon. We spiked Blake's hair. Isn't it cute.

The next night was our wards Trunk r treat. I went and got blue spray for Blake's hair.

Pumpkin Patch

2011-10-14T22:09:00.001-04:00

We found a cute little pumpkin patch and I tood the oppertunity to take some shots. I just don't see cute pumpkin patches like this in Florida

There's Blake

We went to a cute playground after and the kids loved it.

Mason is here

2011-10-12T23:38:00.001-04:00

Mason Dedelow

born 10/11/11

1 month early and over 8 pounds

BIG BABY

I took this picture because Blake's head was so much bigger than Mason's. I wish I had taken more pictures of the baby, we were just so busy the whole time we were there.

Flight to DC

2011-10-11T23:36:00.000-04:00

Scott (my brother) had asked me if I would come to there house and help them when they had their baby. Well, at about 11:30 pm I got the call. Booked my flight at about 1am and stayed up till 3:30am packing. Blake and I were on the plane by 11am and on our way to DC.

Blake was very excited to go on a plane.

Blake wanted to take a picture of me.

Spirit

2011-10-08T20:41:00.002-04:00

Sooo Cute,
I was making dinner and had put the movie Spirit in for Blake it was about half way through and the part came on when the girl horse got hurt and had fallen and Spirit the horse was staying with her to comfort her. All of a sudden I hear sniffling coming from Blake. He was so upset that the horse got injured. I went over and held him and then he started bawling. He was so sad for the horse. I had to reassure him that the horse would not die and then he kept on watching and eventually pushed me away saying I'm fine, I'm fine

William's birthday

2011-10-07T23:07:00.003-04:00

We celebrated William's birthday with him at Olive Garden. Bonnie was there but left because Vance was tired.

Race track

2011-10-07T22:59:00.002-04:00

So proud of his track.

Dinner at mom's

2011-09-25T23:18:00.003-04:00

Mom had me my family, my dad and all my brothers and sisters over for dinner. It's so nice to be with all my brothers and sisters.

Dad and Mitchell

Dad and Blake

Dad and Jade

Blake and Riley

Riley

Jade, dad and Riley

Vance and Joel

Bonnie and Vance

Will, isn't that the funniest look on his face.

Wigs

2011-09-25T21:33:00.002-04:00

So since the girls were here mom wanted them to go through all here old wigs and scarfs. Here we all are trying them on and mostly making fun of them.

Even Joel tried on the hair piece.

Yes that is Mitchell

Move over Mozart. Here comes Blake.

Rain Storm

2011-09-23T19:41:00.002-04:00

All my brothers and sisters were here to visit my dad. There was a rainstorm outside and Bev and Kris don't see rainstorms very often. The rest of us from Florida thought it was hilarious that they were out there taking pictures of the rain.

Ryan was getting in on the action.

Will just went out to make fun of them.

Blake and Ryan

Blake's new bathtub

2011-09-15T19:41:00.000-04:00

Blake wanted to take a bath and the only bathtub we have is upstairs and I had some things I had to do so I had this bin and told him he could take a bath in that. Ever since then, for at least the last 2 months he has to have a bath in the bin and he loves it.

Blake stories of the day

2011-09-12T14:27:00.001-04:00

Blake was jumping on the couch and I told him he needed to get down because we don't jump on the couch. He told me, but mom I want to fly, and he was holding two pillows like wings. I told him "no" again and he told me to turn around and close my eyes. Like I didn't know what he was going to do. He eventually ended up in timeout for jumping on the couch.

Later that day Blake told me that Mitchell's bus was on red. I didn't really know what he was talking about so I just said ok and went on doing what I was doing. Then a little later I was talking on the phone and he was trying to get my attention and I wouldn't give it to him so when I got off he told me that my bus was on red to. I finally put 2 and 2 together and realized that at his preschool if you are being bad your little bus with your name on it gets moved from green to yellow to red. Well I guess mommy and Mitchell were being bad and our buses were on red. Mitchell wasn't even at home, he was at school. Makes me wonder how many times his bus is on red. We should try that at home.

Labor Day at dads

2011-09-05T22:01:00.002-04:00

Labor Day at dads. Swimming, eating and family. It's the best.
Vance, Bonnie and Blake

Thad was teaching Vance to swim.

Mitchell and Blake were having a brother moment where they were actually getting along. It was cute.

Goggle boys

Superhero

2011-08-30T23:50:00.001-04:00

Blake said.
Hey mom, I'm a good superhero. I said, You are? He said, yah and if you get in trouble I will rescue you.

Mitchell and Blake cuddling

2011-08-28T17:17:00.000-04:00

Court of Honor

2011-08-17T14:08:00.000-04:00

Mitchell and Blake first day of school

2011-08-15T13:47:00.001-04:00

Dinner with the McNinch family

2011-08-14T09:32:00.002-04:00

Joel's sister Anne was here for a visit and they all came over to our house for dinner. Erin brought her face painting stuff over and did all the kids faces.

That face just looks like pure joy.

All the kids with Aunt Erin

Sydney, Erin, Dallin, Blake, Morgan, Shannon and Patrick

Erin, Mary, Joel, Anne, Spencer and Blake's head

The kids with mom and dad

blake after he wiped all the make-up off his face

Blake and mom

2011-08-10T09:09:00.000-04:00

Blake and I were messing around and took some pics of us.

Joel's birthday

2011-08-07T09:07:00.000-04:00

We had a birthday party for Joel at the beach. We had about 20 of our friends and family there, and had a cookout with hotdogs and lots of other good food. Unfortunately I did not get a picture of the birthday boy because he was to busy enjoying his day surfing.

Ellen Sikes and Bonnie with Vance

Erin and Spencer

Our campout spot. It was so nice to have all the shade.

Mitchell, Jack and Nick

Blakeisms

2011-08-04T23:19:00.001-04:00

Blake has been coming up with some silly phrases lately. Today he said a couple, the first was we were out on a little trail and I was lagging behind, he waves his hand and pretends to throw something and then says to me, "come on mom you've got your run back so hurry up. The other is he got put in timeout tonight and as he's sitting down he looks at me with a mad face and says "I quit". Don't ask, I have no idea where he got that from.

2011-07-31T00:49:00.002-04:00

Today Blake set up his Matchbox car ramp and had it falling into a bucket on the side of the couch. While he was doing that I had gotten a phone call and wasn't paying attention to him. That's never a good idea. Next thing I know, Mitchell is telling me that Blake got the cheese and wanted me to cut a piece of cheese for his mouse trap. In his mind he was somehow going to catch a mouse and needed cheese. He's been watching way to much Tom and Jerry. It was super cute though.

Shots for Pre-school

2011-07-27T11:03:00.003-04:00

Blake walks into the doctors office today and there are some kids in there and he announces to them, k I'm here to get a shot. He was being very brave. The whole time we were there he was telling me that he wasn't going to cry when he got his shot. Of course when he actually got the shot he yelled and cried. It was so sad. He was still very brave.

Vance's blessing

2011-06-26T22:47:00.002-04:00

Baby Vance got blessed.

Grandpa Dickman, grandpa Dedelow, Bonnie, Thad, Vance,

grandma Dickman, grandma Dedelow

Blake was taken it easy...

Vance and Mitchell hanging out on the couch at grandma's house.

Of Course Blake had to get in on it and show the poses.

Doesn't he look like the perfect little angel.

Vance's blessing outfit. I made it. Didn't it turn out cute.

Mitchell went to Boy Scout Camp

2011-06-23T15:45:00.004-04:00

Our little boy is growing up and has turned into a handsome young man. Here he is at scout camp. He has been there since Monday and we have gotten nothing but wonderful reports about him.

Here Mitchell is pointing to his campsite. His site was one of the farthest from everything.

Mitchell had such a great time. He enjoyed hanging out with the other boys and told us that the biggest lesson he learned was that he could be happy even in an uncomfortable situation. Meaning that is was hot and rainy and the food was bad, but he had a great time anyway.

Of course Blake wanted to get in the picture. He thought we were there to go camping and were so disappointed when we didn't stay.

Blake's bubble party

2011-06-09T21:55:00.002-04:00

Blake had a party with all his friends. Of course I had to make another robot cake.

I thought it would be fun to have a bubble party in the backyard. We borrowed a couple of kiddie pools and put bubble bath in them and the kids had a blast.

Mitchell was a huge help. He kept the pools full and enjoyed spraying all the kids.

The moms.

Blake's friends who came were Robin, Kate, Robbie, Bree, Curtis, Lauden, Fletcher, Elody, Fabion, Laurel, Nathanel, Gina and Kendal

Cake two

Blake was so excited to have his robot cake to begin with but to get to have it twice. SCORE!!!

Back to the bubbles

Blake's birthday

2011-06-05T23:43:00.001-04:00

Blake's turning FOUR

He was so excited to have his birthday. All he wanted was a robot cake. I wasn't sure if I could pull it off but found a picture on line and did my own version of it. That morning he woke up and yelled down stairs and said ok mom I'm ready for my robot cake. Of course I had not even made it yet, I had just shown him pictures. We had my family and Joel's family over for the party. He was, of course, thrilled with the cake, loved eating it and loved getting presents.

THE ROBOT CAKE

PRESENTS

Mitchell get the priesthood

2011-05-08T21:31:00.001-04:00

Mitchell got the priesthood today.

Bro. Arroy, Bishop Barr, Grandpa Staley, Mitchell, Joel, Tyler, Ben

Mitchell's turns 12

2011-04-26T22:10:00.003-04:00

Happy Birthday to Mitchell

12 YEARS OLD

We made his favorite strawberry shortcake

Of course Blake came running when we sang Happy Birthday. He loves cake, unfortunately it wasn't his favorite but he had some cool whip.

Blake's new poses

2011-04-24T23:33:00.001-04:00

Blake has started to do poses for pictures. He will do a pose and then tell me. Mom take a picture of me.

Easter Egg Hunt

2011-04-24T21:42:00.002-04:00

Easter egg hunt. READY, SET, GO

This was the first year that Blake really understood what was going on. Candy in the eggs?

AWSOME!!!

Eggs are gone. Baskets full. 17 kids. It's so fun.

Bonnie, Thad and new baby Vance

Easter Morning

2011-04-24T20:38:00.002-04:00

Easter morning. Of corse we had our annual basket hunt for the boys.

It's just as fun for us as it is for them

Blake loved hunting for and getting his basket.

YUMMY!

Blake has a small fever Easter morning so he and I stayed home from church. He thought that looking for the basket was so fun that he had me do it over and over and over again. Then he would say, mom take a picture. He's so fun.

He of course would repack it again and go through it everytime.

Yeah...He looks really sick. Do you see all that candy he's eaten?

Of course after the basket hideing was done we went to funny poses.

I love my boys. They are so wonderful

Getting painted for Easter

2011-04-22T23:27:00.002-04:00

Blake and I went to Publix for some Easter stuff that they had going on and he got his face painted like a bunny. He thought it was cool for about 5 minutes and then when we got home we couldn't get it off of him quick enough. He looked cute though.

Singing in sacrament

2011-04-17T18:06:00.001-04:00

Today the primary sang in sacrament at church. Blake was so excited to be up there. He ran up there and was in the front waving at everyone in the congregation, we thought. Later Sis. Blackwelder came up to me and said he was looking strait at her and waving and then when they started singing he was singing to her. They started the song which was "We are as the Armies of Heleman", Blake didn't know all the words to the song but he was belting out all the ones he did know and was doing his own arm movements. All of our friends came up to us after church and told us they were laughing so hard they had tears in his eyes. He was so funny. After the song, you could hear the whole congregation laugh. I was laughing so hard I had tears coming out of my eyes and when Blake got back to our seat he was asking me "what's wrong mom" He is the sweetest child.

Mitchell's snake

2011-04-16T23:17:00.001-04:00

So Mitchell has had this snake for a couple of years now and it has gotten very long. It's over 2 feet long.

Court of Honor

2011-04-06T23:08:00.004-04:00

Today is Mitchell's Boy Scout Court of Honor. He earned his First Class rank.

Mitchell and grandma.

Blake's kitchen

2011-03-30T23:18:00.003-04:00

I made this little kitchen for Blake. I originally wanted to make it for him for Christmas but it's April and this is what you get.

The oven and cabinet

The stove

The kitchen sink

It's just a bowl.

Water spout on the right

This is his refrigerator and a hook to hold his keys.

I upgraded the shelfs for his plates and cups. Pretty cute.

The finished product. Blake loved it. He came down from his nap after I had just finished putting it together and said. "Oh mom you made it for me? I wove it." Then gave me a huge hug and kiss and started making me dinner then got into the box through the cabinet doors. Because, of course, that is was a box is for. To get into and hide.

Beach again

2011-03-22T22:21:00.004-04:00

We went to the beach again. We love the beach. This time it was a little windy and cold but the kids didn't care. I was in a chair with a towel wrapped around me. I was a little cold.

Mitchell (aka David Hasselhoff jr.)

I was playing around with my camera. I know there are alot of pictures in this post but I was having fun playing with my camera.

My toes. This is for Patti.

The jetty's were about a quater a mile away and Joel had taken Blake to the bathrooms and of course Blake wanted to go walk on the rocks. I couldn't believe the picture actually came out. This is Joel and Blake on climbing on the rocks.

This is how far they actually were.

This is Joel and Blake walking back.

Mitchell found a crab and was playing around with it.

So my car has been out of commission for a couple of weeks and this is what we went to the beach in. It is not very roomy but we managed. Joel has a tray he puts into the hitch and we put all of our beach stuff in that. It was kinda fun to go to the beach with the top down.

The boys making a castle. They were actually getting along. I was a little to cold to go in the water.

Joel going out to catch some waves. The waves weren't really very good but he still loves getting out into the water.

Our beach spot. Do you see our sad umbrella. It was just to windy.

Blake dancing

2011-03-21T14:21:00.004-04:00

This is Blake dancing to the music at the end of Shrek. You have to watch it all the way to the end, it is hilarious.

Deseret Rodeo 2011

2011-03-18T23:51:00.003-04:00

Rodeo time again.

Joel wanted to go early to walk around the rodeo grounds and see the animals. We had a friend that offered to take Joel and the kids early. I had to work during the day so I met them out there later. Joel told me they were the first ones in the parking lot. Glad I came later.

The bleachers and of course Blake.

Blake with the annoucer the ranch general manager.

Waiting for the show to start. Gina in the background.

Eating chips and stittin on a barrel

So every year they have a pig chase for all the kids. I know the pictures are blurry but it was the best I could do. Mitchell is to old but Blake is in the front, of course.

The annoucer was counting to 3 and when he got to 2 some kids around Blake had a false start and Blake followed behind but did not stop. The announcer was saying well hold on there partner. Blake kept running. Then the announcer said 3. So funny.

I could only find him for the first coulpe of minutes and then I lost him. I tried to get another picture, but there were so many kids.

Joel asked him when he was done, " did you catch a pig there buddy" Blake said "No and it's all my fault." Not sure where that came from but it was cute.

They had music between all the events and we got Blake dancing again. He is such a funny kid.

Blue and Gold

2011-03-17T22:34:00.002-04:00

Joel is the cub master and had his first Blue and Gold. He did a good job. The Primary was in charge of the decorating, which I did not get a picture of, dangit, but we were in charge of the centerpieces and this is how they turned out. Pretty cute huh.

Relief Society dinner

2011-03-16T22:29:00.001-04:00

I have a new calling now. I am the 3rd councelor, I know it's weird, we have a Spanish seperation in our ward and the second councelor is for the Spanish seperation. Anyway I am in charge of the monthly meetings and my first monthly meeting was the birthday dinner. Talk about being thrown into the lion's den. I had a great assistant who did most of the work, I was greatful to have her. Mitchell does oragami and he taught me to make these flowers. I did them for our centerpieces. They turned out pretty awsome and everyone loved them. I had alot of fun making them to.

Build a car at Lowe's

2011-02-26T15:26:00.001-05:00

Blake and I went to the Saturday kids workshop they have at Lowe's every other weekend. This weekend he built a car. He is pretty good at slinging that hammer. He hits the nail on the head most of the time. The bandaid on his forhead, well that is what happens when you leave Blake with daddy. :)

Visiting baby

2011-02-25T22:16:00.006-05:00

We went to the hospital to visit the baby and oh ya, Bonnie. :) Just kidding. We had a good visit. The baby is adorable and Bonnie seems good.

The Clay Marble

2011-02-25T15:18:00.001-05:00

Mitchell had a project to do for his reading class. They read the book "The Clay Marble". This is how his project turned out. I think is looked pretty good. The pot has real rice in it and the ground is real dirt and the clothes hanging are made from fabric. Compliments of mom. He did most of it though and did a really good job.

Bonnie had her baby

2011-02-24T22:40:00.003-05:00

Ready to deliver

2 hours of pushing later.

MEET

Thadeus Vance Dickman

8 pounds 1 ounce

21 inches

Grandma Dedelow

Grandma Dickman

First beach trip of 2011

2011-02-21T22:33:00.002-05:00

Presidents day weekend. Gotta love it!!!

Jack and Mitchell building a sand castle.

Blake, of course, loves getting his hands dirty.

It was such a beautiful day. So warm and wonderful. The water was a little cold though.

Blake found a snail.

Cast off take 2

2011-02-16T22:11:00.002-05:00

Mitchell got his cast off again. He has to ware a brace for 2 weeks and then when he does sports. He says it still hurts a little but it is getting better. We are just happy to not have to wrap it every night for his shower.

Wig

2011-02-12T15:52:00.001-05:00

We found an old wig of my moms and were trying it on.

Mitchell

Blake

Joel

This is what Joel would look like with hair. It's not that bad.

Blake and his many poses.

Good bye to Austin

2011-02-12T09:22:00.006-05:00

Yesterday I got a text from my dad that said that Austin, my dads dog, was having spasms which ware from a neurological problem and that it would be best to put him down. OK, I cried. I couldn't believe I was crying. That dog was such a pain in the butt sometimes. He would run away and get into stuff he was not supposed to. We nicknamed him ABD, which stood for Austin bad dog. He had even got hit by a car and was down to 3 legs and would still run away and he could run fast.

The last couple times I went to my dads though I could tell that he was getting slower and looking a bit older. He lived a good life he was 14 years old.

This picture was taken of Mitchell and Austin. Mitchell was about 2 or 3.

Here is my brother Will with Austin in about 1998 or so. Austin loved Will. He always got so excited when Will came to dads.

Our little funeral.

I wanted to go over to dads last night to help him and comfort him. He brought Austin home in a box the vet gave him and we burried him in dads yard. In the dog run dad had put up for him.

Mom even came and shed some tears for Austin. I guess he touched us all 14 years is a long time we all loved him in our own ways.

I wanted to make sure that Blake was involved so that he would know what happened to Austin. I'm not sure he really understood thought. On the way home he said "Austins going to the doctor, he's better". After having a broken leg, Blake thinks the doctor can fix anything.

Dad is going to plant a pretty plant on top of Austin in memory of him and to mark the spot.

Ice cream afterwards. We all needed to get out. It was really sad.

Disney January 2011

2011-01-29T13:32:00.057-05:00

Here we are waiting to meet Buzz Lightyear. Blake is so into meeting the characters, He gets so excited. Mitchell wasn't interested in this so he took a ride on the wedway people mover. He thought that was pretty cool because he got to go by himself.

Blake has gotten into making faces and then saying mom take a picture. It's cute. He's just silly.

He's so excited.

Joel and Mitchell went on Space Mountian next so Blake and I went for a ride on the people mover. He loved it. To him that was fast and he could look at everything.

Here we are at Pirates. I was so bummed that this picture turned out blurry, but you know how you are hurried along in the line.

Blake is finally tall enough to ride Thunder Mountian. Unfortunatly the sun was in his eyes and I cut off Mitchell's head. It just wasn't a good day for me and the camera.

Going up the lift, getting ready for another fall. He loved it.

The only thing Joel wanted to do on this trip was to see Captian EO. A 3D show they had been brought back from 1985. Of course we both saw it when it was originally out. Joel was so excited and wanted to get all the pictures he could.

Another character oppertunity. Joel and Mitchell went on Mission Space and Blake and I took advantage of the short line to see the characters. This was his second time seeing Mickey.

This is Blake bearly being able to contain himself with excitement. He was so excited to see the characters.

Blake had this curl on the top of his head that would not go down all day and Donald was playing with it. So funny.

Mitchell's cast

2011-01-26T16:49:00.001-05:00

Mitchell got a new cast today. He was playing football in PE and got tripped my a bigger kid and fell to the ground and landed on his arm. He told us it was hurting pretty good so we took him to the doctor just to get it checked out. They x-rayed it and said that it has even grown since he broke it but because it was sore right where the growth plate is they put another cast on just to be safe. 3 WEEKS. ugh.

Dads Birthday

2011-01-13T22:42:00.002-05:00

Dad came over to celebrate his birthday at my house. We had dinner and cake and of course Blake had to help dad blow out the candles.

The circus is coming to town

2011-01-10T22:53:00.002-05:00

The circus is coming and they do a parade with the elephants from the train station to the arena. I thought the boys would enjoy this and we went down there. It was pretty fun, we all had a good time.

It was pretty cool.

Lake Lotus park

2011-01-01T22:04:00.002-05:00

We were trying to think of something fun to do in a short amout of time and decided to go to Lake Lotus Park. It is about 2 minutes from our house. We could walk there if we wanted. There is a cute park and playground and then a boardwalk that you can walk on that leads to the lake. It is a nice little walk and lets the kids run and be in nature.

Jack was with us. This is year 2 that he has spent New Years Eve with us and it will probably become a tradition. Mitchell loves it of course.

The ranger was parked along the boardwalk looking at these baby alligators and got all of us to take a look and THEN Blake got on the ranger's cart and put his foot on the peddle and starts to take off. Luckily there was a group of people in front of him and a guy stopped the cart. We were on a part of the boardwalk that is out over the lake like a bridge and the cart was facing the lake and could have gone in. I looked at Blake when this was happening and he was looking back at me with a huge smile like hey mom look at me I got it to go. Needless to say he got a huge spank and we put him in timeout and then when he got out of timeout he said to us, "Hey I want to go back on there." Obviously our punishment was very effective. He is such a stinker.

Gatorland

2010-12-30T23:22:00.002-05:00

We have been trying to get to Gatorland for years and finally found an excuse with family in town.

Blake got to pet a baby gator

Another baby gator.

Blake thought they were pretty cool.

All of the medium sized gators.

Blake thought they were pretty cool.

They had their famous gator jumping for chicken but it was just to cold that day and the gators weren't very active.

Gator paw print.

Snake show. Joel took these pics.

NO this is not a real snake. It sure looked like one though.

Mitchell got to sit on the gator an pose for a picture. He was pretty excited about that.

We ended the day with the train that went around the park it was probably Blake's favorite part.

Michael Jackson and Wii

2010-12-28T22:35:00.002-05:00

We got the Michael Jackson Wii game for Christmas and of course Joel and Brent had to try it out.

PAUSE THE MUSIC ON THE BLOG TO THE RIGHT

Here is a video of Joel and Brent doing the moves to Thriller. Turn it up so you can hear the music in the background.

I am putting this on the blog with Joel's protest. He claims the game doesn't have you do Michael Jackson's actual moves, which he does much better than shown in this video. His apologies to all true Michael Jackson fans out there.

Lake Eola

2010-12-28T22:18:00.002-05:00

We met with Mary, Erin and Brent and all the kids at Lake Eola for a picnic. The kids had a great time together.

This thing that they are on just turns round and round. Blake was holding on for dear life.

This thing turns to. Mitchell had fun spinning Blake then he would get off, stumble around a little bit from being dizzy and get back on.

The new playground

2010-12-27T22:15:00.002-05:00

Here is Blake playing on the new playground which is finally all put together. He loves it.

Our little poser.

Christmas breakfast

2010-12-25T18:41:00.004-05:00

It has been our tradition to have a big family breakfast on Christmas morning. It was so weird this Christmas because my mom and dad and sister, Bonnie, were all gone, and Joel's family all did their own thing. Well we didn't want all that cooking to go to waste and thought the missionaries probably wouldn't mind a good breakfast so we had them over and they help finish up our food.

Blake was practicing on his new scooter doing laps between the kitchen, living room and dining room. Here he is striking a pose. He's getting really good at these poses.

Mitchell could not wait to get the Wii hooked up and Joel and him checked out some of the new games.

Blake was so cute, he wanted to help with the dishes and went and got his stool and just had at it. Of course it was mostly playing in the water, but it was good practice. I had an extra apron for him to. He loved it. He's such a good little helper

Christmas morning

2010-12-25T15:30:00.003-05:00

Waiting for mom and dad to get up.

Christmas morning presents from Santa and mom and dad.

Blake kept playing with the kitchen at Costco and I told Joel how much he wanted one. Joel said instead of a kitchen can't we get him a grill or something more mascaline.

Plants for his fish tank.

Mitchell had been begging for a yo-yo. Santa finally got him one and he has gotten pretty good.

Blake got a tool box and a drill. He loves to help daddy when he is fixing something and now he has his own tools.

The final present of the morning. The coveted Wii!

Mitchell was so funny the day before. We were getting ready for everyone to come over for Christmas Eve dinner and I asked him to help me a little. One of the things I asked him to do was to put the presents I had wrapped under the tree. If the had gone under there any earlier Blake would have opened them. Mitchell realized that there was not a box in the shape of a Wii and he was mine for the next 4 hours. "ok mom what do you have for me to do next"? "Anything for a Wii". I was loving it. Of course we had already bought it and it was hiding, but I got a good 4 hours or more of work out of Mitchell for it.

Christmas Eve

2010-12-24T13:26:00.005-05:00

Christmas Eve.

The kiddies are anxiously awaiting present time.
Blake loved his present. He got a hotwheels track. Anything with cars for him is a hit. Mitchell got a nerf target launcher. He loved it.

We had the Staley's over at our house. Brent, Brittney and Jason were here and also Tyler.

Here are all the adults. We recruited Mitchell to take the picture. We missed grandpa he was working.

Playground

2010-12-23T13:22:00.002-05:00

We bought a playground set off of craigslist. It's not quite all put together in this picture but the kids don't care. Blake was so excited to have a picnic out there especiall since Mitchell and Jackson were going to join him.

Gaylord Palms ICE

2010-12-20T21:11:00.003-05:00

Every year Gaylord Palms does the ICE exhibit where they sculpt everything out of ice. We've been wanting to go for years and finally went this year. It was COLD!

Joel, Mitchell and Blake

These blue jackets are the ones they give you to go over your clothes. We were still cold.

Even the slide was ice.

This is a nativity scene made out of ice. AMAZING!!!

Mommy and the boys

Presents from grandma

2010-12-20T20:33:00.004-05:00

Mitchell got a cool oragami book and paper to make mythical creatures.

Blake got a cool Hotwheels race trac from grandma for Christmas. He is so into cars and loved it.

More pictures of the kids

2010-12-12T20:18:00.003-05:00

So wish this picture wasn't blurry. Blake totally posed for this picture and told me to take it. He's such a ham.

Blakes new thing is to point during the picture.

The boys

2010-12-11T23:09:00.005-05:00

Joel and Mitchell were working in the backyard, and of course if they are out there Blake wants to join them. I took the oppertunity to take some pictures of the boys. They were really cute that day.

Who knew I took all those cute pictures with the boys in a wheelbarrow.

Gingerbread house party

2010-12-10T22:21:00.004-05:00

I invited some of Blake's friends and their moms over to have a gingerbread making party. The Moms definitely had a great time and when the kids were done they went to play. After the gingerbread houses were done we had lunch and then did a mom craft. I had so much fun having my friends over and so did Blake.

Mitchell's gingerbread house

2010-12-10T21:30:00.004-05:00

Mitchell came home and wanted to do his own gingerbread house. This is his creation. I thought it was pretty creative. Totally Mitchell.

2nd Class scout

2010-12-08T19:48:00.003-05:00

Mitchell earned the rank of 2nd class scout.

Brother Kunzler and Mitchell

Blake had to get in on the picture taking.

Anniversary

2010-12-07T00:21:00.003-05:00

13 Years

We went out to dinner and went out shopping for our big night.

My handsome husband

It's Christmas time

2010-12-04T22:26:00.002-05:00

I have my tree up and my decorations out, the lights outside are half done. I'm ready to bake cookies. I've been listening to Christmas music in the car and have networked my tv with my Windows media Player to play my Christmas music. I even have most of my shopping done. I'm ready to enjoy the season.

Merry Christmas everyone.

Visiting the panhandle

2010-11-27T23:50:00.004-05:00

After Thanksgiving and black Friday morning shopping we left for the panhandle to visit Joel's old mission companion and his family. We visited this state park and couldn't believe the view and this is Florida.

Paintball

2010-11-27T00:15:00.003-05:00

Mitchell had his first chance to play paintball. He loved it and had a great time.

Blake wanted the tryout the 4-wheeler.