Ross Family

Mommy Get A Way

2012-01-31T11:06:00.000-07:00

What do you do when it is cold outside? Head to SUNNY PHOENIX...... We planned a much needed mommy get away/ girls trip to visit Maria and her sweet family in Phoenix. It was the most amazing 3 days, we laughed so hard our sides hurt, we cried, we shopped and we ate and ate.

At the Airport getting ready to head out

We shopped and shopped and shopped.

After a wonderful time in the Mesa Temple we went to this awesome restaurant called Joes....you eat outside on the patio in the warm sun. They have the yummiest food and the largest lemons I have ever seen. I asked for a lemon for my Diet Coke and this is what I got!

We hiked Camelback mountain. It was a beautiful day and 75 degrees. It was amazing. I think it was one of my favorite parts of trip.

On top of Camelback. It was such an amazing hike and such a beautiful view on top. These ladies are amazing!

Did I mention that we shopped? So much fun!

Seriously, LOVE these girls. Such amazing women and I am so blessed to have them in my life. Can't wait until next year!

Bear River Lodge

2012-01-17T14:49:00.001-07:00

This was our 2nd annual trip to the Bear River Lodge. My dad (Ken) started this tradition about 4 years ago, when he took us older kids and our spouses snowmobiling at Daniels Summit. It was fun but kind of hectic finding sitters for the kids and stressing about being away from them. So last year dad got a 5 bedroom cabin at the Bear River lodge and it was so much fun having all of our families there we decided to do that again. My dad looks forward to this trip more then anything else all year. He considers it our Christmas together. We have so much fun hanging out, eating, playing games, eating, snowmobiling, eating and just laughing. The cabin is HUGE and the kids just have a blast playing with their cousins. We love it!

Lunch at McDonalds in Evanston, the kids loved the saddle seats!

Steve and Riley

Kelly having fun!

Addy and Chesleigh

Ches, Addy and Noah

Addy loved going smell-mo-biling

Bronson

Noah LOVED the ride.....put him right to sleep!

My Boys

Thanks Dad we had so much fun and can't wait until next year!

Welcome 2012.....

2012-01-10T18:21:00.000-07:00

We started a fun New Years tradition last year with some friends. We started doing the "Amazing Race" with our families. (Thanks Jodi and Rach) This has quickly become something my kids look forward to all year. We all get together and get our envelopes, then the race starts......We have 11 different clues that led us all over Herriman and South Jordan ( I have to figure out how to transfer videos from my phone) and we have to beat the other families. We started off with the dads having to find their initials in plastic eggs, then we headed over to Smiths and bought ice blocks then headed to a park to ice block down the hill. We then were sent to our church where 2 members of each family had to find their family name on a golf ball, there were probably 200 golf balls. Then we headed to the Herriman Cemetery where me and Bronson had to find a headstone with the initial "R" on it. Next we headed to the Grays and had a little obstacle course. From there we went had to drive to 7-11 buy an extra large slurpee as a family drink the whole thing then we were headed to Target. There we had to act out our favorite movie, Riley had to walk in high heels, Addy had to make a monkey sound and Kelly sang "Take me down to a Paradise City...." in the cereal aisle. From Target we were directed back to the Houstons were moms had to bounce a ping pong ball into a red solo cup! AH YEAH my family came in 3rd place!!!!! We had a BLAST! Fun times with the fam.....

Here are the families/ teams......

Team Parsons

Team Roy

Team Gray

Team Phillips

Team Houston ( I love Chris in this)

Team DuPaix

Team Ross we were the Bomb.....

After our race we all headed back to the Houstons and had snacks and played games.

Waiting for the ball to drop....

Addy didn't make it!

Neither did Brons

It was such a fun memorable New Years we are excited to start 2012 and make many more memories with family and friends.

Riley had a soccer tournament over the break. Riley did awesome and had lots of fun. Kelly even got to coach a game he thought that was awesome!

Merry Christmas to all......

2012-01-06T15:03:00.000-07:00

Our Christmas festivities started on Sunday the 18th and pretty much lasted the whole week. On Sunday we had our annual Timm (my moms side of the fam) Santa party. We have been doing this every year since I was a little girl and the same Santa has been coming, so it is fun to have a whole new generation sitting on Santa's lap.

This is the whole Timm family.....missing Chance and Grandma

On Monday for family night we had our traditional Nativity. We have been doing this for 8 years now and it keeps getting bigger and bigger with the more kids we all have. The Hedmans (Jons fam) join us and it is something we all look forward to. Every year it is a fight over who gets to be the sheep.....seriously my 13 year old wants to be the sheep??? It is a very tender script and the kids love acting it out.

Mary, Joseph and little baby Jesus (Stella)

The Sheep

The ending scene

My kiddos.....kind of a revealing dress Mary!

Wednesday we all met at the mall do take our Santa pictures. Again, this is something my mom has done with us since we were little and it is something we have all started with our own families. It is fun to look back at all the pictures and see the changes and the little personalities in all the pictures. This year we got to the mall early to try to beat the rush. As soon as we got in line I noticed the sign that said that Santa takes a break between 5:30 and 6:00. We had plenty of time right???? Well we got all the way through the line and were very next to get our pictures done, mind you we had 12 kids to get in the picture....and they closed the line so Santa could take his break. WHAT??? So we went to eat really fast and Kelly stayed in line. Right at 6pm we were there for our picture. It was crazy fun!

The whole gang!

Christmas Eve we always go to a movie with my family. Our day started out with Kelly wrapping up some last minute gifts so I played a 3 hour game of Monopoly with the boys and Bronson KILLED us all....We met my fam for dinner and then headed to the movie. We saw WE Bought a Zoo....it was adorable. Then we headed home to open our jammies. Then Kelly and I settled down to watch the marathon of Christmas Story (my most fav).

It was a UTAH year

I LOVE Christmas morning. It was going to be tricky this year with Christmas being on a Sunday, but truthfully I Loved it. It was fun getting up, opening presents and then going to celebrate our Saviors birth. It was a great way to start the day.....minus Bronson barging into our room at 5am and yelling...."WAKE UP IT IS CHRISTMAS".

Addy and her Dream Castle. She was so much fun this year everything she opened she would exclaim...this is just what I wanted......LOVE IT!

Bronson got his DS and some games

Riley got his soccer goals and a cell phone

Brennan got a soccer goal and an IPOD touch and a huge box filled with flaming hot cheetos.

After we all got done with church we headed over to my moms for our Breakfast/Brunch. We all exchanged gifts and enjoyed more family time together. My mom got Zach and Riley these awesome MORPH suits.....hilarious!

My mom found these old school Cabbage Patch Kids dolls.....Addy loved hers!

It has become a fun tradition that every year for our Christmas dinner we order Chinese take out. We think we are so funny as we (mostly Kelly and I ) sing FAR RA RA RA RA RA RA RA RA......

We had the most wonderful Christmas this year. It is so fun with the kids getting older and the more traditions we start. We love our Savior and we are so thankful for His birth, His life and His example.

Jingle, Jingle, Jingle

2012-01-06T14:15:00.000-07:00

Addy had her Christmas dance recital and she danced to Jingle, Jingle, Jingle. It was adorable. She did a little tap dance and she had really good shuffles! She LOVES dancing on the stage.

Addy's dance class

Thats my girl

Addy and Autumn

Addy and her daddy

Look Who Is 7.......

2012-01-06T14:03:00.000-07:00

Bronson turned 7 on December 8th. This kid has the best personality and he is the one in our family that keeps us on our toes. You never know what he is going to say or do....Kelly and I always ask ourselves, "Where did he come from?" He is such a sweet tender hearted little boy and our family wouldn't be the same without him. We love you Bronson!

This is what he wanted for his Birthday.....the Green Machine!

With Bronsons birthday being just 2 weeks before Christmas he always gets short changed on the bday parties. This year we decided to take the easy way out and had McDonalds do the party. He LOVED it.....I LOVED it......12 boys and girls running around McDonalds was perfect for me. They did the Happy meals, cake, ice cream and goody bags. PERFECT! We love you buddy!

Washington State

2011-11-28T15:25:00.000-07:00

My grandparents live in Pullman, Washington and since the Utes were playing Washington State in Pullman we decided to take the kids and go visit them. My cute grandpa is a former Cougar football player and President of the University, and long time season ticket holder, so he got us tickets to the game. Mom, dad and Zach made the 2 day trip to Pullman with us. We stopped in Boise for the night and had a great time road tripping to watch the Utes play in sub degree weather.

McCall, Idaho

On the banks of the Salmon River

All the kids with Grandma Nord

Phil, Eric and Dan

Getting ready to walk into the game. Love my cute grandpa.

GO UTES

Before the game, no snow yet.....

Mom and Dad

GO UTES!

Half Time.....let the blizzard begin

My mom hates the snow, she was such a trooper

The UTES after a close win......well worth the drive

Thanks grandpa for a fun weekend. Lots of driving, but we had a great time!

Fall Fun.....

2011-11-16T09:35:00.000-07:00

I have been a major slacker this year with my blog! I am going to try to be better about posting......

We have had such a fun fall with lots of fun activities. I LOVE the fall, football games, birthdays , Halloween, the crisp feeling in the air. LOVE IT ALL!

Kassie and I went to the Taylor Swift concert. It was AMAZING!!!!! We had such a fun night. This was 2 weeks before Kassie had the baby. She was such a trooper. Her poor feet by the end of the night were so swollen. I love my sis!

We love going to the Utah football games.

My sweet boy turned 13 in October. I cannot believe that I am officially a mom of a teenager!!!! What the heck???? Riley doesn't like regular cake so I made him a frozen lemonade cake!

Kelly turned 41! I had no idea what to do for Kelly this year. I blew up 41 and balloons and wrote 41 things I love about him!

Sandi and Duane celebrated 50 years of marriage in October. We had a big family dinner for them and then an open house. It was fun being in Richfield and celebrating this special day with them.

Fun at the Pumpkin Patch!

For family night one night we went with our friends to Murray park where they had a fun little sppok alley for the kids. The kids loved it.......at least the little ones did. Afterwards, we headed over to Gardner Village to see all the witches. We are so thankful for wonderful friends!

The Boys

I love this picture.....Kelly of course ahs his eyes closed and I love Jeremy trying to sneak in!

The Girls.....Love these ladies!

My sweet family. Love Bronsons face in this one!

Crazy fun day......We went to the Utah Blackout game and we had extra tickets so we decided to take Brennan and the Grays took Carter. It was Brens first Utah game, and he got right into it. After, we flew to the REAL game. It was their first playoff game and we met Riley and Bronson there. It was a crazy fun day filled with lots of sports!

I Love these handsome boys!

GO REAL!

So every year my mom has a fun little Halloween party for the kids. This year she let the older kids make a Spook Alley in her garage. They did an AWESOME job. They got all sorts of floding tables we had to crawl through, they were throwing snaps and they even got out the leaf blower so that it sounded somewhat like a chain saw. It was hilarious. After we did the Ole fashioned Bobbing for apples. Thanks to Steve he showed us how it was done....

Luckiest Auntie.....we got two new baby girls in 3 weeks. Baby Evelyn (Steve & Jess) on the left and Baby Stella (Kassie and Jon) on the right. Love these princesses!

We had such an amazing fall and now we are gearing up for the Holidays! Can't wait!!!

California here we come......

2011-10-12T16:03:00.000-06:00

( Warning....lots of pics)

So we decided to SURPRISE our kids with a 10 day trip to California. We took a break from everything......soccer, school, homework, soccer, practices, work, soccer and just decided to spend time as a family. It was a much needed break for all of us. We decided that we should tell Riley because hew as missing his second week of middle school. I didn't want him freaking out and stressing about missing school. I decided to tell him a couple of days before we left. Our trip was planned for September 2-11. I had the car all packed and ready to go Thursday night. We woke the kids up at 4 am, threw them in the car and took off. They all slept until just outside of St George, that is where we told them what we were doing! They were so excited especially Bronson, because we were headed to Sea World (his most favorite place)! All was going well until......we hit Hesparia and saw this off of the freeway.........

We had just left Barstow and all the kids were snoozing along with Kelly and I saw this massive smoke ball that looked like it was coming off the freeway as we got closer the traffic came to a standstill, that is when Kelly decided to wake up! I had friends from Salt Lake calling and telling me that I15 was closed going South Bound to California. Yep we were caught right in the middle of it. The traffic was being diverted off the freeway until I15 reopened. Nobody knew how long this would be. After waiting an hour Kelly went and talked to the Highway patrolman who said we could try an alternate route but there were no guarantees. We decided to give it a try! We took a 2 lane road that was bumper to bumper traffic maybe going 5 miles and hour. We ll my cute little Addy gets car sick and decides that she was going to throw up!!!!!!! We couldn't stop or pull over so I had to crawl in the back and try to get things cleaned! We eventually was able to tie back into I15 and get back on the freeway. I looked at the clock and our little detour took us over 4 hours! Our trip went from 12 hours to 16 hours to get to San Diego.

Our vacation could officially start now! We spent our first day in San Diego at our most favorite beach.....CORONADO Island.

The kids absolutely LOVE the beach. They played for hours in the sand and water. Riley and Brennan even played Beach soccer. My most favorite quote of the day was Addy, "mom this is the BEST DAY EVER!"

One night we went to Sea Port Village where we went into a bunch of fun shops and walked around the cute little village. The kids went into this fun little hat store where they had tons of fun different hats. These were some of their favs......

SEA WORLD.....My kids love Sea World, especially Bronson. We have to make a stop anytime we are in California.

Ever since we took Bronson to Sea World when he was 3 he has been infatuated with Shamu. Everything about Shamu he loves. He draws pictures, he wants his room decorated in Shamu he LOVES SHAMU. The highlight of this visit was the Breakfast with Shamu. I would highly recommend this attraction. We got a yummy breakfast and the trainers interact with the guests and they have Shamu right in the tank where you sit. We all loved it! AMAZING!

This is Bronson's dream....to be a Shamu Trainer. This cute trainer talked to him about what it takes to be a trainer. He loved it!

This is all he wanted all day!

Onto Newport Beach and up to Anaheim. It was Labor day so we thought a beach day would be a fun way to spend the holiday! It was packed and so much fun. The kids had a great time playing in the waves and eating out at Rubys Diner on the Balboa Pier.

The guys fishing on the pier let Brons hold a fish....

So funny story about this bike......we were walking down the pier and we saw this burly fisherman riding this bike and out of the blue Bronson says to me, "Mom, will you ask Santa to bring me one of those bikes for Christmas?" We died......where did he come from?

Downtown Disney

Lego Store

Day One Disneyland.......this sums up how I felt!

The Princess Fare.....This was our first time ever doing this.........ah so so much fun! We bought Addy an autograph book and waited for the princesses. LOVED IT!

Tangled was adorable. Rapunzel is Addys most favorite Princess! Repunzel had her own little cottage where we could go meet her.....so cute!

Love this one with the boys!

Riley couldn't wait to try the Turkey Leg. It wouldn't be Disneyland without one of these bad boys. He ate every bite.

Waiting for the parade. I am the type of Disney fan that has to see every parade at least once if not more.....Riley is such a great BIG brother!

California Adventure:

The whole second day Addy had to wear her Rapunzel dress. It was an extreme high in Anaheim while we were there. The high all 3 days was 98 degrees and 90% humidity. Addy was dripping sweat but had to wear the dress!

Love these boys!

Classic Ride!

We thought this shirt was so funny.....Riley just had to get it!

Our good friends Viki and Madi were also at Disneyland the same time we were. We decided to take the girls and go to Ariels Grotto........HIGHLY recommend this.....fabulous, yummy food!

Addy and Ariel

Cinderella

Snow White

Twinners with "Sleeping Booty"

I Love my little Princess

Viki and Madi

Best Buds...

Good Bye Disneyland......until next time!!!

Back to Newport Beach

Addy was our little Dancing Queen, she danced everywhere all week long. Donwtown Disney, Disneyland and especially at the Beach. She Loved it!

We LOVE Newport Beach. We rented boogie boards for the boys and got sand toys for Bronson and Addy. They spent hours playing at the Beach.

Finally the last stop of our trip was to Las Vegas to stay with our good friends the Sanchez's. They have a beautiful home and were so accomodating to our family. The boys had so much fun swimming and hanging out with Riley Sanchez. Thanks guys for a wonderful ending to our family vacation!

We had such an amazing time as a family. It was a nice break from our very crazy lives. I am so thankful for our family and wonderful times that we have together!

Bear River Lodge

2011-02-25T08:59:00.000-07:00

This is the third year that my dad (Ken) has taken us on a snowmobiling getaway. This year he thought it would be fun to go somewhere different. We headed up to the Bear River Lodge just outside of Evanston Wyoming. We stayed 2 nights in a 5 bedroom cabin. It was fun staying with all my brothers and sisters and their families. We played games, ate, watched movies, ate, sled, ate and of course lots of snowmobiling. We took alln of the kids this year and Bronson and Addy thought it was a BLAST playing with all of their cousins.

Headed out for our long ride

Kelly.....he's just like a kid on this thing!

My boys

This is a restroom right on the Mirror Lake highway.....look how much snow there is!

I even got a little crazy!

The view from on top

Addy loved going for a ride

Addy, Noah and Kassie

What can I say.....my kids have HUGE heads.

We had such a great time spending time together. Thanks DAD!

Christmas 2010

2011-02-03T18:01:00.000-07:00

We had such a wonderful Christmas season this year. December was full of fun activities for our family.

Ross kids

Our annual attempt at a family photo

Every year since I was a little girl we have had a Santa party with all of the Timm family. Santa comes and brings all of the grandchildren a little present the kids LOVE this tradition.

The whole Timm family, minus Chance, Wacey and Grandma.

Another fun tradition is our family nativity. Every year we have had a newborn baby to play the starring role of Baby Jesus. This year, I was telling Bronson that it was time for the Nativity and he asked if he could be the Baby Jesus. I told him he had to call grandma Debbie and ask if that was ok.....I could here my mom laughing through the phone. Of course, he could be Baby Jesus!

The star.....I hope this isn't sacreligous!

Joseph, Mary, the Angel and the babe

The whole gang....I love Noah in this!

Christmas Eve we took the kids to see Tangled with my family. Addy absolutely LOVED the show. She started crying when it was over saying, "more....I don't want to leave..." After, we went home and opened our new Jammies and put the kids to bed. Kelly and I stay up late watching the Christmas Story.

Addy in her new jammies

Bronson is kinda ticked he didn't get a toy......

Christmas morning.....Addy got a her Kitchen set

Bronson and his loot

Brennan

Last year we started another Ross tradition. We order Chinese take out for our Christmas dinner. The kids look forward to it and we have so much fun staying in our jammies all day!

Far ra ra ra ra ra ra ra ra..........

Bronsons 6th Birthday

2011-02-03T17:18:00.000-07:00

My baby boy turned 6 in December. Where has time gone? Seems like yesterday they were bringing him to me in a little stocking, now he is in kindergarten and a little rascal. He keeps us laughing all of the time, there is never a dull moment when Bronson is around. He is such a joy to our family!

The birthday boy

Bronson and his friends at McDonalds

My little PRO golfer.

a UTAH Man am I

2010-12-02T16:03:00.000-07:00

We LOVE football season! We love everything about it, the stadium, the food, the fans and the 10-2 season wasn't bad either!

Some of our good friends the Grays had seats by us.

Kelly had the opportunity to go to North Bend to the Notre Dame game with some of his guy friends. They had such a great time touring the campus and visiting Chicago.

Brennans soccer coach, Coach Kelly was there too.

Kelly in front of Touchdown Jesus

The equipment truck......GO UTES!

The group that Kelly went with.....Thanks Jeron and Gary!

We had such a fun season. Thanks Paige for getting us our season tickets. We look forward to many more seasons together!

SO Rainy and SO cold

We are TRUE fans......

Aunt Torrie and Aunt Cindy love these ladies

Family

LOVE this Guy

SWEET Victory......BYU vs UTAH

GO UTES!

Fall Fun.......

2010-11-22T13:41:00.000-07:00

I have been a major slacker lately!!! I have a ton of photos to blog about so bare with me......We had so much fun this fall. The kids were off track 3 weeks in October so we did lots of fun things.

The PuMpKiN PaTcH.....

LOVE this girl....she loved the Pumpkin Catch (yes, that is what she called it!)

Bronson and his Pumpkin

Brennan

Riley

While the kids were off track, Kassie and I took the kids to Wheeler Farm where we did a hay ride and a mini Corn maze. It was a great way to get us in the fall spirit. The little ones had so much fun in the corn maze!

Addy Loves Noah

Don't the older ones look thrilled to be taking the picture, they would rather be playing tag!

Addy Loved throwing the hay up in the air

What would we ever do without McKenzie, she is such a great helper!

Love this, Bronson walking with Addy

Oh, he thought he was such a great helper

Addy and Noah feeding the ducks.

UTAH GAMES

What would fall be without Utah Football??? We LOVE going to the games. Rain or shine!

It was POURING rain. Water was rushing down the walls inside the tunnel!

We are HUGE fans

It is so fun sitting with these ladies!

Bronson making Carmel Apples

SpOoKy CoRn MaZe

For family night we went with some friends to the haunted corn maze. The kids had so much fun. The older boys went through by themselves and had so much fun. We are so thankful for such great friends!

The Girls

The boys

Love these girls

HALLOWEEN

Halloween this year was a little wet. Since our great neighbors the Sanchez moved, we decided to have a little get together at our house. We had to have it in the garage because of the rain. We had pizza and hot chocolate and the kids were READY to get going. I took Addy and Bronson out this year so Kelly could watch the Utah game. We didn't last too long. It was FREEZING! The big boys were out for awhile and came home with Loads of candy! It was so fun this year with Addy. She would walk up to the door and say "Trick or Treat" then she would want to eat that candy right then.

Bronson our little Dracula....I love his hand in this pic

Kenzie......what a NERD!

Clayton

Brennan....dead soccer player again!

Riley was Messi (a soccer player) he designed and made his own Jersey!

The Guys

Draculas....Such scary boys

Little Pirate Noahy

Sisters.....love this girl

Da Boys

Our little Witchy Poo

My mom made this awesome earthquake cake for me. Thanks MOM!

October was a fabulous month with lots of birthdays, parties and fun. We love our friends and family!

Birthdays, Birthdays, Birthdays......

2010-10-14T15:47:00.000-06:00

October is a crazy one for us we have so many birthdays this month. The most important being Riley on the 3rd and Kelly on the 6th. This year was a BIG one for the both of them. Riley turned 12! (I am SO not old enough to have a 12 year old) and Kelly turned the BIG 4-0! We had a week long of celebrations. Starting with Rileys friend birthday......

Riley Soccer Birthday Cake

All the Kiddos

Riley wanted to have a Soccer party.....surprise, surprise.....He ended up inviting his whole soccer team and all of his neighborhood friends and they played one giant game of soccer.

Sunday we had family over for dinner on Rileys actual birthday.

Riley opening more presents....

Riley got some goals

All the kids playing soccer

For Kellys birthday we just kept it low key....(don't worry I had something up my sleeve). We went to dinner with the kids, gave him a few presents and I made him a cake.

Kelly opening his presents

Friday night I planned a SURPRISE party for Kelly. I told him that we had reservations downtown for dinner but I had to drop some Cookie Lee of to Jen. We went walking up to the clubhouse, opened the door......everybody inside yelled SURPRISE! It was so much fun, he had NO idea. I had invited people he went to high school with, family, work associates and friends.

Walking through the door

Kelly trying to explain his HOT picture

Kelly and his dad

Look at ALL those candles

Happy Birthday HON....LOVE you!

Ricky Hacking.....THE funniest comedian ever

To end our CrAzY week of birthdays Riley was ordained a Deacon and he was given the Aaronic Priesthood. Kelly ordained him. He did a Fabulous job. I cannot believe that Riley will passing the sacrament, going to Young Mens and start hanging out with girls. I don;t know if I am ready for this next chapter. I am so proud of Riley and the wonderful young man that he is becoming!

Riley, Kelly and Grandpa Duane

Happy Birthday Riley and Kelly. I am so proud of both of you and LOVE you both so much!

Look who's in Kindergarten!

2010-09-08T11:56:00.000-06:00

Bronson started kindergarten a couple weeks ago! He LOVES it. He has an awesome teacher, Mrs Collins. His favorite part of kindergarten is riding the bus, go figure! I miss him so much during the day. He was always my best helper during the day. I hate that he is growing up so fast!

First day of Kindergarten

Bronson at School

We love you Bronson and we are so proud of you!

Camping FUN...

2010-09-08T11:49:00.000-06:00

Every year we do a BIG family camp trip with my family. This year we went up on Monroe Mountain (just East on Richfield). We had a Fun time, with the exception of our 3 hour trip to the ER....I will explain more later!

If you look really close you can see the kids on top of this mountain.....

Brennan and Grandma

The GANG!

Riley ALWAYS doing his Drills

I Love Bronson in this picture

All the Kids (well most)

Grandpa Phil and Bronson

So while Kelly and all of the boys went on a four wheeler ride Addy was playing around the camp. We were all hanging around the fire pit and Addy came running up and fell right into the fire. Thank goodness there was just burning coals but she fell right on her hands into the fire pit and ash blew up all on her face. Her hand immediately started to melt. It blistered up pretty good. She was in so much pain she was flailing around. It was HORRIBLE! Kelly got back a few minutes after it happened, Kelly, my dad and my brothers gave her a blessing and me and my mom drove Addy 45 minutes to the emergency room in Richfield. The diagnosed her with a second degree burn and they applied an anti burn ointment on her and then wrapped it up. We were able to return to camp and Addy had a great time camping.

Addys little bandaged hand

Add caption

Catching Up.....

2010-08-18T15:39:00.002-06:00

Sorry, I took a huge break from blogging! I will try to catch up as much as possible. I had to try to find time in between soccer, camping, trips, Lagoon, soccer, holidays, baseball, more soccer, girls camp and more soccer....... Sorry for this MAJOR LONG post...... and sorry for all of the pics!

AUGUST so far

2010-08-18T15:22:00.005-06:00

The summer is slowly winding down, so we tried to get in some last minute "Fun Times..."

I took the kids hiking to Donut Falls....the boys had a blast. Addy on the other hand was crazy, she didn't want to walk so I had to carry her the whole time. Hooray....double time for mom!

At the Falls...

All the kids who were starting D track. What a great group of kids!

Gotta Love Classic....Addy Loved playing in the water.

We had a FABULOUS Summer!

My Handsome Brennan on his first day of 4th Grade!

My Stud 6th grader.....Watch out girls!!!

Alaska

2010-08-18T14:57:00.001-06:00

So, we decided that when each of our boys turn 12 Kelly would take them on a "Man" getaway. Riley turns 12 in October so Kelly took him to Alaska on a week long fishing trip. They fished for Halibut and Salmon. They saw the Humback whales and they even got to see some Killer Whales. They also saw bald eagles and a bear was right outside of their cabin! YIKES! I am so glad that they got to spend this time together. We are so proud of the young man that Riley is turning into!

On the second day fishing Riley caught this huge 87 lb halibut.

Riley got a little Sea Sick on the day they went out into the open ocean.

Both my boys hooked some Salmon.

Thursday Riley caught this MONSTEROUS 148 lb Halibut!

The BIG catch of the day!

"I'm the King of the World..."

13 years and going......

2010-08-18T14:49:00.001-06:00

On August 1, Kelly and I have been married 13 years. I Love this guy! He is such an amazing Husband and Father. I am so blessed to call him mine! I look forward to many more years together!

I Love you Kel!

JULY

2010-08-18T13:49:00.001-06:00

I LOVE the 4th of July! I Love the parades, the BBQs, the Rodeos and time spent with our family and friends. We had such a fun LONG holiday weekend. Here are just some of the highlights!

Our little cowgirl at the Western Stampede Rodeo. Addy LOVED the animals, especially the barrel racers!

The whole gang at the West Jordan Parade.

I Love these kids.....

Addy running around at the neighborhood BBQ

Our dear friends the Sanchez moved. They always hosted the 4th BBQ, this year was not the same without them there!

We look forward to going to Lagoon every year. The boys always have so much fun. This year they went off on their own for a while and kept checking in with us, I HATE this growing up thing! They thought they were so cool being by themselves.

Bronson and Hayden with their faces painted.

Addy and Noah on the famous Bulgy the Whale.

Gotta love the train.

Maria moved to Phoenix in April, and as a surprise her husband Todd flew me down to spend the weekend with her. She had NO idea that I was coming....Todd picked me up from the airport and I knocked on Marias front door. She about died!!! It was so fun.....Of course, the day I fly into Phoenix it is 118 degrees. HOLY CRAP it was HOT! We swam, shopped, ate and hung out. It was a nice "mommy" get away for me.

I LOVE this girl!

Kassie and I signed Bronson and Hayden up for swimming lessons. They LOVED it. Bronson is such a great little swimmer.

"BUDDIES"

For a night out we went up to the Spruces campground for a Cook Out with some friends. The kids just played and played.

They guys busy getting the fire ready.

The gals...

The Kids.....

Addy loved the dirt, yes both of her sock used to be white!

We went to the Tim McGraw Concert the end of July. Kelly was so excited to go to a "Hick" concert. It was at Usana and we went with some friends. It was a great night!

Kelly getting into the "Hick" spirit.

The gang

The Girls.....WE LOVE TIM!

JUNE

2010-08-18T12:48:00.000-06:00

Bronson graduated form Small Wonders Preschool. He LOVED this school.

Addy turned 2! I can't stand that she is already 2! We had a fun birthday party for her at the house. She was so cute.....she thought everything that she got was the most spectacular thing ever. She is such a joy to our family!

The end of June we went to Richfield to walk in the Relay for Life. Last October Kelly's mom (Sandi) was diagnosed with breast cancer, then 5 short weeks later Kathy (his sister) was also diagnosed with breast cancer. They both underwent radiation and chemotherapy. Today both are GREAT and doing well. This was such a yucky time in their lives and ours as well. We are so glad that they are still with us and that both are recovering. They held the Realy for Life at the Richfield High School track. They had a realy around the track for 12 hours straight. This was such an amazing experience for me and our kids.

Sandi and Kathy

Our Survivors....
They kicked off the Relay with a survivor walk, where just the survivors walked a lap around the track. This was very emotional.

Then, the family members of the survivors walked.

Special THANKS to my awesome family who came down to support us!
I Love these girls!

Addy and Chesleigh, watching the relay!

The next day we drove down to Panguitch, Utah where they were having a Hot Air Balloon festival. Main Street was blocked off and they would blow up these huge balloons! It was awesome!
My tired boys....they stayed up all night walking and running the track at the relay!

Addy and aunt "Kacky"

Main Street Panguitch, Utah

Girls night out to see the midnight showing of Eclipse.

What a bunch of HOT MAMAs!!!

May.....

2010-08-18T12:32:00.000-06:00

May was a crazy month, we had all 3 boys in soccer and Riley played baseball. It was so much fun being on the same team as Zach and Kelly LOVED coaching with my dad. Riley and Brennan also tried out for Comp soccer and both made it. Riley made the White team for USA and Brennan is playing on the Premier team for Sparta. Tryouts were crazy but both boys learned so much.

"Best Buds" The Mariners had a great season!

The end of May we went our annual family vacation with my family. This year we ventured down to Primm Nevada......seriously! We stayed at Buffalo Bills resort and the kids had a blast!

Walking the strip in Las Vegas!

All of the kids! We love to go to the M&M factory and Coca Cola store.

Just outside a gas station in Beaver, Utah!

Easter.....

2010-04-12T11:15:00.000-06:00

Easter weekend was a busy one as usual!I LOVE Easter! Saturday we went to my moms for her annual Easter Egg hunt. This year she did 2 separate hunts, one for the older kids and then one for the younger kids. In each age group she hid a "Golden Egg" that had a $10 bill in it. Bronson was planning all week on finding the golden egg. He was so excited!

When the time came for the younger kids to hunt Bronson was crushed when Chesleigh found the "Golden Egg."

Sunday was nice having Conference on Easter. We just hung around our house and enjoyed the day. We went to my moms for dinner and more Easter Fun!

Coloring eggs

Addy and her new bike!

Part of the kids Easter present was our new puppy CHEWY! He is a 4 month old Shih Tzu. At first he was really nervous and timid around the kids, now he is doing much better. (What was I thinking???) We love our newest member of our family!

CANCUN

2010-04-01T15:04:00.000-06:00

So it has been 3 years since Kelly and I have been on a vacation just the two of us. We decided this year we would do just a quick long weekend getaway to Mexico. Neither one of us has ever been to Mexico and we could do the trip for pretty cheap! We decided on an All Inclusive trip to Cancun. We were there March 4-8, 2010. Who knew it was SPRING BREAK???????? Yes, spring break for college kids in Cancun Mexico. Kelly and I were some of the oldest ones there! It was a BLAST!

Our flight was a crazy one, we flew from here to Phoenix, Phoenix to Mexico City, Mexico City to Cancun. When we go to Mexico City we had no idea what to do, plus we didn't speak an ounce of Spanish, so that was an interesting stop. We ended up meeting a cute couple from Idaho who we had dinner with there. Oddly, enough we at a Chilis and our dinner came to $95 (we didn't realize that was pesos....).

On the tram in Mexico City, trying to find our connecting flight.

Just landed in Cancun

We stayed at the Grand Oasis Cancun right on the Hotel strip. Our resort was awesome. We had an amazing view of the Ocean from our room, facing the Carribbean. The sand is the whitest I have ever seen and the water in a beautiful color of blue.

Friday we went parasailing right in front of our resort. SO FUN...... After when we were walking back down the beach to lay out we passed where they were filming "Girls Gone Wild, Spring Break 2010." Right in front of our resort.....I am NOT kidding! It was CRAZY!!!!!

Just getting ready to gear up for parasailing.

On Saturday we did the Best excursion. We went to a place called Selvatica where we ziplined above the jungle. They had 12 different ziplines and they were crazy. The staff was awesome. After, the zipline they took us snorkeling out by Puerto Morales. It is the 2nd largest reef in the world. We saw all kinds of amazing fish, we even got to see 2 stingrays. Then, we had lunch at the funnest restaurant. It was a masked wrestling themed place to eat. Plus the food was super yummy!

The masked wrestling restaurant.

Sunday we went to Chichen-itza. This was probably the most fascinating part of our trip. It was a 2 1/2 hour bus ride to the cenote. After, the cenote we went to Chichen-Itza. I LOVED it there. We went on a guided tour, then got to explore on our own for awhile.

The Cenote

Kelly jumping into the Cenote.

This cute little Mayan woman was selling crocheted hankderchiefs with her two little children.

1000 Column Temple

Standing in front of the pyramid.

Monday was the day that we flew home. We got to enjoy the morning laying in the sun....

Here are some extra pics of some of the highlights from the trip....

This is Kelly after the first day, he fell asleep and forgot to put on sunblock!

The view from our room.

Going to eat at a Brazillian Steak house.

I LOVE this guy....

The sunrise from our resort.

Thanks to my amazing family for taking our kids. We couldn't have done this without your help!

Daniels Summit

2010-02-02T14:45:00.000-07:00

Once again, my dad Ken took us to Daniels Summit Lodge for an amazing snowmobile trip. This year he got us all rooms and we stayed the night then went snowmobiling the next day. It was such a great time. We started the night by having dinner in the lodge and then we took the boys (just Riley and Bren) and went swimming. It was so much fun hanging out with my brothers and sisters in the pool. We had chicken fights, which I was the ultimate winner! Then we all went outside and layed in the snow and ran and jumped back in the pool. It was fun for the boys to watch us be all a little crazy! The next morning we all got up early and hit the trails. We had such an amazing time!

Kassie and me getting ready to go swimming!

Riley and Brennan standing outside of our cabin.

Kelly and the Boys

The whole gang!

Christmas at the Ross Home

2010-01-08T16:05:00.000-07:00

Christmas was amazing this year. We had lots of fun times, from doing our annual Nativity, to seeing Santa, going to see the Temple lights and spending time with our family. The boys were off track the month of December and we had lots of fun getting ready for Christmas. Here are some of the highlights:

Trying to get a decent picture by the tree

Temple Square

Riding the Trax train downtown to see the lights

Bronson and Addy getting ready for our ward Hawaiian Christmas Party

The annual Nativity: Zach and Riley as Shepards. Addy got to be the sheep.

My sweet Boys

Visiting with Santa

Just opened Christmas Jammies.

Oh, the magic of Christmas morning...

Addy and Noah

So, usually Christmas night we go to my grandmas for dinner. Well that didn't happed this year so we were trying to think of something to eat at the last minute we decided to order Chinese take out.....far ra ra ra ra,ra ra ra ra

We had a wonderful christmas and we are so blessed to have such great family and friends in our lives. We are looking forward to a great 2010!

Light up the Night

2009-12-16T17:21:00.000-07:00

Last year our neighborhood started a new tradition. Instead of the stress of neighbor gifts we can donate, by way of gift card, to a needy family in the neighborhood. The first Monday night in December we all get together and place our gift cards in a box. The circle we meet in is decorated with Christmas lights and all sorts of wonderful decorations. It is such a fun time getting together with neighbors by a fire pit and drinking hot chocolate. I Love this new tradition and we look are looking forward to participating in it each year.

Bronson is 5!

2009-12-16T17:01:00.000-07:00

Look who is 5....seriously, where does time go? Bronson turned 5 on December 8th. He had such a great day! He had a friend party last year so this year he got to choose where to go with the family. Guess where he chose.....Chuck E Cheese! He loves that place. He had such a great day. We love you buddy!

Halloween 2009

2009-11-16T16:22:00.000-07:00

I LOVE Halloween.....it is my 2nd most favorite holiday. I love the feel of autumn in the air, I love football season and I LOVE to decorate my house for Halloween. This year the kids were so much fun.

Our little "Spooks"

Snow White

The U had a game so Kelly went to the game and I stayed and passed out candy......GO UTES!

Best Buddies

The Gang.....Thanks mom and sis for your help!

The annual Halloween ride!

Thanks to Kari and Jason

California 2009

2009-10-08T14:45:00.000-06:00

We have had a busy couple of months between soccer, school, kids being off track and our family vacation. I am a major slacker and have not blogged about anything in months...... we have had some fun things happening in our family. We decided that we LOVED our trip to California so much last year that we needed to go again this year. This year instead of driving we decided to take the kids and fly down! The boys loved flying on an airplane, especially Bronson. Addy did great getting there and even better flying home. We got to San Diego Saturday September 12th. We headed straight to Coronado Island where we all enjoyed the beach. Riley LOVED playing in the waves and Bronson and Brennan loved digging in the sand. Addyson did ok until the waves crashed her over and then she wasn't sure what to think! We did Sea World and then Legoland. This was our first experience with Legoland and we Loved it there. We went on a day that was not busy at all. They boys walked onto every ride and loved playing in the pirate area. After Legoland we headed up to Anaheim where we got to enjoy 5 days of Disneyland.....WE HAD A BLAST! While in Anaheim we went to Newport Beach and Venice beach. Our kids LOVE to play in the ocean. Venice beach was a different experience but also a lot of fun! I am so glad that we got to enjoy this time as a family. I look forward to family vacations and many more memories to be made.......

(sorry lots of pics)

Getting 4 kids through security......what were we thinking?

I LOVE these kiddos!!

BEACH BABY

Bronson and Addy sharing popcorn waiting for the Shamu Show

Sea World

Bronson and his "Wolli-pop"

LEGOLAND

Our little Cheerleader

Cubby and Cubby

Jedi Training Academy

Muscle Beach Venice

Goofys Kitchen

Fish Lake

2009-07-15T15:13:00.000-06:00

We went to Fish Lake this last weekend and camped with some of our great friends. We rode 4 wheelers, shot BB guns, played games and had lots of fun hanging out!

Watch out men....we got the guns!

Be careful boys......you'll shoot your eye out! Thanks Grandma and Grandpa for the BB guns!

Our family on the banks of Fish Lake. We look forward to camping here every year.

My Handsome boys

Todd, Maria, Hagen, Attley and Ava Christensen

Addy was so dirty ALL weekend!

Bronson shooting with Daddy

4th of July

2009-07-15T15:05:00.001-06:00

We had a great 4th of July weekend. Kelly had his 20 year High School renunion (old man...) in Richfield on Friday night. We headed down Thursday night and enjoyed Friday hanging out with Kelly's family. That night we went to the reunion. It was so much fun! It was fun to see Kelly with all of high school friends. What would it be like to have a graduating class of 117? He knew everyone. I am married to KR45...AWESOME! On Saturday we went to the parade, it was fun spending time in a small town on the 4th. We headed home after the parade so we could go to the Sanchez's annula BBQ. We have a BBQ in the circle with everybody in the neighborhood. It is fun to all get together and let the kids play and the adults hang out. Great job Sanchez's!!!!

Addy's Birthday Party

2009-07-15T14:53:00.001-06:00

We had a little birthday party in our backyard for Addyson's birthday. We had our family over and we all had a great time. Addy is a joy to our family and she has such a spunky personality. We are blessed to have her as part of our family!

Happy Birthday Addyson!

2009-06-16T17:18:00.000-06:00

Addy is a year old today......where does time go? She has been such a joy to our family. It has been so fun to watch the boys with her. They adore her and they are such great BIG brothers. She LOVES her daddy, and her brothers. Addyson is such a happy baby, she loves her baby dolls and she loves to eat! We LOVE having her in our home and she is such a blessing to our family. WE LOVE YOU ADDY!

Viva Las Vegas.....

2009-06-08T17:07:00.000-06:00

Every Memorial Weekend we go to Mesquite with my family. We have been doing this forever.....Kelly and I counted this is our 12th year going! Well, this year we bagged Mesquite and went straight to VEGAS! We stayed at the Excalibur and we had a GREAT time! The guys golfed, we swam, walked the strip, ate at the Yummy Cheesecake Factory in Caesar's Palace, shopped, went to Circus Circus, M&M World, the Coca Cola factory and hung out. We were so busy the whole weekend. The kids had a great time and Addy was a gem! Here are some Highlights from the trip......

Spring Madness.....

2009-05-11T15:31:00.000-06:00

We decided to sign Riley up for baseball and Bronson up for t ball on top of Riley and Brennan in soccer......WHAT WERE WE THINKING????? It has been such a crazy spring. Riley has done SO dang good in basball, this is his first go at it and we were kinda thinking he would struggle a little bit, but he has totally suprised us! My dad is coaching and Kelly is assisting him. They have had such a great time so far. Bronson has done great at t ball. He likes to play and he actually hits the ball when the coach pitches it to him. Brennan has done amazing in soccer. He just loves playing and has NO desire to do anything else!

Addy is growing up way too fast. She crawls up the stairs and she stands on her own. She has the cutest personality and she is such a happy girl. She has brought so much happiness to our family. Kelly had this great idea to pierce her ears, but I had to be the one to take her. I talked mom and Kenz into going with me and we did it! She did awesome. She cried a little bit then we gave her a sucker then she was fine. She looks so dang cute. She is so much fun. I cannot believe that she will be one next month. Where does time go?

In all of my spare time I am part of the Youth Temple Dedication Celebration for the Oquirrah Mountain Temple. I have a group of girls that are in the Choir. We are singing THE MOST AMAZING songs. It has been so much work, but it really has been an amazing experience. I am looking forward to singing for the Prophet May 30th!

Salt Lake 1/2 Marathon

2009-04-19T15:36:00.000-06:00

I DID IT!!!!! I started running again in late January. A couple of friends in my neighborhood asked me to start running outside with them in February. It was great to be back running outside and I was surprised at how much I missed running. We would go for 3 and 4 mile runs and occasionally a 5 miler. Then we set the goal to be ready to run in the Salt Lake 1/2. We started a training schedule and it got easier and easier to run. I enjoyed getting up (most of the time) and getting my run in. It felt great. As the weeks approached and our runs got longer it was exciting to think that we could really do this. It was fun getting to know these awesome women better and through it all we really became GREAT Friends ( I guess you have to be to be around someone with no make-up and wearing spandex!)

The week of race day was exciting. We began to taper down and do small runs. We went downtown and picked up our packets, had a great Pasta dinner and tried to get some sleep the night before. We left at 5:30am to head to the starting line. It was at the Legacy Bridge at the University of Utah. The race started at 7am. IT WAS AWESOME!!!! It was so much easier then I anticipated. We set a good pace and just ran....the next thing I knew we had already gone 8 miles. It was flying by. It was NOT easy but it wasn't bad. As we started up State street towards South Temple it was difficult. It was a steady uphill and I was starting to hurt. Once we headed west on South Temple I knew we only had one mile to go. We were almost done. As we approached the Gateway there were swarms of people all cheering us on. That's when I started to cry. I had done it! Then we saw the Finish line with balloons and the American flag. AWESOME! I looked over to my left and saw Kelly cheering me on....I LOVE him! That's what I needed for my last burst of energy. We finished with a time of 2hr 21 min. WAY better then I anticipated. It was such an awesome feeling to set a goal and to accomplish it successfully!

Thanks Kelly for your support and love. You are amazing. Thanks to Maria, Jodi and Arnica. You girls ROCK!

Easter....

2009-04-19T15:29:00.000-06:00

Easter was great this year. My mom and dad went out of town so we got to celebrate Easter with my family a week early. Mom always does a fun Easter egg hunt for the kids. They hide a $5 egg.....this year baby Noah got the egg. It was great. For Easter weekend we went to Richfield to spend the holiday with Kelly's family. We went to an Easter egg hunt, went on a four wheeler ride and then colored eggs. The kids had a great time. HAPPY EASTER!

Brennan is 8.....

2009-04-19T15:01:00.000-06:00

Brennan turned 8 on March 27th. Where has time gone? He is such a great boy. He LOVES soccer and anything that has to do with being outside. He loves his friends and he is such a special helper to mom. For his birthday we took to see a movie and then had some freinds over, then we went to dinner with Grandma and Grandpa and family.

This birthday was extra special because the very next day Brennan chose to be baptized. It was an AMAZING day. We had so much support from our friends and family. Thanks to all those who helped make this an extra special birthday for Brennan . WE LOVE YOU BUDDY!

Look Who's Here......

2009-03-16T13:29:00.001-06:00

Kassie FINALLY had baby Noah. She was induced last Thursday and she had him about 6:49. It was quite an interesting delivery! All is great with mom and baby. Noah weighed 7 lbs 2 oz and about 20 inches long. He looks so much like Hayden just with blonde hair. It was a fun day because not only did Kass have her baby my good friend Rachel had her baby the same day. Little Charlie was born Thursday also. It was very convenient because Kassie and Rachel were in the rooms right next to each other!

I am so lucky to be an aunt. I love my nephews and nieces so much. Welcome to our family Little Noah!

Thanks Hon!

2009-03-02T12:16:00.000-07:00

For Valentines Kelly gave me Rascal Flatts tickets. The concert was last Thursday. We started the night out at the Cheesecake Factory then headed to the show. We got to the Energy Solutions Arena at about 7:55pm, the concert was to start at 8pm. We rush up to the door and the man scanning the tickets tells us there is a problem with our tickets and we have to go to will call. We get to the ticket booth and they issued us new tickets because a curtain was in our way.....WHAT????? So we head to the new ticket man he tells us that our seats are better then the floor. We were seated on the 4th row!!!!!!!!!!! AMAZING! That kinda stuff never happens to us! We were seated so close I could see the sweat on their faces. This was our view!

Thanks hon, for an amazing night! I Love you so much!

Can you believe it...8 Months!

2009-02-17T13:38:00.001-07:00

Addyson turned 8 months yesterday. Where has time gone? Addy is getting so big. She has had a bad month or so. She had RSV and we didn't leave the house for 10 days, then she got feeling better and then came down with the stomache flu and double ear infections.....argh! Besides that she has been the joy of our home. She is starting to crawl and rolls all over the place. She got her first tooth and she has a HUGE appetite! She is so much fun. She has the cutest personality and she is happy all of the time. She loves her brothers and her daddy. We Love having her in our family!

Valentine Cookies

2009-02-17T13:28:00.000-07:00

I had this CRAZY idea to make sugar cookies with the boys and deliver them to some people in the neighborhood. WOW... the boys had flour everywhere! They had so much fun cutting out their cookies and then frosting them. I feel bad to whomever got them because they probably had more frosting and candy then a normal cookie. It was fun for them to choose whom to deliver them to. Our Valentines was great. The boys had a birthday party with my brother Zack and then that night Kelly and I went to our Stake Adult party. They had dinner and then we played Wii games. We both played Mario Kart for the first time....I know we are lame! We had so much fun and the boys loved hearing bout us playing the Wii. I LOVE my husband so much and I am so thankful for him!

Draper Temple Open House

2009-02-17T13:05:00.000-07:00

Last month we went to the Draper Temple Open House. It was so great! We had ALL of our family members there! My mom and dad, Kelly's parents, all of my brothers and sisters, Jon's parents and family too. It was so fun to be in the Temple together. It is GORGEOUS! It was fun for our boys to go inside the Temple, they are always so curious about it. It was fun for them to see what it is like inside. I think this is one of the most beautiful Temples I have been in.

Daniel's Summit

2009-01-18T15:45:00.001-07:00

We went Snowmobiling Friday at Daniel's Summit. My dad Ken took all of us after his big win in Wendover! I have never been snowmobiling and neither had any of my brothers and sisters. This was so much fun. The resort was FABULOUS! They have several groomed trails. The long trail was about 26 miles, the shorter was about 15 miles. Off of the groomed trails they had some trails through trees and open meadows. It was amazing! Riley and Brennan got to go and they had a blast. Here are some of the pics....

Christmas

2009-01-04T15:20:00.000-07:00

Christmas was a great one this year. It was a different one then we had in the past but I guess that was the way 2008 was for us. Things were wonderful! We woke up at 6 am with the kids and as usual I was the one waking them up. I am always so excited! They were excited for what Santa brought each of them. I have posted a lot of pics sorry!

The original plan for Christmas morning is that we go to my moms house for breakfast. My dad called and said that they had no power and by 9 am they still had no power. So my whole family came to our home for Christmas breakfast. It was so much fun. This is what our porch looked like that morning. It was snowing so bad that both Steven and Clayton got stuck in the snow coming into our neighborhood.

Santa was good to Addy. She got a Cabbage patch kid and a Holiday Babrie. Both things I couldn't wait to buy for a little girl. She LOVED the paper and would just pound on it until the wrapping was all off.

Bronson got a Frosty Train and lots of other fun presents. He was so excited about Santa and couldn't figure out why Santa wasn't waiting for him downstairs by the tree. He was so much fun.

Riley and Brennan got Rock Band for the Wii and some other Wii games. Brennan got a new bike and Riley got a new skateboard.

This was Christmas Eve and as always we get new jammies. They were so excited for Santa to come and visist them.....

Every year we get together and reinact the First Nativity. We started this the year Bronson was born and every year since we have had a new baby Jesus. This year is was Addyson's turn to be Baby Jesus. This has been a tradition we have grown to love. It brings the Spirit and the Reason for the Season.

It was so much fun to watch the kids and the way their sweet spirits bring so much joy to our family! We hope you all had a Very Merry Christmas and may the New Year bring you much Happiness!

Here's a little Holiday Jingle...

2008-12-19T11:49:00.001-07:00

Send your own ElfYourself eCards

Santa

2008-12-18T15:10:00.000-07:00

Every year we go get an annual picture with Santa. We went on Monday night and all of the kids met with Santa. We all meet at the mall and then we eat and catch up on last minute gifts. This is something we have done every year since Riley was born. It is fun to go back and look at how much our family has changed. We are looking forward to Christmas this year. Bronson is so excited he can't even stand it.

Look who's 4....

2008-12-11T16:38:00.000-07:00

Bronson turned 4 December 8th. I cannot believe how fast time goes. He has such a fun personality and always keeps us laughing. We had a birthday party for him on Saturday. He invited all of his friends over. We played Pin the Wheel on Lightening McQueen and Musical Chairs. The kids all LOVED musical chairs! Bronson got all sorts of fun presents. We got him a new bike (because he has worn the tires out on his old one)! Kassie gave him 2 goldfish who he named Goldie (yes, both of them) and grandma and grandpa gave him a new horn for his bike and a doggie kennel since he loves snickers kennel! Bronson chose to eat a Chuck E Cheese on his special day! Happy Birthday Buddy....We love you!

Bronson at Pin the Wheel on Lightening McQueen

They were Pro's at Musical Chairs

UTAH 12-0

2008-12-02T10:32:00.000-07:00

We had a little party at our house for the BIG Utah vs BYU game. It was a good combo of Utah fans and BYU fans. Needless to say UTAH Wins BIG! We had some of our great neighbors and friends over. It was a fun time!

Thanksgiving

2008-12-02T10:10:00.000-07:00

This year Thanksgiving was a little bit different. We stayed home and I cooked my FIRST Thanksgiving dinner. We had my mom, dad, Kenz and Zach over. It was so fun cooking the dinner. I bought and cooked my first turkey. My sweet husband said it was the BEST turkey he had ever tasted.....somehow I don't really believe him. I made the rolls, stuffing, green bean casserole and pie all by myself. All was a success! Afterward, my dear cousin came to have a sleepover so the real festivities could begin. Amie always stays Thanksgiving night and we stay up late talking and laughing. I love her! We then woke up extra early this year. Kassie was having stress over getting all of the great deals at Wal Mart so we began or shopping at 4 am this year! We got to Wal Mart and got lots of great deals! We shopped and shopped and shopped until 6 pm Friday. This has been a tradition of our family for years. We all have so much fun.....but boy are people crazy (not just us!)

I am so excited for Christmas this year. We have so much to be Thankful for. We are excited to watch out little family grow. The boys are so excited and it is fun having a new little addition to our family. Addyson brings so much joy to us.

Let the Christmas Season begin.....

Family Pictures

2008-11-17T09:34:00.001-07:00

We went a couple of weeks ago and had our family pictures taken. We had Lasse Ljung with Ljung photography take them. Him and his cute wife spent so much time with our family. We went up Butterfield canyon and we had a wonderful time. Here are just a couple....

Tagged

2008-11-10T14:48:00.000-07:00

I was hoping to avoid this...but it is fun to see how you would answer!

8 Favorite TV shows:
Law and Order SVU
Friends
Seinfeld
Dancing with the Stars
Beverly Hills 90210 (I know I am old school:)

8 Favorite Restaurants:
La Luna
Chili's
Cheeseburger in Paradise
Winger's
Chic fil A
Fuddruckers
Red Robin
Rock Creek Pizza

8 Things that Happened Yesterday:
Church
Dr office with Bronson (double ear infections)
Mom's for yummy dinner
slept in
Was in bed before 10 pm
Laughed with family
Had a Diet Coke
Enjoyed Sacrament in peace (no little ones)

8 Things That I look Forward To:
Shopping the day after Thanksgiving
Christmas
Snow
Seeing my kids grow
Hawaii sometime soon
Spending time with family
Putting up the christmas tree
Weekends

8 Things I love About Fall:
Utah Football games GO UTES!!!
Perfect temperatures-
Beautiful leaves
Halloween
Brisk in the air
Holidays
Visiting with neighbors outside
My Birthday:)

8 Things on my wish list:
Hawaii
Good health
Healthy family
Disneyworld
BMW X5
Basement finished
Backyard landscaped
????

8 Friends I tag:
Sis
Kim
Lori
Holly
Mandi
Cami
Gretchen
Carrie
Posted by Natalie

Halloween Fun

2008-11-03T08:55:00.000-07:00

The week of Halloween was a busy week. We did lots of fun activities. We went down to Gardner Village and had some fun pictures taken with all of the cousins. We went to the Pumpkin Patch and then carved our scary pumpkins, we went to the kid's Halloween parade and then the big Trick or Treating night. Our great neighbors, the Sanchez's had the whole circle over for chili and then they loaded all of the kids onto their 4 wheeler and trailer for Trick or Treating. The kids had a Blast! The boys were out until after 9 o'clock. It was a wonderful, spooky, fun night!

Pre-Halloween

2008-10-28T16:06:00.001-06:00

Here's our little pumpkin. Our ward had a Halloween carnival last Saturday and the kids all dressed up. It was a lot of fun. This was Addy's pre-Halloween costume.

Bronson loved the Cake walk. Everytime that I looked around for him he was at the table eating a different cupcake. He probably had 10!

The older boys wanted to be somthing scary this year. We came up with dead soccer players! They thought they looked super scary!!!!

Our trip to Moscow

2008-10-20T14:25:00.000-06:00

Not Moscow Russia, but Moscow Idaho. My grandparents and other family members live in Pullman Washington. My dad grew up in Moscow Idaho which is 20 minutes from Pullman. We went up with my family to visit and to go to the Washington State vs USC football game. We left Wednesday afternoon and drove to Boise. We then made the last leg of the journey on Thursday. We drove up along the beautiful Payette and Salmon Rivers. We stopped in McCall for lunch and we played in the Payette lake, well threw rocks anyways. We then arrived in Moscow at our lovely Motel...hahaha! We had a great visit with grandpa and grandma and Uncle Dan and his family and Uncle Eric. Friday the boys went golfing and we shopped of course. Saturday was the big game and it was a blow out 69-0. Not for WSU! It was still alot of fun. We then had an after game dinner at Uncle Dan's where we visited with more family. Sunday we decided to drive straight through all the way home! WOW it was a long 13 hour drive. We had fun being with my family and the boys loved visiting grandmas room early in the morning. We had so much fun and we loved being with all of our family! We love you all.

Bronson and Hayden playing in the leaves in McCall, Idaho.

Beautiful Payette Lake in McCall.

Great Grandpa Nord with his Great Granddaughter Addyson

The boys headed to the big game. Grandpa has had season tickets for years, he never misses a game!

The gang all geared up. The kids had so much fun cheering for WSU!

The Boys! Uncle Dan (Phil's Twin), Dad, and Grandpa Nord. Go COUGS!

Addy Rolled Over!

2008-10-20T14:17:00.000-06:00

Addyson rolled over! We can hardly beleive it. Not only did she roll from her back to her tummy but also her tummy to her back! The boys were 5-6 months before they rolled over. Addy is now 4 months! WOW time has flown by. She is so much fun and she is such a blessing to our family. She smiles and coo's, she also learned how to spit and my mom got her to laugh out loud yesterday! She is so much fun!

Here she goes!

She made it!

Happy Birthday Riley

2008-10-20T14:01:00.000-06:00

Riley turned 10 on October 3rd. I cannot believe that he is really that old. It seems like yesterday I had him. He is such a joy to our family and he is such a wonderful example and BIG brother. We love you Riley!

We were in Disneyland for Riley's birthday. He got this fun button to wear and EVERYBODY told him "Happy Birthday!"

Since we were in Disneyland Riley missed out on having a friend party. His good buddy Carver's birthday was the day after Riley's so we decided to have a friend get together/ POKEMON night! All of their friends came over for pizza, cake and of course POKEMON!

We got together for Kelly's and Riley's birthday with my family. Kelly chose JCW's (I would highly recommend this yummy place. It is just off the freeway, by Thanksgiving Point). Riley got more Pokemon cards, a Pokedex book and gift cards. Thanks to all for making this a special birthday for Riley!

Ross Family Vacation 2008

2008-10-08T09:44:00.000-06:00

We finally took our very first family vacation. We have been married 11 years and we have always gone on vacation with either family members or cheerleaders. So we took our little family to California for 10 days. We started out of Friday September 26th at 4:30 am and drove straight through to San Diego. We went to the beach, Sea World and the San Diego Zoo. The kids LOVED the beach. Bronson was in heaven digging in the sand. Sea World was amazing and again Bronson was in awe of Shamu. We could have stayed all day at the looking glass just watching Shamu swim. The zoo was better then I expected. All of Kelly's life he has wanted to go the the San Diego zoo and he finally made it there. It was alot of fun. We then drove up the coast to Anaheim. We stopped in for an afternoon at Newport Beach again, the boys loved playing in the waves and Bronson loved being buried in the sand. We did 3 days at Disneyland and I was in heaven. I LOVE anything Disney and having the family there at Halloween time was amazing. It was decorated so dang cute! Riley was chosen for the Jedi Training Academy and fought off Darth Mal. Riley turned 10 on Friday so he was in Disneyland for his birthday. It was so fun having EVERYBODY tell him Happy birthday. For his birthday we ate at Goofy's Kitchen it was so fun having the characters come up to the table and join us for lunch. We were sad Saturday morning when we had to start heading home. We had such an unbelievable time and it was so much fun being together as a family.

Halloween time in Disneyland. Two of my most favorite things. Mickey and Halloween. It was amazing. The park was decorated so adorable and all of the characters were dressed up in their Halloween costumes.

Addy and Minnie Mouse!

Here are some of the Highlights!

I have Converted!

2008-09-12T16:39:00.001-06:00

So, anybody that knows me knows that I have been an avid Coke/ Pepsi drinker for years. I decided about a week ago that I needed to make the switch to that other "COKE"...yeah that's right the Diet one...and guess what??? I have been drinking it for a week now and I LOVE IT!! I know, I know it's CRAZY, but I really do like it.

Go UTAH!

2008-09-09T10:50:00.001-06:00

We love to go to the Utah games! Kelly and I went to the game on Saturday night. We took Addy with us and of course she had he first Utah outfit! We had so much fun. We usually get season tickets and this forces us to have a "date night/day." We have so much fun cheering on our favorite team together. We left the game a little early because Addy was getting a little tired. As we were leaving, we were just outside the gates guess who we ran into......President Uchtdorf of the General Presidency. AMAZING!!!!! He stopped and shook our hands and chatted with me and Kelly. President Uchtdorf is Kelly's most favorite Apostle so this was extra special for him. It was such an awesome experience, we just wished we had our boys with us too!

My Pride and Joy

2008-09-09T10:25:00.000-06:00

Here are some random pics that I have taken over the last few days. Addy is growing so fast and we are enjoying her so much in our family. She is so happy and smiling all of the time. The boys love having her around and they are awesome helpers. Riley, Brennan and Bronson are so great. They are looking forward to our trip at the end of the month! I am so thankful for having four beautful, wonderful children. They are a huge blessing in our lives and they keep life fun and entertaining!

Bronson starts Preschool

2008-09-09T10:06:00.000-06:00

Bronson had his first day of preschool last Wednesday. He goes to a little preschool in our neighborhood. His teacher is Teacher Rachel. He goes on Monday and Wednesday mornings. HE LOVES IT!!!! On the first day we walked and he kept telling me, "Only boys can go to school, not moms!" He was looking forward to his own school.

Riley and his Bear

2008-09-09T09:40:00.000-06:00

So I think I win the award for the best mom ever......hahahaha!!! Riley turns ten the first part of October and so he would need to earn his bear before that. His scout leader called and reminded me that Riley was really close to earning his bear and challenged me to help him get the rest done before pack meeting (which was the very next day)! So I went through the book and was thinking....he is not that close. So, I had Kelly spend 3 hours doing Bear stuff, while I was at Young Womens. They Finally comleted all of the requirements. I called His leader the next morning and told her we FINALLY compelted ALL of the requirements. Well to my stupidity we realized that we had Riley do every single paw print......not just the ones that were required. So we scrambled for nothing. In reality he was close to getting his Bear without the 3 hour cram session! DUH MOM!!!!!! Anyways he earned his Bear!

Fish Lake

2008-08-25T10:28:00.000-06:00

This weekend we went camping at Fish Lake. We have an annual camp trip every year with my family and Kelly's family. It was such a great time. We look forward to this trip every year. We ride the 4 wheelers and just hang out. The kids had so much fun and boy were they dirty.

My Boys

2008-08-25T10:00:00.000-06:00

Riley, Brennan and Bronson have been such great helpers. They love their baby sister and they have been such great boys. I am so thankful for them! They are so much fun and their personalities add so much to our family.

Best Buds!

Bronson put Kelly's socks on!

Addyson

2008-08-25T09:27:00.000-06:00

Addy is now 10 weeks! Time has gone by so fast. She is doing so great. We took her to the dr last week and she now weighs 10 lbs. 8 oz. She is 23 inches long. She is in the 50th percent tile for weight and 85th percent tile for length. She must get her heighth from the Ross side! She had to get 3 shots....that was aweful. she cried real tears. Her reflux is getting a little better. We had to add rice to her bottle and that seems to be making a big difference. She is going to get chubby fast! We love and adore her in our family.

Addyson in her party dress!

Bronson Loves his sister!

What a cute smile!

Addyson's Special Day

2008-08-04T10:00:00.000-06:00

On Sunday Kelly gave Addyson a name and a blessing. He did an AMAZING job. We are so thankful for the sweet addition Addyson is to our family. I am thankful for Kelly and the wonderful husband he is.

2008-08-04T09:55:00.000-06:00

We are so thankful for all of our friends and family that helped make this a special day! We love you all!

11 Years!

2008-08-04T09:43:00.000-06:00

On Friday August 1st Kelly and I celebrated our 11th wedding anniversary. Friday night Kelly took me to eat at the Roof restaurant at the Joseph Smith Memorial Building. He had made special reservations so that our seats were next to the window that overlooked the Salt Lake Temple. It was an amazing night! I cannot believe how fast 11 years has gone by for us. We have had so much happen over the 11 years. We have 4 beautiful children, a home that we love and we have seen both of our families grow. I am so thankful for Kelly and I look forward to a many more anniversaries to come.

Our Last Hoorah!!

2008-07-26T14:07:00.000-06:00

The kids start school on Monday so we went to Classic Skating and Waterslides Wednesday with a bunch of our neighbors and friends. The kids had so much fun we went back again on Thursday with our family. We have had such a fun summer and it is kinda sad that the kids will be back in school. They are so excited to start!

Bronson and Grandma

2008-07-26T13:48:00.000-06:00

Bronson loves his Grandma. Grandma Debbie has a special name for Bronson. She calls him "cubby", she thinks he looks like Winnie the Pooh.....you know, "funny little cubby all stuffed with fluff...."

Angel Moroni

2008-07-26T13:45:00.000-06:00

The boys and their friends watching the placement of Angel Mornoni. We are so grateful for such wonderful friends!

We love to see the Temple....

2008-07-26T13:40:00.001-06:00

A couple of weeks ago Angel Moroni was placed on top of the Oquirrh Mountain Temple. We got there just as the Angel was placed on top. It has been a great experience for the boys to see the construction of the Temple. We are so excited and blessed to have a Temple so close to our home.

Addy's 0ne Month Check Up

2008-07-15T17:06:00.000-06:00

So I had to take Addyson in to the doctor for a follow up on her belly button and reflux today. She weighed in at 9 pounds 0 ounces. She has gained over a pound and a half since her two week check up! She is an eating machine! Everything went great at the doctor and she is now in the 60th percent tile for her weight. We are enjoying her so much.

Lagoon

2008-07-10T17:53:00.000-06:00

It wouldn't be a trip to Lagoon if aunt Torrie didn't take the kids on Rattle Snake Rapids! The boys look forward to this all year. We had such a great time at Lagoon. The boys loved riding all of the rides. Bronson did great and we didn't stray too far from the Kiddie rides. Thank goodness Jon was able to go this year he took all of the older kids on all of the Big rides. Riley rode all of the rides and Brennan did good, he rode all the rides but Wicked and the Collossus.

Lagoon

2008-07-10T17:50:00.000-06:00

Brennan and Bronson HAD to get their faces painted.

Happy 4th of July

2008-07-10T17:42:00.000-06:00

I LOVE the 4th of July! This is one of my favorite times of year. We had a great 4th this year. We started our festivities with the Western Stampede Rodeo on Thursday night. We went to the parade Friday morning and then the Sanchez's had their annual BBQ. The kids played in the water and then we topped of the day with fireworks. Kelly, Phil and Jon enjoyed the day golfing and we shopped! Addyson did great. She slept through it all!

Ross Family

Mommy Get *A* Way

Bear River Lodge

Welcome 2012.....

Merry Christmas to all......

Jingle, Jingle, Jingle

Look Who Is 7.......

Washington State

Fall Fun.....

California here we come......

Bear River Lodge

Christmas 2010

Bronsons 6th Birthday

a UTAH Man am I

Fall Fun.......

Birthdays, Birthdays, Birthdays......

Look who's in Kindergarten!

Camping FUN...

Catching Up.....

AUGUST so far

Alaska

13 years and going......

JULY

JUNE

May.....

Easter.....

CANCUN

Daniels Summit

Christmas at the Ross Home

Light up the Night

Bronson is 5!

Halloween 2009

California 2009

Fish Lake

4th of July

Addy's Birthday Party

Happy Birthday Addyson!

Viva Las Vegas.....

Spring Madness.....

Salt Lake 1/2 Marathon

Easter....

Brennan is 8.....

Look Who's Here......

Thanks Hon!

Can you believe it...8 Months!

Valentine Cookies

Draper Temple Open House

Daniel's Summit

Christmas

Here's a little Holiday Jingle...

Santa

Look who's 4....

UTAH 12-0

Thanksgiving

Family Pictures

Tagged

Halloween Fun

Pre-Halloween

Our trip to Moscow

Addy Rolled Over!

Happy Birthday Riley

Ross Family Vacation 2008

I have Converted!

Go UTAH!

My Pride and Joy

Bronson starts Preschool

Riley and his Bear

Fish Lake

My Boys

Addyson

Addyson's Special Day

11 Years!

Our Last Hoorah!!

Bronson and Grandma

Angel Moroni

We love to see the Temple....

Addy's 0ne Month Check Up

Lagoon

Lagoon

Happy 4th of July

Mommy Get A Way