A Day with Granny and Papa

After all the Thanksgiving turkey and Pumpkin pie, everyone went back to their everyday lives, but we got to have Granny and Papa all to ourselves! Well, It was just Seth, Sawyer and I the rest of the Gilman's had to go back to work and school.

We got to have lunch at Burger King and then go feed the ducks along the Snake River.

Then Granny finished Sawyer a crib quilt.
And Seth got to make play do clay with Granny.
It was another happy day in Idaho with our favorite Granny and Papa!

Thanksgiving Dinner

Okay, so I am finally getting around to catching up my blog. So here ya go...

This is Thanksgiving at Mom and Dad's house. It has been really fun going to my parents for the last couple of years. I love when we can all get together like this. I hope it is something we will still do even after Mom and Dad die!

This is the sister-in-laws wondering when they are done with their "day at the in-laws" duty!

I love how Lisa brought her own deck of cards! Jason and Bethany chillin' with Granny on the couch and my Daizee Dog laying claim to a lap.
Jason and his new wife Nichole.

Awe...newly weds!

Lyle holding my little Sawyer.

One of these ain't like the other.

(Sawyer was a little fussy)

Alan, happy and full of turkey! All the many cars in front of Mom and Dad's house. I think it made Dad happy to see so many people at his house. We had licence plates from Utah, Idaho, Wyoming and Washington.
The 1st and 2nd cousins eating dinner.
We had three tables set up in Mom's little house.
Dad, Ann and Roger full of turkey and waiting for dessert.
Nichole, Susie, Lyle and Mom waiting for their dessert!
It was a happy day in Idaho.

My children always love to go home. But they are a little sad that Cheryl and her family are not there to play with.

Steven is Driving!!

So this Friday Steven went in and took his drivers test. He passed and did well and got his drivers license! He was ready to rock and roll!

So, I gave him the motherly lecture..."drive safe, you don't want to get in an accident on you first day driving solo." and all the other stuff you tell them before handing the keys over.

Well, shortly after that I was out running errands and somebody hit me!!! So I called Steven and told him not to worry I did it for him!

Then...

When you are a teenager and just got you DL and your parents OK where is one of the first places you want to go?!

THE MALL!

Steven tells me, "Mom, I'm going to meet some friends at the mall. I'll call ya later."

So later he calls...

"Mom, I changed my plans. I'm leaving the mall and meeting my friends somewhere else."

"Why?"

"Well, I was in JCPenneys and heard some gun shots and I guess there was a shooting and I'm too young to die so I left!"

"OH!"

He said it was really close and he booked it out of there. Then he got stuck in traffic, cause EVERYONE was trying to leave! Two boys were shot and one died the other is stable. They believe that the shooter new the victims.

Boy, he has a great story he can reminisce on when his kids start driving.

Steven Potter

This has a great story!
Steven wanted to dress up as Harry Potter for Halloween way back when the books first started getting really popular and Steven was still into Halloween. Well, we couldn't figure out what to do with his curly hair to make it look like Harry Potter. I tried to straighten it but it wasn't that great. He still went as Harry Potter with an Afro.

Well, fast forward to this Halloween. It fell at the end of Spirit week, so they got to dress up. He got a wig from someone at school and next thing I know he wants me to run out last minute and try to find Harry Potter glasses. All I could find on such short notice was the clown glasses that make your eyes look really big. They were round though and he could pop the lens out but he opted not to.

I didn't even get to see what he looked like but then I found this picture downloaded on my desktop. I guess he got to live out his life long dream of being Harry Potterish...

It makes me laugh!
You got to make it big to really enjoy it!

Pile of Leaves

Halloween

I got so focused on Steven's Birthday that I never posted the kids in their Halloween costumes.
Daizee was a pumpkin.
She really loves this outfit and now wears it as a coat! She hates the cold weather and this is a really warm outfit. But she wouldn't go for the hat that came with it.
Sawyer was Tigger.
He stayed toasty warm and happy. It had rained all day but cleared up by time we went out to trick or treat.

Seth was Ben 10.
Its a show from Cartoon Network. He had to have a "mask free" costume for school and he loved having a wild hair do!

Sam was Wonder Woman.
I have to admit I was living vicariously through my daughter. I wanted to be Wonder Woman but she looked better in the outfit then me.

and Sean was Phantom, from Phantom of the Opera.
He has been a fan ever since we went and say it at the Paramount in Seattle.

Steven is 16!

Happy Birthday Steven!

We love you!!

Steven is turning 16!

Steven wouldn't let me throw him a party for his 16th Birthday! So I recruited his friend, Ryan, who is also turning 16. He thought a party was a great idea. So I got with his parents and we combined the guys party!

This is the boys posing for pictures before the dance. They were too handsome not to share with y'all. Any-ya-hoo, I was in charge of putting the party invite together. I told the boys I need a photo to put on the invites. I don't think they took it very serious cause they showed up in their workout clothes.

But they started to give me their best poses!

And smiling faces!

All in all I think the invites turned out great!

Carving Pumkins

We were late in getting into the Halloween mood this year with Brian being out of town and I not knowing up from down lately...

I had to work so Brian took them to the pumpkin patch, but they had nothing! They suggested that Brian just take them to Albertsons. So he did. He said there wasn't even a real good selection there.

I was a little bummed out with this report but once I asked the kids they were just as happy with their pumpkins as ever!

The next night we carved them up. Actually, Brian and the kids did, I fed the baby.

Seth wasn't too excited about digging pumpkin guts out. "It's yucky"

Sean watched TV and did pumpkin guts at the same time!
In the end we had glowing, scary pumpkins in time for the trick or treaters!

Steven's Homecoming Sophmore Year

Steven always gets a date for Homecoming. Last year I was in complete shock when I found out Homecoming was a FORMAL dance. This year I was a little better prepared. I even gave in a little and let him ride in the limo...Anyway, this is him getting ready for his big night!

He snuck into his dad's shaving cream and razor. I told him he had to let me take his picture or I would tell! Hee hee!

He was trying to decide who to ask to the dance I suggested to take someone fun. He asked Becca cause she was a "real good friend and fun to be with".

I got a wrist corsage to avoid those embarrassing "how do I pin it on her?" moments. Steven puts it on and says "ta-da!"

Then it was her turn with the boutonniere. She had a harder time. First she tried, then her mom came and tried....

but in the end on of the other guys got it on for them.

Then group photos...smile for your parents!

Climbing into the limo...

In the limo...smile again for mom!

They took the limo to an Italian restaurant in Seattle, then to Dairy Queen for desert. They did photos and then danced the night away. They have after parties too, but Steven has a curfew.

In the end he said it was a really good time and that Becca was really fun.

Seth's Field Trip to the Pumkin Patch

This is Seth's first year in preschool! I kept him home last year since it was going to be our last year together before Sawyer came! His school does a field trip once a month. This one was to a local farm/pumpkin patch. His dad took him and they had a great time!




This is Seth as a Pig! This is Seth ON a pig! This is Seth with his new friend!

Fustrated!

So I keep getting these subtle hints..."you should post that on your blog", "are you a blog drop out?"...from my loving sister! So I set the time aside to catch it all up. BUT! When I went to download pictures from the camera the battery was dead, so then I thought "I'll do my photo tag" but my husband hid the digital photos from me (something about a back up drive). So I changed my background and waited for Brian to get home and the battery to charge.

In the meantime; I took the kids to High School Musical 3. I...I mean...We LOVED it! To admit the truth I never sat down and watched either of the previous HSM completely, but I listen to the soundtracks a million times! This is my favorite! I kept getting into it and clapping and hollering, but was told(by my own children) that I was embarrassing and to be quiet. It's a cheering type of show, they just didn't get it.

Well, here is my photo tag. For this tag you are supposed to go to your picture folders and go to the 4th folder over and pick the 4th picture out of it and post it.

Well, believe it or not...this IS NOT Sawyer. It is SAMANTHA! This was Jul 2001, she was three months old. I loved this small cradle I had for her. I tried to find one similar for Sawyer but couldn't. I think this is about the time she really started smiling. Looks to be about bedtime, didn't I post one like this of Sawyer a little while ago?


I tag Amber, Sharon, Alan & Sara, and Kimberly T.
HA! I found four to tag! Sorry if you got tagged already I have a small list!

Happy Birthday Sean!

We Love You!