Goofy Charley

I just had to post this. Gotta love the look. Gabe took this picture.

Christmas 2009

Hello all,

We had a quite X-mas at home this year. Well as quite as two excited boys can have. We were woken up at 5:15 am by two impatient little ones wanting to go downstairs and see what Santa left for them. We were able to hold them off until 6:30. They were very excited about all of there gifts. That evening we had dinner with some great friends and called it an early night. Here are some pictures. More to come later once I find the right code for the camera.

Snow piled up on sides of driveway.



Flying their Air Hogs. Not doing so well with the wind byt they had fun.




I love when the trees get covered in snow. They are so beautiful.





Here are Gabe and Alex in the PJ's that Tata Caroline got them.




I will post more soon.

We love you all.

Happy Holidays!!

Make a Smilebox greeting

Gabe and Alex Birthday Party 2009

Hi all,

Well another year has passed and the boys are a year older. You would think they calm down as they get older but that doesn't seem to be happening. We spend a couple of hours at the local pool which has a great indoor pool area and is not really expensive. Then we packed them back up and headed home for some cake and ice cream. We had a great day. Here are some pictures.

ALEX'S TURNES 5 TODAY!!

HAPPY BIRTHDAY ALEX!

ANOTHER YEAR HAS GONE BY AND MY LITTLE ONE JUST TURNED 5. OH MY HOW HE HAS GROWN. HE AMAZES US AND MAKES US LAUGH EACH DAY. WE LOVE YOU.

Halloween 2009

Happy Halloween!!

Thank Goodness it is over. All day Alex bugged me about going trick or treating and then he won't go up to any of the houses. Oh well, we had fun. The boys enjoyed getting dressed up and seeing there friends all dressed up. Gabe and I were getting over the flu just in time for the weekend. I missed getting the boys in there costumes. Momma is slacking.

Parent Teacher Meeting

I have to say I was a little nervous meeting with Mrs. Tanner, Gabe's 1st grade teacher. But all she had was good things to say about Gabe. He is doing so well. So far he spends about half his day with his large regular class (Mrs. Yerkes) and the mornings with Mrs Tanner. He is doing more school work in Mrs. Tanner's class then his regular class. His reading is coming along well and he is a whiz at math. There is a 2nd grader in Mrs. Tanners class that Gabe is actually teaching how to do addition. She said he is so patient with him. We need to work on his writing skills but since being back at school it has gotten better. He really enjoys going to school. Let's just hope this keeps up. I am so proud of my little boy.

Jordanelle Resevoir Sep 18-20 2009

We had a fantastic time fishing and going on our friends boat. The leaves are just starting to turn. We had to deal with a horrible wind and rain storm on Saturday night. The boys sleep right through it. Here is some pictures. Click on link below.

http://picasaweb.google.com/valcharley/JordanelleResevoir?authkey=Gv1sRgCMeY-oKS5Jz-9wE&feat=directlink

Contribute 2009 : Big Help for Small Business

Contribute 2009
Our goal is to inspire 100,000 people to spend an extra $50 at locally owned small businesses on or after October 12, 2009. That’s a $5 million economic infusion that can create a ripple effect in communities across the nation.

Rally to help small businesses.
Small businesses are at risk. By spending just $50 at a local small business and encouraging others to do the same, we can bring hope and collectively contribute to the lives and livelihoods in our local communities.

Unite with others to contribute more.
Click the pledge button below and pledge today. Then rally your friends, family, customers and more to join with you to make a meaningful sales impact for a local small business of your choice on or after October 12.

Contribute 2009 : Big Help for Small Business

WHAT SPARKED CONTRIBUTE 2009
When owners Orville and Heidi Thompson launched Scentsy in 2004, they based their business philosophy on an Albert Einstein quote that inspired Orville as a young man –
“Try not to become a man of success. Rather, become a man of value. A successful man takes out of life more than he puts in. A man of value will give more than he receives.”Scentsy’s business philosophy of “contribute more than you take” is woven throughout the fabric of the party-plan company. It was this philosophy that also drove the idea about how to celebrate the company’s 5th Anniversary in July 2009.
Scentsy celebrated its rapid rise from a small, family-owned business into one the country’s emerging home décor brands with a fun event designed to contribute to the local community. Orville and Heidi Thompson gave employees and their families $100,000 to spend at 40 family-owned businesses nominated by employees. Each business enjoyed a $2500 increase in sales revenue that day. Employees got to keep the goods and services they bought with their $50 bills.
The results were inspiring and fulfilling. Scentsy employees spent more than $10,000 of their own money to help local businesses. Skepticism from small business owners turned to gratitude when they saw there were no strings attached to this organized spend. Some owners were in tears. Others commented they didn’t think they would have survived the summer without it. One owners’ comment summed it up best.
“Because of your generosity with your employees, not only did we have one of our most successful days, there was a great sense of community. I truly think what comes around goes around and I’m sure that you’ll see continued success in your business, and we can only hope that we can turn around and carry forward the same way to show appreciation to our community and customers.” - Boise Business Owner
Now we want to take this simple idea beyond one company in one community. We want you to provide big help for small business and spark a groundswell of Contribution that mushrooms from merchant to merchant and market to market. Please spread the word.
Take the Contribution 2009 pledge and offer big help to small businesses in your community.

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Timpanogos Cave Sep 12, 2009

I made it. With lots of stops to catch my breath and let my legs rest. We loaded up the car and went to Timpanogos Cave in American Fork Canyon. We climbed 1.5 miles up ( seemed like 5 miles straight up) to reach three moderate sized limestone caves: Hansen Cave, Middle Cave, and Timpanogos Cave. They had dazzling helictites and anthodites in a variety of shapes and sizes. We climbed 1,092 feet in 1.5 mile zig zags to get to the caves. It was worth it but I was cursing Shane (GI Jane) all the way. He is the only one out of us 5 adults that is in shape. Sandy and I hung together. She just found out that the little bundle of joy she is carrying is a boy. I was very proud of my two boys. they made it all the way up and down without us having to carry them. This is a great stop if you are up to it. Stop music below before starting movie.

Hi everyone,

So I think I got the video to load. Some of you have already seen the pictures. We had a fantastic time over Labor Day Weekend. We headed out on Saturday morning to Green River KOA. We rented a little Kabin (KOA lingo) because I thought it was going to rain and at least we would stay a little dryer then being in the tent. We also had our neighbor, Shane, and his daughter, Destiny, with us. We spent saturday afternoon at Gobblin Valley. WOW! What a great place. I highly recommend for anybody heading down that way to make it a place to stop. The kids loved it and it was a lot of fun climbing all over the rock formations. On Sunday, we headed to The Arches and Moab. Another great day had by all. We did a small hike up to the Windows Arches. We went into Moad to eat some lunch and headed back to camp. We spent the late afternoon playing in the green river and tried to do a little fishing but the current was too strong. Monday we packed up and headed out. We stopped at a couple of places on the way out to try and fish. No luck with the fish. I think Charley needs to do a little research to see what we are doing wrong with the local fish. See pictures below. Love you all.

School Started Again

Hi everyone,

Well I gues summer is slowly coming to an end. Gabe is back in school and is going all day now. His teacher is great. Her name is Mrs. Tanner. We are going to work together to mainstream Gabe. His other teacher in the regular 1st grade is Mrs. Yerkes. Below is a picture of Mrs. Tanner and Gabes class room.

So far so good. He has had great days so far and he seems to be happy to be back at school.

Here are some cute pics of Gabe, Alex, and Ezra. I think Chanda is happy to only have Alex and Ezra during the day. It is a lot less craziness in the house when I get home. Gabe is gone from about 8:30 - 4:30. Long day for him.

Love them boyz.

Great Pics

They've Got The Whole World in Their Hands

Be Scared! Be very Scared!

Our First Camping Trip Pics

We set out on Saturday Morning to find the perfect spot and I think we did. We had a great time. The boys went fishing and on a hike to a glacier deposit. We went to Wasatch State Park. We had great weather and great fun. Here are some pictures.

Picnic in the Park

Finally a sunny day at least for now. I am sure by this evening we will be in the storms again. Chanda took the boys to the park and had a picninc. What fun. I wish I was there.

Camping in the great outdoors

Well, the boys had their first camping experience in the great outdoors. So it was all planned. The tent was put up on Friday evening. The air mattresses were blown up and the sleeping bags were laid out. All was well even with the storms rolling in. The boys were very excited to be sleeping in a tent. They grabbed their favorite stuffed animal and headed to bed around 9pm. It was a bit chilly but they has some extra blankets. The storms and rain came and went and the boys did great. They decided to do it again on Saturday. Again the storms, rain and wind rolled in and no issues. It seems they really liked it.

Maybe we will venture out of the backyard the next time.

Mother's Day gift and Baseball

I am finally getting around to added more to this. I need to try and keep up. I would like to introduce Chanda. She is our Nanny. The boys seem to really like her. It may not always seem that way but they are always asking about when she is coming back.

Here is the wonderful picture that they painted for me. Chanda is very talented.

I love the boys hair.

Gabe and Alex have been playing baseball and loving it. They are both great at it. Gabe has a great arm and is learning how to hit the ball with the coach pitching it. alex is in T-Ball. He also can throw really well and hit the ball off the tee every time.

Gabe Relaxing?

Oh my. You do not see this to often. Here is Gabe relaxing in Florida with JJ. JJ is Mema's and Grandpa Tommy's new dog. See sometimes he does sit still.

Friday is Gabe's last day of school and Alex finnished up last week. Poor Chanda (The Hot Nanny) will have her hands full with my two boys and her little one Ezra.

Well tata for now.

Video of Gabe's Big Performance

Gabe had his program to end the year. He did such a great job and made us very proud. He was very anxious until we arrived. His teacher had saved us a place up front so that he could see us. They sang a bunch of songs and Gabe's big line was

"I love living in America becuase I get to go to Kindergarten".

I think he may be the

Next American Idol.

Video to come soon (once I figure this whole thing out).

Mrs Leonard is Gabes Teacher. She has been great and will be missed.

Gabe has really grown this year. We have lots to look forward to in the coming year.

Everyday is an adventure with Gabe.

Gabe Graduates from Kindergarten

Hello all,

Well today is a big day for my little Gabe. He is moving on to 1st grade next year. Yeah for him. He has done so well and we are very proud of him. He has a little program today and I will post a video/pictures later.

Yeah for Gabe!