Macky's Science Project

Macky has started a totally disgusting science project. He is mummifying fish. He has four tilapia. One in a bag with salt, one in a bag with baking soda, one in a bag with baking soda and oxy clean, and one control. Yep. That means there is one fish just in a bag. He has to leave them in our garage for three weeks. Each week he weighs them, smells them, and then repackages them with fresh preservatives. The idea is that at least one of them will be a nice mummy by the end. It just smells so bad! Ug. I'm sorry that this picture is so bad. I only stayed close enough for one and then I had to vacate!!

Eliza's Third Birthday

Our niece Eliza turned three. It seems like just yesterday we were all in Spokane marveling at this beautiful little one. She had hair that was just out of control!! She still has amazing hair, and is so much fun to have around. I'm so thankful that we've been with her on her special moments. Her mom made her this fantastic cake. So creative!

Wyatt's First Birthday

Wyatt turned one on January 6th. That Friday we had everyone over for a party! We ate dinner together and then ate some cake. We all had lots of fun watching Wyatt look at a candle, he wouldn't blow. Then we gave him his own cake to eat, and he just kind of put some frosting on his finger. John had the right idea and made a nice, big mess. Wyatt and John ended up in the bath together. The big hit of the night was the balloon, I think.

The Polar Bear Swim

Spencer and his buddy Jake went for a nice swim on New Year's Day. They went to 1 Mile with a bunch of other crazies to do that Polar Bear swim. It was a great time! We all got there at 12:15 or so. There was no one there. All of a sudden at like 5 minutes to one, all of Chico was there. It was amazing. This photo is the before shot.
This photo below is the after shot. They were so funny. We will do it again next year!

Our Duck

The Carrs have this bird that sings. It's a Christmas bird. Somehow we got started in this game where the Carrs try to give us the bird and we give it right back! First they tried to put it in our car. SO, we put it in the Stapfs car. Then the Carrs doorbell ditched us and put the bird underneath a coat they were returning. So, we decided to take it up a notch. We froze the bird inside a gigantic block of ice - no simple thing, mind you! Then we doorbell ditched them. We left the block of ice on the front porch, along with some cookies. Well, that same night the bird was back with us along with a taunting video on facebook! So, I couldn't just leave it at that. Spencer rigged the Carr's door with a rope attached to a brick that would fall on the bird just right to set off it's annoying Christmas song. When Aidan opened the front door the next day, he heard the bird and Spencer received a phone call. Spencer asked for some ground rules. He thinks I'm TOO competitive (is there such a thing?!?!). We now have to keep the bird for a few days before dropping it off with the other family... The bird is currently with the Carrs and I can't wait to see what they'll do to get it back to us!

Happy New Year's!

We ended 2009 with family and good friends. We had pizza, soda, yummy salad, and (my favorite) chocolate fondue! I messed up on the first batch of fondue, but the second batch turned out fine. My brother Jeff let us borrow his PS3 and we all played Rock Band. We played cards, too. The kids ran wild. They watched movies and ran around. Lilly was the first to sleep, then John. Then I noticed little Alison asleep flat on her back in my bed. Her shoes were on, the lights were on, the TV was on. She was snoring. It was so funny! She stayed like that the rest of the night. Poor thing missed most of the party. Around 9:00 PM we took the children outside and counted down. They all popped some poppers and made ALOT of noise. We went back inside and had a toast with sparkling cider. Yum! I feel very blessed to be surrounded by such wonderful supportive, non-judgmental people. Happy New Year!