May 21, 2009 - Sherman's Birthday Celebration - 4 Years Old

Sherman turned 4 years old on Thursday. Boy how time flies. He was very excited about opening presents and having guests over. We plan to have a little friend party, but not until next week. We invited Amy, Eric and Mason Frasure for his Birthday Dinner and he was very happy about that. Below are a few picture from the party.

Opening the John Deere Tractor from Grandma Gibbs! He was so excited about it that Eric spent the next 20 minutes untangling it from the box for him. Eric is also a big John Deere fan and even has a bit of a John Deere Tractor collection.

Listening to his Birthday Cards!

A new Thomas Video and a New Engine - Sir Handel.

Sherman helped decorate his cake and cupcakes. He did a very nice job.

Blowing out the Candles.

Eliza also enjoyed the cake!

Sherman in his new Lightening McQueen Sleeping Bag - His camp out in the back yard was postponed, but will hopefully happen this weekend.

I couldn't resist this picture. Sleeping next to his new Sleeping bag.

I'm Couponing...

I have always been one to look for deals and use coupons, but this year I am learning how to become a serious "couponer" (Aunt Peggy would be proud)! It is an attempt to save money on our grocery bill and build up our food and toiletries storage a bit faster. There are several women in my ward who are learning together and it has been fun. It has taken a bit of work to learn, but the hard work is finally paying off!! Below are some pictures from some of my best deals. I have done several others, but did not take pictures.

#1 - From Walgreen's, I paid less than $4 out of pocket and came away with $7.50 in register rewards to use the next time I shop. (Register Rewards are like getting cash back.) And I actually used a Walgreen's gift card that I got for transferring a prescription to Walgreen's, so I really didn't spend a dime!

#2 - Also from Walgreen's, about $5 out of pocket and came away with $4 in Register Rewards. Used gift card again, so actually nothing out of pocket.

#3 - CVS and Walgreen's (same day) - This was my best deal yet! I only spent .96 cents out of pocket for both places and got everything in the picture.

2009 - Safety Day/Fun Run at the Zoo - May 16, 2009

This year it was just Sherman and Eliza and Mom. Dad had the Father's and Son's Camp out the night before (that he was in charge of), and since Sherman was sick and didn't get to go, he came along with Eliza and Mom. Sherman was feeling a bit better, but was content to sit in the stroller, eat his breakfast and ride. We had a great time mostly walking the mile loop around the Zoo and then took our free Train Ride and headed home. The kids also enjoyed seeing the Fire Truck and Ambulance.

Eliza decided towards the end that she wanted to get out and run. She would take a few steps and then turn and watch people. So, the last 1/8th of the mile took about 10 minutes. But, she had a great time!

Nice Form!

Christmas 2008 - Really Late... Okay, Extremely Late!!

The videos below show the beginning of our Christmas morning. Unfortunately we forgot to buy more tapes for the nice video camera, so we had to use our little digital camera. Before breakfast we opened our stockings and Santa Claus Presents. The kids had a great time as you will see. Sherman is way into everything and Eliza is starting to figure things out. Hope you enjoy them.

Sherman's Stocking

Eliza's Stocking

Dad's Stocking

I only put these last two videos on because Sherman and Eliza are so cute in them!

Mom's Stocking

We had a great Christmas and as you can tell from the videos. Sherman still talks about the "toys he got for Christmas" and what Santa is going to bring next year.

Catch-up -- November/December 2008

Grandma Gibbs gave the kids a "Little People" Nativity set this year that they opened a few days after Thanksgiving. They really enjoyed playing with it throughout the holiday season. Hopefully they will be just as excited when we get it out next year.

Mark and Sherman making the traditional Pepper Cookies for our goodie plates. Pretty handsome twosome if you ask me!

Eliza helped by playing in her seat with the Little People and being a very good girl.

Sherman had a bit of a cough, so this was our attempt to keep germs out of the cookies.

Aunt Sarah came to visit for a week before Christmas. Sherman and Eliza had a great time with her. Aunt Sarah was so good to play with them, shovel snow, and pull them on the sled. It was really cold while Sarah was here and we had an ice storm and a big snow storm while she was here, so we didn't get to go too many places, but we had a great time anyway. Aunt Sarah also helped us bake all of the Pepper Cookies. It took too long evenings, but we finally got it done.

The night before Aunt Sarah left we had a very nice Hanukkah dinner (I can't remember all of the menu items right now, but it was all very tasty). And then we opened our traditional Christmas Eve gifts a few days early with her.

Here we all are with our new pajamas.

Sarah also enjoyed reading all of our Christmas books. I believe she read every one by the time she left.

And finally the airport scene -- We waited for a while with Sarah since her plane was late leaving. As you can see, Sherman is having a hard time saying goodbye. We all had a great time and hope Sarah will come visit us again!