Cruisin' at Christmas

Rob and Emma took an 8 day cruise to Mexico the week before Christmas. Emma's parents graciously took all four kids that week.
The trip took Rob and Emma to Cabo San Lucas then down to Puerto Villarta

Griffith Observatory

Saturday we took a day trip to LA to meet with a friend of Emma's and see the stars. It rained the WHOLE day. But the kids still enjoyed the planetarium and telescopes.

Christmas cheer

Christmas was spent with family and friends in California.  Emma's brother's family was with us Christmas morning. It was a party.

The kids couldn't get enough of the iPad this week...what to do about that?

A favorite quote of the season...Ethan and Isaac were opening their gifts.Ethan says to Isaac: your BeyBlade is better than mine! But, mine is greater than yours.

And he is...

Approved for research!

Arizona Thanksgiving

We spent Thanksgiving in Tempe this year. Grandma and Grandpa are getting older. We wanted the kids to have good memories we them. I think they did. Last time we went down was in 2010.

Lights

Now all we need is the snow...

Lunch at Hill Air Museum

Driving to Arizona we stopped for lunch

Another black eye

Ethan had a couple black eyes when he broke his nose at 14 months. We were worried we had the same result when Sarah pulled the stool on her face yesterday.

luckily it is just a bruise and a black eye.

Morning surprise

It isn't even Halloween yet!  But did you see the cute girl we store in the cupboard?

And a new statue at ISU that my workout Buddie sculpted.

Dinner

Backyard cookout. Beautiful fall night.

Isaac's first basketball game

Breakfast

Sarah is eating at the counter with us now!

My Apartment

Isaac was brushing his teeth and asked Emma, "When do I get my apartment? " Emma said, "Your what? ! " Isaac replied, My apartment for I can get my teeth cleaned? "

This and that

The kids are growing so fast. Here are a few pictures from the last couple of weeks. The weather has turned. It freezes now. The garden has turned black...no more zucchini.

End of summer fun

On Labor Day we took the kids to the park.they always enjoy that. Sarah is a big helper, especially when it comes to watering. This is Ethan's first day of school pose. Oh, and his clown suit, complete with lamb ears.

Cosette and Isaac Back to School

Waffles for breakfast and off to school!

Fun Fun Fun

Went to Boise to see Emma's cousin Missy. Went to Zoo Boise with Grandma & Grandpa Wood too.

Summer Adventures

Panning for gold in Northern Idaho - Cosette and Ethan

Ethan caught a fish! 

Isaac painting a bird house at Grandma's in California

Just a darn cute picture of Sarah

Sarah and Rob at a summer band concert

Isaac in the American Falls Reservoir

This has been a fun and exciting summer for everyone. Isaac spent two weeks in California and then switched with Cosette and Ethan who spent two weeks in Northern Idaho. Grandma had fun with the kids and is now going through withdrawals!

Fundraiser for Rob

Rob has been having some scary experiences with his diabetes. The normal warnings that a diabetic has (shaking, dizziness, dry mouth, confusion, slurred speech etc) to warn him of low or high blood sugars are no longer working as a warning system. He has passed out a few times and we would like to prevent this from happening as much as possible in the future. We were recently alerted to a cool device that we have not known about previously. The DEXCOM Seven Plus is a tool that will test his blood sugar every 5 minutes 24 hours a day for 7 days and then he rests it for another 7 days. The device will then communicate the results to a handheld (belt warn or in the pocket) display so that he can see the results and trends. If the result is below a certain number then an alarm sounds and if it is above a certain number then an alarm sounds. 

The initial cost and ongoing cost for this device is too much for us to foot at this time. We are asking for any amount of money to help defer the costs so that we may help Robert be safer at work, at play, and while sleeping.

If you would like to send a gift you may use PayPal and send it to rbrtwd@gmail.com. Cash check and money orders are also welcome.

Thank you for taking the time to consider helping out.

Rob found a screaming deal on used kitchen cabinets on Craigslist. We painted them white and installed them in our kitchen. When we get enough extra money we will put in a matching granite tile top. Previously we were using a small jelly cabinet to put our food in, now we have tripled our storage space for food and other stuff. We also plan to put a desk on the end for a "homebase" concept.

Family Fun Day

We went to Family Fun Day in Pocatello. WOW everything was there. We got to play with Storm Trooppers, Darth Vader, and a Jedi. The Disney Princesses were there too which was super fun. Along with all the booths we saw there was tons of food adn free prizes and best of all demonstrations from dance groups, Police dogs, and Zumba. Here is a video shot with Rob's cell phone. Its kinda bad but oh well. Can you pick out Emma, Cosette and Ethan?

Pizza-Not

Cosette created a recipe on Tuesday and informed us she wanted to film a how-to video. Here you have it. Pizza-Nots (because they're "not" pizza).

What a fun day! Thanks for everyone that was here last week! Pictures coming soon of Cosette's baptism.

Odd Stuff...Its Fun

Sarah and Ethan are the precocious pair. Here you can see they got into the paper cups and tossed them around. Now lets be honest here...who can get mad at these two?

Sarah during her birthday party running around screaming with joy at the fun gift she was given (the ribbon on the gift was her favorite).

We discovered a new Smurf. This is Soldier Smurf working for Smurf Village Home Land Security (SVHLS).

Emma hurt herself in the service of others. Rob was standing up from the couch but fell back to his seat. Emma tried to push him up in the middle of his fall and caught her hand on his cell phone holder. You should have seen what the holder looked like. OUCH!

Emma's Birthday

Emma turned 30 this year. She received 30 gifts of 30 from her mother which the kids had a blast opening. She also went out to dinner with Rob which is a rare occurance these days with double doctoral programs going on in the family and soccer and theater and and and...

Emma admitted that she was a little bummed that there was not more tah dah for her big three ohhh. Rob had been planning a surprise party for weeks. He intentionally down played the whole birthday thing. He even got her best friends involved. Rob invited over a dozen of her closest friends (with the help of April Clayson) and all their children. He secured  a BEAUTIFUL cake, supplies and soda. Each of her friends brought a side dish for the party. Emma had no idea what she was stepping into when she got a text from April telling her she needs to come over and see what April got in the mail that day. Rob told Emma he wanted to go see too. So the whole family went and Emma was elated that she was not forgotten during this special time. Unfortunately with all the planning and cloak and dagger secrets Rob forgot to take pictures.

Sarah's Birthday

We sure had a good time opening gifts for Sarah. Isaac and Ethan were too helpful wondering if she got any transformers. Sadly she did not get anything they would enjoy playing with. 

Of all the wonderful gifts she received she loved the ribbon the most (of course). She wrapped it around herself and ran around the room with the biggest grin you have ever seen.

Shortly after the picture was taken below she grabbed her glow worm and hugged it like a little baby. It may have been the cutest thing we have seen.