December 2010

This was a great Christmas, Jennifer and I got most of it done early - although it was still a little stressful for Jennifer with all the kids Christmas parties, my work party and throw my birthday in there. Jennifer and I went by ourselves to the work Christmas party and got a little last minute Christmas shopping done. The kids spent the night at Grandma and Grandpa Wuthrich's house

Jackson got a DSI XL and Super scribble nauts the game- of course a bunch of winter clothes and other odds and ends. Uncle Greg and Aunt Suzanne gave him and Gavin remote control helicopters which have scared little Simon to death.

Ashlee has been wanting a tent/fort for the longest time -- so she got a princess castle fort and the leapster 2 game system --which she has been enjoying. She also got a ton of clothes and games for her new leapster and a purse form Aunt Suzanne and Uncle Greg.

Gavin got transformers from Grandma and Grandpa and also got a leapster 2 game system with the Toy Story 3 game system. Gavin also got a tent that he and Ashlee have had campout slumber parties in the living room all week--this week while I am off work.

Jennifer and I both got running shoes as we continue to get into shape we also bought a gym/pool/rec center membership which the elipitical machine is causing Chad a lot of pain --Jennifer is a machine and continues to push Chad. Most nights Chad and Jennifer are able to work out together --and then go swimming with the kids after - there is a kids area/ daycare while we work out - -this has been a great thing for the family.

Thanksgiving

Well this year Chad had to work the day after Thanksgiving so we spent Thanksgiving at Grandma and Grandpa Wuthrich - with Grandma Stokes. No, Jennifer and Chad did not spend the night at Wal-Mart this year. We had a nice meal -Jennifer made some fantastic sweet potatoes, and fancy beans, and of course 5 pies to choose from apple, cherry, chocalate, and of course a couple of pumpkin pies.

After the big meal we all went to Flatirons Theatre and saw the movie Tangled - which was a disney movie spin on the story of Rapunzel. We all had a great time and now as I am writing this post Jennifer and I are pretty much done with Christmas shopping the first week of December- it feels

June 2010

We all had a wonderful time at Park City, Utah at the Mann Family reunion. We really enjoyed Park City and it is the kids new favorite place for now. Jennifer and I were able to do a quick getaway to Salt Lake while Mom and Dad Mann watched the kids. We went to temple square, the Joseph Smith Memorial, tour of the Lion House and lunch there, and had a brunch at The Grand Hotel, and were able to spend some great quality time together.



When we got back to Park City we took the kids to see Toy Story 3, which we all enjoyed, and then explored our condo a little. We stayed at the Marriot Mountainside resort. Unfortunately Jennifer got sick that night and the next day-so the kids and I went to the first night of the family reunion and the kids met Ryan and Olivia and met a lot of cousins, and other family members for dinner that night.



The next day Jennifer was feeling better and we enjoyed plenty of time by the pool with the kids and every night gathered with the Mann clan for dinner and various activities. The last day we did the alpine slide, the alpine coaster, and the zip-line. It was all a blast, and the kids thoroughly enoyed it. We all had a very relaxful time, and enjoyed spending time with family.

May 2010

Chad ran the Bolder Boulder in 1 hour 1 min and 6 seconds- 44,420 people - the bad news is he lost to 16475 people - next year he is confident he will finish under an hour- his next challenges are to run a marathon and a triathalon. The family came and supported Dad by being there at the finish line and then we went to Grandma and Grandpa Wuthrichs for a Memorial Day bar-b-que. The kids are off for the summer and we will be leaving to Park City for the Mann Family Reunion in a few weeks.

Spring Break -March/April 2010

We are all excited for Spring break and some time to rest and get things in order. Spring has brought many new beginnings for our family. With the new addition to our family - Simon, who we got from the Humane society and after the first week in our home he seems to have fit right in, he seems to especially love Jennifer. But has also become Chad's running partner, and has become quite fond of Ashlee.

Chad is continuing to run and prepare for the Bolder Boulder which is the end of May. Basketball ended up on a down note losing to the University ward and Chad ended up fouling out of the game. I guess there's next year - huh?

Jennifer -if you haven't heard already -made the GCD Design Team for their altered projects. She continues to make some amazing layouts of the kids. She is getting ready for teacher appreciation week and the kids school carnival. Being the head of all volunteers at the kids school keeps her really busy. Mama's little baby (Simon) also has taken a lot of time- getting him into our routine.

Jackson has started Spring soccer and of course the first couple of games always seem to be cancelled due to Spring snowstorms. But Jackson did well last week with 3 shots on goal but just a bit outside. Jackson continues to do choir and is preparing for the end of year program.

Ashlee loves to be outside and ride her bike and play with friends. She of course has found a new best friend in Simon, and is very good at taking him out to go potty and playing with him. We still haven't decided if she will do swimming, dance, or cheer leading this summer, she changes everyday???

Gavin continues to enjoy his DS and the WII - he got a new game for his DS that he calls Marion and Jones instead of Indiana Jones. Gavin enjoys playing with Brody next door and playing with Simon as well. He just had his leader day at school this week and Jennifer was there with him- and had to place all the cups out and fill with Apple juice and apparently couldn't wait and took a sip out of all the cups- you gotta love the little guy!

February 2010

We are getting ready for Valentines Day, and Jennifer is glad to be done with all the kids Valentine's Day parties at school. She had another card picked up by a magazine called "Cards"-I am so proud of how creative Jennifer is and continues to create incredible cards, layouts, and projects of all kinds, she is truly amazing.



Chad is still in training for the Boulder Bolder with Jennifer and a few minor setbacks with sickness and injury but will continue running hard. Chad is enjoying Church basketball and actually is back to where he can play the whole game.



Jackson is done with basketball and has won his last basketball game. He continues with choir a couple of times a week and scouts where he is working to get his webelos and just finished getting third place in the pinewood derby - very close to getting first but not quite - after getting 2 thirds and a second place- our last chance to get a first place will be with Gavin.



Ashlee had a great time at her Valentine's party and is little miss photogenic as you can see on Jen's blog. She continues to be into fashion and clothes and loves to look fabulous, we are looking at geting her into cheerleading or ice-skating -we'll see what ends up happening.



Gavin continues to be our little video game junkee, we have to watch him closely to keep him to an hour a day. He was excited yesterday to hang his little bird feeder that he made in school in the little tree (about the size of a bush)in the backyard and asked Jennifer when she tried to throw it out - "how will the birds get their food if I don't hang it outside?" Who can argue with that.

We hope you are having a super week! and enjoy this update and pictures.

February 2010

I have committed to myself and to Jennifer that I will be updating our blog more regularly. I will go back and update our trip to Atlanta for Mom and Dad Mann's 50th wedding anniversary and Disney Cruise, which we had a blast.

The kids are growing up too fast, Jackson just finished up basketball this week and they finished on a high note with Jackson's team winning. Jackson ended up 4-4 and is starting to do much better on the offensive end scoring an average of about 2 pts a game -which is about an average of 20pts a game in the NBA, he is now on to soccer in a few weeks and continuing to do choir at Monfort school, which he really enjoys.

Ashlee is excited to start ice-skating and cheerleading -one of the 2 we will find out this week, Ashlee is doing well in school and is of course our social butterfly with a little attitude at times. Ashlee can't go without a story everynight and wants to have a sleepover in her brothers room every night. Her new favorite stuffed animal is Jazz the dog -one of her Christmas presents, but bunny usually tags along as well.

Gavin loves Wee Love Preschool and was the leader this week, he will be playing in the father/mother and me soccer through the city. He loves to play Lego Star Wars and Lego Batman on the WII and bounces the entire time playing and stays in good shape this way. Gavin is Mommy's angel and loves every Monday where Jackson and Ashlee are in school all day and he gets to spend the day with just his Mom.

Jennifer is doing some fantastic layouts and was just in the CRICUT newsletter with an awesome valentines project-and has been published in several magazines with cards, layouts and other various projects. Her creativity continues to amaze me, she is truly talented and is expanding her talents with photography by taking another class in June of this year. She continues to be the volunteer of the year at Monfort school- being over all the room mom's for the entire school, the school would fall apart without her.

Chad and Jennifer are running 5 days a week and preparing to run the Bolder Boulder which is a 10k race on Memorial Day. Chad has found a new passion for running and after this 10k race he will be training for a marathon sometime next year.