Super bowl

Ok, so if you hadn't already heard we are doing a casual thing for the super bowl, but I want to get the word out. I e-mailed this invite to a few of you, but if it didn't get to you please feel free to come! Plus I liked the invite so I wanted to let those who aren't close by take a look at it.

cuddle bugs

Both of our boys like to cuddle, especially at night. So it didn't surprise me a couple of nights ago when I checked on the boys and A had fallen asleep in E's bed, and by the morning they were right next teach other, so risking waking them early, I snapped a couple of pics. But last night I couldn't stop laughing when I went to check on them before going to bed I found a mess of blankets and boys in a pile. In fact E was using A's bum for a pillow! The sheet was all but off of the bed, and there were blankets everywhere! Needless to say a few more pictures were taken this time. It's a good thing E is in a twin now, I would hate find out what they would end up like in the toddler bed!
Alex

Playing in the cold, cold snow...with Daddy

I came home the other day and Matt was getting the boys ready for playing in the snow outside. They were so cute making a snow fort with their dad, I couldn't help but take pictures of all three of my boys, and then I made a scrapbook page of the pictures, so here it is.

100 Best

We won, We won we shot the Beebe gun, you lost, you lost you ate the applesauce. OK so maybe Edward Jones didn't get number 1, but 4th best company to work for isn't something to shake a stick at.
Check it out: http://money.cnn.com/magazines/fortune/bestcompanies/2008/
-Matt

What would you do?

"Crank the wheel to the right!", the auto center salesman said as he inspected my car's tires. "Yep, I'm sorry but... we can't fix the flat. The nail in your tire is too close to the side wall and it probley won't hold air very well. You'll have to buy new tires...all 4."
I was floored. Shocked. Mad. Speachless. Less the 2 years ago I bought these premium 65k mile tires and the warranty and now here I was 23 months and 19k miles later sorry out of luck. According to the salesman, the wear on the tire's shoulder was excessive and because of that they would not fix the flat nor replace my tire. I drove away.
I was in the parking lot when I grabbed my phone and called a mechanic buddy of mine in Salt Lake. "I've never seen that model of tire go the full tread life, it's a defect and a known issue. You need to ask for a partial credit toward a new tire or go see the store manager.", he said. So, with info in hand and determination I went back to get my new tires.
24 hours and some very compelling arguments later the issue was settled. I believed that the warranty contract, the comments of my mechanic friend and the wear patterns of the tire proved an open and shut case for my side. However, the whole experience was stressful and expensive for both parties.
So, if you found yourself in this same situation what would you have done?

Yeah!

Thanks to Allison and Ben's examples of how to put kids down the right way... in our opinion. We have started to do things their way and it works!!!! I was spending 1 1/2-4 hours a day in my boys' room holding their hands, rubbing their backs...reading books, singing songs...anything to get them to get them to go to sleep. AND NOW... after 3 days of working on it they are going to sleep much faster and I can get stuff done in that time. At the moment I am sitting in the hall way while they put them selves to sleep... mostly for their comfort.... it was a compromise with E who was terrified the first night in the dark by himself... but this way I can at least read or work on stuff on my computer!!! I have been so much more productive the past few days and so much happier.
OK so I didn't explain the new way of putting them down. They get ready for bed like usual...pjs,brushing teeth... then we read one story, sing one or two songs, tuck them in, give them hugs and kisses and leave. It is a total of 15 minutes or so for both nap time and bed time and I am free to do other stuff!!!!!
Anyway I feel very silly now about all that time I wasted just sitting there when there was such a better way. Thanks Ben and Allison for helping us to have the confidence to try something new, without even knowing that you were helping us!
Alex

The Beck's for Dinner

Heather and Ernie Beck are part of our chosen family (there's no blood connection that we have found yet, but we can keep looking!) They take good care of us and we love them so, so much! We went over to their house for dinner while we were in San Diego. They fed us well and entertained our boys, with the movie Toy Story, so we could catch up and tease each other. Our boys also entertained everyone else. We laughed as E and A did their break dancing and E perched himself on Ernie's shoulder for an extended period of time for no good reason except he said it was comfy. As the night went on the boys got tired and A got a little grumpy... but if you know him you know this is pretty typical.

We also had a surprise visit from another great friend Kim Crisp, who is like a sister in so many ways... we were only missing a few people to make the family complete... we missed you Ryan and Rachel!

We look forward to seeing you all again soon, in the mean time here is a few photos of that night.

Alex

one more picture

There was one more picture that I wanted to post with the last, but it will only allow so many each post (I will have to figure away around this soon!) Big smiles and loves from all of us!

Alex

An evening at the park

We went to the park one evening with the cousins. The kids had fun, but Allison and I had our work cut out for us trying to keep up with 5 kids! AND I wanted to take a few pictures to boot. Here a couple that turned out ok (it was getting darks so the lighting was not so good in a few of them).

Alex

the beach

We went to the beach while we were in California... ya we were the crazy ones in the ocean without a wet suite in January! It was a nice day for the season, but we couldn't last long in the cold. I liked this picture because the ocean and the boys' shirts matched.

PS the picture is in black and white except for the shirts and ocean...a few people were confused.

Alex

First time for everything

Its taken me a while to catch up to the band wagon, but after a brisk run we've made it. Our family now has blog. We promise to disclose our deepest darkest secrets and entertain you with our exciting life. Ok, ok so maybe we can't do that but we can learn how to be good storytellers.