All I Want for Christmas....

So, you are going to get just a little preview of our family Christmas cards. They may not be sent out any time soon but they are a work in progress - thanks to my talented sister-in-law, Maja. First, I had to take the kids out to get their pictures taken this week. The temperature was in the mid-twenties, thus the red cheeks and noses. They were good sports and a few of the pictures turned out pretty good.

We took the kids to see Santa Claus yesterday and here is a sneak peak at their lists:

Hey Santa, all I want is unlimited texting and an ipod touch! (Ummm, no and no!)

Do I really have to go talk to Santa?

Since my dad said that I won't get anything unless I talk to you, Santa, I want a remote control Mustang or Camaro! (Okay, maybe that is a little more reasonable anyway!)

Santa, I will be happy with anything that you bring for me but can I have some new rollerblades, I am tired of using Kali's old ones! (Now we're talking!)

Santa, I have been really good this year. I promise. All I want is an ipod shuffle since my mom washed my last one and now it won't even play one song!

Oh, they were so much easier to please when they were littler. Poor Santa isn't going to want to come to our house. It might break the bank. Good thing he makes all of his toys or his Visa would be maxed out!

So here is the latest and greatest picture of our kids! Not so little but still pretty darn cute if you ask me! Happy Holidays!

Seriously Slacking

Okay, so you know you are in trouble for not posting when your husband who rarely checks the blog (I mean as in monthly :)) says , "You haven't posted anything for quite a while now!" Oops! It is not because there is nothing happening around the McMinn house. In fact, quite the opposite - life never slows down around our house! The kids have been in school for two weeks and I seriously have not had one day that I have stayed home the entire day! Not that I am complaining or making excuses or anything. So hopefully if time permits I will be posting a few times this week to get us caught up to the present.

Let's start back in July....

Kyle needed to earn his Outdoorsman achievement for Webelos which requires some camping. So Rob took him backpacking at the end of July. I don't know who was more excited Kyle because it was his first pack trip or Rob because his son was finally old enough to go play in the woods with him for a few days. They had a great time and Rob was really impressed with how well Kyle did. He carried all of his own stuff in about 5 miles and camped for 3 days and 2 nights. They did some fishing, day hikes, and played around the campfire. They had a great time and are already counting down the days until the next trip.

Our little hiker - doen't he look excited!



This picture almost makes me want to go hiking! Beautiful scenery! Kane Lake, Idaho

Rob seems to think that it would be fun for me to try to hike with them. I think that I am alright with staying home and having a Girls' Night Out. While the boys were away, the girls decided to play. We gave each other pedicures, went to the Hannah Montana movie, Brooke and Taryn got their ears pierced, and we went out for ice cream. After our busy day, Brooke looked at me and said, "This never would have happened if Kyle was here!" She is probably right. He never would have agreed to a day like that. I bet he was glad he went hiking too!


The first week of August, I had a nephew that was getting baptized which gave us a great excuse to go to Washington for a few days to visit family! My sister has a pool so the kids literally lived in the pool from lunchtime to bedtime and that is no exaggeration. They loved it and were asking when we could move closer. We had a great time in Washington. Grandma and Grandpa took us to lunch for our birthday treats - all at once since we live so far away and they can't come for every birthday. They even brought ice cream, balloons and sang for Grandma and Taryn! They were thrilled about that. We did some school shopping since our shopping is so pathetic here. We rode four wheelers, picked watermelon from Grandpa's field, had barbecsues and I got to spend lots of time with my sisters - I love those girls!



Now, I am only a month behind! Stay tuned for more updates!

Taryn Turns 9

It is hard to believe that Taryn is 9 this year! She likes to tell us all how old she is getting and how tall she is too! There are so many reasons why we love Taryn!

*Her smile is contagious! Taryn wakes up smiling and goes to bed at night smiling! She is always happy and I don't just say that because I am her mom. She truly makes other people happy just by being around her. Her smile is beautiful!


*She is a great helper! She is always asking, "Mom, what do you want me to do now?" She loves to clean the bathrooms especially the toilets. She is a little bit weird that way. I think that is because she knows that I don't like to do it so she wants to make me happy!

*She is her oldest sisters biggest fan! She goes to all of Kali's sporting events and loves to cheer her on!

*She is a great little piano player! She doesn't like to practice but she does a great job learning the music!

*She gives the best hugs and kisses! She is so loving and kind. She has so much love to give and is such a great example to us all! I love you, Taryn!

For her birthday, she decided to take a few friends miniature golfing. It was hot but I think they all had a great time. She even invited her siblings who enjoyed themselves as well.

Taryn's friends

Hiding in the tunnel on the 18th hole! Trying to find some shade and being silly!

Sibling rivalry! :)

Brooke's great golfing form!

Happy Birthday Taryn!! We love you!!

4th of July

We had a great 4th of July! The sun was shining and it was really hot early on so we decided to take the boat out for our first real skiing trip of the season. We had been out once before just to make sure that everything worked but this was the first time that the kids got in the water to tube, ski, and wakeboard. (I know this is really sad but our summers are crazy busy with softball so we don't have a lot of time for playing on the boat!)

We don't usually cram this many kids on the tube but for picture sake you get to see them all! Kali and Brooke are the die hard tubers of the family. Taryn likes it if we are going at a snail pace for a very short period of time! Oh, Taryn! Kyle doesn't want to waste his time on the tube because he would much rather be on the wakeboard. Hurry up girls, it is Kyle's turn to play!

Rob's favorite thing to do is surf behind the boat. We have to limit his time because he would spend all day back there! The kids love to just jump in the water and swim in the middle of the lake! They think that it is sooo much fun and I love to hear them laughing and squealing as the play with each other!

After a great day at the lake, we came back for a neighborhood barbecue. It started out really great and then the gray clouds rolled in! We thought that the storm might just blow over but 70 people shoved into a neighbor's garage to watch the storm ride it's way out showed us how much we truly love our neighbors. It was pretty comical! It wasn't just a little sprinkle but a monsoon type storm with huge rain drops and hail too!

(This is Kyle's collection of hail stones!)

Oh, the memories! After the rain, we pulled out the sparklers and fireworks. (Notice the water in the streets - it was a BIG storm!)

God bless America, land that we love!!

Chubbuck Fast Pitch Challenge

I promise this will be my last post today!

We had a home town tournament this last weekend. I almost think that it is easier to go out of town for tournaments than to be at home and get to the games on time. I would throw a load of laundry in between games, then mop the floor during the next break, then try to figure out lunch for the family in the next break. Wow, by the end of the day, I was tired and I wasn't even the one playing softball! Crazy! (My house never really got clean either because it wasn't like I had a lot of time to get things done but I got my laundry done!)

I thought that maybe I should post a few pictures of Kali doing something other than pitching so that you can see that she is an all around player! Head first slide back into third base and calling for time!

Back to the dugout after scoring a run!

Picture perfect bunt!

Way to go Flash! They took 2nd place in this tournament! Their trophies are in the boxes! They were really cool too but you only get to see the box!

Kali threw a perfect game earlier this week! She did not allow any walks, hits, or runs! She had 8 strike outs too! She only pitched three innings but did an amazing job!

It's been how long?

On the 24th, we celebrated our 15th anniversary! I really cannot believe that it has been that long. I feel very fortunate to have found such a wonderful guy to share my forever with. He is the best dad, husband, friend, and the best part of me! He makes me want to be a better person just by being around him! I love that guy! We promised each other that we wouldn't do anything special for the other person this year but as usual, he made me look bad! (But he did it in a really beautiful way! Notice the flowers!) We spent the evening at the ball park since Kali is in Chubbuck League tournament and Rob is the coach! Her team took first place - way to go Rage! Kali has been at girl's camp all week so we have been shuttling her back and forth twice a day for softball! Oh, the things we do as parents!! Camp is near Bone, Idaho so we are in the car almost 6 hours a day! 3 to pick her and 3 more to take her back! The kids have been able to watch many movies this week!

If you look really closely, you will see Kali's creativity shine through. She told Rob that he needed 15 red roses for the years and 4 white roses for the kids! How cool is that! I tell you what, I have an awesome family!!

These are my two favorite guys in the whole world!!

This week was also Father's Day! Like I mentioned before we have an amazing dad at our house! He is always there for his kids and they love him to pieces! I use to get really jealous of the grand entrance when he would come home from work and all of the little ones would go running and yell, "Daddy, daddy, daddy's home!" I never get that kind of grand entrance when I come home but now more than anything it makes me happy to hear that the kids love their dad so much! He is their biggest fan, their greatest coach, the biggest support system they will ever have and they know it! That is why they love him!

(Kali will be embarrassed by this - but if you look close on this you will also see her creative sense shine through once again or how well the Idaho school system has helped her out! Oops - spelled Father wrong! We still love you, Kali!)

Happy Father's Day to all the Dad's out there! We love you!

More rain and more softball

Two weeks ago, Kali had a softball tournament in Bear Lake. Friday was beautiful which meant that we wouldn't play very many games that day. (We seem to only play when it is raining!?!That is how our season has been going anyway!) But Saturday the rain poured on us! The girls had fun even in the rain.

Kali pitched a great tournament! One game she was throwing harder than we have ever seen her throw! Absolutely amazing! It is fun to see her love the game so much!

This picture is the most candid picture of Taryn. Everything about her smiles! Look at those beautiful eyes. You just have to love this girl!

Brooke had a great time at Bear Lake. We actually made it to the lake this year. Only for about a half an hour which was not nearly long enough for the kids liking but maybe when we go back in July we will be able to spend a little more time playing in the water!
We took Camry and Emily Erickson to the lake with us! Camry and Kali had a great time digging to center of the earth. If we would have been there just a little longer, I think Camry may have found it! We have such a great time hanging out with the Erickson family! If they can put up with our craziness at the tournaments then we must be doing all right!

A little dirt won't hurt! Until you throw it at your sister! Kyle was in heaven playing in all of the sand! He would much rather play at the beach than sit and watch his sister play ANOTHER softball game. He really is a good sport. He helps Rob in the dugout with whatever needs to be done!

We were really lucky that Grandpa and Grandma Howard made the long journey to watch Kali play in this tournament. Unfortunately, they brought the rain from Logan to Bear Lake and it never let up but we were so glad they could share the afternoon with us. Kali was disappointed that she didn't get to visit with them longer! (Many tears were shed but I promised her a trip later this summer and I think she is going to hold me to it! So see you soon!:) Thanks again for coming to watch her play - it meant the world to her!!