Z-Family

Hooked on games

2012-01-23T20:26:00.001-08:00

For those of you out there with smart phones, you should appreciate the amazing score I got on this move...

I love Sunday

2012-01-15T18:30:00.001-08:00

Sunday's are the best!

No work
No school
No house cleaning
No yard work

Chill'n with the family is the best and makes me happy.

2012

2012-01-14T13:33:00.001-08:00

My goal this year is to say NO more and not allow myself to be overbooked all the time!

It was so great to get up and going running with Clint...we made it 10 miles today. New record! I want to make more time for the fam and not running around constantly.

Of course this will change when baseball starts up next month....that's okay though, I'll enjoy the break while we have it!

It beginning to look a lot like Christmas

2011-12-14T12:45:00.000-08:00

After some very crazy few weeks, I'm starting to get excited for Christmas...

Its been 20 years....

2011-09-27T20:44:00.000-07:00

Since Clint Graduated from High School. That seems so crazy to me, then just plan sad because that means I'm only 2 yrs from 20 years. Anyway, we decide to take the boys out of school and go to Clint's 20yr Class Reunion. I have to say I really wasn't that excited about the reunion part, but very excited to go see Clint's family. It just so happened that Brett flew out for a wedding the exact same weekend, so his whole family was in Logan at the same time. This doesn't happen very often, so Clint's mom jumped on the chance to take family photos. Below are a few I took while the photographer was doing his thing. I thought these were pretty cute and fun so I can't wait to see the professionals.

We had a fun filled weekend with cousins, never ending excitement(including a bout with the stomach flu...sorry if everyone else got it), constant flow of yummy food thanks to Clint's mom, and a wonderful break from our crazy busy life at home....by the way the reunion ended up being pretty fun.

Can't wait to see everyone again!!!

Summer Fun Part 2

2011-09-04T15:33:00.001-07:00

This Summer, our Relief Society had a temple trip...it was so great! The weather was perfect for the few of us that decided to walk around the temple grounds and take photos and visit. I had such a great time getting to know the 3 sisters down below, it's neat to hear their testimonies and share in the spirit of the temple grounds. I can't wait to do this again. Just a little note though...we had so much fun visiting and enjoying the temple that we were too late to watch the Joseph Smith Video....next time :).

Summer Fun Part 1

2011-08-31T16:08:00.000-07:00

So I didn't really blog at all this summer so I'm going to do some catch-up blogs...here's the 1st of a few.

We spent a weekend with Duke and Morghan and their really cute girls. Tons of family came this weekend because they blessed their girls. With all the family there, we didn't get much time with the babies :(. But that just means we need to plan another trip real soon. Duke and Morghan are amazing parents and we're so happy to have them closer!

Zoie and Zack...I think it's cute how much Zack loves these babies.

I wish it lastest longer...

2011-08-26T17:03:00.000-07:00

Our last week of Summer Vacation ended with a trip to San Diego. It went by way too fast and it was a sad drive home knowing that we would have to go to school early the next morning. We didn't get home until almost 12:30am and Brev had to be to school at 6:55am. Talk about using up every minute of summer vacation:) Below are just a few of the fun things we did...

Sea World...The boys got drench on this ride, I was so glad I didn't go on it, they had wet feet the rest of the day.

San Diego Zoo...these hippos came right up to Zack and JT, it was so cool.

Coronado Island...the boys had so much fun boogie boarding and watching the fighter jets fly overhead.

Petco Park...way cool ballpark and fun fireworks after the game.

Safari Park...Zack was so funny.

La Jolla...I love this area, the beaches here are so amazing. We spent our last day here then headed home.

This was a great way to end our summer!

15 Wonderful Years!

2011-07-01T16:50:00.001-07:00

15 years have just totally flown by for me. I can't believe we've lived here in Gilroy for 11 yrs now...crazy. Anyway to celebrate, Uncle Brett so willingly came and stayed with the boyz, while Clint and I had a day together. It was so great just having time to sit and chat(it just doesn't seem to happen very often anymore). On top of having some quality time together, Clint totally spoiled me. He took me to get my new iphone(pictured below), new running shoes, dinner, and a Giant's Game. Everything was so much fun, I think mostly because I had Clint all to myself...what a great day.

Too bad the Giants lost this one :(

We went to El Burro's for dinner. It was so fun to sit and chat about our last 15 years and how we never imagined our life to be the way it is. We feel so blessed to have 3 amazing boys, amazing friends, a wonderful home, a fun career, and just a great and amazing extended family who support us in so many way. Thank you everyone for being apart of our wonderful 15 years!

Cooking 101

2011-06-16T19:25:00.000-07:00

So in hopes of avoiding getting bored this summer, the boyz decided they would like to learn how to make something yummy every Weds. So what is yummier than Cream Pies with homemade grahm cracker crust? Yes this is cooking class so they each had to make their very own. I was so pleased with how well they did. The hardest part for them was crushing the crackers up really well. But once they got that done it was a breeze. It was really hard for all of them to get the pudding mixture in the crust...because they just wanted to eat it!!!

Brevin and Jeret made Banana Cream and Zack did a Chocolate Cream.

Don't you love how Jeret's cutting his bananas on the counter...lol. I think they may need a more professional teacher.

And of course the best part, licking the bowl and utensils!

Just a side note...we could of easily eaten all 3 pies...they were yummy...instead Brevin decided to donate his to the missionaries.

2011 Champions

2011-06-09T13:04:00.000-07:00

You are looking at the 2011 Gilroy Little League Majors National League Champions. Brevin's team won last night in a very exciting game. We are so excited for Brevin, this is the first time he has been on a championship team in the regular season. The one down side is that he'll miss the first game of the Tournament of Champions because it's on Father's Day....after that though he'll be ready to go! Great Job Brevin!

Memorial Day Fun

2011-06-05T14:46:00.000-07:00

For Memorial Day we went up to Aunt Jodie's to see the cousins.(we actually got there on Sunday afternoon) Monday morning the adults got up around 5am and went and did the 6:30am session at the temple(I have to say it ended up being a very sleepy session for me). Then we got back around 9:30 and got ready to go to Kung Fu Panda 2. Cousin Mark works for the movie place there and was able to hook us up with a pretty great deal(Thanks Mark). We all loved the movie and had a great time. We got back to Jodie's for some lunch and then it was off to more activities. Some went to play baseball and others went swimming(which was crazy to me, because it wasn't that warm on Memorial Day). Jodie and I happily sat on the side and watched the kids swim and dive for balls. After a couple hours of swimming and baseball it was time for dinner and then we headed home. I forgot to mention that during all this, we were able to fit in Just Dance on the Wii and Nerf Gun wars. To say the least we had the best time and were ready for bed when we got home.

CampingWithZack

2011-06-03T16:17:00.001-07:00

I just love this picture of Zack with some of his classmates. All the Second Grade classes went to Henry Coe Park for a camping trip. We left Thursday morning and returned today. In this picture the kids were just waiting for everyone else to show up before we started our 3 mile hike in to camp. They were all so excited and couldn't wait to get started. The view was amazing up there.

The hike was definitely Zack's least favorite time of the whole trip. About half way on the hike he said to me, "next year can I be absent on this day?"...LOL...(he is a 1st grader in a 2nd grade class so he "GET'S" to do this again next year) So once we got there and had lunch he was ready to chill in the tent. I didn't mind at all, I got relax and read my book(which never happens at home).

Also on the agenda was to go to different stations with the Rangers up there. They were so great with the kids and we all learned a lot about Coe Park. In this picture(I know it's hard to see, but that's because I was very scared), the Ranger is holding a tarantula in his hand...CRAZY. Did you know that they have a whole Tarantula Festival thing in October? Don't recommend it!!! Zack of course thought it was AWESOME!

It wouldn't be a true camping trip without some S more's. Zack and I were a little disappointed to find out that we only got 1 each. So when we got home today, we went to the store and bought(you guessed it) marshmallows, crackers, and chocolate. Uncle Brett is here today so we thought we should have a special treat. Like a really needed an excuse :).

After S more's it was off to bed for a not so great night sleep. Zack seemed to sleep pretty good, but told me in the morning he was kind of cold :(. I was warm except for my feet. I remember looking at my phone at 3am and thinking...we still have 3 more hours before we get up...but we survived and enjoyed a yummy breakfast. Then we had the dreaded 3 mile hike back. Zack was really not happy about this, but when it came time to leave he had a great attitude and didn't complain 1 time!!! I was so proud of him.

As much as I was dreading going on the camping trip(I really tried to get Clint to go), I had a great time. I would totally do it again. I think it was just having so much time with Zack that made it so much fun.

Utah Cousins

2011-05-08T14:32:00.000-07:00

The boyz and Gracye hanging out watching conference!

This last General Conference we were able to go out to Utah to visit family. It was a very quick trip but a very good time. Clint took Brevin to his first ever Priesthood Session in the Conference Center with his Grandpas and uncle. What a great experience that was for Brev and Clint. The rest of the time we hung out with the cousins.

After a couple of days in Layton we headed to Logan to be with Clint's family. It was really hard to pack up and come home, we had so much fun with the cousins. On the way home the boyz asked us why we couldn't just sell our house and move by John and Kate? If only it was that easy.

Birthday Boyz

2011-05-01T19:23:00.000-07:00

Happy Birthday Zack! He just turned 7, crazy to think that he'll be getting baptized next year. He had two of his buddies over for a small party. They enjoyed a Happy Meal, cake, and ice cream. The cake was to represent Pablo Sandavol, but ended up looking a little young for my Zack. But he seemed happy and that's all that matters. I was just glad it was still standing by the time we served it!!!

My sweet husband turned 38 this last week. We actually celebrated Zack's birthday on Clint's birthday(sorry honey), but it was the only day we didn't have baseball this week. So today I made a Birthday dinner for him and had ollaliberry pie for dessert. YUMMY! Still have some left and you want to come over :)

I just love these two boyz. Zack is my snuggler and always makes me feel like I'm the best mom ever! I can't say it all when it comes to Clint....thank you for always loving me and making me feel like I'm the most important thing in your crazy busy life!

So so Cute

2011-03-20T16:14:00.000-07:00

We're so thankful for the rain this weekend...it allowed us the time to go see my brother's twin girls in Visalia. So So Cute! Zack is holding Poppy...he was so funny. I think he was a little nervous because he got all giggly when I asked him if he wanted to hold her. Eventually he decided he was ready. Above is a picture of his first time. Later in the day he wanted to hold Zoie. He really seemed to enjoy it and loved how tiny they are.

Jeret really wasn't interested at all. This was the one and only time he held either of them...LOL...he has better things to do than get all goo goo over a baby.

Brevin was lucky enough to hold both Poppy and Zoie at the same time! He was actually very good with them and let Poppy sleep on his lap for quit awhile.

It was so fun to finally get to see our twin nieces. Even though we were there for only a day, I was feeling for exhausted for my sweet sister-in-law. It's quit the routine to get those babies fed and they're so tiny they have to be fed often(orders from the Doc. They came quit early and were less than 4lbs when they left the hospital). Thank goodness for the 2 helpers they have in the house(Morghan's sister and my mom).

I can't wait for our next visit!

Dads are the Best!

2011-03-16T20:56:00.001-07:00

Clint is the Best! He never turns his boys down when they want to get in some BP. He's so patient and really loves helping them. Zack can't wait to play in his first game next week. Feel free to come to any games!

Celebrating Jeret

2011-03-06T20:46:00.000-08:00

I can't believe it's March already and I've only done 1 post...loser...LOL. Anyway, I've told myself I'm going to do better. Here is a little catch up from February....Staring....Jeret. He played basketball this winter. He had a slow start but by the end of the season he really was doing great. I hope that he plays again in the fall so he can continue to learn more.

Jeret also celebrated his 9th Birthday. Only a year away from double digits! To celebrate he invited a buddy from school and his buddy just around the corner. They just had fun playing tag, nerf guns and swords(sounds dangerous, it was!), but they loved it. They also made their own pizzas and then had cake.

You know how I said he only invited a couple of friends to the party, well we ended up with a few more...LOL. The older boys are Brevin's friends. They seem to live here off and on...which I love. I'm grateful that they feel comfortable in our home, I wouldn't want it any other way.

So sometimes I actually amaze myself. I still can't believe I made this cake. Jeret doesn't like cake so he asked for a brownie cake. We'll this is what I came up with, layered brownies and icecream, surrounded with oreas. It was really yummy...just make sure you take it out about 15 minutes before serving...LOL.

For the grand finale we had a Pinata. I just love the faces on all the boys in this picture as the candy goes flying. I'll admit, I welcomed the quiet after everyone left, but I really do enjoy having a house full of boys!!! Happy Birthday Jeret!

Christmas Eve in Santa Cruz

2010-12-29T14:36:00.000-08:00

One of our favorite Christmas Eve traditions(when we don't go to Idaho or Utah)is to go to the beach. I was so happy the weather cooperated for us. It was so beautiful over there. In fact my nieces and nephew even played in the water(silly kids). It was so fun to have my sister and her family, plus my brother and his wife(pregnant with twin girls, so exciting)with us for Christmas Eve. We just played and relaxed and enjoyed being together. After that we shared some homemade tamales and drinks(supplied by my brothers co-worker), with the nativity preformed by the cousins. It was perfect!

Twelve Days of Christmas

2010-12-15T16:57:00.000-08:00

Today we received a package in the mail from my favorite sister(and not just because she's my only sister). Inside were these very cute and fun containers....

....my boys were so excited to see that it was a count down to Christmas. Below is what they had to do for the 1st Day of Christmas....

Merry Christmas everyone...Thanks to my sister!

Happiest Place on Earth?

2010-11-16T17:14:00.001-08:00

So we decided that since the boys had a few days off for Veteran's Day, we could make a trip down to Disneyland. Brevin has been asking to go since I can remember and we always tell him when everyone was big enough to go on all the rides. We'll Zack is finally big enough. So we planned it all out and were so excited. We left Weds after school and got down there around 9pm. I don't think anyone slept because we were so excited. We woke up early Thurs morning because we had the early entrance pass for 1 day. So we get there by 7am. We go in, walk straight to Space Mountain and got right on. Brevin and Jeret wanted to go again so they ran back in line. Zack and I did a few other rides and planned to meet up after. Well we met back up and Jeret and Brevin decided to go on the ride that Zack picked. Brevin went to jump over the rail(because there was no line), his foot slipped and he belly flopped on the sidewalk. He was in tons of pain. Clint walked him to a bench thinking he would be okay....well he started going into shock. Clint took him to the First Aid area and he wasn't getting any better, so we ended up calling the EMT's in with an ambulance. After further checkup, we decided to get him to the ER. After doing ultra-sound and chest x-ray, they couldn't find anything wrong, but he was still in so much pain, so they decided to do a CTScan. When they got the results back, they found that he had a grade 3 or 4 lacerated spleen(5 is the worst). So he was admitted into the ICU in case he had to have surgery. So treatment for a lacerated spleen is bed rest and hope it heals itself or surgery and remove it. So we started praying for the 1st! They drew blood every 4 hours to check his hemoglobin levels to see if they were staying the same or dropping. They continued to stay the same for 24hrs so they let him start eating. They continued to monitor him for another 24hrs and then released him on Saturday afternoon.

To say this least, this was not the trip we had planned. After waiting in the waiting room with Jeret and Zack for a couple of hours, I decided to take them back to Disneyland. We tried to have fun, with the worries of Brevin weighing us down. I took over for Clint Thurs night and he took the boys back to the park. Then Friday Clint took the boys. Then my brother and sister-in-law showed up Friday afternoon(thank goodness, they totally saved this trip for the 2 little guys, and helped in ways I didn't even think of). They took Zack and Jeret for us on Saturday(which I think they had more fun with them then with mom or dad).

Brevin was released Saturday afternoon. We got him back to the hotel and just let him rest. He wanted so badly to go see the fireworks(much to my dismay and worries), so we drove him over and got a wheelchair. Got there just in time to see the fireworks(which he really enjoyed). Then we took the bullet train over to downtown Disney where he found a fun Lego set(which has totally occupied his days at home). Then we got him back to the hotel. Well, I think we let him do too much because he was so sick the next day. I thought we were going to have to go back to the hospital. But we go some meds in him and he decide we should just get to Uncle Duke's house. To my brother drove us to their place in Visalia. On the way we hit some traffic, so Brev ended up losing his breakfast on the side of the road. We finally made it though. Aunt Morghan made him some awesome soup and he started feeling so much better. We spent the night there and came home Monday. He is getting more strength each day and has been grateful for everyone's well wishes.

It was quit the trip. Although it wasn't what we planned, we have so much to be grateful for. Grateful that he didn't have to have surgery, priesthood blessings, answered prayers, patient boys that never complained when waiting to find out about Brevin, or going back and forth to the hospital, for Duke and Morghan(who is pregnant with twins), for phone calls, visits from friends, good doctors, etc... We truly have been blessed during this time.

We did manage a few pictures. The first was of Zack and Jeret in front of the castle, the second was in the waiting room at the ER. They were practicing their bubble blowing. The last is Brevin on his last day at the hospital. He was actually able to smile at this point.

Am I really old enough....

2010-11-07T16:27:00.000-08:00

...to have a 12 yr old?
That's right, Brevin turned 12 last month. It was so great to have all his grandparents here to help celebrate and be a part of his Aaronic Priesthood Ordination. It was such a great day, full of happiness and peace! I'm grateful for a Young Man who is striving to be his best!

Go Giants

2010-10-11T21:02:00.000-07:00

To say the least tensions have been HIGH in our home for this last series. I can't even fully enjoy the Giant's win because Clint and Brev are so sad about their Braves.

Hopefully they'll get over it and start cheering the Giant's on!

Amazing! It's not Baseball

2010-09-26T21:12:00.000-07:00

So Zack decided that he would like to try soccer this year. I just love this picture of him with his dad before his first game. His Coach got roped into to coaching at the last minute so they didn't have any practices before the first game. Now most kids this would be no big deal, but Zack has never played soccer before, so I think he was a bit nervous and unsure.

I just love the look on his face during halftime. He was so focused on his coach, he didn't want to miss any detail. Anyone that knows Zack, knows he wants to get it right the first time. I just love this kid, he's every teachers dream!

If you look real carefully you can see Zack's white hair in the mix, he was a great little defender in this game. It was so fun to watch him! If you're interested I can send you his game schedule so you can come watch, it's so fun!

Jade Cove

2010-08-29T19:33:00.000-07:00

Thursday night Clint and I were talking about the rest of our week and what was going on....we realized that our Saturday was free of any commitments so we decide we should take a day trip somewhere. We had a friend tells us about Jade Cove and that it is so fun to climb around the rocks and search for jade. So we decided that we should do it. We got up early, did our Saturday cleaning and loaded up the car and took off. Well we read all this stuff on line on how to find it...but it was very tricky. I'm still not sure if we ended up in the right place. We decided to stop at Willow Creek and start there. It was beautiful and we walked and searched for some jade. Well when we started looking for jade we realized we really didn't know what we were looking for...lol....so we just started collecting stuff we thought might be. Anyway, we didn't feel like we were really finding anything so we decided to look again for Jade Cove. We drove back and forth and stopped at every place you could stop and looked over edges to see if we were in the right place. After much searching we think we find the right place.

above is at Willow Creek...after some more stops we found this trail below.

It lead to this cliff.....

Where we had to climb down or maybe we should say slide down....

I didn't really want to go down at first, but Zack was willing so we decided to follow. It ended up not being as bad as it looked.

When we got down there we had tons of luck finding jade. We still weren't a 100% sure we knew what we were looking for, but pretty sure. We search for quit awhile and came home with a small bag full. When we got home we researched how to tell if it's real or not, we think we actually got it right and ended up with quite a bit.(now I just need to find someone that can make me some beautiful jewelry out of it)

Not only did we find jade, the boys found a snake in the rocks. Gross!

After searching we had to climb back up...way easier to go up then down.

And of course we had to have a victory picture!
We had so much fun and I can't wait to go again.

PS The tallest boy in the picture is Brett, Clint's younger brother, he's living with us now. Totally fun for us!

We Survived!

2010-08-22T19:35:00.000-07:00

I love the first day of school. The boyz were up nice and early, dressed in their new clothes and ready to go! Of course we had to have a big breakfast to get them through the day. Brevin is taking Spanish this year for Zero period, so we had to leave the house by 7:15. It's going to be hard for me, but I guess it's good practice for Seminary! (Can't believe he'll be in Seminary in 2yrs..Yikes) They all seemed excited and a little nervous, but everyone survived including mom! I have to say it was quite weird not having to pick Zack up half way through the day. I'm not sure I like it. Zack has always been my shopping buddy and I miss having time with just him to read and play.

When we got to school, of course I'm taking pictures and Zack tells me to put it on Video. (Watch Video)

He tells me that I can look at that when I start missing him.....I love that boy!

Well I hope the rest of the year goes as smoothly has the 1st week!

Things I'll Miss

2010-08-15T20:46:00.000-07:00

I'm not looking forward to starting school this Weds. Summer has absolutely flown by. I remember making a list of all the things that I was going to accomplish. Well to say the least, I didn't get very far on the list, we were having way too much fun. Here's a few highlights of all the things I'm going to miss because school is back in session......

Going on trips with friends......

playing with cousins at Bear Lake.....

having our cousin's visit us on California...

having awesome uncles who will bury you in the sand....

and of course, being able to sleep in. :)
Hope all of you had a great summer.....we loved having everyone come visit, we loved traveling to come visit some of you. Thanks everyone for making this a summer full of things to remember!

Brevin the All Star

2010-08-01T20:09:00.000-07:00

Brevin was selected for the Boys 11yr old Nationals All-Star Team. They did really well and made it to the Championship game where the lost to the Gilroy American All-Stars. It was a bummer to lose to the other Gilroy team, but it was still tons of fun. Brevin had two days off and then started practice for travel ball. Good thing he loves baseball so much!

Lake Almanor

2010-07-25T19:44:00.000-07:00

The boys and I were lucky enough to be invited to our friends lake house at Lake Almanor. We got to go about 6 years ago and have wanted to go again, and it finally worked out this year. We had such a great time. What better way to spend your birthday then, soaking up the sun, tubing behind a boat, knee boarding, jet skis, kayaking, eating yummy food all day long, and being with friends. The boys loved it and had so much fun being with friends and even making some new friends. The earliest the boys went to bed was 11pm(to say the least we are still catching up on sleep). Every night at 9 they would start playing Jail Keeper outside. I think that was Brevin's favorite part. I think Zack's favorite part was every night we would play Just Dance on the Wii, yes even all the moms did. One night we had about a group of 15 moms and kids all dancing together....So fun and Funny! Below is Zack, JT, Jeremy, and Skyler dancing.

Great day at the Beach

2010-07-18T19:11:00.001-07:00

Jodie came to visit this last week(which is one of my favorite things). I had so much fun and my kids love it when they come to visit. Especially when Jodie brings the ingredients to make Monster cookies(unfortunately I forgot to take picture of the cookies, way yummy). On the last day they were here we took a trip to the beach! It was such a great day at the beach, sunny, warm, and cousins. Zack is so glad that Marin will play in the waves with him, because the rest of us our wimps and just like to play in the sand! Zack and Marin just cracked me up, they would get knocked over and tumble and go right back at it.....good times!

Beautiful Idaho

2010-07-18T18:53:00.000-07:00

I forget how beautiful Idaho can be. Dad and Mom took us on a 20 miler(round trip) in the back country of Idaho, on the ATV's. I just loved the blue sky and open land. I don't think I ever appreciated the beauty of this area before....not that I want to move back....but it was just really fun.

The trail that we were on took us to the City of Rocks, which is north of Gooding. We had lots of fun climbing over and in between all the rock formations. We made dad lead the way and search for Rattle snakes for us. Thankfully there were not any out.

Gopher!?!

2010-07-18T18:38:00.000-07:00

I went out to water yesterday and when I went to grab the hose, something moved. I totally jumped(I'm not going to lie). I yelled to the boys and told them I found a snake. They came running, they were so excited. After looking to make sure it wasn't a baby rattler, we decided the boys could pick it up. They Loved It! We happen to have some friends ride by on their bikes and told us it's a gopher snake. So the boys made a little home in the box above, but as you can see the snake had no problem getting out.......so the boys added some more barriers in hopes of keeping it for awhile. Well.....we left to go to the movie and when we came back, it was gone. JT was quit sad, he really liked it. So the last 2 days all I've heard is, "when are we going to get a snake?" Let's just say, it won't be anytime soon!:)

Small Tribute to Grandma Minick

2010-02-28T11:18:00.001-08:00

We already miss Grandma Minick. One of the greatest blessings that has come to our family since we have moved to California, is that we got to spend so much time with Grandpa and Grandma Minick. Grandma has done so much for our boys since we have lived here. I can't count how may times we dropped our boys off so that we could go to the temple. Every time we came to visit there was food stock piled ready for the boys to eat and a never ending supply of vitamins(M&M's). I'm grateful for the last big get together with Grandma right before Christmas. She seemed so happy and we had such a nice visit with her. I remember how excited she was to have carolers show up that night. She fed us a great meal and had such a great time visiting with her. I'm also grateful for the last few visits I had with her at the hospital. She was in ICU so the boys couldn't come, but it was so nice to have 1 on 1 with her and share in some quiet moments. What an amazing wife, mother, and grandmother she has been. We Celebrate all she did and was. We love you and miss you!

We are going to miss our annal Easter Egg Hunt that we always have with Grandma. This was last years Easter Egg Hunt! What Fun! The Great Grand-kids are really going miss Grandma Minick. She has always spoiled them, not matter what the occasion.

Jeret turns 8!

2010-02-28T11:01:00.001-08:00

Turning 8 is such an exciting time. Jeret turned 8 on the 26th and so the cub scouts invited him to join in on their pinewood derby which was the day before his birthday. He was so excited(that's actually an understatement). He and Clint worked on the car together and had so much fun making the car I didn't think it could get any better, until he comes home and shows me his trophy. I wish I could have a picture of his face, it was the best. He ended up getting 2nd place overall. Not bad for your first Derby. By the way, doesn't he look so cute in his new uniform?

On his birthday, he had his friend Daneil over and the watch a movie and played wii and ate tones of pizza, ice cream, and brownies. It was even more special because Grandpa Rog and Grandma Sue showed up. It's not very ofter we get to have Grandparents around for Birthdays. What a great day!

Since Clint had to work on Jeret's birthday, we had a family party on Saturday. We went mini golf and San Jose and Grandpa Rog got to join us. Way fun and we even got in 36 holes before it rained! It was Great even if I average 4 strokes a hole :)

Winter Break

2010-02-28T10:31:00.000-08:00

This winter break we were invited to our friends family cabin.
It was so beautiful and tons of fun.

Brevin and his friends climbed up and made their own bobsled run. It was great, with good speed and lots of turns. They did a great job.

I thought this was a cute picture of Jeret. If you notice he doesn't have gloves on. This kid worked so are he was hot all the time. If fact most of the time he didn't even have his coat on.

Being at the cabin usually means late nights and not much sleep. Poor Zack was tired and that meant he was a little moody :). He finally started having fun and when he used the sled as a snowboard. He could make it almost the whole way down, it was very fun!
Thanks for invited us!!!

Happy New Year

2010-02-03T10:57:00.000-08:00

I think this picture is so cute of all the cousins together. The balloons were from Brittany's birthday party the day before. The best part of going on these trips is being with family, we always have the best of times.

For Brittany's birthday, which is Dec 30th, they had a "Walk Off". They all went down stairs and dressed up then did a run way for us. So funny! Uncle Brett of course is always the most talented at these things. Thanks Brett for always making us laugh!

They had tons of snow in Logan, it was so beautiful! I have to say though, I love visiting it, but grateful I don't have to live with it!

Here's the boys with cousin John. John's family lives next door to Grandpa and Grandmas house so he was always there to entertain the boys. Thanks John!
We had so much fun with the Zollinger's, it's always hard to leave. We miss everyone so much and look forward to March!

Christmas Day! and Eve

2010-01-28T16:54:00.000-08:00

It was so exciting to see Santa show up on Christmas Eve. Zack was so cute, his eyes were so big and he was so happy. It could not believe that Santa would come and see him, he just went right up to him and gave him the biggest hug. That is a memory I will not forget.

Grandma Sue made pj's very everyone and for the kids she made shirts. The cool thing was on the shirts she embroidered their names on them with glow-in-the-dark thread. So Fun! My boys just lay in bed looking at their shirts. Thanks Mom, they love them still.

Christmas morning was very early, of course not early enough for my boys. They patiently(yeah right) waited while their cousins woke up. Poor Jack had been up all night sick so it wasn't easy getting him up. We finally were all ready and made it out to open presents. Jack also joined us and the poor thing was so sick, Clint even got a picture of him throwing up in a bucket by the Christmas tree. I decided not to share that photo. All went well besides though and all the cousins seemed pleased with their gifts.

After opening presents and eating some food, Grandpa Rog loaded us up on the school bus and took us snowboarding. This was the first time for our boys and Clint so they all signed up for lessons. By the end of their lessons all of them were boarding by themselves. It was so fun. Zack loved it the most. he was not happy when they turned off the Magic Carpet(that's what towed them to the top of the hill). We hope to be able to go again before winter is over.

To say the least Christmas was very fun! Thanks Mom and Dad!

Yes we are alive!

2010-01-28T13:02:00.000-08:00

Sorry no picks right now, been crazy busy. Hopefully I'll get to it soon!

Crazy Day

2009-12-17T21:23:00.000-08:00

Hi, my name is Clint. This is my first attempt at blogging, I hope I don't mess it up!

I'd like to fill y'all (a throwback to our Georgia days) in on what is going on in the Z-family these days. Rather than starting at the beginning and trying to explain the last few weeks, I decided to just tell y'all about today. I felt like today was a microcosm of our life: busy, fun, and a little crazy!

December 17, 2009: I started work at 6:45 AM, I love Thursdays because they are my half-days - I only work until noon (I work 7 to 6 the other 4 days of the week). Today was a busy day - I had a crazy hour where I somehow ended up with 5 patients at the same time, 3 of them in various phases of rotator cuff repair rehab. It was a fun group of patients (one of which was a professional baseball player and played on the Atlanta Braves with Dale Murphy!) and it actually went quite smoothly.

Then just before I left I got a call from the Bishop and he wondered if I could go make a visit with him to a family that was having some issues. It turned out that the family was unable to meet with us at that time but the Bishop went with me to Costco for lunch and returns. I had a bunch of returns to make: Costco, Old Navy, Target, Kohl's - apparently Santa bought some gifts too soon and some children changed their minds in the eleventh hour!

Then it was off to pick up JT and Brevin from school. Kadie was unable to pick them up as the windshield in our Pilot had finally been replaced and she wasn't supposed to drive the car for a few hours to allow the glue to dry. We'd had a crack in it for a long time and it was growing - we wanted to get it done before our trip to Idaho and Utah. We can't wait for our Christmas trip!

We got Brevin's report card in the mail: 2 A+'s, 1 A-, and 4 A's. We are very proud of him, he works hard and is doing great. JT is doing great also, he told me he got to be the teacher today - teaching the other students how to do some kind of art project. Zack is starting to read! (At his recent parent-teacher conference his teacher gave him "Outstanding" marks in every aspect: reading, writing, math - which she said she has very rarely done in the past).

I then had a short moment at home and read Brett's blog - what a great story - and I guess that was my inspiration for doing this now. Then it was off to the Batting Cages. Brevin, JT, and Zack will all be playing baseball this year and tryouts are January 9th. They all were hitting the ball well.

Then I came home, changed into my church clothes and made the visit with the Bishop to the family in need. Which I was only able to do because my doctor's appointment was canceled at the last minute (nothing wrong, just a check-up). The visit went well, but it made me a little late for a tennis game with some church friends.

The tennis match was the first that I had played in since my surgery and there was no problems. Then I left early and went back to the apartment and picked up Kadie and the kids to go make a visit to a less active family and then to my home teaching family. In the meantime, Kadie had received a call from our realtor that our offer on the house was accepted! We're excited, but not counting our chickens yet.

Our visits went well, and then it was bedtime for the boys and I finally had time for dinner. Kadie had made some homemade noodles that tasted delicious over mashed potatoes. A great way to end a busy day!

Merry Christmas from Jeret

2009-12-16T16:00:00.000-08:00

Here's Jeret preforming at a Christmas Concert at Saint Mary's. This is his favorite Christmas song that they play. Merry Christmas everyone!

What's going on?

2009-11-20T15:30:00.001-08:00

I haven't made the time to update our blog lately. So here's a little info for you all. We have sold our home, which means that we are packing like crazy. All the paper work should be completed this coming Monday. We have to be out by Dec 4th which is the week after Thanksgiving. We will be moving into a 3 bedroom apartment while looking for a new home. We were hoping to have something already but we haven't found "Our" home yet. The boys are not looking forward to the change and to be quit honest I'm feeling a little sad leaving our home. This was our first home and have lived in it for almost 8 yrs now. I will miss the raspberries and grapes that Grandpa Minick planted for me. I will miss all the other things that we have done to make it our home. We know there is a bigger home out there so we look forward to when we find it.
We love you all and hope everyone has a safe, fun, joyful Thanksgiving!

Halloween Day

2009-11-04T14:33:00.000-08:00

We began our Halloween very early in the morning. Brevin was up at 5:20 getting ready to be picked up by his coach at 5:50. He had a baseball tournament at Twin Creeks in north San Jose. Luckly his coach gave him a ride so that we didn't have to have the whole family ready that early. We got him out the door and then got ourselves ready. Brevin played very well and pitched 4 innings between the 2 games they played that day. Between games we did a little birthday shopping(he got money for his birthday and it was burning a whole in his pocket). We went to a fun baseball store and he left with a really nice baseball glove. It's been quit cute, he has that glove in his hand constantly trying to break it in. He even lays in bed with it on. After some shopping we made it back to the fields for another game. They didn't win either, but still had a great time. Hopefully this weekends tourney will go better.

I thought this was a really cute picture of Brevin. Sometimes he looks so grown up it's scary!

After baseball we made it home in time for our ward Trunk or Treat. Zack had fun collecting candy from all the trunks. He also came back with these funky eyes, kind of creepy.

Here's the group. Just in case you can't figure out the costumes, Zack is Darth Varder, Jeret is a tree(funny), Clint is a pirate, and Brevin is a MLB player.

We decorated our trunk with the boyz pumpkins. They all came up with their own designs and dad helped with some of the craving. Note the glove in Brevin's hand! :)
What a fun Day!!!

Happy Birthday Brevin

2009-11-02T17:37:00.001-08:00

Brevin decided that he would like to go to the Exploratorium in San Fran for his Birthday. We couldn't go on his actual Birthday so we went the Saturday before. He had his friend come with us and went for it. We spent about 4 hours there and needed more time. :)

Yes this is Zack drinking out of a toilet. It was pretty funny, he was laughing so hard I don't think he actually drank any water.

The thing I love most about the Exploratorium is that the boyz can touch and do everything. It's so fun to be able to try everything yourself. They had hours of fun and would of kept going except that they closed :(

After hours of exploring fun, we were all starving. We got on the road and found a Chevy's. The boys ate very well and even had room for some Birthday Ice Cream.

On Brevin's real Birthday, we celebrated with a caramel apple. Yummy....
Happy Birthday Brevin!

Boardwalk

2009-11-02T17:23:00.000-08:00

We were lucky enough to have some friends that had extra passes to the Boardwalk in Santa Cruz. They offered the tickets to us during the summer and never had a chance to go, crazy I know, but true. So anyway I got a phone call saying they were going to expire soon so I better use them. We kept checking the calendar and decided we could go after Brevin's flagfootball game. Clint couldn't go because of Scout Training stuff :(, but we decided we could go without him. We did really miss him, but still managed to have a lot of fun. The boys went from ride to ride and we never stopped until we went home. The only time someone was sad was when Zack wasn't big enough to go on the big roller coasters. I'm always amazed at his lack of fear!

I love the Fall!

2009-10-09T17:54:00.000-07:00

I just love going on Field Trips. Zack's class went to the Pumpkin Park today in Morgan Hill. It was so fun. They got to ride the train, learn how pumpkins grow, go through a corn maze, and pick out their own pumpkin to take home. Does it really get much better then that for a Kindergartner? I forgot to mention the whole thing about riding on the bus...So exciting!

Who is that?

2009-10-05T13:10:00.000-07:00

This was only about half of the hair that I actually cut off Jeret's head!

It took me a couple of days to get used to seeing him with short hair. I think it's been at least 2 yrs since I've seen the back of his neck. I think he looks so cute and way older.

Families are Forever

2009-10-05T11:38:00.000-07:00

We did it!!!

2009-09-20T16:19:00.000-07:00

This was our group.....

This was our goal......

This was the Mist Trail with what seemed like a million steps......

This was the sign that wasn't very encouraging.........

This was when I felt like the view was good enough from the sub dome.....

This was when we finally made it to the top.......

This was when I dared putting my feet over the edge......

AMAZING!!
Thanks Annie, Julie, Tammy, and Keri

Frosting and Heat!

2009-08-27T18:02:00.001-07:00

You would think after many years of baking, one would know that frosting will melt if it's too warm. We'll I guess I didn't think it was too warm in the house, because I made 50 cupcakes for Pack Meeting tonight and frosted them and put little sprinkles on them, and they looked so yummy. Well............I came back into the kitchen later in the day and found these. Pretty sad looking, huh. Well after much debate, I took the ones that looked half way edible and placed them in the frig. Hopefully I have enough!? I think I'll tell my family to take last, they can have the ones at home. :)

Back to School for 2-1st Day for 1!

2009-08-20T10:31:00.000-07:00

I bet all you wish your kids were this happy the 1st day back to school! I can't believe our summer has gone by so fast. I don't think any of us are really ready for school to be back in session, but they seemed pretty happy and ready to go this morning...we'll see how long this lasts. :)Brevin is a big 6th grader in middle school, JT is 2nd grade, and Zack is a Kinder!
I want you to notice how big Zack's backpack is, he should not be going to school....this is crazy!

Zack was so happy to have is bestest buddy in his class this year, LUKE!!!! I think having Luke in his class is the only thing he's been excited about(except maybe the cool spiderman lunchbox he picked out). I'm not sure that Zack and I are ready to be parted, good thing it's only 1/2 day kinder. I love that they both have their super hero t-shirts on!!!

So this is Zack in his new classroom. I'm not sure who was more dazed, mom or Zack!?! :)

Lake Tahoe Trip

2009-08-09T17:07:00.000-07:00

The first stop of the trip was to visit Dr. Duke and his lovely wife Morghan in their fancy new digs in Reno. The highlight for the boys may have been Bocci Ball. Duke and Zack beat JT and Brevin in the matchup seen here. We also enjoyed the pool and good food and games.

Then it was off to Virgina City - an old mining town Southeast of Reno. This picture was taken from a scenic lookout point overlooking the "Biggest Little City" (Reno).

This is Clint and the boys at Virginia City. Clint has kind of "let himself go" lately!

We took a mine tour while in Virgina City. It wasn't much. However, leaving the mineshaft was very exciting. When we emerged from the shaft, we discovered that it was raining and hailing! We decided to make a mad dash to the car and we got all wet and muddy - and about 2 minutes later the storm was over - we could have just waited it out!

Next we arrived in South Lake Tahoe, California - just across the stateline from Nevada. Just outside our hotel there was a Gondola that takes you up to the top of Heavenly Ski Resort. This picture was taken during our ride to the top.

This was taken from the observation deck half way up the mountain. You could get off the Gondola at this point, look around, take pictures and then get back on for the ride to the top.

After we got off at the top of the Gondola ride we took a hike. It was a pretty easy one (for everyone except Zack - not pictured here because he had turned back with Mommy). There was a rock wall at the top of the Gondola ride that Brevin and JT rock-climbed. They were both really good at it - it helps to be long and skinny!

The day after our Gondola ride, we took another hike. This hike was 1 mile downhill to Vikingsholm at Emerald Bay. Emerald Bay was one of the most beautiful places we have ever seen. It was truly spectacular! This picture doesn't do it justice, but you can see Lake Tahoe's only island out there in front of Brevin. Hiking back up after was a little tough for Zack but he was a trooper - as was Kadie who carried Zack piggy-back style off and on the way back up.

This picture is from the same spot in Emerald Bay, but looking away from the water. Behind the boys you can see "Vikingsholm" - which is a mansion built in 1929 by a rich lady who owned all the land around Emerald Bay at the time. The house was built without moving or displacing any trees - so the house takes some interesting turns to avoid the trees. The house also has a sod roof in places and is made completely from granite and wood found indiginous to the area. Pretty cool, eh?

Visiting Teaching

2009-07-24T17:30:00.000-07:00

So my visiting teacher called me up and asked when she could come visit me this month, I said I was open almost everyday this week, so she asked if I would like to go to the beach? We'll that's a no brainer....so we went today. It was so wild! We went to 26th because it's a smaller beach and really easy to walk to and they have bathrooms. So we show up and you can see where all the waves have been washing up, so I tell Liz lets just put our things here and see how things are looking. We'll it's a good thing we did, because about 5 minutes of watching waves, a huge waves washes over the hill and starts flowing down our side of the hill. We run back to our things and everyone is grabbing flip flops, clothes, sand toys, you name it and throwing it out of the way of the water. Other peoples belongings were getting washed away, we saved one guys flip flop and his apples from his cooler. Crazy! So we end up parking ourselves on this cemet slap where people can park their bikes. It was the only safe place.:) So this is a video of some of the AWESOME waves we witnessed today. It wasn't exactly a relaxing day at the beach, but a very exciting day at the beach. It was Fantastic!!! Thanks Liz for the invite!

Hot Summer Night!

2009-07-19T15:39:00.000-07:00

I have heard about ice blocking ever since I was in the youth program but I've never actually witnessed it before until.....now! The Hale's called us late yesterday afternoon to see it we wanted to go ice blocking. We had some things we had to get done, but with it being so hot the boys were determined to go because it sounded a lot cooler than being in the house. So we got our things done and met the Hale's in Morgan Hill to try out ice blocking. It was tons of fun, the boys loved it. So here's a short clip so that if you're like me you can see what it's all about.

All Stars!!!

2009-07-13T20:45:00.000-07:00

This is Brevin with his buddy JT(our JT loves that there's a JT on Brevin's team). They were also on the Rays together. They had all their All Star games in Santa Cruz and ended up getting 3rd place out of 10 teams. Not to shabby, considering they lost the 1st 2 all-star games last season. So maybe next year they'll be champs? Brevin had a great time...I was amazed at how much he learned in these last few weeks of All-Stars. He played 1st base and pitcher, his favorites. He played very well defensively and batted .417 for the tourney and struck out some of the other teams best players.

Of course Brevin had his faithful fan club show up to every game. Clint was so happy to be feeling well enough to make the trip over almost every day this past week. Clint and I enjoyed the games....JT and Zack enjoy the great concessions. :)

Here's a look at Brevin's whole team. It was a great group of boys! Brevin really enjoyed the players and the coaches. Great Job Brevin!!!!

Summer Vacation Plans Changed...

2009-06-26T21:19:00.000-07:00

So a week before our trip to Utah and Idaho, Clint hurt his back, which has become a normal thing over the past 12 yrs...so he starting iceing it, taking meds and resting it....but it just kept getting worse instead of better. By Sunday night he couldn't move without major pain. Monday he stayed home in hopes of resting it one more day to help it....but Tues we ended up in the ER. The MRI showed a major L4L5 disc bulge and a floating disc fragment. We met with the surgeon on Weds and surgery was scheduled for Friday, the day before we were to leave for our trip. To say the least, we never even starting packing our bags.

Although we were disappointed, we're grateful that Clint was able to get everything taken care of and is home recoverying. Thank goodness for modern medicine. This is Clint's normal spots during the day. To say the least he has plenty of time to check and respond to emails. He has a long way to go for a complete recovery, but each day is getting better.
After surgery you usually always come home with some cool new gadgets.....I think the boys will play with the back brace more than Clint will use it:)

A great upside to the story is that my brother Duke and his beautiful wife Morghan came to visit us. It's Morghan's Birthday today so we had to have to cake!!!! Happy Birthday Morghan! Mom and Dad we'll eat a piece for you too and honor of your Anniversary.
We're adjusting to not going to Utah and Idaho....that just means more beach days and more baseball (pretty rough, eh?).

End of School Fun

2009-06-16T16:37:00.000-07:00

Last Day of School...Finally!!

I'm not sure if they're more excited about school being over, or getting a gift from Mom and Dad? Either way, mom is really HAPPY that school is over. Yaah for summer!!

This is Brevin and Jeret with their violin instructor. They had their Spring Concert along with 45 other students. They got to perform 3 songs(just the 2 of them) at the beginning. They did such a great job! They have learned so much these last 2 years of lessons.

At Brevin's 5th grade promotion he received the Gold President's Award for Educational Excellence. There was only 1 other student that achieved this award at their school. We are very proud of him for working so hard this year.

Jeret received an award for Excellence in Math. He really does enjoy Math and loves to be challenged. Good Job Buddy!

LEGO FUN!

2009-05-31T15:07:00.001-07:00

Lego Ball...

Lego Ball rolling.....

Lego Ball rolling towards Indiana Jones...I think I've seen this somewhere before.

Created with Lego's, by Brevin

Memorial Day

2009-05-29T15:18:00.000-07:00

We were lucky enough to go to the Giants/Braves game on Memorial Day. Here's the boys during batting practice trying their hardest to get a ball. We didn't have any luck this game but the boys have quit a collections going. After no luck during batting practice, Brevin and I ran over to the Braves dugout and hunted for autographs. Brevin added one from the Braves new pictcher. I can't remember his name. He has about 5 different autographs on one ball now from the Braves.

I went to take the boys to hit balls, it was really sad when they turned them away because their too tall. We knew JT was but Zack wasn't last year. I think my baby is growing up way too fast. As you can see all my boys are dressed in Braves attire. This is the only time that Clint helps the boys get dressed and ready. He has to get them all decked out before I get to them with their Giants attire. I even offered to buy JT a new hat at the ball park if he would wear it, but I couldn't talk him into it:( Zack was they only one to give in to the Giants, it was easy for him to change sides when the Giants starting winning:)

I thought this was so cute of Clint and Zack watching for balls!

After the ball game we stopped to see Grandma Minick. We drove her over to pay respect to Grandpa and put some flowers on his grave. It was a great way to end out Memorial Day outing.

Go RAYS!!!

2009-05-22T10:17:00.000-07:00

Last night Brevin's team won their final regular season game to clinch 1st place in the tournament! Sorry I have no pictures, I went to the game with my camera but forgot the memory stick in my computer. Congrats Brevin!!! They have their first game on June 3rd.

Crazy Hair Day!

2009-05-15T13:30:00.000-07:00

Today was Crazy Hair Day at school. Brevin asked if I could find some hair color for him, so I said sure, what color do you want. He said pink. JT was not too excited about having pink on him, even if it was crazy hair day, but after seeing Brev's cool pink hair he decided that it would be okay if a sprayed a little in his hair. Personally, I think JT's hair is crazy enough without color!

Trip to DC

2009-05-11T14:01:00.000-07:00

Recently Clint and I left the boys home with my sister and mom and went to DC. We stayed with my brother Jake and his wife Belle and 3 kids. Poe is the oldest and Piper and Jack are the twins. We had such a great time. Jake and Belle are great hosts, they drove us all around, told us the best places to go and things to do. The kids were great! They warm up to you so fast, and by the end they were no longer asking for Aunt Jodie(my sister), they were asking for Aunt Kadie, that was my goal by the end of the trip. As you can see we did have some rain, but with no kids it's easy to do. You don't have to worry about how cold they are and how muddy they're going to get.

Funny thing about this picture, we were tired of trying to take pictures of ourselves, so I ask a man walking by if he could take our picture. So while we are getting ready, he ends up stepping back into the pool of water behind him. So this poor guy is up to his knees in water. I felt so bad and didn't know what to do. So the guys gets out, takes our picture and goes on his way. I would love to know what he ended up doing.

Belle's dad is a season ticket holder for the Nats, so he was so kind to give up his tickets on Friday night so that we could go. They were great seats and we had a fantastic time. Clint even got a couple of balls during batting practice. The Nats played the Cardinals, the Cardinals won, but it was a fun game. Thanks Belle and thanks to your Dad.

Spring Break

2009-04-17T09:25:00.000-07:00

I really hadn't planned anything for SpringBreak this year, but amazingly we have been busy everyday. We started by having Easter Weekend and having lots of fun with my sister's family, then we spent a day at our friends house planning games, which is always fun. We went to the movies the other night, our first 3D movie. We spent yesterday at the Monterey Bay Aquarium. We haven't been for about 3yrs, I couldn't believe all the new stuff. It was a great time, especially since Clint could go with us, it's always more fun with DAD.

The fun continued when our friends the McCaws invited us to a A's game. We had such a great time, it could of only been better if the A's would of won. The boys loved it! Brevin got a ball signed by one of the Red Sox, and Springer threw a ball to him before the game started. Brevin was so HAPPY! For JT and Zack it's all about the right snacks and treats. It's amazing that they can eat during the whole 3hr game without getting sick.

I think Zack just might become an A's Fan. I'm going to have to get more Giant's tickets.

It's just wouldn't be right if you didn't have some Cotton Candy during a baseball game.

We only have a few more days of Spring Break. It's going way too fast then it's back to reality. Before we know it though, it's going to be Summer Break, can't wait!!!!

HAPPY EASTER!

2009-04-14T13:26:00.000-07:00

I love Easter time. I love all the new things growing outside and the warmer weather. This last weekend we got to spend time with my sister Jodie and her family. First thing we did was trade babysitting so we could attend a session at the temple.(Jodie almost always takes my boys so we can go, Thanks Jodie!!) Next we let the kids decorate eggs. As you can see they finished with some great colors. Then of course Jodie and I snuck off to do some shopping and left the kids with the dads. Thanks dads, you're truly the best! We love going to Jodie's. Almost everytime we drive home we hear the comment,"Why can't we live next to Jodie?" We can only hope that Chris will come teach here in Gilroy:) This picture cracked me up. The boys had a little egg hunt after church. They are checking out their treasures.

After going to church and find all their easter treats at home, we headed to Grandma Minicks for Easter dinner and egg hunt with the cousins. Dinner was yummy and the egg hunt successful. This was the one picture I got with all the cousins together. We all made them gather around Jack, it was the only way we would get Jack in the picture.

Hope everyone had a wonderful Easter!

The Wii is Back!!

2009-04-04T16:53:00.001-07:00

About a week after JT's birthday our Wii broke. We didn't know what was wrong with it, so we had to send it in. During this time the boys seemed to play a lot of games that didn't involve a tv..... but now the Wii is back and the boys are once again focused on the TV!

The Joker?

2009-03-16T13:32:00.000-07:00

I think my boys watch a too many batman cartoons. After drinking smoothies, Brevin turned to Zack and said he looked like the Joker. After taking this picture, I think I agree.

Practice makes Perfect!

2009-03-08T17:50:00.000-07:00

Jeret was invited by his violin instructor to perform with her tour group at the "Bach to Blues" Concert that was held at our local college. He practiced very hard everyday and went to 3 rehearsals that were about 2hrs each in the past 2 weeks. They performed 4 songs, 2 of which Jeret learned, Minuet 2 and Musette. They are playing Minuet 2 in the above clip. I had to be on the stage so I couldn't get a good angle of Jeret, but anyone that knows him can pick out his white hair. They sounded so great, hope you enjoy, I sure did.

PS sorry the video is so wiggly.

Baseball season is here!

2009-03-08T16:25:00.000-07:00

We just had a Bat-a-thon for little league. Brevin and Zack each praticipated. After looking at the pictures I was quite impressed with Zacks form. Anyway, it was fun and they both did very well. Zack is playing t-ball, he'll be on the RiverCats, and Brevin is playing Minors, he'll be on the Rays. So Go Rays and RiverCats.

Jeret

2009-02-28T15:45:00.001-08:00

JT turns 7! We had a small family party on Thursday because Zack had baseball and Brevin had the pinewood derby. So we had brownies and opened his gifts from all his family. He loved everything he got. Saturday he plans to go to Chuck e Cheese with his friend Daniel. JT is trying out his new skateboard. We went to the park after and rode it around.

Saturday we celebrated JT's birthay with his friend Daniel. He's our neighbor and also is in JT's class. The cake(which is rice crispie treat, jt doesn't like cake) represents the Wii game De Blob. We took the boys to Chuck e Cheese and then came back and ate rice crispies.

Pinewood Derby

2009-02-28T15:38:00.001-08:00

This year Brevin, with the help of Clint made this very cool car for the Pinewood Derby. He named it

the Silver Surfer. It was quit sleek! The competion was tuff though and he came in second over all, which I thought was fantastic. He had a lot of fun making and competing.

Snake in my House?

2009-02-20T16:16:00.000-08:00

For a cub scout project Brevin is borrowing a snake from his Cub Leader for a month. As you can see it's kind of a big snake. The boys have enjoyed it. One day they were lying on the ground and letting the snake slither through their shirts. Brevin keeps it in his room. I can't believe he can sleep with it in the same room as him! He's had fun, but I'm looking forward to it going home.

Puzzle Time

2009-02-20T16:02:00.000-08:00

One of these last Sundays, the boys were on a puzzle mission. They starting one puzzle, then another, then another until they decided to fill the whole table and benches. Pretty amazing, I think. They had a lot of fun, but were sad to find out that they had to be put away before bed, so we took a picture to make it last longer.

Here's all the boxes that belong to the puzzles. I wonder who's going to put them away?

Rice Crispie Treat Houses

2008-12-04T16:52:00.000-08:00

When mom was here for Thanksgiving she brought a really fun Holiday Cooking magazine. In it was a great idea for making houses out of rice crispy treats. BEST IDEA EVER!. They stay together!!!! So I took the idea and did it for our YW's activity last Tues Night, we had some left over so I let the boys create. They had sooo much fun creating their little houses. JT won the prize for covering every centimeter of his house. Brevin won for nicest house and Zack won for cutest face on the house. I was very impressed with their creativity. Hope everyone is enjoying the Holiday Season like we are!

It's Beginning to Look a lot like Christmas!

2008-12-02T17:20:00.000-08:00

For FHE we decorated the tree! We can't wait for Christmas.

Happy Thanksgiving!

2008-12-02T17:04:00.001-08:00

We had a great Thanksgiving. Jodie's and Justin's families both came. Mom and Dad, Grandma Minick, Kaarynn, and Jackie(with Emma). We had a house full, but it was a great time. The kids loved playing in the garage and outside. We had lots of yummy food, thanks to everyones help! The kids all crashed on the floor in the front room as you can see from the picture. We got a lot of shopping in, while taking turns babysitting. We also spent a day at the beach. The kids loved the water and it took no time at all for Marin to completely get wet. Good thing her mom was prepared. They had a lot of fun running from waves! Hope everyone else had a great Thanksgiving!

Pumpkin Patch!

2008-11-01T16:16:00.000-07:00

On Brevin's Birthday we went to a local pumpkin patch and let the boys pick out some pumpkins. They had a lot of fun finding the perfect ones. Then we took them home and started carving. Zack thought the pumpkins gut were pretty cool, but too gross to touch, so mom did most of the cleaning and dad did most of the carving. We had fun and the pumpkins turned out pretty dang good.

Brevin's Birthday

2008-11-01T15:46:00.001-07:00

We celebrated Brevin's Birthday on Halloween this year. He decided that he would like to have his two friends Hector and Niko(both are neighbor boys) come for a sleepover. The party began at 4:30 with going to Chevy's for an early dinner. Then we came back, got costumes on and went Trick or Treating. Brevin was the creepy stick figure with a Santa hat. JT was MR. MET only we don't like the Mets so he actually was MR. Brave. Zack was many things. At Pre-school he went as a Ninja Turtle, then he was going to be Darth Varder, then a Pirate as shown in the picture, then by the time we actually left for trick or treating, he was a dragon. Good thing we had all these costumes on hand and did not purchase any new ones. The boys came home with loads of candy and should last them until next year. After the Trick or Treating, the boys came home had some birthday cake(which is supposed to be an iPod) and soon after that they began playing wii until 10 and then were up at 5:30am playing wii again. To say they least we are all tired and a little on the grumpy side today. But, the bottom line, Brevin had a great Birthday!

Flag Football

2008-10-26T15:55:00.000-07:00

Brevin and JT played flag football this fall. They just ended their season last week. They both got to play different positions, including quarterback. I think they both really liked playing that position. JT had 3 completed passed for touchdowns!! I still can't believe it. Brevin also average about 1 touchdown pass a game. In the last game, on the last play of the game JT caught a pass and ran it in for a touchdown. Then he was the quarterback and completed the pass for a 2pt conversion. Very Exciting!! They had a really good time and I think they are both excited to play again next year.

Surfing with the Bartons

2008-10-26T15:40:00.000-07:00

Joe and Amy Barton so kindly invited us to go surfing with them. I have to say that they are wonderful surf coaches, including their very cute girls. They suited all the kids up and the dad's(Amy and I opted to sit on the beach and visit) and headed out to the waves. Each of the boys took a turn on the long board and each of them got up, and each of the crashed and tumbled(except Zack because Joe caught him just in time). We had such a great time and look forward to another invite.

Bad Luck

2008-08-31T19:00:00.000-07:00

Recently I have been having problems with breaking things. Some of the things I'm breaking are not a big deal, but I have moved on to some more expensive items. I stepped on my phone and broke the screen on it. I can only read the bottom half of my screen now, so if I don't call you back try again, because I might not be able to tell that you called me. Next I broke the screen of my camera. Yes, there is something about a screen that is becoming bad luck for me. I wasn't sure how Clint would react to me breaking the camera screen. The only thing he said was,"stay away from my TV". Yes, this is how much my husband trusts me right now, I'm actually surprised he's letting me use the computer.

As a result of breaking the camera, I don't have any back to school pics. But I'm letting you all know that the boys looked great. They both have teachers they're excited about, so that makes life happy for all of us. Zack has his first day of pre-school on Weds. He's so excited and will be in pre-school with his best buddy Luke. The only thing he's worried about is that mom is going to make him wear a different outfit for each day of preschool. Hopefully we'll get past this with very little fight and or tears.

End of Summer Fun

2008-08-31T18:46:00.001-07:00

We had such a great summer. It went by way too fast! One of the last weeks of summer Clint's family came out for a visit. We had such a great time and just really enjoyed having them here. We did some shopping(Brittany needed to get ready for school), we went to the beach, the boys did some golfing, did some swimming at the hotel, baseball game, and of course did lots of yummy eating. When ever the Zollinger's are in town we have to hit IN-OUT and Cheesecake Factory. Honestly what more could we need. We found out about the great beach south of Carmel. It's called Pfiffer Beach(I think, and I'm not sure about the spelling) and it was such a great beach. The pictures above are at the beach, they had these cool boulders out in the water that the waves would crash against. Behind you was a wall, some of it was rocks, and plants, but in one section there was sand. The boys had so much fun jumping and rolling down the hill of sand. It really was a fun and beautiful beach.

It was a great way to end our summer. We always love having family come and visit.

2008-08-31T18:37:00.000-07:00

Here we are waiting to get into the A's/Rays game. It was a great game, the A's even won. During warm-ups Zack got a homerun ball from a lady. She only asked for a hug in return. Clint caught one off the grill during batting practice and then saved Brittany and I from a foul ball during the game. We always have a great time at the ballgames.

Idaho

2008-07-20T19:44:00.000-07:00

It was really neat to see the Twin Falls Temple. This is a picture of the back of the temple. JT and Brevin loved the ATV's. Brevin did flip his over to the side one time and scraped his side up, then Clint had JT on the big one and they dropped off a jump and landed pretty hard. Good thing JT had his helmet on because he hit his head pretty hard on the handle bars.
My dad gave JT and Brevin a quick lesson on skeet shooting. After firing the shotgun the first time, JT went back to the ATV's and Brevin held it under his arm. Here he's shooting with his Uncle Justin.
Zack got up! Second time we went, he wouldn't stand up, he just sat on his skiis, it was really funny!

After our time at Bear Lake, we drove to Gooding to spend time with my family. We had so much fun. We were all together for the first time since Duke and Morghan's wedding. Just like Bear Lake, the boys had a great time. They got to golf, water ski, tubing, ATV's, skeet shooting, ping pong, temple, horses, and food. There was never a dole moment, the kids slept great every night. Dad and Mom have been helping with the opening of the Twin Falls Temple, so we got to spend some time on the temple grounds with them while they fulfilled some of their responsibilities. The boys even got to help put up a tent for the open house. My dad was able to take Clint and I on a private tour of the temple on one of the days. It was so amazing and we look forward to our next trip so we can go inside again. We went boating a couple days. All the boys tried water skiing. JT and Zack each got up, not for a long time, but they were up. Brevin tried and was soooo close, but didn't quit make it. Zacks favorite was the tubing. He could not get enough of it. He wanted to go faster and have lots of bumps. One time he just about bounce right out, he just laughed and told my dad to go faster. They all loved the ATV's despite the few crashes Brevin and JT had. Thanks Mom and Dad for planning such a great family reunion.

Bear Lake

2008-07-20T19:17:00.000-07:00

Zack had a really great time with cousin John at the beach one day. Zack has really been missing his cousins since we've been home. We played many rounds of mini golf. Zack got 6 hole-in-1's in one rounds!!!
Cousins having fun together at the pool. Brevin loved hanging with the older cousins.

We went on our annual trip to Bear Lake with Clint's family. Grandpa and Grandma Hanks(Clint's mom's parents) rent condo's at Bear Lake every year for all their family members that can come. We look forward to it all year and can't stop thinking about it until we're there, then when we leave we start thinking about the next year. There was about 50-60 family member there during the week. The boys get to go swimming at the pools, play at the beach, boating with Uncle Jason and Aunt Jamie, golfing, mini golf, volleyball, baseball, tennis, and food. I'm sure I'm leaving something out, but you get the idea. The boys had so much fun with all the cousins. I felt like the only time I saw the boys was when it was time to eat. We had so much fun. Thank you to Grandpa and Grandma for making it happen!

JT's out of there!

2008-06-18T11:39:00.000-07:00

JT is very excited to be leaving kindergarten. He's really looking forward to 1st grade next year. He had a great teacher this year, Mrs Sturla. I was able to help out in the class once a week for the year and I really got to know the class well. Mrs Sturla makes learning fun for the kids and I hope that Zack gets her in a couple of years. Here's a picture of JT with his teacher at his Kindergarten Ceremony. The video is a little dance they performed for the parents. I don't know where JT got his dancing skills, certainly not from Clint or I.

First Year of Violin

2008-06-18T10:57:00.000-07:00

This year Brevin and JT were in the Suzuki Method Violin Program through their school. They both did extremely well and it was very fun for me so see how much progress they made in just those nine months. Each week they had a 30 minute lesson with another student and then a 1 hour group lesson on Fridays after school. They each completed level one and continue to move right along. Here are some pics from their end of year concert and a video clip of one of the songs they played. JT is not shown in the video but is playing.

2008-05-25T17:17:00.000-07:00

today Zack gave his 1st talk in Primary. he has been excited about it all week. just to tell you how excited he was, he was in my room before 7am asking me to help him get his church clothes on. for anyone that really knows Zack, you know he hates wearing anything but 2 outfits. i always have to bribe him on sundays to get him dressed. so, clint and i got some pictures together for him to color so he could hold them up during his talk and tell about them. i asked him who he wanted to help him during the talk and he said,"I want to do it all by myself". Clint asked, "what are you going to say", Zack says"I don't know". so we let it go and decide that he would want help once he got there. well we show up to the primary room and he mouths to me "don't help me" with a big smile on his face. i just smiled and sat down. the little girl in his class was before him and she said the article of faith and after they are supposed to sing the article of faith song, but before the music leader can get up there, Zack pops up and goes the to stand to give his talk. clint jumps up and tells him that they are going to sing first. Zack must not of heard clearly because he starts singing "I am a Child of God" in front of the whole primary. i started filming it, but i was laughing and crying all at the same time because it was just so cute, so it's a little wigglely. after he sang, all of the senior primary children broke out in spontaneous clapping for him. we weren't sure if we should go up and help him with his talk that he prepared, but before we decided the primary leader got up and thanked him for his message. in the end, Zack did give his talk all by himself.

2008-05-25T17:13:00.000-07:00

i made some brownies for family home evening and the boys found the bowl. i think they enjoyed that more the the actual brownies:)

hot day

2008-05-25T17:11:00.000-07:00

recently we had some really warm days, so the boys went out back and tried to cool off.

2008-05-25T16:59:00.000-07:00

2008-04-29T19:28:00.000-07:00

We just celebrated Zack and Clint's Birthdays. Clint took the day off today and went golfing. You get to golf free at Eagle Ridge on your Birthday so he took advantage. He had a great time and only hit one house. Then, since Zack's birthday was on Sunday, we celebrated today by going to Chuck E Cheese. His best buddy Luke came with us and they had a great time. We came home and enjoyed birthday cake with Luke and found all the neighbor boys and had them come over to help eat all the cake. Thanks for all the calls, card, and presents, they both had greaat birthdays!

Happy Birthday

2008-04-29T18:58:00.001-07:00

2008-04-27T19:53:00.000-07:00

Baseball season is going well. Brevin wishes his team was winning more, but he is performing very well himself. Clint's been keeping track of his hitting and he's hitting around 500 right now. He's playing 2nd base and pitcher. The video is of a triple that Brevin had in a recent game. JT's team is doing great. They don't keep score yet, but his team usually scores every inning and many times will get the max runs(5 per inning). They also are great on defense and make a lot of outs. JT's coaches are great about switching up positions every game. JT says he likes 3rd base. The pictures are of him when he was the catcher. I love how the gear covers them head to toe. Very Cute!

2008-04-27T19:33:00.001-07:00

While mom and dad were in town they treated us as Cheesecake Factory in San Fran. As you can see the boys enjoyed dessert. Zack got the dessert that has 3 Godiva Choc Brownies layered with icecream and fudge. Clint and I helped him, but not much. JT had no problem downing his Cherry Cheesecake. After we let the kids run around Union Square. It was so much fun having mom and dad around. The Boyz sure enjoy spending time with them.

Spring Break

2008-04-27T19:14:00.000-07:00

For spring break this year we got to spend some time with mom and dad. They drove out some buses full of Senior from Gooding. We met them at Six Flag and had a great time. JT was so happy because he was actually tall enough to go on almost all the rides. So he went on some pretty big roller coasters. I couldn't believe Brevin. I thought I would have to talk him into going on the big roller coasters, but he loved them. They even had some rides that Zack could do. We had a great time and can't wait to go again.

Baseball Season is here.

2008-03-24T10:22:00.000-07:00

JT is on the D'Backs. He looks so good in his uniform. This year he is doing coaches pitch. They don't keep score in their games, but in his first game their team dominated. He had two really good hits. Dad is trying to help out as much as possible and is the sponsor of JT's team, so JT gets to have Zollinger on his uniform.

Brevin is playing in the Minors this year. He is on the Giants again. He wasn't to pleased, but mom is very happy. They won their first game in a very intense last inning. Brevin is pitching and playing second base. Dad is his assistant coach.

Happy Easter!

2008-03-24T10:08:00.000-07:00

Hope everyone had a great Easter. We had fun at Grandma Minicks house with Megan's family, Jackie, Emma, Karynn, and grandma. The boys came home with tons of treats.

Trip to the SNOW!

2008-03-23T19:04:00.000-07:00

This last February our friends invited us to their cabin near Sonora California. As you can see there was tons of snow, plus it snow almost the whole time we were there. We had such a great time and the boys asked why we didn't live where there is snow.

Brevin and JT would go flying down those hills. We were very happy to come

home with no broken bones.

Zack loved this little sled. It had brakes on it so he could control the speed. Although, on one of the trails he forgot about the brakes and ran into a tree. We had to pull him out of all the branches, luckly he thought it was really funny!