Pet Sitting...

Our good friends in the ward, the Prices, went out to Utah for Christmas, and will be gone until January 3rd. They asked us to take care of their dog, Honey. She's a very sweet, calm, yellow lab. When I was over having Julie show me how to take care of her, she said she had another favor to ask of me. She had forgotten to ask someone to watch her kids' 2 Gerbils. I told her "of course, we will!! My boys will think they've died and gone to heaven!"
So I brought them home in their little cage. It has tunnels and compartments that remind me of the Mcdonald's play-place! My boys, of course, were elated to come home and see 2 little furry friends to watch and giggle at. They put them in their little plastic ball (we had to specify - not together!) and followed them around the house. I kept telling them not to kick it, or roll it. Then I walked down the hall and habitually, upon seeing a ball in my path, kicked it out of the way. "Mooom!! The Gerbils!!"
Well, today it got to be naptime, and we were all ready to crash for our Sunday afternoon nap. The little blonde Gerbil was running around the living room in the ball, and we took off and went to lay down, not even thinking about putting him back where he belonged. I woke up to Brettsky saying, "Mom! The Gerbil is gone out of his ball!!" He had escaped. We looked and looked everywhere, but couldn't find it. Right as I was ready to get in the car, and go let the Prices' dog back into their garage for the night, Trey noticed Junior was extra interested in something behind the TV. Adam tried to catch it, but it ran down the hall and disappeared...again!
I took off, and let Honey (the dog) into the garage. I went to look for a way to get her water since the outside faucet had frozen, and she ran out of the garage door! Julie had warned me that she loves to wander around the neighborhood, and may try to sneak out. I got in the car and drove up and down the street in the dark, calling her name. I figured the neighbors probably thought my husband had run away, and that explained why I was calling "Honey!!" out the window.
It is BEYOND bitterly cold here, so I couldn't spend too much time outside. I returned home in hopes that Honey would get cold and come back to her house. I came home, and the boys still hadn't found the delinquent Gerbil, but Adam offered to come help me find Honey. He even let me borrow some of his Long-Johns to wear under my pants to keep warm. I need to get me some, they are great!
We drove around and around the Prices' surrounding neighborhood, in search of the dog. Right before we were about to return home unsuccessful, I spied her down the street. She came running right up and jumped into the back of our 4-runner. We got her home safe and sound, and breathed a huge sigh of relief!
After we'd been home for a time, Junior started whining and scratching around in the office, and we knew the poor Gerbil must have made his way down the hall into there. We moved the couch away from the wall, and the trainset, and the storage totes. Adam gasped, and we all got excited....but he was only gasping in surprise and delight at finding the long lost "Han Solo" action figure behind the couch.
Finally, the Gerbil appeared, and we were able to corner it, eventually pick it up and return it to it's cage safe, and still alive! What a harrowing adventure this all has been! And it's only been 3 days!!!

Stewart Family Christmas Letter

When Adam and I married, I SWORE I would never send out an ‘e’ letter to all our friends and family for Christmas. There is just something special about receiving a real live Christmas card from a loved one via Snail Mail. Well, obviously, "special" does not buy 70 stamps and cards, address, and send them all!
Merry Christmas from Hutch!! I’m so excited for Christmas this year! I think it is for the simple fact that my boys have done amazingly well focusing on the real Reason for the Season. The first day it snowed (2 days after Thanksgiving), they insisted that we drag out the tree and all the other parafanalia. The constant din of Christmas music and smell of Candy-Cane-breathe has not stopped since! I love it!
I think our boys have grown up more this year than in any year past. This, of course, brings mixed emotions along with it. Treyton, at 8, will be as tall as me within a couple of years, and I’m hoping he still wants to shower me with sweet, rough hugs and stolen kisses. He is certainly his Daddy’s boy, and loves to find funny ways to surprise (and terrorize) me. If he spies me bent over, or not paying attention, he can’t resist poking me with something that will bring me upright at record speed, and get a good "aaaaoooowww!" Out of me. Luckily, I know that this (in boy language) is just a way of him expressing his deepest affections. I was surprised and impressed with Trey at his last Parent Teacher Conference! He is so intelligent and likeable, and precocious! Trey’s biggest highlight of the year was getting baptized. His grandparents were able to come for a rare visit, and it was a very special day. Trey is now a Cub Scout, and has a great Den. Pine Wood Derby is right around the corner!

Treyton’s Favorite Things About This Year:
1 - The blizzard during schoo

2 - scouts: learning about nutrition and writing with invisible ink
3 - Playing Playstation

It was difficult to send my little 6 year old Brettsky off to all-day Kindergarten this year! But he absolutely loves it! He thinks the best part is that the bus has no seat belts. His teacher is just perfect for him. She is another in the line of teachers to tell us that Brett is extremely advanced in his artistic abilities. He draws the greatest pictures! He has really been into creating.....whatever! He comes up with fantastic ideas, and works hard coloring, painting, cutting, glueing....until he has a real piece of work to show off! He made most of our Halloween decorations this year, and they were so good that I boxed them up to decorate for next year, as well! Brett sang his first solo in our Primary Children’s Program this year in October. He caught the performing bug, and now loves to perform whenever he has the chance. It’s fun to help him practice, and he has such a sweet little voice. He is still a male-version clone of me (*beam*), and has the laugh to prove it! He has the most adorable sprinkling of freckles across his nose and cheeks, and everyone still finds him as loveable as ever.

Brett’s Favorite Things About This Year:
1 - playing games and making crafts during "Center Time" at school
2 - Potluck Sunday every 3rd Week!!
3 - Building with blocks

My "baby", Cameron is 5 now!! Good thing he is of quite a compact build, so I can still pick him up and give him embarrassing hugs and kisses! We have become quite special little buds since the older 2 boys have gone to school this year. He comes with me to the gym, and we have picnics on the lawn of his school before class time. He never misses a morning of climbing onto the kitchen counter and saying, "Well, hello Johnson!" Johnson is his goldfish. Cam still absolutely cracks all of us up! Dinner time is his shining moment to make us all laugh and howl over his antics. He acts out and makes faces while he tells stories of things that happened that day. He is quite athletic, and can run REALLY fast! He is less shy than our other boys, and VERY social! I’m sure he has divulged more than one guarded family secret during the school year. His teacher had all sorts of funny admissions to speak of at PTC!

Cam’s Favorite Things About This Year:
1 -Playing Soccer with Trevor
2 - Going to the "Candy Man" at church
3 - Cuddling with Mommy

Well, I’ll be a short blurb! I haven’t done ANYTHING this year! Or so it feels. It has been a new experience juggling the bus schedule, scout meetings, sports practices, church events...the list goes on. I know it will only continue to grow throughout the years, and it’s scary! I have had many good opportunities come my way this year, though. I’ve been given the chance to pull my flute out and use my musical talents again. I’ve also been asked to sing in church several times, which is something I’ve always avoided like the plague. I LOVE my calling as Primary Chorister, and the creativity it allows. I’m so glad that after all these years in the primary, they haven’t kicked me out! I recently completed training as a Turbo Kick instructor, and teach two nights a week at the YMCA. It is SO much fun!! Talk about stress relief! It’s something that I truly enjoy, and look forward to my classes more and more.

My Favorite Things About This Year:
1 - Our trip to Hawaii
2 - Zumba Day at the Gym
3 - Visiting my family in Utah

Adam has had a busy year working. No really - he has worked SO hard! He has done all sorts of contracting jobs from roofing, to framing, to painting in between his hours at the Fire Department. He continues to love Firefighting, and enjoys a good fire! He also frequents the YMCA, where he works out with a buddy or two. He has some very good friends on the department, and is liking where he is stationed (downtown at station 1). This week, Adam finally had the Hemanginoma (it’s some sort of blood vessel tumor thingy) on his forehead removed. It began to be bothersome, fitting just below the band of his FF helmet. So the birth mark on his forehead is no longer. :( sort of sad, huh! He basically got a forehead tightening along with it - all covered by insurance! I was a little disheartened at the fact that he didn’t develop black eyes like 9 years ago when it was previously operated on. I wanted to take pictures! He is doing well, and healing just fine.

Adam’s Favorite Things About This Year:
1 - Hawaii
2 - Going to Aruba with Trav
3 - Getting my new "bad" truck!

It will be interesting to see what the year ahead brings, as our boys are growing like weeds! We look forward to sharing it with each of you, far and near! Merry Christmas and Happy New Year! (That rhymed!)
With Love - the Stewart Family

The End of an Era...

Most of you who've known Adam for a time may have noticed the birthmark above his left eyebrow. It is blackish-blue in color, and often mistaken for a grease smear by strangers. People often try to help him out by bringing his attention to this "smear", and he has to inform them that it's not really a smear - he was born with it. The people generally feel bad and beg for unreasonable forgiveness.

This particular birthmark is a Hemangioma. It's a raised birthmark created by a group of blood vessels that did not develop properly. It continues to grow throughout one's life, and can occur either on top of the skin, or deeper inside the body. Adam's was under the skin, which made it appear to also be a large goose-egg on his head. Some little old women often commented that he looked like he'd been "bonked" on the head.

Adam claims his birthmark never bothered him growin up, but started to annoy him a year or 2 ago. It's also located just beneath where his FF helmet fits, so it became uncomfortable. He had surgery on it about 9 years ago while we were dating. The doctor removed a calcified lump, and cauterized the vessels, thinking this would solve the swelling. Within a few years' time, it grew back again. So...he decided to have it removed once and for all!

Adam went into surgery at 9:00am, Tuesday, December 9 (Cameron's B-day) and emerged a few hours later, groggy, and in a great deal of pain. The doctor informed us that she had not only removed the skin with the dark mark on it, but also a "bag" of blood from under the skin. Yum! I fed him pudding like a baby so he could take a pain pill, and then helped him dress like a 3 year old. It was all somewhat entertaining...for me!

He has been healing fine, and just had his 2nd checkup appointment today to have the stitches removed. His scar is becoming a little less "Bride-of-Chucky"-ish, and looks like in the end, the scar may not be half bad. He keeps it covered with an enormous bandaid most of the time so as not to scare our fellow citizens.

Adam's been off work since a few days before his surgery, and will probably stay home until early next week. He was finally cleared today to start lifting things (which means he can go to the gym as well). The break has been really good for him, and the boys are loving seeing him in the morning, afternoon, and evening!

While an era has ended, we shall never forget...."Adam's Birthmark."

My 29th



For My 29th Birthday, I got just what I asked for: to sleep in as long as I wanted, and go to lunch with Adam. Well, those and a boquet of unnaturally large balloons!

My boys thought of a truly novel way to show their affection and excitement (not without a little help, I'm sure) on this special occasion. They decided to forego the traditional Birthday Spankings, and filled 29 grenade-style balloons. You can probably guess the rest!

But I DID fight back! I got ahold of a couple "grenades" that didn't pop right off, and was able to pelt Adam, Cam, and Brett before the event was over.

Good thing the sun was out!!

The Scary, the Spooky....and Downright Cooky!!



I just LOVE Halloween!!! It's not hard to tell from our pictures what we dressed up as, so I'll leave that for you to see. I decided not to spend any money (or time sewing) on my costume this year, and opted for pulling out an old classic. My Highschool cheerleading Uniform. Yeah, I know - SCARY!!! After 3 weeks of kicking my own butt at the gym, I could actually get it zipped up, and we were in business for doing some serious Trick-or-Treating!

Instead of doing the traditional door-to-door routine, we decided to join the Riverside Baptist Church at the Fair Grounds for their annual Halloween bash. We had attended last year, and it was lots of fun! We only spent just longer than an hour in the Sunflower Building, and had our plastic Jack-o-Lanterns full of candy by 8:30pm. The boys played carnival games, ran a blow-up obstacle course, and won WAY too many cupcakes at the cakewalk. We didn't even have to cover our costumes with coats! We stayed nice and warm the entire time.
After our little night of fun was over, I felt a tinge of sadness (as with most holidays) at the thought of Halloween being over. But I hit the clearance aisle at Walmart the week after and scored cheap stuff for next year. So until then, no more dressing up. :(

Well - the boys can always use theirs for playing, but I'm not so sure people would be quite so accepting if I decided to follow their lead.

Another Great Sports Season Comes to a Close...

Treyton's first season of Flag Football finally came to a close last week. The practice schedule proved to make our lives a little more hectic than usual, and the game schedule didn't help either! But all-in-all, we had a good time watching him learn to play.

Trey Gets Branded!!

Trey attended his first Cub Scout Pack Meeting

on Tuesday, October 21.

One of the orders of business was to induct the new members into the pack. The scout master "Branded" him on the bum with a Bobcat stamp (and baby powder)!

Treyton received his Bobcat last month, and is advancing through the ranks on his way to becoming a Wolf!

Leave it to Brettsky...

The other day at Trey's football practice, Brett found a big tattoo on the field. He was excited, and I figured I would eventually see it turn up on an arm or leg or belly sometime during the coming week.

The night before school picture day, he came down the hall and exclaimed, "Mom! Look what I did all by myself!" There was the "lovely" tattoo of a skull with roses for eyes plastered right across his cute little face.

I figured that since I wasn't planning on buyin the pictures anyway, and nothing had been said by the school about class pictures being taken, I would let him keep his beloved prize on his cheek. I got a call from his teacher at about 10:00am the next day wondering , "about the tattoo on Brett's face.....did I WANT that on in the picture?"

Come to find out, the reason no class pictures were being taken is because the school had deviated from it's usual practice of publishing only class pictures in the yearbook, and decided to publish individual school pictures of each child. !!!

I've decided the whole thing is quite comical, especially because little Brettsky is the LAST kid you'd think of wearing a huge skull tattoo! I'm interested to see how his pictures turn out....and wonder what the kids will say in years to come about Brett and his tattoo in the yearbook!

A visit from G-ma and G-pa

Gramma and Grampa Despain got to come out to Kansas for Treyton's 8th Birthday.

Thank Heaven For Grandparents!!!!

Things we did with Grampa and Gramma this week:

laughed

went for walks

caught bugs

played ball

told jokes

fixed our trampoline

stayed up late

made yummy treats

hiked

picniced

took them to church with us

roasted hotdogs and marshmallows

drew pictures

got nice big hugs

took them to see our school

popped poppers (fire crackers)

got Poison Ivey

What a week! Thankyou Mom and Dad.......hope you've recovered!!

Trey's Baptism

Treyton was baptized a member of the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter Day Saints on September 20, 2008.

All his little friends were there to watch, and were so excited! They have all been friends since they were in diapers (actually, Trey was the only one of them born when we moved here). His bud, Carsen, gave him a journal, and he's been writing in it every night.

Treyton was so excited to open his new scriptures and case. And was especially excited that they had his name printed right on the covers! He set about reading his new Bible because he's already been reading the Book of Mormon, and thinks he should be just as far in the Bible! He also received a book about baptism a few weeks ago from his Grandma Stewart. He's been reading a little every night on hiss own accord! Adam and I didn't put him up to all this! His Grandpa Stewart sent him a letter and card, and a book to record info. about his baptism experience.

Trey and his Daddy have always shared a very close and special bond. It was neat that he could perform the baptism and confirmation.

It was such a special day. Trey was so happy on Saturday night, and excited to stand up in church to be sustained as a new member of the church on Sunday. He's such a cute boy! We are so happy he's ours!

Farewell to Summer....

It's so sad to see summer end! But it's so great to see the kids off to school in the morning! This summer was SO fun! Although it was much different than we had planned (what with our trip out to Utah and all), we wouldn't take back any of it!

The boys got good and toasted in the sun, despite mom's constant spraying with the sunscreen bottle. They just hate that! Thank heavens for an alternative to the old fashioned rubbing....it's much easier to chase them down, then spray them as they run away.

Treyton officially learned to swim this summer, and was so glad he could go off the diving board and swim to the side. Aunt Wendy's pool is a good proving ground for that sort of thing! Brett can "swim like a frog", as Trey describes it. He can swim all over, but not with his head above the water. Cameron (he should have come with "no fear, no tear" stamped on his back) doesn't care if he can swim or not. He just jumps in. I had to save him - no literally - save him from drowning twice this summer.

Speaking of swimming.....We miss the Olympics already! The closing ceremonies were just tonight, but it's so sad!! The boys really got into watching Michael Phelps race, and even enjoyed the gymnastics. Hopefully, they won't try too many things they saw....

"I....am Michael Phelps..."

Treyton joined a local Cub Scout troop a few weeks ago, and has his first Den Meeting this Tuesday! I'm so excited for him to start into scouting! I have no idea what I'm doing, but I know it will be fun! The troop is a community one, but our Primary President is one of the Den Mothers, so they meet in our ward building. Very handy! If he attended only through our ward, he would be the only boy. I'm glad he gets to be part of a large group with lots of support.

Cameron starts Pre-K tomorrow at the

Trinity United Methodist Church.

He's so excited!! He's been waiting to go to preschool forever.

He'll go from 12-3:30pm Monday-Thursday.


(Trinity United Methodist Church)

Little Brettsky LOVES Kindergarten!!! He has a cute little teacher, and is so excited to learn how to read! He loves laying out his clothes for the next day every night along with Trey, and getting up at 6:30am. Breakfast is not his favorite, but I usually stuff a few forkfulls of pancakes or whatever in his mouth between his questions of...whatever! His favorite part of the whole day is riding the bus because, he says, "It has NO seatbelts!"

So between the gym, Cam's preschool in Hutch, the boys' school in Buhler, scouts, practices, and etc....

It brings to mind an old bumper sticker my mom used to have:

"If a mother's place is in the home..why am I always in the car?"

Tomkinson Reunion

The Tomkinson Family Reunion (my mom's family) was held in Fillmore, Utah at what we like to call "The Homestead". It's the same home my grandparents have lived in since just after they were married. The place holds a LOT of memories for 4 generations of kids! It has been labeled the "best reunion yet", and I'd have to agree. I really enjoyed it this year!! Adam was the only one missing from our clan this year. I've contemplated Photoshopping him into this picture somewhere....

Cam on the cable slide

Trey playing Badminton



Brett going for the gold during the Family Olympics

First Week in Utah!!

We almost skipped our yearly trip out to Utah to visit family this year! I'm so glad we decided to come! The first weekend proved to be a foreshadowing of what our entire visit would present: fun, family, and exhaustion! We traveled to Ogden to attend the FIRST Despain Family Reunion in 12 YEARS! Yes, the Joseph Despain family has not been all together since the early '90s. All the babies are now unrecognizeable teenage boys, and all of us gawky kids have grown up to have our own families! It was nice to see that one thing hasn't changed after all these years and added generations: the "Despain Nose" runs deep in our genes, and adorns most all the faces of our extended family!
Staci and I found some rather unusual ways to entertain ourselves involving the children's craft supplies.
It was great fun, but as you can see, also sort of....scary!! Ignore the blur - besides the fact that he was laughing, my dad (who was taking this shot) was also a little startled. NO, it's not photoshop! We are actually making that face!

I got to see my cousin, Christina Cook face-to-face for the first time since I stayed with her and her family in Ogden as a 12 year old, and toilet-papered a neighor's house with 64 rolls. Her oldest, and my youngest are the same age, and would be great friends is they ever saw each other again before they graduate from Highschool - note to Dad: tell your siblings you all need to get together more often!!
Everyone had a great time enjoying each other's company - I've never seen my Dad smile so much for so long! We stayed at Pres and Sheryl's house in whichever Jordan they live in (south, west, don't know!) , and visited Salt Lake City Temple Square. I haven't been there in about....9 years?! Alot has changed, and we really enjoyed it. My boys can't wait to go to their Primary classes and brag about being able to go to the Salt Lake Temple and see the statue of Jesus!
So thus began what would be our month-long invasion of Mom and Dad's house in Hurricane...good thing they have a basement!!

Our trip to HAWAII!!

My younger brother and his wife had planned a trip to Hawaii months ago, and when they found out that Adam had vacation time during the same week, they invited us along. How could we say no?!

We all met in Hawaii, and enjoyed a kid-free week full of sun, sand, and relaxation on Kauai. We kayaked, hiked, body surfed, snorkeled, swam, shopped, and just plain had FUN!!

Adam's mom came to stay with the boys while we were there, and ended up staying for a whole month. We always enjoy her stays, and it even brought on a week long visit from 3 of Adam's siblings. It was great!

Kari's Spring

Trey was not the only one who was glad to see school end. No more alarm clocks is more my style! Time to cut the boys' hair nice and short, and stow away the winter clothes for next year!

Playgroup started as soon as the water park opened on Memorial day, and we try to get there twice a week. I've been busy at home getting garage sale items ready for sale, keeping up with the daily pile of mud-soaked boy clothes I find on the porch every afternoon, and trying to entertain 3 rambunctious boys!