So We're joining the 21st Century (finally) and getting a blog. Hmmm. Not sure why though. We have a miriad of sites to keep up to date with people (myfamily.com, facebook, plaxo, 7 or 8 email addresses) and we don't really use them to update anything about ourselves as it is so this could be an experiment in futility as well. Guess we'll see.

So, basically we live in Pocatello, Idaho. Shawn was raised here and his parents still live here. Kimm was not raised here but has lived here for the last 13 years so I guess I must like it. Actually, we both really like it. We love the access to all the outdoor stuff. We also like the size and location. Close enough to Salt Lake to visit.

Kyler turned 9 in August. He was 4'11" in October and weighed 89lbs. He's huge. He's a very good reader but the only thing that seems to motivate him to read at home is that he can't play his Nintendo DS unless he's done his reading. Apparently I can't get him to read at home and his teacher can't get him to stop reading at school. We made the decision when he was 5 to hold him back from starting school until the next year. We decided we'd rather have him as one of the oldest in his class than the youngest. We haven't been disappointed with this choice yet, though it wasn't an easy choice to make. Kyler is in the 3rd grade.

Bayden is halfway to 8. His birthday is in June. It's a big one this year. He can't wait to get baptised. He was disappointed he has to wait until July. Bayden is in the 1st grade this year. Just like with Kyler, we decided that we would rather have him as one of the oldest rather than graduating at 17. He's a big kid as well, we just haven't measured him lately. Time for a doctor's visit I guess. When you look at him next to Kyler, he doesn't seem so big, but then Kyler is 2 years older. When you look at him next to some of his classmates, you realize he really is a big kid as well. Wonder just how tall they're going to get. They could stop growing at 5'9" but I just don't think that will happen. Time will tell. Bayden is picking up on the reading thing and doing well with his math. He enjoys school a lot and has no issues with playing with girls. Apparently he hangs out with his cousin Noemi at recess. All the little girls at church make sure to say hi and bye to him weekly. Every time we go to a school function he has quite a few little girls that say "Bye Bayden." Guess when you're not afraid to play with them they like you...

Riley is a very active 4 year old. He'll be 5 in March. He will start Kindergarten next year. He's really excited. We're really excited. He's VERY inquisitive. Everything that has batteries is examined minutely. He just got a Ben 10 watch and within 20 minutes he'd taken the back off to see how many batteries it had and where they were located. He got batteries for Christmas and it was one of his favorite gifts. He's already used half of them. He loves to clean though his room is never clean. He loves to wash dishes and windows. Tonight he has cousins visiting so their mom can do a birthday date and we were getting them set up in the playroom to watch a movie. He informed me that we needed to make a bed with pillows & ran to his room to get them. He then told me, "mom, I'm a genius about the pillows huh." That's my boy. He loves animals, but he can be mean to them too. He figured out how to turn his computer games on without help at 2 and uses the mouse like a pro with his right hand even though he is most definitely left-handed.

Shawn has worked at the same job for the last 13+ years. He is currently the House Supervisor at Belmont Care Center, which is a home that takes care of mentally delayed clients 24 hrs a day. They run programs during the day until 2:30 p.m. and then have a residential situation the remaining part of the day/evening/night. He is over the 2:30 p.m. to 6:30 a.m. shift. He also is an administrator of another home setup with 3 clients. He deals with staffing and client needs. He is very good at his job and I'm ever so proud of him. Shawn is an avid hunter and is not restricted to October as the only month he hunts. He seems to go all year long. He starts big game in August and then sprinkles some bird hunting in throughout the fall. He's taken up trapping to carry him through March, though currently he hasn't been out to do that. We camp as often as we can (which hasn't seemed that often the last few years) during the summer and always make a trip Memorial weekend. We try to go to Salmon ID for that trip, though the last 2 years haven't worked out and we've had to stay closer to home. Shawn has brought the love of the outdoors to our little mix and we're willing to share it with friends and family.

Kimm has worked for the Idaho Dpt of Fish and Game for the last 8.5 years. I am a Financial Support Tech which means I sit at a computer and don't go into the field. Nor do I have a Biology degree of any kind. I do paperwork. I answer phones, do invoices that we need to pay, data entry on vehicle reports, and I can sell a license like no other (okay, actually there are a lot of other people that can sell licenses as good or better than I can, but it's my blog). I enjoy my job and only work 28 hrs a week. I work from 8:30 to 2 and get home by 2:15 which is just in time to kiss Shawn goodbye, accept responsibility for the kids, so he can get to work by 2:30. We see each other when he gets off at 10:45 and weekends. It's worked for the last 8 years so we can do it. :)

We also have had the neat opportunity to spend time with Shawn's sister Janie's two children. Janie passed away a year ago and we miss her immensely. We get to spend Monday and Tuesdays with Madison and Broderic though and we love them so much. They are wonderful kids and have brought a lot of creativity and smiles to our lives. Madison is 10 and Broderic is 7, so they are the perfect ages for Kyler and Bayden and they actually get along pretty well. There is the occasional fight and they can spend too much time together though they'll never admit it. They are constantly (it's equal among all of them) asking to play at one house or the other and want to see each other what seems to be daily. I have recorded two productions they've come up with so far and expect to record more. Once I get them edited to Madison's taste I'll post them somewhere.

So this is my very first post. Hopefully it doesn't stay up as the only post for too long.