Good Old San Fran!!!

Wow - I am a little behind --ok, a whole summer behind but I am going to try and catch up a little on some of our fun summer stuff.

James and I had the opportunity to spend a few days in San Francisco during May. James had to be there for a work conference and then I flew in at the end of his conference and meet him and we stayed through the weekend. What a great Mother's Day get away - we had such a great time. The first night we were there was my favorite part -- we went and saw "Wicked" for the first time - it was awesome! The next day we shopped all around Union Square (which is also where our hotel was located) until James was ready to drop, of course I could of kept going for days! We spent Saturday at Alcatraz - we took a boat ride over, which was beautiful just to be able to see the Golden Gate bridge and the Bay Bridge at the same time. Alcatraz was amazing, we did the recorded/self guided tour of the prison and island and it was extremely interesting, even for me(because we all know that James loves that kind of stuff). I can't imagine being an inmate or worker at that place. Later that afternoon we headed over to Pier 39 and hit the aquarium and enjoyed all the shops and great seafood. On Sunday we headed over to the Golden Gate Bridge and took a walking tour of the bridge, I think it was so much more interesting than just walking it on our own. The stories behind the building of the bridge were incredible. We also went to the Academy of Sciences Museum and saw some great exhibits and aquariums. This day ended with a delicious meal and scrumptious cheescake at the Cheesecake Factory - Happy Mother's Day to me! Our last morning we spent checking out China Town which is always an adventure, we got to splurge on an awesome checkered umbrella to save us from the sudden down pour of rain that ended up lasting about a total of 10 minutes after our purchase! All in all a great weekend with the hubby and no kids!!!

Baseball Birthday Extravaganza!

The boys loved playing noodle vs waffle ball Baseball!

Baseball Cake Anyone?





Pinata Time!






The Boys lined up for a race around the bases!








Robby chose a baseball theme for his 8th Birthday Party. Mom was a little nervous for a party with 12 eight year old boys but the rain stayed away and all turned out great with of course a bit of chaos. We played a couple different games like timing the boys around the bases, a pitching competition, a sunflower seed spitting contest and of course a pinata, which I think was the boys favorite. However coming in a close second was the baseball game using a swim noodle as the bat. Happy Birthday Robby - I love you!

Elli and her preschool girlfriends!


Elli and Miss Amy

Elli graduated from Miss Amy's Preschool on May 18, 2010...she had so much fun singing all of the songs they had learned throughout the year. Mom and Dad were so proud of her awesome singing, we had absolutely no trouble hearing each and every word to every song. Elli is definately "our little performer".
Congratulations Elli! Now off to Kindergarten... I can't believe it!

Elli's Fieldtrip to Layton Park

Elli's last field trip this year for preschool was a trip to Layton Park to play and feed the ducks. The kids always choose the merry go round as the all time favorite thing to play on no matter how many times we go to this park...and I think there is probably a reason they don't put merry-go-rounds on new playgrounds...someone always ends up crying! Madi and Robby got to come to since they were off track. Elli went to Miss Amy's Preschool this year with our neighbor Ella and they loved it! The kids always love to feed bread to the ducks and I almost feel sorry for the poor ducks and the huge chunks of bread being chucked at their heads!

Pocatello Clogging Competition 2010

Madi'sm "Coyote Ugly" outfit and overall champion trophy!

Halle and Elli showing off Halle's trophy!


We had a great time at the Idaho State Championships for clogging in April...Madi's team won Overall Champion for both of their dances and Madi did awesome! We got to stay with our awesome Poky friends and it was so fun to watch the girls dance on Friday and then hang out all day on Saturday and relax and catch up! Thanks to Steph and Lowell for the great hospitality! It is always fun and a little sad to see the old friends and neighborhood...we miss our Poky!

Easter 2010

This year we celebrated Easter at the cabin with Grandma and Grandpa Gallacher and the cousins. How cool is an Easter Bunny that tracked us down even at the cabin...we each got a new Webkinz to add to our collection and a new kite and bubbles. Grandma and Grandpa sent all the kids on an Easter egg hunt and spoiled them rotten with candy and goodies. We enjoyed a great weekend of playing and listening to conference. Oh and did I mention it SNOWED... a lot!

I can't believe my baby girl is 5 years old! When the kids turn 5, they get their first "friend birthday party"...so this was Elli's big year! She wanted to have a Princess Party - so all her friends dressed as their favorite princess and we played all Princess games including pin Cinderella in the castle, pass the glass slipper, princess dress up relay, decorated "princess picture frames" and of course ate cake!
Her cake was awesome - it was a pink purse that my neighbor made and the girls all loved it... I had a hard time when it came time to cut into the masterpiece! Elli had a great time being a Princess for a day!(who am I kidding, she thinks she's a Princess every day!)
She also got to celebrate her birthday with all the McDougal side of the family at Chuck E Cheese with her cousins, Olivia and Shelby, who also have March birthdays - what could be more fun than bad pizza, delicious cake and ice cream and all the germs...oh I mean games you could wish for!
As if 2 parties wasn't enough, we then had a party celebration with cousin Adam and all the Gallacher side of the family also - there is nothing like a whole week of parties to keep our little red head grounded!!
I can't believe she has gotten so big...she will be starting Kindergarten this summer and she keeps all of us on our toes with her crazy personality and attitude. The other morning she came in at her normal 7am to let me know that she was starving and that she needed her daily dose of oatmeal and she couldn't wait another minute (which basically explains anything in Elli's life)...so I said to her "I think you have a hole in your stomach because you are always hungry" and she responded very matter of factly, "No Mom, that is my belly button and it can't leak".
We love our little Elli!

Almost a Year!

Wow - look at me , I can stand up all by myself in my crib ... good thing Dad lowered my mattress a few days ago! March 20, 2010



How cute is this little man - he is starting to look so much more like a little boy than my little baby boy. He is now 11months old and can crawl and chase all his sisters and brother with no trouble at all. I can't believe how fast time is going by - just today I was preparing dinner at the kitchen counter and Connor was hanging on my leg as usual and I thought to myself how crazy is it that this is the last little one to hang on to me as I try to cook dinner. (Now don't get me wrong - most of the time I am constantly moving him and being a little annoyed that I have a permanent attachment to my leg ... but today for those few moments it seemed like a wonderful thing. Kind of like when you peek in on your sleeping children at night and love how peaceful they look!) This little guy is so much fun to have around - even with his 2nd ear infection since easter and also a 2nd round of croup, you would never know it - he is almost always happy...especially if mom is holding him - but I might as well enjoy it while I can.

Madi at Winterfest

Madi's dance company had their annual Winterfest performance on Saturday night. Madi performed 2 dances and did great...this performance always marks the beginning of the competition season. In the next 3 months we will be heading to Thanksgiving Point, Pocatello and Lagoon. Madi loves clogging and is getting better each year. She is fun to watch!

Brothers and Sisters

I love it when the kids actually play together and have limited fighting. Elli loves to do her doll's hair and the other day decided that it Connor's hair needed some spiffing up...he sat quietly and let her do her thing with water dripping down his face! The kids love to build forts right now...it changes from room to room, they like to build them with Connor and then play "house" and their favorite is to convince James and I to let them sleep in them. These pictures are some they have built in the last few weeks. The greatest fun is when I try to convince them that it is time to clean them up so I can see the floor again!

Everything in the Mouth

I had forgotten how much babies love to chew on everything - much like a puppy but so much easier to love... Connor puts everything in his mouth especially anything soft and then just leaves it there - it seems to be comforting to him. It makes us all laugh to see what new thing is hanging out of his mouth.
He is now 9months old- I can't believe how fast time has flown by ... he sat up by himself at almost 7months and now he has learned how to crawl -- we were doing only backwards for a few weeks but as of this week he has now figured out forward. He went and got his first professional haircut last week and he looks like a little boy more than a baby now. He has been such a good baby - yea! We are experiencing some crappy nights as of recent due to 4 top teeth all coming in at the same time - poor kid! His 2 bottom teeth came in during December and they were no big deal, but 4 at a time is a little much, even for our happy Connor! It is now time to officially start baby proofing the house!

Song of the day!

As most people out there know - James and I have no singing ability but we somehow got a child who loves to sing (too young to know if there is true talent yet)... Elli will sing about anything and everything - so maybe if there is not vocal talent, there may be "song writing" in her future. This week we have sung about almost everything that makes up a part of her day... including pigtails, oatmeal, polly pockets, barbies, Connor...you get the idea. This girl can make up a song to anything and her favorite is to sing in front of a mirror so she can add facial expressions and dance moves. Even when she is driving me crazy with her ongoing drama (which is most of the day), she can always make me laugh when she breaks out in some crazy song!

Christmas 2009

We had a wonderful Christmas - here is a little peak at our morning festivities! It is always fun to see the kids eyes light up as they open their gifts! It was especially fun to have Connor for his first Christmas ... he loved everything that he could put in his mouth. He is now 7months old, sitting up and always smiling and so fun to have around! Madi got her new desk for her room that she has been wanting for over a year - I found it at the DI and then sanded and repainted for hours and then put new handles - it turned out great! Robby was so excited for his new Wii game Super Mario Party 8 and Elli got her Princess castle. James finally got his fire pit for the back yard! For Christmas Eve - we went to Matt and Rebecca's for dinner and the took the kids up to drive aroung the Bountiful Temple where the neighbors have put pictures lit up in their front yards of the story of Christ's birth -- it was a nice reminder of the true meaning of Christmas. The kids loved taking turns reading the story as we drove by each picture!