Caroling

We went caroling tonight to some friends & neighbors. It was lightly snowing when we left but that soon changed to heavy snow and back to light snow when we got back home. We had all the kids in the car and had a fun time. They were pretty tired by the time we made it back home. They are excited for Christmas and looking forward to going to Idaho to see everyone there...JA

Horseshoe cake

While we were out we took a cake to our friends house for his birthday, which was yesterday. I was supposed to make a horse but that sounded too hard so I made a horseshoe. He is the one who put shoes on our horses last. I tried to make it look like there was a rope and a cowboy boot on the cake, along with his name. As you can see, amateur job but it should taste good...JA

Happy Birthday

Bethlehem

Tonight we drove to LaGrande to go to a live Nativity scene. This was no ordinary event but an actual reenactment of a trip to Bethlehem. We went to the Inn, but there was no room. The Roman gaurds/soldiers which you can see in the picture came around to collect taxes and make sure we were all following the "rules." At the census, they asked us how we got there, walk, ride or by a camel. Colton told them we rode in on an elephant (who left with our trunk). The whole reenactment was great, angels singing, wise men, a variety of booths and shops along the streets of "Bethlehem," live animals, and much more. We had fun and it was a great way to look at the events and coming of the Messiah.

Snow Plow

Our driveway is getting full of snow again. I plowed it Wednesday and it is getting deep again. Anytime I go to get ready to go outside Oakley runs and gets shoes or boots and her coat. She wants to go out any chance she can get. How can you say no to her cute little face and eagerness to go with me? We bundled her up and went out go get the tractor. She rode on the tractor just fine. She settled right in and just watched out the windows. She sat right behind the seat and didn't make a noise. I would look back at her and she would be playing in some dirt, then with a screwdriver or something, and just enjoying herself. I looked back a little later and she had somehow found a can of starting fluid/ether and got the lid off and was sucking on the top. No wonder she was behaving so well???...JA

Drinking Fountain

Saturday is Colton's day to go with me to work and he found something he really thought was funny happening there. One of our assistants dogs (Shooter) goes to the bathroom when he needs a drink, and that really made Colton laugh. He thought it was funny and wanted a picture. After watching, he became thirsty and as you can see, got a drink of his own.




















































I tried to get them both to go outside to get a picture of them going to bathroom outside, but they would not cooperate...JA

Pig Day

Hello again. Luckily today was a nice today (weather) until about 2pm, then it snowed some more. I took Colton to work with me today, Saturday's he usually goes with me to work and we are normally done by noon. Today we went to a hog outfit to ultrasound for pregnancy on some hogs. Here are some pictures of the hogs. We found 2 pregnant ones, due February sometime...JA






































































Colton had the bright idea of riding one and the owner let him. Once he got up on her he got too nervous to stay on very long. Here he is riding Libby...JA

Piano Recital

Here are some more pictures of the Piano Recital tonight.
We will start out with the spectators, then some performers, then spectators:
Here's Colton after it was all over.McKay, Kaci, Oakley
Kari, Oakley & Colt
Megan & Sierra

And finally their parents, in deep thought:

Piano Teacher

Here is a picture of Colton and his piano teacher, Sister B. She does a great job, Colton loves the lessons.
Here is the other students with Sister Bingham. They all did well at the recital.
Here is Brother B at the recital. It's not his first one as you can see. I was wondering why he sat in the back. Now I know.

First Recital

Colton had his first piano recital tonight. Here are some pictures of him playing Once there was a snowman or Jingle Bells. He is pretty focused. He loves to play and practice piano, something he did not get from his dad. He knows alot more about piano and reading music than I do. JA

Another day at the office

Here are some pictures from today at work at the sale yard IML http://www.imlivestock.com/. I was thinking about how cold it is today and was comparing in my mind my job to my siblings/in-laws jobs, what did they do today? Marcy-work in the hospital, or maybe you were at the saleyard too?
Zach-office in TF, or basketball at the gym.
Becky/John-no need to mention the California weather, I was there last week and it was much warmer.
Lindsay/Brian-Sportsmans warehouse testing bows and rifles, nice.
Jeff-sorry bro', your still a student, hang in there.
McKenzie-chef school, tasting lots of good food in the kitchen, or cutting hair. Did you tell everyone what I sent you to try last new year? Need some more?

Anyways, today was a bit cold, windy, snowy and wet, but I love my job. Sorry no pics of me, just calves I vaccinated. Enjoy your work wherever it may be, send me a picture., JA

Pole Barn Construction

Dad-here are some pictures of the shed we are building. I'm not sure why you want them, your here helping build it. Anyway, thanks for the help, Brian too. It's going up quicker and easier than I thought. I think if you click on a picture you can get a close up...Josh

Dad, Brian & Bob burying the posts.

Josh, Brian, Dad, Bob & Kari setting the first truss.

Deven in the JD bucket setting more trusses.

Bob putting the 5th truss in the right spot. The mountains have some snow in the background.

Colton climbing to the top.

Bob, Kevin, Marcy & Josh setting the last one in the snow!

Marcy & Dad. Thanks for all the help Dad, Brian, Lindsay, Eva, Marcy, Mom, Kari, Bob, Caren, Deven, Nick, Jason, Colby, Jacy, Kaci, McKay, Colton, & Oakley.

Halloween Plus More!

Halloween!

We had a fun Halloween this year. The kids had a great time with their costumes. McKay was a "bad witch", Kaci was a cuddly chicken, Oakley was a black cat and Colton was a motorcycle rider who got in an accident and turned into vampire! His favorite part of his costume was his glow-in-the-dark vampire teeth.

Josh was in charge of the annual "Valley Ward Spook Alley" It turned out great! All three Baker wards were invited and almost everyone brought a friend. Josh and someone else from the ward made a maze out of straw bales. Then Josh and about ten other people from the ward dressed up and hid in the dark corners of the maze. I am not sure what was the scarriest; the man chasing them into a dead-end with the chainsaw, the witch hiding in a corner with real chickens, the crazy guy (Josh) hanging upside-down behind a tarp that they had to crawl under, the worms falling from the sky (really just spaghetti), the dead-end that had walls that closed in on them and then had chainsaws blasting on all sides, or the cute little motorcycle vampire with glow-in-the-dark teeth! Well, I don't know what scared them the worst, but they say it is pretty funny to watch those 16-year-old football players be scared to death!

Of course Josh can't go for too long without an injury. The same day as the spook alley Josh broke his thumb playing basketball during his lunch break! He went for a week before he finally x-rayed it at work and saw that it was definitely broken. He took his x-rays into the doctor, saved us a few hundred dollars, and now has a cast for the next three weeks. And one of his legs still has a numb spot from hanging upside-down in a swing for a whole hour!


Oakley burned her hand really bad on Grandma Stephens stove, so she has her hand all wrapped up! Kaci tripped in the yard and fell on a rock and bloodied up her chin, again, but no stitches this time! People are going to start wondering what I do to my family!

McKay now prefers to go by Kayletta! She loves the name which is just a combination of McKay Verletta. When she was younger she couldn't say her first name and her last name it was too much of a mouth full, so what came out was Kayletta, and it stuck. Too bad we didn't think of it first!

Colton is doing great in school. We had parent teacher conference last week. He is in second grade this year, but he does reading and spelling with the advanced 4th grade reading group and math with the third graders and of course getting A's in everything. His teachers are really cracking down on his handwriting which is good. His mind thinks so much faster than his hand can move that his handwriting is horrific. His teacher gave him a 6th reading test. He got a 99% in accuracy, he read 165 words per minute, retold the whole story to her and got 100% on the comprehension part. She said, unfortunately she doesn't have a harder test to give him! He has definitely read more books than Josh and I put together. We hardly ever read. We aren't quite sure where he came from.