Diabetes

We HATE diabetes.  Every 3 months for the past almost 10 years we've gone to the diabetic specialist for a check-up on Oakley and we will continue to do this check-up every 3 months until they find a cure.  This girl hates going because each time we go they have to draw blood.  You can't tell from that smile that they just poked her with a needle.  Oakley is so strong.  Stronger than anyone I know.  She amazes us with the way she deals with diabetes.  Is it an ongoing battle that we are trying to constantly improve at? Of course. But she is definitely our hero as she fights the daily fight!

Laiklie's Piano Recital

Laiklie started piano lessons at the end of August this year and has loved it.  I love that her piano teacher is just a young newly wed college graduate that COMES TO MY HOUSE for lessons.  It makes it SO EASY and convenient.  Laiklie loves Megan and she does a great job teaching her. She had her first piano recital on December 5th and Grandpa and Grandma Jacobson, Grandma Hawkins, cousins Kiana, Ciara and Paityn were all able to come.  Yay!

 She is looking a little nervous.

 Selfies fix that problem.  Love this little girl more than she will ever know!

They got to play on a grand piano! Such a neat experience.  Laiklie played an Indian Song. The whole piano recital lasted 20 minutes.  That is my kind of recital!! It was perfect and all the kids did a great job, even the little girl that played jingle bells a whole octave lower than normal because she wasn't sure where to put her fingers. ;)

Our Christmas Tree 2015

This year with building a new house and early snow we didn't have time or even dare try to go get a real Christmas tree so we had to dig out the fake one again.  I HATE this tree.  :( Kinda made it a bummer for me.  I tried to have a good attitude about it though.  We got it decorated and looking good.  This year was fun because I pulled out all the decorations the kids made when they were little.  We laughed and laughed at how cute they were.  I definitely enjoyed that part of this ugly tree. 

Oakley's Besties

This girl, Oakley, LOVES her cousins Ali and Macady.  Anytime she asks to have someone over it is almost ALWAYS one of these two.  She is blessed to have such amazing girls as not only her best friends, but her cousins for life!

 This is Oakley and Macady "pretending" to be asleep at 5:30 in the afternoon hoping it would make Aunt Tara agree to Macady staying the night.  Didn't work. Hahaha! Funny girls. O and M are always coming up with plans now that Oakley has a drivers license.  I love it.

 Oakley and Ali, live two hours apart, but you wouldn't know it by how often they find ways to get together.  These two share a brain, breath the same air and love each other with a love that is bigger than any I've ever seen.  They are definitely two of a kind.  Everytime they talk about their future plans (College, etc.) it always involves each other.  We have out hands full and our work cut out for us for sure as these two continue to keep us hopping. 

"A GOOD FRIEND knows all your stories, a BEST FRIEND helped you write them." 

Our First Snow

We got a pretty good snow storm the middle of November and this girl was SO EXCITED to play in it.  She made a nice snowman that sadly got rained away just 2 days later. Darn it. :) We have got a lot of snow since then.  We got a nice storm on Thanksgiving and several more inches added to that over December.  We got snow early enough this year we are going to have to rake leaves in the spring. Ugh!

These little boys wear me out!

Dallin and Rhett are busy, busy, busy! I think I say "you boys wear me out!" atleast once every day! And it is the absolute truth! They have spent a ton of time in the canal since they let the water out this fall.  They not only trapped and shot the beaver, they have found great big trout stuck in the ice that they have caught and brought home to practice their fish gutting skills.  Talk about a bloody mess left on my porch. :( They have caught minows in puddles they brought home for pets (I finally had to flush them down the toilet one day while they were at school.  Only took them two days to notice they were gone. Hahaha!) and now we have snow they have been out sledding and snowboarding in it.  If I can't find them here by the house I know this is where I can find them.  I love these two boys and I love the days that they are best friends and tromp off together to find an adventure.

 

The Day We Had To Shoot A Beaver Before Church

If today had to have a title it would be "The Day We Had To Shoot A Beaver Before Church."

Dallin got a trail camera for his birthday about a month ago and he and Rhett put it out on a tree in the dry canal behind the house to see if they could get any pictures of deer.  So far he has gotten a picture of his thumb, the dog and a bird. Hahaha! He told me one day last week he saw beaver tracks out there when he went to check his camera.  I kinda didn't believe him but acted like I did....you know, being a good mom.:) Then a couple days ago he came running in to tell me that he went to check his camera and saw the beaver.  They scared each other it sounds like. So Ryan called the trapper and Dallin set up his trail camera on the bottom of a tree trunk to try and get some pictures. He actually got SEVERAL pictures of this little beaver working all night long that night.

Two days later the trapper shows up with his trap and that night Dallin discovers from his camera there are TWO beavers.  What we thought was one was actually two.  So this morning about 8:15ish Dallin (in his church clothes) heads out to check the trap and finds one of the beaver caught in it, but only caught by his hips and just laying there suffering.  We text Ryan who is already in church meetings and he tells me to have Dallin call the trapper.  So Dallin calls the trapper and explains the situation and the trapper says he is several hours from being able to come so to just "shoot it in the head!" WWHHAATT??!! He tells my THIRTEEN YEAR OLD to shoot it in the head! AHHHH!!!  So I called Uncle Dale and he said he could be here in about 30 mins. When I got off the phone with Dale, Dallin says to me, "Mom I've got this." So Dallin, his gun, and his trusty sidekick 11-year old Rhett head out to shoot the beaver in the head with their mom yelling out the door behind them "DON'T GET ANY BLOOD ON YOUR CHURCH CLOTHES!"

Dallin says he shot it the first time, "And I think I missed its brain mom because it just started flopping around, so I shot it again. Two times." Anyway....between my two little boys they got the job done.  By this time we are 20 minutes late for church and as we walk in the only bench open is the front row, OF COURSE! Welcome to a day in the life of the Hawkins, The Day We Had To Shoot A Beaver Before Church! Just another one for the record books. ;)