Happy 36th Birthday Kent- January 27th

HAPPY 36th Birthday Kent!!!

This is the only "baby" picture I have of Kent...which isn't really a baby picture at all. I am not even sure how old he is in this photo either.

Back in September I had bought Guns 'N' Roses concert tickets as a birthday gift surprise for Kent. The concert wasn't until January 16th so we had a while to wait. I was SO dang excited as he had NO clue that I got them and it isn't very often that I can surprise him like this. Niki and Darren bought some as well so we all were going to go together.

Darren, Niki and I had come up with a "big plan" of how we were going to go about the whole "date night" since Kent didn't have a clue what we were really planning. We got dressed up and met Darren and Niki at Montana's Restaurant in Calgary. The food was delicious and then from there we went bowling. We hadn't been bowling for years...so it was ALOT of fun! Let's just say I made them all look like super star bowlers since I was SOOOOO bad ha ha! We had fun and I was glad we went there.

We were right close to the Saddle Dome where the concert was going to be starting around 8 p.m. We decided it was time to head over there. We all got into the van and Darren was driving so he put on a Guns N Roses song. Kent and I were in the very back of the van (because of car seats) and when the music started Kent started singing to it and said "good song." Darren, Niki and I all smiled at each other (keep in mind it was dark out) so it was hard to see each other or anything inside the van for that matter. I asked Kent what group was singing...the music was really loud and he didn't hear me...I had to ask him like 3 times. He finally answered me like duh, it's Guns N Roses. He then said to Darren, "hey they are coming to town did you know that." I pulled out the tickets to the concert and said, "oh you mean this concert?!" Kent had the most confused look on his face as I handed him the tickets and he was trying to figure out what I had handed him. Once we clued him in he was SO shocked and SO excited! We were at the Saddle Dome by this point and he kept saying, "are you serious?" He couldn't believe that I had kept this a secret for so long (which by the way I can freely admit I am a HORRIBLE secret keeper...I get too excited!!!) but this time I rocked it and he gave the greatest reaction to it all =)
Ok so I must be a VERY naive person as I had NO CLUE what we were in for going to a Guns N Roses concert...let's just say my eyes were wide open the WHOLE time...and it wasn't because I was watching the concert it was because of the shock of what I was seeing all over inside the dome. When we got to the doors to go inside the dome men and women were being separated to be searched for drugs and weapons...hmmm, I thought to myself this is strange as they never did this at the Rascall Flatts concert. There were a lot of interesting characters in line at the concert so it gave Niki and I something to talk about while we were waiting...it felt like Halloween...too funny! As we got closer to the door and I could see them literally checking in purses and bags and what not.
We FINALLY got through the doors and met up with Kent and Darren and walked around to find where our seats would be. Ok, so we spend ALOT of time at the Saddle Dome since we have Calgary Flames season tickets...and let's just say it didn't feel like the Saddle Dome AT ALL!!! They didn't have any of the hall lights on so it was VERY dark and dreary feeling in there. I was scared to go to the bathroom by myself...so therefore I didn't. It was extremely smoky in there and dark. Much to my surprise there was people doing drugs EVERYWHERE. There was security and police present walking around and they would tell them to put it out (people doing drugs) and I kid you not the people would just laugh and keep doing what they were doing. There was NOTHING the police or security could do about it because of the numbers of people doing it and the limited amount of police and security there. Inside the dome it literally felt like "a pit."
Needless to say we left early as it was not a good environment. Kent thanked me for the tickets, but told me not to buy him tickets to concerts like that again...NO PROBLEM LOL!!

Kent wanted my no bake cheese cake for his bday cake and Taco Soup for dinner. It was all yummy! We had the kitchen decorated and everything ready to be eaten once Kent walked in the door from work. He had a big grin on his face...and THAT was the greatest!!

Happy 12th Birthday Cole!

Cole Russell Stanford

January 10, 1998

8lbs 5 3/4 oz 21in. long

Our Cole has been SO excited about turning 12 years old...the count down has been on for at least a couple of years ha ha!

Cole has been watching the boys in our church (Deacons) who are 12 years old and older that pass the sacrament. He has always said, "Mom, I can't wait till I can do that." Cole wanted a suit when he turned 12 as all the boys that pass the sacrament in our ward wear a suit (which by the way looks so sharp)...so we got him one and man does he look incredibly grown up and handsome!

Cole had his bishops interview a couple of weeks before he turned 12. Cole was nervous, but SO excited to talk with the bishop and hear about what responsibilities he now would hold since he was turning 12. Being worthy to get the Priesthood means alot to Cole. He came out of his interview beaming with pride and excitement. We had a good talk with the bishop as well...our bishop is such a good guy! On the way home after his interview Cole had a lot to say ha ha. He talked THE WHOLE way home and we just listened and smiled. He told us how he is now one of the Bishop's helpers when the Bishop calls on him, he has the Priesthood and ALL the responsibility that holds, passing the sacrament, being able to go to the Temple and do baptisms for the dead etc. His goal is to get his Eagle Scout Award as well by the time he is 14 years old.

Cole turned 12 years old on a Sunday. We all got ready for church and then we let him open one of his bday gifts...it was from Bryn and Tyson. It was a Nerf gun that shoots like a machine gun...very powerful and fast. He thought it was great.

Cole, Kent and Bishop Woolf

Kent was a proud Dad this day as it has been a day that was talked about with his own Dad (Russ) right before he passed away. When Russ was sick he had told Kent that one of his goals was to try to make it to Cole's 12 birthday so he could be there to help set apart his first grandson and see him get the Priesthood. Russ so wanted to be there for this special day...but Heavenly Father had other plans for him. After Cole's bishop interview a couple of weeks ago Kent told Cole about his conversation with his Dad (Cole's Papa) and how badly Papa wanted to be there with Cole. There were a lot of tears as we talked to him and explained what Papa had said to Kent. We explained to Cole that obviously Papa isn't going to be there "physically" but that he would definitely be there in spirit. Cole said he couldn't wait even more now as he knew Papa would be there with us all.

Most of Kent's siblings and his Mom where there for this special day (his brother Mike and his family didn't make it). It meant a lot to us that they were there and those that couldn't come from my side of the family called and talked to Cole and that made his day. He said he couldn't believe how many phone calls he got and that he was SO happy for all that made the effort to actually be there to show there love and support for him.
Kent had his 2 brothers Jeff and Gary along with my Dad and the bishop and his counsellors, Niki's husband Darren and Sheri's husband Mike all in the circle to set apart Cole. Words cannot even begin to describe the spirit in the room that day. It was VERY evident to us all that Russ was there. Kent did a good job and there was a lot of tears. Kent missed his Dad tremendously on this day...but it was amazing to know Russ was there with us all. The Bishop commented on how special he thought it was for everyone to be there for Cole like this.

Lucas, Brynley, Kori and Roel playing with play dough in Nursery

My calling in our ward is a nursery helper. I teach kids starting from 18 months-3 years old. We usually have roughly 10 kids every Sunday. The Sunday that Cole was set apart was a fun one as we had 4 cousins together Lucas, Brynley, Kori and Roel all together in the nursery. It was fun!

It was a great Sunday and everyone came out to our house afterwards to have supper and play games. I had asked Cole what he wanted for his birthday dinner and he requested Hamburger Stroganoff with Rice. Thank goodness my Mom was there to help me make it all...she made it taste even better than I do =) It was so good and every got full, so that was great!

Cole checking out his cake and blowing out all 12 candles.

Cole wanted a DQ icecream cake so that is what he got. Ice cream cakes are so yummy so we were more than happy to get that for him.

Ok so I will explain this next picture ha ha! Cole is a goalie on his hockey team and for his Birthday gift we bought him a new goalie bag that he wanted so ALL of his pads and equipment could fit into it. So let's just say it is HUGE!!!

Sheri, Tyson and Josh inside Cole's goalie bag...Sheri said 1 more person could have fit in there with them ha!

So when the bag got brought in to Cole everyone was amazed at how LARGE it was. And out of nowhere Sheri was opening it up and laying down in it...ha ha! Then Tyson and Josh decided to join in.


All 3 of them are in there with the zipper shut...too funny!


Cole's Birthday was a GREAT day to say the least! He had the biggest smile on his face from the beginning to the end. We sure love that boy and we just can't get over the fact that he is 12 years old. I was nervous with him turning 12 I will be honest as it brings A LOT of responsibility with it...BUT, now seeing how it has changed him and helped him grow so much already I understand why they get things done at 12 years old!

This New Year has started off with such a HUGE spiritual high note that we are expecting lot's of GOOD things to come this year! THANK YOU, THANK YOU, THANK YOU once again to everyone who called and came to show Cole so much love and support. He truly felt it and that means the world to us!

HAPPY BIRTHDAY SWEET BOY!!!

New Year's Eve...

A couple of days before the New Year Kent's cousins that live in Carstairs invited us all to their hockey arena to have a pot luck and go skating. And then whoever wanted to could have a game of hockey as well.

It was SO fun! We were so glad that they did this and we think they should make this a tradition and do it every year...hint, hint =)

New Year's

All of Kent's siblings and each of their families were able to get together on New Year's Eve at our place. Debbie was there as well and we had a great time. This was the first time we were all together like this during the holidays so we are glad it all worked out in the end. We ate good food, played lot's of games and had a good time visiting. The kids had a lot of fun with all of their "Stanford" cousins ALL being there as well.


There was SOOOOO much food it was ridiculous. Everyone was assigned something to bring and therefore there was A LOT!! It was all good and we had a good time playing games and just being together.

We organized a few family games downstairs for all the kids and adults. It was really fun! We even had a cousin gift exchange since we weren't able to get together any sooner. The kids had a great time...and so did the adults =)

All of us playing the animal game. This was one of Kent's dad's favorite games. You make a complete fool of yourself, but it is alot of fun =)

The kids playing the unwrapping game. We had wrapped some treats a million times with wrapping paper. They had to try to unwrap it with gloves, a winter hat and a coat on...but I am not sure that actually happened. Anyways they kept trying to unwrap it before certain numbers got rolled on the dice...if the numbers rolled then whoever rolled the numbers had a turn unwrapping.

The older kids playing the unwrapping game serperatly from the little kids. And the adults had there own as well.

All in all I think we all had fun! It was a bitter sweet thing ringing in the New Year. We are looking forward to the New Year and all it has to bring. Looking back at 2009 I can honestly say it was probably one of complete happiness watching Brynley with all of her "firsts" and her growing and changing. But then it was one of the absolute hardest with Russ getting sick and passing away.

I have this display of pictures on my wall in my kitchen. I found this saying in the Summer down in Utah after Russ had passed away. If you can't read it is says:

Because someone we LOVE is in heaven

we have HEAVEN in our home

These pictures were the ones taken Father's Day weekend in June a couple of weeks before Russ passed away. Each family wore a certain color so you could tell who belonged to who. There are different groupings with Russ...Russ and Deb of course in the middle, above Russ and Deb is them with all the grandkids, top right picture is Deb and Russ with all their kids, below that is our family with Russ and Deb, to the left of Russ and Deb's picture is all the adults, below that one is all the men(sons of Russ and son in law) and grandsons with Russ who shaved their heads in support of Russ having to have his head shaved and then last but not least was the big family picture with everyone in it.

HAPPY NEW YEAR!!!

Christmas fun!

Holt Family Christmas

(Saturday December 19, 2009)

My side of the family gets together each year usually the weekend before Christmas. The kids really look forward to it as we do so many fun activities with all their cousins. We stayed at my parents place (Kent, Bryn and I) and the boys stayed at my sister Becky's house so they could be with their cousins.

We started off the day by going and having breakfast over at Becky and Marty's. They cooked up a yummy breakfast for everyone. Then we headed over to the Cardston Elementary School and played games in the gym there.

Grandma and Grandpa received an "anonymous bag" of presents that they distributed to all the grand kids that they each got to open. Grandpa read the note that was attached to them and what they were to do with them =) They were all sorts of fun different games. The kids thought this was GREAT and they all had a good time playing with all the games.

Bryn cuddling with her new stuffed giraffe and her Aunt Becky. Brynley's Aunt Johanna bought her the stuffed giraffe and Bryn LOVES it. It is really big (bigger than Bryn) but it is SO soft and light so Bryn just carry's it all around the house. She is a "stuffie" girl and loves all dollies and "stuffies" (stuffed animals) that she comes in contact with.

Everyone playes dodge ball in the gym as well. That was really fun...really exhausting as well ha ha! This is always the kids favorite game to play in the gym. Once we were done there we headed over to my sister Deb's house for lunch. It was delicious and very filling. Deb is an amazing cook!

Tyson, Jada and Wilson eating at the Cahoon's house for lunch. Deb had made her famous home made buns and home made chicken noodle soup...YUMMMMMM!!

After that everyone went to the movie theatre in town as we had it rented so we could all watch a Christmas show. The kids thought this was an awesome idea. Bryn and I didn't go as we both needed to nap.

Once we were done there we went back over to my sister Deb's house to have family home evening.

We sang Christmas songs and them the kids that wanted to shared a "talent" with us all...like a song on the piano, played an instrument etc. Tyson sang one of his Christmas songs he sang in his Christmas school play. And Cole was supposed to play us a song on his trumpet, but got to nervous and decided not too...I was really looking forward to it!

My sister in law Johanna, my sister Becky and I hanging out

All the kids doing our traditional Nativity scene. Bryn was an angel (who kept stealing baby Jesus which was a teddy bear ha ha) Tyson was Joseph and Cole was a wise man.
It was ALL so fun! We look forward to getting together with everyone down there as the kids just love being with their cousins. Our sisters Emily and Cynthia and their families couldn't be with us as they live to far away. We wished they could have been there and missed them all. We were able to talk to each of them on the phone though so that was nice.

Thanks Mom, Dad, Becky and family and Deb and family for all you did to make that such a fun weekend =)

Christmas Eve in Crossfield...

Debbie, Sheri and her family, Gary and his family and then our family all celebrated Christmas Eve together at our house.

In Crossfield you leave the porch light on and around 6pm Santa comes to the door and hands our candy canes (it is really the fire department that does this). It is such a neat thing that they do and the kids love it!

My kids "think" they know the "truth" about Santa...I told them if they don't believe in Santa then they don't believe in getting gifts ha! They both said, "we believe Mom, we believe!" HA HA HA!!!

Brynley and her cousin Roel (Gary's son) playing together. They kept sticking things in the back of each others shirts...they play really well together.

Cole and Tyson opening up there traditional Christmas gift on Christmas Eve...jammies of course! They were so excited to open them and get them on. Taylor and Josh arrived at hour house in their new jammies so Cole and Ty all night kept asking when they could open theirs up. Taylor helped Brynley open her gift as she just didn't care ha ha!

All the kids in their new jammies

Nativity

The kids waiting to come down the stairs and around the corner to where everyone was to do the nativity. Brynley didn't know what the heck was going on and why they were all dressed the way they were =)

Brynley was Mary, Roel was Joseph and Thijis (Tyce) was baby Jesus.

Yes, Taylor is the angel and the star and put together his costume all by himself ha ha! As you can see by the smile on his face he was quite pleased with himself ha ha!

Brynley was a bit of an abusive Mary but she didn't mean to be. She kept trying to put the soother back in his mouth but kept shoving it in his eye. She just thought he was the greatest and wouldn't leave him alone.

Poor baby had had enough! He was a brave baby Jesus =)



All the kids! They did a good job and it was a lot of fun.

Cookies and milk left out for Santa and carrots for the reindeer

Christmas morning

The tree and all the presents and stockings

Everyone opening up their gifts. Brynley could have cared less for any of it. So the boys took turns opening up her gifts for her.

All in all it was a good Christmas!