Karren Family

Jazz Game #3

2011-02-19T10:44:00.001-08:00

Our final Jazz game from Santa was on February 16 against the Golden State Warriors. We weren't able to pull out the win this time. The final score was 100-107. We still had a great time cheering on our team and hope to be able to go to more games soon. Let's hope the Jazz start winning again. :)

Damon is 10!

2011-02-19T10:26:00.001-08:00

My Damon is 10. I can't believe it. He has been waiting for this day for quite a while. He took almost a year's worth of piano lessons in order to get his very own guitar. His cousin Alex is quite the guitar player and he would like to be able to play like him. My brother is also a great guitar player and is planning to teach him lessons. He had his first lesson yesterday and is already able to switch between a couple chords. The first song he wants to learn to play is Smooth Criminal by none other than Michael Jackson! I am excited to hear him practice as he learns to play.

For his birthday we went to Classic Skating with his cousins and friends from school. They seemed to all have a good time and it is much easier than having 20 boys at my house. :)

As part of the party he got to go into the ticket blaster and catch as many tickets as he could in 45 seconds. Then he got to spin the prize wheel where the BIG prize was $10! He was lucky enough to actually win the BIG prize!!

Here we are after skating with all the cousins sleeping at our house. In all (including my 4 boys) we had 12 boys sleeping over! Good times indeed!

Here they are playing the Michael Jackson Experience game. Love it!

I can hardly believe it has been 10 years since I became a mom! Love you Damon Paul!

Jazz Game #2

2011-01-16T16:59:00.001-08:00

Jazz game #2 was on January 14 against the Cavs. Jazz won 121-99! It was awesome. Damon and Brady are really starting to understand and get involved. We had a great time. We made some signs, but didn't ever get put up on the big screen. Maybe next time. :) Me and my boys!
Raja Bell came out to shoot around before the game. We were hoping to get his autograph on Brady's jersey and our Jazz ball, but it was too close to game time and he had to hurry into the locker room.

Big T Bailey is so nice...and so tall!

Gordon Hayward

Jeremy Evans

Big Al Jefferson

Coach Jerry Sloan

Watching them shoot around before the game.

Patiently waiting to get some autographs. We got a total of 8 signatures on our Jazz ball that we will take to the next game and hopefully add to that. :)

Pirate Party

2011-01-09T12:18:00.001-08:00

Evan celebrated his 6th Birthday at Pirate Island. Aunt Carrie made him an amazing Pirate cake and we all had so much fun. He invited a few friends from his Kindergarten class to come celebrate with him. Here are a few pictures from our day.

Jazz Game #1

2011-01-07T18:48:00.000-08:00

Santa brought us Jazz tickets this year and each of our boys get to go to 2 games. We are so excited. Our first game was on January 3 against the Detroit Pistons. Brady and Evan were the lucky ones that got to come first. We had such a good time. They each also got $10 fanzz gift cards to spend on more Jazz gear at the game. Jazz won 102-97! Here we are all decked out in our Jazz gear!
Evan

Brady (totally chillin)

our view of the court

We got to the game early and went down to watch some of the players warm up and were fortunate enough to get a few autographs. Here is Mehmet Okur!

Gordon Hayward

Jeremy Evans

Can't wait for game #2 next Friday, January 14!

Christmas 2010

2011-01-07T05:27:00.000-08:00

We had a great Christmas this year. Santa brought lots of fun things for the boys. Here are just a few pictures of our day. This picture is Christmas afternoon on the way to Grandma Karren's house. The boys must have been tired from all the present opening because they all fell asleep. :)
Sean got a Buzz and Woody from Santa. He loves them.

Damon got Sean this singing alligator from an auction at school.

Damon and Brady both asked Santa for Lego sets. We spent most of the day building all of them.

Evan wants to learn to be a magician so he asked Santa for the Criss Angel magic kit.

Evan with Star Wars the Clone Wars for PS3.

Damon got the Michael Jackson dance game for the Wii. Spending time learning all of Michael's moves is one of our new favorite things to do.

The boys all got Jazz jerseys along with tickets to go to 2 games each in their stockings. We are so excited to go cheer on the Jazz!

Damon's Birthday

2010-02-11T09:44:00.000-08:00

Damon's birthday party was all about Guitar Hero. We went to Grandma Karren's clubhouse to play on the big projector screen. His friends all came and we spent the entire party rockin out to Guitar Hero. It was so much fun. All the kids took home some rock star sunglasses and we had awesome cupcakes with guitars on them. Happy Birthday to my Damon! 9 years old!

My poor baby!

2010-01-28T15:08:00.000-08:00

My baby Sean has always been a good sleeper. He is almost 3 and is not too keen on taking naps on a regular basis these days. I have been working so much these past few months that today was my first day off (that we actually stayed home) in a long time. Laying him down for a nap didn't even cross my mind. I was getting ready to start my next load of laundry when I saw him like this! Poor baby. He has to put himself down for a nap. At least he remembered to put on his Spiderman slippers first!

Evan's 5th Birthday

2010-01-10T07:38:00.001-08:00

We went to Chuck E Cheese to celebrate Evan's birthday along with my sister's Emma's birthday. That made the event much more affordable to split it with her. :) We had a great time and Evan got lots of great gifts from friends and family. Here are some pics of the evening.

His favorite gift was Club Penguin for the DS. He got a DS for Christmas so now he has 2 games of his very own. We gave him Lego Rockband.

With Chuck E.

Blowing out the candles

Damon is pretending to be sad in this one...not sure why. I thought it was funny though.

Hi 5!

Evan just after getting his birthday crown.

Sean watching Chuck E. dance.

Cousin Ethan was totally into it!

Tanner, Evan, Kolby and Daniel. These are 3 of Evan's best friends!

Eating Pizza!

The whole gang!

Thanks again to everyone who came! Evan had a great birthday!

Merry Christmas!

2009-12-26T16:48:00.000-08:00

Since I didn't get around to sending out Christmas Cards this year, here are some pictures from our Christmas morning! :)

The whole family!

Damon

Brady

Evan

Sean

Evan's Preschool Field Trip

2009-11-19T18:41:00.000-08:00

Evan's preschool class came to visit me at Harmons today for their field trip to learn more about the food groups. I do preschool tours quite often as part of my job at Harmons so it was really fun to have my little Evan there with all his friends. They got to try on hair nets, sample a cookie, watch how a cake is decorated, watch the forklift in action, sample some pineapple, look at the venus fly trap in the floral department, get a balloon and a coloring book. I had fun and I hope that they all did too!

Halloween 2009

2009-11-07T16:18:00.001-08:00

We had a great time on Halloween. It is so fun getting all the cousins together in all their costumes. This is all 12 Karren cousins. It isn't easy getting a picture of them all looking in the same direction. They all have such personality!

Here are my boys just before leaving for Grandma Karren's.

Damon is a Vampire Soccer Player, Evan is Superman, Brady is a Vampire and Sean is a pirate.

Here are our awesome pumpkins! I always seem to forget how long it actually takes to carve 4 each year. They turned out cute though. Well worth the effort!

Scouts

2009-09-27T14:01:00.001-07:00

I am the first to admit that I am a terrible scout mother. I know nothing about scouts. Damon has been fortunate to get some great den leaders that have helped him get his Wolf badge. We did some of it together at home, but they did a lot at the den meetings. I appreciate the help and maybe by the time Sean is in scouts I will have it down. :) Here is a picture of Damon at Pack Meeting last Thursday getting his Wolf Badge as well as 2 silver arrow points and 1 gold arrow point. He is so excited to have grandma sew them on his shirt. Way to go, Damon!!!

Look Mom! No Training Wheels!

2009-09-25T14:30:00.000-07:00

Evan has been practicing riding his bike without training wheels for most of the summer. Just the other day he decided he was ready to practice some more. He caught on pretty quickly other than turning and starting by himself. Well, I am proud to say that he has mastered bike riding! He can start, turn and stop all by himself now! What a big boy he is becoming! Way to go Evan!!

Damon

2009-09-14T16:43:00.000-07:00

Here is my sweet Damon with his new glasses. He was so excited to be able to see! Isn't he handsome??

Last day on the lake

2009-09-13T12:56:00.000-07:00

So, here we are...at the end of summer. :( It is always so sad to know that we have to wait 8 months to get out on the lake again. So, for our final day on the boat we decided to try something fun. Darrell is getting really good at wake surfing at has been able to stay in the wake for quite a while. He told me to get on the back of the boat and try to kiss him while he was surfing. Here is the picture that Damon (our new little photographer) took of our successful attempt!

HCG Diet Day 15

2009-09-09T10:40:00.000-07:00

So, I made it through another week, but this time not so great results. I must admit that I did cheat and have some bread once and that may have stifled my whole losing process. I am up to a total of 12.2 pounds lost and 13 inches. I still feel great and am re-motivated for my last week! I am hoping to get to a total of 20 pounds. Wish me luck!

Preschool!!!

2009-09-08T13:29:00.000-07:00

My baby Evan is now a big boy and had his first day of Preschool today. He was soo excited and couldn't wait to get there. After dropping off his big brothers at school, we proceeded his preschool. I asked him if he was ready and he said "Yes!" I asked him if he was nervous and he said "No!" I took him in and helped him get situated and he said, "Bye Mom!" No worries. When did my baby get to be so big and independant? He is so smart and I am so excited for him to start learning to read and write.

My Handsome Evan

Sean wanted to get in on the picture taking this morning.

HCG Diet Day 8

2009-09-02T10:08:00.000-07:00

Wahoo!! I made it through week 1 of 4! I have some great results to post! I have lost 9.8 lbs and 11 inches in 7 days! I must admit that it has been very hard to stick to the 500 calories each day. I am HUNGRY and it has been hard to cook dinner for my family and not be able to eat it. As long as I continue to see these kinds of results, I will keep on keepin on! I can't really "see" the difference yet, but I did put on a pair of pants that I haven't been able to wear for most of the summer. That felt good! Anyway, I will keep you all posted.

HCG Diet

2009-08-28T20:43:00.000-07:00

So, Day 3 of the diet has come to an end and so far all is well. It wasn't as hard as I thought it would be to eat only 500 calories. I am hopeful that I will be busy enough with soccer and working to not think about the fact that I am not eating as much through this next month. I am excited to see if the results come as easily to me as they have to those around me that have done this program. I will post about results as they come in. Wish me luck!!

More than our fair share!

2009-08-19T11:34:00.000-07:00

We have definitely had more than our fair share of accidents this month!

Sean fell and hurt his leg playing on our trampoline on Monday, August 3rd. We debated on taking him in to see someone. Even after taking a nap, he would not put any pressure on his leg at all. The InstaCare doctor told me that it looked like it was fractured, but he would have the radiologist look at it closer. I then got a phone call the following Wednesday from the radiologist telling me that it was NOT fractured. So, we removed the splint and he spent the next week and a half crawling around not wanting to put any pressure on it. After 2 weeks, he is still limping a little, but running and playing like normal.

Last night it was Brady's turn. We were at Damon's soccer practice and the other boys had all brought their scooters to play on while Damon practiced. Brady snuck over to Geneva Park which is right behind Suncrest Elementary and was riding his scooter down the hill there. He fell on his arm and wasn't able to come over and tell me for quite a few minutes. Evan finally yelled for me and told me Brady was hurt. Needless to say we left practice early. It was quite swollen when we got home and we debated on going to InstaCare or the ER. After taking X-Rays, the ER doctor said that it was broken and he was going to have to sedate Brady in order to put the bones back in the correct place. He is wearing a splint for 5-7 days and we have an appointment for next Tuesday to get an actual cast put on. Poor kid doesn't get to enjoy our last camping trip up at Starvation this weekend. No more swimming for Brady. Good thing summer is pretty much over.

The only good thing to come of this for Brady is that he will have an excuse to not do too much writing for the first few weeks of school!

I will be happy to not go to another ER, InstaCare or doctor appointment for the rest of the year!! (other than getting the cast on and off!)

Brady's 7!

2009-08-01T21:29:00.001-07:00

I feel like we have been celebrating Brady's birthday for 2 weeks now. My family has a LOT of birthdays in July so we decided to go in together on renting out Classic Skating. SO MUCH FUN!! I highly recommend it. It isn't too expensive and it is AWESOME to have it all to yourselves!! So, on the 21st we had all our friends and families come skating. Brady got some great gifts and we all had a great time skating and scootering and we even got to play on the bounce houses that they had there. Here are some pictures of the fun!

Brady and his table full of presents.

This is Brady's camera grin!

Daddy helping Damon skate.

Evan playing on the bounce houses.

Sean scootering!

Everyone in this picture has a birthday in July. From Left to Right....Missy, Braxten (in stroller), Jordyn, Daniel, Crystal, Kaden, Kenzie, Skylee, Katie Lyn, Brady, Ruth & Ethan (in stroller). Missy, Braxten and Jordyn are my sister's sister in law and neice and nephew. Katie Lyn is my brother's neice. Ruth is my sister in law and the rest are all cousins and my parents grandkids. SOOOO many July birthdays!

On the actual day of Brady's birthday (July 31), we took our little family to Nickelcade to celebrate. Then went home for some cake and ice cream. We had so much fun with our boys.

Evan & Sean
Damon
Brady
Yoda Cake

At the Park

2009-06-19T15:00:00.000-07:00

This picture was actually taken on Memorial Day. We went to the park next to the Scera Shell to listen to the Bee Gees Tribute Band. The boys played at the park until it was too dark to even see them. The band sounded great and it was lots of fun!

Coach Pitch

2009-06-13T20:08:00.001-07:00

Damon and Brady are having fun playing Coach Pitch this year. They especially like being on the same team. Darrell got some great pictures of them today!

Tee Ball 2009

2009-05-30T12:49:00.000-07:00

My little Evan is getting so big! Today was his very first Tee Ball game and he was sooo excited. Unfortunately, Damon and Brady had their first game at the same time. So Darrell and I had to split up and each go to one of the games. He took the camera and got some great shots of sweet Evan. He is already a pro athlete! He's a natural!

Last Day of School

2009-05-29T19:08:00.001-07:00

We have had a Tradition at our house for the past several years where we buzz the boys heads on the last day of school. Now we are officially ready for summer!

Buzzed Boyz
Damon

Brady

Evan

Sean

Like Mother, Like Son?

2009-05-12T10:27:00.001-07:00

Sean likes to "help" me do laundry and one of his favorite items of clothing is my bra. He put this on all by himself. I am sooo proud! :)

Lost and Confused

2009-05-03T14:45:00.001-07:00

We spent the evening at my sister's house watching the race last night. The boys love playing with their cousins and are usually not seen much when we are there. After the race had finished, we started getting everyone gathered with their coats and shoes. Oddly, we were unable to find Damon. After looking a little harder, we found him. He had fallen asleep across the bar stools. It was so funny to see him there. I guess you never grow out of being able to sleep anywhere! :)

9 years already?

2009-04-21T15:11:00.001-07:00

Yesterday was our 9th wedding aniversary. My how time flies. Looking back at pictures, we look so young and we were so in love! Life has brought us some ups and downs, and my hope is that it will only get better! So much has happened in 9 years. We have 4 amazingly smart and fun boys that keep us on our toes every day. I couldn't be more greatful for the joy that being married and having a family has brought me. As we being our 10th year together I am excited and anxious to know what the future holds. I don't ever want to be without my high school sweetheart and the love of my life!

(I couldn't get my camera to take a good picture of our wedding pics, so this is the best one I've got of us!)

Turning 29

2009-04-04T09:08:00.001-07:00

Both Darrell and I are now 29 years old and not so sure where the time has gone. Last night we invited our siblings and parents to dinner to celebrate Darrell's birthday. Only a handful were able to come, but we had a great time. Another year older and we both still feel like we are 18. I don't necessarily mind getting older, just as long as we can still have fun and feel good about ourselves. Hope you had a good birthday, babe!

Goal Update #2

2009-04-01T13:16:00.000-07:00

So, another month has passed and I am only down 3 pounds total for the year. I don't want to make excuses, but we have had quite a rough month. The boys have been sick on and off, passing whatever it was from one to the other for about 6 straight weeks. I believe we are all over everything. I have sanitized their room, bought new toothbrushes and washed all the sheets over and over again. It's a new month and I have new motivation. Darrell is home from work for a little while and he and I have decided to "diet" together. He wants to bulk up and I plan to slim down. Today is Day 3 and we are off to a good start. I am taking it one day at a time and I am confident that I will have some much needed results this month. April's starting weight is 172. Wish me luck! :)

Girls Weekend in Park City

2009-03-23T14:22:00.001-07:00

My best friend, Mandie, and I decided that we deserved some time to be girls. Away from husbands and kids, even if it was only one night. We headed up to Park City and our first stop was to get manicures and pedicures. Surprisingly enough...this was my first experience with both. I assure you, it won't be my last!!

Here we are enjoying the massage chairs.

And here are my cute painted toes!

After our lovely afternoon at the spa we decided to go chill in the hot tub at the hotel. Then it was off to a night of dinner and shopping. I found a great new purse at Liz Claiborne for$17.99! It was originally $50!

This is not the one I chose.

Mandie modeling her new sunglasses!

We were kindof in a silly mood and decided to find some matching earrings to remember the weekend by. We walked into Clairs and I saw the ear peircing station. I have been wanting to re-peirce my upper left ear for a while now. I have had it done twice before and both times it got infected for different reasons and I had to let it grow over. So, on a whim...I asked Mandie if she would be willing to get hers done too.

I was brave and went first. I did appreciate the teddy bear to hold onto. :)

Right after. Owie!

Mandie's turn...she looks nervous!

All done!
Our ears look pretty red...but it really wasn't too painful.

Chillin' in the hotel. We found some girl scout cookies on the way up!

Mandie is proud of her savings!

At the Utah Olympic Park.

It was quite a windy day.

On Main Street in Park City next to the moose statue.

I Love Lucy chocolates were a little out of our price range for chocolate.

I want to thank Mandie for such a great time! I hope this is something that we can make happen more regularly. Anyone else interested in coming next year, just let us know. :)

Sean turned 2

2009-03-16T13:02:00.001-07:00

My Baby Sean is 2 years old. What are we to do?? :) He started early with his 2 year old attitude. Then he is the sweetest baby when he wants to cuddle. According to my dad (we always measure the kids at age 2 then double it to see how tall they are supposed to be) Sean will be 5'7". Not too short, but definitely shorter than his brothers. He is my little runt! We had a small family party yesterday to celebrate his birthday. We love you, Sean!

His cake

He has such helpful brothers when blowing out the candles.

YUM!

Mom & Dad got Sean his very own slide!

(Should of just got him a box!)

WHEE!!

My "cool" boys with mohawks and sunglasses!

Damon's baptism

2009-03-01T18:27:00.001-08:00

We had a very special day in our family yesterday. Damon was baptized. We are so proud of him and of the example he is to his younger brothers. Thanks to everyone who participated and came to support him. We are so blessed to have such a big, wonderful family.

My handsome boys
Damon and Grandpa Craddock

My goal update

2009-03-01T18:25:00.000-08:00

So, I am a little embarrassed to report that I only lost 1 pound total in Feb. I have no one to blame but myself. I was up and down all month and the only good news is that I ended down at least a little. It is a new month and I am ready to go! I've got 3 months before boating season and I intend to look good in my swim suit! I'll keep you updated.

Damon Paul is 8

2009-02-08T15:30:00.000-08:00

Damon's 8th Birthday started last Sunday, Feb 1. We had a small family party at Carrie's during our Super Bowl party. Carrie made him an awesome cake shaped like an 8. His birthday was on Thursday and we took some donuts to his class. They were all pretty excited. Then on Friday afternoon we had his party at Nickelcade. He had about 7 friends come to celebrate with him. We had pizza, root beer and cupcakes. I had fun watching them all play. I hope they all had fun too. I am still having a hard time believing he is 8 years old already. He is such a good boy and a great big brother. His baptism will be at the end of the month. More details to follow.

My main goal for 2009

2009-01-31T15:33:00.001-08:00

I have decided that one of the best ways for me to reach my goal this year is to write it down and make it public. This way you can all hold me accountable. I want to lose 30 pounds this year and keep it off! I always do really good with the weight loss at the beginning of each year and then towards the end it all comes back. Not this time! I am going to post my results monthly. So, to start, I am going to be very brave and tell you all my current weight. I am currently 175 pounds. I am hoping to lose about 7-10 pounds per month. Thanks in advance for being my support team!

Evan's 4th Birthday

2009-01-06T17:50:00.001-08:00

We had Evan's birthday party at Jumpin Jacks in Springville. I am all about parties at places other than my house. It was so much fun! Thanks to everyone who came and thanks for all the great presents. He made out quite well for a 4 year old!

Evan and his cheesy grin jumpin!

Brady jumpin

Damon and his toothless grin, jumpin! The dentist pulled out his second front tooth just before the party. It had been loose for about 5 weeks and his permanent tooth was growing in. He was brave and let the dentist pull it without numbing it first!

Evan's Wall-E cake (from the best bakery ever!)

Evan and his cousin Daniel waiting for cake

Time for presents!

He got a table-top Air Hockey Table from Mom & Dad!

Christmas

2008-12-29T18:22:00.000-08:00

Christmas was a lot of fun this year. Damon and Brady both asked Santa for a Nintendo DS. Evan got a Diego bike and Sean got a Little People set. The boys were good and slept until 7:00. When I got up at 7:30 they were busy playing with their DS'. We spent Christmas Eve at Grandma Craddock's where the boys got lots of clothes! Mom LOVES when they get clothes! Christmas Day we went to Grandma Karren's where they got fun games and puzzles. I think they all did quite well this year. Our family gift was a Wii and we have been playing Guitar Hero and Wii Sports pretty much non stop. I love Christmas, but I am glad we have another year before it comes again. :)

Let it Snow!

2008-12-22T10:50:00.000-08:00

The boys and I took advantage of no school and no work and plenty of freshly falling snow. We went to the store and bought some sleds and went sledding on the small hill in our trailer park. I think we will find some bigger hills when Daddy gets home from work. Sean seemed to like the snow until we put him on the sled. Damon, Brady & Evan had a blast and I couldn't think of anything better to spend our day off doing!

They are so proud of their snowman. (I have had those wooden pieces for over 15 years and this is the first time we have used them.)

Braces

2008-12-16T13:03:00.000-08:00

Darrell got his braces put on this morning. I tried to get a picture of him. He wouldn't let me. I will keep trying to surprise him or catch him smiling and post it when I can. He actually looks pretty cute with them. He says that he plans to go into hiding for the next 14-18 months. The good news is that they aren't painful for him. He is going to have to get used to them before he can eat much though. We are both really excited for the end result. The funniest part is that he will be 30 before he gets them taken off! :)

Our Family Picture

2008-12-08T15:10:00.000-08:00

I have been asking Darrell to get our family pictures taken for a couple of months now. After we put up our tree, I suggested that we take a picture in front of it. He finally agreed and came up with an idea to get a nice fireplace behind us. (It's on our TV) He set up the camera, set the timer and we took the pictures ourselves. I really like how it turned out. It was our cheapest family picture sitting ever! All I paid for was the printing of the Christmas Cards at Walgreens. Not bad if you ask me!

Poor Baby Sean

2008-11-22T14:22:00.001-08:00

Baby Sean seems to have had more than his fair share of accidents recently. I don't know how many of you I told about this, but I got a text from Darrell a few weeks back during an orientation at work. He was letting me know that there was no more emergency, but the ambulance had been to our house to check out Sean. I immediately left the orientation to call home. His older brothers had been running in circles like they always do and he just wanted to join in. He got knocked over and went unconcsious for a few minutes. Needless to say, Darrell was quite worried and called the ambulance. Everything was fine and he even woke up before they got there and they are right across the street from us.
So, today when Darrell called me at work again, I was definitely concerned. Darrell spent the morning trying to replace our kitchen light fixture and Sean happened to get in the way. I am not sure the exact details. I just know that we thought he might need stitches. I hurried home and found that he was fine other than the big cut on his upper lip. It isn't as deep as Darrell had originaly thought. We bandaged him up and he is doing well. I am just hoping that a 3rd big accident doesn't come along any time soon. Poor Baby Sean!

Darrell is calling him baby Hitler!

Phoenix NASCAR style

2008-11-16T17:27:00.001-08:00

Our trip to Phoenix for the 2nd to last race of the year was so much fun! We went with Kevin and Mariana and Chas and Carrie. This was Kevin and Mariana's first race and my first race without the boys there. We were able to go on pit road and be up close while they qualified for positions and practiced. Here are some pictures courtesy of Mariana. :)

Darrell and I watching the band after the Nationwide race.

Here we all are walking under the track to pit road.

Kevin at his driver's merchandise hauler. #26 Jamie McMurray

Kevin and #26 Jamie McMurray.

(Darrell was a little upset that Kevin was able to meet and take pictures with his driver for his first time at the track. He has been trying to meet Tony for quite some time now.)

Kevin and Mariana with thier Fan View Scanner at the race.

We are actually standing on the track!!

Kevin and Mariana

Carrie and Chas

The 6 of us!

We love our kids, but it was sure nice to have some time away!

Trick or Treating

2008-11-03T18:44:00.000-08:00

Halloween is always such a fun time to get together with family and friends. We went to Grandma Karren's for pizza and root beer with ALL the Karren cousins. Then we took most of them trick or treating around Uncle Bryan's old neighborhood in AF. The bigger boys all ran from house to house and Evan was so excited that he was able to keep up with them. Sean stayed with Mom in the stroller. He wasn't quite sure what was happening. After that, we went to Grandma Craddock's house to see our other cousins. Damon decided that he was too tired to do any more trick or treating. I convinced Brady and Evan to go with Sean and cousin Skylee. Here they are at a door waiting patiently to say the magic words. Sean actually enjoyed walking from house to house. He was so cute trying to decide what piece of candy to choose. We had a great time and have buckets full of candy to last us a few months at least. :)

Skylee was dressed as Tinkerbell and her wings lit up!

Here are all the Star Wars boys. Cousin Tyler was Obi Wan Kanobi. Damon was Luke Skywalker, Brady was Anakin Skywalker, Evan was Darth Maul and Sean was Darth Vader.

Baby Darth Vader!

My Turn!

2008-10-31T13:53:00.000-07:00

A-Attached or Single: Attached
B-Best Friend: Mandie Payne
C-Cake or Pie: Chocolate Cake
D-Day: Saturday (unless I have to work)
E-Essential Item: Cell phone
F-Favorite Color: Purple
G-Gummi bears or gummi worms: gummi worms
H-Hometown: Born in Mission Veijo, CA Raised in Orem, UT
I-Indulgences: Anything chocolate
J-January or July: July - Love boating weather
K-Kids: 4 boys
L-Life is incomplete without: my family
M-Marriage Date: April 20, 2000 (one year anniversary of columbine- nice huh?)
N-Number of Siblings: 3 brothers and 2 sisters
O-Oranges or Apples: Apples
P-Phobias or Fears: Bees or Wasps
Q-Quote: "Inconceivable!"
R-Reason to Smile: Christmas is almost completely bought and paid for!!
S-Season: Summer
T-Tag: How about....Mandi Mackey
U-Unknown fact about me: I have recently been wanting to try to have a baby girl. I need to snap out of it! I don't think it's gonna happen. :)
V-Vacation destination of choice: Disneyland or a cruise
W-Worst Habit: Spending too much time on the computer
X-X-Rays or Ultrasounds: Neither
Y-your favorite food: Chinese or mexican
Z-Zodiac Sign: Aquarius

Pumpkin Carving

2008-10-29T19:50:00.001-07:00

We spent Monday evening carving our pumpkins and the boys decided it was a contest. Damon and Daddy worked together carving the Spider pumpkin. Brady and Mom carved the Pirate Ship. Daddy was faster and according to the boys, he won. Then we had one more pumpkin to carve and I saw this vampire silouette. How appropriate for the Twilight books that I have been reading the last few weeks. I think that they all turned out pretty good. I love the pattern books that they make these days. Without them, my carving skills would be non-existant. Happy Halloween!!

The 2 on the ends have tatto like transfers. They were really easy and are actually pretty cute!

A day at the Zoo

2008-10-20T08:51:00.000-07:00

I have been wanting to take the boys to the zoo for quite some time now. There has always been an excuse for us not to go. Too much money, too hot, too cold, etc. Well, I was able to get some free tickets from my store director at work and yesterday was such a beautiful, fall day that we had no more excuses. We invited my sisters and their families and we were on our way to the zoo. In all honesty, I was a little disappointed. The zoo is not what it used to be. The exhibits are all run down, the animals were kinda boring and the train ride that cost us an extra $1 per person was only 5 minutes long. On the other hand, the boys didn't seem to notice and they had a great time seeing all the animals. Sean was fascinated by the monkeys and the snakes especially. He kept pointing and talking. It was fun to see their reactions to the elephants and the rhinos. All in all, it was a great time spent with our family. Here are some pictures of our adventures.

Sean and Kaden were so impressed with the snakes. The boys kept trying to get Daddy to see them.

Daddy wouldn't get too close and barely even looked at the snakes.

Kenzie and Sean watching the Giraffes.

Evan in the turtle shell.

This is Baby Emma (Cathie's baby) covered in chicken pox. I know, I feel a little guilty for infecting all the cousins.

This is Kaden (Carrie's baby). He is covered as well. Hey, they wanted their kids to get the chicken pox. It isn't entirely my fault! :)

I'm not sure what Abbie (Cathie's oldest) was so upset about.

They found the urge to climb on every animal statue that there was. The one in the pink jacket is Kenzie (Carrie's oldest).

Brady in the turtle shell.

Baby Sean pointing at all the monkeys.

Climbing again!

My boys at the zoo.

Free Purse!!

2008-10-14T14:56:00.000-07:00

Enter to win a free purse from handbag planet! http://www.handbagplanet.com

Pumpkin Land

2008-10-13T18:22:00.000-07:00

New 'Do!

2008-10-10T17:19:00.000-07:00

So, I was getting bored with my look and decided to go in and let them help me decide what I should do with it. This is what we came up with. I like the change and am enjoying feeling "lighter". What do you think?? (My eyes are weird in this one, but it shows off the color the best. Damon took the pictures for me.)

Star Wars Boys

2008-10-08T07:57:00.000-07:00

I know that it is still a little early for Halloween, but the boys were very excited to try on thier costumes. We are going with a Star Wars theme this year.

Here is Baby Sean as Darth Vader. (We are going to struggle to keep his hat on)

Here are the 3 older boys striking a pose with their light sabers.

They take this very seriously.

Damon is Luke Skywalker.

Brady is Anakin Skywalker.

And here is Evan as Darth Maul. We are going to have a battle of good vs. evil with the older boys against the younger boys.

I LOVE Halloween!

My 3 Spotted Boys

2008-10-06T18:49:00.000-07:00

Here is my Baby Sean with the chicken pox.

Evan is starting to clear up.

Brady is ready to go back to school.

I thought it would be fun to show you my 3 spotted boys. It is pretty funny now that they are not itchy and miserable. Things should be getting back to normal very soon. Here they are in the bathtub all covered in spots!

Tony Stewart wins at Talledega!

2008-10-06T12:57:00.000-07:00

Tony Stewart is Darrell's nascar driver, for those of you who may not know. He finally won his first race of the 2008 season and his first race at Talledega. It was a very intense finish with Tony leading the last few laps. The leader on the last lap of Talledega hardly ever is the winner. There was plenty of time for the drivers behind him to make a move and take the lead. On the final straightaway, Smith went down below the yellow line to pass Tony and cross the finish line first. Darrell's heart sank until they announced that you cannot pass below the yellow line. Tony had won and I think that everyone within 20 miles heard Darrell screaming with excitement. It is quite fun to watch him get so into the races. The win comes at a perfect time when we are planning our trip to the Phoenix race in November. This will be our last chance to wear our #20 Home Depot gear as Tony will be changing numbers and sponsers next year. We are also going without kids so you can imagine how anxious we are to get away for an extended weekend at the race track!

Pox, Pox, Pox!

2008-10-05T06:31:00.000-07:00

Ok, so I know that all I have been talking about is the chicken pox lately, but bare with me! Baby Sean finally broke out with 3 spots last night. It was definitely bitter sweet. He has a slight fever to go along with them and did not sleep very well. I am hoping that he won't break out with too many more but the good news is that I am all done with the chicken pox! Now we just have to heal and it will be over. I was really not looking forward to waiting 2 weeks for Sean to get them. The hardest part is going to be finding someone to watch my spotted children while I work this week. Other than that, we are all doing well here at the Karren home.

Again with the Chicken Pox

2008-10-03T16:01:00.000-07:00

Brady woke up this morning with even more chicken pox than he had yesterday. Poor guy is really struggling. He is practically covered from head to toe. I keep telling him that he will get through it and to try not to scratch them. He is miserable! Evan on the other hand has more today but still only about 1/4 of the amount that Brady has. He just has a few here and there. He complains when Brady complains. Damon is all cleared up and Sean still doesn't have any. Which is really frustrating because I am probably going to have to deal with this again in 2 weeks. I hope that Brady and Evan scab over before next Tuesday so I can go to my work meeting, otherwise I am going to have to stay home with them. I thought that I finally had all my babysitting arrangements all worked out and then my kids get the chicken pox. I suppose that's the way life goes! We shall continue our battle with the pox!

More Chicken Pox

2008-10-02T18:01:00.001-07:00

Here is my Brady. Covered in chicken pox. We noticed them yesterday afternoon and by today he was completely covered.

My Sweet Evan only has about 4 spots right now. Maybe he will be lucky and only have a few. I am still waiting for Sean to break out. Hopefully in the next day or so and not 2 weeks from now. I am ready to be done with chicken pox!!

Last Soccer Game of the Season

2008-09-29T09:17:00.000-07:00

Damon and Brady had their last soccer game of the season last week. It was a great season. They are both really improving. Damon scored 3 goals and Brady scored 1. Here is a fun slide show of the last game.

The Lincoln

2008-09-25T07:49:00.000-07:00

Here it is! I promised you all a picture of Darrell's sweet new ride. After a total of about $700, we finally got it registered and on the road. He loves cruisin' in the Lincoln!

All Gone

2008-09-25T07:44:00.000-07:00

Damon went back to school today. His face is completely cleared up and I am pretty sure that he is no longer contagious. Now, we wait. I am planning on one or all of the other boys breaking out towards the end of next week. We shall see. Look forward to more chicken pox pictures.

Chicken Pox

2008-09-21T08:08:00.000-07:00

This past Thursday, Damon went to bed unusually early. I thought nothing of it since we had been really busy all week. Friday morning, he got up and went to school and everything was fine. He even came home, did his homework and went to his after school karate club. After changing his clothes and coming to the table for dinner, he came up to me and said, "Mom, I have red spots on my arm." I looked at the one or two spots and was not too concerned. He then showed me the spots on the side of his face. It started to look a little bit like the chicken pox. I lifted up his shirt and sure enough, my Damon was covered in red spots. I started to laugh a little and told him that he has the chicken pox. So, now we are trying to infect the other boys so that we can get them over with. I discovered that my neice, Crystal, had shingles a couple weeks ago at my other neice's birthday party. So, if anyone else would like to have Damon give them a hug, feel free to stop by. He will only be contagiuos for a few more days. Then, hopefully the other boys will have them soon too. I will keep you posted. Damon was obviously not happy about taking pictures. The only thing that he is happy about is that he gets to miss school for at least a week.

Summer Fun

2008-09-13T14:34:00.001-07:00

So, Summer is over and we are all very sad. We had so much fun spending every spare minute we could on the boat with Carrie & Chas and Kevin & Mariana. Damon & Kenzie learned how to ski, Darrell & Chas learned how to wake surf and we all got great tans! Here are just a few pictures from our exciting summer.

Guitar Hero!

2008-09-10T08:00:00.000-07:00

Three Men on a Hike

2008-09-09T09:12:00.000-07:00

Three men were hiking through a forest when they came upon a large raging, violent river.
Needing to get to the other side, the first man prayed:
'God, please give me the strength to cross the river.
'Poof! .. God gave him big arms and strong legs and he was able to swim across in about 2 hours, having almost drowned twice.
After witnessing that, the second man prayed:
'God, please give me strength and the tools to cross the river,
'Poof! .. God gave him a rowboat and strong arms and strong legs and he was able to row across in about an hour after almost capsizing once.
Seeing what happened to the first two men, the third man prayed:
'God, please give me the strength, the tools and the intelligence to cross the river.
'Poof! ... He was turned into a woman.
She checked the map, hiked one hundred yards up stream and walked across the bridge.

If at first you don't succeed, do it the way your wife told you!'

FYI

2008-09-07T20:03:00.000-07:00

So, I am getting better at blogging. Leslie and Mandie taught me a few things. I hope you like the slide show of my soccer boys. Right now, Soccer is Life. We don't do much else. I promise I will be better at adding more posts. See you soon!

Soccer Boys

2008-09-07T19:54:00.001-07:00

Baby Sean is 1!

2008-03-17T12:58:00.000-07:00

We had Sean's birthday party yesterday! He had a great time eating his cake. His brothers helped him open his presents and we all decorated easter eggs! I can't believe he is one already. The year has flown by so quickly.

Soccer Time

2008-03-12T08:34:00.000-07:00

Damon and Brady are gearing up for another great soccer season. They both love to play. We will post new pictures when the season starts in April.

Just starting out!

2008-02-27T22:01:00.000-08:00

Hi everyone! This is new and exciting for me! I have enjoyed looking at all of the blogs that you all have and decided it is time to do one for our family. I hope you have fun.