Santa Claus, The Tooth Fairy, and the Mean Lady!!

This year we had a very good yet low key Christmas! We just stayed here and hung out as a family all day. The boys slept in until about 7:15. We got up and went out to see what Santa had brought. All the boys were super excited with all of their presents. Brock got the very much talked about parking garage with an elevator that goes up and down, Tool bench, Power wheels jeep, some books, a scooter, cars, pjs, buzz lightyear shoes, and clothes. Cooper got a sports slide, shopping cart, little Einsteins piano, books, cars, clothes, pjs, laptop and sippy cups. Cole got his beloved Star Wars movie Collection (all 6 movies and even Star wars the Clone wars) Scooter, clothes, Star Wars Legos, pjs, books, and Foosball, Air hockey and Ping pong table. Caleb got NBA Live 10 for the PS3, Crammer (leapfrog IPOD), Books, Nerf Dart Tag game, Clothes, Pjs. basketball shoes, scooter, basketball cards and Foosball, Air hockey and Ping Pong table. Thanks to everyone who gave us such great gifts!

Cole Lost his First tooth on December 23rd. He was so funny he had asked me about a month or so ago, when he was going to lose a tooth. I told him, I didn't know Caleb was in 1st grade before he lost one so we would have to wait and see. About a week before school got out he came home and told me he had a tooth growing behind one of us baby teeth. Sure enough there it was, I wiggled the tooth in front of it and it was loose. I told him it was loose and he was so excited he got tears in his eyes. So here comes December 23rd and the tooth needs to come out and for some strange reason this has fall under the Mom category. So I pushed and pulled on that tooth and he was crying and I was losing my patience and the next thing you know I have the tooth out and I show it to him and then he starts laughing and crying at the same time. He was so excited about losing that tooth.

Saturday the 26th, a guy Tank has met through work, invited our whole family to go to the Jazz Game with them and sit in the suite. So we all got our Jazz Gear on and headed to Salt Lake. It was fun I spent the 1st half of the game either feeding someone else or myself. The second half I watched the boys run from seat to seat. In the beginning of the 4th quarter, Brock was standing by the overlook and watching the game and he came running up to me and said thatMean Lady just yelled at me "knock it off right now" I said what we were you doing he said " I was dumping my sippy cup of water on her." So I took the sippy cup away from him and put away. Wouldn't you know about 5 minutes later, here comes the security guard asking us if we were throwing stuff over the edge. I told him what had happened and that we had fixed the problem. he left but not before telling me to watch Brock better. What a great impression we make on these new people we had just met and were kind enough to invite us in their suite. Well I guess they need to know what they are getting themselves into when you invite Brocker Rockers along.

Best 10 years and Worst Day Ever!!!

Today is mine and Tank's 10 year Anniversary! Ten years ago today we were sealed in the Las Vegas Temple. It was a great day and we have had many great days since. We celebrated our anniversary a little earlier this year when we went on a little trip to Hawaii. You might remember the post earlier this year. It was a great time and we really got to spend a lot of alone time together. Unfortunately when we got married we had no idea what Tank was going to do for a living and this month is the absolute worst time of the year for Tank. So we will go to dinner on Saturday but that is all the time we can manage for our anniversary every year. But I will take it. I am so lucky to be married to a great man who is a wonderful husband and father. I love you Tank!

So onto the worst day ever....... this was Tuesday December 15th. I started the day really ambitious. I just knew I was going to get a ton of stuff done. So I got the kids off to school and one down for a nap and started to work. I needed chicken for dinner so I put some on the stove to boil and headed downstairs to begin construction on the Foosball/air hockey table that Caleb and Cole are getting for Christmas. Well I totally forgot about the chicken and an hour and a half later , I go upstairs to check on a very quiet Brock and the house is filled with smoke. The chicken was totally burning. Brock was totally just sitting there watching TV with out a care in the world. So I clean up the mess and open all the windows, turn on all the fans(no big deal that it is like 30 degrees outside.) So then Cooper wakes up from his nap so I get him situated and head back down to work on the table. As I am putting the Foosball guys in the table Brock is playing with my huge exercise ball and it hits one end of the table and the other end flips up and hits e in the nose and it starts bleeding all over the place. So I have to go upstairs while carrying Cooper and get it cleaned up. A normal sane person would have stopped for the day but you all know that is not me so I head back down for round three. The table was giving me fits and after getting my finger stuck and then having it bleed I decided to call it good for the day. So onto dinner I was able to salvage some of the chicken, or so I thought, to make chicken pot pie. Well when we sat down for dinner it was nasty. So in the car I got with all the boys to pick up a pizza. I am driving and decide to turn on the heater for the boys. I look down to turn it on and when I look up all the cars in front of me are stopping. So I slam on the brakes and swerve as I hit the guy in front of me who in turn hits the guy in front of him. So we call the police and no offence to the Syracuse Police Department but it took them an hour to get there. The ironic thing was that we crashed about 50 feet from the police station. To put it all into perspective, I called Tank 10 minutes after the accident happened and he left work (in South Salt Lake) and got there about 5 or 10 minutes after the Police showed up. So we never made it to the pizza place. The kids were pretty well behaved for being in the car for so long. We had to get the car towed to get fixed and they called me today to tell me it is going to take 17 Working days to get it fixed. Our insurance does not cover a rental car so I am trying to hold off as long as I can. We were all okay so I am thankful for that. The kids are never going to let me live this down though. Brock has told me a number of times, Mom you need to be more careful when you drive, Cole made the rounds in the neighborhood letting everyone he talked to know.
Brock has hated wearing his contacts the past 6 months or so, so we decided to get him some glasses. He loves to wear them. They are a little on the thick side, due to the fact that he has no lens in his eyes. But he is still as cute as ever.

Gingerbread Houses

Tonight I told the boys we were going to make Gingerbread houses. I was trying to do something fun with them but not totally hard on myself so we made our gingerbread houses out of graham crackers and since I know my boys, I hot glued them together so the wouldn't be falling apart the whole time. So the boys felt a little ripped off but they got over it pretty quick. They had a fun time decorating their houses.

Cole did drop his trying to carry it to me to help him but we fixed it.

Brock loved putting on his door knocks (knobs) so people could get in his house.

Caleb just liked being creative with his.

Cooper fell alsleep during the prep work and missed out on all the fun.

It was a lot of fun and something I think we will continue to do over the years to come.

Here comes Santa Claus!!!

Last weekend we had our Ward Christmas Party. It was really good. They had a Junior High Choir come and perform, with all my knowledge since I have watched a full fall season of Glee, they were really good. They sang my favorite song, Carol of the Bells, and even got the Bishop to get up and dance with them. After the choir was done, Santa came to visit the kids. Last year Brock wanted nothing to do with Santa but I convinced him this year that he needed to sit on Santa's lap so he could tell him what he wanted. I was surprised at how easily he was convinced. He really wants a parking garage with an elevator for his hot wheels this year. So we waited in line and we got up there and he sat on Santa's lap and told him he wants an elevator. He got his candy cane and his picture taken then hooped off Santa's lap and looked all around and said "WHERE IS MY ELEVATOR?" He thought he was going to get his present right then and there, no wonder he was so easily convinced. Cooper on the other hand, wanted nothing to do with Santa even for a Candy cane!

Kindergarten Program

Last month Cole had a family program in his Kindergarten Class. He has Mrs. Adams this year and I may be biased but she is the best teacher. I guess I should say she is the best teacher for Cole. We both love her. She was the only kindergarten teacher to do the program. The kids sang a bunch of songs about colors, and then at the end they did a freeze dance. They had to get a family member to come up and dance with them, Cole chose Brock and they danced for a minute before Brock decided he didn't want to do it anymore and I had to take his place. Cole has been singing those songs all over the house and now we all know how to spell purple and all the other colors of the rainbow. Cole was so cute during the program, he kept looking at us and smiling. They all got to say in the microphone what their favorite thing to do with their family was and he said playing with his baby brother, Cooper. Such a good big brother!

Partners in Crime

Well Cooper and Brock have officially become partners in crime. A couple of weeks ago Cooper was having tummy issues so we had the Vaseline and powder handy for diaper changes. I turned my back for like a minute and this is what I found!! Brock thought it would be hilarious if he dumped powder all over Cooper. It must have been pretty funny because Cooper was totally busting up every time he did it. I was mad but had to get a picture to capture the moment. Boy will these boys keeps me on my toes for the next 18 years!

Boy Band

Since there are 5 Stearman boys, I thought in order to make some extra money in this troubling economy I would start a Boy Band. Check out their Music Videos below!(there are 2 different ones!!) Notice their insane dance skills and incredible ability to sing while doing choreography! Taught them everything I know!!

Send your own ElfYourself eCards

Send your own ElfYourself eCards

Halloween Henderson Style

This year for Halloween Tank had to close at his store so we headed down to Henderson to spend it with the rest of my family. We spent a few days in St. George where my great friend, Joye gave me a new do with a great cut and color. Thanks for being my personal hairstylist Joye. Then we headed down to Henderson to the Hafen home. My Mom went with us so we spent 3 days there doing all kinds of fun stuff. We played outside, went to the pumpkin patch and rode some rides, watched Erick's soccer game, went to Chuck E Cheese, had a Halloween party, and went Trick or treating. It was really nice on Halloween everyone was there with the exception of Tank(what's new this time of year?) so all the cousins got to go Trick or treating together which will probably never happen again but hopefully will. The kids all had so much fun together playing and hanging out. Natalie went out of her way to make sure we ate like kings and had a great time. Thanks for having us it is a trip we will never forget.
Here is a little slide show of our fun time.

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The Falls

This weekend we went to Idaho for a weekend get-a-way. Our plans changed about 20 different times due to some unforeseen problems with a suspicious mole and Tanks work. But Tank was determined to make it out of town before his Holiday rush season was here. So we decided to head up to Idaho Falls to visit The Burgetts, some friends of ours. We got a hotel room right across from the Idaho Falls temple.

The boys thought the room was the coolest thing ever because it had two rooms and the room they stayed in had Bunk beds and their own TV and DVD player. He had a BBQ with the Burgetts on Saturday Night and hung out. It was good food and company.

The next day we headed over to see the Falls in Downtown Idaho Falls. They were pretty and then we headed over to The Idaho Falls Temple to walk around the grounds and go to the Visitors Center.

Then we headed about an hour North of Idaho Falls and visited a place called Mesa Falls. The falls there were beautiful. The kids really enjoyed seeing the falls and being so close to the water.

After eating dinner we took the kids swimming at the Hotel pool and off to bed they went. We woke up this morning had some breakfast and headed home. It was a really fun and relaxing trip.

Happy Halloween!!

Hope this helps you have a Happy Halloween!!

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Family Pictures

This weekend we headed up to Snow Basin Ski Resort with some our wonderful friends and took some family pictures. It worked out Nice because they took pictures for us and we took pictures for them. we got some good shots and hopefully they liked theirs too. It was really pretty up there with all of the leaves changing but it was pretty chilly. My boys, including the big one(Tank) were not too thrilled to do it so we had to work quick. It is amazing to see how much the boys have changed over the years, they are getting so big!!

Caleb 8 Years Old

Cole 5 Years Old

Brock 3 years old

Cooper 1 Year Old

Aloha!!

Well Tank and I got back from a very relaxing trip to Hawaii on Tuesday. Before I go into the details, I need to thank my wonderful and amazing Mom. With out her, we would have never been able to go on this vacation. I never have to worry about the boys one bit while she is watching them. So thank you , thank you , thank you!!!

Now for the details.....

Our Room
We flew out to Kona (which is on the Big Island) on Tuesday. We got to our hotel which was called the Kona Village Resort. It was an all inclusive place and each of the rooms were private bungalows called Hales. Our room was not quite ready so we headed over to the lunch buffet they had set up. All of the dining is outside about 100 yards from the ocean. So we always had a great view and nice breeze. The food here was amazing, breakfast was ordered from a menu and they had the best pancakes, (Tank fell in love with the banana pancakes with coconut syrup), Lunch was always buffet style with fresh sushi (Tank loved) 2 hot entrees and they always had a chef who grilled up burgers, hot dogs and sword fish. I will fill you in on dinner as I go on with the days.

The view from outside our Hale

After we had lunch we checked into our room and it was so nice, King size bed, bathroom with separate tub and shower, and out own little porch with chairs. We were right next to the lagoon so we had a great view.

Tank had some work stuff to take care of so I headed out to the beach to take some pictures and get some sun. We got a new camera and I was excited to try it out. After Tank was done with his work stuff we strolled along the beach and then laid out for a while.

It was so cool there were sea turtles that were right out on the sand and in the water.

That night for dinner they had a Hawaiian Cowboy BBQ. They set up tables on a big grassy area and had a buffet of BBQ food. They had chicken, ribs(best ribs ever), steak, lobster, and some other kind of fish, Corn on the cob, baked potatoes, salad, baked beans. It was delicious. Then we had dessert and listened to the Hawaiian Cowboys serenade the group.

Wednesday we ate breakfast and headed out to see some waterfalls.

We went to Akaka State Falls. It was really pretty. After that we headed to the Mauna Loa Factory in hopes of finding some great deals on Mac nuts. No such luck.

We had planned on going to the Volcano on Thursday but we were only 29 miles from it at this point so we decided to go. I was all excited to see some lava. No such luck again. We did get to see some Steam Vents and the Lava Tubes. But that was it. We headed back to the hotel by now we had driven around the entire Big Island. It was so neat how one side is totally lava rock everywhere and the other side is green and lush.


After we got back, we got ready to go to the Luau our resort was having. Once again the food was delicious and the entertainment was great. It was so nice to have everything right at our resort so we didn't have to go everywhere to find food and entertainment.

Thursday we decided to do the beach thing and checked out a Kayak from the beach shack had headed out. The water was so calm in the morning and we were right in a bay, that we could paddle out and stop and see right to the bottom and see fish as they swam by. After that we headed to a beach down the road in search of bigger waves to boogie board on. There wasn't a whole lot of success there so we swam for a while and headed back.

Later that afternoon, we headed into Kona and visited the Temple and went shopping. He had another great dinner which was sit down at the restaurant this time.

Friday morning we got up and decided from all this great food we were eating that we should hit the weight room. Tank lifted and I rode the bike. We took a walk around the resort and got ready for lunch.

That afternoon, Tank wanted to golf so I was his chauffeur. It was really relaxing, the course was on a mountain and there was a nice breeze. Other than me almost getting attacked by 5 peacocks it was a great time. That night was another Luau, the food was pretty much the same as Wednesday but still awesome.


View from our balcony at the Hyatt

Saturday, we packed up and left The Big Island and headed to Oahu. Tanks boss hooked us up big time. He is friends with the Hyatt Rep for the West Coast so we got our room upgraded to the penthouse suite. It was awesome. The 39th floor, with 3 balconies that over looked Waikiki Beach and it had 3 TVs and the bathroom was as big as some hotel rooms! So nice!! After we checked in we grabbed some lunch and then hung out for awhile before one of Tank's mission companions, Nate Sadowski and his family came by to visit. We went to dinner with them, it was fun to see Nate again and meet the rest of his family.

Sunday we hit our big destination for Oahu.... the swap meet. It was everything we hoped for, we got everything we wanted for our souvenirs. After that we headed to Sams Club to get some more items and then on to Best Buy so Tank could critique that store. We went back to the hotel and laid out for a while.

Then we headed to our friend Keala's house on the other side of the Island. She lives across the street from the Laie Temple. So we visited for a while and then walked over there and took some pictures. We headed back to the hotel and called it a night.

Monday was our last day in Hawaii, our flight left at 9:00pm that night. We headed back out to the North Shore and visited Sunset Beach, Waimea, and The Pipeline. The waves weren't very big but it was neat to see. Then we headed back to Kealas house and visited some more. Then we drove back to Honolulu to get ready to leave.

It was a great relaxing trip and we had a great time. We have decided we are going to go back every 5 years if we can convince my Mom to watch the boys again!!