Bullock 2011

I have not gotten Christmas cards out yet this year and in all reality I'm not going to. I just cannot muster up the time or umph to do it. So here is my Bullock Christmas newsletter for 2011.

The biggest news for our family is our daughter Gillian Rose. She was born in October and looks just like the rest of our clan. She's a good baby who doesn't cry too much. She seems to have a favorite in Brandis mostly I believe because he is the quietest of the family. The others adore her and want to entertain her constantly. She has a great smile that melts all our hearts.

Our other little girl Taygan is growing up well. She loves anything girly. Because she is two she likes to get into everything. Most of my day is following after her putting things away. She has turned into a huge Daddy's girl and loves to climb on him like a jungle gym. Even though she is very girly she also likes to wrestle the boys. They don't fight back so she can really take them down. She likes to dance and sing the songs she learns in nursery.

Brandis is four and he is our happy boy. He's very quiet but when he does say something you know he put a lot of thought into it. He says I love you 20 times a day and is just about the cutest boy I've ever seen. I'm really glad I didn't put him into preschool this year because I know I would miss my little buddy too much. He also likes to sing and dance.

Dougan is six and he is our reader. He reads constantly and is blasting reading levels left and right. He is also our most social. Dougan has never met a stranger, everyone is his friend. This includes girls and adults. At church people come up to me every week to tell me the funny thing Dougan said to them. I am so interested to see what he'll be when he grows up. He entertains us all with his made up songs and stories.

Eades is eight and he was baptized this year. He took it very seriously and he still does. Eades is our more thoughtful child. Lessons he learns in church and school have a great impact on him. He remembers things well and I am amazed at his ability to recall facts and stories that I know would have gone in one ear and out the other when I was that age. I call Eades my little hero because he fights injustice when he sees it. His teachers have told me that he encourages others to choose the right when they are doing something wrong.

Koen is nine and enjoys being the oldest and first to do everything. He is my right hand man. He helps me out with cooking, cleaning, laundry, gathering children and getting them ready, and he's my gopher. I appreciate him very much. He definitely makes my life easier. He also likes to read and do sports. He has a lot of talents which he's usually too shy to share with others.

I spent my year doing regular mommy stuff. This summer the kids and I enjoyed participating in the summer reading program. We also spent a week at the fair. We went everyday but Sunday. Our highlight was the reunion. It was great to see my parents, some of my siblings, and my nieces and nephews. Hopefully next time all of us can be together. I also went to girls camp this summer. I love girls camp and had a great time. My kids also had a great time with their babysitter. I was pregnant most of the year but this one was pretty easy. A sister from the ward took care of the children while I was in the hospital and even after I came home for a couple weeks. She has become such a dear friend to our family.

Tony is still working for Atlas Oil. He enjoys it and he's good at what he does. He was called into the elder's quorum presidency this year. He really likes planning activities and doing guy stuff with his friends. He's a really good dad and is the much cooler parent of our family. He likes taking the kids to movies when I need a nap, which is really brave because even I wouldn't take five kids to the movies by myself.

We've had a happy year. We're glad we moved to Huntington where we have met so many great people and the town is just awesome. We're also not too far away from all of our friends and family in Niles who we got to visit this summer. We're hoping 2012 is just as good to us. We give are love to all of you. Merry Christmas and a Happy New Year. Love, The Bullocks

My Rugs

I just picked up some rugs that I ordered during the reunion. When Aunt Lorene and I were in the basement trying to pick out colors we talked about how neither one of us was good at decorating or matching things. I told her Uncle Leo could change what I had picked out to whatever would look good. She told me Saturday night that they were not the ones I had picked out and I didn't have to buy them if I didn't want to. She must be crazy. First of all they were beautiful. Secondly, Uncle Leo made it. That makes it priceless. Thirdly, he actually went above and beyond for me on this project. I wanted one large rug which is not possible on his loom so he had to make two identical rugs. She explained to me how he did it to make sure it was perfect. I felt so honored that he took all that time.


I was also able to go over to Susie's to buy a bathroom set that I had been eyeing when Emma and I stopped over there. When I came home I felt like I just won the lottery. I will only use my rugs when special company comes over but I will imagine they are in their proper places all the time.

TinCaps

Our family went to a TinCaps game with the scouts and the achievement girls. It was really fun, but I think everytime I go to a game they lose. I should probably stop going but it's so much fun.
Here's Taygan being excited for our team.

Here are my boys chilling out on the hill.

Tony's talking with one of his best friends there. I don't think they cared much about the game. Actually I think I was the only person in our family cheering.

Like I said. The team lost but they still had really cool fireworks afterward and because they are named after Johnny Appleseed they had an array of apple desserts. They also had a few guys called the Bad Apple Dancers who cleaned around the bases and also danced some groovy disco moves. They were so fun. We can't wait to go again this summer.

Splash Park

Here are some pics of my kids at the splash park. They all had a lot of fun. We've been having some hot hot weather here lately and just looking at these pictures makes me feel a little cooler.

Memorial Day

Our ward had a real nice Memorial Day picnic. They even had a kiddie parade. Here's Brandis working his way around the corner.

Here comes Koen.

Eades with a nice flag strapped to his bike.

Koen with a flag in his face.

Brandis still chuggin' away.

Dougan didn't want to be in the parade so another little girl used his scooter so she could be in it. The kids had a good time decorating them red white and blue and us adults loved cheering them on as they went round and round the little circle.

Marshmallow Fluff

Here's a couple pictures of when Taygan got into some marshmallow cream.

She acted like she didn't know how it happened.

Beetle

Two nights ago Tony and I were talking about the awesome trek that the youth from our ward were on. Suddenly we hear shrieks and screaming coming from one the other room. I figured one of the kids must have changed the channel or something and Tony asked me if that was our kids, not believing they could be making such a ruckus. We decided to check it out. There was a huge black beetle in their room. Most of the kids were terrified. Tony picked the beetle up and told all the kids they were going to touch it. Of course the older two were interested as was Taygan. Brandis reluctantly pet the beetle and Dougan wouldn't go near it. Tony put it outside and I thought that was the end.
Today the boys found the same beetle on our front porch. They decided he needed to be our pet. They brought him inside and tried to feed it. I told them he had to go out. I watched out my window as they tried to get it to eat ham, carrots, broccoli, and a cherry. I told them they needed to come inside because a storm was coming. They were concerned for their pet beetle. I said, "Let's look him up online". We googled him and I found that he is a dung beetle. I told the boys he doesn't eat any of that stuff they tried to feed him. They didn't know what dung was so I told them it was poop. They had a good laugh about it. I teased them for having held it. They no longer want it as a pet.