Kids Rule!

Keep it cool with Marcus Theatres® this summer!

MARK YOUR CALENDARS: There are now THREE DAYS for you to enjoy your favorite family friendly films for just $2! Join us Tuesdays, Wednesdays, and Thursdays at 10am from June 21st through August 11th and let us remind you why Kids RULE!

The West Acres Kid's Rule movie this week was Judy Moody and the NOT Bummer Summer. I took the kids and met the Larsens and Potters for some fun. It just happened that while I was in line, the man behind me asked me how many kids I had because he had extra tickets. He paid for our whole family! SCORE! Free movie! Totally make my day! YEAH! Oh... and the movie was great too! LOL

Annual Easter Hunt

The guests coming to our 5th Annual Easter Hunt (Grandma Crump-style) drastically changed this year. Our normal crew either moved or had visitors. (Brett will be irritated I used that word cuz he'd say that those that came this year are "normal". Well, that's up to discussion. LOL! j/k- luv ya guys!) Only the Tuckers have come before so it was a brand new Adventure for everyone! We had a fabulous time! This year- the McPhersons & Jimmie (Julie's Mom- she was in town for Dylan's Baptism), the Larsens, the Tuckers, the Potters and the Elders joined in the fun. Thanks for coming, guys! You are awesome! {XOXO to the Hoffmans, Webers and McKees- we missed you!}

This year, the kids had 21 items to find hidden in the front and back yard. I did mention before that it rained ALL day yesterday, right? Well, that doesn't work so well with an outdoor Easter Hunt AND 16 (or 18 if you count the Elders-lol) kiddos lookin' for loot. OR maybe it does! It definitely made it an Adventure. Here's the 2011 HUNT List:

Funny thing... at breakfast, in our morning prayer, we prayed for a little Sunshine. And who knew- our prayers were answered. So even with it being WET- it turned out to be an absolutely perfect day! Thanks Heavenly Father for being a part of our Easter celebration! ;) What a perfect way to start our Easter weekend!
Most everyone brought their rain gear or found creative ways to get around the puddles. So hilarious. Check out Elder Horrocks & Mckenzie on the playground! They are SOOOO tricky! Everyone seemed to have a good time. Even the oldest kids and the Elders (who were reluctant in the beginning) really got into it!

SIDE NOTE: We are really big VeggieTale fans so if you've seen the Easter Carol- you'll understand! If not, just smile anyways! I LOVE doing this Party! Every year growing up, my Grandma Crump did a similar Hunt at her house. When we moved here, we decided to start one of our own. We love it and the fact that it makes us feel a part of her even though we are far away! A few years ago, my Grandma passed away. She was such an amazing example of love to our family. I like to think that we keep her memory alive by doing our little Hunt! We love ya Grandma!! (If you want to watch an Easter Carol, it's on Netflix Instant. It's worth watching!)

After the Hunt, we had a fabulous Easter lunch! So yummy! We had all kinds of meat sandwiches on croissants and wheat rolls, a gorgeous fruit platter, all sorts of veggies, 7-layer dip thingy, chips, and cupcakes. Of course everyone, especially Sophie, enjoyed their candy from the Hunt as well. I think for the next seven years Soph's gonna have a pound of gun in that cute tummy of hers. But she was one happy girl! LOL! The weather was so perfect that almost everyone ate outside. I LOVE, LOVE, LOVE the sunshine!

At one point, Brett and Ryan L. disappeared. They decided that with the fabulous weather, they would take the new Go-Kart out for a drive. Oh, I mean- they would take a look at the Go-Kart together to decide how to put a new roll bar on it soon. Yeah- that's their story and they're stickin' to it! LOL. A few kids got a ride before unfortunately it died. Brett had to push it down the street to get it home. LOL Brett is just not having the greatest luck with these boy toys of his. I was informed that we're taking it into the shop tomorrow. ;) Hopefully, we'll get them both running before the Summer's here. It would be fun to get to use them.

What a great Easter Hunt Partay!

Thanks everyone for celebrating Grandma Crump with us!

See ya next year!

Happy Birthday Boys!

Ryan and Jamison both have birthdays this month. Happy BDay boys! Hope all your dreams come true this year! ;) McKenzie & Heidi decided to throw a joint Partay for them tonight. It seems like forever since we've all got together and it was great to get out of the house for a bit. Food at the Larsens is always fabulous!!!! So good! Seriously- we've been eating "sick" food for weeks. I was in heaven tonight!

After dinner, we played a couple of fun partay games. First-- we played a very violent and abusive but tons of FUN round or two of "The Wind is Blowing..." Too funny! It was comical and some pretty good exercise, to say the least. I seriously have a very large bruise on my right arm. Ouch! Thanks a lot, Kenzie! ;0) Also- I'm pretty sure that Dave has a few of his own. Sorry 'bout, man but you WERE trying to take my seat!! LOL. We learned lots about conserving water and things we didn't want to know about the Bishopric. LOL!

Next, we played the Newlywed game. Oh so funny and.... not so funny! ;) Oh the joys of men and women and their ideas. Some things we think of our spouse are better left unsaid. LOL! Good things we were among friends!

Thanks gals & guys for fun memories and

getting us out of the house!

{Disclaimer: January Fargo Winter Blues has hit me hard so I didn't take my camera so there's no physical proof (besides a few bruises) of what gorgeous people we hung out with or how hilarious the games were but trust me- we had a grand time}

Lovely Larsen Christmas

We joined the Larsen fam & friends for a Lovely Christmas dinner this afternoon. The food was absolutely AMAZING! Made with lots of time & love. We had Ryan's mom's Tavern Ham (cooked for 24 hours), Twiced baked potatoes (Brett's Christmas specialty), funeral potatoes, pecan sweet potatoes, pink salad, green marshmellow salad, Bobbi's potato roll thingies, [I know- technical terms are my specialty], rolls (anytime makes rolls from scratch that's some love!), egg nog, juice and caramel brownies. Sooo good! We got to spend the evening with the Larsens, the Clarks, the Potters and Elder Krupa & Elder Pape. What lovely people! ;) 

The Larsen girls got a car for Christmas. And they lovingly shared it with us. Ry & Kenzie cleared out there heated garage for the occasion. It was perfect. It was like a humungous party room for the kids. They ate out there, played out there, and even drove out there. They had a blast!

The Potters got a Wii which they also lovingly shared. We had a blast singing and dancing! SOOOO funny! Everyone got in on the action! Totally make me laugh! ....And no one needs the gym this week either! Wowzers! What a workout!

Both the Elders got to talk to their families. We also got to sing "Wish Wish you a Merry Christmas!" to Elder Krupa's family over Skype.  It was so great to spend Christmas with them especially with them so far away from their own fams. The Larsens have lovingly adopted them. And we had so much fun spoiling them this Christmas! 

What a lovely Christmas Day!

Sledding with Friends

We love going sledding! The Tuckers texted us this morning to invite us out for some fun on the ONLY West Fargo sled hill today. (which happens to be at the end of their street) It's the perfect sledding hill!. Tall enough to make the ride fun. Short enough that the hike up isn't deadly. And close enough to our home that we can go whenever we want. And I did mention- it really is the ONLY hill in the whole city! LOL!

We had a lot of fun! It was us, the Tuckers and the Potters. The wind was a bit nibby so we had some frozen cheeks but the sun was shining which is always a bonus. The kids had a blast! Even Glory found here niche. She decided to roll down the hill. Too funny! She did it tons of times. Silly girl!

Lots of fun, guys! Thanks for inviting us!



Thanksgiving #2 & Pie Night

Due to an Assistant Basketball Coach's crazy schedule- our new friend, Deanne completely missed Thanksgiving dinner. Her hubby's not here yet (He's coming from the West shortly after he finishes the semester) so she not only missed the dinner but is on her own for now. Well... from a Holiday Freak's perspective, that just isn't OK. LOL! So, even though she basically got back into town close to the midnight hour, we dragged her over for Thanksgiving Dinner Round 2. Actually, we made her drive over in a blizzard for it. Sorry 'bout that lady! To top it off she missed our exit and ended up in the middle of nowhere in the middle of a Fargo Blizzard. Nothing like initiation to becoming a Winter Fargonian! LOL!
Let me just say... YUMMMMY! Did I mention that I LOVE Thanksgiving dinner? I even tried my luck at my 1st turkey. Must say-- it was awesome! Even though the entire upstairs is decked out for Christmas, we did our best to make the basement as Fall-ish as possible. The Larsen's graced us with their presence as well. We are very thankful for such dear friends! (Kenzie was not exactly picture-ready and since Ryan blinked & she looked away- I'll respect her request for the dinner shot. LOL! Good thing I luv ya lady!)

After we stuffed our faces (quickly, I might add! Sorry about that Deanne LOL ;), we braved the cold weather over to the Larsens place for Pie Night. Also.. yummmmy! Not sure what we were thinking because we made 6 new pies. Let's just say, leftover pies are abundant at the Seamons house! Soooo good though! What a great night chillin' with Deanne, Larsens, Potters, & Roberts! So many things to be grateful for!

Yeah for Pie Night!

Long Live Pie Night!

Day of Gratitude Festivities

We had a fantastic Thanksgiving! We have so many things to be grateful for. We could make a never-ending list & still not touch on all that God has blessed us with. But just because this IS Thanksgiving a few of our favorite blessings are our Savior Jesus Christ, a loving Heavenly Father, a warm house [in Fargo- that's important! lol] family near & far, friends near & far as well, technology to stay in touch, health, the Restored Gospel, a free Country, bountiful amounts of food, beautiful white snow, auto-starts (well when we get one!), and making traditions with Holiday Partays!!!

We were so lucky to have some great friends join us for Thanksgiving. We had a full house for sure. Which is not really hard with our famous "cozy space issue" of our home. LOL! Our dear friends that joined us this year were the Ironroads (as our joint-custody states on Thanksgiving they belong to us), the McKees, the Potters, Kim Seiler & Rob Ironroad [Kim & Rob both came for dinner but left before I took group shots- they are in the dinner shots though- See below!] Thanks guys for spending your Holiday with us! We sure luv ya!

I can't even tell you how much I LOVE the Thanksgiving feast! I love it even more (if that was possible) when you have friends over and everyone shares in the food prep duties. LOL! Well everyone really outdid themselves. Brett made a magnificent Turkey! Best one yet- Sooooo GOOD! We also had an awesome ham, potatoes & gravy, 2 kinds of stuffing, home-made rolls with Turkey butter & jam, cranberry sauce, yams with pecans in a Turkey shape (yeah for Lisa!!!), pickle & olive tray, broccoli salad, green bean casserole, carrot/peas/corn, & pink salad. As far as pies are concerned (as if after that we had any space in our tummies for pie), we were supposed to have 3 but ended up with 8, I think! We had Pumpkin Pie [made by Liberty], Blueberry/Cream Cheese Pie [by Justice], Pumpkin rolls, Apple Pie, Coconut Cream, Banana Cream (to die for!), 2 French Silks, and lots of whoop cream! Full & happy are we! 

We cleared out the basement (Oh the joys of prep-work before a Partay) and filled it with friends and love and tables & lots of chairs! ! It's always comfy & cozy at the Seamons. Thanks be given to all our guests that make our live so rich! Thanks for coming everyone! 

After dinner- my photographic skills took a nap, I think. It's the only way to explain that I only took 29 pictures all night. And only 4 of them after dinner & group shots. Slacker... I know! But we had a fantastic time eating, visiting, laughing, joking and story-telling; playing & fighting on the Wii (thanks for being the Kindness Ref, Matt); letting the kids imagination go wild as they dressed up and played in the fort & the teepee [due to my brain-cramp there are NO pictures of this]; watching a little football; watching the Thanksgiving Charlie Brown movie; and enjoying each others company. What a fantastic Holiday!

 

Hope ya'll had a fabulous Thanksgiving!

All our love!

Happy Turkey Day!

Halloween Partay 2010

We threw a little Halloween Partay tonight! (I know-SHOCKER!!!!... a Holiday, the Seamons and a Partay.. who woulda thunk?) This year, we enjoyed the evening partaying with the Ironroads, the Larsens, the Mausolfs, the Potters and the Tuckers (and Andrew Ray came over for most of it)! Thanks guys for coming! We sure luv ya!

After tons of rain, 40 mph winds and threats of snow this week, the weather turned out PERFECT! A bit chilly but dry and as warm as you could hope for in ND close to November. Thanks you Mother Nature! Before the bad weather, we had raked and scooped and saved 8 bags of leaves in hopes that we could use them for the Partay tonight. They were a big hit! They kids had lots of fun jumping into the pile and threoing them at each other.

We had a fabulous Chilidog dinner with hot chocolate in honor of Great-Grandma Crump. I'm sure she's smiling down on us for keeping her tradtions alive! (Luv ya Grandma!) People were eating all over the place- downstairs, the front room, the kitchen and the garage so this is the best it got for documenting the dinner enjoyment! Thanks to all for bringing the yumminess!

With the weather cooperating, we enjoyed what we could outdoors. The kids loved the zipline, the trampoline and all the trikes & bikes. Enjoy them while you can, my friends. It's gonna get cold quick! ;)

I have got come great girlfriends here in Fargo! I am so very lucky! They are all so unique and add so much to my life. Luv ya ladies!!! Also- our neighbors/friends, Tina & Taelyn got back from a party of their own tonight. They heard noise down at our place and decided to stop to see what we were up to. We, of course, loaded her up with candy and a cupcake! Thanks for stopping by guys! Your costumes were fabulous!

What Partay is complete without a Pinata??? Not one at the Seamons! LOL! All the kids got a chance to practice their "Ghostbust"ering skills. We got some powerful hitters in our midst! Then, everyone got to fill a baggie full of goodies. The Potters provided erasers and creepy crawly critters to add to the mix. And Kristen (Check out her Etsy site: http://www.etsy.com/shop/kristenskrafts) made all the kids Halloween necklaces. They were so great! All my girls plan on wearing them to Church tomorrow- I'll probably wear Justice's too!- I am a festive dress-er, don't ya know?! As Party favors, we got the kids a pair of vampire teeth, a stretchy skeleton, a Halloween pencil, and a festive straw so they added them to their treat bag as well. So much fun stuff!

It's become a tradition at our house  around Halloween to warm up the garage and carve Pumpkins with our friends. Thanks Honey for getting the garage all ready and warm & toasty for us! Yeah for the Bullet heater!

Everyone were quite the artists when they got into the garage! Even with the icky faces that Ryan and Jamison pulled while touching the Pumpkin guts- masterpieces were made tonight! {I know-Jamison- you owe me one;] LOL! It's so fun to see how different they all turn out. Great carving everyone!

And of course- part of that tradition includes the momentous "Lighting of the Pumpkins" ceremony! O.K.- not really but we do have everyone haul their pumpkins onto the front porch to be lit and grab a picture or two! We LOVE it! Awesome work everybody!

Happy Pumpkin Day!

Boise State Football Game

The Potters invited us over tonight for a little Boise State Football Party! They went all out! There were so many yummmy snacks (after our over-eating at lunch it was a perfect dinner)- Heidi's Chicken is to die for! Salsa, chips, chicken wings, veggie tray, fruit, candy, and a plethora of chocolate, chocolate, chocolate!Every dessert that people made or brought was a chocolate lovers dream! SO GOOD! ;)

The Potter kids were all in their Football fan attire including the painted football faces. Too cute! My kids were so excited to get to hang out with them for a bit. The Tuckers, part of the Larsens and Bishop all came as well. Jamison is a hoot! Even if you're not a football fan, you can't but help be excited about it when he's around. But be warned...you should probably bring ear protection if you want to walk away with any sense of hearing. LOL!

Since it was a school night, I took the kids home at half time but the men folk stayed. I guess it was a football fans dream game. They were down by ??? (non-football fan writing here- LOL) and came back to win it in the last minute! Wahoo! Go Broncos!!

First Day of School

The kids were so excited for school today! They requested a "real" breakfast (I know- slacker mother, I am) so I actually made french toast and eggs and a home-made smoothie. (Are you so proud of me, Cheri? LOL) They ate really good! I didn't get a picture of it though. Guess there's no evidence that I stepped up my game. Oh well! The kids were pretty comfortable with already knowing the school from last year then, going and getting settled in their classrooms last night so they didn't even have me walk them in. I dropped them off at the far curb of the round driveway and they walked into the school all by themselves! Actually they ran to the door. That's a good sign, right?

After school, we ran into a couple friends and got to play on the playground together and visit for a bit. Everyone seemed to have had a fabulous 1st day of new experiences. We had to practically drag them away from the school. It was like a First Day of School partay!

When we all said our goodbyes, my little fam took Andrew Ray with us and made a stop at Sandy's Donuts for an after-school treat. Once again- no picture! No proof- once again- what a fabulous first-day-of-school-Mom I am! Dang! LOL!

Liberty's 1st Day of the 4th Grade

Justice's 1st Day of the 2nd Grade

Liberty & Justice-I am so glad you had a great first day kiddos!

We're so proud of you!

Awesome Movie- Perfect Date Night

We had the most awesome Date Night for babysitting group tonight! To start, it's cuz I have a very HOT boyfriend! ;) Next, we love a good movie! And finally, we have awesome friends!

We went to see Tom Cruise and Cameron Diaz in their new movie, Knight and Day. LOVE it! It is a total "we're so buying it" movie! Action, laughter, love! So good! Both Roy and June were hilarious!

Here's the Super Trailer: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=VDoNfrBlY3o&feature=player_embedded

(Ryan- you so missed out, Slacker! You owe Kenzie a movie!)

Next, we headed over to the Larsens for dinner and hanging out with good friends. The men were in charge and it was AMAZING! Totally a manly meal and delicious! They BBQed steaks on Ryan's brand spankin' new grill, baked potatoes, had salad, fresh peaches, corn on the cob, green beans with mushrooms & bacon, frappe' & Pee water (aka Mt Dew LOL!), and two different kinds of awesome strawberry desserts. It was fabulously yummy! Thanks guys- you are AMAZING! Food, action, luv and laughter- and that was just dinner! LOL! The whole night was perfect! Thanks to our friends and my HOT date! I love dating you! XOXO!

(PS Thanks Tuckers for watching all the kiddos!)

The A Team Date Night

  "I love it when a plan comes together."
-Col. John 'Hannibal' Smith

We had made plans for a while to go see the new A Team movie with Matt & Haylie. I have to admit I wasn't a cheerleader of the idea. I remember faguely watching a few episodes of the old TV show but not enough to get hugely excited about the remake. Well, I was wrong!! We had babysitting group tonight (Thanks Tuckers!) so the Larsens joined us and the Ironroads for our date. The movie was great! We really, really enjoyed it. It was funny, action-packed and very well done. Everyone did a fabulous job. TWO thumbs up from the Seamons. ;)

Looking back at the good ol' days:

Welcoming in the new generation:

After the movie, we met some more friends at the Pizza Ranch. The food was ok but the service was fabulous. AND the company even better! I just love friends that you can laugh with. Since there was four of us couples- the guys decided they are The A Team themselves. LOL! They had a disagreement about which part they get but I think it came down to this: Brett is Hannibal, Ryan is Face, Jamison is Murdock and Matt is B.A. Baracus. (Sorry Matt- the minority is hit again, big guy! ;) We had a blast! Between scaring the lady at the next table with Murdock's butt shot and a little foul language, I'm surprised that we didn't get kicked out! Thanks a lot- Murdock! Good thing your wife loves you! ;) Get your bike ready, buddy-- you're gonna need it if you want to come next time! LOL!

I LOVE date night!

(especially when the plan comes together! LOL!)

Bowling's next- anybody up for the challenge?

Chahinkapa Zoo

The weather was great so a few of us headed south for a SHORT trip to the Chahinkapa Zoo http://www.chahinkapazoo.com/. LOL!- Short?, Yah, right! {Oops! My memory of our last year's Zoo trip must have failed me. I told the ladies it was like 30 minutes. Well.... more like an hour. I'm serious...The whole town of Wahpeton must have moved South since last year. ;) LOL! Sorry ladies!}

It was a great day and we had lots of fun! Chahinkapa has a good avriety of animals and lots of shade.

One of the favorite things was collecting feathers. The coveted ones were the ones from the crying peacocks. My favorite was when... Liberty found a huge peacock tail feather and everyone wanted to hold it. Finally, Lily put her hand on her hip and said, "Liberty since you ARE my best friend..." I had to giggle. I guess best friend statis comes with specials rights. LOL! The feathers were very pretty though!

The kids favorite I would have to say was the Raspberry Patch. In the back of the zoo by the Mountain Goats, there is a large raspberry patch along the path. It was hilarious to watch all the kids eat every single red object they could find. We had to laugh because by this time it was getting to be lunchtime (we had several whiny kids complaining that they were starving ;) so a few of the kids said- "Well at least this is something to eat!" Just love what kids say! LOL!

Other fun at the Zoo:

What a great day out with the Mom. These kids are very lucky! I am so grateful I get to be a stay-at-home Mom. I try not to take that for granted and I hope my kids don't either. (I don't know where Bonny was when we were taking these pictures. We'll have to get one of her fam next time! ;)

After the Zoo, we went to the Park for lunch. They have 2 great playgrounds but did the kids use them? Not really. Instead they chose to become Human Skateboards. I love the creativity! So fun!

Thanks for joining us at the Zoo, ladies & kids. I promise I'll get us to a couple of zoos this year to make our passes worth it! LOL! Dang Red River! Maybe Wahpeton will move closer. LOL!

Holiday Fishing

Brett and the older kids took the Potter boys and Matt out for a little holiday fishing this morning! Everyone got a chance to catch a fish but they didn't bring anything home. Well- they brought home a few sunburns and some memories

"<-------------------------------this big------------------------------->".

That counts for something, right?

4th of July Partay on the 5th

The Partay NEVER stops at the Seamons house. LOL!  We decided to throw a BIG 4th of July on the 5th Partay! It was a lot of fun! At least we thought so :) I LOVE dinners where everyone brings something and you end up eating like Royalty. Everything was amazing and so delicious! Brett & I had our favorite, of course! Alexa made a flag cake! SO AWESOME!!!! (She even teased me that she asked her Mom if she thought it would make it on the blog! Oh YEAH!!! Look how awesome this thing is!! Way to go lady!) We had hamburger, hot dogs, all the fixings, fruit, veggies, chips & salsa, and all kinds of desserts. I LOVE food! YUMMMMY!

We're so lucky to have such great friends here in Fargo. Our Partay Guests for today included our neighbor- Andrew; the Hoffmans; the Larsens; the Ironroads; the Mausolfs & Jen's Dad; Rob Neuteboom (Jen's in Utah this week); the Parkers; the Potters; the Ransoms & their friend; the Roberts; the Tuckers, and the Seamons (hey we count! LOL!). Thanks everybody for coming! We just luv you!

Today was a Par-Tay to remember, for sure- at least for anyone that was in a swimsuit! The Potters let us borrow their blowup waterslide. It was such a blast! {Thanks guys! You're the greatest! You are always welcome to our grass anytime you'd like to use it! ;)}

We also had LOTS of other Waterfun! We had waterguns, a kiddie pool, the big pool/hot tub, the water table, the tramp, and the zipline. I LOVE that the weather has been good enough to enjoy some water! Yeah for Summer 2010!

After a little cleanup, a group of us headed for the Fairgrounds. Brett decided to bring over the GoKart for anyone who'd like to ride/drive it. We still get teased about calling it a "Go-Kart" but we bought it at Go-Kart USA so that's what it will always be to us! LOL! It's always fun to see grown men instantly become kids again. Another of Brett's toys that turned out perfect!

After a change of locations (gotta love fairground managers! ;) we had an awesome 2 hour firework show brought to you by the Larsen/Seamons Men! I wasn't sure they were ever gonna end! LOL! AND I think we still came home with stuff. Gotta love their enthusiasm, right? OR be very scared of their pyro-ism! Either way, it was very patriotic!

Lucky for us (Overstatement of the Year), our Firework Viewing Area must have been a mosquito nest because I'm sure we all left with hundreds of bites. OUCH!! We tried to smoke them out and probably just bought the makers of OFF Spray a new car but nothing worked for long! The kids had a blast though! They tailgated, took turns lighting off fireworks, swung sparkers near each others heads, tried to light the grass on fire, let off smoke bombs and ran around crazy until 11:00 PM. That's any kid's idea of an awesome 4th, right? It was a very long weekend, with lots of late nights. But you gotta love it! Thanks to all our friends who stuck it out to watch with us! I have Calamine Lotion people can borrow! LOL!

Happy 4th on the 5th Everybody!

and

Happy Birthday America!