Dream House - Washington

Hi Family,

Here's our "dream house" in Yacolt, WA. It looks huge, but is actually smaller than the one we're in...but there's certainly still room for you all! On Nov. 2nd, we're going to look at some houses and try to narrow down our search range, but this is the best we've found so far. It has a "hot tub house" in the back yard that would be GREAT FUN for everyone...especially when it rains, which I think is about 50% of the time!

Love you all,
Mom

Run, Derek, Run!

Derek runs.

Al Qaeda like Mormons

Funny video. Our techniques are catching on, eh?

Bangkok Tour

So a word to the Utah clan - I'm storming your state in 5 days. I can't wait! Just thought I'd post a picture from last month's bangkok tour. My microphone gave out, so I tried a cucumber. It amplified my voice very well. ;)

Advice

This is copied from the Isom Family Blog:
Shannon's brother Jeff said,
"Please post pictures regularly and often to the blog. Family snapshots and activites are perfect to share and enjoyed by everyone. You can post using the following method. Go to the link New Post on the right side of the blog. When in Create mode, click on the tiny photo in the menu above the text box. It will bring up a pop-up that will guide you through the process of selecting a photo and how it will appear in your post. This is perhaps the easiest method."

Shannon said,
"Scott is doing very well. He has been working alot the last two weeks in preparation for not being able to do much after the surgery. We started a trim and tile job together two weeks ago for a friend. We had so much fun being able to work together again. The kids were able to come with us and play at the house we were working on. They loved all the new toys, movies and kids to play with. We stayed up until 3:00 a.m. the night before his surgery to finish some book cases for the job and then he had to install them before the surgery in the morning. So Scott loved lying on the hospital bed knowing he would be in a drug induced sleep. He actually really likes being laid up because he is forced to rest and gets lots of extra attention. He has been watching lots of movies and drawing and coloring with the boys. Garrett is really into coloring. He fell asleep on the floor the other day while coloring. Preston gets sweeter and sweeter every day. He is the most enjoyable easy going child. He will play on his own for hours. Especially when Garrett is not around. Preston always has a car in each hand and when you ask him what he is thinking about he says, "cars"! When we were at the splash pool the other day he told me in two very well formed sentences that he did not want to go down the big slides again because that would make him sad. We love reading to him because he is such a cuddly little ball engrossed in the stories. When he wants something besides the cars in hands, he says, "hand, hand, hand...." until you take them out of his hands so he can have whatever it is he needs. The sucker at Choa's, a drink of water, his toothbrush. I could go on and on. He does so many little things I love. The boys' Thomas movie is starting to wear off and Garrett is calling Preston the "little ear guy". Preston is telling him "boys don't hit". "

Take some good advice. Post something, especially pictures.

Happy Birthday Ginni!!!

Gib, I know this is a day late, but I meant to put this up yesterday. Can't wait to see you!

Happy Birthday Becky!

Happy Birthday (late) Becky! Hope it was a wonderful day for you. Did you do anything fun?

Road Rage

Don't mess with Granny!

Need more speed?

Slow is not good!

The Great Watermelon Escapade

Preston really digs into some watermelon.

Utah Trip

Hey family! I thought I'd post some pictures that I took while in Utah, for all who wanted to see them.

Happy Birthday Lance!

Lance, I hope today is great. We are starting a new tradition of photo birthday cards. We might get a little creative. Love you!

HAPPY BIRTHDAY SHANNON!

Mom wasn't there so we added her into the picture. I didn't want to worry about "photoshopping her in". I hope today is great. I love you, Shannon!

-Kimm, Mom, and Dad

Why I didn't buy the BMW.....

The BMW was faster but ya just can't get as many sticks into it!

Bundle of Joy

Well, it's time to welcome the newest member of our family, Leah Rebekah LeVar. She is so cute!!! I've been spending the week with Lance and Ginni, therefore, I get to see and hold Leah everyday. Jealous? I would be. She's really cute when she has a clean diaper! She peed on me once, which was really gross, but overall, I love her. I call her "Monkey Baby" because of all her hair, and Ginni calls her "Flopsy" because her head flops around. Here are some pics of the little rascal.

She's getting ready for when she is 16!!!!

Sinking...

So, here are some funny and cool commercials, if you have a little time to waste, which we all do. ;)
http://www.boreme.com/boreme/funny-2006/sinking-p1.php

http://www.sony.co.uk/view/ShowArticle.action?article=1128495777479&site=odw_en_GB

Anyway, with the bouncy ball one, they blocked off a whole street in San Fransisco and shot the bouncy balls out by machines. Cool!!! Have a good day, fam. Can't wait to see you all.

Don't delete!!

Well, I almost deleted our blog. I was trying to change the settings and things got a little crazy there for a little bit. There was text all over the place, and not where it should have been. Yikes. Speaking of deleting, Shannon, will you ask your brother Jeff not to take off any of the movies from Garrett and Preston's blog? I really want to look at them, but my computer at my house is broken and the campus computers don't support quicktime very well. Tell him not to clear off the older videos to make room for more. I still want to watch them. Thanks.

Kimmby again

I just thought I'd post a few recent pictures for those who read this blog. Oh wait, that's me... ;)

Last weekend, I went on a field trip with my friend Drew to Welfare Square and the Church Humanitarian Aid Center. We toured, sampled some food, and did three service projects. It was wonderful! We even tied a quilt. I'm totally sold on the church's amazing efforts to help members and non-members all over the world. Anyway, this picture is me jumping up in front of the grain towers in Salt Lake.

This is my good friend, Drew. He's a funny guy. Don't read anything into this please.

This is my 4th grade class that I've been teaching this semester. The kid in the cowboy hat on the left is really funny. He likes to be tricky. I'm in the back on the right. I love these kids!

Binky

Shannon-
Good job on "losing" Garrett's binky. I hate it when you see a six year old kid sucking on a binky. Gross. 3 is a good age. My friend was telling me how her sister would always cut the tops off the binky so it would just go flat when her toddler would suck on it, so they would spit it out and wouldn't want it. It's like they get rid of it on their own.

For all the family members out there who want to see more of Garrett and Preston, Shannon's brother Jeff has made a blog for them with pictures and funny videos. Here's the link: http://web.mac.com/jeffkirkisom/iWeb/Photos/Welcome.html. Check it out - it's cool.

Love you all.

Easter

What is everyone doing for Easter? I am thinking about coming down, and it would be nice to get together if we could. I'm "eggxited"! Haha.

Rachel, do you know if Clint's school has student teachers from BYU-Idaho? I requested to be placed there, but I don't know if they sponsor my school... Did you have a good birthday?

Halloween

So it's never too easy to start planning for the next Halloween. Ginni and Lance, perhaps you should consider going for a Star Wars Theme, and putting little Leah in this costume:
What do you think? It's Chewbacca!!! Maybe Preston could use it then...

Happy "Berthaday" (as Ginni calls it) to Rachel!

Happy Birthday Rachel!!!!

Here is a poem I wrote especially for you:

Ahem, ahem.

Happy Birthday to you

I know you'll say, "Phew!"

Please don't be blue

(Yellow is better)

I'd send you a letter

But I can't afford the stamp

Unless I sell my favorite lamp

I'll just buy you a new...

Never mind. Happy Birthday to you!

I love you. Hope it's a great day. See you soon.

Tricky Tricky

So while I was teaching today in my 4th grade classroom, I saw this riddle in a kid's math book:

"A $1 bill weighs about 1 gram. How many grams does a $5 bill weigh?"

I almost said, "5 grams", but luckily, I caught myself. Tricky, eh?

Ninja Kimm II

Here I am practicing my ninja moves again. I made sure to shout, "Allah Akbar!"

My hobo party this weekend for my birthday was awesome! We had tons of people come to warm themselves by the trash can fire and roast marshmallows, and eat peanut butter and jelly hors devours and cake/ice cream in a can (we made 5 cakes and had 3 gallons of ice cream!). We also had a can walk (like a cake walk), pin the mustache on the astronaut (like pin the tail on the donkey), more mattress jumping, sumo wrestling (on the mattresses), fireworks, and night games. It was fantastic!!!

Thanks all of you for calling me on my birthday. It meant a lot to me. You are the best fam ever!

Trains, Planes, and Automobiles

Copied from Shannon's family blog:
"Garrett has been begging for a train set. Enola and Liam have cool train sets and Garrett realizes he needs one also. He asks everyday all day long. His hand me down train set from the neighbor boy is well used. He has been playing with that for over a year most everyday.Today we went to the Red Ballon. They have two train tables. One with a Brio train set. The other has a Thomas Train set on it. After playing for half an hour it was time to go. The tantrums thrown were incredible. Garrett's legs were broken (they always break when he wants them to) and he howled in the isle. Preston was a screaming "NO"-saying lunatic. It is hard to manhandle two boys throwing tantrums to the car. Especially when one has broken legs. I felt true pain over Garrett's sadness. He wants a train set so badly. I would love to buy him the cool Thomas or Brio sets. We have been looking on Ebay to find him one for his birthday. He is going to have a train cake for his birthday. He told me in the car today that he wants a train set that isn't a cake.

I was just called as a nursey leader. I am very excited about it. Preston will be in nursery in one week, with Garrett."