Great Read!

This week I read a fabulous new book! It is always fun to pick up a new children's book to read. I read children's books for many reasons. Here are few of my best reasons:

1- they are usually short- this means I can finish them quickly!
2-I am always looking for books to recommend to my students!
3-I can always understand the vocabulary :)
4-they are free of smut clean!

If you are looking for a fun book to read, try The Evolution of Calpurnia Tate. I would recommend this book for anyone age 10 and above. A younger student who is an avid reader would also enjoy this book. This is the perfect read for any one who loves and appreciates the outdoors.

I hope you read it soon :)

Always learning

I love all the cool things that are done with blogs. I am amazed at all the skills people have. I want, I want. I'm too cheap frugal to pay someone to do it for me. Really I want to be able to do it myself.

With my extra time during this vacation I have been searching and learning some of these sneaky tricks skills myself. I should be finishing my numerous other projects, but this is just too fun.

I've added a signature and a cool header... don't you just love the brick wall?? Needless to say, I am pretty proud excited with my new skills. Need a header? Send me some pictures....

Merry Christmas!

It was a wonderful Christmas morning at the Wagdogz house. Santa was very good to all of the little Wagdoggiez this year. The kitties, however, haven't been so good, so they got nothin'. Here are some pictures from the morning and a few of the gifts received.
Marissa got a lovely new steering wheel cover... we hope she doesn't make this face when she drives!! She got some long johns for those cold, cold Utah days too!

Papa Wag got some new ski goggles (and an air compressor!)

JQ scored with the new laptop!! She was one happy girl!

Riley got the new Super Mario Bros. for the wii-- which has already provided many hours of happiness! He also got a camera!

Andrea, who was up first today, got a camera and a flat iron! She is sporting those new braces well don't you think?

As for me (who you don't get to see because I was behind the camera today), I got some lovely gifts and most importantly got to enjoy watching everyone love what they received.

I also was able to talk to our missionary!! (Pretty much the best part of the day!) His favorite story was that he was hit by a car this week!!! (Yes, I was pretty alarmed) The car was not traveling very fast, so he doesn't have any serious injuries. He laughed while telling the story... so it couldn't have been too bad, especially when it just happened on Monday!!

Merry Christmas to everyone! We hope your day was as wonderful as ours :)

The Boys' Trip

Jim and Riley started their Christmas vacation going on an adventure to the Peter Grubb Hut. In order to get to the hut you have to drive to Truckee, CA and then hike/snowshoe/cross-country ski 3 miles to get to this lovely little 'cabin'.

Here are Devyn and Riley 'enjoying' the blizzard they hiked through to get to the hut.

On Tuesday morning, Jim got up and hiked the mountain. Here he is at the top. Don't let the sun fool you... the wind was blowing like no other!

Two of my very favorite boys! I'm pretty sure they had a great time. (And... Jim has the blisters to prove it!)

One last picture of Riley, the hut, and the snowshoes!! Fun, fun, fun.

The girls just stayed home. Although the boys thought staying home would be boring... we promise it wasn't!!

We hope each and everyone of you have a wonderful Christmas with your families. We can't wait to talk with Kevin (aka Elder Wagner) on Christmas morning-- pretty much the best Christmas present ever :)

Our 5th Tin Grin!

Here is Andrea the night before....

the last night with smooth teeth that won't rip her tongue to shreddle....

the last night without pain (for a few nights)...

the last night of plain, old, boring teeth...

She does look pretty excited I think. I know she is mostly excited to get the braces on so that she can get them off!!

Here are her beautifully adorned teeth now!! A permanent grill, if you will!! Nothing like a few days with soup, applesauce, and jamba juice!! The best part of getting braces: a p.e. teacher who felt sorry for her and let her take the day off from p.e.!!!

She choose the decorative 'rainbow' for her first set of rubber bands.... Very Cute! I think they look like a mouth of skittles.... taste the rainbow :)

Congratulations Andrea for reaching this milestone! 1 day with braces is 1 day closer to straight, beautiful teeth!

And yes... it is snowing on our blog!! (Isn't it the coolest!) Templates by Tenille has it for free right now!! Go there HERE.

We the People- A Wagner Family Legacy

Unit 4: Lauren, Jacquie, Chris, Brian!

Yesterday was the district competition for this year's We the People Team from Centennial High School. Jacquie is a member of the team and on Unit 4. Centennial had another great year winning the 22nd District Competition!! They will now begin the strenuous preparation for the State Competition that will be held in Sacramento, CA, Feb 3-5!! Congratulations!!

Erik, Jacquie, Reena, Kimi

Jacquie is fortunate to have some of her bestest friends on the team too!

Here's another shot of Unit 4 just before their first hearing began.

If you want to learn more about the We the People program you can go to the website here at the Center for Civic Education. One of the greatest things you could do to support Jacquie is to endorse the program at this WEBPAGE. It will only take a few seconds!! Thank you, in advance!!

Congratulation Jacquie! We are so proud of you for continuing this 'family legacy' (as Mr. Richmond referred to). Chuck Norris is proud too :)

Remembering Amanda

As you probably know, we lost our beautiful niece and cousin, Amanda, in September. Amanda was amazing. To honor her Aunt Cathy planned a beautiful opportunity for all of us to stop and remember her. We planted an Amanda Tree. We read Amanda's testimony and then planted the tree. We are grateful to have known Amanda and will remember her as we wait for the day that we can be with her again.

The circle of rocks reminded me of the temple and the opportunity I had to be sealed to my family. I am so grateful for my knowledge that families can be together forever.
I just had to add this picture of Ella. She was quite busy during our tree planting... She absolutely loves coming to Napa where there are 5 acres for her to roam around. There are a lot of deer here. I'm pretty sure Ella considers herself on Deer Patrol the whole time she is here. She even found a deer vertebrae (nice, I know). When we get home, she will sleep for days!

Here are three of my favorite girls!! (Relax everyone, I said three OF-- so they're not my only favorites!) Jacquie, Marissa, and Paige have had a great time in Napa. Marissa especially has loved the vacation from her studies. Just three weeks until she comes home for the winter break--hooray!!!

Thanksgiving in Napa- A Wagner Tradition

The young daddies (Rich & Ron) get baby duty first, then they get to eat! These newest additions, Cara and Addie, to the Wagner family are absolutely adorable.

Mark, Riley, and Marissa are ready to dig in. Riley, of course, was first in line and first back for seconds (and thirds).

The 'kid' table doesn't have very many kids anymore. Here are Jason, Devyn, Ethan, Zach, and Paige.

Zach, Paige, Jacquie, and Andrea. These kids drank so many bottles of sparkling apple cider it was crazy!!
This is my favorite time of the day... when all the men do all of the dishes! Here are Grandpa Wagner and Jim.

Mark, Zach, and Paul.

Zach, Paul, and Mike. These guys are awesome for traditionally doing all the clean-up after two days of cooking.

And THIS is what the girls do while the men are cleaning up! (Now do you see why this is my favorite part of the day?!) The Black Friday sales seem to get better and better each year.

Go Wagner Girls, GO!! Find those deals :)

And this is what the 'little' kids do while the men are cleaning and the women are planning their shopping trips.... I think Ethan found a nice, comfy spot to sleep. Right on top of Paige, Riley, and Jacquie!

Ecclesiastes 3:4 - "a time to dance"

In the Wagdog World the time to dance comes at the wonderful age of 14!! Riley-dog has reached that wonderful age. Last night was his first Stake church dance. Determined to make it very successful, Jacquie began coaching him long ago. They had one final lesson last night... (note the closed eyes and intense look on Riley's face-- this is serious stuff!)

Oh man, do they have some moves!!

And so time continues to march on and my little children continue to grow up. Off the big sister and little brother went to dance the night away. They followed all of the traditions set before by the older Wagdogz. They danced and danced and then finished the night with a delightful trip to Sonic.

Congratulations Riley!! Your time has arrived :)

Reunion!

Hurley (Whitey) & Ella

Two years ago we were blessed with 9 beautiful lab pups. Ella out did herself giving us black, yellow, and chocolate puppies all in one litter. The last puppy that was born on that rainy night was an adorable yellow male pup. He was almost white... He quickly became my favorite. I called him "Whitey". I loved that puppy. I tried to hold other pups, but I always traded them back for my sweet little Whitey. I had a hard time letting Whitey go. I'd like to say that I didn't cry, but really I did. I was so sad to see him go.

Whitey got a wonderful new family. He is a little spoiled, to say the least. The good thing for me is that Whitey's family still has a connection with Magnum, the father of the pups. Lucky for us, they are "Whitey"-sitting and brought my sweet little pup over to see me!!
It was an awesome surprise!! Whitey is now known as Hurley. His a beast of a lab. I'm not kidding when I say that he is huge!! I'd like to think that he remembers us and enjoyed visiting his mommy. They had so, so much fun playing together. They weren't thrilled about posing for a photo-- especially Ella!!


You can see Hurley (Whitey) as a pup HERE.


Thanks, Damon, for bringing my little puppy home for a visit!! :)

Freaking out.... just a little!

I love Mondays. I know that most people don't and really I used to not like them either. And then I had a son go on a mission. He writes us an email every single Monday. Every Monday. Did you know that he writes on Mondays??

Well. Yesterday was Monday. No letter.

I'm sure you're a devastated as I am. Pretty much I'm freaking out a little bit.

I've heard rumors that the missionaries email service had some problems. I've also heard that other moms are freaking out right now too.

I used to love Mondays. But now I just don't know.

Finally, my task is completed!!

For many, many months (okay, I'll admit that it is probably years...) I have wanted to add color to my kitchen. Lots of color. Bright red color.

Here are the 'before' pictures. Kind of boring. I'm sure you agree that it needed some color!!
I've had numerous paint samples on the wall--- sometimes they hung there for months. (I'm also sure that my kids will back me up on this-- they were sure that I would never really do it. It was just a dream) I guess I'm quite the procrastinator or maybe it was because there was always some other project that came first, or one of the kids needed something, or I had to go somewhere.



By some miracle, I woke up Saturday morning and thought, "THIS IS THE DAY!" I didn't hear voices. Angelic choirs didn't sing.



But I knew.



Deep, deep down in my soul I knew.



Jim went to work-- not his norm for a Saturday. I thought, "Won't he be surprised!!" (Unfortunately a blabber-mouth told him at work... so it wasn't a surprise any more, although he was still excited!-- note to self: when planning a surprise you can't just tell the kids that live at home, you must call and let all kids know!!)



Anyway. It was a glorius day. Andrea quickly volunteered and wanted to learn how to paint too. She was awesome. She never quit. It took us all day.



We listened to Christmas music too. And we loved (almost) every minute of it. Riley helped for a little while too. And although he proved not to be a huge help painting, he did make us some wonderful egg salad sandwiches for lunch. Thanks Riley!



And.... here it is:

Yes, I think I need new curtains or valances. One thing at a time though!

I love, love, love it. In the pictures it looks a little orangish... but it really isn't orange at all. It's true name is 'Cherry Tart'.
So, come on over.... we'll sip hot cocoa in our cheery red kitchen!!

Riley is 14!

Last Thursday, Riley turned 14!! Super exciting! His wonderful college sister sent him one of his favorite presents-- a new BYU t-shirt!! Good choice Marissa!

Buying gifts for Riley was rather challenging. All he asked for was some gibberlic acid, some party poppers, and maybe some money. Gibberlic acid, in case you're wondering, is some fabulous liquid that can make plants grow outrageously large! His first experiment will be on some Christmas tree seeds. I for one am hoping that he'll grow our very own Christmas tree this year. Wouldn't that be awesome!!

Riley was fortunate to have some tricky candles this year. They are very difficult to blow out but Riley was successful in getting them all out at the same time, at least for a few seconds.

Blow Riley blow!!

Riley is still the king of funny faces. I'm pretty sure that we have more pictures of funny faces than just smiling. :)

At his birthday I definately spent a few minutes (or more) reflecting on our year with Riley, especially April through June. It is sobering to remember how incredibly sick this boy was. It is more sobering to remember how scared we all were that either the doctors wouldn't find the problem or that the problem would be unfixable. Thankfully Riley was blessed with finally getting a diagnosis and a pretty simple treatment that worked. He has been off his medications since the end of August and is doing great. He is completely back to his old self in every way. We are so grateful for him and to have him in our lives each and every day.

If you want to read about his illness, you can go HERE and HERE and HERE.

Happy Birthday Riley! We love you lots!