Rosco: Our latest addition

Norm and I took the plunge this week and got a dog for the family. We've been thinking about it for a loooong time and most recently started thinking about it again about a month ago. We did a bit of research and decided that a beagle would be a good fit for our family. So last Thursday night we went and picked up our new pup and surprised our boys (and Rachel too). Grandma Fran and Uncle Dan even came over that night to meet him.

Things went really well that first night. He was mostly paper trained by the breeder and was already trained to sleep in a crate. He was thouroughly tuckered out by the kids and slept really well. We've only had a handfull of accidents and only in the kitchen. We'll eventually take out the carpet in our family room so that he can join us there as well.

And then there was the name. Wow! Much harder than choosing a baby name, more people to give input and please. Rachel loved Blacky, Andrew- Oscar, Cory & I-Nigel, & Norm-Barney. We took a vote and that didn't help any. Then Norm had everyone give their top 2 picks and Oscar was on everyone's list. (Janette, I eventually remembered that you had an Oscar, but we thought since the possibilites were slim that they'd meet it would be ok.) So for about a day his name was Oscar. But then last night, Norm & I were channel surfing and came upon Dukes of Hazard, heard Rosco P Coltrane and both said, "That's it!" We conviced the kids this morning that Rosco was a much better name than Oscar (surprizingly easier than I thought it would be) and so he will be known as Rosco for the rest of his days.

Cory & Rosco (A boy & his dog)

See Andrew's excitement

Rachel loves her new puppy!

Tug-o-war: Andrew vs. Rosco

Down & Derby!

Last Friday was Andrew's first Pinewood Derby. He has been looking forward to it for the last month. Starting two weeks before the derby, he began calling Norm at work almost daily to ask what they were going to work on that day so that his car would be done on time. He wanted his car to look line a lizard/alligator/elephant. I was proud of how much Norm has grown because he didn't try to talk Andrew into a more aerodynamic car like he had when Cory was eight. They had a lot of fun working on it together and we had a fun time watching all the cars. Andrew & his car

a fun song...

So I heard this on the radio today and it made me laugh because Norm has joked about doing something like this when Rachel starts to date. Janette you may have heard it before, but for everyone else, check out this link and listen to Cleaning This Gun.
http://www.bestnewcountry.com/rodney-atkins/#

Enjoy!

Snow Angels and Wiis

A couple of fun videos from Andrew's baptism & our ski trip.

The first is Andrew, my snow deprived, desert dwelling child, making a snow angel on his stomach, which I found very funny. This was at BYU while waiting with Estelle for Grant to get off work so that we could go out to dinner with them.

The second is Mom enjoying a game of tennis with Cory. I thought that the other Harward sibs might enjoy watching mom having some fun. Who knows maybe next time we visit her she'll have bought one ;-) (I think it would make her the coolest grandma ever if she did)

Skiing in Salt Lake

The family at "our bench" by the Joseph Smith Building at BYU

Rachel and her "twin"

Andrew headed down the slopes


Last week we got a chance to go up to Salt Lake to go skiing. We had a great time staying with Joanne & Ken and their family. On Thursday I went with Norm and visited the University of Utah's audiology program. I didn't get a good reception at the clinic, but had a nice visit with the head of the department and a couple of the professors. On Friday we took our kids skiing. Norm hit the bunny slopes with Cory & Andrew right away. Both the boys remembered the lessons they had two years ago and did great. We signed Rachel up for ski school and she wound up being the only student. Her instructor, Adam, was from England. I stayed to watch for a little bit and then went and joined Norm and the kids on the bunny hill. It has been at least eight years since I last skied, but it did come back to me after the fear subsided. Saturday it was back to the slopes with the complete Trepanier clan. I chose not to ski, but came up later with Andrew & Rachel. Norm took each of them up on the big chair lift to ski a green. Norm said that he carried Rachel most of the way down. Andrew went slow and steady and he did 2 360s (his most favorite thing, he kept telling everyone that would listen), and made it all the way down happy. My most favorite story is from Rachel: On Friday she asked me, "Mom, why don't we live where it snows? I want to live where it snows." Then on Saturday while waiting for Norm & Andrew in the afternoon as it became colder, "Mom, I'm glad we don't live where it snows because I'm cold." I got a good laugh.

Baptism Pics

Here are some pics that I promised. We had a great time with all. Thanks to Rich for bringing over their Wii. It was fun to watch Mom playing Cory (I tried to upload a video I took, but had trouble, I'll try again later).

The cousin's enjoying Richard's Wii
Half of the Harward Kids

The whole clan: don't we look great!

Norm & Andrew

Andrew's Baptism & Family Fun

Well, life's been pretty fun for the last few days. Late last Wednesday night, Grandma Harward, Uncle Grant, Aunt Estelle, Aunt Kassie, Aunt Lonnie, Alanna, Kellen, Elsa, Zane, & Reid rolled into the Old Pueblo. We had a great time hanging out together for the next few days. Lots of good cousin play time and sibling visiting.
Thursday we just hung out at home and let everyone recoup from their late night arrival. We did make it out of the house to the park for some playtime.
Friday we took a tour of Collosal Cave (only a 5 minute drive). The kids enjoyed the stories of our guide as well as making sure to get all the punches that they needed to fill their punch card for a special prize. That night everyone pitched in to help me get all the food prepared for the post baptism lunch. Thanks to eveyone I couldn't have done it without you.
Saturday was Andrew's big day. All went well at the baptism and we all made it back to our place in one piece. At this time we also had some Trepanier's here as well: Grandma Fran, Uncle Brian (just graduated from marine boot camp at Camp Pendleton), Uncle Richard, Matt, Michael, Katie, Paul, Taylor, & Jacob. We had some great food: bbq pork, rolls, potato salad, cole slaw, chips and then dessert: cookies, cake, and banana bread. Sadly, everyone but Grant & Estelle had to leave that afternoon, but we all had a blast together before they left.
I haven't downloaded my pics from the weekend yet, but I promise to post some soon.