The Drew Israelsen Family

Well today must be my lucky day. Last weekend my cute husband went downtown and bought me the camera that I have been wanting really bad!!! He bought me the Nikon D60, when he handed it to me he said "happy birthday, merry Christmas and happy anniversary". I took the kids to the park today to play around and so I could play around with my camera. I told them we would stop on the way home and get ice cream at Casper's. We went to the ice cream shop and there was a sign on the door that said "closed for medical emergency". The kids were disappointed and so I told them we would go across the street to Macey's and get a box of ice creams and go home and eat them. So we go and park and get the kids in the cart. I get inside the store and run into one of my old friends so I talk to her for a few minutes. I also run into uncle Jim and talk to him for a while. Needless to say it wasn't a quick trip into the store. We get all checked out and start walking to the car. I look up and see a jeep just like mine but the door is WIDE OPEN, I think to myself what kind of idiot....then I realized it was my Jeep!!!! I think I had 10,000 thoughts rush through my mind, my camera is on the front seat along with my $400 cell phone, and Drew's check from work. Drew is going to KILL me! I got to the car as fast as I could (like that was going to change anything!) Nothing was missing!!! So I just thought I would let you all know what you could of had because of my stupidity!!! Like I said before it must be my lucky day!!!

My kids LOVE spontaneous fun!! I can plan and plan something for them and they still have more fun when it just hits them. The other morning we were outside and Drew and I noticed one of our sprinklers were leaking he went to inspect it and off it came. Needless to say we had a lot of water gushing out of one spot and making a pretty good flood in the yard. Drew and I started talking about when our grandparents would flood their yards with irrigation water and we would slide on the grass like one big slippery slide! The kids overheard and asked if they could do the same. We looked at each other and said what the heck. They were both still in their pajamas so we stripped them down and told them to (in the words of grandpa Israelsen) JUST DO IT!!!

So just like the annual tea party grandma and grandpa Taylor have an annual Root beer Float Party with all the grandsons. Robert had a great time with grandpa Taylor and of course grandma. The movie they watched this year was water horse so for dinner they had pizza with worms on it. They had root beer floats for dinner and breakfast. When there is a sleepover at grandmas anything goes and they actually get to choose what they want to eat. One of them decided they would have a bag of chips for breakfast and grandma said sure. Robert loves it because they are completely spoiled when they stay there and he got to sleep in the pooh room! He came home with a 2 liter of root beer, some glow in the dark fish, and lots of gummy worms. Thanks again mom for having a sincere part in my kids life! We love you!

It is official Drew has left Western Mechanical. After four and a half years he has found another job. We are great full for everything that Western Mechanical did for him while he was there. He came home the other night and passed his hats down to the kids. As you can see Lena doesn't quit fit into hers.
He will be working for SBS a nationwide company, he was hired as the lead service tech for all of Utah and Idaho. This will mean he is away from home more than he is now but also when he is home he is home. No more on call!!! I am a little nervous about him being gone more because he is my best friend, my shoulder to cry on and my cuddling companion at night!! But I am very happy for him and how far he has come in life! He is very excited and I love seeing him happy!
So good bye Western Mechanical and good luck Drew. I love you and I am so very happy for you and the accomplishments you have made with your life!

Every year Grandma Taylor has her annual Tea Party. All the grand daughters go to her house and have a sleepover and a Tea Party with Grandma. She teaches them the correct manners to have for being a lady! This year the BIG RED bow was the ticket to get into her party.
Lena had SOOOOO much fun with her grandma. She came home with a new doll, a makeup bag full of makeup, a new purse, a little jewelery box with one of her grandma's rings inside and of course CHOCOLATE!!! I am very thankful for my mom spending the time with her grand daughters and the fact that they are able to experience some of the fun I had as a young girl with my mother! She is a firm believer in playing with the kids just like she is one of them herself.
The party really wore Lena out she came home and I didn't even get her out of the dress and she had crashed! Thanks mom for loving my kids with all of your heart and always telling them how special they are.

This is our Dog Phil. I asked for him for my birthday last year, I was browsing KSL and he just looked up at me with his eyes and won me over. Even better he was fully trained when we got him!!! He has been such a great dog. Robert has slowly taken him over lately. Phil is always by his side and it is really fun to watch the relationship and bond they are sharing. He puts him on the tramp to jump with him and they go down the slide together. If Robert spends the night somewhere else Phil has stress. He goes and sniffs Rob's room all night long and looks for him everywhere. I guess it is true dogs are a boys best friend!

One of my best friends, Lindsay, came over to hang out with us the other night. It had been along time since I had hung out with her because our lives just took different directions. She has conquered some pretty tough obstacles and I am really proud of her. It is nice to see her with Thomas she seems really happy and I really enjoyed Thomas' company. I love ya LINTHY!

This is our new Nephew Britan. He was born on 8/8/8 at 8:20 and weighed 8lbs 10 oz. He is very cute and looks a lot like his brothers!
He belongs to my brother Mike and sister in-law Lori. It is their 5th child. I tried to tell Shay that I was taking him home and she was pretty clear with me that I WASN'T taking him anywhere!!!
Proud Mom Lori she was thrilled with me for taking her picture but I think she looks pretty good for only being out of labor for 3 and a half hours!!!
All the kids are very excited to have a new brother coming home with them maybe even as soon as tomorrow!! Congratulations and we love you guys!!!

Robert had his cousin Adam come and have a sleepover. They are so funny together. I was calling them Salt and Pepper because they are completely opposite but really do complement each other. I came down stairs with the popcorn for the movie we were watching and there they were on the couch Rob with his arm around Adam.
Lena of course wanted her picture taken so the boys made it over her way and we took one with all three of them together. Adams expression in this picture cracks me up!!!
I put the tent up for the boys to sleep in on the basement floor. They thought it was a GREAT idea until it came time for them to actually sleep in there. So needless to say they slept in Robert's room and only used the tent for PRETEND. Robert really enjoys playing with Adam and I am sure we will have lots more sleepovers with him!

The other day Lena and I went with my niece Bonny to find the perfect wedding dress. Lena was in Heaven and just couldn't get enough of all the beautiful shoes, dresses and veils. Drew isn't to fond of seeing her in a veil. I can't imagine how he will actually feel when the time comes. She was so cute and would just stare at herself in the mirror. She would put on shoes and pose for the camera. It was fun to watch her natural girl instincts come to the surface.