long time

It's been a long time since Team Fulkerson posted on this blog! We blame moving. Please, no comments when we're still blaming all of our shortcomings on the move in two years' time. We'll probably still be unpacking.

I won't even attempt to catch you up, other than to say that it's been a busy summer dominated by home improvement. Please pardon our dust.*

And by dust we mean giant piles of cr*p.

An example of the previous homeowners' idea of "patching a hole." I wish I was kidding.

Moving on....

We were lucky enough to take a vacation to Keystone, Colorado this summer. It is unspeakably beautiful there! Here is a shot of the ski runs. I didn't really know what they'd look like (never been skiing before), or that the trees would be so close to the runs. Incredible!

We had the pleasure of visiting with dear friends from our Misawa, Japan days. Hold onto your hats, fellow Misawa-ans...pictured L to R: Noah, Nate Lovewell (who has the distinction of being the last baby Dan ever delivered!), Emma, Miranda Peasley, Luke, Daniel, Aaron Peasley, and Tim Lovewell. The last time these kids were together they were preschoolers! It was surreal - they are nearly all taller than I am ! Great kids, one and all!

Leah reading to Baby. This photo shows off the mullet she managed to grow this summer! Yay, hair! :)

Kids enjoying the pool

You may have noticed in the shots of Luke that he doesn't have any front teeth. Again. His front four teeth didn't form correctly and for the last three years we've had all sorts of adventures with cosmetic dentistry. We're about to have (another) partial denture put in on Monday. He's planning to spend his Labor Day weekend eating gummy bears and chewing gum!

Emma's latest cat drawing

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Amy's brother Eric and his wife Tia gave birth to their precious baby Jude. Our adorable nephew count is now up to three! Here is Emma cuddling with him on the day of his Baby Dedication.

Our crowd at Jude's baby dedication

We hope you've had a great 2011 so far! Stay tuned....

leah rocks

We have to keep an eye on the ipods around here. Leah thinks they are all hers.

January

Team Fulkerson has had a busy couple of months trying to orchestrate a move. Seven people, eight years-plus of accumulated stuff -- readying to move about five minutes up the road. We still have a few weeks to go before the big day, but when we look back at January 2011 we'll definitely remember purging, cleaning, the beginnings of packing...and seeing this in the front of what will be our new home. It was taken during a *brief* pocket of time around New Year's Day when we didn't have any snow. ;)

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Some people are just more resiliant than others. More creative. More adaptable.

Take away Luke's markers...and he finds a pen.

Luke has loved the pre-move chaos so far. First, mom's distracted. That always works well for him. There are boxes everywhere. There are stepstools- normally reserved for painting- unfolded and at the ready. He's decided this beauty is his new dining seat. Lovely. I guess it does make our other furniture look better by comparison.

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Dan and Leah have a nightly ritual. He likes to read for a few minutes before he goes to sleep.

Leah... helps.

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January also marked the beginning of an era: Team Fulkerson now has a teenager. :) Emma's birthday photos didn't come out very well, unfortunately. We'll try to take more very soon. I didn't want to make this post without mentioning that big event.

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Team Fulkerson hopes you all stay warm and safe during this winter storm!

image of the day

Happy New Year

from

Team Fulkerson!

there's a baby on the table

I can't believe how happy Luke looks in this picture, considering his sister's location.

Leah is a climber.

She's not our first climber - we remember Daniel climbing on the kitchen table a handful of times- but Leah has practically taken up residence there.

She dumps drinks. She sticks her hands in cereal bowls while her siblings try to eat. She spills entire boxes of crackers. Nothing is safe.

In related news, Leah's popularity with her siblings has taken a bit of a nosedive this Christmas vacation. ;)

Leah is also our first toddler (that we can recall...maybe we just have selective memory?) that likes to play in the toilet.

Team Fulkerson, buckle up! This may be a bumpy ride. :)

Christmas 2010

Leah and her "Beeebeee"

Amy's Grandpa Krou with five Fulkersons and a Dillow (Team Fulkerson's nephew/cousin).

Can you tell that our children love their cousin baby Max? The poor kid gets no peace!

Noah and Max

Leah insists on being thisclose to him all the time. :) Thankfully he's very mellow.

Yes, our tree looks exactly like you'd expect...lopsided angel, lower third completely empty, ornaments on the floor, and obviously decorated by the children.

I go to other people's homes to see pretty trees...we refer to this as our happy tree.

Noah, dressed as Joseph in the Sunday School Christmas program

Daniel and Leah, just because.

We have more thank-you notes to write and a whole lot of cleaning up to do...but it was a Christmas full of blessings. Team Fulkerson hopes you are enjoying the Christmas season as much as we are!

smile

Our near-annual trek to JCPenney's photo studio yielded these shots this fall. We were happy (thrilled) to get some usable images, because as we all know the more people you add into the photo the more opportunity for disaster.

Time never stands still; in the month and a half since these were taken Emma's started wearing contact lenses, Noah lost a tooth, Luke gave himself a haircut and Leah has grown a little more hair.