the day brett favre retires from the nfl...

... is the day i retire from life. basically, that sums it up. sadly, today, we have heard the news that the greatest quarterback ever is retiring. how will life go on? honestly, the nfl will never be the same.

bowl, baby, bowl

we had a pretty awesome weekend. we started off with a game night at the bishop farrer's house. fun! the alison and eric earl were there with their kids, as well as we the farrer's niece, stevi and mike duran and their little fam, plus the missionaries. we played 'oh heck' (very similar to up and down the river) and my one true love... guitar hero. we had a blast!

saturday, grace and i attended the primary easter activity and had fun learning about the importance of the atonement and resurrection.

saturday night we decided to go bowling with the earl's and duran's. we had so much fun! we played one game... the adults had one lane and the kids had their own (with a bumper). seriously, grace totally got a higher score than me and bryan! what's up? well, she did have the bumper.... i think i came in second to last... but at least i broke 50! we had a good time.

here is a picture of most of us... minus some kids... i think i have my eyes closed...

one, two, three...

ok, so much to the surprise of all of us here, raegan counted to thirteen on her own! wow! what a crazy kid... we weren't even working with her, but all of the sudden i was counting to get her to stop running away from me ('raegan... one... raegan... two...') and she just carried on all the way to thirteen. she must have learned it from bryan who often counts with her as he is bench pressing her and using her as a way to improve his biceps. (not that it's working... the bicep improvement, that is...) so, after she gets to 13, she skips to 17... we'll have to continue to work and see if we can get her all the way up to 20. fun stuff!

i said 'tentative'

holy smokes, before we get any more comments on our trip to germany, i must make an ammendment to that post. yesterday, bryan was accepted into the army's aegd (advanced education in general dentistry) program. he applied a while ago and we thought he was not going to be accepted. due to other participants in the hpsp (health professions scholarship program) declining on the offer, bryan was accepted. the program is for one year and afterwards we will fulfill our 4 year commitment. after much thought, prayers, and list-making, we have decided that we will participate in the aegd program. it was quite a tough decision to leave germany and the thompson's (who knows if we will ever have the opportunity to serve overseas or with them again), but we both felt like the aegd program will help bryan a great deal as a dentist and that it was the right choice to make for our family. we feel very fortunate to have been accepted and to have so many opportunities made available to us. thank you all for your support on our trip to germany! we will now be headed to fort sill, oklahoma. go sooners?!?

taylor and aubree get hitched

this past weekend, we attend the sealing of taylor and aubree in utah. we drove to las vegas on thursday night (poor gracie threw up in the car on the drive). we stayed with aunt pam for the night, then we drove friday up to utah. friday night, raegan threw up, so on saturday morning, i stayed with the kids, while bryan attended the sealing. i was very sad to miss it, and bryan said it was excellent. after the sealing, i met up with them at the temple to take some family pictures. aubree and taylor looked so wonderful. (p.s. grace did not want to smile again, she was being very stubborn... note her closed eyes).





after the temple, we headed to the luncheon. grace and raegan were dropped off with some babysitters and we enjoyed a scrumptious lunch and program. it was very touching to hear so many comments about taylor and aubree. when we went to pick up the girls, we found grace outside throwing snowballs at this truck.


doesn't she look lovely in her dress? and look at her throw that snowball! she really loves to play in the snow.

after we got the girls, we picked up aaron and ran a couple of errands before the reception. the reception was great. we saw lots of family members that we haven't seen in a long time. we left a bit early to put raegan to bed (she had a very high fever and was not acting her normal active self). we headed back to the condo to play guitar hero (courtesy of aaron) and wait for the rest of the crew to arrive.

sunday, we wished mom horspool a happy birthday and headed back home to california. we are so grateful that we were able to make the trip to utah. we are utterly happy for taylor and aubree and wish them the best!

ich liebe deutschland!

translation, 'i love germany'. ok, well, maybe we aren't there just yet. for all of you waiting and waiting we have finally received a 'tentative' army assignment. drum roll please, we are headed to storck barracks in illesheim, germany. we have been assigned for 3 years. are we excited? (yes - for bryan, sort of - for jamie, we're moving? - for grace and raegs). we will be relatively close to many things... italy, paris, london. we are looking forward to the experience. also stationed at storck barracks are our good friends, the thompson's (bryan and nate carpool to school together.) we are grateful that they will be there with us! we'll keep you updated as to when we will be leaving and any other exciting news that comes our way regarding germany. hopefully that semester of german i took at byu will come in handy. i just know i will be using the phrase 'when is your birthday' oh so frequently. auf wiedersehen.

the escape artist

well, as many of you know, raegan has been climbing out of her crib for the past little while. she doesn't know how to climb back in, but she gets herself out after every nap and in the mornings. recently, she has found that climbing out when she is supposed to be asleep is a pretty fun game (not so fun for mommy). she would climb out 4 or 5 times before she would finally give in and stay in bed and sleep. this is how we found her the other day (well, way back in january since i haven't posted in forever)...


she climbed out and managed to fall asleep next to grace's bed. what a silly girl. i'm mostly surprised that we never even knew she climbed out. usually, as soon as she is out, she races for her door and starts to open it... maybe this time she was too tired to make it!

here is a little picture update for grace and raegs. i wanted to take some pictures before grace went to school and this was the best one that i managed to get.


raegan thinks it is funny to say cheese and grace never wants to smile anymore... all the other pictures i took had raegan in motion trying to get off the couch. oh well!

mom, i don't want to be called the 'h' name

ok, super funny story. the other night me and the girls were at dinner with alison, jax, nik, and kenzy (our husbands were m.i.a.). as we were leaving, grace says to me, 'mom, ms. barbara called me the 'h' name.' i asked her what the 'h' name was, but all she kept saying was that ms. barbara called her the 'h' name and she didn't like it. i said, ok, when did she call you the 'h' name. she then managed to tell me that ms. barbara called her the 'h' name, then they washed their hands and ate their snack, then they lined up and went outside to play, then they came in and read a book and did crafts at their stations, then they sang abc rock (a complete listing of her daily activities after 10:30 that morning). i was completely confused. so, i asked alison (she had worked as a helper in the class that day) what she was talking about. before they have their snack, they clean up and sit on the carpet. ms. barbara has a flash cards for each child with their name on it. she holds up the card and then spells the name and that is how she dismisses them to wash up for snack. well, apparently, one child said something about his last name and so ms. barbara decided that she would dismiss the class by spelling their last name. so, when she got to grace, she said 'h-o-r-s-p-o-o-l' and grace didn't realize that was how you spell her last name. that was the 'h' name that she didn't like. how silly. we had a long talk about her first and last name and now i think she likes the 'h' name again.

elephant girl

ms. barbara forwarded this picture to me that she took of grace in school. they were learning about the letter 'e' and elephants. i thought it was pretty cute!

a little update on the status of raegan's nudity

yes, she still is undressing... here is how we found her last night! whenever she can, she takes her clothes off. just this morning, she came running into my room with nothing on... she had taken off her pj's (and put them in the dirty clothes hamper... lovely), and she had taken off her diaper (and put it in the trash... fabulous). i must say she is a smart girl, but she just can't keep her clothes on. i find myself telling her repeatedly throughout the day to put her pants back on. she really is very silly and maybe one day she will grow out of it.

the beach, sand, and good eats

a few days ago, aaron called and asked what we would be doing the 3-day weekend. we were not too busy, so him and some friends came down for a visit. grace and raegan were so excited! grace kept asking when uncle aaron was coming. when i told her that i was going to be leaving to play bunco she said, is uncle aaron coming to babysit? she couldn't wait to see him!

aaron and his friends stayed with some people in rancho palos verdes and then aaron stayed the night with us on saturday. they had a pretty good time. saturday, they went up to beverly hills and saw tim mcgraw and faith hill... then headed over to chinatown. there they picked up some sweet chinese clothes....



sunday, aaron hung out with us and then we headed out to the beach for a bonfire. it was pretty cold and bryan told me he would pay me $300 to run into the water with my clothes on... i declined. we had a pretty good fire, some yummy brats, hot dogs, and s'mores. yum. afterwards, aaron drove back with his friends and we bid him farewell until we head up to utah in february.

a quilt for grace

i have been thinking about when we move and having the girls be in bunk beds and i thought it would be fun to make their bedding. i called my friend, sarah, and asked her if i made the quilt tops, would she take them to her mom to quilt them on her quilting machine. she agreed, and the project began. i headed over to joann's to look at their fabric (they were having a sale), but nothing struck me for their room. the next day, i went to m & l discount fabric store... hello? awesome. they have soooo much fabric to look through, raegan and i were there for almost 2 hours picking out the colors. i found one print that i loved and decided from there that the girls room would be red and blue. i was looking to get away from the very girly colors of pink, purple, etc. i love the fabric i found and here is grace's completed quilt top. next project... raegan's quilt top!

persuasion

ok, i know that i am supposed to be reading the screwtape letters for our book club... but let me tell you, i am obsessed with persuasion by jane austen. this past sunday started 'the complete jane austen' on pbs's masterpiece classics. the first movie they showed was persuasion. love love love it. i dvr-ed it, and i have probably watched it everyday. oh my goodness... so good. so, of course, i decided to read the book. hello... can you say fabulous? i practically can't stop... i knew i loved jane austen for a reason. to be honest, i am mostly familiar with pride and prejudice and sense and sensibility, which i adore... so i am very excited to get film versions of all her works. next sunday is northanger abbey. check out all of jane austen on masterpiece classics. i especially recommend checking out the men of austen. love them!

matt's farewell dinner

last saturday, matt invited us to join him in his farewell dinner before he goes on his mission. he decided that he wanted to have lobster from the crab cooker. yum! we all got together to eat down in newport and had a blast. after dinner, we headed over to the beach to watch the sunset. we are so proud of matt and are grateful we were able to be with him before he leaves.





sunday, we drove up to yucaipa to be there for his setting apart. it was a very spiritual experience. before he was set apart, the stake president had us tell matt our feelings about him, something we may have never told him before. man, there wasn't a dry eye in the house. matt is an awesome kid and will be such a great missionary. we will miss him dearly. matt went into the mtc on wednesday (16 january) and is going to chile on his mission.

ballet and tap, here we come

i decided that this winter i would put grace into a dance class. the class they offer for her age is a tap and ballet class. she seemed very excited about going, but when we got there, she became very nervous. luckily, she has a good friend, paige thompson, in the class as well. when paige arrived, she was ready to go up with the class and start dancing. she sticks to paige like glue. paige has taken the class before and she is a good example to grace since she knows what she is doing already. i loved watching them dance. it was very fun. we have since learned that she has another little friend from preschool in her class. analeisa was even more scared than grace. grace and her are starting to become better friends, so i hope it will help analeisa to not be so afraid.

the new years eve bash

on new years, we had 2 families over for a little party. the roberts and the laytons. the place was going crazy with kids and games and guitar hero and the shocking duel. unfortunately, we didn't take any pictures at the party, but managed to take lots of video of the shocking duel game. the video here is bryan and danny. you will see what i mean about him being a big baby. he lets go before he feels the next level. fear of the unknown, i guess. anyway, it is pretty funny.



after games, and as the new year was approaching, we sent the boys out to get the fireworks ready. they had a whole show prepared, but since it was soooo cold (probably around 20 degrees outside) my fingers wouldn't work to take a picture. the show was great though. grace was the only one of the toddlers able to make it all the way to midnight. she had taken a late nap around 6 p.m. so she was ready to go. we had a fun night, and i am grateful that we have such good friends.

new years eve eve

the day before new years eve, we had some friends (the franks) over for dinner and games. we ate yummy stuffed sopapillas and played catch phrase, guitar hero, and again, the shocking duel. we had a blast. tracy and chuck frank came with their two kids, jordan and tanner. we have some good video of nana and tracy playing guitar hero, but i thought a picture would say it all. they were so funny playing. danny and i like to play against each other since we were about the same skill level (he was a little better than me). aaron would beat us so badly it wasn't funny! he plays really well on the hard level and bryan was the best of everyone on medium.

the shocking duel

for christmas, aaron got this game called shocking duel or something like that. anyway, you hold on to these handles (like a joy stick) and you get shocked. each player uses one hand and as the shocks get stronger, you see who can hold on the longest. aaron and my dad could make it all the way through.... bryan was a big baby... rachel didn't make it past level 1... nana made it pretty far... i never got past level 4, but the funniest of all was danny devine. we have a video of christmas morning and danny and aaron were the first to do it. all i can say is... hilarious!

christmas eve traditions/christmas day adventures

finally christmas eve arrived. growing up, we had a tradition of opening one present on christmas eve. usually new pajamas that we could wear that night. we have decided to continue that tradition for our children now. all of the girls (grace, raegan, and aurora) got the same pjs. it was so cute! they were very excited to open a present the day before christmas. i was surprised how excited raegan got. she loved tearing that paper off!



christmas day came the next morning, just as expected. since all of the kids are younger, there wasn't that 6 a.m. rush to wake up and open presents. we actually had a very relaxed morning and started opening presents at about 8. there was complete chaos while presents were opened, paper flew everywhere and by the end, there was a big mess! grace and raegan loved their presents. we have decided as a family tradition that each year our children will only get 4 presents... something to read, something to wear, something to do, and something to play with. we hope that it will help them focus more on the savior and not so much on gifts they will get. they had a great time. here is a picture of nana and papa with all the kiddos, then one of grace and raegs on christmas morning.

missouri snow

we arrived in missouri for our wonderful christmas vacation on 15 december. bryan had an extremely long break from school (4 weeks), so we decided to spend 3 weeks in missouri. just a few days before we got there, an ice storm hit and most people lost their power for several days. by the time we arrived, the storm was over, but we still had a snow storm. nannie, aunt pam, hannah, and sarah were there as well as rachel, aurora, and ty. a few days after we arrived, we took the kids out to play in the snow. i think they enjoyed it very much. grace had played in the snow last thanksgiving at park city, but it was raegan's first time. bryan, hannah, and sarah took them sledding and they built a snowman (sorry, no pictures). they had a blast. we took them out again a few days later. then, the snow melted. we had a really great time hanging out with nannie, aunt pam, hannah, and sarah. i was so glad they were able to spend a few days with us before christmas.

snowball fight!

my mom sent us this hilarious jib-jab card! i had to post it!

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yes, we've elfed ourselves, too!

click here check out the horspool elves!

so, my mom sent me this email where she 'elf'-ed everyone she had a picture of, so we decided to elf ourselves. very cute! i have seen it on several blogs and have decided to jump on the bandwagon.

just a side note... little raegs decided that she was going to learn how to climb out of her crib yesterday. after a few weeks of trying to climb over and getting stuck, then climbing over, but not thinking she could get all the way down and crying until i helped her, she finally made the jump and climbed all the way out. i told bryan and he said... 'cool, now we can get bunk beds'... i said... 'there goes my sanity'... just kidding... sort of...

grace and raegan have officially mastered ‘the picture smile’

and there it is... the picture smile... the smile we all smile whenever we hear the words... 'say cheeeeeeeeese'.

yesterday, we had the girls wear their christmas dresses for the first time. they are so cute (i just wish aurora was here in her matching dress... ah, but soon we will all be in the great state of missouri!) well, we tried to get some pictures... grace and raegs really didn't want to smile so much... mostly, they just wanted to be silly and mess around. of course! so, here are the pictures we got.





yum, raegs must think buttons are scrumptious... unfortunately, this was the best smile we got out of gracie!

after bry left for his meetings, i put raegan in the crib while i took a shower. when i was done getting ready, this is how i found raegan...


grace had thrown almost every toy we own into the crib. raegan was buried. literally. i could barely get her little legs out... they were covered with toys! after i took raegan out, i had grace climb in there to take the toys out... who knew we had so many stuffed animals!

i heart byu football

saturday, byu played their last regular season game against san diego state. mike, amber, bryan, and i made the trip south to watch the team. while we were driving, we saw this crazy rainbow outside... it had been raining off and on all day. it was so bright!


well, byu won the game 48 - 27 and we had a good time... byu is now ranked number 17 and will play ucla in the las vegas bowl on 22 december. go cougs!