Ice storm update

The Evansville area got hit very bad with ice and snow this week. Wednesday morning started at 2:30a.m. when a big tree limb hit our house and barely missed our cars. All night there were trees crashing down and transformers popping. It was very weird to see and hear. We made it through the night and I promptly deposited my Honda into a ditch on the way to work. We also lost power and still don't have it back yet, but we are staying at a friends house and are staying warm.

Riley's Birthday

Here is the birthday girl getting her cup cakes and blowing out candles. Enjoy!

Our Baby is 2!

Riley turned 2 yesterday! She got a Dora shirt when she woke up. She had strawberry cupcakes. Then she opened some presents. Her big present was a Cabbage Patch Doll. We actually won the doll at the mall when she was a couple months old. We decided it would be silly to give to her when she was a baby, so we have been holding onto it until she was older. She was fascinated with the fact that the shoes and socks come off! We can't believe she is already 2. She loves following the boys around and trying to play with them. They don't like it so much. She recently started making funny faces. She loves singing "Wheels onthe Bus" and "Jingle Bells". Whenever she sees my i-pod she says "Jingle Bells"! Riley gets into EVERYTHING! She keeps us very busy.

Yummy olives!

Riley, Quinn, and Will love black olives. Aiden always tries them, but he just doesn't like them. Their favorite thing to do is to put them on their fingers and eat them that way. Whenever we have olives Will always tells me he needs 10, so he can have one for each finger. If I'm making something with olives I have to try and hide them from the kids while I'm cooking.

Who needs a teddy bear when you have...

Who needs a teddy bear when you have a Millenium Falcon and a ball hopper to sleep with? Quinn sleeps with his Millenium Falcon and a small box of things he feels the need to keep safe from little hands every night. This night he decided to sleep with the ball hopper too. We tried telling him he would be more comfortable without all his stuff in bed, but he wouldn't listen. One night I moved the Millenium Falcon and he wasn't very happy about it the next morning. On the other side of the wall is our room and whenever he moves I can hear it! Oh well, I guess as he gets bigger he will want more room in bed and maybe he'll find a new spot for his favorite things!

Will Demented

So, we think Will might be possessed. Here lately, he has been doing this weird growl and hiss thing when he doesn't get his way or when he gets in trouble (which often happens together). Does anyone know a good exorcist?

Some pictures I took today

Ok - so Tasha took the ones of Riley...

2008 Year in Review

Since the new year is here, I thought it would be fun to take a look back at 2008 (actually, I saw this on someone else’s blog and thought it would be fun). It was a long and sometimes painful year for the Denton clan, but there were good times to be had as well!

As a family, we went on vacation to Gatlinburg and visited the aquarium among other activities. We also made several trips to Memphis to visit with family.

We also tried what will forever be known as “the great doggie experiment”. Sunny came into our house on Labor Day and left a few days later. We weren’t ready for a dog yet, but it was fun having her while we did.

I (Doug) had a blast this year at school! I took 2 classes every semester including summer and finished my coursework for my masters degree. All I have left is a thesis to write and I will graduate! I also spent way too much time and money playing with Star Wars Lego sets. In church news, I was released as ward mission leader after almost 4 years and was called into the Elder’s Quorum presidency. My mother also passed away in September. While it was a hard time for our whole family, it was nice to be able to spend time with family and old friends for a few days.

Besides from continuing to be the best mother and wife on the whole planet, Tasha has managed to stay sane (we think…) this year while running the boys to school, speech, baseball games, piano lessons, etc. She has truly become a minivan mom. Needless to say, she did much of this on her own while I was at school. Despite all that running around, she found time to read lots of books, see Twilight 3 times and learn to sew!

This year, Quinn turned 6, played baseball, started 1st grade, gave up baseball, started piano lessons, swam with his cousin Jack, had a piano recital and became a secret agent. He went to a Star Wars midnight madness sale with his daddy this summer and stayed awake long enough to buy his own Lego set. He is his daddy’s little Lego buddy and loves to help me build my sets.

Will turned 4 this year and started his 2nd year of preschool. He had many adventures with his best friend, Puppy (a stuffed animal that he can’t go anywhere without). He likes to play Wii with his brother Aiden.

Aiden also turned 4 and started his 2nd year of preschool. Aiden surprised us all this year when we discovered that he needed hernia surgery. He sprang back very well and is doing just fine. Aiden had fun this year playing with Quinn’s Legos and getting into mischief any chance he got!



Riley turned 1 in January. Our baby girl has really grown this year. She loves running around the house with or without her brothers (also with or without her diaper). It has been fun to watch her learn new things and say new words. She is always smiling and laughing and can brighten the darkest of moods with a quick smile and a giggle. She has also started to get into EVERYTHING and can be quite a handful. Riley also displayed a new talent by beating the whole family at bowling this Thanksgiving!

Happy new year to everyone!