May 2015 walkthrough of the house on County FA

Here's a walkthrough of the changes that Rick and Nancy Gerrard have made to the house on County FA.  There's still a lot of work to be done, but Nancy invited us back when it's all finished.  In addition to what you see, they gutted everything down to the studs in the house.  They re-insulated, as well as re-wired and re-plumbed the entire house.  Other than the big living room windows, all of the windows in the house have been replaced.

Enjoy!

Update: I uploaded the HD video of the walkthrough and replaced the old one.

check it out!

Our new place!

Halsey playing with her monkey.  It has Velcro on the hands and feet so it can hang on things.  we put it around her neck and waist and she crawled around for hours not knowing quite what was going on.

This is a typical Halsey scrunchy face that she does when she is happy.  In this particular example Halsey is happy because she is holding a Wii-mote

This is a picture of Halsey in the swing at the park.  She loved it!

Here is Halsey on a big person swing with Collin.  She didn't like this one as much.  But we got some great pictures of her showing her bottom lip.  She likes to do that now

This is Halsey doing her best "James and Mary look thru the wood planks at the park" face.  How did she do?

Collin thinks this style of picture looks like a pioneer woman saying goodbye epic-ly to her husband as he heads off to war/work/hunt etc.  Think Legacy when the husbands go off to fight the Spanish American War in the Mormon Battalion

My two favorite monkeys at the park!

There was a pyramid of tires that you could climb on or under at the park.  We climbed under and got a picture.  There was a lot of mud and dirt underneath.  It made for dirty clothes but a very fun picture. (PS....Becca's head is floating....what happened to the rest of her body?!)

Robinson Christmas Letter December 2013

    Three new smiling grandchildren, Two glorious 
    weddings and a Partridge….oops One Belgium 
    Netherlands Missionary.

        Paul – Business Professor at Viterbo. Official Cross-Country Driver
        for babies, weddings and football games (7 of them!) Procurer of 44
        tickets for BYU vs. Wisconsin football game.  Enjoys sharing his
        pocket full of pens with whichever grandchild happens to be on his lap.

        Alice – Grandma to eight grandchildren and loving it!  Seamstress
        of all she can think of for said grandchildren.  Keeping properties
        managed (really good help!)  Chicken Farmer.

        John and Alison –(J) Business Professor at Viterbo University.  
        Elders Quorum President,  Role Playing Gamer (J&A) Teething
        Baby Walker.  (A) Mother of Eliana born January 2013  Isaac(10)
        Jeremiah (9) Leora (6) Piano Teacher, amazing Chocolate anything
        Baker.

        Peter and Nina – Married Salt Lake Temple June 2013 (P) LSAT
        Exam Studier and Taker,  Elders Quorum President, Substitute Teacher,
        Gourmet Cook. (N) 5^th grade teacher in Lehi, Utah, New Apartment
        Decorator, Book Lover, Food critic and Admirer of above chef.

        Lisa – Newest Surgical floor Charge Nurse at Gundersen Lutheran
        Hospital, La Crosse, WI, Apartment Decorator, Expert Shopping
        Consultant, Salsa, Tango, Latin Ballroom Dancer.

        Becca and Collin – (B) Relief Society President, BYU Graduate,
        Genealogist, full time New Mom of Halsey born June 2013, New    
        Houston, Texas Resident. (C) Spanish Student Teacher/Coach,
        Intramural Flag Football, Basketball, Inner Tube Water Polo Champion.

        Rachel and Blais -  (R) Wrangler of two energetic boys Simon (3)    
        Theodore (1), Painter, Sculptor, Weaver.  (R&B) League of Legends
        Experts. (B) Property Manager, Assistant Boy Wrangler, Computer
        Consultant to confused mother-in-law, Chicken Farmer and Gardener.

        Sarah and Trevor – (S) Mother of redheaded Gabriel born March
        2013, Primary Music Chorister, new Seamstress, Party Planning Pro.  
        (T) New York City Commuter Expert (bus-train-subway-walk),  C.P.A. ,
         Midnight Floor Walker with bored and awake Baby Gabe.

        Hannah and Evan –Married December 2012 Salt Lake Temple
        (H) Modern Dance Student Teacher BYU Idaho, Dance Alliance Director,
        Car Detailing specialist. (E) Vocal Performance Senior BYU-I, Jump Rope
        Champion, Gas-Pumping Expert and Strawberry Grower.

        Daniel – Dutch Speaking, Train Catching, Bike Riding, Windmill
        Admiring, Gospel Teaching, Life Changing, Nerf Shooting, Harmonica      
        Playing and Juggling Missionary, since March 2013.

        Mary – H.S. Senior, Ballet, Modern, Jazz, Hip-hop, Spanish
        Queen in Nutcracker, Robed Choir, Calculus, Advanced Speech,
        Assistant landlord, League of Legends expert.

        James – H.S. Junior, Championship Show Choir, Football, Track,
        Pre-calculus, Anatomy, Music Theory, Robed choir, League of Legends
        expert, official Lift Heavy Stuff for Mom Guy.

    Whew! Are you still singing?

           Merry Christmas from the Robinsons – December 2013

Hey Everyone! I thought since everybody would be on checking out the Christmas update I would give you all a Portner update as well!

Here are some videos from this summer the first is of simon saying what he did that day (notice that the answer is not that we went to mcdonald's, played in the play place and got ice cream)

Here is a very blurry but still fun video of simon at gymnastics!

And here is a video of the boys playing in the backyard, if you stick it out to the end you can see Simon do his robot dance (a dance from just dance for the kinect) and sing I am a child of God.

Last video, this is Theo showing off his climbing prowess.  

Things that we have been up to include finishing Simon's room in the basement

And dressing up for halloween (Blais is Teemo from league of legends, I am Katerina from league of legends, Simon is superman, and Theo is Batman)

A week later and simon is still wearing his cape daily..

This is a photo of our Joy school class that we do every Monday

And now just some cute pictures of the boys :)

Love you All!

Updated Christmas Schedule!

Here is an updated schedule! We have been trying to set specific times for things so when the time comes families can come to whatever events they can (especially the Portners who have in-laws to juggle with! ) Some events do not have set times. We will keep you posted on those and if you have any additional input let me know!

Some additional events that have been added since the first draft:

Leora's Birthday Breakfast: We want to celebrate Leoras Birthday! So John and Alison's are opening up their home on the morning of Christmas Eve for us to come and celebrate while eating yummy breakfast!

Family History Picnic:  For lunch on Christmas Eve some members of the family expressed that they wanted to have a remembrance time for Grandma and Grandpa.  So Dad wanted to host a meeting where we can remember them and share memories we may have!

Family Talent Night: Family talent night has been moved to Christmas Evening so make sure you are getting your skits and talents together!

Family Bereavement Meeting: We must sadly face the inevitable and be prepared! So Mom and Dad wanted to have a meeting about specifics and details of their Will and more information to discuss and finalize. Still pending on if we will just have immediate family members there and have the in-laws help watch children at that time. We will keep you posted!

Dinner/Game Night at the Portners:  Thats just what the title explains! The party isn't over yet! We will celebrate New Years Day by playing games and eating at their house! Wooo hooo!

Dishes and Dinner Delegation: The names in BLUE represent who will be in charge of dinner and dishes for that day. We figured out that instead of the same people constantly pestering others to help clean every day (which everyone will still help when they can of course), we could have specific families be in charge for the day! If youd prefer to have a different day assigned, please let me know. You will be in charge of dishes for breakfast, lunch, and dinner, and buying, preparing, and serving the dinner meal only! If finances are an issue for you, we can discuss a payment plan.
Haha just kidding! We will help you make it work!

LIVING ARRANGEMENTS

For those families who are staying up at the house, we have tentatively figured out where everyone will be staying/sleeping during the Holidays.

John and Alison- at their home

Peter and Nina- In the downstairs bedroom

Lisa- downstairs

Becca and Collin- In the garage-oh sorry I mean in Mary's room :)

Rachel and Blais-In their home

Sarah and Trevor-In the upstairs Library (old TV room)

Hannah and Evan-downstairs in the bedroom

Daniel-In the Netherlands

Mary-Downstairs

James-Downstairs

REMEMBER this is all tentative!!!! We figured the families with little babies should be far away from those single and newly married people mostly to spare their sleeping sanity. Trevor and I will be best in the TV room as our child is currently a night terror and hopefully we can spare you of his wrath :) Becca and Collin expressed a need for a warm room because Halsey is cold blooded and needs a heat lamp! So Mary's room seemed best fit since the library in the winter gets nice and chilly. The rest of the crew will fight it out downstairs. We will have two double beds (air mattresses) set up in James Room for Peter/Nina and Hannah/Evan and then the two bunk beds for Lisa, Mary, James. Pretty much that room will be the party room! This is all subject to change! If Trevor and I can get Gabe to sleep through the night by the time Christmas rolls around (cross fingers) Then we may try to squeeze into Mary's room with Becca and Collin. And that would leave the Library open for another couple to stay! Just wanted to give a heads up on the arrangements thus far! Please let me know if you have any concerns or opinions! Getting SUPER excited!!!

Halsey!

We found out this weekend that Halsey LOVES watching the tv.  Here is a video to prove it.

Btw...go Cougars! Let's beat the utes in a few weeks!