Beware Baby Genius... by Mary

Hello World! My name is Lark Ward. I am the newest member of this highly intellectual genius family.

I fit right in here. You see, I'm very cute and powerful due to my itty bitty size and cuddliness. My parents succumb to my every want and whim.

I too am very intellectual, I am a super genius mind controller. I manage the big people oh so well and make them wait on me hand and foot. This is my Uncle Mike, even though he doesn't live with me, he fell under my spell very quickly.

These poor Monkey's have lost control of their father and he's all mine now.

Auntie Mary was the easiest to take control of. She was in my grasp within seconds of her arrival. In fact, she lost her grammatical knowledge of the English language in my presence, sang softly instead of her normal rock belting routine and held me for hours, even while I was sleeping... muwaha ha ha ha!

As you can see, my highly intellectual brothers still retain "some" of their power. They don't even have to read to themselves. Adults will read countless books to them and even behave in a silly manner to impress them. They even managed to take control over their cousins who clearly have lost their parental mind control abilities.

Being the youngest and the freshest of this super family, my powers are untouchable. I even overcame the reigning princess of the family. Yes she too is under my control. Unfortunately my powers had no control over my teenage cousin.
As you can see, cuteness equals genius.

Nothing Like Family for Christmas.. by Mary

Angie, Kimmie, Mary

Growing up my mom and her sister Carolyn would get together frequently and have coffee all day and cook a meal together while their kids (us) would play all day long before a scrumptious dinner. We were very close cousins, weekends and summers were spent in one another's homes, my Auntie Carolyn's house was a second home to me. As a matter of fact my Auntie Carolyn's kids are like siblings to me. As (somewhat) grown ups our kids call us Auntie and Uncle, cousin just doesnt sound right.

Kimmy, Baltazar, Mary With Christmas aproaching, it seemed appropriate to gather those of us who now live in the Vegas area. Cooking up a storm in traditional Winslow Family fashion. Freddy's Tacos and Posole with Red Chile was on the menu. Spicy, caloric heaven I call it.

Alexis (Angie's) and Bella (Kimmie's) It's interesting to see the generations falling into place like instinct.

And personalities repeating themselves.. ha ha

Raegan, Maricela (Angie's), Mya (Baltazar's)

Alyssa and Alexis (Angie's), Zach It's also fun to see the family resemblance.

But maintaining that connection of love and support is really what its all about. As well as scrumptious food. We missed our other siblings Eddie, Lori, Jimmy, Che and Alex we love you all and wish you all the best in 2010.

Our Christmas Card

Yup thats it up there in the header, coming to a mailbox near you within the next two weeks. I just ordered it, 7 days from now we'll be addressing envelopes as fast as we can. We never managed to get a family portrait done, it's tough when Mike is only here for 3 days. Our weekends are such a Fam-Cram, it makes it hard for extra time for extra stuff. So I wend vector this year. Flexing my blog rock skills. I realized tho that you had not yet seen Zach and Rae's school pics from this year. We no longer order the full package of pics anymore. With all the bloggin and your ability to right click, save and print, I suppose I've become lazy more efficient. So here are our student shots.I know, they are no where near the beauty of Jessica's photos. Yes Jess, we WILL shoot soon. These are my most favorite shots of my kids ever! When I show them to my industry friends, they all think my children are models. I say no, just good lookin and a great photographer.
But my haven't they grown?
Happy Holidays everyone.

Halloween 2009

Like the last few years we got together with the Huxford family for some pumpkin carving. It was a really beautiful day. Perfect for some outdoor fun. Here are the kids gutting their pumpkins.

As far as costumes, Zach who is almost 13 by the way was trying to convince me that he didn't want to dress up this year. He wasn't coming up with ideas. So while at the thrift store I found this get up, I figured he could wear some of Mikes black sheep garb and if he decided not to wear it, no biggie, at least he had something. So a dead rocker he was...

Raegan on the other hand, knew exactly who she wanted to be for Halloween, Hailey from Paramore. Hailey is a cute punky singer of Rae's favorite new group. Hailey wears alot of street clothes but seems to adorn black and white striped shirts frequently. Finding this shirt wasn't as easy as I thought it would be. Her costume was fun to put together, it is reminiscent of the 80s.
Our Trick or Treat group is getting bigger and smaller at the same time, 5 years ago there were 10 kids in this gaggle. These guys looted up and had fun running the B.C. streets.

It was a great Halloween 2009!

Princess for a day!

My mom aka Nana, came to town a few weeks ago with an arsenal of Renaissance wear in preparation for a visit to the Age of Chivalry Ren Faire at Sunset Park. She made Raegan quite the princess get up for the occasion. She loved her hat and decided it was better to ride to the fair laying down in her carriage rather than sitting up.

As you can see it increased her height quite a bit.

She also had two fellow princesses to run around with. Her little cousins Bella and Goo Goo (Alexis).

The attention this girl got in this get up was astounding. People were calling her princess, bowing, curtsying and giving her gifts. Maybe I should adorn this hat to the grocery store, think they'd give me some additional coupons? Anyway, slumber didn't stop her from wearing her hat. Sweet dreams princess...

Raegan the Cobra Kid 2009

We seem to have a recurring award each year one of my kids attends Martha P. King Elementary. The First Round of Cobra Kid Awards. Every month the school gives awards to students for Academics, Most Improved, etc. etc. My kids seem to get the award the first month of school.
Rae got the Academic Award from Mr. Newkirk.Making a good first impression is important in life, don't you think.

Were proud of you Raegan, you are a great student and a great girl who deserves awards every month of the school year! Sierra Rae's BFF got one too. Now they can slack off the rest of the year! Just kidding!!

What Happens in Idaho...

You can share with your friends and family. Last month Zach had the opportunity to make a weekend trip up to Idaho to meet up with his first BFF Curtis Cook. He was recieving the priesthood (yay!) and his grandparents were driving all the way there from B.C.

It was also Curtie's Birthday, so Zach was able to celebrate with him.

Zach had a great time catching up with ol Curtie Bo Burti. We sure miss the days of living across the street from one another. What a convenient friendship it was. I guess they picked up their friendship as if it never left off.

Zach still considers Curtis to be his #1 Best Friend. Curtis is totally un-replaceable.

Thank you to Richard and Carol Stubbs for letting Zach come along for the ride, it was an awesome memorable treat.