Merry Christmas

Jared on his new bike
Courtney with her Cinderella doll
Travis with his gameboy game
Harry Potter and the Order of the Phoenix

Ashley with High School Musical 2 DVD

We all had a great Christmas! First off, we got to sleep until 7:15 a.m. before we started the festivities. Santa made his annual stop at our house. He enjoyed the cookies and milk we left him and he left the kids some great things. Ashley got an ipod, Travis a sleeping bag and gameboy game, Courtney and Jared both got bicycles. And of course all the little filler stuff. After about an hour, Randy made us french toast and we got our turkey in the oven. The we started opening our gifts under the tree. It is always fun to watch the kids give their presents to their siblings. The big family gift was a wii - which when it was opened all four of the kids just screamed and cheered. A BIG hit!!!

Pancake Marathon

Travis wanted to make breakfast for us one morning. He is becoming quite the chef. He wanted to try and do everything on his own. When he made up the batter, he ended up with more than twice what we would usually make. The pancakes ranged in size - from silver dollar to dodge ball size. They all tasted great. It took him about an hour and a half to complete all the cooking. He had a great time and we all had our fill. Thanks Travis!!

My Three Shepherds

Tonight was our ward Christmas dinner/activity. They had us all dress up as shepherds. The boys turned out cute I thought. The girls costumes had a lot to be desired. I am not that creative. They served turkey, ham, fruit, bread and nuts with pie for dessert. It was a nice activity. Thanks to all those who put so much into it.

Fall leaves

Fall is finally here and the leaves are finally falling off the tree. Travis and Jared were so excited to go out and rake the leaves. They were almost done before I even knew they were outside working. They are both great helpers and worked very well together. That's what a mom loves to see.

White Elephant gifts

Who ever thought up the "white elephant" gift exchange? I am not sure what I think about them. I think they are pretty funny seeing what other people bring, but I am also pretty nervous about what I will come home with. Last night was our ward's annual Christmas "white elephant" gift exchange. It was a lot of fun. A lot of the fun is the memories from past years. The funniest gift I remember was a couple of years ago someone brought a framed picture of their mother-in-law. This year the some person brought a picture of her mother-in-laws dog with Santa. These were the gifts that her mother-in-law sent them for christmas. In our ward there has been a couple of sconces that have now returned for the past 7 years. A couple of years ago we decided we should keep a history of who gets them so when you get them you sign and date the back and bring them back the next year. It's pretty fun.

The funniest one this year was someone brought a breakfast tray with a plate glued on it with a pop tart and a banana glued to the plate. It also had a bowl with cereal glued on the bottom of it. Then it had the silverware and a glass. It was pretty funny. We all had a great time. Thanks to all those who helped with the dinner and helping us have a great night out.

Christmas Concert

Wednesday was Travis' first band concert. Travis signed up to play the trumpet this year and he is doing a GREAT job. He seems to really enjoy it and practices everyday. The concert was quite nice. They have a lot of kids in the beginning band class, but they all seem to do well. We could definitely tell what songs they were playing. We look forward to his spring concert in a few months. Good job Travis!!

Christmas Activities

Friday night was our ward's annual High Priest Christmas Activity. A member in our ward has access to Christmas tree's, so each year he brings two trees and after a great dinner, everyone decorates the trees. After they are decorated, the bishop and high priest group leader delivers them to two families in the ward that wouldn't have a tree for christmas. The kids have a ball decorating the trees and it is nice to know that these families will get to enjoy a tree for the holidays.

On Saturday we went to the Christmas party for the ward that Randy is the High Council Advisor. Jared and Courtney were excited to see Santa there. Sunday was the Primary Program in our ward. The kids all had their parts memorized and did a great job. Travis had a piano descant part for one of the songs. It turned out real nice.

Let the fun begin!

Last night we finally decorated our christmas tree. We bought the tree last Saturday but we have been so busy we haven't had a night with everyone home. I thought that this December wouldn't be as busy since Randy isn't doing tithing settlements anymore, but we have something almost every night this week and next week. I love the holidays, but it sure is nice when things get back to normal. The kids had a lot of fun decorating the tree. They would have kept going if we didn't run out of ornaments for them to put on. After we finished the tree, we decided to watch Rudolph the Red-nosed Reindeer and enjoy some carmel corn that Randy made. Yum! It was a fun night for everyone.

We have alot to be thankful for!

We had a great Thanksgiving with ALL of my family. My brother, Gerald, and his family came from California on Sunday. It was great being able to visit with his family this past week. We don't get to see them that often. Our kids loved having their cousins here to play with. My two sisters and their families, my brother, Eric and my dad all came from Utah on Wednesday. Since we were all together for the first time in two years, we decided to celebrate Christmas a little early. The cousins did a gift exchange that was a lot of fun for them. Each of the kids also shared a talent. It was nice to be together as a family!

To top the great weekend off, we were all able to go to the Las Vegas Temple and witness the sealing of Simon. Vince and JanEtta decided that while we were all together it would be a great time for the sealing. It was so nice! Thanks for letting us be part of that special occasion. Thanks to ALL of you for taking the time to come to Vegas. We loved having you here.

Jared

Jared is 4 years old. He wants to be 5 so he can go to school. It will be a long wait after his birthday in February before the next school year starts. Mom is happy that he will not be going for a while. I will miss him very much. Jared is such a big helper. He loves to work around the house but his favorite thing to do is mow the lawn and working in the yard. He spends hours being busy outside. Jared is such a good natured boy. He loves to be a helper and is always looking for something to do. He loves playing with his sister, Courtney. Jared's favorite food is pizza. He is always a pleasure to have around. We love him so much!!

Courtney

Courtney is 8 years old. She is in the 3rd grade at Eva Wolfe Elementary. She loves school! Her teacher is Ms. Jones (easy to remember). Courtney loves princesses. Any and all of them. She loves to dress up, for Halloween she was Belle. Courtney loves to read. Her favorite books are the Junie B. Jones series, or of course, any princess book. Courtney's favorite food is pizza. She loves to play with her brother, Jared. They are basically inseparable. Courtney has been learning to play the piano a little bit this year. She loves to learn new songs. Courtney loves going to Activity Days. She is a social butterfly. She loves playing with friends. Courtney is a real sweetheart. We love her so much.

Travis

Travis is 11 years old. He is in 6th grade at Swainston Middle School. He loves being in middle school. Travis is taking band this year. He decided to learn the trumpet. He is doing very well. We have been impressed with his rapid improvement. Travis LOVES sports!! During baseball season he loved baseball, now he has just moved on to the next sport and loves football. He also just finished playing his third season of soccer. He loves to be outside playing but he also loves to play on the computer. Travis' favorite thing to do is to play games, all sorts. His favorite food is pizza but has many other things that would be in second place. Travis is a hard worker. He just received his Tenderfoot and two merit badges in boy scouts. We are proud of him and love him very much.

Ashley

Ashley is 12 years old. She is in 7th grade at Swainston Middle School. Her favorite class is History. Ashley loves the Phantom of the Opera in any form - play, movie, book or music. Ashley's favorite thing to do is to sit in her bedroom and listen to her many CD's. She LOVES music!! Ashley's favorite food is pizza or taco soup. Ashley loves to babysit and is a great help to her mom and dad. We love Ashley!! She is a joy to have around.

Thought I'd try something new!

I thought I would give this blogging thing a try. I have my brother and sister-in-law here and I am making them help me get started. I hope once they are gone I will remember how to do this. Thanks Gerald and Stephanie! I love looking at everyone else's blogs and seeing updated pictures and reading what they are doing, so I thought I would try. Maybe since I don't get around to scrapbooking as much as I would like, I will at least feel like I am documenting some of our family activities. I will be doing this mainly for me to journal some of our activities, but hopefully some of you will enjoy it as well.