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.