Family Christmas Party

The Annual Family Christmas Party was at Brian and Michelle's in Malad this year. WE all had such a good time! We ate, opened presents, played games, and opened more presents! It was wonderful!

The grandkids love the family party since Nana and Papa always do so many fun presents for the kids to open during the evening. They all definitely come running when they hear the words "present time!"

Here's one of the first presents, the girls got tutus and the boys got race tracks. Here are Hailey, Jocelyn, Nana, and Papa all posing as dancers:


One of the other favorites was when Nana and Papa gave everyone pajamas. My kids love the pajamas they get every year and were so excited to see what they'd get this year. Here's Nana and Papa posing with all the grandkids:


I snuck a quick picture of just Zach and Hailey in their Scooby Doo and Princess pajamas - they were so cute!


And of course the evening wouldn't be complete without an action packed game of Bingo. The kids usually do their bingo game first so that they can go play with their bingo gifts while the adults do their bingo game. Zach and Hailey had so much fun playing bingo and absolutely loved their gifts!


Thanks Brian and Michelle for hosting the party this year, we sure had a blast!

Reading Time

Now that Zach is getting better and better at reading, I've started suggesting he read to his sister. Especially when I see that they are fighting over having the same book. I haven't seen them both agree to this little suggestion until this morning. They were both fighting over the Five Green Speckled Frogs book and when I suggested Zach read it to Hailey, they both thought that was a fabulous idea! So they settled down next to each other on the couch and Hailey sat with riveted attention as her brother read/sang her the book.


It was so darling to see the two of them reading the book together. For once, it was something that satisfied them both and I didn't have to keep yelling or read myself (which is normally not a bad thing, but I was in the middle of doing the breakfast dishes when the arguments started).


I have to admit that I'm looking forward to this happening a little bit more now that Zach is really coming along with his reading skills. Hopefully they'll both be a little more willing to do it now that they know that they both enjoy it!

Playing in the Snow!

Up until a few days ago, we haven't had much snow here in Utah. Sure it's snowed, but not really much more than a few flurries and it's never really stuck around on the ground. Well, a few days ago, we got what I would term our first real "snow storm" of the year. The kids were so excited, they could hardly wait to get out to play in it. We had to wait until Zach got home from school of course, because he didn't want to miss shoveling the drive-way or playing with Hailey in the snow.

After helping me shovel for a few minutes, he gave up on the sidewalk and started playing with his sister. Their first order of playing was to make snow angels. It was hilarious watching the two of them plop down wherever (on the unshoveled portion of the driveway, on the sidewalk, in the flower garden, etc.) and start moving their arms and legs like crazed snow bunnies. But they were cute!


The next thing they did was take their shovels and start throwing snow everywhere - mostly on the already shoveling cement or each other. I didn't get a picture of this because I was too busy yelling at them to stop. Once I got the driveway and sidewalks shoveled and we'd determined the snow wasn't the packing snow we needed for making a snowman, I decided it was time to head inside. The kids were not even close to ready to come in, so I sent them to the backyward to play while I came in. When I looked out a few minutes later, they were having fun on the snowcovered swingset and slide. They couldn't get enough of climbing up the ladder (which must have been hard in all that snow gear) and sliding down.


They also loved climbing the monkey bars ladder at the other end and would take turns climbing up that while the other one went down the slide a few times.


In all, a pretty fun few hours for them. They sure love the snow and will wait until they are completely frozen before deciding it's time to come in. They must have inherited that from their dad because I HATE being cold!

BIG NEWS!

For those of you who read the blogs of other members of my family, you probably already know our big news. But for those of you who don't, we thought we'd submit a post to let you know that we are expecting again! That's right, baby #3 is on the way and scheduled to be here sometime the first part of June. I wish I had an ultrasound picture or something to show, but the office I go to doesn't do early ultrasounds unless medically necessary, so I'll have to promise to post a picture from the 20 wk ultrasound some time in January.

Needless to say, we are all very excited for this baby who has been wanted for a very long time! The kids are thrilled and keep rubbing my belly and asking me how the baby is. Hailey wants it to be a girl, but keeps calling the baby "him" or "he." Zach wants it to be a boy, but keeps calling the baby "she" or "her." Jeremiah wants it to be a boy, only because he doesn't want to be outnumbered by girls! As for me, I'm fine with whatever we have, it's nice to already have one of each so that it's less stress hoping for one or the other.

And for those of you ready to tease us about having twins - DON'T! As much as that would just make you all laugh, I think we'll just stick with one at a time.

So that's our big news! Thought we would share with all of you whom we know and love!

Uncle Taylor - our Misisonary!

Since Taylor was scheduled to enter the MTC on December 2nd, as many of us as possible traveled up to my Mom and Dad's house the night of the 1st to have dinner and be there as he was set apart as a missionary. It was really fun to be there with him and see him take this next important step in his life.

While we were there, we took a couple pictures with him:



The kids just love Uncle Taylor.


As you can see, he takes time to play with each of them. Zach thinks he is the neatest thing ever and can't wait until he can be a missionary just like Taylor.


Sometimes you can tell how much someone loves you by what they're willing to do to make you happy. In this case, Hailey was in heaven reading Taylor a story while they were both "dressed up."



Although the kids don't quite understand what it means for Uncle Taylor to be a missionary, they sure are excited to send him letters, pictures, and cookies. Looks like I'll be busy baking the next little while! I'm sure the reality that he will be gone for a long time will set in when they realize he's not at Nana and Papa's house whenever we go up. I'm willing to wait for that as I'm having a hard time dealing with it myself! But no matter how hard it is for us or for Taylor, we know he is where he's supposed to be and we are so proud of him. Jeremiah and I are especially grateful for the good example he is setting for our children. Taylor, the people in Oklahoma are lucky to have you! WE LOVE YOU!

Temple Square Lights

Since Thanksgiving Weekend the whole family was together, we decided to take a quick trip up to Temple Square in Salt Lake to see the lights. Our family loves this tradition and we look forward to it every year. It was a bit chilly, but we were all bundled up and stayed fairly warm.

It's amazing at how much time and effort is put into doing all of these lights around Temple Square. It really is breathtaking. Thanks to my sister-in-law Afton (thanks again!) who brought her camera, we were able to take a quick family photo in front of the temple:



We really had a great time and were so glad to be there with family! We love you guys!

Thanksgiving 2009

Thanksgiving this year was bitter-sweet. Sweet in the fact that my entire family was able to be together. Since we are growing so big, it's been hard to get ALL of us together at one time. But we all did it this year for a special reason. And that reason is what made it slightly bitter. It was the day that marked the last week before Taylor left on his mission. And when I say bitter, I mean a happy-bitter because we are all so proud of him - but just a bit sad because he'll be gone for 2 long years.

Since it was one of the last times (other than his farewell a few days later) that we were all together, we decided to get a big family picture. Well, it's been cold and there was still snow on the ground, but we all tropped up to the local park and took a picture in the snow and all. It was a bit chilly, but well worth it for the result. Here's the finished product - a family picture that will be the last one with all of us for the next 2 years:



I'm so glad we were able to all be together for Thanksgiving and for Taylor's farewell a few days later. It really made the holiday special.