Kiana-ism

The other night the boys were fighting. Kevin put them in
their room and talked to Kiana about it to get the story.
The 3 of them wanted to sleep in the same room so he asked
her to be the peacemaker. She said, "but dad, why do I
need to be the peachmaker? Then he asked her what Santa
would say about the boys fighting. Her reply:

Kiana still wants a "tichen".


Then she went up to their room and made them hold hands
and listen to what she had to say. She told them to get
along and say sorry. Andrew argued at first and she just
kept telling him to listen until he finally did.

Send your own ElfYourself eCards

Snowmen

Kevin found this really fun and cute treat for Family Home Evening last night. They were a huge hit with the kids. They are made from little powdered donuts and donut holes, held together with a pretzel stick. Pretzel arms and a chocolate thin mint type cookie topped with a Reese's peanut butter cup for the hat. The eyes and buttons are decorator gel.

I like this kind of snowman, you get to build it in a nice warm home and then eat it when you are done.





We took these ones over to a very lucky family in our ward. It was nice to be able to share our treats with others. I hope they enjoyed eating them as much as the kids enjoyed making them.

Arrow of Light

Andrew has completed his arrow of light. We are so proud of all the hard work he has put into this accomplishment. I was his Webelos leader, and I had a lot of fun helping him and the other boys achieve this rank. He has actually finished 6 months before his birthday, so he will not have any scouting to do for the next little while. He finished early, because all of the other boys in the den have their birthday late in the year and I thought it foolish to drag Andrew out, when we were already working with the other boys. Andrew really wants a 10 year old boy to move into our neighborhood. It was not bad until they split our ward and his good friend that is 2 days younger than him ended up in the other ward. Oh well. Life is good and he has achieved the highest rank in Cub Scouts.

Putting up the Christmas Tree

Here we are spreading out the branches of the bottom layer. Everyone was excited and wanted to help. Kevin wanted to try having the tree downstairs this year, I think next year we will put it back in the front room window.

Dad putting on the middle section

Mom and Kiana fluffing the top most piece

Getting ready to hang the ornaments

The finished project, minus bows and a star for the top.

Merry Christmas

I will hopefully get some pictures up from Halloween, Thanksgiving and putting up the tree soon. We got a new computer, and I need to learn from Kevin where the pictures are and how to access them. We hope you all have a wonderful Christmas season.

Has it Really Been 3 Years?

Kiana Age 3

She loved opening her presents

A new dolly from Grandma Colleen

Pots and Pans from Aunt Debby

Cool Pink Star Wars Shirt

New PJ's and a coloring set

The cake made special for her by Kenzie Lythgoe.
She did a wonderful job. Thank you Kenzie, we loved it.

These last 3 years have gone by so fast. I can hardly believe that my cute little one is already 3. She is such a joy to have in our family. She has been potty trained for almost a full year now. The easiest one so far since she did it herself. She want to help others her same age to be potty trained as well. She loves to be with her friends and loves the color pink. She hates having her hair done, but loves it when I am finished. She is totally a mommy's girl and that makes dad a little frustrated. Maybe some day she will become a daddy's girl. She still has him wrapped around her little finger though.
Happy Birthday Kiana, We love you.
Love, Dad, Mom, Andrew and Jared

Build A Bear

For Kiana's birthday, we took her to Build a bear workshop at the Gateway. She picked out a cute little pink bear.

Filling the bear with the fluff.

Washing the Bear
(Kiana does not like noise)

Combing the bear's fur

Just picked out some cute clothes

Time to give the bear a name.
We named her Nikki.

Kiana loves her new bear. She takes her almost everywhere and likes to sleep with her too. It was a fun time. After this we had a late lunch/early dinner and then Mom went to the Conference Center for the General Relief Society Meeting.

11 Years and Counting

Our First Date May 1, 1998

Our Engagement Pictures

Married September 4, 1998

Sealed September 4, 1999

Thank you Kevin for an amazing 11 years. You are a wonderful husband and father. I look forward many more adventures with you and our family.

7 moves
3 kids
4 cars (2 totaled)
4 jobs
Lots of fun and laughter together and some fun vacations. (see previous posts)
15 states seen
2 trips out of the country

Blackberries

This past weekend, my mom was given the opportunity by her neighbors to pick some of their blackberries. She called us and also gave us the same opportunity. So we headed to pick some blackberries on Friday night. The kids also had fun helping to pick the blackberries and also eating a few. Well as you know, the sun sets fast once it begins its decent. So we packed up and decided to come back in the morning. We slept at my mom's so that we would not have to drive back the next day. My mom and 2 aunts and I made jam, syrup and a little bit of jelly. We had blackberry shakes with our lunch as well. It took most of the day, and over 50 lbs of sugar. I am so grateful for my mom and for her help in processing all of the fruit and for letting me use some of her bottles and sugar.
We had waffles this morning and used some of the syrup, it was so good. We left the rest at my mom's, and will have to pick it up in a few days.

Picking Blackberries with Grandma

We found a huge slug

Grandma made a mess and Jared volunteered to help clean it up

My two aunts Nicci and Debby smashing blackberries for the jam

My mom said she took pictures of Andrew and Kiana helping in the kitchen, but they are not on my camera, so I will have to ask her if she for sure used my camera. Otherwise, I guess we will have to just imagine them helping.

1st Day of School

Today was the first day of school. Everyone was up and ready on time. Andrew and Jared both even got a few minutes of reading in before they left to catch the bus. Kiana did really well today without her brothers. She did not even ask about them until 11:30 am. Lucky for her it was an early day out for them. Andrew's favorite thing was not having to write in cursive and being the only one in his class to get 10 laps on the track. Jared's favorite thing was playing hot potato and art.


FYI Andrew's shirt says instant good kid.... Just add sugar.

School Haircuts

Here are the boys with their new haircuts for back to school. They wanted the longer messy look. I guess it looks okay, but I am still not sure about it. What do you think?

A Very Vivid Dream

At 5 o'clock this morning, we were awaken by a scream. Kiana who was sleeping in her usual spot on the floor by my bed was the screamer. I rolled over and picked her up. She said Jared stole her yellow shirt and she wanted it back. I finally got her to wake up and told her Jared was asleep and that she was just having a dream. I told her to lay back down and go back to sleep. That is when she noticed that she did not have a blanket. I told her to go to her room and get one and come back. Instead she goes in the boys room at starts yelling at Jared to give her shirt back. Kevin and I were laughing. I went and helped her get to her room and find a blanket. Then we went and laid back down. She slept soundly after that.
This goes to show who teases her the most. Jared you better watch out. Sleep with one eye open or something.

Green Beans

My mom was given a bunch of green beans from her neighbor. While we were over there the other day, my mom started snipping the ends. I sat down to help her. Then Kiana wanted to help also. She did really well, except that she broke off about half of the bean in order to get the two ends off. She was really cute.
Then on Tuesday, I had a canning assignment at the cannery. I stared at beans for 5 hours. It was fun, but I don't want to see beans again for a while.