Merry Christmas a Digital Card for You

Haircut?

Andrew came to me about a week or so ago and asked what I would do if he cut his hair. I said I wasn't sure, but do you want a haircut? He said yes, so I scheduled it. Here he is with that new do. He doesn't like it and says he plans on growing it back out. I guess I will just have to enjoy it while it lasts.

I think it makes him look a lot more like Jared.

Ward Christmas Party

Andrew was to "big" to sit on Santa's lap.

Jared and his best friend Dylan.

Kiana

We had a great time at the ward party. The wind blew like crazy the day before, so only half of the building had lights. Then right about the time dinner was over and Santa arrived, the power went out completely. Church gyms are really dark when there is no light, so everyone started to pull out their cell phone for a least a little light. The lights were only out for about 5-7 minutes and when they came back on, the whole building had power. All in all a great night.

Putting up the Christmas Tree

We put the Christmas tree up on the Saturday after Thanksgiving. I am so glad that I have an artificial tree and can put it up whenever I want. Although I did have to convince my kids to clean so we could.

Wishing she could help

Every year we each get to pick out a new ornament for the tree. Kiana chose Rapunzel.

Is that a surprise?

Jared chose a Golden Snitch. We were lucky to get this one.

It was a limited edition and we got the last one, at least at our Hallmark.

Andrew is on his 5th year of collecting Snoopy's Beagle Scouts.

I for the last several years have been getting this Penguin series.

Kevin for the last several years has been getting this Eskimo series.

hanging the smaller ornaments on the small branches at the top.

Sorry no picture of the final project, but we all had a fun time together. Kiana wishes she had more ornaments to hang. She got to hang a lot of mine.

He is Still Alive...

This is what happens to a linoleum floor, when you set a hot cast iron pan on it. Oh and your smoke alarm will go off as well. It also stinks for quite a while. I do not recommend this action.

Now I will tell you how this happened. Jared was making a grilled cheese sandwich on Sunday after church. He started to carry the pan to the table to flip the sandwich onto his plate. The pan started to burn him through the hot pad about half way there. He set the pan on the floor. Smoke alarm goes off. I ask, Jared what are you doing up there? Silence for a few minutes. Then, Mom I think you better see this. I was horrified. I think I flew a little too far off the handle. I screamed and shouted. Told him he was never allowed to cook in my kitchen again and sent him to his room. Kevin came home from church, and was much better at handling the situation. It is just a thing. It can eventually get replaced.

Jared really is a good kid we love him. He brings fun and laughter to our family most of the time.

Thankful

B- brother, bodies, band aids, bananas, Book of Mormon

L- learning, love, letter R, light, leading parents

E- education, ears, eggs, elders

S- sister, sons, soccer

S- safety, scriptures, shoes, schooling

I- inventors, ice cream, intelligent dad

N- niceness, nice people, Nicole, naps

G- girls, giving, Grandma, good food, growth

This past FHE night, Kiana gave the lesson. We each had a piece of paper with the word blessing down the side. We then wrote a blessing we have that starts with each letter. Some answers were duplicate, but I was very impressed with some of the answers the boys had. I am sure you can guess who said what on most of these. Kiana did not answer too many. She is still trying to grasp the concept of what words begin with what sound, but she did a great job.

Besides all of the above listed blessings, we are also blessed with many more to numerous to name. I am so thankful for this time of year that causes so many to reflect on how grateful they are. Happy Thanksgiving a little early.

Kiana Turns 5

Kiana celebrating her 5Th birthday with her friends at McDonald's. She invited 5 of her good friends, but only 4 were able to come. Indianna, Mallarie, Emi and Kambria.

Mallarie, Kambria, Emi, Kiana, & Indianna

Time for presents

Playtime

All of the girls had a great time. I loved that there was little clean up. They had fun playing on the playground. We fed them lunch, but I am not sure how much they actually ate though. Thanks for staying and helping Kamra. Also thanks to all the girls who came to party with the birthday girl.

Preschool

Kiana started a neighborhood preschool on Sept 13. We as mothers will rotate turns teaching. It is usually a lot of fun. I hope she learns a lot and learns to work well with others.

Walking to school, so excited!!

Daddy- Daughter Date Night

I saw on Facebook that Chick-fil-a was doing a Daddy- Daughter Date Night, so I signed Kevin and Kiana up right away.

They treated them so well.

They got their picture taken with the cow.

They provided music during the dinner.

They gave each girl a rose and told her it was from her Daddy.

They had a princess cow as well.

Kevin and Kiana are in the background of this picture.

They were also given free deserts....

...and a ride in a Limo.

They also gave them papers with conversation starters.

I am so glad I saw this and that Kevin was able to take Kiana and have a good time.

The boys and I went to Burger King while we waited. Jared was okay with the situation, until he found out that they got to ride in a limo.

7Th Grade and 4Th Grade

This post is a week late, but better late than never.

7Th grade already? Where did the time go?

You would think he was about to miss the bus. Oh to have such energy at 7 am.

Jared is now in 4th grade. His teacher is Mrs. Christensen.

He is very excited to be in 4th grade.

Leaving to catch the bus. Have a great day.

Both boys had a great first day of school. Andrew was nervous to start the day, but came home saying that Jr. High is better then elementary. I hope he can keep up with 7 teachers.

Jared missed the second day of school. He was not feeling well. We took him to the Dr. on Saturday and discovered he has double ear infections. Good thing they are not contagious.

Here's to another great school year.

St. George

We had the opportunity to go to St. George this past weekend. We went to Tuachan to see The Little Mermaid.

The kids had a lot of fun swimming at the hotel. My mom bought this penguin floatie for Kiana. It was a bit small but she loved it.

Headed to The Little Mermaid, we stopped at Cracker Barrel for dinner. The boys saw a checker board and decided to play while we waited for our food.

Waiting for the show to start. Kiana tried really hard to stay awake, but finally gave in to sleep about 10 mins after intermission. Everyone totally loved the show. It was awesome.

The next afternoon, we took Andrew to the St. George Temple to do baptisms for the dead. Our ward youth went while we were gone and he was sad he was going to miss out. It was an exciting time for him. Kevin also got to baptize him and do baptisms as well. So glad I was there to witness his first time.

On the way home, we stopped at Cove Fort. It was interesting to learn a little more about how the pioneers lived.

The kids got to try out walking on stilts. I think they finally started to get it after a few tries.

The bellows at the Blacksmith shop

Kiana by Elder Crow

She said to grandma..."Don't delete any pictures of me grandma, they are all adorable."

We also got to ride in this Stage Coach. The kids had a lot of fun. The line was long and hot and the ride short, but still lots of fun.

Cove Fort from the front

We also watch a video of the life of Joseph Smith. During the video you could feel the spirit so strongly testifying of the truth of the things portrayed. I did not want to stop at first, but I am glad that we added those 3 hours to our trip. Thanks mom for a great weekend. We could not have done it without you. You are amazing.

My mom was also fighting an eye injury and infection. I had to take her to the ophthalmologist on Friday morning. They originally thought they would have to scrape her cornea but luckily they decided not too. She is getting better, but it is a slow process.