Temple Square

I LOVE going to see the lights at Temple Square and this year was no exception! I like how it gets you thinking of the Savior and the special time of year. I love how happy it makes people and how my kids soak it all in. I also love being around family.

This year started with a trip to my brother's house for a DELICIOUS dinner. After that we headed downtown to park and ride the Trax train to Temple Square. My kids absolutely LOVE riding the train, so it was fun to be with them.

After seeing the lights we headed back to my cousin's house for some much needed hot chocolate. It was a perfect night!

Nick giving one of his great smiles!


The movie The Christmas Story keeps going through my mind when I see this picture of Kyle. His arms were stuck there and he didn't like it. I didn't want him to get cold, but he did anyway. Really, he was not the happiest camper this time.


Andrea on the other hand was in her element. She loves the cold.



Awwwwww....

A rare picture of the two of us! I love this guy! I am so lucky to have him forever!

I hope everyone had a Merry Christmas!

Taking matters into her own hands

Andi has been wanting to lose a tooth for years now. Almost every day for a while she would come home and tell us of the kids at school that had lost their teeth and wish it was her. Finally she started getting the two front bottom teeth to wiggle and she was extatic! The wiggling continued for months. They were getting to the point they were starting to make her gums look weird. She decided to take matters into her own hands so she did the following.

Sadly though, still no teeth but it did make them significantly more loose. Finally I convinced her to let me have a try. I was very brave (I have been dreading this moment for years...ewe gross). I popped one tooth out and then the other. She started screaming and jumping up and down she was so excited! The whole family was very excited (Nick immediately tried pulling out his own teeth and saying they were wiggly). Here is the end result.

Sorry anyone with a weak stomach.

The funny thing is the big teeth had come up behind already and were already bigger then the baby teeth so she doesn't have a whole in her mouth. The other funny thing, I let her take the teeth to school to show her teacher and she lost them. We had to write a note to the tooth fairy...oh well.

The First Christmas Tree

All you need is a one-year-old to bring the wonder and joy back into Christmas.

Just try not to be jealous of our lighting...Temple Square doesn't hold a candle to our tree.

You are on your own dude...

At our house Kyle is left to fend for himself when it comes to food. This is the proof.

He sneaks into the pantry,

snatches entire loaves of bread and runs for it.


He saves potatoes for later...up his nose.

I think he enjoys it too!

Finally, he climbs up on the table to scavange whatever scraps may be left over from the last meal.

Geez, I think I need to take a couple more parenting classes. I must have missed something somewhere.

Oh Kyle, we love you!

Katsup Toots

Really...what is funnier then Katsup tooting?

This brings back memories of my childhood and my brother david. Kyle laughs just like he did. Happy Birthday Dave!

Kyle is Hungry

When Kyle is hungry he takes things into his own hands. This is how we know he is ready to eat.

Munchkin Town in Washington

Waaay back in October my Aunt Sue and I decided to go on a great adventure and take my three kids to Washington to visit my sister and her family. What an adventure it was!!! The 8 hour van ride was a little tricky with Kyle but we made it in one piece.

We started with a sight-seeing tour of the Richland WA area. This is our little crew minus a few that refused to be in the picture..Nick. Just imagine him off camera making one of his mad face with his arms folded because that is what was happening.

Andi and Nathan making sure the sign said dogs and not kids.

Kyle moving to his own beat.


We did a lot of hanging out at Becky's house.

Kyle loved the big toy.

One of the day's Ben took us to the church potato farm he works with. It was awesome! I have never seen so many potatos in my life!!

Andi with her potato next to the conveyer belt.

Nick with his baby potato.

All the kids with their family of giant potatos.

Another day we went to the park by the Columbia river. This awesome park had a giant rock wall for the kids to climb.

Swingin'

My sister with Ian (she is an amazing mother to my Nephews).

Aunt Sue trying to tame Kyle! I know I could not have made the trip without her!!! And yes, the playground had a giant fish as well.

Nick climbing the rock wall. Notice the pants, he likes to do things his own way and there is nothing I can do about it. He put them on that way on purpose.

Chillen by the river.

Proof that I was there!

Daniel and Andi Striking a pose!

Once again we had a very successful trip to WA excluding the time I went to the mens restroom! Oh well at least I have a good story for a "most embarrassing moments" game! Becky, thanks for letting us crash your house...literally!

Willow Flats

We decided to do something fun one weekend this fall instead of work in the yard (I know crazy right!) We thought the leaves would be changing up Willow Flats so we called the neighbors, hopped in the car and headed up the canyon.

The hike is more of a one mile adventerous walk up trails, over bridges, across the creek and next to waterfalls. The trail winds up the canyon to a natural spring that comes out of the rocks. It was beautiful this time of year! I think I need to give a little background though. This also happens to be the place where Mike and I had our first kiss and got engaged, so there is a little sentimental value as well.

This first picture is the exact spot where Mike and I got engaged! How romantic!!! (I can hear the chorus of awwwweeee's right now) 13 years later we have changed a lot but the canyon stayed the same. Please try and ignore the giant smudge in the middle of the picture. After the trip I found a nice child-size finger print right in the middle of the lens. Bless those little ones...



This is the picture of the water coming out of the mountain. Really you can drink the water and it tastes delicious! It is like a river that just pops out of the side of the mountain.


Great photo op for the kids. (We left Kyle home. He can't stand for us to carry him anymore and I was not about to wait for him to hike a mile.)

Andi scaled the rock walls like it was a giant jungle gym...future rock climber for sure.

Next year we will take the whole family up and do our pictures there.

The leaves were just starting to change, it really was beautiful!

The picture of all the kids. Cameron and Nick (best friends), Andrea, Alexis, and Seth on one of the many bridges. They all had a great time and so did we! We will definately do this again next year!

Red Neck Waterslide

You heard me right...we went to the Red Neck Water Slide in Wellsville a month ago. It was awesome!!! Mike even came, really, its true! Watch the video for proof. Basically they have a 75ft tall hill they have put some heavy duty plastic on with a little water, and you slide like butter on a hot griddle down the hill even with jeans on! It was awesome! Somehow we need to do a giant family reunion there.

Happy Birthday Nick

Nick turned 4 in August and he had a great birthday. Of course his favorite parts were opening presents and hitting the "Sonata" as he calls it, AKA Pinata. As you can see on the video he was determined to release the candy from the Transformer. If looks could kill that transformer would have exploded!


Anyway, Nick definately keeps our house interesting. When conference started last weekend he ran outside and yelled to the entire neighborhood that "Conference was on and it is time to watch!" During conference he was listening very carefully, and later informed me "I used to live with Heavenly Father on a different planet before I came into your tummy on earth, huh mom!" Just yesterday I was cleaning in the house and he ran up to me, gave me a huge hug and said "Mom, I am filling your bucket of Love!" Really, where did he come from! Maybe he really is alien! All I can say is WE LOVE YOU NICK!

Bear Lake Adventures

As if Hiking was not enough, the next monday we decided to take the day off and haul the kids to Bear Lake. It was beautiful and VERY full. The only beach was about 40 feet wide on the north shore (usually the north shore is about a quarter mile wide.) It was totally worth the vacation time!

Kyle loved the water. I usually take him out of the bath after an hour, kicking and screaming. He thought his dreams had come true!


This is what happens after playing in the water for several hours. He is still on the beach, in his port-a-crib, under a tree.

Andrea loved the water as well. She was the first one to run to it and dive in...of course. This is her pretend wave runner.

Little did she know that later she would be upgraded to a real wave runner! Mike is driving with Andi and her cousin behind. Andrea could have ridden it for hours. Mike was driving very fast and very crazy (I know, it doesn't seem possible) and she just laughed the entire time! Man she is an adrenaline junkie. I loved the wave runner too, but fortunately for you there is no picture of me.

Mike had a great time playing with the kids.

Nick showing off his beautiful collection of "Crystals."

What beach trip would be complete without the sand castle. Andi and Nick made this one.

It is times like this that I LOVE the DVD player in my van! By the time we got home they were both passed out though, and I think I was too. What a great day! Thanks to the Christensen's for giving us an excuse to go up!

Hiking through salad

We finally had an open weekend so we decided to take it and go hiking for the first time with our little family. It was great, we went up by Third Dam in Logan canyon and hiked the Spring Hollow trail. The kids did great and Kyle only cried in the carrier for the first five minutes!


On the trail we found a nice shady spot that had a lot of greenery. As we walked into the area Nick yelled "Hey mom, look there is salad for you to eat everywhere!" This is the picture of Andi and Nick next to the "salad." He kept telling me to eat it but I declied.


Kyle..."Are we done yet?"

After the hike we went to third dam to skip rocks or in Mike's case "ski" rocks. The water was perfect and we found some perfect flat skipping rocks, so he was able to get the rocks to water ski. It was amazing!

Mike teaching Nick how to skip rocks. He got it to skip two times. Not quite as good as his dad, but he is well on his way.

The water is still high in the Creeks so we played in the water going over the road. It was freezing! Kyle would cry to get down in it so I would set him down, then he would gasp and cry to get back out.

Nick resting on the bridge.

On the way back to the car Andi found a butterfly on the road that had been hit by a car, but was still alive. She was almost in tears over how injured it was. She picked it up and gently set it over in the bushes. I am sure it will live...right?

The kid were great for the whole hike. I think we will have to do this more often.