Sledding, Tubing, Snow Boarding

We decided to try and enjoy all this snow we've been getting so the Saturday after Christmas we headed to Spanish Oaks golf course with my parents, Jac and Elle, (Kelly stayed back at my house with Phin) and our good friends Chris and Stacie Lewis. We all had so much fun. The only thing that would have been better is if we would have had a few more sleds and if my mom and dad's giant tube wouldn't have stuck to the snow. It amazed me 'cause Ally showed no fear whatsoever. We walked up to the top of the hill and she just jumped on her sled and went down the hill. She got mad when she had actually had to stop going down the hill long enough to let somebody else have a turn. She and Elle started just sliding down on their knees and stomachs. It was a great day for everybody. One of the most entertaining events of the day was watching Jim and Chris trying to go down on the tube (that stuck to the snow so they went really slow and not very far), they tried out the sleds together and then Jim hopped on Chris' back and they snow boarded down the hill. It was quite entertaining. And yes, Stacie and I do worry about the two of them every now and then. Everybody around us was cracking up.
We then went back to my house for Two Jack's pizza and games on the WII. We all had a blast! At least we can somewhat enjoy the mountains and mountains of snow we have been receiving.

Girls Just Want to Have Fun

Every year around Christmas my friends from high school and I get together for lunch or dinner, just the girls. It's always so much fun to get together, catch up, and just talk and laugh. This year we really missed Trish who wasn't in town yet (hopefully we can get together again while she's here (hint, hint Trish)) and Brooke who needed to finish Christmas shopping. When we get together it makes me realize how much I miss these girls. I really wish we could do it more often. They are the best!!

Merry Christmas

So, with all the hustle and bustle of Christmas, I kind of got behind on updating our blog. We hope you all had a very, Merry Christmas. We sure did. Since I got behind on the blog, I thought the best way to update by sharing some of our Christmas traditions.

Tradition #1 - New Christmas Clothes
Yes, I am one of those geeky, obnoxious moms that gets my kids new church clothes for the Sunday before Christmas. I also buy them new clothes for Easter Sunday. It might be a little geeky, but look how cute they look.


Tradition #2 - Letters to Santa

This year we were a little late in writing our letters to Santa, we wrote them the Monday before Christmas. I started getting a little nervous when Jim and the kids started their lists and only Andrew had one thing on his list that Santa was bringing to them. Here's a sample of the lists...
Ally - Dora house with Diego and Dora
A toy hair dryer
Camera
Play food
Plates

Andrew - WII with Mario Kart
New Mars Mission Legos
Gloves
Star Wars the Clone Wars movie
Star Wars Legos

Jim - Surround Sound System
BluRay Disc Player
Sony XBR6 TV
Computer
Desk
Car mats for car
Shopping spree in Park City
Blankets
Couches
Clementines
(Yes, Jim's is a dream list mostly so we can furnish our basement we finished this last year. Although, he did get the TV for Christmas)

Candace - Mirror for downstairs
Shopping spree in Park City
I-Pod (that works (my screen is only blue))
Couches
A nice lounge pants and jacket set
(Jim saw my list and told me I hadn't been good enough this year to get what was there (namely the I-pod)) (I forgot to put on here earlier (thanks for mentioning it Liz) that apparently I was good enough this year because I did get a new I-pod and a gift card for an I-home docking station).

Tradition #3 - Cookies for Santa

On Christmas Eve we decorated cookies for Santa. It was a lot of fun but the kids were disappointed when they woke up Christmas morning and Santa only ate 2 1/2 of the 6 cookies they left out for him.

Tradition #4 - Christmas Pajamas

The kids get new pajamas every year on Christmas Eve. I just give them the gift to open but saw a thing on TV this year to do a scavenger hunt to find the pajamas. I think we might try that next year.


Christmas morning was a lot of fun filled with much excitement. Even though the kids didn't get everything they requested , they were not disappointed. Andrew did get his WII and Jim got the Guitar Hero World Tour band kit so he and I have become neglectful parents. We enjoyed our day at home and then went to my grandma's for dinner with my family. They got even more spoiled there so they were even happier. The day ended with snow surfing. Yep, I said snow surfing. Kelly's husband Jac has his surf board up at my grandma's house. He broke off the skag and surfed down her front yard. He took their little girl Elle a few times and then Andrew wanted to go so he took him. Andrew loved it. I think we have the makings of a snow boarder.
As you can see, we had a great Christmas and hope you all did too!

Cutest Kids in the Whole World

How can you look at these pictures and not think I have the cutest kids in the whole world? Okay, so every mom thinks that, and I am a little biased because they are my kids but still, they are pretty dang cute.

The First Snow of the Year

Saturday was our first official snow storm of the year (okay we did have a skiff about a week ago, but when there is less than 1/2 an inch it doesn't count, right??). The kids were so excited. They wanted to be out first thing. Unfortunately for them I had a pretty bad head cold and kept telling them they could go out later. Finally I gave up. We bundled them up in their snow clothes and sent them out. They had so much fun making snow angels, snow piles and even played on the playground at our park.



The fun was followed up with hot chocolate and yummy blueberry muffins (thanks to our great friends Sid and Gigi).


About an hour later they wanted out again. Jim was going out to snow blow the snow so they bundled up and headed out for more fun in the snow. I finally had to make Andrew come in at 6:30 because it was so dark and cold. I'm glad they enjoyed themselves and as bad as it is, I am somewhat glad I was not feeling well because I could avoid being out in the freezing cold. Besides, with the weather they are forecasting, there will be plenty more times for me to be out 'enjoying' the snow with them.

Family Pictures

Every year Jim's brother that lives in Portland comes to Utah for Thanksgiving. Since it's pretty much the only time of year everyone is together we do a large family picture and we also do our individual families at the same time. I like it because it's a good way for my little family to update our pictures each year. In the past we have done it at the amphitheater by Mount Timpanogos temple but this year we went to Murray park up in Murray. There were so many great spots for pictures, we loved it up there. We got together Friday morning (after Black Friday shopping of course (I had been up since 3:30 a.m.)) for pictures then we went to lunch and a couple of movies. It's always a fun day spent together with family.

Tutu's

To prove that I am not a total idiot at crafting stuff, I had to post this. My sister Kelly and I made some adorable tutu's for our girls. They are just like the ones you can buy at the mall, but since we made them, they were much, much cheaper. This is how grandpa thinks you should wear them...


And here is Ally showing him that he had it on wrong...

My First Attempt at Sewing

I volunteered to make 10 chair pockets for Andrew's class. Okay, I am not a sewer, I have not sewn since 8th grade home ec class but I figured my mom or mother in law who are great sewers could help out if I got stumped. I ventured out and bought the material, I could handle this out on my own, right? Wrong!!! I even washed and dried it like the instructions told me to do. My mom came over a few Saturdays ago to hang out with me and the kids while my dad and Jim went golfing. I asked her to look at the chair pockets and see if my idea of how to do them was correct. I started pulling out the material and my mom's eyes got huge. I couldn't figure out what was going on. She asked me how much material I got. I told her I got the 13 yards the lady told me to get. My mom couldn't believe how much material there was for the ten chair pockets I was supposed to make. This is what it looked like...

(it's hard to tell by the picture how much material is really there)

Well, come to find out I got 90 wide instead of the 45 wide I should have gotten. Now I have enough material to make curtains for Ally's room and few other rooms in my house. I have learned that I shouldn't even buy the material for projects like these without somebody who knows what they are doing. The good news is that my mom helped out by making the pockets (I was quite frustrated with the project) and they turned out perfect!!

Husband Tag

My sweet friend Liz tagged me and since I'm not always the best at telling my husband how wonderful he is and I ALWAYS take him for granted, I decided I would do this.
1. how long we've been married: 11 years.
2. how long we dated: We met in January, were engaged in July and married in September. A pretty quick courtship, but when you know it's right, why wait??
3. who eats the sweets: Definitely me!
4. who said i love you first: Jim.
5. who is taller: He is taller. Although, I get pretty close when I have on high heels and he has on no shoes.
6. who sings better: Jim! No doubt about it.
7. who is smarter: Same as above, he is definitely smarter and thankfully my kids are following after him.
8. who does the laundry: Me.
9. who pays the bills: The bank. We do all but two of our bills through direct pay and I pay those two after being reminded by him.
10. who sleeps on the right side of the bed: If you are looking at the bed, him.
11. who mows the lawn: Usually Jim, but since he traveled so much this summer, I have done my fair share this year.
12. who cooks dinner: Me.
13. who drives: Jim, even on long road trips
14. who admits they are wrong: Whoever is wrong. Just kidding, we both do, sometimes it just takes longer than others.
15. who asked who out first: Jim asked me out.
16. who wears the pants: Definitely Jim.
17. what does he do that surprises you: When he does something out of character like pause the BYU game so he can go play baseball with his son.
18. what is your favorite feature on him: Do I have to pick one? His hands, they are very manly and strong.
19. what are your favorite qualities about him: He is very caring and sensitive.
20. does he have a nickname for you: Can.
21. what is his favorite food: Sushi, but since I don't like it he rarely gets it, unless it's for lunch while he is at work.
22. what is his favorite sport: Football, baseball, basketball, golf (I don't think there is a sport he doesn't like, okay, besides women's basketball)
23. what is your favorite thing to do as a couple: dinner and a movie (that might not be our favorite thing to do, but it's what we do when we get the chance to go out).
24. does he have any hidden talents? He plays a mean guitar on Guitar Hero (just found this one out yesterday and the day before)
25. what do you admire about him: How hard he works for our family and how much he loves me and the kids and would do practically anything for us.

Daddy's Princess

Sunday after I got Ally all dressed for church she started twirling back and forth and said she looked like a princess. I told her she was a princess, my princess. She then said, "No, I'm Daddy's princess." So much for Mom. She really is a daddy's girl. It's always fun at night 'cause as soon as either of the kids here to garage door go up, they are running and opening the door for Jim. You'd think I torture them all day. No, it really makes me happy they love their dad so much and they have something to look forward to in the evening.

A Happy Halloween

Our Halloween this year was quite, I don't know if I should say, entertaining, but it was interesting. I spent the afternoon volunteering at Andrew's class. He goes to the charter school here in Spanish Fork and they don't do traditional Halloween activities. All costumes, activities, food, etc. had to deal with what they were learning which was everything Egypt. We played games they played in Egypt, sampled some of the food they ate, etc. It was really fun. After school I went to Provo to pick up Ally, Kelly watched her while I was at the school. We hurried home to get ready for trick or treating. I started making my traditional taco soup and some caramel apply crisp for dessert. Our friends the Cabreros' were going to come over for the traditional Halloween dinner get together. They had to run to their grandma's work to see her for a little bit so I decided to take the kids out before dinner. Jim stayed back so I asked him to take out the apple crisp. The kids and I had a lot of fun walking around the neighborhood. Ally started complaining about her feet and legs so I decided we had enough candy and we headed home. I walked in the door to a burnt smell. I asked Jim if the soup burned and he told me it was worse. I couldn't figure what could be worse. Then I saw it. I accidentally left a burner on and Jim put the apple crisp on the burner. The 9x13 Pyrex dish exploded. Glass and apple crisp went everywhere. Poor Jim had to clean up the mess while the kids and I were out having fun. The bad news was the glass went into the corn bread and we couldn't guarantee it did not go in the soup. We figured it was too big of a risk so we had Halloween pizza this year. We still had a fun traditional dinner with the Cabreros' just with pizza instead of soup. The kids had fun playing together and doing leftover crafts from our preschool Halloween party.

A Night of Fun at Cornbellys

Last week Jim had a work b-b-q so the kids and I met Kelly, my mom, and my mom's friend from California at Cornbellys. I have to say that place is amazing. There was so much for the kids to do. The girls loved all the princess fun and Andrew loved the pedal go carts and the giant air trampoline.
He did not like the haunted creature and neither did grandma, they broke out halfway through. They enjoyed the duck races, swings, slides and the other activities for young kids.

Ally loved the little Farmer's Market. She had fun selling vegetables to Judy and me. And she especially loved the Pumpkin Princess.
What made it even better for the kids was the stop at McDonald's for dinner on the way home. It was a really fun night. I want to make it a yearly tradition, which I'm sure the kids won't complain about. They really had a lot of fun and so did Mom.

Tagged

I was tagged by my sister Kelly. Here's what you do. You go to your fourth file, pick the fourth picture and post it. Here it is....

My fourth file was 2007 Soccer. This was Andrew's first year playing soccer. My friend Camilla was the coach but went to Sweden the first 5 weeks of the season so she asked me to be her assistant. I figured that since I don't know much about soccer I could handle five weeks, that meant five games, right? Wrong, she neglected to tell me they played two games a week. I convinced Jim to help me coach and we had a lot of fun coaching the team. We ended up coaching the rest of the season with help from Camilla. We had a great group of boys (and parents who didn't expect too much ;)). Andrew loved playing and continued this year.

I now tag Brooke, Tiffney, Kelly Cabreros and Trish.

Field Trip to the Hogle Zoo

Last week I got the opportunity to go with Andrew's class to the Hogle Zoo. I was a little nervous when the teacher told me first thing that I had the most rambunctious group. After the bus trip and walk to the pavilion to eat lunch, my goal became to not lose any of the kids. We had a fun time seeing all the animals. The boys enjoyed making the animal noises at the animals and pretending to be each animal. We made it to the end of the day and I didn't lose one boy. We had a few minutes left before we had to get on the bus so I told the boys they could go play on the playground. I turned around and couldn't find Alex. I asked the other boys where Alex was and they didn't know. I looked around and saw him outside the gate walking toward a Weber School District bus. I told the other boys to stay put and took off running yelling for him. Thankfully, I got Alex back and he and all the boys enjoyed running around the playground. We all made it on the bus and back to the school. It really was a lot of fun to be able to be there with Andrew (one more benefit to being an at-home Mom).


My Group of Boys!

A Night at Chuck-E-Cheese

With Jim being gone I have been trying to come up with things to do with the kids to pass the time quickly. Friday night we went to Chuck-E-Cheese with Kelly, her kids, and my mom and dad. The kids had a lot of fun playing the games and winning tickets. I was proud of myself 'cause I got a ball in the 100,000 point slot in skee ball. Yeah, I was there for the kids, but I decided to play a little too. It made me miss Jim more 'cause we always have skee ball competitions, which I would most likely have won this time (doesn't happen very often).


Ally enjoyed Grandpa helping her on some of the games and was quite impressive on the spider stomp game.



Andrew wanted to take a picture of me playing a game and this is what he got. I guess I need to help him so he learns to not cut off people's heads. It was a fun night out.

Pumpkin Land

Since Jim is out of town again, Kelly and I took the kids to Pumpkin Land on Thursday. They had a lot of fun posing for pictures, running around the corn maze to get to the blow up slides and trampoline and picking pumpkins. Elle kept putting pumpkins in the wagon so Kelly ended up buying more than she had planned.



Now my kids ask me every day when we are going to carve our pumpkins. I told them they have to wait until Dad gets home. Right now, they aren't too thrilled about that, but I know they will have much more fun carving pumpkins with Dad there.

Parade of Purses/Scentsy Party

I am hosting a Parade of Purses/Scentsy party at my house next Wednesday, October 15 from 6:30 - 8:30 p.m. If you would like to attend, give me your e-mail address and I will e-mail you my address.

Dancing Queen

We signed Ally up for a community dance class that lasts eight weeks to see how she would enjoy 'organized' dance. She loves it!! And, she is very cute while trying to learn the technique of dance. Her teacher does a very good job teaching a bunch of three year olds to dance. They are learning a dance and Ally's favorite part is when they 'shake it'.

While Dad's Away...

Mom and the kids will play and play and play. Jim went to South Carolina for work the end of the week last week so the kids and I had some fun. Thursday was spent at soccer and then dinner with Grandpa and Grandma Davis and cousin Elle. Friday we had Kaden over (see blog below) and then we had movie night. Andrew wanted to watch Cheaper by the Dozen (someone at school was talking about the movie, that's where he got the idea) so we pulled out a blanket, popcorn, and ice cream and sat on the living room floor watching the movie. The kids loved it, especially since they were able to stay up until almost 10. Saturday we went to Orem/Provo area to visit my grandma and then we went and played at Discovery Park. The kids had a lot of fun running and climbing on everything, but their favorite part was the tire swing.


We all had a lot of fun. We then went back to Grandma and Grandpa Davis' house and ate dinner with grandpa. It was a fun weekend, but Dad was really missed.

Backyard Ramp

The other day Andrew's friend Kaden came over to play. They were out back so I went in to switch laundry and start dinner. I went back out back to check on them and found they had built a ramp and were jumping off it with bikes and scooters. Ally even joined in, although she would only ride down the jump. They were having so much fun, I finally had to make them come in when it got too dark for them to see.

Once Upon A Time...

11 years ago today I married the man of my dreams. When I look back over the 11 years I can't believe how quickly the time has gone, it doesn't seem like it's been that long ago that we knelt across the altar and declared our love for Eternity. I can't remember my life without Jim in it. It hasn't always been a fairy tale, but I am amazed that I love him more today than I did when we were first married. Jim is an amazing husband, father and my best friend. Happy Anniversary babe! I love you!

Just the Two of Us

Jim had convention this weekend in Salt Lake so I went up Friday night to go to dinner with him (which was really nice since he will be out of town for our anniversary). Thanks to his fabulous sister, Dorothy and her wonderful husband, Cameron who watched the kids for us, I got to stay overnight with him. My kids didn't miss me one bit, they got to go to Chuck-E-Cheese and be spoiled all night. I think Dorothy and Cameron quickly became their favorite aunt and uncle. Jim and I enjoyed a delicious dinner at PF Changs and were going to go hear Brian Regan (the comedian) after but made the mistake of stopping at their convention store where Jim got pulled into work stuff. Just kidding. It was really fun to see Jim doing what he does and I got to meet and hang out with all the fun people he works with. Saturday morning we woke up and went over to the Salt Palace for the morning session of convention where I got to see and learn a little more about Monavie and see Jim in action again. It's fun for me to see what he does. I mean, I've always known what he does at work, but it's different seeing it all happen. I headed back to Utah County around 11 and got to take Andrew on a mom-son date to the BYU/Wyoming game. It was fun to go to the game with him. I don't get as much one-on-one time with him as I do with Ally so I really enjoyed just being with him. It was a great weekend!! Too bad I didn't think to take my camera with me.

Our First Official Trip to the Emergency Room

Last night we had our first official trip to the emergency room with one of our kids. I am grateful we made it six years before having to experience that one. Yesterday my sister Kelly came over with her kids to hang out for a while. Ally and Elle were downstairs playing when all of a sudden Ally started screaming. I ran downstairs and found her sitting on the tile floor in our kitchenette holding her head. She had been climbing on a folding table I left out from Bunco and fell and hit the back of her head on our tile. I rushed her upstairs and quickly checked her eyes, which looked fine and gave her some Tylenol. She and Elle continued playing and even went outside. A few hours later she started complaining about her head hurting again and wouldn't let me leave her side. I went out to help Kelly get Elle in the car (she wasn't happy about having to go home) when Kelly started yelling that Ally was throwing up. I quickly threw her in the car and headed to the Instacare. I explained to the receptionist what was wrong and she told me to wait right there for a nurse to come look at Ally because they might want me to go to the hospital for a Cat Scan. A few minutes later she came out and said they wanted Ally to go to the hospital because she might have internal injuries. We went to UVRMC and began the wait in Emergency. Thankfully, there weren't a lot of people there and we were lucky enough to get amazing nurses and a fabulous doctor!! The doctor checked Ally very thoroughly and then said she would like a Cat Scan. She explained to me that Ally would have to lay very still or they would have to tape her down. I calmly told her what the doctor wanted her to do and bribed her (of course) with the new Barbie DVD if she did what the doctors wanted her to do. She was AMAZING!!! I couldn't believe it. Either could the technician. I was allowed to stay in the room with her and could hold her hand. When the machine started she got a little nervous because of the noise but quickly settled back down. They got all the pictures they needed the first time. The doctor came in and told me that there was no bleeding or significant bruising on her brain. She had a minor concussion so we were sent home with instructions to wake her up every four to six hours and to come back quickly if anything changed. She is doing just fine now. She is back to her normal self. I am sooooo grateful it was only a minor injury and Jim and I both hope she has learned her lesson about climbing.

It has been over a week since I have been on the computer let alone able to update our blog. Things have been crazy, busy for us. Ally started pre-school.
A few girls from our ward and I are doing a little 'Joy School' type pre-school. We each take a week teaching the kids. Ally really enjoys it (I know this because every day she asks me if she is going to school).


Andrew is still loving soccer.
In his game Tuesday night he scored a goal and had two assists, all of this in the pouring rain. The boys had fun and loved the rain while all the parents froze hoping the game would be canceled. I now consider myself an official soccer Mom, I survived my first bad weather game. We were really lucky last year and had no games with rain. I was so glad I am not coaching this year.


Last Thursday through Sunday Jim and I got to take a trip (thanks to my wonderful parents who were willing to cancel a camping trip to watch our kids for us) to sunny Seattle. Yes, I said sunny. The weather was beautiful. We took the ferry to Bainbridge Island for lunch and walked around the shops. We went shopping and then enjoyed a Mariners/Yankees game, which was a great game, not only because the Mariners won (being Red Sox fans at our house, we cheer for any team that plays the Yankees) but the Mariners pitcher was a rookie and had a no hitter going through the 7th inning. Unfortunately that ended, but it was a fun game.




Then Saturday we did what we went up there to do, went to the BYU/Washington game. What a game! No, we did not like the way it ended, but were very glad BYU won.











All in all, it was a fabulous trip. We missed the kids, but it was very nice to get away just the two of us and recharge our batteries. Especially since Jim is going to be away quite a bit over the next few weeks.