Holiday Happenings

First off, we got some snow and everyone is happy, except maybe me who has to drive in it. But it is pretty and makes things feel more Christmas-y!

Now on to lots of performances... Maddie's Ballet,

Kenzie's preschool (so cute, and short which was nice on a most crazy night),

and Kylie's orchestra. She just started playing the violin this fall and has enjoyed it.

I think this was our best effort yet on the decorating of the gingerbread house.

The lights on Temple Square with cousins Dustin and Abby. This was the warmest night ever for looking at the lights. Notice Tanner only has a sweatshirt on.

The Festival of Trees. This is taken at their gingerbread area. Behind them is the biggest gingerbread castle I have ever seen. The lady said it was all made entirely of gingerbread with no other internal supports. It was amazing! All the beautiful decorated trees, gingerbread houses, crafts and wreaths are donated and then auctioned off for Primary Children's hospital. It is a great event that we try to get to every year.

Finally the tooth fairy can come!

Maddie has been feeling a little left out that she had not lost any teeth yet, and she is a little old at 7+. But last month she finally had not one but two teeth pop out one right after the other. Yeah- the tooth fairy!!

Turkeys beware

Thanksgiving was the usual gorging and relaxing! We had a nice break from school and work. We had the turkey at our house with Paul's parents and my mom- small group this year. Dinner was yummy and we enjoyed the leftovers almost as much. Except I don't think we could ever get Kenzie to try the turkey. She is still mostly vegetarian- she has never liked much meat. The other kids don't know where that came from! The best part was that we got all our Christmas decorations up, inside and out. It's nice to have kids old enough to help with that now. On to Christmas...

Don't drop that bottle!

Kylie was in a dance festival for the Spanish Immersion program at school and her class got to test their balance with their dance. Usually the 6th grade gets to do something a little different and special since it is their last year. So they had to balance plastic bottles (with a small weight in them) on their heads for the entire dance. They also had a handkerchief that they dropped and picked up with their mouth- all with a bottle on their head. It was really something! They did so well. For months they had been walking around the school with these bottles on their heads as they worked. Kylie didn't drop hers at all and now has the posture of a beauty queen! I'm not sure what country that dance comes from, but it was a great cultural night.

The lean, mean, running machine

I'm catching up on some things I wanted to post, so this is old news. The first weekend in Oct was the St. George Marathon and Paul finished it for the third time! We were all there to cheer him on even though it was the worst weather they had had for the race in many years. It rained the whole time. Paul was a trooper and did great. His time was 3:17 and he was 6th in his age division. He's pretty speedy. He also raced in two triathlons this summer. One was in Idaho and we didn't go with him to that one. A man actually drowned in the heat before his so he didn't get to swim. It was tragic. The other tri was at the Jordanelle and he raced it with this brother so they suffered together. When asked if his marathon running days were about over, he said probably not so I guess we will be ready to cheer again.

Pumpkins we won't be carving

I wanted to show these fun pumpkins we we did for a craft activity. My friend Merilee found a picture of them on the internet and we went and got some good textured fabric and real pumpkin stems. They were super easy and I thought they turned out so cute for a fall centerpiece. Every once in awhile the crafter in me comes out!

kenzie can dance

This is a funny thing we were playing around with on the internet. And Yes my kids like High School Musical!



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The Warmest Halloween Ever!

We had a great Halloween this year. We didn't even have to cover our costumes with coats it was so warm. There was a little rain when we first started to trick or treat but then it passed. Kenzie made it around the whole neighborhood this year. She was so excited about the candy! Here's some pictures of the girls. Tanner left with friends later when we were already out with the girls so I didn't get any pics of him, but he was a hippie-Groovy!

Kylie the laundry basket

Maddie the Witch

Kenzie as Cinderella

Cutie Cousins

Last Saturday my niece Abby was baptized and I got some cute pictures of the girls I thought I would post.

Maddie and Abby

Kylie and her favorite baby, Elizabeth

Kenzie and Brooke

The champions- again!!

Last night we got to sit in the freezing cold and watch football! It was all worth it because they won!! Tanner's junior high football team went undefeated the whole season and finished it off with a championship. It was so exciting! I made Tanner bundle up enough that he said he wasn't cold but let me tell you- it was. We even had some snow the day before. It feels like winter is here, but it could change again. I took some pictures of the team after but they really didn't turn out. Curtis- I need your excellent shots- can you email me one? I need a better camera at some point- mine just doesn't do well in the dark. Tanner gets one day to bask in the glory and then basketball practice starts tonight. Moving on...

California here we come...

The kids get a Fall Break from school in October here. Paul said it started because of the deer hunt, but I'm not sure. It does seem to corelate every year, hmm? Anyway I guess the kids (or teachers) need a break from school and we decided to get a break from Utah and go on a little road trip. The catalyst for the trip was actually an offer from Rod & Rona to watch our kids so Paul and I could get away. The call to visit the Magic Kingdom was strong since we were in the vicinity so we went there for a day. We got there the day before the rest of Utah so it was actually not very crowded. We got on every ride we wanted and never had to wait in bad lines. Kenzie was excited about absolutely everything, and we all had a great time. I think we went on Space Mountain 3 times. It really is the happiest place on earth!



The next day we said goodbye to the kids and Paul & I headed to San Diego. We had a nice relaxing long weekend and enjoyed every minute of it. The weather was beautiful and warm so we tried to soak it up. We went and walked around La Jolla and Coronado, went out for some nice kid free dinners, slept in and basically enjoyed being grownups. We also got to see my friend Bunny from high school and my brother Ryan who is there getting a masters at the University of San Diego. It was so nice- Thanks to Rod and Ro!!


So while we were wondering if we were bad parents for leaving our kids on their school break, the kids were living it up. They got thoroughly spoiled and got to swim whenever they wanted and played with the dogs and the new kitty. I don't think they missed us at all! They even got a ride in a Hummer limo to get ice cream and go to the pumpkin patch. Not too bad! So we got over any guilt real fast!

Good Times at the Lake

We had our annual trip to Lake Powell in September. This video is one that Kylie made for a competition at school called "Reflections". The theme this year was Wow. We had plenty of wow moments on Lake Powell so it wasn't hard to decide to make a video about that. We had such a wonderful week! It was probably the warmest it has ever been-it was so gorgeous!! This year we had some friends go with us- the Hansens and Lamoreauxs, and Paul's brother Kendal with his family. Kylie also got to invite her good friend Mikayla this year. The kids (and adults, too for that matter) all got along and we made it without any major injuries or dangerous incidents. Paul and Richard both pulled their backs waterskiing, but could still function. We had fun swimming, boating, jumping off cliffs (even Kenzie found a tiny one she could do), wakeboarding, tubing, eating, sunning, fishing, playing games, and generally getting away from it all!! Though Marci did figure out that you could get cell coverage in the middle of the lake so she could keep up with her texting. :-) It's amazing to me how long kids can play in the sand and be completely happy. Where we parked the boat this year we had a nice hiking area up a big sandstone formation. We had some good exploring- the kids found a cave, a graffiti wall, and lizards. The other thing that was amazing this year was the sky at night. We could see the most stars and even the milky way. In some past years we have had a full moon which is nice too, but it really cuts down on the stars you can see. I've added some other pictures on the slideshow at the top of the page so you can see how beautiful it is there. Unfortunately, my pictures don't even do it justice.

Summer review

As usual the summer flew by and now it is October and I'm trying to remember what we did for that 2 & 1/2 months! We mostly stuck around Utah this year and enjoyed being outside. We did a lot of swimming. Tanner and Kylie were on Orem city swim team again this year and Kenzie and Maddie took swim lessons. We also had season passes to 7 Peaks (the local water park) so we spent some time there. Maddie decided she actually liked the rides this year- Kenzie still not sold on shooting yourself down a tube of water, but we are working on her. She likes to stick with the Kiddie pool.


We have a great 4th of July celebration around here and this year was even better because Hannah Montana was the concert before the fireworks. If you don't know who she is ask any pre-teen girl in the world. Well we lucked out and got great tickets and had a great time.
We finally relented and took the kids to Lagoon this summer. It was actually a lot of fun. They have lots of good rides for all age groups so everyone was happy.


Paul and Tanner went on a backpacking trip with his brother Kendal and some of his friends up into the Uintas. I was glad they made it home in one piece with no stories of Bear encounters.


Kylie had some adventures. She got to go be a nanny for a week for Paul's sister Shelly's family. Shelly was really sick with her pregnancy and needed help with the other kids so Kylie flew down there by herself and was very grownup about it all. She also went to a sleep-over camp for a week with some of her friends. Life is good when you are 11!!


Our final and somewhat last minute adventure of the summer was a trip to Minnesota to visit the Kurths- my Dad's side of the family. Paul and the kids had never been there so we were overdue. It was great to see everybody. The kids didn't know they had so many extra cousins! We even fit in a trip to the Mall of America- can't miss that! All in all a nice relaxing summer.

Possibly the worst blogger ever!

I don't know if anyone is even paying attention, but my attempts at online journaling have gone about as well as my other attempts at keeping a journal of our family. My poor kids are going to get older and ask me for stories from their childhood and I'm going to wish I had written more down!! Anyway, I have the usual excuses so I won't even bother with them here, but I'm hoping to renew my dedication and be a little more regular at posting. I guess basically our lives are not too exciting! But then that is also not the point of blogging, so I will not be making up stories or embellishing in any form. So, onto my story of our summer...

Road trippin'

Spring break for this year involved plenty of time in the mini van, but we all managed to stay sane and enjoy our vacation. Our first stop was the Grand Canyon. On the way there it was late at night when we got into the park and there were some of the biggest elk we had ever seen making themselves at home in the middle of the road- many groups of them. We went plenty slow after our first animal encounter. The first day was spent braving the freezing cold winds. Don't let the warm sunny look of this picture fool you. The Grand Canyon definitely lives up to it's name though. It was awe inspiring and so beautiful. It seems like one of those places that everyone should see once in their lives.
The second morning we went on a hike into the canyon a little ways. Our destination was the Ooh Aah point. That really is the name. It was a perfect hike for us. The older kids wanted to keep going but Kenzie was having a problem remembering how to walk and so Paul and I got a double workout lugging her extra weight. (Notice how someone is holding her in all these pictures.) Actually, the funniest part of the whole trip was Kenzie's big fit- screaming that she can't walk and the older kids laughing at her because she was being so ridiculous, and Paul and I trying to ignore her and refusing to pick her up because she was throwing such an obnoxious fit. The joys of parenting! We got some supportive looks from other parents-"stick to your guns!" and some nasty looks from others who were wondering what kind of torture we were inflicting on our poor, obviously crippled child! Anyway, the hike was great the view was spectacular and we made it back up. So then it was load up the car and drive on to Tucson.
We had a fun and relaxing visit in the desert with Paul's sister Shelly, Tyler and their 3 kids. We loved seeing the saguaro cactus and swimming in their pool. The kids had so much fun playing with the cousins. Their 1 year old Tavin was great for entertaining us. We visited the zoo and a had a nice picnic in the canyon. We had never been to Tucson and it is definitely different from what we are used to. It was a nice time to be there with the cactus' blooming and not too much heat yet.
After a few days in Tucson we were on to the next state of Nevada. We stopped in Vegas to see some friends of ours there, the Gneitings. They were sweet to let us stay a night with them and the next morning we couldn't leave Vegas without hitting at least one casino- JK. We did go to the Mandalay Bay, but I think we visited one of the few attractions there were you don't have to walk a mile thru the casino to get to something good. The Shark Reef there is a great aquarium done in true Vegas style. You get to walk thru a tropical forest complete with mister for added humidity and then the shark tank is done like a sunken ship with creaking noises and the full effect. Fun times! So we just had to make one more stop to complete the tour of the western states and that was in St. George to have dinner with our friends the Earls. It was good to be home after all that but we definitely felt like we had done something for Spring Break. Oh- and Kenzie remembered how to use her legs again- we were so relieved!

Cute Kenzie moment

Our family has had reason to rejoice since our last child is officially and totally potty trained! Kenzie was a hold out for longer that I thought was reasonable, but we finally found the secret of what worked for her and it turned out to be candy. A girl after my own heart. I tied a bunch of candy to the ceiling of the bathroom and bought a new singing princess potty. Can you tell I was getting desperate? The visual of the candy really helped her I think. I have to thank my friend Alyson for that idea. Kenzie loved being lifted up to pick out something when she used her special potty.
Anyway, she was doing so great and then she started regressing a little and having accidents. Paul decided to start giving her some coins for her to put in her piggy bank and he said when she had an accident she would have to give one back. She was all excited to be able to put them in her piggy bank. One day she had a little accident and Paul and I were in the kitchen. She comes out so sad looking and puts her little hand up to Paul and has all her coins and says, "Here Daddy." It was so cute and we were just laughing because we had forgotten all about that. So now we are past that stage and life is good! I don't even have to worry about it anymore- Yeah!

Kylie's volcano

For 5th grade science they have been learning about volcanoes so Kylie got to try her hand at making her own. We went to watch the momentous occasion of the blowing of the volcanoes. Some kids in the class had to try to run away to get to a safe distance before the lava got them but they never made it in time. The teacher kept saying, "Oh, the lava got you- you're dead". None of those kids will ever stick around to see what happens if a volcano starts erupting. You can never learn too much safety information!

St. George & Mesquite

You know it's baseball season when it's time to go to St. George. Over Easter weekend we were down in Mesquite and St. George and had a fun little trip. Tanner was mostly playing baseball but we managed to squeeze some fun in also. The condo we stayed in had a nice play area so we got to swim (of course!- the girls wouldn't think it was vacation if there wasn't a pool involved), play tennis, and even try our hand at shuffleboard. I think what everyone was most excited about was that they got to miss 2 days of school (and work for Paul). Personally, it was the chance to sit in the sun and soak up some warmth-it was in the 70's. The spring here is still in the schizophrenic stage where it will be beautiful one day and snowing the next. Tanner's team took some lumps but it is the start of the season so I think they worked out the kinks! Tanner got to pitch and played well so he was happy.


Tanner pitching...


The girls in Mesquite at the Casa Blanca.

Wii Play!

I wanted to see if this would work to put a video in the blog. This video cracks us up every time we see it. This is Maddie and her friend Ryan playing the Wii boxing. They get so into it! They are both really competitive with it and are so tired when they are done. It's a good workout. I like the bowling! The jumping is Maddie's signature move- she does that all the time.

Champions!!

For the second year in a row Tanner's basketball team won the championship for their age division! It was all pretty exciting. They had to win 2 games in a row and both the teams were good. The boys were so tired by the second game, I thought it might not go well. Especially since the other team was so much bigger then us. It came down to the last minute and we were behind but we got a steal and made a couple of shots and they won by just a few points. Tanner looked like he was about to die when it was done but he played hard the whole time so we were proud of him! Now it's on to baseball. His team started practice the next week! No rest, but luckily Tanner is fine with that. (Tanner is on the bottom right on this picture)

We're Back!

Well, after much struggle and many calls to helpful men in India, we finally have a fully functioning computer and internet hook up! I won't go into all the gory details but we'll just say it's been ugly and I was ready to become a hermit with absolutely no technology! We went through 2 dell pc's and ended up scrapping that whole plan and switching to a Mac. I have no regrets to that decision but there definitely is a break in period getting the hang of everything on the Mac. I love it now. The kids have loved the photo booth. It has a built in camera and you can take pictures and do fun effects with them. It can be pretty hilarious! I'm attaching some of these goofy shots, so you can see what our kids have been doing in their spare time lately.
Most everything was saved off our old hard drive but I can't find my e-mail address book so if you read this and haven't sent me an e-mail in a while will you send me something so I can add you in my book again? It's amazing how much there is to set back up when you lose it all in a crash! So my advice for the day is BACKUP everything. You can thank me later.

Christmas, New Year's, and mourning our computer

Every year Christmas comes and goes so fast it's somewhat of a blur. We had a great one this year. It's been really nice to be here at home and enjoy some family time. We spent Christmas eve at Blaine and Jen's house (Paul's brother). We had a great dinner with everyone and then the cousins had to duke it out for their parts in acting out the Christmas story. Maddie had her heart set on playing Mary so Kylie was very nice and let her have her turn. It's always cute to see the kids take on the Bible story. Kenzie was a sheep and was very reverent watching the Baby Jesus.
Christmas morning was the usual flurry of wrapping paper and packaging and plenty of presents. The big, exciting present this year was a Wii. Tanner and Kylie had been asking for one for quite awhile so they were thrilled. It really is a lot of fun to play. We have all had our turn. Kylie was even complaining about her shoulder hurting one morning because you really do have to move around alot while you are playing it.
Besides the Wii, we've had other fun this Christmas break. We went tubing with friends and family at Soldier Hollow. That's a nice operation-they have the rope tow to pull you up the mountain and groomed runs. We had a blast. We also spent the night up in Salt Lake with Blaine and Jen's family and went and walked around and saw the lights on Temple Square. They were as beautiful as usual! The kids love to swim at the hotel indoor pool while it is freezing cold outside. It seems some kind of cruel trick on your body to get in a swimsuit when there is snow on the ground. But other then that we've had a relaxing time.
New Year's eve was at our house this year. We have somewhat of a tradition with a group of friends that we get together and do fondue. This year there were about 35 people( including kids). It was a little chaotic but lots of fun. Tanner and Kylie made it all night but Kenzie went to bed about 9. We don't even know when Maddie went to bed because at about 10 I was thinking I hadn't seen her for awhile and I found her fully clothed and dead asleep in her bed. She slept thru all the noise of the party and the explosions of fireworks right outside her window! She was so bummed this morning because she missed the chocolate fountain. I'm not used to staying up till 2:30 in the morning so I'm starting to feel it!
The only bad news was that the motherboard on our computer decided it was too tired to function any longer, so we had to say a sad farewell to our computer. So I can't put any pictures with this post. We are kind of out of sorts but luckily we have Paul's laptop to keep up with email and Internet. It's amazing how much you come to rely on your computer. You don't realize it till it's gone! So now we have the joy of shopping for a new computer and getting everything loaded back on to it. The good news is our new one will probably be tons faster then our ancient (3-4 year old) model. We can get 250GB of hard drive! What does anyone do with all that?
We still have one more day to play before the kids have to go back to school on Thursday. It will be interesting trying to get everyone awake before 7 am!