cont'd post #2

Read the last post (12/29/10) first!...

January 2010

Vegas Trip

 My friend Lenaya and her family came into town and invited us to come see them. So we went to a cool magic show and then to dinner after.

 We found this magical Buddha and we just had to stop and take a rub!

 The cliche Vegas picture...

We ingeniously brought a sitter with us and so the next day we took the kids out to Circus Circus.

 We all wanted to pose by Spongebob!

 There was this candy store that had ALL kinds of yummy candies there! Can you guess my kids favorite?

 Riding the Merry-Go-Round

  Emma lost her first tooth!

 This is before we ripped it out of her mouth, actually there was no we, just Mom did a solo tooth extraction!

 We tied it to a door and was going to slam it shut but Emma chickened out!

Taylor wanted to show her she was tough even though none of her teeth were loose!

 

 But I just grabbed a bit of toilet paper and got a grip and it popped right out! Emma couldn't believe it was soooo easy! She started checking right away to see if anymore teeth were loose!

Zion

 We took the kids up to Zion and saw some neat historic things!

Lin's Donuts

 We discovered that Lin's carries these GIANT donuts and we love them now!

Dove hunting in Argentina

 This is all the doves Chad and Gary caught in just one day! The doves there are a pest so by killing them they are serving multiple purposes, They kill the pests, they give them to the poor to eat, and the have fun along the way! Chad is actually headed back dove hunting in a few weeks!

 However, the one time our little bubooshka gets hurt is while Daddy is gone hunting! He was just learning to walk fast and tripped and hit a window seal! I rushed him over to the Hospital but all he needed was some super glue! Now his scar is almost invisible, but I guess chicks dig scars so maybe one day he will thank me... ha ha

 BOWS

My friend Shelley's husband made me this adorable bow holder for all my many many bows...although in this picture there is only 25% of the bows I have on there now!

February 2010

Reorganized Pantry

 For Christmas each year Gary and Linda give each of the kids a massive amount of food storage in the form of Costco bulk products, so the challenge was to make it all fit in to my pantry and make it accessible too. We look forward to this every year because it's like a thousand dollars worth of groceries less that we have to buy! It's quite a thoughtful gift because you know everyone will use it!

Superbowl Party

 We went back down to Vegas to have a Superbowl party with Chad's sister Robyn and all of our kids! My kids were so excited to go swimming because back in st. George Grandma's pool was closed so they need a swimming fix!

Valentine's Cookies!

We love any kind of sweets in our house, but especially sugar cookies!

As you can see here I am just testing them to make sure they are good enough, and luckily they passed the test!

 Taylor got a giant bite of pure frosting and this is the kind of face you see when that happens!

 Emma's finished product!

 Chase only wanted frosting, no sprinkles and no cookie!

Massive Gaming Night!

 Chad loves to play on his ps3 with his nephew and BIL Mike. This was with all of our big tvs in my living room! They had a blast!

New Car

 Chad must have though since I got a new car he needed one too, so for his birthday he got this black beauty!

 

The donuts he made in our circle are permanently engraved! If you drive by our old house you can see remnants of the tracks!

Craft night

 I did crafts almost monthly at my last house and this is the one we made for Valentine's Day! It's so cute and symbolic because if you separate the blocks it doesn't make any sense but put them together and you are complete! I love getting together with my friends and making these cute crafts!

Teeter-totter

 The girls got this for Christmas and played on it EVERY day since! They love it, I had no idea it would be their favorite toy that year!

Ischool/Vista

 I helped in Emma's class once a week and would bring Taylor with. She loved to match her sister so i would dress her in the uniform too! Except on this day, she really blended in and during the assembly my girls were chosen out of the whole school to do a small segment in an advertisement for Mac. Ischools! It was so cool!

At home just after the Interview with the Ischool rep.

 George Strait/ Reba concert!

 Chad really likes George Strait so for his birthday we went the concert! This is also a few hours after he picked up his new corvette! It's sooo fast!

We had amazing seats!!!

 Chad and I at the concert!

 Robyn & Brandon came too!

Samarai 21/ Chad turns 29!

 We also went to dinner with Chad's parents for his birthday!

 

Yes I caught my shrimp! You betcha!!!! :D

 My handsome little 29 year old husband!

 Happy Birthday Chady!

Emma's Valentines

Her valentines were so cute I just had to post them, an ipod LOL!

The condo at Brianhead

 The girls loved all the snow but were ready to come inside and warm up!

 Chasers being a good boy!

 Night skiing with the kiddos!

 Navigating through all the snow!

 Back inside nice and warm!

We brought Nicole our neighbor and her friend to babysit so Chad and I could go skiing too!

March 2010

Friday= Play-dates!

Emma has a busy schedule with violin, dance, and school so whenever she has free time to play she loves it! Fridays are our "friend" days, we let Emma pick one friend and we take them somewhere fun each week.

Great-Grandma Claire and Lorimers Visit

Any excuse for pizza right? Our kids love pizza so whenever we want a quick dinner, the vote is always for pizza!

This is my cousins little boy, he is so cute! His name is Charlie, Chase was having a difficult time having to share attention and toys with him but I am sure one day they will be buds!

My cousin Pat, Chelsea, & Charlie! They were visiting form SLC.


BAHAMAS BABY!

I got these shirts made for all 28 of us to wear!

This is in the hotel in Vegas before we flew out the next morning! The girls were so excited!

ON the airplane with the cousins, I swear we took up the ENTIRE plane with just our family!

We had to catch up with more family in the airport before we caught our connecting flight!

There was family EVERYWHERE!

WE were just a sea of red shirts all over the airport!

Chad's sister Robyn and her kids

Chad and I anxiously awaiting to board the plane!

The girls in the pool RIGHT after we got to Atlantis

Everyone enjoying themselves just lounging around under the sun!

Chad and I about to get thrown into the pool

Emma and her little poses! LOL

Chad and his little shadow, Chase!

Emma loved running after the waves and then running back to shore before they hit her

This guy sold these "homemade" flutes to my kids, I should have said no thank you and not bought them because they were incredibly annoying! In fact, I am pretty sure they found a new home once we got back from our trip! ha ha ha

We would all cram into these huge taxis and the drivers would look at us like we were crazy!

The fun of the day would catch up to my kids by dinner time and this is how they all would look...

waiting with Grandma patiently for our food...

The next morning we toured around all the many aquariums at Atlantis and found some really neat artwork

Chad had to pose like some kind of warrior

Emma and Taylor climbed into this sand village it was sooo cool!

They had this awesome kids world suite that was stocked with a theater, games, treats, and lots of other entertainment, it was amazing!

The water was so pretty and blue there! It was unreal!

This is the Atlantis

I wish I would have had my camera out when the guys were racing down this slide, I took a pic anyways because it was so fun!

Emma and Tay wanted a Build-A-Bear Atlantis animal so we went and picked them out...

They had to take an oath to promise to love it and take care of it...The sad thing is Emma lost hers before we got on the plane, so I had to call the Atlantis when we got home and have another one mailed to us

Chase thought it was so funny to see the toys get dressed up

The girls were so sweet to each other there and would walk holding hands like this...

This is the famous location where I almost left my new expensive camera because I was too excited about the beach to remember it, thank goodness for Linda who grabbed it for me, phew!

This guy freaked Chase out, but the other kids really wanted a picture taken by this cool stilt-walking guy!

No one except for Maysen would go in the Hot tub with my girls, but it was for obvious reasons...they were splashing everyone  and loved it!

After the kids floated the lazy river, they decided to build this tube fort...

Emma thought it was fun to hide in....

Too bad they were clear and you could see right through them!

Taylor couldn't see over the 3rd layer of the tubes so I had to sneak over to take a pic...

This is her trying to climb out...

Chase looks so sleepy here...

Emma really wanted this little dolphin so we bought one for her to remember the trip by.

Tay is such a HAM! Love this girl!

This is the WHOLE crew!

Emma went everywhere with her "dolfee"

Grandma and the grand-kids decided to dance to the cool reggae music!

Aunt Julie and Grandma on our way to dinner

Back on the airplane headed home! It was so sad to leave but we are so grateful that we got to go and we look forward to the next fun adventure....

Taylor loves strawberries, I think she bummed the strawberries off everyone that would give them to her! Who could say no to her face though?!!

St. Patricks Day Hair

If you can't see from this pic, Emma has a four leaf clover on her head, so cute!

Taylor only wanted curly messy buns...but they were cute on her too!

Chase did NOT want his hair green so we did his normal signature faux-hawk!


GO JAZZ!

Chad is a HUGE Jazz fan and so he was so excited when he got surprised with 6th row seats!!!

Nielsen's Frozen Custard

mmmm that ice cream was soo good!

New Artist?

Apparently I needed to have some artwork on my WALL! Thank you Chase!

Soccer girls!

Taylor started playing soccer this year and did awesome! She is pretty fast but had a hard time "stealing" the ball form other kids because she thought she was doing something wrong! She is our easiest child, a very well behaved little princess!

Chase was being so goofy and kept giving me a "tiss"

Emma did really good at soccer this year! her coach was really good for her!

Taylor was always super focused!


Princess Party

Emma loves to dress uo so when her friend was having a princess party she went all out, a crown gloves, heels, even a hoop skirt!

Bunny Dance

Emma was so funny dancing around in her Easter bunny costume for dance!

Taylor wanted to wear her Kitty ballet outfit for dance too...she kind of likes to do WHATEVER her sister does! :D

Chad, Chad, Chad!

Life is never dull with this kind of personality! LOL ha ha ha!

Easter craft night

This is kind of hard to read, but this is the finished product... it says "EASTER, the only time it's OK to put all your eggs in one basket.

Some of the ladies busy getting their "crafting" on!

April 2010

Easter Egg Hunt

Chase had no idea what he was in for...

The line-up of all our kids...

Emma and Tay making a strategy on how to get the most eggs!          

Awww Candy! He is thinking, mom you better not try to take this from me cuz I am gonna fight you for it!

Run girls!

Oh ya the loot in hand!

Ivins Easter Egg Hunt
(the next day)

When we first moved here 5 years ago, I remember coming to the Ivins Easter Egg hunt. The only difference is that each year we come the attendees almost double so there are fewer and fewer eggs for each kid. This year the girls tried to run for the eggs but the other kids got them all .....

until this sweet girl saw our girls so sad because they didn't get any eggs that she gave each of them 6 EGGS! That just made me so grateful! What a thoughtful person, we must have thanked her 50 times, but seriously, how nice!!

Girl Scout Cookies?

Emma joined Girl scouts last year as a Daisy and sold a bunch of cookies this day!

She was dancing while waving this sign

Emma liked to give the customers their change

Some of her best customers...Grandma Great of course!

And Uncle Mikey and Grandma Hula came to buy some too! :D

East Egg Coloring

Uncle Mikey came to help the girls design their Easter eggs

Taylor really got into it!

Emma was careful not to spill


Easter Bunny Visit

The Easter bunny really wanted to get our kids chicks, but the Easter bunny brought them to us early so Emma and Taylor could take them to school, they loved the chicks! There were 2 fluffy yellow ones that were Emma and Taylor's and the one with the mo-hawk was a rooster and that was Chases of course! They were so funny, we were going to donate them to a farm, but we loved them too much so Chad built them a cool chicken coop!

I guess the Easter bunny loves our kids, just look at their loot...

The trail was quite extensive!

down the hall....

into the bedroom...

that morning this is the look they had when we opened our eyes

We made them start back in their room and follow at the start of their trail, but we made them hide under their shirts so they couldn't see their baskets

They had to compare and make sure they each got the same amount, the Easter bunny did good this year!

Wednesday= Donut Day

Each wednesday we have donuts for breakfast and Taylor always picks maple and Chase picks chocolate...Emma loves the maple too but she saves hers until after school! it can be quite a messy breakfast as Chase displays here so well...

The dentist is fun!

I wish I had as cool of a Dentist as my kids have! He has a kid-sized village playhouses and flat screen tvs with kids movies in his waiting room, then their are beautiful murals all over the office and you get to pick your own toothbrush, but wait there's more, after you get your teeth cleaned you get a balloon, a sticker, and a new book! My kids are so spoiled! He is a great Dentist!

I forgot to mention the cool kid door they get to go through as they head into the office...

even their x-rays are fun!

Taylor didn't think so as much! Once she got in to get her teeth cleaned and saw the tvs in the ceiling she was in 7th heaven, she even did pretty good at the arcade games they have their too...they keep asking when do we GET to go to the dentist again!


Swimming at Sandhollow

Chase was having a blast playing in the water!

Emma and her Friday friend, Aubrey after we went to the pool!

SICK?

There is few things I can't stand and getting sick is ranked high on that list! However, when Chady brings home a get-well soon kit like this, it sure makes it easier!

A-line Taylie

I decided Tay would look better with an A-line and I was just sure I could do it myself!

I think I did a pretty ok job!

It was darling on her!

Shopping

My friend and I went with our little babies shopping and by the end of the day this is what happened...shopping can be so tiring, when you're a baby!

The next time I went shopping I wasn't so lucky, Chase was wired!

Kellie Pickler

Tuachan does some really neat concerts! We sat on the 3rd row in he center! It was so much fun!

I loved her accent! She is so funny too, it was very entertaining!

You can see us better in this pic, It was a way fun night!

Early Boating!

It may only be April but we were not afraid to head out to the lake!

Robyn, Chad's sister was showing off her great dance moves! It was great!

Chase just got tuckered out, I guess the vibration of the boat just lulled him to sleep! Looks like DAddy fed him chocolate too...

Cooper

How can this be comfortable?

More Swimming

Taylor and her best friend Payten came with us swimming and they were inseparable the whole day! We must have stayed for at least 4 hours! 

The Hogle Zoo

The giraffes were ignoring us but that didn't stop the girls from trying!

Emma was just sure that she would be attacked...

She did not want to stand any closer to the snake!

We couldn't see where this animal was hiding...

Chad was the honorary stroller pusher that day!

We brought our nieces Demi and Kristen :D

Chad found this cool Bat-mobile look-a-like and he had to check it out!

Taylor hit her limit and fell asleep but chase was determined to stay awake and see ALL the animals!

Rain, rain, please stay!

We got the kids their own rain-boots and matching jackets and it just happened to rain that day so they quickly got ready and headed out...

Emma felt like she had to carry Chase everywhere

They kept hoping the rain would stay but it came and went very quickly!

They wanted to keep their outfits on anyways

I love seeing them be so sweet to each other!


Visiting Grandpa Sturd and Grandma Hula

On our way up to SLC the kids were a piece of cake!

This was such a cool hat we just had to get it and bring it up to our Grandpa, He loved it!

Jungle Jims

My SIL Jackie and Blake on a ride being a good sport!

Here is my older bro. and his cute family!

The kids riding the jeeps...

They loved it when they came past us that we were clapping and cheering!

Jackie and I decided we needed a turn!

It was really squished in those tiny cars!

The Mall

On a train at the mall with Grandma, notice, I escaped having to ride on here! Sorry, Grandma!

They met the Chik-fil-A cow at dillards too!

Teppanyaki Dinner

Taylor fell in love with this random stranger and went and sat by her while we were waiting to be seated! It totally surprised me given her shy personality!

Grandma got sandwiched in between all the Grandkids!

We got a little bored and a fight broke out!

My girls were super entertained by all the cooking!...They absolutely love Teppanyaki!

Draper temple

This temple is really close to my parents house, It is sooo pretty!

Jazz Game

Chad & I got tickets and decided to go just us, It was sooo much fun! I never knew I could get so into a game!

Welcome Home

We got back from SLC and my MIL and FIL brought over these cute pots and doormat! It was such a nice surprise!

May 2010

Mother's Day Craft

We made these cute photo boxes

This is the inside with 3 flaps on each side, they really turned out cute!


IRONMAN

My friend Chelsea and I volunteered for the St. George Ironman.

We were the finish line catchers and we used these sheets to wrap around the contestants as they crossed the finish line. Chad came and helped too!

It didn't end until midnight but Chad waited for me at the end in the car! :D

Church

The girls look forward to church because they get to dress up but by the end of church they are ready to get their wiggles out...

goofy girls!

I had to take a pic of Chady so he wouldn't feel left out :D

Friday Friend Day

This time Emma wanted to go to Baskin Robbins with her Friday friend they both got cotton candy

Taylor got bubble gum

Apparently the bubble gum made her sleepy!

Riding the Merry-Go-Round

Taylor was super excited...

Emma picked a horse of course

and loved it too!

Grandma's new puppy!

The poor smothered little thing!


Taylor's 4th Birthday!!!

Dance was the day before her birthday so we got this cute tu-tu, wand, & wings with cupcakes on it for her to wear!

Taylor wanted to go to Texas Roadhouse just like her sister did on her birthday so she could ride the Birthday saddle...

 But on the way home she just had enough fun and fell asleep...

The next day we did a party for her at Sandhollow because she loves to swim!

 A bunch of her preschool and neighborhood friends came!

We opened presents first and then ate our lunch

Taylor was very patient while opening her presents...

Then we headed for the pool...

Chase was so stubborn and kept running into the water as deep as he could and I would have to "chase" after him...he thought it was the best game ever!

Taylor was all over with friends everywhere she looked!

He also thought the slide was awesome...

He went down it dozens of times!

Emma thought it was funny to see him in the pool so she came over and watched him play in the water...

Taylor of course followed...

Then it was time for yummy cake!This cake has Taylor's picture on it and a pink barbie.

We also go her a Barbie cake just for her, it was darling!

She ate 2 bites and was done with it...

Mother's Day

The kids were so creative with their gifts...

And very excited for me to receive them...

Taylor was just sure I needed her help in getting her gift opened...

 She was so proud of what she made me, It was a cute flower with her face in the middle of it, I use it as a bookmark!

I really wanted this huge bag and Chad surprised me with it! I can't believe what other uses it has...smuggling children around ha ha ha


Summer Stake Activity

Chad & i must be thought of as very fun and outgoing because for the last 3 years we have had our hands in everything from ward party planning to stake party planning...

This is a dunking booth and everyone seemed to really enjoy this one...

We had to have 4 inflatable slide to keep all the wild kids entertained...

Taylor didn't mind where she was, she was happy the whole time!

This was another big hit..the giant slip & slide! 

Chad with another activity committee member...

Handmade Dresses

My friend Summer, makes the most amazing little dresses and clothes...

She made these cute dresses for the girls that match and have matching hair bows too!

They are super light and comfy and definitely darling! I also had her make our entire family matching outfits (the boys only got a tie and suspenders though!)


Last Week of 3yr. old Preschool

Taylor wanted to bring something fun for her class so I brought pizza and drinks so we could have a pizza party! It was amazing how well behaved they all were!

It was really bright though!

The entire class, not in the sun!

Visiting with Neighbors

Our old house had an awesome backyard! It was always so pleasant to sit back there in the evenings!

Spring Dance Recital

Taylor made these cute gestures of waving and winking at us...

She is beautiful!

cute lil pose

Emma has come such a long way from the beginning at age 3

She loves dance!

and flowers...

We wanted to give them a spring Bouquet because it is their Spring recital, but we didn't realize it would be up to their heads!

They were very happy!

and hungry...

So we went down the street to have pizza!

Summer Snack Shoppe/ T-ball

Taylor really wanted something to do during Emma's T-ball games so we helped her set up a little shoppe, Emma made the sign, I got the goodies, and Taylor handled the sales. It was pretty cute to hear her yell "anybody want some snacks or soda?"

Emma did great job playing in the heat, she took T-ball very seriously! She was always soo hot after the games that she would head over for a cold water from Taylor

Emma and her coach...

Emma's Graduation

Emma before her graduation program. We had everyone wear their "Sunday Best" and Emma picked this dress!

She look so pretty!

 Here she is leading all the other kids in the hula...

 They sang lots of different songs...

 and added some cute dance moves too...

 then it was time for them to come through the "graduation ceremony"...

 and a quick class photo...

 Then a pic with her Daddy...

 and both of us!

Cupcake time! this was the end of our celebrations and parties for the school year! It was a little bittersweet because on one hand I was happy to be done planning class parties for a bit, but on the other I would miss her being just a Kindergartner.

Best Friend Party!

Taylor's best friend is Payten and she was having a party at Pirate Island...

Taylor loved it!

Chase even got in on some action.... ha ha that's Kayzlee, Payten's little sister!

 Taylor's 3 year old Preschool Graduation

 This is before they perform...

 They were being really good!...You like how you can still see Taylor's price tag on her shoe..oops I guess I missed that!

I love to watch them each year Miss Debbie does such a fabulous job preparing them for it! I look forward to next year!

June 2010

The Ranch

Right after the kids got out of school we headed for the ranch!!! We love the relaxing family friendly atmosphere!

Chad decided to play Paul Bunion and cut up a TON of firewood!

Emma loves the huge swing-set up there!

Chase did too!

Rain?

when we got back from the ranch, the next day it was raining so hard! Our backyard looked like this...thank goodness our house was up on the hill!

Father's Day

We went over and visited Chad's dad on Father's Day and decided to do a little 3 generation pic!

Prowler time!

One of the best perks to having a backyard like ours was the 4x4 options, we would take this prowler everywhere in that desert! There were jumps and "rollercoasters" that we would go on. Yes, those are car seats drilled into the bed of the prowler! It is a family affair! Very fun...

4th of July Craft

This cute little craft says "land of the FREE, Because of the BRAVE" I loved that!

Here are my crafting buddies hard at work!

FYI: talking is essential to crafting...

Drying...

almost done...

the finished product...

so cute!

They were each so unique!

and darling!

Visiting The Haleua's

We headed up to Orem to visit my Brother Chris, and his family....

We went to an arcade and played Laser tag while the little kids played games like these...Chase was not too sure about sharing this with his cousin Blake!  It's tough being a baby!

New HOUSE!!!

We found this house randomly and decided to check it out, we loved it so much we made an offer that day, but there were 2 offers already in front of ours. We assumed we weren't even being considered and then we got a phone call a few days after from our agent that the other offers fell through. We resubmitted our offer and bought it 10 days later!

Auction School

Chad decided he wanted to go to Auction school to become an Auctioneer like his Dad! so in the middle of our offer for our new home he headed to Missouri to complete a week long course. They had such random items they would auction off and so Chad would send me interesting pics of them!

This on was so creepy! who would want that?

The whole class picture...

He went with his sister Robyn as well so this is them as they are completing the course!


The New House Before and After

Living room before...

Living room 1 week later...

the entry way 1 week after...

Kitchen before...

Kitchen 1 week later

Pantry before...

Pantry 1 week later

Master bedroom before...

other side of Master...

Master 1 week after ...

Master closet before...

Master closet 1 week after...

Master bath before...

Master bath before...

Master bath 1 week after...

Master double-headed shower...

Taylor's bathroom before...

Taylor's bathroom 1 week after...

Taylor's bedroom before...

Taylor's bedroom 1 week after...

Taylor's closet before...

Taylor's closet 1 week after...

Chase's room before...

Chase's room 1 week after...

Laundry room before...

Emma's room 1 week after

other side of Emma's room...

The upstairs before...

The man cave before...

The man cave 1 week after...

The upstairs toy room before...

The guest bathroom before...

The guest bathroom 1 week after...

the front right side of the house before...

The front left side of the house before...

SW shot of house before...

South shot of front 1 week after...

Back covered patio 1 week after...

Backyard view before...

West shot of the house before...

 almost finished outside...

COMPLETED!!

We finally got the whole house completed!!!!

We decided to paint the floor of the garage with the epoxy to keep it really nice and clean...

Here it is all finished!

July 2010

Tarzan at Tuachan

Chad and I have gone to almost every show offered at Tuachan every year because they are truly amazing! Tarzan was awesome and one of my favorites so far.


Mission to Argentina!

My little brother Mikey is going to Argentina and so when he got his Mission call we dressed with support! ha ha ha

Independence Day!

Each year we are in town we watch fireworks from our Auction on the roof! The kids love it!

Chad does too! he may have a minor case of Pyromania...

Here we are just watching the amazing fireworks explode right by us!

Chase thought it was funny to attack me instead of watching though!

 Distracted by a sippy cup...

Aunt Robyn and her kids came to watch with us too...

 Caden was goofing off with the smoke tubes...

Jen turns 25!

We always go see the shows up at Tuachan and so for my birthday we went to see Tarzan!

It was one of my favorites so far!

 After we got back from dinner/show that night we opened presents and ate this yummy cake that my girls helped make me!!!

It's my favorite Rainbow chip cake with Rainbow chip frosting! mmmm

Pioneer Day

We went up to the ranch for the 24th of July and during the day we went to a little town called Clayton with the population sign above saying 26!

My little bro. Mike came with us...

we went into this old store...

it had some amazing historic antiques...

The weird old stuffed men...

cool rocks...

and bones...

there was a little old bedroom filled with things they used back then...

a craddle too...

their clothes and undergarments...

an antique sewing machine...

the girls really liked the giant book...

and the baby...

they kept asking to hold the baby...

cute hats...

the side shot of the store...

the front of the store...

ont he other side of the street they were selling these handmade quilts...

down the street there was a horse and carriage you could look at...

these were some crazy saws they used to use to cut down the trees...

I was out of focus here but this guy made these cute key chains out of leather pieces with each of my kids initials on them...

This is an info board about the Clayton smelter, it was really quite amazing!

these were some neat photos of their ranching and timber...

another info board about the mining co.

the entrance to one of the mines...

We headed down the highway a few miles and Chad showed us this tree stump that when he was a kid was still standing, but lightning was the cause of this old trees death...

this plaque tells the story of how old it was and what happened around those times in this area...

just look how small Taylor was compared to the tree stump!

next we drove down the highway further and Chad showed us this cool old Dam...

this is the Sunbeam Dam it was used for electricity during mining but was eventually blown by the fish and game on the other side to allow fish to come through in 1934...

it was so pretty standing here...

Chad and Mikey taking their sweet time to come up...

we turned up a small narrow road and Chad showed us this machine called the drudge!

it literally ruined the landscape because it would dig up all earth in front of it as it moved and spit it out as it sorted for ore....

the owners made so much money that they abandoned it here and never returned...

It was PERFECT temperature, I couldn't resist!

the next day we went minnow fishing in the stream above the cabin...

they were so quick...

but we finally caught some...

Emma decided to make a book about the minnows when we got back...

Mikey played on his beloved computer...

Taylor took a pretend nap...here she is giving me a "stink eye" look...

Emma made sure to help Chase the whole time we were there...

she showed him all over and made sure he stayed close to the cabin...

Limeade/Brownie Stand

I really got on a cookbook kick and decided to make homemade limeade and Rocky road brownies!We got out all the essentials for a fun limeade stand: cups, straws, ice, napkins, gloves, limeade, brownies, small bills and change, and mom's cell phone JIC!

 They were obviously excited!

 We also made a sign...

 We converted our sand/water table into a limeade stand and it worked perfectly. However, being that it was 108 degrees outside, the limeade stand was short lived. I think it was about 20 minutes! But, we all had fun making and preparing for it and came inside and enjoyed our treats together!


August 2010 

Boating at Gunlock

we got a new red boat and took it out to test it...

Emma has mascara under her eyes here...looks like she got into my make-up!

Chase was very upset that he was on the beach and not the boat...

Taylor was searching for hidden treasures with her cousin Travis...

Emma wanted me to take a pic of her jumping...

Brenden, my nephew out wake-boarding...

It was a fun outting because it wasn't crowded at all like Sandhollow is and it's close!


More Rain!

it seemed like it rained a lot this year!

Emma was very okay with that!

Literally signing in the rain...

and splashing...


Family Movie Night!

 Our kids look forward to this night all week!

Netflix is so cool because you can just stream movies instantly on your t.v.

Movie time...

Chase heard us all upstairs and came to join the movie too...

Goodbyes are hard!

Emma and her friend Karlee

We only lived in our new house a couple months before Emma's friend Karlee and her family had to move up to SLC. The girls were in Kindergarten at Vista together. Emma was so sad because she was her only friend so far in the neighborhood...

Pinkalicious Party

Ours girls were invited to go to a pinkalicous party and they were so excited, it was for my friend Shelley's daughter, Addy. There was pink play-doh, pink treats, and of course pink cupcakes... Our girls just love the Pinkalicous series...

7th Wedding Anniversary

 Chad was so cute and thoughtful. He had been listening to me talk about a Cricut and so he went out and got me all the supplies to get started and gave them to me for our anniversary! I loved it!

He did a great job, I was really surprised! It was funny too because I got him the Iphone 4 for our anniversary and he had no idea I had pulled it off! They were completely sold out everywhere except Best Buy and so i reserved one of the last ones and surprised him. We equally got surprised with something each of us wanted!

 We also got great tickets to Phantom of the Opera...

 It was really neat to see, but then it was time for dinner

Apparently I chose to kiss his cheek instead of smile.... Dinner was fabulous! Just a fun night! Thanks Linda and Gary for babysitting so we could have this great weekend in Vegas! I can't believe we have been married 7 years already!! I can't wait to see what happens next year! :D

Fun day before school starts

 Emma and Tay were such great buddies this summer and had a blast with each other.

This day was the last week of summer so we let them pick what they wanted to do...

They went to Texas roadhouse and had their faces painted...

 Chase got a skull...

Emma wanted a butterfly... We didn't mind waiting to do it because they PROMISED they would eat their dinner if we let them...and they did! I guess we should paint their paces before each meal to guarantee that they will eat well! Hahaha

First Day of 1st Grade

Emma was so excited...

But I was so sad...All day school? I was definitely going to miss her!!!

So I came and visited her for lunch every day for the first 2 weeks! Okay, okay so I still go up once a week, but I miss her and I love to smuggle in kids meals, she always gets so excited!

Chad's next new car

Chad has been picking some really fun cars to drive lately, but this one is my fav. so far...

It looks pretty chill and relaxed...

and it fits our whole family...

Gas stations...

I can't take this boy anywhere without him picking out a car! This day he had spilled his sippy cup on his outfit so I took him in to change him and they had these funny hast! He just looked so cute with just his diaper and the hat and of course the new toy car!

Jumpin' Jacks

After school Emma needed to get her wiggles out so we took the kiddos to Jumpin' Jacks and cured them of their uncontrollable wiggles. They fell asleep early, it was great!

Mommy-Daughter Date

Chad and I take turns taking each kid somewhere special on our date nights, Emma wanted to get her nails done this time. Ooh la la so fancy! It was a blast to be so girlie!

Family Survivor 2010

We went up to our ranch a little after school started to do our annual family survivor with all of our family at the cabin, it was awesome!

 We love to go into town and see cool things like this inside the stores there...

We also find cool things at the ranch like this creepy bat!

These are my 2 beautiful nieces, Kristen and Maysen. They were so fun, we did a little photo shoot of them after we did their hair and make-up! It was so cute!

The kids all get along so well despite their age difference.

After we all got our family survivor shirts we separated into teams and started the competition...

The games were a mixture of minute to win it and the techniques and ideas behind survivor...It all made for quite the hilarious and fun competition!

Chase was only interested in one thing the whole time "deep wide" (jeep ride)...

Chad and I observing the chaos

The water bottle competition where you have to be the first to knock over all the bottles to win...

Chase was so cute!!

Chad prepping for the competition...

ready... set... go...

Grandpa wins!!!!

After the last game that quickly turned into a water fight because someone "accidentally" poured water on the person behind them, everyone lined up to receive their prizes and awards for competing! We love the ranch and always have a blast up there! We look forward to going to the ranch all year long!

Especially the essential Ice cream trip into town...

They have the BEST ice cream, it's a fun tradition!

Taylor's 1st day of 4 yr. old preschool

Taylor didn't start her preschool until after we got back from the ranch. I still wasn't ready for her to go though. It would be so different to have both the kids gone. I was not ready for that but Taylor was! She adores her teacher Miss Debbie and has great friends in her new class from her class last year. 

Taylor and her best friend Payten before they head into class...

Emma's Special Week

 Right after we got home from the ranch Emma was chosen to be the first spotlight kid in her class. She was given the title as the leader where she got to help conduct morning announcements, be at the front of every line , bring a special all about me poster to display in class for the entire week, be the teacher's special assistant, and at the end of the week I brought in a special treat and drink for everyone to have. I have no doubt that she felt VERY special that week!


Uncle Crispy, Auntie Jax, and Blake visit!

My older brother and his family came to visit us as they were headed through town. It is always nice to see them because they live up in Orem and so we don't get to see them as often as we would like!

September 2010
Open House

We decided that since we haven't seen our old friends since we move and we wanted to get to know our new friends, that we should have a party! So we threw an open house with lots of yummy food and had a bunch of old and new friends there! It was so nice to visit with everyone and it made it easier for our old friends to find us now that they know where we are.

My new Hair-do

Whenever I am up in Orem and need my hair done my SIL Jackie does an awesome job for me...

I think it turned out great!

Daddy-Daughter date

Since Chad is such a huge golf fan, he thought it would be appropriate to start teaching our girls how to golf. He took them mini-golfing for their Daddy-Daughter date this time. He was so cute with them.

Mikey visits!

My little brother came to stay with us for a week and it is always so fun when he is around! He is my little buddy! We are so goofy when we are together! We can't wait until he can come do it again!

Maddie Sleepover!

Maddie is such a sweet girl and my kids love whenever she is able to come stay with us. Anytime she is in town visiting her dad and my SIL Robyn we try to convince her to come stay with us!


Mischief-maker!

Chase is such stinker, I turn my back for 5 minutes and he is into my make-up! Mascara? Come on really! and he comes out with such a goofy grin like this...I can't help but laugh! ha ha ha ha

Swiss Days and Grandma-Great

Grandma-Great and my kids

The Haleua Grandkids. We came into town for a short visit with my family and so I could run in a race with my Best friend Libby.

Libby and I decided to do the Swiss Days race together. I missed her because she has been living in CT for the past year and I hardly get to see her anymore. So this was really fun to get to do this race! We stayed together for the whole thing until the last 200 yards she just took off and I was left to finish 20 seconds behind her! I guess it was fair since I beat her in the last race we did. Our next race is going to be epic....We even went shopping right after our race...what a fun day!!

Future Cheerleader?

Emma saw these girls while we were walking around the Swiss Days festival and wanted a picture taken with them. She has always loved it when she does her Cheerleading each year! She is very limber and coordinated, maybe one day she will do Cheerleading too....


Cowabunga Bay

Each year we try to take the kids as often as we can to Cowabunga Bay.They just love it! The only issue is that it's in SLC.

Taylor doing her victory that's so fun dance!

Posing next to the cool car there!

Park Party

After our friends the Matthews moved to SLC before school started, it was nice to have them come back down to visit for the weekend. So there was a little party at the park to get together with them and catch up on what they have been up to since they left.

Taylor wanted to play with her new buddy Qunicy...


Lunch Visit

I always like to stop by school once in a while to make sure Emma is eating her lunch and surprise her...

Chase loves to come and play with the toys they have there like this huge jump-rope!

Primary Swimming Activity

It's a swimming party right? Well for some reason my kids were just more mesmerized by the pond rather than swimming! They are so funny!

Family Pictures

My friend Chelsea does an amazing job with our pictures each year! I come supplied with a list of poses and ideas for each person...she is very patient with me...and they always turn out so cute!

Emma thought of doing this one...

so handsome!

The boys

Ooh la la!

Taylor was pouting and it was cute to capture her like this...

I can't wait until May when we do more pictures to see how much everyone has changed and what fun shots we get then!


Matching Attire

My friend that made the girls matching dresses also made these cute outfits for everyone to wear... I wanted them all to match but not be too feminine so that both the boys and girls matched. That's why the boys wore matching ties and the girls went all out! The girls even had matching hair bows! we were going to do these outfits for family pics but we liked the blue better. These are so cute and the suspenders on Chase are so funny! We got LOTS of compliments on them when we wore them Sunday!

Sunday Crafts

We try to let he kids be creative by cooking or doing doing some kind of fun craft on Sundays. This week we got lots of paper off my butcher block in my craft room to paint on! They were entertained for at least 2 hours! They loved it!

Kids playing

Emma loves to include Chase in the games her and Tay are playing, but on this day Chase was in for a ride...literally!

He needed to carry his car though...

They carried him all over the house and he thought it was awesome!

Surprise Luau

We were invited to our friend Jodie Hansen's 50th surprise birthday party

My kids loved the food and had fun with all our friends there!

They loved dressing up in luau attire!

October 2010

More rain...

This year we got really good use out of our rain coats and rain boots!

Wednesday= Taylor's Playdates

Taylor and Payten do almost everything together! They always get along and are so cute when they play together!

She is so happy whenever Payten comes to play!

Alissa's Wedding

I am friends with April and her cute daughter Alissa was getting married, I was honored that she thought of me to be invited. It was a beautiful wedding and they had spent a lot of time to make it that way!


Cheerleading!

Taylor and Payten before they go out to perform

Emma was not nervous at all!

Can you tell Dad did their hair? I was just coming back from the wedding and didn't have enough time time...But he is awesome to fill in for me when I get busy. The girls did great with their performance and I was so happy they had fun too!

Ivins Heritage Days Festival

Chase saw this puppy and fell in love! He was hugging it and petting it, it was so cute to watch!

There was some very interesting things for sale there like these  smashed bottles with poems written on them...

This woman was doing some neat art work with charcoal to copy the image at her right, a turtle...

I thought it was really neat to watch her, plus Tarzan from Tuachan came and sang while we were there and that was cool too! Heritage Days wasn't as big or as busy as I thought it would be it was fun but it was kind of a let down!

Hide-n-seek

I could hear giggling coming from Taylor's room and I called out for the kids but I got no response until I looked up higher and saw them like this...they are so silly!

School Carnival

The kids were so excited to go to Emma's school carnival. I was volunteering at the bake shop so Dad took the kids around to get snow cones and pizza and play on the bounce houses. I also was bidding on a bunch of items for the silent auction and I won a bracelet watch and a carpet cleaning certificate for $50! We all got glow sticks to wear and really had a great time!

California Beaches

Chad got to go to California for the weekend with his friend and he sent all these cruel pictures of the beach so I told him it was our turn and we are going there in a few weeks!

It looked perfect!

Vista School Float

Emma and Tay got to ride on the Vista School Float for the rodeo and they were so hot that the kids all got popsicles and water to cool them down. I walked behind them with Chase in the stroller.

We saw this cool batmobile in the parade...

They were laughing so hard at this statue that we just had to take a picture of it!

Later that night we went to the rodeo and Emma was in 7th heaven watching all the horses!

Taylor was just interested in the cotton candy...

here the horses are turning around...

Zack's 17th birthday!

Zack is the oldest nephew on Chad's side and I brought him 17 balloons and a GIANT bag of candy to him for his birthday as a surprise! He was so surprised! He was just blushing...Happy Birthday buddy!


Girl Scouts Ceremony

Emma is a Daisy in Girl Scouts and was receiving a badge this night....

She was very excited because they were also having yummy smores!

Here she is lighting the symbolic candles...

Swiss Day Parade

We saw Emma's school in the Swiss days parade and collected quite the load of candy from that parade!

Halloween Candy

I filled my drawers with the Halloween necessities and a few minutes later I walk by to find this doll dangling, I asked taylor why it was there and she told me " The doll just really wants to hang out with the candy mom!" ha ha ha she is so cute!

Handsome little guy!

Chase is getting so big! He is about to turn 2!

Bubble bath

Apparently once it gets cold outside I see a huge increase in our bubble baths!

Surprise Vacation
We told the kids we were headed to SLC but ended up going to California instead. We brought my nephew Brendon along to help us with the kiddos. We got to the hotel and put the kids to bed. In the morning they woke up and we announced that we were in CA and were going to Sea World today, they freaked out....

They had huge smiles...

and were screaming and jumping like maniacs!

 Chase on the other hand was very calm...mostly because he had no idea what that meantto go to Sea World!

We made an essential stop by our favorite donut shop...

I had to post a pic of what it said on the box because I thought it was funny...

Right when we got there Shamu was out front!

and this cool car...

a random octopus...

Chad was making sure the kids got their treats at all the trick-or-treat stations in the park!

the dolphins were cool to watch!

we took a picture of eachother...

then we went to watch the first show...

Taylor got carried away with the cotton candy...

the show was AWESOME!

Chase was clapping...

They made it so entertaining! We loved it!

We found this funky looking flamingo...

and even funnier looking Elvis...

but he was really nice...

We got some yummy dippin' dots...

next we went and saw Shamu...

we got a towel to dry ourselves of JIC since we sat really close!

He was so close!

and BIG!

It was amazing to see the neat tricks!

We definitely needed the towel!

This was Miss Coral Reef that the girls are standing by

The aquariums were so amazing...

the penguins were so so cute...

Chase even picked one out to take home...

later we found all these flamingos...

before we left we HAD to go see the starfish...

Taylor was even brave enough to pick one up...

we went to dinner that night at a fun restaurant called the corvette diner...

Chase loved all the cars, Can you see the one he has in tote?

Here we are waiting for our food...

The girls got cool balloon hats an started dancing away to the music!

Chase on the other hand loaded his car full of french fries...

The next day we went to Medieval Times where they have dinner and a show...

We got awesome tickets and sat right up front!

Chase was obsessed with waiving his flag!

The food was so good and the kids loved that you have to eat with their fingers...

This is our knight...

he gave Emma his rose!

We found this cool spot to take a picture of the temple and had Brendon snap a quick one...

 Then we were off for Legoland...

 Taylor in a Star Wars pose...

 cool Halloween Lego pumpkin...

 Daddy with Tay in their own safari jeep...

 Emma driving her jeep...

 next we went on a boat ride...

 We found this funny lion and Emma loved it!

 Chase found a cop car to play in...

 while Tay went and raced the car on the racetrack....

 Emma drove in this little Legoland village...

 Chase kept pointing at all the cars...

 He looked lonely so....

 Emma sprayed us while she was on the pirate ship ride...

 Taylor was soaked!

 Chad and Brendon rode this ride that went upside down and flipped you all over really quickly...

 Emma and Taylor sitting in their throne...

then it was time to head home...

with our giant dolphin we won at Sea World in tote we were ready to go home...

Chase turns 2!!!!

 These were the invites I made for his party...

 These were some of the snacks and goodies I had ready...

These were the goody jars I sent home for each kid with their own Hotwheels and their own laminated Driver''s license...

This was my party schedule, but with 2 year old we had to improvise a little to get it all done...

First the kids played with all these cars...

while we waited for all the guests to arrive...

then we went outside and let them "drive" their cars all over our blocked off circle...

They loved it!

Chase was cruising all over...

it was so cute to watch the kids go around the circle...

I got a little visiting in while I could...

it was funny how the mom's congregated to a circle while the kids drove their cars all around us like a swarm...

Next it was pinata time! We just did a pull-string one to avoid any black eyes...

The kids went nuts!

I made "stoplights" out of sugar cookies and had them use frosting and candy to decorate into a stoplight. We also made wheels out of oreos and lifesavers... they were inhaled almost immediately after they were finished...

Then it was time for pizza that I had a 2 made out of pepperonis...

then it was cake time...

Everyone seemed to enjoy all the goodies!

presents were saved for last...

we knew once he saw our gift there would be nothing else that could distract him...

It is a cool semi truck with a trailer...He loves it!


Uncle Mike's Farewell

My little brother Mike was called on a mission to Argentina so we went up to hear him speak in sacrament. Which it was no surprise that he did an INCREDIBLE job!

Chase was like a zombie because it was during his nap...

Chad was the kid wrangler so I could help with the luncheon...

My Mom was slave-o-matic and was busy getting the food ready to serve...

It was really yummy and good food!

We even had my favorite, frog-eye salad!

Here is Mikey with some of his friends...

Chase gave Blake a big hug!

They did not want to sit still for Mikey to get a good pic...

Emma's Performance

Emma got to perform with her class and they got to wear their pjs!

Grandma even came to see it! It was short and sweet which was good because we had a short attention span with these two younger ones...

Emma found a few of her buddies there to visit with for a bit...

Dance Halloween Party

The girls got all dressed up for their Dance party...

School Halloween Party

Emma was dressed as Barbie in a Fashion Fairytale...

They went on a parade around the school...

Then they came to class where I separated them into groups and sent them to different stations...this one was Face Painting...

this one was Bobbing for Apples...

The kids were so funny!

There was other stations like Decorate your Boocakes...

And trick-or-treat station...

and Musical Pumpkins station...It was really fun to do and I'm glad I was able to be Emma's room mom again this year!

Taylor was able to have a fun Halloween party too with her class and I was there for the last bit of it to help...

We Sold Our Old House!! 

A few months after we moved we sold our house...It was a great house and we will miss all the fun we had there! But it was great to sell it and gain more room and be where we are....


Breakfast with Uncle Jon

We stopped by Village Inn to have a quick breakfast with Uncle Jon and his 2 youngest kids...

Chase wanted to sit by Uncle Jon...

Excited for Halloween

I got creative with some food and everything this day was Halloween related right down to our grilled cheese for lunch was shaped like a pumpkin...

Emma and Chase goofing off outside...

Neighborhood Halloween Party

Chad was ready to go to our Neighborhood Halloween Party

So were the kiddos

and finally me... We went and had a hot dog and went straight to trick-or-treating! Our neighborhood does such fun things and it is really fun to live here! What a great Halloween!

November 2010


Chase is so Funny

Chase ate a cupcake and only ate the frosting...He was surprisingly clean though...

Chase is just so funny all the time, I have to take random pics like this to remember what he was doing. It always makes me laugh when I see his cute pictures like this....

He is a very thoughtful little boy and is always trying to help me like when he put his book away here...at least he had good intentions...it's on a shelf..just not the bookshelf...

Feeding Horses

We saw this horse close to the fence and Emma was just sure that if we fed it an apple it would be her best friend so that's what we did and she was right, it loved us! We brought treats of course it did!

Make Sure to Vote

Chase was my voting advocate and wore his cute shirt soliciting the Republican party...It was probably the most controversial outfit he wore all year!

SLC Visit

We went to visit my family in SLC for the weekend and the girls thought it was so cold. Cold enough to warrant a bubble bath...

We went to dinner up in Park City at a restaurant called Szechwan and then we went to see Mega mind, that movie was hilarious!

We spent the next night up at my brother's house where my kids loved on their kitty...

Then we headed to dinner at Bonsai, another Teppanyaki restaurant in Sandy...

 We celebrated Emma's birthday there even though we were a few weeks early because she wouldn't get to see my family again before her birthday so here is the picture they took of us that is on the wall if you go there look for it we have a BUNCH from past events there!

Chad's Next Car

I thought this car was pretty cool...

but no one loved it more than Emma!

Emma said she wants this car when she turns 16...

Kinect

This is such a fun game, if you have never played it you should get it! My kids LOVE it! I do too, it's fun to interact and be so energetic while playing!

Mom's New Car

I finally got some more space so I can fit plenty of kids and a big stroller/shopping bags in the back comfortably!

Taylor and her best friend

Taylor has now informed me that she wants me and all her friends to call her by her middle name, Cabriotti, Payten doesn't really want to because she only knows her as Taylor but we will see how long this lasts!


The Dinosaur Museum

 We went back up to SLC and took the kids to the Dinosaur Museum for the day...

 We saw a movie on their Imax screen in 3D!...

 We dug for Dino bones...

 and saw some neat dinosaur skeletons...

 the T-rex was HUGE!

 so was this scary shark...

they've got the whole world in their hands....


Box Seats for the Jazz Game!

Chad is happier than can be watching the game with plenty of food and snacks at his disposal!

There really is nothing like sitting in the box during the game!

Gingerbread House!

It's our family tradition to do a Gingerbread house each year and the kids have gotten more creative each year with them!

Project: Jeep

Chad has been looking for an old jeep to take out and rally...here is his new toy, although currently it is COVERED in mud!! Boys and their toys!...

Sword Fight!

Grandma Pete brought over some plastic swords for the kids to play with and they actually were very entertained!

The Two-Headed Girl Monster!

We went to Kohl's for each person in our family to pick out their special ornament like we do each year, but the kids were so cold on the way out to the cars so my mom gave them her coat and zipped it up...I'm not sure who thought it was funnier me or the kids!

Happy Birthday Linda!

Linda, Chad's mom, goes to Gregory's for her birthday almost every year, we usually get to come and it is such great food! Thank goodness we live far enough away that we can't go there very often or I would live there! I love there food! I mean just look at how cute their birthday dessert was!

The kids new 4 wheeler

Chad brought this home and taught the kids how to ride it and they took off! They love it!

It even fits all 3 of them!

Dinner at Red Robin

They do such fun things for the kids at Red Robin, they give them a balloon and have yummy kids meals and they do a fun dessert. Occasionally we take the kids there for Family Home Evening.

Thanksgiving

 We had a combined huge 30+ people come to Chad's parents house for a yummy Thanksgiving! We have a tradition where you go around in a circle and say what you are most thankful for, it was so special  to have so much family there!

 the kids were shy about what to say when it came their turn...

 Jon and Julie

 The teens...

 Some adults....

 Robyn and Brandon and Linda

 Mike and my SIL Jackie

Chad and his Brother Jon...

the delicious food spread...

 

The next night no one was in the mood for cooking so we headed to the Olive Garden and the went to see Tangled afterward. It was such a darling movie!

Visit Santa

 we got the kids all ready...

 they wanted to visit Santa...

So we took them to the mall and they all actually smiled this time!

December 2010

Emma turns 7!

 This is the invite I made for Emma's party...

 These were the cute treats I made for Emma's class

the poem is kind of hard to read... but that afternoon for her party we...

 We turned all the kids into cute cats with a collar, and whiskers, and a tail... it was so cute!

the cute kitties...

present time....

 so excited!

Emma and her buddy Timeus...

 I didn't take as many pictures of Emma's kitty party as I did video so that was only some of her party but then we let her have another party after her kitty party and take her 3 best friends to go Ice skating...

 She got to wear an Ice princess dress...

 It was soo cold but they loved every minute of it! We had to get the essential Hot cocoa though!

It was so fun! Happy 7th Birthday Emma, we love you!

Live Nativity

 

 We were invited to a fun Live Nativity Hay ride and it was actually not too cold that night...

 

The kids love it and we have gone with the Hansen's for the past 5 years...

They even have a live camel!

The kids listened to the whole thing and were very interested...

The Season of Giving

I was so surprised to find my friend Kathy on our doorstep with this huge basket of goodies, I felt so special to be thought of by her at Christmas!

Church Christmas Program

Taylor was so cute in this performance, Emma was an angel but I only got video of her no pictures...

Christmas P.J.s

I found these darling little jammies for Chase and he looks so cute in them...

Dillard's has such cute clothes for him!

Here they all are watching The Grinch who Stole Christmas...

Run, Run Reindeer Race

Chad and I ran in the race together and the girls ran in the fun run together...Luckily we had a sitter and friends there to help everything go smoothly...It was a fun race to do and I hope they do it again next year!


More Jumpin' Jacks

You might think that we live here at Jumpin' Jacks, but with such a small amount of thing to do for fun in St. George you end up repeating activities frequently...

But my kids love it anyways...

Christmas Buns

I like to do festive outfits and hair-dos for my kids but right before we got to preschool Taylor said "Did you know that my hair looks like fluffy green Christmas buns, don't you think it's a little silly mom?" I said I thought it looked so cute and she just rolled her eyes and said "well if you say so..." ha ha ha she is so funny!

So cool!

Chase found this pair of sunglasses and wore them around the house ALL DAY LONG! Even after I got him into his pajamas!

Slave/Husband

Apparently he knows just what to do to make me feel loved! He is so awesome! I love you Chady!


Trouble?

Don't let his innocent grin fool you he is definitely up to something! But with a look like that he can get away with a lot in our house!

It's so cute when he sings like this too!

Ward Christmas Party

Our ward went to extensive detail to make this day phenomenal! I was asked to help make the pancakes for the breakfast and it was a lot of work but with lots of help the party went great!

We had to have Santa make a visit to us...


Robyn and Branden plus 7

my sister in law and her family wanted some cool pictures of them all...

the circle one was cute...

and the strike a pose...

 the traditional shot..

 and the pyramid...I just had to post some of their fun shots...

Great-Grandpa Ed Passed Away

 Chad's grandpa died a week before Christmas after a battle with Alzheimer's...

the funeral was well done but was just surreal for us...

Ed was in the military so they came to honor him...

 It was really hard to accept, but we knew it was better than that he continued to suffer....

 Grandma Roma was holding it together pretty well...

 The floral arrangements were beautiful...

But no matter what it was a sad hard day!

Taylor's Christmas Party

 Taylor had a fun time with Miss Debbie because they made a cute Christmas picture frame for their parents in her class! I was in charge of Emma's party too on the same day as Taylor's so I only caught the last bit of Taylor's party. I also can;t post any pictures of Christmas because we were too carried away in the fun of the party that I forgot o get my camera out and use it!

These are the finished products in their gift bags!
 
Teacher Gift

It's hard to find something that the teachers will appreciate and not want to just toss...

So I went and took pics of all the kids in Emma's class and had them write their names on the paper ornaments and attached them to this wreath...It turned out pretty cute and I think her teacher really enjoyed it!


Neighborhood Christmas Party

Our neighborhood picks a few charities and instead of purchasing gifts for each other we donate what we would have spent to these charities. It is a better choice in my opinion plus we still get to mingle and enjoy treats! Then later that week we got invited to carol around our neighborhood and end for hot cocoa and more treats!!!! I love it socializing and treats is where it's at!


Christmas Shoppe

I decided to do a fun Christmas shoppe at my house to get together with my friends and buy some last minute gifts!

It was fun to visit with all my friends...

because usually I don't get the chance to just sit and visit without my kids to interrupt..

There was a lot to look at...

 There were yummy treats and hot cocoa too..

I picked out a bunch of stuff!

Megan and Shannon are so creative thanks guys! We will do it again soon!

The Flood in St. George

I remember 5 years ago when they said this was 100 year flood...well looks like this flood came 95 earlier than predicted!

 The tractors were pulling debris out of the river 24/7

It was so crazy, it washed away the golf carts bridges!

Christmas Dance Recital

 I made Taylor's bow Ginormous!

 Emma did amazing!

 She is the only one in her class that can do the splits...

 They were so fun to watch!

 We were so proud of their performance and progress since their last recital!

 Our friends Jay and Paula came to watch the girls too...

Chase was actually really good for the entire recital, except for when he saw them first come out on stage he was yelling their names and clapping it was so cute!

We let them pick where they wanted to go out to eat..

they chose Golden Corral..

and ate all their dessert so well!

I was just happy I didn't have to cook...

Emma took this pic of her roses we gave her...

Where are the girls?

They thought they were so clever hiding in their bubble bath, so I had to take a pic to remember this...


Christmas Eve

We spent that afternoon and early evening with Chad's family...

 We had yummy food..

 and Grandpa gave great entertainment...

 Grandpa auctioned off the presents to the kids...

 The kids were overly excited for what Christmas would bring to them...

 Grandma is now passed up by Travis in height!

 Then we went to opening presents...

 Chase got an awesome Monster Truck to race around...

 There was gift wrap everywhere!

 The girls each got one of these dogs you can take on a walk...

 Grandma got some fun sentimental gifts from us...

 Grandpa got a cool Jerky maker...

They seemed to enjoy their gifts too...

Before we knew it, it was time to head home and open pajamas and get in bed because Santa was headed our way!!

Christmas Day

 We actually took only video this year and so we have some pics of our gifts afterwards but the rest is all on video...

 I got a ton of new cute clothes from Santa!!!!

 The kids dove into the candy for a little break from the toys!

 We got a new couch for our theater room upstairs...

 Then the next day the Haleua's came for more Christmas...

 the kids waited patiently...

 Chad got some cool clothes...

 I got more clothes/shoes and other pampering tools...

 Mikey got some cool clothes...

The kids got TONS of toys! It was an awesome Christmas!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

The St. George Dinosaur Museum

After Christmas we were looking for something else to do and because Emma has been so interested in Dinosaurs lately we took the kids here...

She had to bring her Dino tooth from Christmas with her...The museum wasn't as cool as the one in SLC but it was still a fun time!

January 2011
The New Year: 2011

 10, 9, 8, 7, 6, 5, 4, 3, 2, 1, Happy New Year!! XXXXOOO

Yeah!! We went to dinner at Gregory's and went to see a movie for New Years, It was so fun!

 Wow we look crazy here!

Wow, you deserve a shirt that says"I survived the Petersen's 2010 blog summary"! I know it was way long but believe it or not that is the condensed version! It took me 2 weeks to do this post! I only posted a small amount of the 12,000 pictures I took this year! I wasn't kidding when I said we keep busy with fun things! We hope you enjoyed catching up with us and we hope you continue to read here and post your comments!

Happy New Year! 2011, this year is going to be awesome! Just you wait and see...