Temple Square

We finally were able to make it to Temple Square last night with some friends. We were bundled up for very cold weather and we actually were little too warm. Some of us were unzipping our coats and taking off our hats by the time we were done with our tour around the square. It was a beautiful night and lights were gorgeous as always. We also sat in the Old Tabernacle and listened to the short presentation of how well the acoustics are. They dropped a pin on the stage and we were able to hear it without a microphone. It was very impressive.

Winter Wonderland

The weather people had been telling us that we were to get a big snow storm on Christmas Eve, so it came a day later. This is what we woke up to the Day after Christmas. I thought these scenes were gorgeous. I love to look at fresh snow and how it covers the trees. It also has a peaceful feeling as well.

Our backyard toys are almost covered.

Christmas Day

Christmas Day we got up early to see what Santa brought to our house and boy did he deliver. The kids were so excited to find more than just underwear and socks under the tree. Thank you to all the Grandma's and Grandpa's that made our Christmas great! We appreciate all that you do for us. Santa even took a few bites of our candy nativity that was given to us by a friend. I guess Santa needed a little sugar to get through the night. We then ended the day with a Christmas dinner at our house. Matt fried the turkey and it was delicious! It was nice to gather around the table with family and enjoy good food. Then we woke up the day after Christmas with over a foot of snow. I can't believe another Christmas as come and gone. It takes me 3 months to plan and get everything done and then the Holiday is over in 2 days. Merry Christmas and Happy New Year to all!

Christmas Eve

Christmas Eve we enjoyed yummy fondue at Craig's house and then opened our gifts that came through the mail during the past the few weeks. The kids were also excited to get their Christmas Pj's. Thanks Grandpa Rod and Debbie for the stroller.
For Matt Christmas was all about putting together toy after toy.

Poor Matt..Those transformers can be hard to figure out.

Ashlynn's Cinderella Pj's. I love that she even poses like a princess.

Thanks Grandpa Rod and Debbie!

Matt and Carter at the Fondue table.

I hope that all of you had a very Merry Christmas.

Ashlynn's Dance Program

Ashlynn had her preschool Christmas Dance Program this week. She was so fun to watch. She just hams it up when it comes to music and singing. I just love her enthusiasm! Her teacher Ms. Lynn handed out lip gloss to the girls and after the program we had treats! There is always room for a treat even if you just ate breakfast. Ashlynn has been such a joy to our little family and we enjoy seeing her grow into her personality.

Santa, Snakes and Crocodiles, Oh My!

What was I thinking...The kids biggest fears took place all in one night. We had dinner with Santa at the Zoo. I thought that this would be a good experience so that the kids wouldn't be so scared of Santa. Well, was I wrong. Both kids didn't want to even be in the same room with the guy. When Santa made his big appearance, Ashlynn darted under the table and there she stayed until Santa was out of sight. Carter sat quietly not making eye contact with him. When Santa came to our table, Carter just looked straight forward with a serious face. Santa asked Carter if he would come visit him later on his sleigh, Carter said "NO" and that was it. Santa said, "Are you okay with getting socks and underwear for Christmas." Later on the way to the car, Carter told me that he does like socks and underwear. Its obvious that he can't be convinced that Santa is an o.k. guy.
So, after the heart pounding experience of Santa, Ashlynn finally came out from the table. We thought we could enjoy our dinner, well, then comes a snake, a bearded dragon and a opossum. Carter was in a full panic and was looking for the quickest way out. This was only the beginning of what was laying ahead for us.
After dinner we bundled up and headed outside to look at the lights. We also went into the small animal building to warm up and look at the animals. Snakes, spiders and more snakes inside their cages. This is where Carter completely lost it. He was convinced that they were out to get him and that they were in his shoes and pants. He ripped off his boot and refused to put it back on. We have been in this building lots of times and never once has he been so scared. I guess we will not be doing this again, but we will always remember it. As for Santa, he does not go over very well in our house. Its socks and underwear for everyone.

3D Movie

We took the kids to see Santa vs The Snowman movie in 3D. It was a short movie that was really fun to watch. Ashlynn kept reaching in front of her to touch the images. Very cute movie.

Baseball Demo

Ashlynn's face explains her feelings toward the Bee.
Bumble the Bee

Carter and Ashlynn modeling the helmets.

Carter learning to throw the ball. The instructor plays for the Texas Rangers.

The kids listening very intently

The kids were invited to participate in a free baseball demo class for the last 2 weeks. A new facility based out of Las Vegas called "Frozen Ropes" opened up in North Salt Lake and they were looking for a few kids to demo the class for the little tykes. (And if your curious what Frozen Ropes means, it a perfect line drive)

They had their grand opening this Saturday and the kids showed off their skills that they have learned through the class. This place was amazing and truly heavenly for any baseball player. One of the many neat things was the baseball pitching simulator. It is a giant screen with a projector showing the image of a baseball pitcher throwing the ball and a ball would be thrown through the hole on the screen. It was unbelievable!

Anyway, Bumble the Bee came by for a visit and Ashlynn was not happy about that. She was scared and didn't want to be in the same room with him. She was on the field when the Bee came close to her and she ran to the nearest adult (who by the way plays for the Texas Rangers)to rescue her. Her picture is seen above.

The video below is Ashlynn hitting the ball and running the bases. She did very well. If you listen closely you can hear the bases honk when they are stepped on. It is to help the kids learn to touch all the bases. Matt and I were thinking they should use the honking bases in the Majors. What do you think?

Update...

A quick update at the Peterson house this past week...

To start off Matt had eye surgery last Friday. He has a incision above each eye where they took out some of his eyelid and then on his left eye they cut out some the tendon and reattached it to the bone in his eye. I know what your thinking..ouch! The picture below is the day after. His swelling is going down and he just has a nice rainbow of colors around his eyes. For those of you don't know he had the surgery to correct his droopy eye lids. He wanted the surgery to increase his vision and he can already can see better even with the swelling. Poor Matt...with his sad eyes.

The kids have been enjoying the snow in our backyard.

I took the kids to a Dinosaur puppet show at the library. It was such a cute story and the kids really enjoyed it. I guess they have it every year and it is quite popular that they offer it several different times for people to attend. After the show we enjoyed cookies, candy canes and drinks..mmm..



We also have been decorating for Christmas. The kids always love to help with our little tree. They especially like to play with the Christmas dolls that go under the tree.

I love the kids expressions in this picture.

What a wonderful time of the year. I feel very blessed that we can celebrate this wonderful holiday. Happy Holidays!

Photo Booth fun

Carter and his cousin Skyler had some fun in the mall photo booth. They were hilarious! Carter just can't spend enough time with Skyler. Although, Skyler probably sees it the other way. Carter really looks up to him. Ashlynn did not want to go inside the booth, she said it was too scary. She is never excited about pictures anyway. Carter on the other hand can come up with a different look in every photo you take of him. The Camera just loves him.

Family Celebrations

This Thanksgiving we traveled to Idaho to spend it with our families. We had a delightful time at Grandma Frankie's. We enjoyed a tasty turkey dinner cooked by Matt's brother Craig and we also got to start the christmas gifts early. The kids had fun opening their gift from grandma and we also enjoyed our gift from the NH gang. Thanks guys, it was a nice suprise! We then spent time with my family and got to combine my birthday, Halloween, Thanksgiving and Christmas in about 4 hours. My mom loves to celebrate and since we are not in Idaho to do so she was very kind and creative to make it all work.
So, next on the agenda was my favorite day...the day after Thanksgiving shopping extravaganza. My sisters in law, Tracy and Gail, and my nephew Skyler joined in on the fun this year and we spent 9 hours holiday shopping. Yes, I said 9 hours. I'm usually done with my shopping by 9am, but this year we were enjoying ourselves so much we literally lost track of time. We look back at the whole day and we can't account for about 3 hours. I guess your mind in not thinking as clearly when you are up at 3am when you went to bed at 1am. All in all, we had a fun time and I am always glad I go. Until next year....
Then towards the end of the trip we spent time with my Dad and the kids fed the ducks their Thanksgiving feast. Finally, I also got to have a quick visit with my Boise Pediatrics friends. It was nice to catch up.
We are so grateful to have such great families and friends. We had a very pleasant trip and glad that we got to enjoy everyones company.
I also want to make a quick mention that we also celebrated Tracy's brithday before we left for our trip. We had a taco bar for dinner and had cake. Hope you had a great day Tracy! We are glad that you could spend some time with us.

Look Mom No Cavities!

Carter was so anxious for his dentist appointment. He has become so aware of what goes on in his life and knows that getting a cavity is going to cause the dentist to do extra work in his mouth. He has been so worried that he would have a cavity. Well, the dentist said he passed again. NO Cavities! Yeah! Carter was so happy to hear the great news. They even took some x-ray's of his teeth and found that his adult teeth are ready and willing to come in as soon as he looses his baby teeth. On a side note. As we were driving to his appointment with full anticipation he said to me, "Mom I want to be a Dentist when I get big." I wonder if this will change the first time he experiences anything but a cleaning and exam at the Dentist. I do appreciate Carter's positive attitude toward the whole experience.

Ashlynn on the other hand had to be held down at your own will just to have the Dentist look in her mouth. We were taken to another room with a door so she would not scare off the other kids. Hopefully, next time will be a more pleasant experience for her.

Tagged Picture

My friend Melissa from work tagged everyone to post a picture that is in your 4th folder and is the 4th picture. This was the picture. It is Ashlynn eating a Korndog without it being cut up. It was back in March of 2008. She really enjoyed it! For anyone that reads this posting you are now tagged. I want to see your pictures.

Disney on Ice

We had the privilege to attend the Disney on Ice Show. We had a exciting time. I was so amazed the tricks they can do with those costumes on. I don't know about you, but I find it hard enough to stay on my skates without the bulky costume. One of my favorite scenes was the story about Pinocchio and the part where he gets eaten by the big whale. I couldn't get a good picture of the whale, but it was so huge and scooted along the ice with ease. Carter really liked the shark part in Finding Nemo and Ashlynn really would get excited every time she would see Minnie Mouse or of course the Princess'. The ice gang.
Mickey and Donald showing their ice tricks.
To Infinity and Beyond! Buzz Lightyear.
Beauty and the Beast characters. Can you believe people are in those costumes on skates. Yikes!
Mickey and Minnie were also a favorite of ours. They were very cute! Ashlynn was blowing kisses to Minnie.
This is Nemo. It was so hard to get good pictures because the characters were always moving.
This was the opening act and the Genie from Aladdin popped out of the back and fire came out of the pipes of the Ice Machine.
Carter, Ashlynn and Me.
Sam, Carter and Ashlynn. They would not sit still for a picture this is the best one I could get and this was after lots of convincing.
This was the stage where the characters would enter and exit. It would transform into a different castle to match the story they were telling. It also shot out fireworks and light up. It was a magical experience.