Christmas Day...

So the day we have all been preparing for came and gone. What a great time of year! We woke up early and saw the exciting things Santa brought. We had Christmas dinner at our house and Matt fried his famous turkey. It was delish as always! Until next year...

Christmas Eve

We had a great time celebrating Christmas and all that comes with it. We started by making cookies and then opened presents from the Idaho Grandparents and our Christmas Pj's. I was scheduled to work on Christmas Eve so we started things a little early before I had to leave for work. It turned out that I was put on call at the beginning of my shift so I got to join in on the festivities at Craig and Gail's house. So, we spent the rest of the evening at Gail's and enjoyed a yummy meal of Fondue. Then we ended the night singing Christmas songs.

Temple Square

This is a family tradition of ours to see the Christmas lights at Temple Square.
Even when we lived in Boise we would make a trip to Utah to see the lights. They definitely put you in the Christmas spirit. You just have to forget that your are freezing and enjoy the delightful views.

Do you have your magic reindeer food ready?

Carter got this from a friend in his class. What a cute idea! Carter is so excited to spread out his magic food for the reindeer.

The Official Letter...

Carter had a special visitor deliver these letters to all the kids in his class. I thought it was so cute I had to post it to keep a memory of it. So, I guess the big guy thinks Carter has been good this year...

Dance for Life

Ashlynn participated in this fundraiser through her dance school. Once again I can't seem to get any good photos during her dance performances. They are always moving too fast and there is always a head popping up in the way. I am not the kind of person to push my way to the front row before the performance starts. I think I am in the market for a new camera with a larger zoom option and that can mysteriously crop out all the heads in the way (if it only existed). Ce la vi. All in all it was a night to remember.

Christmas party time!

Ashlynn's preschool had their Christmas party. The kids had fun with making snowflakes and popcorn chains for their classroom tree and decorating graham cracker houses. They also had a gift exchange with each other. Isn't this a wonderful time of year!

Festival of Trees

Ashlynn had a dance performance at the Festival of Trees. Her Aunts Gail and Tracy came to support her. The kids looked so cute doing their little dance moves. After the dance we got to take a peek at all the amazingly decorated trees. Ashlynn was attracted to anything with a princess or if it had pink on the tree. It is so impressive to see all the creativity in the community.

A Christmas story...

We had our ward Christmas party and the primary kids were the cast members of a Christmas story. They loved dressing up and playing their parts. It was quite a task to organize the whole performance from staging, costumes, actions and lighting. After all the sweat and worry the kids did a great job and the performance was a success! Children just bring a sweet spirit to anything they do. Great job kids! Ashlynn as a sheep.
Carter as a Shepherd.

Our Holiday season is in full swing

I can't believe it is that time of year again. We had a great time visiting with Matt's parents for Thanksgiving and we kicked off the holdiay season with an awesome dinner and opened Christmas presents from Tom and Frankie. Gail (my sister-in-law) and I continued our early morning tradition of shopping on Black Friday. We got some great deals and it was lots of fun!

We have lots of upcoming Christmas festivities going on with our family this month so stay tuned...Here's to happy and cheerful holdiay season!

First snow is here

We had a big snow storm last night and woke up to this beautiful white stuff everywhere. As I was driving Carter and Ashlynn to school we looked around and all you could see was white snow all over the trees and houses. It was really pretty. The best part was all the roads that we traveled on were clear. I love the snow as long as it is off the roads! We could hear the snow removal truck all night throwing sand down and keeping our neighborhood roads clear. They did a great job! Happy Thanksgiving to all of you!

We love Fall...

I just love this time of year even though we are heading into snowy weather any day. I wish the fall season would last longer so we could enjoy the beautiful colors of the season.

Spooktacular 2009

Ashlynn was so excited about all her mummy dances this year. The Spooktacular is a huge carnival at our local rec. center and they go all out with games and activities for the kids. They even have a canoe ride in the big competition pool.

This year we thought we might skip the spooktacular because it was the weekend we were heading to Idaho and we wanted an extra day there. When Ashlynn heard that she would not be dancing, she got so sad and expressed that she wanted to dance and be with her friends. So after a few bribes..she wasn't budging. She wanted to dance and then go to grandmas.

S0, we dropped her off to get ready for her performance and she ran to the door saying" I'm coming teacher, I'm coming,...I'm here!" She had a look of relief that she didn't miss it. I guess we should be glad that she feels committed to something at such a young age.

Here are Ashlynn's pictures in her mummy costume. I thought they were blog worthy. All the kids had so much fun doing their "Boogie Man" dance.

Just in case you can't make out their faces. Ashlynn is 2nd from the right on the back row. I just love how she has her hands posed. What a bunch of fun "mummies!"

Halloween in Idaho

This Halloween we spent it with Family & Friends in Idaho. We had a lot to do in such a short time. (Sorry to all of those that we couldn't get to see.) We enjoyed our time at all the grandparent houses. It was nice to visit with all of them!

This year we decided to "Trick or Treat" Harrison Blvd in Boise. WOW! I have never seen so many people while "Trick or Treating"! We have never done it and wanted to see what it was like. For those of you that have not experienced it, you have to see all fun houses that are decorated. These people are in full costume and their houses are awesome! Thanks Ami for letting us join you. We had fun! Belle and the Skeleton before we hit the Blvd.


The kids liked going up to the houses while it was light outside. As it got darker the houses looked scarier and the kids did not want to go up to them anymore. We hit about a dozen houses and the kids said they were done. Which was okay with Matt and I.


Some Halloween decor...There was also the Tooth Fairy handing out toothbrushes. What a great idea. She called them the "Magic Toothbrushes." We also saw a view of the "Thriller" dance being performed on a stage in someone's front yard. This place goes all out! What a fun place to experience Halloween if you can handle a few people. HA! HA!

The kids with Grandma Bobbi.

I also need to thank Grandma Frankie and Grandpa Tom for letting us crash at their house for the weekend. We enjoyed staying in the newly decorated rooms.

Kids Party

We are going to Idaho for Halloween this year. The kids were sad that they would not be able to Trick or Treat with their friends. So, we decided to have a Halloween Party so they can see their friends in their costumes. The party was so fun! We played games, made a pumpkin face, ate some ghoulish treats and best of all the kids took home a bag full of prizes from all that we did. Halloween is so fun to celebrate, it gives all a chance to be silly at least once a year. Now what other holiday does that? Happy Halloween!!

The Pumpkin Patch

The Scarecrow Festival

Ashlynn had 1 of her 3 Halloween performances this week. She was a cute little mummy. Her class was dressed all in white with painted white faces. I could not get any good photos this time. I hope I can get a good one next time. She was so excited to show off her "Boogie Man" dance. They performed at the Scarecrow Festival at Thanksgiving Point in Lehi. The festival turned out to be very fun! They had so many games, activities, and things to do for kids. Ashlynn did a great job showing off her dance moves! She can't wait for the next performance.

Frightmares at Lagoon...

We had our last adventure at Lagoon for the season. After just being back from Disneyland, Lagoon wasn't as exciting as it was earlier in the year. Good thing we waited to the end of the season to go to Disneyland.

Lagoon was decorated in all their Halloween decor, it made it a fun place to be. We also watched a dancing show with scary Halloween characters performing. It seemed like it was going to be scary, but it was actually a funny performance. Scared faces...

Cute Ashlynn as a cowgirl.

It was good year at Lagoon. We had some good times with friends and family! According to Carter the best part was being able to ride the big adult rides. Ashlynn's favorite thing a Lagoon was being tall enough to ride the "BAT" ride. She absolutely loves it!

She is our little thrill seeker!

The Big 3..0..!

On Sunday I turned 30. It was a nice relaxing day. I stayed in my comfy clothes all day, watched conference and had a yummy cake to celebrate the day (decorated by Matt). I also got a surprise phone call from one of my dearest friends from high school that I haven't talk to in about 2 years (I am now convinced that I need to keep my same Idaho cell number that I have had for years). It was so nice to get caught up with her life during our 2 hour conversation. I never talk on the phone that long, but it seems to be when ever we start talking we just can't seem to stop. I am also grateful for all my family that called me to wish me a "Happy Birthday". Your the greatest!!
Here is to another 30 years.

Our Disneyland Vacation

Sorry for all the pictures and posts. I am using my blog for our family scrapbook.
So, we took a family vacation to California last week. We spent the week at Disneyland, California Adventure, legoland, Long Beach Aquarium and at the beach. We had such a fun time! We had been anticipating this trip for 5 months and I can't believe it came and now we are home. The kids were slightly nervous because they had no idea what to expect. Carter was nervous because he didn't know what the rides were like. Once we went on the first ride they were hooked. Every time we got off a ride Carter would ask which one was next.

Disneyland was decorated in their Halloween decor, it was so fun! The Haunted Mansion had a Nightmare before Christmas theme. Ashlynn's face in the photo below describes her feelings about the Haunted Mansion as we were waiting in line. It turned out that she wanted to go through it again. The kids were just the right height to go on the big attractions. By the end of trip we started riding some of the attractions over again. After the many steps of walking around we were ready to head home. We had a great time and the kids are asking when we can go back.

Ashlynn was not a fan of Goofy's Kitchen at the beginning. She did not want eat Goofy's food. Then Chip came up and gave her a big hug and then she was much happier. Then of course Jasmine showed up and then she warmed up to the characters. I think this place was hit!

The Street Parade and the Fireworks were both spectacular! I loved the projections on the Small World building with the fireworks. It just added to the amazing show!

The fun continues...

California Adventure

We spent some time at California Adventure. It is another theme park that is connected to Disneyland. The Pixar parade was so cute! The floats shot out water into the crowd. It was fun! The kids loved the rides there. Soaring over California and the Grizzly Run rides were their favorites.