Christmas

  

 We are always thankful to celebrate this special holiday of the saviors birth.  It is nice to be together as a family and enjoy our gifts that we give to eachother.  We are also thankful for all the gifts that were sent to us from Grandparents, Aunts and Uncles.  The kids get excited to see the mail packages on our doorstep.  I was able to stay home Christmas Eve since our unit at the hospital was not very busy and there were others that wanted to work.  It was a nice present from them to let me stay home and enjoy time with my family.  We spent Christmas Eve with Matt's brothers family partaking in their tradtional cheese fondue.  Then, we headed home to open our Christmas pj's and some of our grandparent presents.  Carter was so tired that he didn't feel like opening anything and just wanted to go to bed (it was only 7o'clock).  I don't think he was feeling well so we ended our present opening and waited to the morning hoping that Carter would feel better. 

 

Christmas morning came and Carter was feeling better and was a little more awake.  We enjoyed our present opening from each other and started preparing dinner.  Lastly, Matt cooked a turkey and Tracy joined us for dinner.  It was such a treat to finally have her for Christmas because she always been gone for Christmas.  (Thanks Tracy for joining us!) 

From Ashlynn

This is so cute..I had to post it.  Ashlynn wrote this letter to Santa.  She also worked hard on the friendship bracelet for Ms. Claus and made a matching one for her to wear too.  Ashlynn is very creative and thinks of these things on her own.

I think the bracelet got moved because there is an arrow at the top of the page pointing to the bracelet.  She made sure the cookies, milk and letter was near the tree so he would see them.  It was so cute to see that everything was ready before bed.  The bracelet was gone in the morning..I hope Ms. Claus is enjoying her bracelet. 

Treats & our Elf

We spent some great time as a family this holiday season making treats for others.  Over a span of a week we got it all done. Yay!  Carter was so cute wanting to put on his Santa hat and run to each door and deliver the popcorn bags.  We drove around the neighborhood and Carter would jump out the car and run to each door.  It was so fun to watch!  Poor Ashlynn was sick and didn't have the energy to help.  Then, Carter got the flu bug from Ashlynn and had to sit out making the reindeers.  So, it was a trade off.  Then, finally it was time to make the candied almonds with a crockpot, which turned out so yummy.  I will definitely be making these again..very soon!   

Here are a few places we found our "Elf" this year. This is always a fun tradition for our family to see where he ends up each morning.  We also enjoyed the movie that came this year about our friend. (Thanks Grandma Frankie for sending it our way!) 



Our elf "Buddy" is now sitting in our tree waiting to go back in his box to make his appearance next year.

Candy Windows

There back...the candy windows!  A few years back when we would visit Utah I was always amazed at the ZCMI candy windows around Christmas.  So, I was so excited when Macy's announced that there were going to have their own version of the windows.  They were so fascinating to look at as well.  The kids thought it was so cool to see the different kinds of candy they used to make the ornaments.  We had fun naming all the candy used. 

 I just love walking downtown with everything decorated with the lights.  It just makes the holiday magical.

To the North Pole...

To the North Pole we go...Midway's snow decided to melt away so instead of riding on a sleigh we took at ride on a large wagon pulled by horses.  It was a neat experience to do only once.  The scenery was pretty.  This was Carter first time being around horses for a length of time and suffered a moderate allergy attack.  The poor kid was sneezing, coughing, red eyes and a scratchy throat.  That is another animal we can put on his list that he is allergic too.  Other than the allergy problem we enjoyed our time outside and our visit with Santa at the end of the ride.

Christmas Randomness

We have been slightly crazy with lots going on with things to do around this time of year, but we can always squeeze in time to enjoy these fun moments with each other.  I have made a conscious effort this month to not be so frazzled when things aren't going as planned and enjoy this holiday season.  Even if the house is messy, dishes and laundry are little behind.  It will all get done..right?..yes!..that is what I keep telling myself.

 

Here are a few highlights:

 Matt and Ashlynn are our funny people in our family and like to wear random Christmas hats.

 I love their Christmas spirit.  Ashlynn even wears a Santa hat to school.  She is so cute!

Matt had their company work party at Sur La Table at the Gateway Mall.  We cooked our own food with a gourmet chef and then got to eat our yummy creations.  I love this Christmas tree at the Gateway Mall it is set to music and we got a picture of it while it was lit up during the music show.  It was perfect timing! 

This picture was taken at our Ward Christmas party and it just makes me smile.  It should be on one of those "most cheesiest" Christmas cards websites that has been floating around the Internet.  The decor, our random outfits and Carter's face just adds to this photo.  Too Funny! 

The Halls are Decked...

Our "Elf on the Shelf" is in place and we are ready for the Christmas season to begin!  We can't wait to see all the things this elf is going to do this year.  We always have a good laugh when we think about all the funny things he did last year when he moves around the house.  He is another set of eyes watching closely over how the kids are behaving during the holidays.

His starting place was selected by Ashlynn.  After he is placed in the tree he can no longer be touched. 

 

He moves only if he sees good things from the kids with Christmas magic after he reports to the man in red each night.

Our cute little tree. We continued our "elf" tree theme again.

Our train adds the perfect touch!

Leave Clean up

Finally!! All of our leaves from our trees have fallen down.  Now, the final step to clean them up before the snow hits.  The kids were such good helpers to get the last part of the leaves up from the ground.  Carter liked blowing the leaves to make a pile and then sucking them up.  He did a great job!  I had to take a picture of this nice act of service he did to help out.     

Hard worker!  That bags gets heavy when it is full of leaves.

Family Night at the Jazz Game

Matt scored some VERY cheap tickets to a Jazz game so he invited some friends of ours (The Dalton's and the Call's) to the game.  The seats were up at the very top of the upper bowl.  Even though the we were way at the top it was nice to have space to spread out and chat during the game.  The Jazz were losing by 10 points the entire game until last quarter when they caught up.  It was a close game at the end, but the Jazz prevailed and won! Yay!! The crowd was so loud and it made the game super fun!  We even scored some neat metal lunch boxes. 

Thanksgiving in Idaho

Our little family traveled to Idaho to spend Thanksgiving with our families.  We really excited to finally spend a holiday with Mike and Laura's family since it has been 4 years since our 2 families have been together to celebrate.  Matt's parents bought a Turducken for our meat to feast on.  It was very interesting how they are all stuffed together.  It was very tasty!  It took us some time to prepare the meal with all the sides for everyone, then to sit down and eat for 20 minutes and then it was time to clean up.   Then Laura and I dove into the newspaper ads to check out the big deals.  We headed out Thanksgiving night to some tradition shopping and enjoy those holiday deals! We had a fun time together!  But, poor Carter was not enjoying himself.  Matt did not want me to know that Carter had been really sick with vomiting, wheezing, and a headache back at his parents house while I was out.  I came back to all of the vomit cleaned up (thanks Tom) and Carter not looking great. He was able to get some rest and feel better the next day. 

 On Friday we visited with my mom and got to spend some time with her. (Thanks for all the fun gifts) 


Then, on Saturday we headed to my dad's house to visit with Corey on our way home to Utah.

We were very thankful that we had great driving conditions and that Carter got to feeling better and that we could spend some time with family even if it was for a short time.

 

New Pet...

Ashlynn saved up her money to get her own pet.  She wanted to get this cute dwarf hamster.  These hamsters are very small and don't get any bigger than she is now.  She is just a very funny ball of soft fur that likes to explore.  The best thing about her is that the kids put her in the roller ball when they put her on the floor and she just rolls around exploring.  It it like a toy rolling around the floor.  It is very cute to watch. 

And of course Ashlynn had to get the pink palace (cage) for her new little pet.  It goes well with her room.  She is just so gitty over her new little pet.

Snow before Thanksgiving??

It snowed all day on Friday (11/9) but it was too warm for it to stay around and then we woke up on Saturday to a winter wonderland.  It had snowed 12 inches in about 8 hours.  The kids couldn't wait to get out and play in it.  We even pulled out the sleds and tubes to hit the sledding hill.  It was great!

The nice thing about this snow storm is that we didn't have to shovel the driveway and walkways because it was again very warm so the sun was clearing the roadways for us.  It is nice that you can play in the white stuff and not freeze your toes off in the process.

Carter Video

I wanted to share this video of Carter.  He has been working really hard the last 3 months on doing a back handspring and he can do it.  Yay!!  He scares me everytime he does one.  I think he is going to land on his head or neck wrong, but he does it so nicely. 

This video was a few weeks ago and he is now doing them without very much support from his coach.  I just love his determination!

 

Halloween

We are sad that our one of our families favorite holiday is over, but we have many more to look forward to.  On Halloween we headed out to our neighborhood trunk or treat and got to mingled with people that live around us.  There were lots of fun costumes..so FUN!  Then we ventured out to the rest of neighborhood and the boys were loving the scary houses with characters roaming around yards and jumping out and scaring people.  There was even a person chasing kids with chain saws.  (I find it interesting that this is one day of year that we will allow our kids to go up to scary houses, and chase around a chain saw man.  That is what makes this holiday so fun.  Everything you teach your kids about strangers and scary people just goes out the door.)  

Ashlynn on the other hand just kept on wanting to go home because of all the scary masks everywhere, but she made it all around the neighborhood with out bolting away and just hung on tight to my hand.  I thought it was funny that she would stay by me until she saw who opened the door to the trick or treaters and then decide if that person was safe to get candy from.  She was not about to except candy from anyone in a mask. 

 

Matt was back at home scaring people with his lightning show on the house and the talking head inside the house.  He has been working on these projects for a few months just for the BIG night.  He was happy to put them in action for the trick or treaters. 

 

We had a awesome night with friends and glad that everyone made it home safely.  Until next year...

 

Funny...

This was Matt's costume for the party.  Inflatable Ostrich..the kids thought it was hilarious! 

Ashlynn tried it on....

 Riding away in the sunset...

Hugging the cute ostrich.  Happy Times!

Pumpkin Carv'n

This is must to totally appreciate the Halloween holiday...Pumpkin Carving.  Ashlynn is still not a fan of the wet gooey stuff inside, but she managed to pull through this year with out giving up.  Carter carved his himself this year which was very proud moment for him.

We didn't have time to go out to the pumpkin patch this year so, Smiths (grocery store) pumpkins had to do.  We only got 4 small pumpkins from our garden this year...so sad.  (Our poor garden just didn't do as well this year and since it snowed a few days ago everything is dead and shriveled up.)

We are ready for the BIG Halloween night!

Kids Halloween Party

 The kids had their annual Halloween party.  This has become a tradition over the last 5 years.  The kid's invite list is getting larger with meeting new friends and you can't leave out the old friends either.  So who do you cut off the list...well we couldn't this year..so all 14 friends came.  Yes, it was a crazy party, but lots of Halloween FUN!!  I was so glad that one of my Young Women could come because we basically had 2 parties going on at the same time.  So, it was nice to have another set of hands.  She even made some fun cupcakes to hand out. (Thanks Taylor!)

Matt set up a scary scene in garage with fog for the boys and the girls were in house.  They liked being separated from the scary and crazy boys.

We made a glow in the dark skeleton, played games, had treats and ended with a scavenger hunt.  It was so fun to see all the costumes and have the kids get together.

 

All the Gang!

Carter is a ninja (he is not wearing his hat) and Ashlynn is a fairy.  She took off her wings (they were bumping into things)

The Mask

We wandered through Halloween City and found this real looking mask.  Check out these two really old people...

Carter in 80 years...

Matt in just a few years.  ha ha!

 

Fall Break-Frightmares

So, the kids headed back on Monday to school from being off track for 3 weeks and then had Fall Break on Thursday and Friday of that week.  More time off from school..Yay..I guess!!  So, we met up with some friends to hang out at Lagoon's Frightmares all day.  It was perfect weather all day until the sun went down then we were putting on our jackets and gloves.

Some of the gang..Gage, Carter, Gavin, Adrian & Ashlynn

 The kids enjoyed the Halloween themed walk throughs.  They got candy & toys.

Fun posing ops. Carter and Ashlynn are on the right side

 This picture is so funny..Ashlynn with her scary face and Gavin not sure where to put his head. Too cute!

 All the gang posing with their goody bags.

These are my co-workers from the hospital Jamie and Kristy. 

We just couldn't resist from this fun photo op.

 Cute Ashlynn...

This picture just doesn't match her sweet and cute personality, but she insisted on me taking this gross picture.  I love her smile as the guts are dripping from the body.

 

We all had a great time being around all the different Halloween characters at Frightmares.  We went through some haunted houses and were sneaked up on by some of the Halloween characters.  There were not so scary ones and very disturbing ones creeping around the park.

 

What a fun way to end the season at Lagoon!

 



Colts Gear

Carter had his end of season football party.  The boys raised enough money that they were surprised with hoodies and embroidered bags with their names on them.  Finally, we have a big enough bag to carry all that sports gear in.  Yay!

 

We can't wait for next year's football season! 

 

Carter is continuing with his tumbling class and doing amazing things like back hand springs and front jumps and will start Basketball in January.  This kid has so much energy that we have to keep him busy or he will just drive us all crazy with all that energy.  Gotta love him!

Final Destination..Las Vegas then home

We arrived to our final destination in the evening to Las Vegas.  The lights were really neat to see at night as we were pulling into the city.  We stayed at the New York New York Hotel.  The Hotel was a cluster of buildings that looked like downtown New York with a Statue of Liberty and a roller coaster.  The kids were bummed that they were not tall enough to ride the coaster, but we had a great view from our room to watch others ride the coaster.    

The kids and I have never been to Vegas so we wandered the strip and saw lots of neat things.  I was fine only spending a night and half a day here because it isn't the most friendly place in world.  There are people everywhere trying to sell or hand out things to you.  I just felt rude telling everybody '"No Thanks" and then they would still try to talk to you as you were walking away from them.  It was hard for me to just ignore these people.  So, we were all ready to leave the place and probably won't return anytime soon. 

 

We did enjoy our visit to the M & M World factory!  It was located across the street of our hotel and it is a 4 story M & M store with everything you can imagine that has a M&M logo on it. Ashlynn had a awesome moment when she got to have a brief one on one moment with the green M&M.  We saw the M&M girl walk by in a back hallway and Ashlynn got so excited that she saw her that we followed the M&M around the corner to see if she was still there... and she was waiting in the stairwell to see if we were coming.  The M&M girl and her bodyguard waved for Ashlynn to come over and Ashlynn got a hug from her favorite M&M.  Ashlynn was so excited and blushing when it was over, she couldn't contain herself. (On a side note: this is huge for Ashlynn to go up to a costumed character because she is so scared of all costumed characters except princesses).  We left M&M World happy and with a green stuffed M&M girl doll and a few M&M's for road trip home. 

 

We ate a early dinner in Vegas at the Rainforest Cafe and headed on the road for our last and final leg back to Utah.  Our drive home was about 5 hours and we were all glad to be home and sleep in our own beds.  I always feel such a big relief when we get home from being away (although, I do like getting away for a few days) There is just something to be said about "There is no place like home". 

 

 

Above is our Map that we attached to the backseat of our car and kept track by placing stars on all the license plates we saw from the different states.  We didn't have Canada on our map so that is why there is a star at the top off the Map.  We found all the Western states and did not find very many from the East Coast area, but the kids had fun finding all the states on the Map.

 

What a fun week we spent while being off track from school.  The kids are now back to school and we are starting to get back into a school routine again. 

HOLLYWOOD...

With a short 15 minute drive from Universal City we made it to Hollywood to spend the afternoon.  This was such a fun place to be!  We parked downtown and wondered the Walk of Fame and read the famous peoples names on the stars.  We ate lunch at a Disney Bistro..they have the yummiest milk shakes!  They have pictures on their walls of all the famous people that have ate at the Bistro.  It was such a fun place to have lunch. 

 

 

We then made our way down Hollywood Blvd and got to see Cee Lo Green walking down the blvd with his bodyguards heading into a clothing store.  He was just dancing along the sidewalk having a great time. 

 

We squeezed in some time to look around at the Ripley's Believe It or Not museum.  Very interesting stuff...we all enjoyed looking around the museum.  We could of spent more time there but once again we had to head to our next destination that was a 5 hour drive...Las Vegas..here we come...  

Universal City

Our next leg of our descend home was from Stockton to Universal City which was a 5 hour drive. Back in March when we went to Universal Studios our passes were good for 5 days and we only used 2 of them, so we decided to use them again since we were in the area.  So, we checked in our hotel and headed straight for the park.  The place was decorated so fun for Halloween...it had so much gory stuff from movie scenes..it was amazing and very fun! The park had a seperate Halloween Horror night for people over 13 and since the kids were not of age we headed back to the hotel for swimming and relaxing.

 

Our hotel was right next to the park so it was short shuttle ride or you could take the 5 min walk up the street.  It was great! 

After a good nights rest we headed back to the park for last time horrah before we had to head back on the road. Then, our next destination was a short 20 minute drive to Hollywood Blvd..more to come...

Road Trip to CA

Our little family took a long road trip to see family in California when the kids went off track from school.  Our first leg of the trip was a straight shot of 10 hours to Stockton, CA (that only required one stop..yahoo).  We left Layton at 4:45am and were there by early afternoon.

The kids had lots to do in the back of the car, travel bingo, pipe cleaners to make things, coloring, sticker by number activities and...

....did some sleeping(see picture below)...which took up most of the time...yay!

Poor little Ashlynn was a little car sick when she woke up.  (had to make a quick stop for Dramamine..and then she was cured)

 

We arrived in Stockton and spent two nights with Mike and Laura's family.  Then we headed to SIX FLAGS amusement park with their family (we landed a pretty sweet deal on tickets that we couldn't pass up)...and we all had a BLAST! 

Laura packed a picnic lunch and we have fun memories of eating in the parking lot between our two cars.  Matt and Mike felt like they were at Sonic because the kids would run food to their windows and the dads were being their funny selves.

 

 

We had the best time spending the day with them. All the kids had their brave faces on to try some new rides.  All of us adults got to ride the big roller coasters and that was a thrill too!

 

We were once again sad to say good-bye, but we will see them soon.  We love having them live closer.  Until next time. 

 

Now our little family departed Stockton to head to Universal City and Hollywood..Stay tuned for more...