Christmas 2009

I have always loved Christmas time...the decorations, the shopping, the spirit, the food, the family and friends, basically everything about Christmas. But the past few years I've been so behind with my shopping that it has made Christmas more of a hassle and headache. I find myself just wishing it to be over. I know I should spend more time concentrating on what Christmas is all about but I really like to give...not only give just a gift, but the perfect gift. I have tried really hard to teach my girls that Christmas is to celebrate the birth of Christ and there I always am worrying about the shopping and having everything perfect. I guess I should learn from my own teachings. This year I am going to try hard to remember what Christmas is about and not worry so much about the PERFECT gift.

MERRY CHRISTMAS!

We hope you all have a very Merry Christmas and a Happy New Year!

I am THANKFUL!

I AM THANKFUL!!!


I am THANKFUL for my Home...a warm place to go where there is love and family.


I am THANKFUL for Love. The love of my family and friends.


I have to say that I am THANKFUL for Healthy Kids. I hate to see them look like this.


I am THANKFUL for my Faith and the peace it brings to me.


I am THANKFUL that I Believe in Angels. I miss you dad.


I am THANKFUL...Just read everything on this tile my wonderful sister-in-law gave us for Christmas a few years ago. Thanks Marci.


Most of all I am THANKFUL for my Family. THANKFUL for the joy and happiness they bring me everyday. I love you.

2 Wheeler

Brooklyn finally learned how to ride a 2 wheeler. She is so happy that she doesn't have training wheels anymore. All she ever wants to do is ride her bike now.

Ice Cream face!

The Wild Bunch

September 2009
When Taysa was running for 5th grade class Secretary she had a bunch of her friends help her with her skit. They all came home with her one day after school to practice and let me tell you.....WOW they are loud!!!

Morgan, Hannah, Taysa, Alison, Ali, Bailey and Abby.

Halloween!

This year the girls all wanted to be pirates. Taysa went with her friend, Kelsey, to her ward party and then trick or treating with her. So we just had Brooklyn and Cloe. I took them trick or treating for a few hours and then we came home and handed out candy. The girls had lots of fun.

The 3 pirates.


Cloe the pirate.


Brooklyn the pirate.


Taysa the pirate.

Brooklyn's 7th birthday party!

Brooklyn had a cousin birthday party this year. She had her party at the gymnastics studio where I teach. The kids had so much fun and best of all, I didn't have to clean up a mess at my house.

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Happy 7th Birthday Brooklyn!!!

Happy birthday Brooklyn! We love you so much. Brooklyn had a very happy birthday. We made her favorite dinner; steak, twice baked potatoes, lion house rolls, and corn. Grandma and grandpa came up for dinner and celebrate with us. She got everything she wanted; a Nintendo DS, her fury Hannah Montana boots, the big Webkinz kitty she always wanted and a pile of money from grandma and grandpa. Who could ask for more.

Haunted Forest

The pumpkin patch we go to had a haunted forest for kids this year. The girls had fun going through it, especially Cloe. They loved the spiders, skulls, witch's cauldrons, skeletons and tomb stones.

Pumpkin Patch

We love to go to the pumpkin patch. We go every year and have so much fun. Here are the girls picking out our pumpkins. There seem to be too many to choose from.

Boogers and the Porta Potty

The girls and I took a trip to Logan this past weekend. We went to see my best friend, Sarah, who is in town from Virginia. While we were there, I had a good family friend, Terry Barnes, take pictures of my girls up Logan canyon. {Thanks Terry for all the fun and for taking pictures.} We had lots of fun hiking on trails and finding beautiful spots to stop and take pictures. It was a little cold and windy but we had a good time. On one of our stops, Brooklyn had to go to the bathroom. There was a set of restrooms right by where we parked so I took her in. When I opened the door and she saw the little porta potty she proceeded to freak out saying, "I don't have to go anymore! You can't make me!" I finally convinced her she would be okay and that I would hold onto her and not let her fall in. We then got back into the car and started driving. All of the sudden Brooklyn says to us all, "I'd rather eat my BOOGERS than use a PORTY POTTY again!!!" We all died laughing. That is such a "Brooklyn" thing to say! I love you crazy Brookie!

Aggie Ice Cream! Our FAVORITE!!!

We were in Logan spending time with family and friends. We spent this afternoon with our good friend, Terry Barnes who is really more like family. She treated us to Fredrico's pizza (YUM YUM YUM) and then to our favorite, Aggie Ice Cream! Thanks Terry :) We love you.


#1 flavor of all time. Cloe's favorite and mine, Aggie Blue Mint.


Brooklyn and Cloe totally oblivious to anything but the ice cream.


Taysa and Terry enjoying their ice cream.

Shelley Spud Days

Shelley Spud Days rolls around again. The kids love Spud Days. The parade, the performances, the festivities at the park, and especially the food. Every year we get cinnamon almonds, fudge, frozen lemonade, ice cream, and usually a funnel cake. We eat enough to make us sick for a week. But we sure do enjoy it while it lasts.


Cloe in the jumping castle. Her absolute FAVORITE!!!


Brooklyn and Cloe took a ride on the lawn mower train!


Taysa and Brooklyn running against each other in the obstacle course!


I'm not sure which one finished first because they both came rolling out of the course laughing hysterically.

Cloe's 1st day of Preschool!

So I'm a little behind the times, but Cloe started preschool the beginning of September. She loves preschool. She gets so excited when it is a school day and on the days she doesn't have school she actually cries. She is learning so much and comes home singing the cutest songs and brings home the funnest papers that they work on. I'm so glad she loves school.

New Ride!

Cloe has found a new mode of transportation. Apparently walking has become too much work. I sure hope her new ride doesn't crack under the pressure!

Freedom.....sweet freedom!

Today is the 1st day of school! Yeah!!! I love when school starts again. Don't get me wrong, I really enjoy the summer and spending time with the kids, but by the end they are so ready to go back and so am I. They start getting bored and missing their friends and dare I say it....a routine. This morning went very smoothly despite what I was expecting. They got up early and easily and got ready without any arguing and they were actually very excited. Made my day so much easier. Now I am sitting here in the peace and quiet because Cloe is sooooooooooooooooooo good all by herself. I think she loves the time she has alone. So here's to another school year and another year older that my girls are. I can't believe I have a 5th grader and a 1st grader. When did they grow up?


1st day of school! They actually like each other today.


Brooklyn's 1st day of 1st grade! I sure hope her teacher is ready for her :)


Taysa's 1st day of 5th grade! And her new glasses!!! Doesn't she look all grown up?

July 4th - Day 2 : Palisades and Fireworks

July 4, 2009

Day 2 - Palisades
Today we ventured out to Palisades reservoir. What do two fishing boats, one very large pontoon boat and lots of friends add up to? One very fun day on the reservoir! We spent the day out on the lake today...good food, good friends, laughs, great weather, swimming, music....you name it. We had so much fun today on the boats until...again a horrible storm moved in. We decided to head back to the dock, but not in time. First it started sprinkling, then pouring rain and then HAIL! Lots of hail. Luckily the boat we were on had a zip up enclosure on it so we stayed dry and pretty warm. We loaded up the boats, getting soaked in the process, and headed back to camp.

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We hurried back to Shelley for our family 4th of July party at Michelle's house. We had a BBQ, fun and FIREWORKS. And most importantly, I got to shower and sleep in my own bed for the night.

Day 1 - Set up camp and swimming at HEISE

Over the 4th of July weekend we went camping at Heise with a bunch of our friends.

Day 1 - Friday July 3rd We got to camp around noon unloaded, set up, ate lunch and then we were off to the pool. This is all the girls could think about....swimming swimming swimming! We spent the afternoon at the pool and the slide until a very scary looking storm moved in. So we packed it up and headed back to camp just in time to. As soon as we got back it started pouring rain, so for the next hour or so we were hiding in the trailer watching a movie and munching on snacks. Then just as quick as the storm moved in it was gone. Finally, dinner time. After dinner we sat around the camp fire talking and making smores.



The kids ran around in the dark with glow necklaces and bracelets on. They had lots of fun.



All in all I would say it was a very successful 1st camping trip.

Crazy girls

I'm not exactly sure what the obsession is with goggles.....they wear them not only to swim, but to play dress up, goof around and to take a bath.

SUMMERTIME!!!

Oh what do you do in the SUMMERTIME when all the world is green?


Do you swim in the pool....to keep yourself cool?...


Do you play in the tree house?...


Do you jump on the tramp?....





Do you roast marshmallows on a cool summer night?....

Is that what you do? So do I!!!

HAPPY 3rd BIRTHDAY CLOE!

I can't believe my baby is 3! My how time does fly. She has grown up so much lately and is so much fun to be around. She is crazy, funny, fun, exciting, sensitive, cuddly, and full of surprises. We love you Cloe Mae, HAPPY BIRTHDAY!

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Just being silly!

I think the pictures say a thousand words!

The Children's Museum

May 2, 2009
Since we got rained out and didn't get to have fun riding the rides at Lagoon, we headed down to the Gateway Mall. Not only did we go to BUILD A BEAR WORKSHOP, but we took the kids to the CHILDREN'S MUSEUM. They had so much fun, especially checking out the helicopter. They loved getting on the horse and rock climbing. The best part was all the time they got to spend with their cousins.

Build A Bear Workshop

May 2, 2009

Another high point of the Lagoon dance competition was the undeniably fun trip to Build A Bear Workshop. The girls LOVE to go there and are always so excited to get a new animal and make it. Thanks grandma for kicking in half the $$$ towards the very expensive stop at BUILD A BEAR WORKSHOP.











Taysa with Oreo




Brooklyn with Strawberry

Cloe with Rainbow

The Hotel

May 1, 2009

While we were at the Lagoon dance competition we stayed at the Hilton in Layton. I think this was one of the best parts of the trip for the girls. They had so much fun swimming and just being in the hotel room. They got to swim with all their cousins the second night we were there and that was lots of fun.

LAGOON DANCE COMPETITION!

May 2, 2009

Taysa's dance team got to go to Lagoon and compete at the National Clogging competition. The girls did GREAT despite the pouring rain. Thankfully we were in a covered pavilion and somewhat sheltered from the total down pour that seemed to last the entire day. The girls had so much fun and danced so good.














The girls found out on Monday May 4 that they actually took 2nd place in the competition. They did so good and we are so proud of Taysa for participating.