Christmas

I love the magic of Christmas.  We had the kids special santa party with mom (that ended up with the whole family), then we spent Christmas Eve with the Jackman/Bailey clan.  I love their traditional baby Jesus scavenger hunt.  The kids dress up like the nativity and read scriptures around the house gathering symbols, until we get to the manger where we sing Christmas hymns.  We went home to celebrate Christmas with Aaron because he had to work on Christmas day.  Christmas morning we headed down to Anna's for lunch and presents.  It was such a fun holiday this year.

Santa Visits Home Depot

We went to do the free craft and Home Depot today and we were surprised to find Santa there.

The kids made their requests and I called to tell Aaron we wouldn't be coming to see Santa at Harmon's cause that might be hard to explain.

Ice Queen

Her favorite pastime this winter was to go ice fishing with dad. She got to pick the treats- and have him all to herself. What's not to love?

Nutcracker Ballet

This year the boys got to join us at the ballet. 

They were all so well behaved. Reagan didn't take her eyes off the ballerinas the entire time!  We love our Christmas traditions. 

Santa Brunch 2013

It's our favorite holiday event!  Our good friends host a fabulous brunch every year, where Santa and Mrs. Claus come to visit. It's magical, thanks Wrights for inviting us and all the work you put into this event!

Festival of Trees Performance

Reagan had her first dance performance at the festival of trees.  It
was so fun to watch her up on stage.  She wasn't nervous at all.  When
we told her she did a good job she said "I know!"

Ashton Learns to Skate

We went to the free skate night at the university for scouts.  It was Ashton's first time skating.  He did  an awesome job...and he fell in love with it.  He can't wait to go back.

Family Drive

On the way to thanksgiving dinner my boys wouldn't stop fighting sooo... Aaron made them hold their hands in the air until we got to his dads. Ha ha. I think they learned. 

Thanksgiving Performance

Colten's kindergarten class had a performance scheduled for the night of the awful wind storms.  Unfortunately that caused the power to go out in the school, so on emergency battery power the kids sang one song and they called it a night.  This is all I could get because of how dark it was.Cute boy was so excited.  We made up for it by going to Farr's for ice cream after.

San Fran Getaway

San Fran travel time line: fly in, get a quarter of a ride from the airport to sketchy neighborhood in Oakland by crazy driver who almost rolled the van nicknamed "Tokyo Drift". Run to shuttle, barely get on. Take that to Bart. Ride to downtown San Francisco. Get bad information and walk 3 hours to the marina district on wedges up and down hills of SF to our hotel. 

Spend a great couple of great days touring the city.  We loved Haight Ashbury, the Pier, Alcatraz, and our tour guide was hilarious.  Yummy food, of course sourdough and clam chowder but also Vietnamese and street tacos.  My husband is such good company- we had a blast.

 The day we leave we wake up to get on shuttle we ordered to take us to the airport at 7 am. Driver informs us that he can't take us to the airport but will take us to the Bart entrance. Drops us off at the Muni not Bart, walk 5 blocks to the Bart. Get off and on another bus to airport, through security just in time to get on our plane. Sit on the plane to find out the driver thing-a-ma-jig is broken. De-plane, sit for 4 hours waiting for a rescue plane. Lands to announce the auto-pilot is broken. Go to get parts from original plane to fix 2nd plane. Find out they can't fix it and are sending a 2nd rescue airplane. After 12 hours in the airport we made it home safely. This is what my husband calls "adventure".

It's Great to be 8!

It was a very special day for Ashton today. He was baptized by his father and given the gift of the Holy Ghost. 

After the wonderful event we went back to the house for dinner. Thank you to all our wonderful family who joined us today. 

Jack-o-lantern

 

We spent family night carving pumpkins, roasting seeds and have homemade scones. Aaron did the cooking and I did the carving (which I'd never done before), a little role reversal for us. The kids loved their glowing pumpkins!

iFly

For Ashton's birthday my parents took him to do iFly, it's where you get in a wind tunnel and fly!  He was pretty nervous but really scared after he watched these pros doing tricks. (Keep in mind this is what he asked for for his birthday.)  So we go in and watch the training video and after he says "that was pretty comforting, especially after seeing that guy almost kill himself." (He meant the tricksters.)  So on to the pictures:

After he kept using the word awesome. He said he didn't want to smile with an open mouth cause it felt like he was at the dentist. Thanks mom and dad, it was awesome to watch!

A Dip

The kids took a dip in the cold hot tub before we turned the heat back up for the fall :)

Family Pictures

Make a photo slideshow

Peach Days

We went to Peach Days for the first time. I have to say that I was so impressed, it's quite a big affair. The parade rocked too!

We started off on the shuttle to Main Street but ended up walking on the way back. 

Scholar

School Time

   

Reagan is so excited to start "ABC school" - or preschool to the rest of us. I really can't believe how fast time has gone by, how is it possible that my baby is going to school?

The conversation on the way went something like this:

Colten "It's going to be boring while you're at school."

RJ "I'm not going to be bored cause I'm going to make friends and play, maybe sometime you can go to my school and play,"

Colten "I'm not 4!"

RJ "We'll maybe on your birthday."

Colten "I'm not going to be 4."

RJ "That's right, I'm so silly."

The minute we pulled up she said "I'm going to have a good day mom, see ya later."  Are you kidding? She barely let me walk her to the door. 

Toasted

According to tradition the kids have to have a backyard campout when dad gets back from his annual backpacking trip. They cook their cup-o-noodles with the camp stove, then the tent turns into a drive-in for a late night movie and finally to sleep. 

Twinkle Toes

I've been waiting for the day when I could watch my little girl twirl around in a studio!  It was so fun to see her do something so girly and just for her. She was super excited to wear her ballet clothes and explained to brothers a zillion times that a leotard is the top you wear in ballet. She did a very good job of listening and following instructions. Her plies were beautiful and she just about got down the chasse, which is super tricky for those little ones.

Ashton's in 2nd Grade

Ashton had a great day, although his teacher let him know that he needed to control his mouth. He learned all the continents and was quite proud!

Colten's First Day of School

Colten was so excited to go to school for his first day!  He was pacing the floor all morning waiting to go. Once we got there I took him to his classroom to take some pictures. He was still very excited. After we headed down to the cafeteria to meet his teacher.  That's when he got super nervous. The room was loud with all the students eating, and there was quite the crowd with all the parents of kindergarteners. He started covering his ears and telling me it was too loud and he wanted to leave the room. Then  Reagan started acting up because she was going to miss him. Finally the teacher called them to line up to go to the class. 

When we came to get him he was so tired and teary eyed. He really liked it but all the emotions had caught up with him. He cuddled with me for over an hour when we got home. Luckily he was still excited to go back the next morning, he's really enjoyed being so big. 

They Say

RJ "mom Salt Lake just called us on the TV!" When a thunderstorm warning came on. 

When the garbage truck pulled up to the house RJ yells "Ew the monster truck is here."

Jerky

"It's not an addiction. I can stop whenever I want." Aaron 

We have the butchering and wrapping meat down now. We put up a ton of Elk roasts and 30 lbs of venison Italian sausage. Here's the second batch of jerky- he may have over estimated the amount he was actually making, but we will eat it all :)!