Long Time No See

Okay so it has been a while. I just can't help it. I hooked my computer up to my TV which means I rarely use it, but it also means that I rarely post. Oh well, life moves on.

There are just a few updates and a few pictures.

Caitlin's birthday is coming up and there is a very special DOLL that she is trying to get. I am sure all of you have heard of American Girl. They are spendy dolls and I told Cait that if she wanted one she had to earn half the cash to get it. We gave her some idea's on how to earn the money and one of those was making hair bows to sell. Last weekend when we were at my mom's we got crafty. She made all the little flower clips and I made the big ones, and the headbands. My sis-in-law owns a salon so we left most of them with her, but if you would like one they range from $1 to $5. She would love you forever if you donated to her cause.

Other than that, nothing super interesting. Dave had the whole weekend off so we have been laying around just enjoying ourselves. I have watched alot of Pawn Stars on Netflix the last few days. It's hilarious and interesting all in one. It makes me want to go to Vegas just to go shopping in their store. I just wish I had a cool item to take them and make some serious cash on it.

Well, until next time when I get a hold of a computer again.

Happy New Year!!

We have had such a great vacation. It seems like it went so fast, but when I look back, we did so much that it seems like so long ago.

For New Year's Eve though we were all big party poopers. We were so lazy all day long, and when I say lazy I mean lazy. Twelve or more hours of watching Ghost Adventures on Netflixs. We loved every minute of just chillin' as a family and not thinking of a thing. Having newly fallin' snow helped that too because we couldn't go anywhere. But it was so nice. And being lazy can make a person super tired so we went to bed early. I think that it was the first year ever that I have not stayed up til midnight. I'm getting old. We did get out and play in the new snow which was super fun. Dave even made me go out, which is just not me. I hate being cold and wet. Fortunately, Dave rescued a pair of overalls from his Grandpa's that fit me just fine and I wore my nice big Russian hat that kept my head nice and warm. I did skip out early to make the hot chocolate which was just fine with me. New Year morning we popped our poppers and cheered with the sparkling grape juice to the new year, had Aebleskiver's for breakfast and headed to Grandma's house to play. It was so nice to get out. We were there for six almost 7 hours. Aunt Heather and kiddo's came to play as well so we just got to sit and chat, and I went shopping for a bit and all was nice and wonderful.

I loved this vacation and I am super sad to see it go, but at the same time I am kind of excited to get back to normal in the morning.

Since we went to bed early New Year's Eve we couldn't do our sparklers so we did them today. I messed with the settings on my camera and took some pictures of the kids playing. They turned out cool, I think. Especially the last one of Cait's.

And just for update news if you weren't in Relief Society today and heard me cry my eyes out, Miss Belle is now in Sunbeams. I can't believe I am no longer a mother of a nursery baby. I just can't believe it? Where have the last 3 1/2 years gone? Apparently she was very good in primary and I can't wait to join her there next week. That's the other half of my news. I was called to the Primary Presidency (2nd counselor) today, okay last week but they sustained me today. I am really excited! So Happy New Year!!!!

The Best Christmas EVER!!!!

Really, it was the Best Christmas Ever!!!! We had so much fun leading up to the day, and we were ready to celebrate. We had a big Christmas Eve dinner, followed by the Christmas story and Christmas movies. I made my first turkey and it turned out so good. The best part was just before we went to bed, we set out cookies and milk for Santa. However, it was a little different this year. Dave and Dawson were going to try and catch Santa. They mixed up a little concoction that was meant to put Santa to sleep so that they could collect extra presents. The idea of catching Santa made Cait very upset so she wrote him a little warning letter to not drink the milk. Well, Christmas morning came and the milk was still there but it was pink, along with a note that reminded the boys that Santa can not be tricked and thanking Cait for warning him.

The kids were up early. Dawson by 5:30 and Cait by 6. I got up when Cait did and we all went to wake Cora up. We started singing Jingle Bells and she didn't like that much. She quickly covered her ears and rolled over. It wasn't until we told her there were presents that she finally jumped up.

The kids all had a great time opening presents, and as far as I know they all got what they wanted. I however, had only gotten really cheap-o weird gifts, which was odd being that David has never let me down on Christmas before. Now this is where the best Christmas Ever comes in. When we were all done opening presents, and starting to play, David grabs me, puts his new coat over me and we all head outside. Unknown to me (yet suspected) there in the garage was the best present ever. A brand new high capacity, red washing machine. I instantly started to cry. I couldn't believe that he had actually gone through with buying it. He N-E-V-E-R does that. I was so giddy though. As soon as I could, I went to the store and got some HE laundry soap and did loads of laundry on Christmas. Weird I know, but it was so fun and I am still so excited. Sad thing is however, instead of taking a picture with me by the washer, I took a picture of my family. Oh well, they are cuter.Well I hope your Christmas was as great as ours (all though I doubt it :) ). Have a very Happy New Year!!!

And because I always get my kids new church clothes for Christmas. Here they are Sunday morning. Gosh they are beautiful children.

Christmas Advent Activities Catchup.

Before I get to the Christmas post, I wanted to share what we did before the big day arrived.

We made Gingerbread houses. Which was so fun. I found a little village set at the store, and it perfectly had 5 little houses in it. One for each of us. Dave and Dawson spent most of their time building weapons out of candy, while Cait and I tried to make ours look pretty. Cora, well she just had me put frosting on and she stuck a few candies and she was done. They all turned out pretty cute.

David and I had the opportunity to go to the Mo-Tab Christmas concert on the 19th. It was the Sunday morning broadcast so we didn't get the whole concert, but I think including the mini concert after the broadcast we heard all the songs except 2. It was beautiful! David Archuletta sang with the choir and Micheal York was the narrator. We were on the balcony dead center so really great seats and great music. Plus President Monson was there which made it even more special. Except for the walk in the rain and the high heeled boots, it was an exceptional morning.

After the concert, we got to celebrate Christmas with my family. Everyone was at my house and we had turkey, and all the trimmings, opened presents, and found out the my sis-in-law Tanae is having her third baby (lets pray for a girl). Super fun and everyone got great gifts. Dave and I got a camp stove and an Abelskiver pan from my parents. We were so excited we couldn't stop thanking them. We love dutch oven cooking and camping!

And our last activity (okay the last one with pictures) was a trip to Temple square on Christmas Eve Eve. Warning, not the best time to go to Temple Square. There were so many people that it wasn't even fun. We were trying so hard not to run people over with the stroller that we didn't even see the lights. Oh well, tradition and I got a really pretty picture of the temple.

Christmas Letter, 2010!

It's that time of year again to dish out our year in review. I hope you enjoy!

Cora Belle. She's not a baby anymore. She turned 3 in July! How crazy is that? Really it should be the terrible 3's not the terrible 2's. She has been so busy and naughty and so darn cute this year. New discoveries, lots of climbing, and lots of talking. It almost seems unreal that she's 3, more like 13. She took swimming lesson's this summer and was fish out of water. She never listened to her teachers because her head was under the water the whole time. But she did well and did eventually swim under water by herself. She also started dance this fall. She loves it and is learning to listen to her teachers (helps there is no water to go under), but she is doing well. She doesn't even miss me when I leave. She is in love with Tinkerbell and my favorite thing is when she sings the song from the Tinkerbell movies. It's hilarious.

Dawson. Buddy is a good boy. He turned 5 this summer and is 100% boy. Baseball was his favorite part of the summer. He learned to play catch and hit the ball pretty well. Say Yankee's around him though and you will get the look of death. Next year will be fun when he starts T-ball. I can't wait. He started kindergarten this fall and loves the school, his friends and his teacher. He is learning lots and learning how to remember what he learns (we ask him every day, and then tease that we are going to call his teacher if he doesn't tell us something).

Caitlin. Miss Cait. She isn't a little girl anymore. She turns 8 in April. I cry every time I think of that. It was just yesterday... you know. She's as busy as always. She finished her first year of soccer in the spring, started the second grade and her 5th year of dance in the fall, and also started piano lessons. What a busy girl. She is also loving her new teacher, school and friends. She is a huge helper and I don't know what I would do without my little nanny. :)

David. Dave is still working on his master's. One more semester and he is done (I can't wait). He got a promotion to supervisor at work, only down side, he has to work nights. We are adjusting and it's not so bad. After 5 and 1/3 years in the bishopric he was finally released. It is so nice having him on Sunday's and not having to sit alone during sacrament meeting. He's a hard workin' man and I love him so much!

Me. What's new with me, not much. Life is pretty much the same. I have learned however, how to be quiet during the day. I am everything my family needs and great chauffeur. I have learned to love crafting even more and I am getting better at sewing, oh and I turned 30 this year, what's with that? That's all.

That's us. I hope you enjoyed the read, and Please have a wonderful Holiday Season.

Love,

Young Folks At Home

Date Night!

Oh it was about time. David had a really hard semester come to an end yesterday!!! I was so excited I planned a fun date to celebrate (hey, that rhymed). We went to Olive Garden for dinner and to the Hale Center Theater to see A Christmas Carol.

It was so fun and so nice to get out. The kids loved their babysitter and I loved the break.

Zoo Lights.

Every day in December til Christmas we have a fun family activity to do. Wednesday's was a trip to the zoo to see the zoo lights. I had planned on it being just the kids and I, and that didn't seem to appealing to me so I called 4 other's to see if they wanted to join me. All said "Sorry can't tonight" so I had resigned myself to go alone. And it was probably very inspired that no one could go, because when David got out of bed he decided that studying could wait and he would come with us!!! Yea!!!! I was so dang happy and it made the trip so much more enjoyable. It only took us about an hour to walk through the whole zoo, but hey it was a fun hour. Unfortunately I forgot my camera so we had to do with the cell phone, but you won't mind will you?

Comet or Vixon I am not sure which one, they were there with Santa.

This one was animated. See the star, the animals were passing it forward to go on top of the tree.