Taylor and Santa

Oh he is a cute boy! At first he was very leery of sitting on the big man's lap... after Santa gave him a Mr. Potato Head his mind changed very quickly. Apparently, Santa is an ok guy.

Our JessiBear Turns 8!

Jessica turned 8 yesterday. She is so excited to FINALLY (as she puts it) be 8. We wanted to make sure that she felt really special so she had a roller skating party. She was also spoiled rotten- she got a new room makeover (Tinkerbell of course), roller skates, scriptures, her baptism dress, and a sparkly cloak to go with the dress. I am pretty sure that she is so spoiled she stinks now! All in all, it was a great day. Yesterday we took her over to the studio and took her baptism pics. I will be making and getting out the invites to her baptism soon. We think it will be the first Sat. in Jan. I should know for sure this week.

I have to say that we are so thankful that Jessica is in our life. She can bring a smile to your face even when your upset. Jessica has a real talent for making me laugh when I should be getting upset at her. My dad tells me all the time that she not only looks like me but acts just like I did at her age! (sorry mom and dad- I am really sorry for all I did!) We are so very thankful that she is in our family and that she is growing up to be such a wonderful young lady.

Christmas At Our Home

My favorite time of year is finally here! I love the love and warmth that comes with the Christmas season. I also love all of the traditions that we have. One of them is to go to the Festival of Trees. This is a huge fundraiser for Primary Children's Hospital. People decorate and donate Christmas trees and they are then auctioned off to raise funds. I took the kids and my mom this year. It was, as always, amazing. I love that our community does this each year for such a worthy cause. Kelsi's 5th grade class decorated 2 trees this year and both of them sold in the auction. She was very excited to find her trees and to point out which ornaments she had made. It was great for her to see her hard work pay off.
As to our own Christmas tree- we have two. One is the family tree which has all of the kids decorations that they have made. The other is "Mommy's tree". I changed the theme of my tree this year to, what else, Mickey Mouse. I have to say that I do love this tree and I think the theme will be around for a few years! It makes me happy to look at it and remember all of the fun that we have as a family at Disneyland. Hopefully, we will be going back soon.
Another thing to mention this post is Kelsi's play. Our school has a wonderful 4-H program with after school clubs. This semester, Kelsi chose to be in the drama club. After a lot, and I mean a lot of really hard work, the kids put on a play called "Cowboys and Mummies". Kelsi had one of the leading roles as Dotty Com. It was very cute and she had a great time. Our little drama queen is quite the actress...Life is great around our home. And I hope that it is for your family as well. This is a wonderful time of year and we are very thankful for how blessed we are. We are trying hard amid all of the presents and candy to teach our children the true meaning of Christmas. On our family card this year I put one of my favorite quotes from the Grinch- it is one lesson that I hope my children can really learn.

Moving and Getting Settled

Thanksgiving morning dawned bright and clear and Ryan and I decided to just get it done and move that day. I know, I know that's a horrible day to move- but everyone that helped received the gift of burning off calories BEFORE dinner! One of the major advantages of moving WAY too many times is that I really know how to pack and we were able to get everything in one load (OK 1 big trailer and about 4 cars full) So now we are all moved in, boxes are mostly unpacked and the pictures are being hung up. The best part about this whole thing is the amount of room we have! Going from an 1100 sq foot condo to a 2600 sq foot two story home really makes me appreciate all the sacrifices that my family made for me so that I could go to Nursing school. Thankfully, that part of our life is over and we are now reaping the rewards.

The kids (especially Taylor) don't know quite what to do with all of this space. Tag and hide and seek have become a favorite pass time! Kelsi and Jessica have their own space and separate rooms! This is making for a lot less fighting and much cleaner rooms. Kelsi even has her own bathroom- she is already turning into a tween and obsessing about hair etc.

I guess that I just have to say that this Thanksgiving I have a lot to be thankful for. The new home has really made me realize just how much we have accomplished in the last two years. It was very difficult but I am very thankful for the challenge and improvement in our lives. We made it through in one piece. All of our kids are alive and happy and Ryan and my relationship is stronger than ever.

I am looking forward to the holidays in our new home. Both trees are already up and the kids are very excited that we have a fireplace for Santa to come down! I can't help but be thankful for all that I have and the many blessings that occur in our life. I posted a picture of the home- it's off Google maps (I haven't found the camera yet!)

Halloween in Colorado Springs

This Halloween we flew over to Colorado and spent the weekend with one of my best friends and her family. We had a great time! The kids enjoyed trick or treating and came home with entirely too much candy! It was fun to see Taylor and Blake (4) play together- they loved each other. Course it was even funner to dress them up as Buzz and Woody. The kids got a real kick out of going on airplane- and of course had an argument over who exactly got to sit where. So- on to the photos...

Oh- How He Makes Me Laugh!

I just have to laugh- and share... This is how I found Taylor watching Mickey Mouse this morning! I guess the tubes from swimming last night didn't get put away and he found another use for them.

Weekend Away

Ryan and I decided that we would take the kids and go away this weekend. I have to say that it was great fun. We went up to Park City and stayed in the Westgate Hotel. I picked it because the room was pretty cheep and it looked promising. All I can say is WoW! Our room had a fully equipped kitchen, a living room with pullout sleeper couch, a patio with table and chairs, and a master bedroom with a king sized bed and a jacuzzi tub. It was wonderful! The hotel also had a game room that the kids had a blast in. The only downside was how huge the hotel was- it was very easy to get lost...
Today, after a breakfast cooked in the hotel room, we headed off to the outlet mall. I spent about 100 bucks and fully outfitted the girls for school. Can't beat that, right! We then headed up to the alpine slide. We had taken the kids up here a couple weeks before and it was cold and rainy. They had fun so we agreed we could go again when it was warmer. Today was almost too warm, LOL! All of us have sunburned faces!
I had gone to Costco and bought the 10 pack pass thing so we were able to take the kids on the Alpine slide and then the Alpine coaster 2x. They loved it! Jessica was so brave this time that she flipped herself out of the Alpine slide! No worries- she skinned up an elbow and will have a bruised shoulder but she's ok. The amazing thing was that she got right back in and finished going down the mountain without even shedding a tear.
I do have to say though that the Alpine coaster is by far the better ride. It was so much fun to ride up the mountain in the little sled and then come flying down it. The girls could be heard screaming and laughing the entire way.
We had such a great time that I was too busy to take pictures- oh well! It's all about the memories, right?!? It was great to escape for a bit and just play with our kids.