December Happenings

We actually have been doing stuff this month. I didn't realize it had been so long since I last updated the ol' blog. For starters we made gingerbread houses. The kids worked pretty hard on theirs.



Ryan made the Matterhorn from Disneyland.
Kathleen loves the book that Grandma and Grandpa gave us for Christmas a few years ago. We read it every night before bed. But sometimes she can't wait.
Kathleen wanted her hair like her American Girl doll.
We celebrated Ryan's birthday. Yes, he is old. And he couldn't wait until Monday to eat his pumpkin cheesecake. So we busted it out a day early.
Some friends of ours came over to celebrate the big day with Ryan. We had to sing with a partially eaten cake. But it's Ryan's birthday. He gets what he wants (for a change. Usually he just has to do what his wife wants).

We went to the mall to see Santa. The kids were so cute waiting in line.
Brandon really isn't as bored as he looks.
The kids thought it would be fun to dress up. They were so cute. It isn't very often that the three of them play together.
Ryan decided to do a 12 Days of Christmas thing for me this year. For day one, he gave me some new earrings that Kathleen picked out. Of course, she had to have a matching pair.
We made some sugar cookies.
Kathleen had her first ever orchestra recital. It was so cute to see her. She is so grown up. There were a million little 4th graders. But they sounded great.

So all in all, your typical busy, busy December.

Don't Eat Me!

Kathleen had to write a paper in class. She was a turkey and had to convince her teacher, the farmer, not to eat her. It was so cute I had to share it.

Dear Farmer Ambrose,

My name is Kathleen. You can call me Turkey Kathleen because I'm a turkey on your farm. You can not eat me because I can do some things that will help you. Here are two things I could do for you.

I know you are allergic to nature. Here is what I can do for you. Because you're allergic to sage brush, I will eat all the sage brush you want me to eat. I also heard that you are allergic to weeds. I love weeds. Kind of like with the sage brush, I will eat all the weeds you want me to. I've been watching you near flowers and I see how you sneeze because of the pollen. I could eat the pollen so you can get close to the flowers.

I will also let you have some things like some of my eggs for turkey scrambled eggs. I bet they're good. If you need to dress up as an Indian, I would give you two feathers of mine for the thingy-mabob. This is what it looks like [she drew a picture of a headband with feathers].

You should consider trying pig. There is a nice plump pig that has a lot of meat, or try just stuffing as the main course of the meal. I can help your Thanksgiving feast be a blast. Please spare me.

Love, a very nice turkey,

Turkey Kathleen

P.S. I would hate for you to get sick because of pollen flying everywhere. =)

We Love Grammy and Pompa

With Thanksgiving past, it is time to put up Christmas decorations. But Ryan had to work on Friday. The kids couldn't wait to put up the tree. So we agreed that they could put up the kid tree in the playroom. They insisted that they could do it all by themselves. And they did. It was so cute.

Then Grammy and Pompa surprised us and decided to come and visit for the weekend. It was so wonderful to have them here. We got to put up our Christmas decorations with them. Kathleen wore the tree skirt. I remember doing that when I was her age.


When Grammy and Pompa come, we always jump rope. I think if it were snowing the kids would still beg to jump rope with Grammy and Pompa. And knowing Grammy and Pompa, they would go out in the snow and twirl the rope for them.
My favorite of all the Christmas lights outside our house is the tree Ryan did out back. I can see it from most of the windows in my house. I love to just look out my windows at it.

Playing Charades:






I forgot to turn on the lights in the kids windows when I took the picture of the house outside. So I asked Kathleen to go plug them in. Here she is in the window so cute.
We made a craft involving straws and wrapping paper.
The kids used it as garland on their tree. It was super fun.
Thanks Grammy and Pompa for coming to visit. We home you come again soon!

Happy Thanksgiving!

So, what have we been up to lately, a lot I suppose. Brandon is getting ready to start basketball again. He had his evaluation night and it went really well. He LOVED it and has been bringing his basketball to school every day since.We went to Rexburg to visit Alyssa and Clayton. It was FREEZING. But it was fun to be with them anyway. Here we are at the BYU-I conference center.
"Mom, take a picture of me with this statue!"
I made the kids run up and down these stairs and race. I timed them. Anything to get their energy out. Kids don't always fit in on a college campus. But they did well.

Uncle Clayton took us shooting. Brandon LOVED it. Cody was so freaked out by the whole thing that he wouldn't even get out of the car.
A mom of one of the kids in Cody's class took this picture of us. I thought it was cute. What a fun boy I have. Always full of hugs.
Kathleen won the Reflections contest at our school for a book she wrote. She even did her own artwork. It was really cute. She is very excited about it and will tell you all about it if you ask.


Cody had a Thanksgiving Feast at school. Here is the insane table to fit all 150 or so kindergartners.
And here is my cute little "Native American."
And here he is...still eating...everyone else is gone...even the table cloth is rolled up and stopped at him. But he probably ate more than any other kid. He just took his sweet time to do it.
What do you do with 3 kids for a week at home during Thanksgiving break (besides go insane)? You make homemade pizza and let them make it. Then you toss yours up in the air so high that flour flies all over the kitchen, including your hair and clothes. That is always good for a 3-kid laugh session. And maybe a little laughing from mom too (until I have to clean up the mess I made).
Then you make pilgrim hat and turkey cookies.
And just for fun, you can make a pie for Thanksgiving and try and put a turkey on it. I know this isn't the best turkey ever, but it is the best you will probably ever see from me.
Here are the boys (and some girls) in our ward having their annual "Turkey Bowl".
Some friends of ours took pity on us and invited us over for Thanksgiving dinner. It was so fun and the food was great. And the best part was, I didn't have to make most of it.
Happy Thanksgiving!

I've Ruined Her

It's official. I have ruined my beautiful daughter. She has never liked getting her nails done, or anything girly for that matter. But I talked her into going and getting pedicures with me just this one time, then I would never bother her about it again. And I PROMISE, we won't do fingers. Just toes. Well...she LOVED it. She is already planning on when we can go back. And next time, "how about we get our fingers done too?"
It was time to rake the leaves, so of course, leave jumping was in order.

I found this picture of Kathleen from Halloween cracking up as she counted her candy. It was so cute.

I went to an assembly at the kids' school and got this super cute picture of Brandon. It is rare to get one this good of him.
Cody's two best friends: