Christmas Party

A few weekends ago we had our annual family Christmas party. It is always fun when we can all get together-and especially good when my Mom and Jeff are able to make it down from Arizona to join us. The only ones missing were Mandy and her family-hopefully next year little Hanxton will be well enough that they can join us.

We made some Pinterest inspired ornaments. They didn't turn out exactly how we thought they would nor were they quite as easy-but the kids seemed to like them.

 We of course had lots of yummy food, and had fun visiting. The kids did a gift exchange-which they always look forward too.

 Afterwards we snapped a few pictures-can't every pass up a chance for a photo op :)

We had a great evening with the family-that's what Christmas is really all about anyways-is the time spent with those you love.

The Elf is Back in Town

Chloe and Tanner have officially taken over the "Elf" responsibility. They are having a fun time with Ellie this year. Bryce might not understand exactly what the elf on the shelf is all about-but every morning the first thing he does when he gets up is goes and looks for Ellie. Several times throughout the day he will ask me "What's Ellie doing?" So fun! And so fun to see Tanner and Chloe want to do fun things to make their little brother happy.

Thanksgiving Break

 We had a fun but extremely busy few days over Thanksgiving Break. We started out by driving up to Landon's parents house Wednesday afternoon. The kids were so excited to finally be on their way to Grandmas and to be out of school for a few days.
Thursday morning we headed up the canyon to get our Christmas Tree. We didn't think there was any snow up there but soon found out there was and not only that but that the roads were a little bit slick and muddy. We did get stuck but just for a minute before Landon was able to get us out of it. And we managed to find the perfect little tree.

 Then it was time to get ready for dinner. We went over to Landon's Grandmas along with his parents, his aunt Tess and her family, and all of his siblings and their families. It was a big gathering with lots of fun catching up. Bryce sporting his turkey shirt...

 After dinner was over it was time for Chloe and I to hit the road-we needed to get back to St. George for her soccer tournament the next day. I don't see well at night so we left in just enough time I wouldn't have to drive after dark. We also took Saydee and Kylie back with us as we planned to do a little Black Friday shopping starting that night when we got back into town. We got into town about 6 o'clock and started our shopping. We shopped until about 10 then it was time for a late night snack from the waffle truck. Then home and in bed by about 11. We slept for a few hours, until about 2 am to be exact, and then got up and headed out again. After our next bit of shopping we got back home at about 3-but none of us could ever go back to sleep so we went out again at 5-haha. When we had finally had enough it was time for Chloe to start playing soccer.

 Her team won their first game-woot woot.

 After the first game we went out to Great-Grandma's house for a lunch of Thanksgiving leftovers-I took a nap and the girls put a movie in to watch-when I went to check on them awhile later they were both zonked out. I felt kind of bad that I had to wake them up to head to Chloe's second soccer game of the day. They tied that game. After the second game we grabbed a pizza, went home, got in our jammies, and crashed for the night.

The next morning we got up for another soccer game-Chloe's team ended up losing and that loss caused them to not make it to the championship round (before that they had been in first place). So we packed up an headed back to Fillmore.

Meanwhile while we were down in St. George the boys were up in Fillmore. Bryce ended up getting sick Thursday night and threw up all night and most of the day Friday. In between his not feeling well Landon would take him over to see uncle Layne's baby horse "Cinch"-he absolutely loved it and would ask to go see him several times a day. They would also have to drive by any sheep or cows they could spot while they were out. Bryce had lots of fun being on the farm despite the fact he wasn't feeling all to well. Landon spent his extra time, when he wasn't taking care of a sick boy, helping his mom with some home repairs. Tanner spent his time playing with and tormenting all of his cousins. He also got to go to the movie one night with Grandma and several of the cousins.

 Chloe and I were happy to get back to Fillmore pretty early Saturday afternoon. When we dropped Saydee off we spent a few minutes snuggling Hanxton.

 Later that night back down in Flowell the kids got to decorate Christmas cookies.

 It was a fun couple of days-sad to see it end-but happy to get back home and set up the Christmas tree and start to get ready for Christmas.

SHOES

What is it with my kids and shoes?

It's not that they wear them out-no-all kids do that. It's that they completely wear them until they are falling apart and then instead of mentioning it to me they just continue wearing them. Sometimes for weeks or months-when I finally notice-it is usually not a time when I can run out and buy a new pair-and sometimes even when I do they continue to wear the old comfortable ones for months and months. Really?! I have had to send both kids to school with their shoes taped together because of this happening. Tanner's last pair was so full of holes and at least a size too small-but he kept wearing them even though he had new ones. I finally had to sneak them out of his room one day while he was at school. Then there is Bryce his soles were coming off his for over a month before we found something we really liked to replace them. I think part of it is that we tend to spend a little more on shoes than we do on other items-so usually they are comfortable and they like to wear them.

Who knows...it's just funny, but I guess I'm one to talk as I am typing I realize I have a pair of shoes that the soles are starting to come off of as well-have been for a good 4 months-but I have yet to get myself to throw them out. I guess our family just really loves their shoes.

Getting Ready for Thanksgiving

I think I mentioned in an early post just how much I love fall and Thanksgiving. It is true I really do-it just might be one of my favorite Holidays.

The Tuesday before Thanksgiving I went out to my Grandma's for our annual pie making day. My cousin Audria came out as well. We spent the day making our signature 'squash pie'. I think we made over 20 pies-crust and all.

We had fun visiting while we baked.

While we were busy in the the kitchen, the kids had fun playing and watching movies.

Preslie always seems to be doing her own thing-haha

They went out side and spent a few minutes playing in the leaves-it was bitter cold that day though so it was short lived.

Finally after a whole day baking our efforts paid off. Yes-they tasted as good as they look!

During the month of November we worked on a Thankful-Tree. We each put up one thing we were thankful for every day. Each day was a different letter starting with A and going through Z. I think it made us really think about all we have in our lives and how much we have to be thankful for-even if some of our answers got a little silly.

Rodeo

The last few weekends the kids cousin Kylie has been in town for High-School Rodeo. Chloe was so excited to be able to go spend some time at the rodeo with her. Of course when we went to pick her up-Bryce was pretty excited too. He got to go for a little ride on Kylie's horse. Now he always talks about the "rodeo". Chloe and Bryce both love horses so much-to bad we can't own one where we are at-cause they would for sure be in heaven. Maybe it's a good thing though because they cost so much and take so much time to take care of. Maybe they will own horses of their own when they grow up.

Honor Roll

Chloe is doing awesome in school so far this year. She is at the top of her class in many subjects and for the most part is easily earning A's in every subject without much effort at all. This is the first year (5th Grade) that she could officially be on the Honor Roll. She got a nice certificate from the principal congratulating her. We hope she continues to keep up the good work.