Maya and Karli's Christmas Dance

Maya and Karli had their dance recital on Saturday. It was Karli's first chance to dance on the stage and she was pretty excited. Maya says it makes you nervous because everybody is watching you. Despite being nervous, Maya did great and so did Karli. After watching the dances, a couple people pointed out that a lot of the girls in Karli's class were watching Karli to know what step came next because they knew Karli would know what to do. And Maya knew all of her steps and performed them with exactness. Good Job girls!

Maya didn't want her picture taken for most of these pictures, hence, the slouching and slightly grumpy face.

Gingerbread Houses

So, one of my favorite family traditions is making gingerbread houses. My mom has been making them for us since I was one or two years old and I have only missed decorating them 2 years, and that's when I was on my mission.

This is the first year my dad has ever helped put them together or decorate them. It was great to have my dad's help!

This was also Halle's first year to have a house to decorate and she loved it! The first few candies she had to lick before she put them on, maybe that makes them look better?

Kate's Birthday

Cute little Kate (aka Rapunzel, as she calls herself) turned 4 on Sunday. She was counting down to her birthday last week and I was surprised that she could count down the days all by herself. She is such a sweet little girl. I can't believe she is 4.

This is what she did when we sang to her. She laughed.

It took about 6 tries to blow the candles out. The first 3 times she tried, none of the candles went out.

More Thanksgiving Fun

We had a lot of fun with extra family in town for Thanksgiving. We all loved being able to see Jason's grandparents and having a little snuggle time with them, was great for my kids.

Maya and Karli and Jarren carried around and pestered grandma's kitties for 4 days. Grandma said the cats probably loved the attention. I say the poor cats were probably ready for us to leave every night. Anyway, the kids were in heaven every day being able to love them.

On Friday we all went to see the lights at Temple Square, it had been a few years since I had seen them. We rode the train downtown and the kids all thought that was great. Halle and Kate sat with their faces pressed against the glass watching outside for most of the ride there. I wish Halle would have sat that good coming back home.

Fall Leaves

We raked the leaves at our house a couple of times this year, but it seemed like it was colder outside this year. Anyway, the kids didn't play in the leaves, which was actually fine by me, because the leaves get all broken up and it's harder to clean them up when their done jumping in them. I know, what a boring parent. Oh well! Anyway, with Jason's brother being in town we spent a lot of time at his parents house. Jason's brother raked the leaves and then left them in a pile for a few days for the kids to play in them. I know, a good uncle! The kids had a great time playing in them.

Thanksgiving Turkeys

We were so excited to have Jason's brother, Jeremy, and his family come for a visit for Thanksgiving. We typically only see them once a year, so it was great to see them again this year. It's a tradition in Jason's family to make Thanksgiving turkeys out of gumdrops. This year some of the kids had fun making spiders and other things besides turkeys. They seemed to have fun making them and eating them.

Jarren and cousin Maddie just starting the turkeys.

Maya and cousin Dawson, with I think a spider and a turkey.

Me...with mine and Jason's turkeys.

Kate, completely enjoying herself.

Halloween

You would think after seeing my kids costumes that I had planned all their costumes with a theme in mind. Nope. The only costume I picked was Halle's, since it matched 3 of the other kids and we already had it. Maya was the one who wanted to be original. The kids made out with a ton of candy after trick or treating at Jason's work and the ward trunk or treat. Since they got so much candy before Halloween we only went to about 3 neighbors houses plus both grandmas on Halloween.

A good witch! Not a scary one.

Go Utes!

This is how Halle smiles in all her pictures now.

Excited to be a cheerleader.

Karli's pretty proud of her pumpkin.

Visit to See the Witches

Every year me and the kids have fun going to see the witches at a nearby park. This year, for the first time, we took Jason with us. I don't think he enjoyed it too much, but me and the kids did (well, most of the kids liked it, most of the time- the pictures will show you which child I'm talking about).




Jason will be so embarrased to see that his son is wearing a "Y" shirt in these pictures, since our family cheers, "Go Utes!" Oh well, he was excited about getting it from a basketball camp he went to the week before.

Maya's Pumpkin

Last year in school Maya planted a white pumpkin seed. It grew in its cup for awhile and then we transfered it to our garden. I didn't think much would happen with it, but to my surprise it grew like crazy and was one of the funnest plants to watch in our garden. She ended up with 2 white pumpkins. Good growing Maya!

First Day of School- Part 2

Karli and Kate started school about a week and a half after Jarren and Maya. Luckily the "K's" started on the same day, it made it easier to wait that way.

Karli likes school, but at first she didn't like recess. I know, what kid doesn't like recess. In fact she even told me she didn't want to go to school one day because she knew they were going to have a longer recess than normal. Mean mom, made her go anyway. Anyway, the teacher got it figured out, she thinks Karli was afraid because she got lost going from the bathroom to the playground on one of her first days of school. Now, she's like any normal kid and loves recess.

Kate loves preschool. Mrs. Charri is wonderful and Kate thinks it's great to have one of her best friends in class.

Jarren and Maya looking like pro's, since they've already done the school thing for a week and a half this year.

Tampa

I have to start this post by saying thank you to the Simons for sharing their camera with us during this trip. We weren't thinking and didn't take ours.

In August Jason and I and our good friends, the Simons, went on a trip to Tampa, Florida. Let's just say it was a ton of fun! I've never been to a beach before where after a few hours the water is a little bit too warm and you have to get out. I was very sunburned for a few weeks after that day at the beach, but it was well worth it.

While in Tampa we went to Bush Gardens. The first day started out very eventfully. On our train ride over to enter the park, it started to sprinkle and within about 10 seconds it was a downpour. We had no choice but to get off the train and run in the rain for some sort of shelter. Once we realized we were as soaked as we could be, we decided to just enjoy being drenched and walk in the rain. The rides were great. But by the 2nd day of rides, the men wimped out and the ladies had to go on the rides by ourselves. They were content to sit or stand in the baking sun, while we went and had fun on more rides.


Of course while in Tampa we had to go to a baseball game. Check one more stadium off of Chad and Jason's list.



On one of the days we went on a boating trip to see dolphins, it was so much fun watching dolphins play in the boats wake.

Thanks to both grandmas and Jessica for taking care of the kids for us. We really appreciate it!

Jordan Left

I am so sad..my little brother left for his mission this last Wednesday. I mean, I am super excited for him and proud of him for going, but I still miss him. He will be serving in Long Beach, CA and will be gone for 2 years.

The siblings- me, Jordan, Tyler and Jessica.

The kids all LOVE Jordan!

Jordan, my kids and my niece. My nephew wasn't in the picture.

Dance

We started the 3 older girls in dance this week. This is Maya's 3rd year dancing, Karli's 2nd and Kate's first year. Kate was so excited. She kept looking at me and smiling during her class, it was so cute.

This week we are letting Jarren start a hip hop dance class. He cried last year when Jason wouldn't let him sign up for tap and ballet, like his sisters. We came up with this compromise.