Khloee's Birthday

We celebrated Khloee's birthday on Super Bowl Sunday. She thought all the food and people were just for her. Last year her Birthday was on the day Tanner was baptized so she is going to have great expectations in the years to come. Party's with lots of food and lots of family there "just for her"!

I had been looking for a little table and chairs that she could have tea party's on as well as color and play with her play dough. After looking and looking for something that was good quality as well as something within the budget, Kory came up with the great idea to make a little picnic table for her. It was PERFECT! I think I might love it as much as she does.

We would be a different family without this blue eye, blond hair little princess! She is my little shadow and her Dad, is putty in her hands!

Now to convince her she is not a boy and she doesn't take her shirt off like the boy's do.

lets hope this isn't still a problem by her next birthday.

(I love her little "outie" belly button)

Happy Birthday Khloee!!

Tanner turns 9

It is a weird feeling to think in your head that you still feel 21 but you know that you have a 9 year old now and so apparently you have to be aging as well. (crap, how does this happen.)


Tanner turned 9 on January 26th. The Sunday before his birthday we had a family party and we played a game of "How well do you know Tanner." Surprisingly, his dad was the winner. But his uncle Jeff and Aunt Val came in a close second.


We had a full house and it was a lot of fun to have everyone there for Tanner. My most favorite thing about Tanner right now is that he is so strong and he uses his strength so willingly to help and serve others. He loves to lift and move things that he know most kids his age wouldn't be able to. Every time I need some heavy labor around the house, he is more than willing to come to my aid.


For his birthday we decided to paint his room and redo it to fit his personality a little more. Thankfully, Misti and Kandice came to my aid and came and helped with the surprise redo.

(Kandice the painter with mad painting skills)

What a great kid he is!!

Happy Birthday Grandma!!

Friday we got to celebrate ANOTHER Birthday for my Mom!

Because she is crazy, she started a diet with my dad earlier this week so we couldn't celebrate with cake and candles. So instead we chose to celebrate with an activity. Misti, Kandice and I with our kids (minus Emmie) got to share an hour with her on a bike trail. She was a little nervous because she hasn't been on a bike for years. (Apparently the couple missionaries get off easier than the elders and don't have to pedal a bike for the years spent on a mission.) But she was a good sport and pedaled her little bike, (with her bright pink balloon trailing behind her) like a pro and there wasn't a crash to be seen or heard. What a perfect afternoon it was and the kids will hopefully remember the afternoon they spent with their grandparents and their bikes!

Dust off your roller skates for next year Grandma!!

Christmas Memories

Christmas Eve 2009, started at Grandma Wright's for Dinner and New PJ's!Then we headed home and the lights "Mysteriously" went out. So we gave each of the kids a flashlight and we looked at our Nativity and talked (for approximately 2.3 minutes) about the birth of Jesus Christ. After our short spiritual moment, we kept the lights off and used our flashlights to play a fun game of *SARDINES*.
After Sardines we all crashed in Kory and my room while watching "The Polar Express".
Thankfully Santa's helpers woke up around 12 and helped Santa with the gifts.

And in the words of Tanner,
"This was the best Christmas ever!"

Gingerbread and Jacuzzi's

The kids and I got to have the Queen gingerbread house maker come to the house and help us do our houses just right. She came with "tackle box" in hand. Loaded with all the cute icing tips and colored icing you could ever want. Who is this "Queen of the Gingerbread house?" We know her as Nanny, but she is Stefanie Davis' Grandma and we were delighted to have her expertise as we spent a couple of hours decorating. Tanner was hilarious because he wanted to squeeze the icing by himself and he just didn't have enough house to put all of his frosting on. He did an awesome job and came up with a cute little cobblestone path made out of frosting (imagine that) and Nerds. The boys loved it and we were glad that Stef let us invade on her yearly tradition with her girls and their Nanny.

We enjoyed a rainy December night by going to Postma's and warming up in their Jacuzzi. We thought it was great to be so toasty warm in the water, while it was freezing out of the water. Whenever we got too warm we would hop out and take turns doing tricks on the trampoline and then running back to the warm water. The kids wont let me forget how much fun we had and can't wait to do it again.

Thankfulness

Warning: no pictures below (blogger is being retarded) just a long story!

I am ready for a holiday! Especially an eating Holiday! Yea. It is just nice to have the kids out of school with no schedules and just be together. (remind me I said that at the end of the weekend.)

To get us in the "Thankfulness" mood, this week we have asked the kids at dinner every night to tell us something that happened to them that day that they were thankful for. We started on Sunday, and it went fine. Monday I worked and when I came home the spirit in the home was not the peaceful, ready for family home evening, atmosphere that I was hoping for. Tanner had gotten in trouble for lying to his dad and then the night had gone in a downward spiral from there. So when we sat down to dinner and it was my turn to share my gratitude experience I told about a lady that had come to the dentist office and was so grateful for everything and how she had set such a good example for me. When it came to Tanner's turn he said, "nothing, I am grateful for nothing." I just let it go because I knew he was just bitter at his dad.

The next night, Tuesday, I had made some great personal efforts in keeping my cool with the "ungrateful" kid. I had to ask him 5 or 6 times to empty the dishwasher, clean up his room, vacuum the front room etc. . . And by that many times I am ready to lose it. . . . but I don't. We sit down to dinner and Luke goes first and then me. I am about to say what I am grateful for when RJ pipes up and in this exasperated tone says "mom, don't tell us about the lady at the dentist office again." (apparently I dragged on a little too much for his taste). (So I kept it short).

When it comes to Tanner, he says

"Nothing again, I am not grateful for anything." I just looked at him for a minute thinking, I am going to ship you off to some third world country where they have nothing and then maybe you can find something to be grateful for. But I am unfortunately the only grown up at the table (Kory was at Youngmen's) so I have to be mature and I decide to just ignore it and move on to the next person, when Tanner speaks up again.

"Wait I have something to be grateful for. I am grateful for the HOPE that someday my parents will be nice to me!"

Yep, pack your bags buddy! And who thought of this stupid idea to let your kids voice their "gratitude" at the dinner table? Just eating, no talking, from here on out.

Apple Day

We took a trip to Springdale on Saturday to pick some Apples and have some fun together.Kandice, Dave and Emmie joined us for a "pickin' good time."

Khloee was her dad's best little helper

We had to keep a close eye on this little apple picker who prefered to find a big pile of apples on the ground and then pick from those. They were easier to reach that way.

Tanner was a great picker from the ladder.

Luke was not to be outshined by his older brother on the ladder.

We came home with a bunch of good apples to use to build up our food storage with applesauce and apple pie filling and anything else apple that we can come up with.

I'm open for suggestions if you have any!! Or just drop by for a yummy Fuji apple fresh from Springdale.