Treasure of a Find

I have so many pictures that I haven't posted to my blog, but I've been wanting to share them. I was just now going on a picture hunt, trying to decide what to post from all my pictures that date back to October when I found these beauties! Apparently the kids were having such a great time that they decided to document it with MY camera!

Seriously, who needs a horse? I'll just call this picture series "A Sad Day in the Life of Max".

Braving the Cold

This winter has been so cold here! We have had several days in the single digits and teens. If I could, I'd just spend all day every day wrapped up in a few blankets sitting on the couch, but with kids that's just not possible. So I guess the next best thing is to go out and play in all the freezing cold goodness!

Ever since the snow hit the ground all the kids have been BEGGING to go sledding, so we finally found the time and bundled up! This particular day was only about 10 degrees Fahrenheit, but that didn't stop us. :)

Here is Alexandra posing for the camera, of course.

I usually don't like taking the kids sledding because it's so much work for me with all the whining, carrying kids AND sleds up the hill, and forcing them to go down again "because we are here". Well, this time was so different and we all had a lot of fun! Even I didn't want to go home.

All the kids (even Alexandra) just loved sledding and wanted to go again and again and again. Alex insisted on walking up the hill herself and even carrying her own sled some of the time! It was so cute to watch the kids faces as they sped down the snowy slopes.

Every time Alex went down, either by herself or with someone else, she just had this enormous grin on her face and she would giggle all the way down. I just wanted to soak it all in and save it for a long time.

That's Samantha sliding down the hill. This saucer was her favorite.

Nathan was just as much fun to watch. He couldn't get enough. He had that little saucer sled and just went again and again and again. As soon as he got to the bottom, he would jump off and run to the top and take it down. Sometimes he couldn't even wait to run to the top! He would get to the middle of the hill, set down his sled and just take off.

There goes Athena!

Jeremy and Alexandra again.

I did actually go down the hill and enjoy myself too, but since I'm the one with the camera, all you'll see of me is my shadow in several of the shots. Proof I was there!

Taking the kids sledding at the ages they are now is the most fun we have had with this activity and I look forward to when we can go again. I very much appreciate having our kids grow out of the toddler years, become a little more independent, and watching them having fun together as a family. :)

Great Big THANKS!!!!

December was the busiest I remember in a long time - thanks to all my wonderful friends and neighbors who supported Athena and I in our Peanut Brittle Fund Raiser.

Athena auditioned and made it onto the concert choir for the group she sings with and will now be going on a tour this summer (and every summer)! Because she is under 12, I will be going with her. She is really excited to go and I'm happy for her. To raise money for her tour, we decided to sell peanut brittle and see if we could get some help.

To my surprise, things went much better than expected and peanut brittle was just flying off our shelves! I spent almost every day making peanut brittle, packaging it up, and sending her out to sell more candy. Thank you to everyone who supported her as she came knocking at your door! She was delighted with your response and I am so grateful to all of you for helping her to accomplish her goal of paying for her tour. :)

As a result of our little fund raiser, Athena earned enough to pay for her entire tour and now we just need to pay for mine! THANK YOU!!! I really hope you all enjoyed your candy!

Our stats for this year: We sold 76 lbs of candy - went through 26 lbs of peanuts - 16 batches made - and logged more than 40 hours.

Hopefully next year will be just as great as we prepare for her next tour! :)

Snowed In

These pictures are from last night. It snowed all day long yesterday and by the end of the day, this is how our back deck looked.

 Then the snow continued all night long and when Jeremy woke up to get ready for work, we were completely buried. He started shoveling at 6:15 am and was able to finish just the driveway by 7:45 am.

After he took these pictures and came inside, he turned on the news to see what the rest of the valley looked like and it was announced that school was CANCELLED! This is the first time we have ever had school cancelled because of snow. Crazy! I think we've had it much worse than this and still had to go to school - although this was pretty bad too.

 I was actually really bummed because today was when all the kids would have their Christmas parties at school! So, instead . . . I spent all morning shovelling the parts Jeremy didn't get to yet. I did the sidewalks, a spot for Max (so he could go potty), and by the time I finished those spots, there was another 5 inches of snow on the driveway that needed shovelling.

I finally finished clearing what I could by about 10:30am and headed off for my primary meeting. Athena and Samantha were so anxious to play outside, so we brought the meeting to my house and we sent the kids outside. :)

Even though it takes A LOT of work to recover from all this snow (and more is coming), I have to say that I really enjoy the sense of community and service that it brings. As I was outside shoveling, all the neighbors were also outside working on their driveways and helping each other to dig out. Anyone who owned a snowblower finished their own work and headed throughout the neighborhood to make sure everyone's driveway was cleaned out.

The snowplow didn't ever make it down our road, but the neighbor's son has a plow on his pickup truck and he went ahead and cleared the road for all of us. Now we really are dreaming of a white Christmas. :)

13 Years with my Honey! :)

Happy Anniversary!!!

We celebrated our 13th anniversary yesterday, December 18th. :) Who knew 13 years ago that time would pass so quickly and I would find myself here, in a house, mothering 4 kids, and very much in the grind of life.

That said, I am very happy to be exactly where I am right now. I chose to settle down, get married, and find happiness and joy in my family.

This year has passed by so quickly because of all the busy-ness that comes with living the family life. Jeremy is the 2nd counsellor in the Young Men's program and I am the 2nd counsellor in the Primary. I spend a lot of my time helping kids with homework and running back and forth from choir twice a week, dance twice a week, gymnastics, planning and teaching an aerobic pump class, keeping up on housework, and throwing in playtime when I can.

The nice thing in all of that is that we get to spend a lot of time together as a family, and Jeremy is really great about always finding a way for he and I to spend time together.

Now that Athena is finally old enough to babysit, Jeremy and I are able to go out on dates and have some alone time . . . even if that alone time is a little trip to Walmart!

For our anniversary date we kept it really low-key. We went to eat at a less-fancy-than-Jeremy-would-have-wanted restaurant because it was my pick. Then we went to the mall and window shopped WITHOUT KIDS. It was an enjoyable night out just spending time together.

I am happy to have Jeremy as my husband and best friend and glad to say all is well. :)

I LOVE YOU, JEREMY!!!!

Who Drew the Line?

Gee, I wonder who drew the line to make it "fair".

We have this white board in our family room for the kids to show their creative side and it is fought over often. Well, this was one of those times - and to make it fair - a line was drawn down the "middle" to give everyone equal portions. In case you can't read it, the left side says, "Samantha's side". The right side says, "Nathan and Alex's side".

Happy Birthday Samantha!

This post is SO LATE! However, I cannot neglect it. We missed Samantha's 9th birthday when we were on our cruise and it was an especially hard day for me. Lucky for her, she was spending time with her loving grandparents (on both sides) and they made it really special for her. She was taken to dinner twice and got to go to the BYU football game.

Jeremy and I came home from our trip 2 days after her birthday and we gave her the big birthday gift she had been waiting for. :) I didn't have it wrapped already and we got home late, so I wrapped it in a blanket for her.

I love the look on her profile in this picture. She wanted a lego castle set and I found this really cool medieval house set for her. She loved it!

All the kids were so happy to have us home and I was happy to see them again! :) It's weird how even after a week, you start to forget your kid's little faces. Even though it was really late, we enjoyed just being together again for a little bit before sending them all to bed. Here is tired, but happy Athena.

Finally he made it home to his couch!

This expression is the best. Doesn't she look so happy to be back with the family? Cute!

The next day, after school, Samantha was so anxious to get started on her birthday gift. She delved right in and I sat down and worked on it with her. Legos are so fun!

Happy Birthday Samantha! I love you!