Christmas Break

We have been trying to make the best of all the snow we are getting. The kids had a fun time making snowmen and sledding behind the four-wheeler!

Thank you Santa! Everyone had a great Christmas. We are so glad that Santa found our house this year and didn't leave anyone a lump of coal!

Never too old to sit on Santa's lap!

Our Nativity

Two cute shepherds!

We've had a pretty fun break so far with more fun to come hopefully. I think by the time they go back to school I will be more than ready! :)

Friends!

Nate has found such a good friend in our neighborhood. I love this picture of them because it totally reflects their time together. They have so much fun together. They laugh and giggle the whole time they're together. I am so glad he has such a good little friend.

They already give their primary teacher a run for her money. Maybe that is why they put me in there--to control Nate.:)

Nate decided to comb his own hair the other day. He came down stairs and said,"look, mom, I have an airhawk!" I told him its pronounced--mohawk. I think he got this idea from his cute friend who wears his hair spiky, and of course, he wants to be just like him.

He left sacrament meeting to "get a drink" and came back with a mohawk. What a turkey!

Tree Trimming!

We put up our Christmas tree on Saturday. It was a nice evening as a family and our first time in the new house. Now we can make some Christmas memories and the house will really feel like home.

We had to get creative to get the ornaments at the top of the tree.

"And the stockings were hung by the chimney with care. . ."!

Future Blogger!

Kacie is a natural when is comes to blogging! She makes her way around the blog world and is a blog surfer! She loves it when she recognizes people--she thinks she is so grown up! Pretty scary that she is already more computer literate than me! :)

Girls Just Wanna Have Fun!

I had a GREAT time with 3 super fun sisters-in-law, a super sweet mother-in-law and a super cute niece the past 5 days! We all met in Oklahoma where Brett's sister, Debbie, lives. Then we got in the car for a road trip to Branson! My pictures turned out dark so I'm bummed about that, but these ones weren't too bad. Here's a quick look at some of our trip.

Here we are at Silver Dollar City. This was a really cute place with lots of shops and some roller coasters. It was pretty cold so we only hit a couple of roller coasters, but loved going through the shops, drinking wassail/hot chocolate, seeing one of the most amazing Christmas lights display (over 4.5 million lights) and eating the BEST kettle corn!

This is Brigit (sis-in-law), Jessica (niece) and me on the Branson Belle--a really big show boat where we ate a yummy dinner and saw a show. The show was great and the ventriloquist made me laugh so hard I cried!

A picture of the outside of the boat before going aboard.

Me, Jessica, Katie (sis-in-law) and Bev (mother-in-law) at the Andy Williams Christmas Show. We had such a fun time and are already talking about next year. Thanks girls for a SUPER time! wink! wink!

Fun Quiz

I'm an Audi TT!

You're not the fastest, nor the most nimble, but you're cute and you have style. You're not intensely competitive, but when you pass by, everyone turns to look.

Take the Which Sports Car Are You? quiz.

Going Private

I have decided to go private with my blog. Please let me know if you would like an invitation to continue viewing it. Don't forget to send your e-mail address! This will happen in about a week. Thanks!

Happy Birthday, Zach!!

My first born turned 12 yesterday! Now, I really feel old! Zach has been such a sweet kid. I am very proud to have him as a son. What a great helper and great friend to all!

I let the kids each pick out one present for Zach. Kacie picked out this over-sized, lighted, pink clapper. She insisted. I thought it was too funny. Zach was super sweet and acted really excited about getting it. By the look on his face, that was a real stretch to do! But, like I said--he's such a sweetheart!

Happy Birthday, Zach! We are sure blessed to have you in our lives! Thanks everyone for the gifts and phone calls!

Happy Halloween!

We had a fun night carving pumpkins yesterday. Nate and Kacie had fun drawing faces on apples. Somehow the pumpkins all ended up looking alike--guess they were all from the same family!

Completed works of art!

Nothing says Halloween and pumpkin carving like a good caramel apple!

Cleaning out the pumpkins is always the worst part!

Pumpkins (and apples) are finally done!

Have a great Halloween everyone!

Football Season

Its a new year of football for Zach and Brayden. They both love to play and I enjoy watching them. Both teams have a winning record. Brayden's team is heading to the playoffs and Zach's team will go if they win their next game. Just thought I'd share a few pictures of my cute football players.

I am the lucky one who gets to wash these uniforms--thank goodness for bleach!

Zach is playing defensive end here--I think.

Father and son. Brett is able to help coach Brayden's team this year. I think he really likes it and so does Brayden. I give Brett a hard time about wearing a red Madison cap. Brayden's team stomped Sugar this year, so I think that makes it a little easier to wear the Madison hat.


Don't mess with me, man!
Brayden, ready for action at safety!

Too Funny!

My kids are always making me laugh. I usually don't write down or document in any way all the funny things they do. I decided to get this one on the record. Haley was playing down at the pond at the entrance of our subdivision. It was getting close to dinner time so I was going to get in the car and drive down to get her. I didn't need to when I saw her walking home. I called to her to run cause it was time to eat. She started running--a little slow and awkwardly I thought. When she got closer I realized why she was running slow and awkward. She was wearing pants that can roll up and become capris. The straps to button the pants up were tied together. My first thought was that the neighbor boys who she was with had tied her pants together and she couldn't get them untied--and how dare they do such a mean thing to sweet Haley. However, she informed me that she did it to herself because she wanted to wade in the pond without getting her pants wet. So, instead of rolling them up and buttoning them how they were designed to do, she rolled them up and tied the straps together. They got wet, and she pulled them too tight and she couldn't untie them. She walked the 1/2 mile back to the house like that--like a penguin! Maybe it's just me and the sight of seeing her waddle up to the house, but it cracked me up!


Love you, Haley!!

Weekend Getaway!

I had the chance to go to Sun Valley with my mom and sister this last weekend. We decided to meet up there for a little getaway. While we were there we participated in the National Multiple Sclerosis Society fun run/walk. My grandma Josephine Luman died in her early sixties from MS. I was only 2 and so don't have any memories of her. We talked about grandma as we walked and I learned a lot about her. She taught school with her sister in a two-room school house in Kansas after high school. Later, she joined the army where she was a dietitian and also where she met her husband. She was an intelligent lady which explains why my mom is also very intelligent. It was a fun time even though it rained on us most of the way. Besides the fundraiser walk we did the usual "girly" things. We went to the spa, did some shopping and saw the movie "The Women".

Here is the 3 of us before the walk (and rain) started.

The mountains were beautiful! This picture doesn't do them justice. Thank you mom and Laura for a great weekend! Debi and Anjela--we missed you! There's always next year!

Pocahantas

Isn't every girl a princess? This was a fun quiz to take. Thanks Brigit for sharing! I am questioning its accuracy because I don't think I really fit the description--do you?

Free-spirited and wise. You have a strong passionate spirit that touches and changes all who know you. The wisdom and common sense that you have is really what guides you through life. Even so, you also have a very playful side that loves adventure and excitement.

What princess are you?
http://www.greatestjournal.com/quiz.bml?Q=16354

September Birthdays

Nate had his fifth birthday on Sep. 4. He and a neighbor friend are playing with the bubble BBQ he got. The kids had a great time making and then chasing the bubbles.

Brayden turned 10 on the 12th. We took a group of his friend to Green Canyon to swim. He has some really great boys for friends. They had a blast swimming. You can imagine the "chaos" at the pool with 6 boys playing football in the water. Sorry if any of you were there and got totally splashed!

Nate starts Pre-school!

Where does the time go? Nate was SO excited to start school this year. It really made him feel like one of the big kids. I love how his back pack is almost as big as he is! I asked him how it went when I picked him up after the first day. He said, "they had snacks!" like it was the most wonderful thing in the world. He is such a fun boy!

Labor Day in Jackson Hole

We had such a good time over Labor Day. We took the kids to Jackson Hole and did some fun things.

You can't go to Jackson with out taking a picture of the group under the antler arch. The sun was shining right in our faces as you can see from some of the expressions. I am so grateful to innocent bystanders who will take a picture of all of us.

Our first stop was the Bar J. It was raining so we were really glad that everything had shelter. Even though we've seen the show and eaten the food many times, it still is a great night--we laugh over and over at the same jokes!
We stayed at the Best Western there. We hit the pool and hot tub before we checked out.
We walked around downtown Jackson and decided to stop and get an old time photo of the family. I snuck in a picture of my own of us getting ready. From now on Brett is known as "cowboy dad".
Here is Zach and Haley getting on the ski lift at the alpine slide.
Here is Zach on his way down the mountain. What a great idea! They loved it!

Its so nice to get away on a "mini vacation" every now and then. Its nice that we have so many great places to go that are just a couple hours away.

Back to School!

A big day at our house today. The kids started school again. I think we were all ready for school to start again.

This is my attempt to be a fun mom and have a cute treat for the kids when they got home from school.

The kids thought that I should have my picture taken, too, since its kind of back to work for mom--making breakfast. No more sleeping in for me while the kids help themselves to sugar-loaded cold cereal.
Zach is definitely ready for band class to start again. Those trombones are so loud!
Haley all ready to go! Favorite thing about the first day of school: "recess" Worst thing about first day of school: "practicing lining up" Brayden--Favorite thing: "lunch" Worst thing: "I don't think there was really anything bad"
Zach-- Favorite thing: "going from class to class instead of staying in the same class all day" Worst thing: "riding the bus"

It was an overall good day for everyone. I enjoyed the quieter morning and getting a lot more done than I do with all the kids home. Here we go with another school year!