Sweet Sundays

One of the reasons I love Sundays is this: it is one day a week that for the most part our kids get along (for the most part). One Sunday we noticed it was pretty quiet and went upstairs to investigate. We found all the kids playing with with those color changing cars in the bath tub with bubbles, and even though they weren't IN the tub, they were all drenched like they were.

Boys Will Be Boys

These pictures are just so typical of my little guys.

Wrestling, what they LOVE to do.

Some of Parker's favorite things.

Happy Heart Day

This year we got a special treat and Grandma and Grandpa Jeppsen got to visit us over Valentine's Day. They guys let us girls go and get pedicures and it was Caitlyn and Emma's first time. Other than being extremely tickelish they loved it, especially since they got to pick out and take home their own bottle of nail polish. Valentine's Day happened to fall on a Sunday this year, but we were still able to celebrate and have our traditional heart shaped pizza dinner by candlelight (even though it was during the middle of the afternoon) and chocolate fountain. Happy Valentine's Day!

PS...Sorry for the bad quality of pictures, I am not sure what was wrong with my camera, or probably the lady taken the pictures. :)

The Luck of the Irish

The family life center had a little meet and greet for the kids. They got to meet the ND cheerleaders and the official Leprachaun mascot.

Boys and Baseball

Brandon wanted to dress Parker up in his old baseball uniform, and Parker was just loving it. I am sure we will have many more pictures like this in the not so distant future. Parker is counting down the years until he can play baseball, or soccer, or football--just like his big brother Brandon.

Murphy the Monkey

Caitlyn's kindergarten class has a special friend Murphy the Monkey that gets to go home one weekend with each of the kids. They get to READ to him and basically he gets to go anywhere and do anything that they do that weekend. The kicker is that the kids get to scrapbook a page about all their fun activities, so we had to make sure Murphy had a great time. The activities Caitlyn wanted to do that weekend included baking her favorite cookies, snickerdoodles, going swimming at the ND rec center, a play date at our friend's house, reading, and of course a trip to primary.

Everyone Needs One of These

We had to ship some of our Christmas presents home because we couldn't fit everything in our suitcases and when the box finally arrived the kids were very happy to see their new treasures. BUT, they were equally ecstatic to get to play in the big box that those treasures came in and it kept them entertained not just for hours, but for days. Love the box.

New Years Day

2010 started out with yummy colored pancakes and then finished up with a little bowling.

New Year's Eve

New Year's Eve was great, lots of fun games and of course, lots of good food. Something extra fun the kids got to do was to make a time capsule. Each one had a picture of them and a paper they filled out with lots of questions about what is going on in the world and what their favorite things are.

Sledding Three Times

On New Year's Eve day we went sledding, but this time we did it Plain City style. We went out to my Grandma and Grandpa's house and my Uncle Jerry's house and got to go sledding in their field. We tie sleds up to a four wheeler and it pulls us through the snow, around the field. It really is so much fun and it brings back memories because that is what we used to do when I was a kid. And just like old times, Grandpa had a big bonfire going for us and Grandma had some delicious soup and hot chocolate to warm us up from the inside out. It was such a fun day, and great memories for my kids, thanks Grandma and Grandpa and Uncle Jerry and Aunt Kit, for letting us come! We love you!

Sledding Twice

The day we planned to go visit the Ashton's, Parker started running a fever, so Matt took the other kids down to their house so they could hang out for the day. They had so much fun playing with Josh and Alli, and they had a special treat, they finally got to meet their new puppy, Ewok. Plus, they got to go sledding again, which is always a crowd pleaser.

The Lights on Temple Square

Even though it was FREEZING cold, we took some time to go visit and see the lights on temple square. They were amazing as usual and the kids loved them. And of course we finished the night off with some Hires Big H, root beer. They make the best root beer freezes, Y-U-M!

Back to Bethlehem

This year my mom really wanted to put on a back to Bethlehem night so the kids could remember the real reason for Christmas. It was wonderful, and everyone who came got all dressed up, we paid taxes (food donated to the food pantry), ate some yummy food, and then the kids put on a little program that told the story of the first Christmas. It was so wonderful---thanks Grandma and Grandpa (Grandma is always the brains behind the operation, but Grandpa is always such a great help for the execution). We love you!

PS...Matt helped Paigely, Madi, Emma, and Caitlyn practice and perform "Silent Night" with the bells. It sounded great!

Round Two (or Three)

After all the craziness of Christmas morning got over, the kids got to open their presents from Grandma and Grandpa. They all loved everything they got, but Caitlyn I have to say had the BEST reaction. I wish I could have got it on a digital video, but I was taking digital still pictures and Matt had our normal video camera. Anyways, so for Christmas Santa had brought her an IPOD, so Grandma and Grandpa bought her a purple Hannah Montana docking station with a microphone. As Caitlyn tears back one side of the paper and can see what it is this is exactly what she says, in a very dramatic voice, "OH, no, Oh no, You didn't.." then she continues to tear open the rest of the package. It was like she couldn't believe they got her that, even though it wasn't something she was even asking for. Except for the funny thing was is that I am not sure she even knew it was an IPOD docking station until we told her. I don't know, it doesn't sound funny on paper, but believe me it was hilarious!

We're Here Santa

This year, just because of the way plane tickets worked out and because the move to Indiana was harder on my kids than expected, we flew to Utah on Christmas Eve to spend the rest of the holidays with my family. The kids were very concerned that Santa wouldn't know where we were, but we had a special friend, our elf David, who told Santa where we would be on Christmas Eve. Grandma and Grandpa had everything set up for us when we got in and after a very excited reunion with cousins it was off to bed. In the morning, the kids were very relieved to wake up to find presents under the tree. And, after the rush of opening presents, one of the best parts of Christmas day is having a jammie day and being able to spend to whole day playing!