Ice Skating

Today Jadon, Kierra, Jaxon and I went ice skating with some friends of ours. Jadon has been with the youth in our ward a few times but this was Kierra and Jaxon's first time. I use to go a lot when I was a kid but I have no idea how long it's been since I've been on ice skates.

Jadon, Kierra and I had a great time but it wasn't Jaxon's favorite thing he's ever done. He was really nervous to get on the ice and stayed along the wall the two times that he went around the rink. After he fell and pulled me on top of him, he was done. I was amazed at how much of what I learned in lessons as a kid, came back to me. Jadon and Kierra did really well and it was fun to skate around with them. I had a race with Jadon and beat him and that was really fun! I think it would be fun to sign Kierra up for skating lessons. I'm excited to go again sometime. I just wish Jaxon would have had a better time.

Taking Christmas Down

I have to admit that I am never sad to take the Christmas decorations down. By the time Christmas is over and there are new toys and presents that need to be put away, I just want my house organized again. I usually start taking Christmas down the day after Christmas but since it was Sunday this year, I waited one more day. The one thing I don't like taking down is the Christmas cards! As the Christmas cards start coming, I put them all on the back of our front door. I LOVE to get Christmas cards. It's the one time of year that I love to check the mail. I love to hear from my friends and see pictures of their families. It's sad for me to take down the pictures and have a bare door again. It's the last thing I take down and usually leave them up a day or so longer than everything else.

Christmas 2010

We had a fun Christmas season. Like always, December went by really fast. We had some fun family activities before Christmas. We went to Thanksgiving Point to see the lights. In the past, we have decorated gingerbread houses before Christmas. This year the kids came up with a different idea. We made plates. The kids designed and colored their own design that we will send in and have made into a plate. That was really fun. We did our annual Christmas Eve traditions. We went out to dinner and to a movie. We went to see Tangled which everyone loved! We came home and opened the annual Christmas Eve jammies and put the kids to bed at 9:00. Jake and Kyson were asleep by 9:05 but the other kids took a bit longer to fall asleep. The kids started waking up at 5:30 and they were all awake by 6:30. What ever happened to sleeping on Christmas?

Christmas morning was the usual loud, chaotic morning of excitement. Everyone was excited to see what Santa brought and open the presents they have been looking at that were under the tree. Jake and Kyson got remote control trucks that play laser tag with each other.

Jadon, Kierra and Jaxon all got guitars from Santa. Dale recently got his guitar out and they were fascinated with it and decided that they wanted to play. Santa brought the guitars with some "Teach yourself to play" DVD's. They are all excited to start learning together.

After we opened presents, we all had brunch. Gladys brought us tons of her yummy pepper jelly, which we enjoyed. The rest of the afternoon was spent getting toys out of their packages, putting batteries in toys and playing with all the new Christmas things. My favorite thing was watching home videos of my kids. For my Christmas gift, Dale transferred the last 15 years of video to a hard drive. He hooked them up to my new laptop and while he was doing that, he kept playing footage of my kids when they were little. I would be busy doing something and would walk by the computer and couldn't help but stop and watch. I can't believe how much they have all grown up! I really miss them being little. Dale made a compilation of several Christmas mornings with the kids and we watched that. What a wonderful gift!

Sweet little Katie had fun on Christmas. Santa brought her a double stroller with twin babies that she immediately named Katie and Macey. She loved pushing them around all morning. Since she got up so early, she was back to bed by 11:00 for a much needed nap! We went to my mom's that night for dinner and the family gift exchange. It was a long, fun day and I'm sad, like always, that Christmas is over. I am very thankful for everything I am blessed with. I love my family very much. I am happy that we live in such a great neighborhood with good friends and neighbors. I hope this next year will be a good one for our family!

Kindergarten Christmas Program

Last night we went to see Kyson's kindergarten Christmas program. He was very excited to get all dressed up and he thought it was cool that he looked like the commisioner (what he wants to be when he grows up).

There were 6 classes of Kindergarten children and tons and tons of parents. It was so funny to see all the parents taking pictures and videos. The kids were adorable too. They kept standing up and waving at their families. I lost track of how many songs they sang but it was a lot and they knew them very well. It was a very cute program.

Kyson and Taeya are not in the same class but they really wish they were. They play together every day at recess. Maybe next year they will get to be in the same class together.

Christmas Concert

Last night we went out with a group of our friends. We went to Tepanyaki for dinner and then to see the group "Voice Male" perform. We had such a great time. We have never eaten at Tepanyaki before. It was good and very entertaining. The concert was awesome! The group was very entertaining and made us all laugh. The music was great and put us all in the Christmas spirit. I'm glad that we have such a great group of friends to hang out with!

Christmas Club Night

Last night I went out with my friends who I get together with once a month. We call it "Club". It use to be called Rook club because we would get together and eat dinner and play Rook. Somehow we stopped playing Rook so it is now just called Club. We usually take turns hosting and make dinner in our home. For December we go out to a nice restaurant and then go Christmas shopping. Last night we went to Ruby River. It was yummy!

Here we are in the car on the way to Target. Don't worry, we were stopped when we took the picture. We had so much fun and laughed all night long! Mostly at the expense of Michelle. Sorry Michelle! You know we love you! We went to Target, ToysRUs and Kohls. It is so much fun to go shopping with a bunch of crazy ladies. We have a great time together!

I really look forward to going out with "Club" ladies each month. Sometimes we don't talk between the months that we see each other at club but it doesn't matter. We just pick up where we left off the month before. We have so much fun together and I am glad to call them my friends!

Kyson's Birthday

Kyson is now 6 years old. For weeks before his birthday he was very excited. He looked at the calendar every day and told me how many days until his birthday. We let him open his presents right after he got home from school and then we went to Burger King for dinner and came home and had cake and ice cream. He said he wants to have a party with his best friends who are Jared, Kamryn and Taeya (all cousins) so we are going to go to Jump and Bounce when Katie's stent is removed.

Kyson is a great kid! He is doing very well in school. He has really changed this year and has come out of his shell. His best friend is really his brother Jake. They do everything together and never ever fight. Kyson watches out for Jake. He is always reminding him what he needs to do, especially in the morning when he's getting ready for school. Kyson is almost always the first one ready in the morning. He is very good about knowing what needs to be done and doing all of it without being asked.

Kyson is a pretty happy kid who observes everything. I will frequently notice him just watching whatever is going on in our house. He has a great smile and a cute little giggle. He's my little buddy and I will miss him when he goes to 1st grade and is gone all day. Happy Birthday Kyson. We love you!