Christmas at our House

Here are some of the fun things we have been doing to get the Christmas spirit this year:
Haylee had her 2nd grade program. It was so cute! They did great! Haylee was singing "Deck the Halls" the day before her performance and she said, " Dawny now our day in peril, Fa La La La La La La La La"(it's supposed to say 'Dawn we now our gay apparel') it was so funny.

Some kind people in our ward is doing the 12 Days of Christmas to us. We are all having a blast opening up one present a night for the 12 days. We have already received a turkey, Glasses that turn the Christmas lights you look at into different shapes (they are awesome, we love them), a candle that smells like Gingerbread cookies, yum, this cool train, and a Mancala game. We can't wait to see what is next. Another nice family or person dropped off a box of food with a card and some Christmas money. Everyone is so nice, they have really made us feel welcome here in the ward.

Here are our Gingerbread houses we made (the day before the Gingerbread train was opened). We always make these and get creative with all of the left over candy from the year. We have heart suckers from Valentine's Day, green popcorn balls from St. Patrick's Day, candy corn from Halloween and other odds and ends. It is fun to see how creative everyone gets. Kiera put a lamp post out of a candy cane, Mason made a reindeer with chocolates, Haylee made a person on a bicycle.

Now that we are back in Utah I hope to make this a tradition again, going to see the lights at Temple Square in Salt Lake.

For our ward Christmas party the kids sang with their cousins the song "Parade of the Wooden Soldiers" It turned out really cute, Mason adn Kaden were soldiers and the girls were dollies.

This was actually the first Christmas thing we did this year but all my pictures went in the wrong order. Kaden got to put the angel on the top of the tree this year. He almost wouldn't let go of me enough to even reach the top. (We're in the basement, that is why the ducting is so close to our heads, Mark hits his head on it every now and then when he isn't paying attention.)

This didn't really start out as a pose for me, I was just handing out the decorations.

Thanksgiving

Here are some fun pictures from Thanksgiving, we had two wonderful Turkey dinners. One with Grandma Bonnie and Granpa Jon and one with Grandma Park

At Grandma Parks we also celebrated Kaden and Justin's birthday, isn't that a cute dragon cupcake cake? I got it from Albertsons.

Happy Birthday Kaden!

Mason made Kaden's name out of Legos, it looked so cool, he even put people on it fighting with swords.

So excited for presents.
Kaden turned 3 years old on Nov. 22. He was so excited about his fire truck cake. When he tried to blow out the candles he kept blowing me in the face. It took 3 or 4 tries before he aimed his air the right way.

Finally....their costumes

Here are two different shots of our little Trick or Treaters, Kiera is a witch, Mason is a Ninja Skeleton, Haylee is a ballerina Dragon, and Kaden is Bob the Builder.

October Fun

The kids decorated their pumpkins for a contest at school. After all of the students voted and picked their favorite pumpkin for 7 different catagories. Here are the results of how my kids did: Spooky Scarecrow: 2-3 grade Scariest Pumpkin

Elephant shooting out water: Grand Prize, she received the most votes overall the other pumpkins in the school.

Pizza chef: There is even a decorated pizza in the box. 2-3 grade Most Creative Pumpkin, she actually won in 3 different catagories but each kid can only get one catagory prize.

They did such a great job. They're so creative! All of the kids came up with their ideas all on their own.

Trip to Utah

We have officially moved to Utah. Mark is still looking for a job but in the mean time we get to hang out with family, it has been wonderful!!!

Mark always stops along the way when we travel to let the kids out and enjoy the scenery. I am always in a hurry and feel like we are wasting precious time, but I love that he is trying to slow it down and make the memories.

Mark thought it would be a good idea to let Kaden stand on this rock.....by himself!Nope! Not a good idea.
Marks smile is one of "whoops, guess I shouldn't have done that", not enjoying the moment. (Just wanted to clarify)

He did a good job of comforting Kaden after, although it was kind of hard to find another pair of clothes when everything is packed down tightly on a trailer. He started out wearing my sweatshirt while he was sitting on the chair and we were hunting for clothes. Then Kiera gave him the sweats she was wearing (they were short, capri style- so they were just a tad baggy and long) we did find a shirt.

The trip was quite uneventful after that.....Thank goodness.

Treasures

I was reading my book last night and Kaden came up to me. He asked where my pockets were. He had treasures he wanted safe, and since he didn't have pockets because he was in his pajamas, he shared his treasures with me. So Sweet!

Kaden had fun popping my bubbles so he wanted to try to blow his own. Here he is sticking his piece of gum out of his mouth. He couldn't quite get the hang of it. He would try then get a sad face and say, "Mommy, help." (his "l" pronounced like a "w") So Cute!!

So Proud

Kiera did such an awesome job on her 'Rock of Art' Project that I had to share this with everyone. They needed to choose a famous rock art and get info on it. Well, Kiera did this with 2 days to spare because she wanted to do 'extra stuff'. She chose the Crazy Horse Memorial in Black Hills, SD. Her extras included a dream catcher (hanging on the corner of her project) and then she helped me make a Blueberry Wajopi (basically blueberry pudding) and fry bread to dip into it. Everyone in the class loved the snack, my picky kids, however, didn't want to touch the Wajopi but Kiera and Kaden did taste the fry bread.

The teacher gave her 111%, 445 out of 400 points. YEAH!!! WAY TO GO KIERA!

I'm so glad her hard work paid off.

Lost Teeth

Haylee lost her first tooth on Monday night. She was so scared to have anyone help loosen or pull it except herself but was so excited once it was out. Mom received the honors of pulling out all the way. :)
Mason has already lost his two bottom teeth but now he has lost his two top. He lost one on Sunday, then one on Monday. Dad got out the pliers to help grab onto them and loosen them because they had been ground smaller and were hard to get a hold of. Once again, Mom received the honor, for both! ;) (OK, OK, Dad loosened them)

Now Kaden is trying to get his teeth out, I don't know why he thought it looked like so much fun, the kids were definitely not smiling and laughing during all of the pulling and pushing. But since Mom and Dad are not helping him in this endeavor, he stopped pretty quick.

Happy Birthday Kiera!

Kiera is 10 years old! I can't believe it. She wanted to decorate her cake with horses by herself, which made it totally easy for me (I can handle that). Then we had a pinata, a scavenger hunt, made pizza, 4 wheeler rides, and games. She had a good time.
Kiera is such a sweetheart, I am so glad she is part of our family. We love you tons!

I HAVE A NEW NIECE!!

Melanie, my sister, had a little baby girl on Wednesday, Sept. 16th. She was 7 1/2 lbs. and 20 1/2 inches long. She has black hair. They named her Brooklyn Swazey. This is the only picture I have of her so when I get more I'll share some close ups. (That is her other aunt in the picture)

New Happenings

OK, sorry about not posting pictures but I actually feel like writing on this thing, even when there is not a picture of my cute kids to include. I must be bored out of my mind. hee hee

If you ever want a new hair style, just cut your hair yourself! I have cut my hair a couple of times lately when it is looking way too long. I decided to try to grow my hair out again. In the mean time it has been looking very overgrown, not at all like the style should. So I decided to trim the flip in the back and keep the top as long as it is so they can catch up with each other. I wasn't sure how it would look but it was driving me nuts so I did it. It turned out to be a cute new style (probably not new to hairstylist, but at least to me). I am glad I did it, now I just have to wait for it to overgrow so I can see where to go from there.

We have officially listed our home with a realtor. We have been trying to sell it on our own and have had interest, but now we are hoping to get aggresive. We live in Lavina, MT and hope to move a little closer to family (Utah, or at least Idaho), although we all totally love Montana. We just met with the realtor yesterday, so we can't get too excited, there's no telling how long it will take. The sooner the better.

Question to all those who read my blog: Do you have any recommendations for books to read? I like to read based on what I have heard from others rather than hope to find a good one off the shelf. I have read Stephanie Meyers books, Mary Higgins Clark and a few other mystery writers, I enjoy the historical fiction about the LDS church history & scriptures etc. I believe my mom is getting me a new series about pioneers that is historical fiction for Christmas, also being in Montana our libraries do not have much Church related reading. I enjoy relaxing with a book, but need some ideas in choosing something new. I don't like anything too gory or with language or anything like that.

I just remembered a cute picture I have been meaning to post:

We were in the tahoe driving to the lake (a previous post) and stopped by the mail. Mark's 4 wheeler magazine came, Kaden was so excited! He considers this "HIS" magazine and couldn't wait to start looking at it. I thought it was so cute to see him perusing so attentively.

Victory!

The S'mores bars were a hit! All of the kids liked them so I didn't have to finish off all of them by myself after all (I did, however, eat the most---What can I say, I loved them!) I am not a big fan of Golden Grahams cereal and that is the recipe I usually find when I see Smores bars. So in my Taste of Home magazine they had this one. Here it is for anyone who wants to try them. They are Wonderful!

S'mores Bar

1/2 C butter, softened

3/4 C sugar

1 egg

1 tsp. vanilla extract

1 1/3 C flour

3/4 C graham cracker crumbs

1 tsp. baking powder

1/8 tsp. salt

5 milk chocolate candy bars (1.55 oz each)

1 C marshmallow creme

*In a large bowl, cream butter and sugar until light and fluffy. Add egg and vanilla; beat well. Combine the flour, cracker crumbs, baking powder and salt; gradually add to creamed mixture. Set aside 1/2 C for topping.

*Press remaining mixture into a greased 9 in. square pan (I used 11x7- it worked good). Place candy bars over crust; spread with marshmallow creme.Crumble remaining graham cracker mixture over top.

*Bake at 350 degrees for 25-30 minutes or until golden brown. Cool on a wire rack. Cut into bars. Store in an airtight container. Yield- 1 1/2 dozen

I Love Baking!

I'm not sure what it is that makes me love baking so much. I think it is probably that I feel productive by doing it. I do dishes, they get dirty. I clean up the floor, toys miraculously appear. But when I bake, there is something to show for my time in the kitchen. Unfortunately, today there is too much to show. My family does not eat my sweets as fast as I make them. So sitting on the counter I have 3 brownies left, made 8 days ago, chocolate chip cookies, made 1 week ago, sugar cookies, made 3 days ago, half of a cinnamon roll, made 2 days ago, and now S'mores bars. We will have to see how fast they go when the kids come home from school. This is a new recipe I am trying, which means I will probably eat the bulk of it and I will end up throwing some away. (My family is not big on new recipes, no matter how good they are.) I do take some to our neighbors, but I guess not as many as I should. I wish we were closer to family, I know some of you who wouldn't let one morsel go to waste. Oh well, here's hoping we move closer some day.

KIDS WITH CLASS!

The kids have been so excited for school to start. Kiera is going into 4th grade, there are 5 kids in her class, but Mason and one other girl will be joining them for their literacy time. Mason is in 3rd and Haylee is in 2nd, they both have the same teacher and there are 16 kids in their class. We still live in Lavina, MT. Now there is only Kaden home, I thought he would get bored, and I am sure he does sometimes, but he plays by himself so well. He loves his trucks and his bike so they keep him pretty busy.

Saturday Fun

Last Saturday we went for a day of picnics, boat riding, and 4-wheeling. We had a great time. Our neighbors, the Beans, came with us, they had the boat and kayak, we had the 4-wheelers. We enjoyed playing in the sand, eating, and spending time together.

On The Move

Haylee has finally been able to balance enough to keep her training wheels off. She is loving the freedom to go with her brother and sister whenever they take off on their bikes. Kaden received this bike for Christmas, he has wanted to ride it but will just sit and let us push him or else he will push the bike on his own. Now that his legs have gotten longer and he is able to ride along with the other kids this is his transportation of choice. Since he can now go faster than his mom can walk (when we go to the mail) it is now the whole family that gets to ride their bikes through town. I totally enjoy riding , we just go up one street, over a block, down another street, over again, etc. throughout town (which is quite small) but I love being able to do it as a family.

Don't Faint

I know it has been forever since I have updated this thing, but when I look at the pictures I have taken I get overwhelmed and just turn it all off. So, here I will try again.

I haven't liked the right side of my blog so I finally set down and added to it. I need to fine tune it but there is a draft anyway.

Here are some pictures of what we have been up to the last few weeks.

The picture of our family was taken at the Oquirrh Mountain Temple Open House.

We finally finished painting the trim all around our house. We are both so glad to be done with it, however, now we need to find a new job to keep us busy. We covered up the yucky blue green with a tan brown, much better!

The following pictures are from our trip down to Utah:

Kiera and her cousin, Shaylie, are riding Stormy (Uncle Richard and Aunt Melanie's daughter and horse)

Jentry and Kaden, aren't they just so CUTE! Jentry is 10 days older than Kaden.

Picking peas with Grandma Bonnie, Ryan and McKay- it was really fun! Grandpa Jon and Grandma Bonnie have an awesome garden, I would love to have one like that but I have a hard time getting anything to grow so I am afraid mine would just turn into a weed garden.

Happy Easter!

We went to the Lavina Town Easter Egg Hunt. It was the best we have ever been to. The kids went crazy getting eggs and candy. There were Golden Eggs that the kids could turn in for baskets of toys and candy or stuffed animals. Mason found two Golden Eggs but they only let you turn in one so he shared his other with Kiera. Haylee found one on her own and Kaden was given one by a 3rd grader who ended up with two. Mason received a large basket with coloring books, candy, bubbles, etc. Kiera got a flower basket with all of that stuff, Haylee a basket with a bunny attached full of fun, and Kaden got the yellow duck basket. It was fun! They even had fun characters walking around giving out coloring books, candy, kites, etc.

Kaden ended up coloring his hands as well as the eggs.