Christmas

Princess Soran got dressup clothes, a skirt and leggings, a stroller and a baby doll and a tea set.
Princess Alivia got a lot of puzzles this year (she is really good at them) and dressup clothes.

Princess Amber with her laptop. She also got a makeup kit, an umbrella, a skirt and leggings, a sew-a-bear kit, and walkie talkies.

Lyssa's favorite gift was an Ipod from her aunt. She also got a notebook, smelly bath stuff, boots, a dress and lots of jewelry.

Christian's favorite gift was a remote control jeep. He also got a new pillow, a soccer ball, a tube for sledding, and the game Sorry.

The carnage after.

The calm before.

Cracker hats 2012. Scott got the "office edition" this year so we all had useful gifts.

Holding up the walls before it falls.

We had a good Christmas this year. Highlights: Nursing home and Alyssa playing the flute while Amber sang a solo, started a new tradition of reading a story a day for the 12 days of Christmas, 12 days of Christmas for Scott, Scott's company party at La Caille, being at my work and remembering how exciting Christmas is, Christmas Eve baby blessing and party with Reeces, Christmas day at church and finally experiencing enough calm to remember the real reason for the season, surprise gifts for the kids from an anonymous donor and the most relaxing Christmas break we've ever had. Good thing, too. We needed it.

Lost

We do not have great legs.
Where did all those kids come from?

I love golden aspens.

I've been waiting to post until I found our Halloween pictures, but I'm starting to think they're not going to show up. I'm sad, but it's time to move on. This year we had a devil (Alyssa), a grim reaper (Christian--he's been begging me for years to be this one and I finally gave in now that he's a little older, but seriously, what is it with kids and wanting to be creepy?), a princess (Amber), a fairy (Alivia) and a ballerina (Soran). They were very cute, of course. We had awesome fall weather again and it was nice to be outside. Trunk or treat at our house and then on to Grandma's.

We went on our fall drive a little too early this year. There's more gold than reds and pinks, but it's still beautiful. We also took the kids to the circus this fall. It wasn't impressive. But our kids are very spoiled and think that a lot of things are boring these days. Too much Trafalga and rock climbing and laser tag. The fall was pretty busy with ballroom dance, soccer, piano lessons, scouts, and science club. Alyssa played a flute solo for the primary program and again at the school Christmas concert. Alyssa and Amber were students of the month (I told Christian the pressure is on!). Livi learned "Beautiful Savior" and sings a lot of solos because I make her and it's so cute. Soran is getting cuter and more spoiled with every passing day. Scott organized a golf tournament at work and tied for first with the CEO. He also has a couple foosball and pingpong trophies. I've just been trying to keep up!

New

I was flipping through the camera and came across this picture of Soran (you know, like the 20 million pictures you come across that your kids took and now you have to scroll through and delete one at a time because you're not sure how long they had it and don't want to delete anything you might actually want) in the car and realized I needed to remember the passing on of a good friend. Our old minivan. Scott and my car both broke down the same month and we realized that the repair fees were more than the cars were worth. So it was time to move on. But it was hard to say good-bye to our van. It's been in the family longer than 3 of our children. And has been such a reliable member, too. It took us to Utah, Arizona, California, Colorado, Kansas, New Mexico and lots of other places I can't think of. I had the kids come and tell it good-bye as we took it to trade in.

But on with the new! We love our new van. It's older but has a lot of nice amenities. Like a TV (with a VCR--it's older, like I said), power doors, and a really smooth ride.

Along with all our changes came more bills, so when my mom sent me an email about a part-time job as a teacher's aide at the school she works at, I applied. And with her glowing recommendation, I got it. I love the job. I love to be with the kindergarten kids and watch them learn. I love the benefit of being at work when my kids are at school and having the same days off. But it has definitely kept me busy. Thus the 3 month gap in posts. Between the new job and new calling as Young Womens president my spare time has disappeared. But most of the time it's a good busy. I feel very blessed with all we have.

Kids

Okay, so about the middle of the summer Amber comes and says she has something growing on her foot. It was a small, smooth bump so I thought, no big deal probably just a bug bite or something. It grew and grew and grew. So I asked Scott's family what they thought it was and Holly said it was a wart. I didn't think so because it grew so fast and was smooth. But I tried the banana peel thing over it and the next morning it was black. And gross. And warty. It was like that for about a month before Scott finally decided to take action. He burnt it off with liquid nitrogen and now it is all gone. But I had to get a pic of how huge and gross it was! The camera doesn't do it justice.

I love this pose of Soran. She does this thing where she goes, "uh, uh, uh" and puts her hands on her hips like she is being so patient with you and why are you so stupid and can't figure out what she wants? She is very spoiled and I can't get enough of her!

Birthday weekend

The golfers

I know, how can I be seen with him in that hat?

Too bad I already have my handsome prince

The resort we stayed at in Midway--the grounds were beautiful

I got totally spoiled this birthday! It was crazy. Scott sent me on a treasure hunt and at each stop was something. I got roses, chocolates, sparkling cider, poetry, jewelry, a gift certificate for clothes and lunch. Oh, and a break from the kids. It was amazing. My husband can be such a romantic.

That weekend we went to Park City and did some shopping and then spent the night at a resort in Midway. They had a hot springs crater but we didn't want to pay $30 to see it so we just walked on top of it and hung out in the natural springs jetted tubs instead. The next day we went golfing. It was pretty fun, actually. The weather and the course were so beautiful I had a good time just being outside and looking at everything. The golf was okay, too. It was the first time I've attempted and I almost hurt myself. I thought I was going to rip my shoulder out of the socket. But I can see how it could be addicting. Scott, of course, had a great time.

2nd, 4th and 6th graders--oh my!

I have to write that down because I keep forgetting what grades my kids are in, they're growing up so fast. The hardest one for me to adjust to has been Christian, it's just unbelievable that he is in 4th grade already. Crazy! We kept them at the same school as last year because they loved it. And while I've been nervous about the low test scores the school receives overall, I was pretty impressed with their individual teachers. Lyssa did a lot of Powerpoint presentations and Christian had some amazing projects as well. Hopefully we won't regret that decision. Aren't they cute? Some day Amber's other tooth will grow in!

Oh, and we can't forget Livi. She started at a preschool a couple weeks later. Because we're in a low-income area they have a free preschool they bus to (I know, how lucky can I get?) and she loves it! I took her to school on her first day and forgot to get a picture. Okay, so I was really nervous about her riding the bus home and how that would all work. So I was outside about 10 minutes early waiting for her. Over a half hour went by and I called Scott to see if I should panic yet. He said not to. But about 5 minutes later I started trying to call the school. No answer. The bus finally pulled up and I ran onto it, but no Livi! They were like, oh, yeah, the school called and said we forgot someone, it must have been her. I about died. I raced to the car, drove like a maniac to the school and there she was, just fine and hanging out with her teacher. But I don't think they'll be forgetting that particular child again.

Anyway, that just leaves Soran at home. She hasn't acted too sad about it. Yet.

It's always fun when Grandpa comes!

I have to start this post with some reminiscing. I grew up in a tiny town in New Mexico called Bloomfield. It was about 3000 people spread over a large area. There was one stoplight, one grocery store, one gas station and a lot of cactus. We lived just down the street from my grandparents, and I have fond memories of growin up near them. My grandmother was a no-nonsense woman who told you how it was but was everlastingly patient. She had to be with 9 kids and too many grandchildren to count. She was the hardest worker I've probably ever seen. She was up before everyone cooking breakfast and starting on the day's chores. She taught me how to snap beans, pick grapes (oh, how I hated that chore), and enjoy music. I loved to spend the night at her house because the cooking was so good and the sheets smelled lovely.

My grandpa is the cutest little farmer you ever saw. He has the sparkliest blue eyes ever. He worked for the gas company for 40 years and had a couple-acre farm he worked by hand. When I was small he had chickens and a cow, too. We would play in the barn with the hay bails for hours. We would push them around to make forts, castles and ships to fight the Russians coming up the San Juan river. He goes on walks by the ditch almost every day. He taught me how to pick corn and shuck it, how to tell when a cantaloupe was ripe but most importantly he showed me his simple but strong testimony of the gospel.

My grandma passed away 4 years ago and my grandpa has since remarried. I hadn't seen him since her funeral, but he and his new wife came up this summer to visit. It was wonderful! He looked just like last time. It made me feel young again. I love you, Grandpa!

Mom, Me, Ben, Grandpa, Xela and Brittany

Me and Grandpa