Tanner's Piano Recital

Tanner had his first piano recital the other day and he made is parents very proud. He has been taking lessons for about a year and although he doesn't always enjoy practicing, he does enjoy playing his songs once he gets them down. He was really confident and played his songs well. I think he has a real talent for music, it comes relatively easy for him. I really wish I was musically talented, but I'll just live my musical dreams through him.

Christmas Sunday

This morning before church we tried to take some pictures. Sydney just was not cooperating, which was rather unfortunate because she did look so pretty in her Christmas dress. The family was photo was taken by stacking a few things up to set the camera on (didn't want to call a neighbor over at 8:30 am).

The Family

The Girls The Boys

The Babies

The Big Boys

All the Kiddos!!!

Ricks Reunion

Last night we had a mini Rick's College Reunion. It always fun to see these friends. We had dinner at Goodwood in SLC and reminisced about the "good old days". Thanks to Chris and Natalie for coming from Texas giving us a reason to all get together. Of course not everyone was there and we missed you if you were not, maybe next time.

A Visit with Santa

We took our annual trip to visit Santa the other day. It was really cute...when it was finally our turn Noah just walk right up to Santa and jumped on his lap and said, "I wan't a choo-choo." It was precious, he just looked knew exactly what he was suppose to do. Isaac sat down and froze, he forgot what he wanted to ask for. Tanner sat down and just went off on his long list of wants.

I just love that my kids have no doubt in their minds that Santa is real, I will be sad when that is no longer the case.

Disney World 2009

We have now been home for a few weeks...it is about time I blog about our trip. I just have to start by saying we had a wonderful time. As far as family vacations go we just couldn't ask for more. The kids were all very well behaved., we ate great (and I didn't even gain weight), we slept okay, and we created many fantastic family memories. We spent 8 fabulous days in the park (that is 2 days per park, and although it was long, it also felt like just about the right amount of time). Here are some pictures of the whole fam.

Tanner

Tanner loves going to Disney. He is not afraid of anything. He will ride all the rides and get excited about it. This trip he was finally tall enough to ride Rockin Rollercoaster, that ended up being is favorite ride. He decided to start collecting keys while he was there, he got one at every park, so that is how he spent his Disney Dollars (also grandma helped a bit). It is nice that he is 7 now, not only can he ride ALL the rides, but he is also well behaved.

Isaac

Isaac overcame some fears on this trip. He is no longer afraid to ride Tower of Terror, as a matter of fact it has now become a favorite. He was also tall enough to ride Expedition Everest and Mission Space, which also ranked really high on his favorite list. Isaac celebrated his 6th birthday while we were there. For his b-day he wanted to start collecting and trading pins. He was so cute looking all around for cast members to trade with.

Noah

Noah was interesting on this trip...he did not smile as much as usual, but he was still having a good time and still talks about it a lot. He had to share the stroller with Sydney and she would always try to grab is sucker or cookie or whatever he was eating, so unfortunatly he picked up his habit of hitting again and again we are trying to remedy that. I asked him what his favorite ride was and he said Winnie the Pooh. He loved seeing the characters. Other then the hitting and often wanting to be held, he was very pleasant to have around.

Sydney
She was a doll on the trip. So smiley the entire time. Just happy to be outside, happy to have people paying attention to her, just down right HAPPY. She loved meeting all the characters and they all loved her. She got a lot of attention from everyone, every where we turned people were commenting on her outfit, her bow or big huge smile. Of course mommy was so excited to finally have a girl at Disney and I get more excited for when she is old enough to enjoy all the princess stuff. Just a few more years.

Kevin

Of course Kevin loved being there, what a proud papa to have all his of his kiddos there. Kev and the older boys would go off and ride the big rides and that is always a bonding moment. We were fortunate to have Kev's parent's there with us for part of the time. They were able to stay with the babies so we could ride together. Kevin also got to be a part of a street performance in France at Epcot. Kevin really works hard to make these vacations possible for us. So thanks hun.

Audrey
People always ask me why we like Disney so much? I would have to say it is Magical. Just to see how much the kids love it and to see there joy, it is priceless and that is why we keep going back. While we were there I got to meet up with a friend from my mission and her fantastic little family, Kami it is always good to see you.

Until next time...which for me, Kevin and Sydney it will be in January. Kev has to go for work so we decided to make it our "anniversary trip".

Just so you all know, I HATE blogger for how difficult it is to post, maybe part of it is user error but wow it is ridiculous.

Trick or Treat 2009

So every year our neighborhood does a Treats on the Street thing, you just come with your bowl of candy and sit out at the road. The kids come walk up and down the road and get lots of candy, it is kind of nice because it doesn't take long, they don't have to walk long, and they get more candy then these little ones would ever need. Here are some pictures from the night.

Isaac Birthday Party

Isaac will be turning 6 while we are on our trip to Disney World, so we decided to have his party before we left. This year the theme was Star Wars. We did a Jedi Training Academy. The kids came and we dressed them in their Jedi attire (cheap fabric from Walmart, no sew just cut and tie). Then as we waited for everyone to show we had them color a picture. Then we gave them their lightsabers and we had lightsaber training (my hubby showed them how to attack adn defend). Next they had to bounce a balloon on the lightsaber without letting it touch the ground. After that they used the force (we had a remote control light) this was probably the most impressive to the kids, they had no clue how they did it. Next up was the jedi obstacle course...we set up tunnels, balance beam, they had to climb over, under, through and across. Then they had to save princess Leia (pop balloons and find the one with Leia inside. After that we defeated Darth Vadar (pinata). Sang Happy Birthday, ate cake and ice cream, Drank Yoda Soda or Darth Malt, opened presents, presented the kids with a medal of honor for defeating Darth and saving the princess, gave the academy graduation certificates, fought the evil Darth Sidius. What a fun filled hour and a half with 13 little Jedi running around. Sorry for the very undetailed description, but this girl has got to pack and get ready for Disney World, we leave in less then 2 days.

Halloween Party

Last night we had a Halloween costume party. We had 10 families come with over 30 total kids. It was super fun. We ate, we talked and of course we played some Rock Band. We had some crafts for the kids (magic wands and popcorn hands-thanks Kris for putting that together). We also had a pinata for the kiddos. I have parties rather often at my house, but I think in all honesty that is the messiest it has ever gotten....popcorn ALL over the floor, cupcake crumbs on the couch, frosting on the walls, spilled drinks on the floors. Although it was chaotic it was totally worth it, especially because many friends stayed to sweep, vacuum, pick up, wipe down and throw away.

Here is a picture of our family in our Star Wars costumes. I love dressing up!!!!!

Witch Convention

So yesterday was Bunco and the gal in charge decided that we should all dress as witches. It was really fun to dress up and most people really got into it. I ordered my costume from ebay, thinking I had plenty of time for it to get here...well it did not, so I had to improvise. My friend Kelli lent me a few things and the rest of the stuff I already had.