Jimmertime...

Earlier this month Justin bought tickets for all of us to go see Jimmer play the Blazers. We were a little nervous he wouldn't get any playing time, but he got enough for us to watch him sink a few three's! We might have been the only one's in the entire Rose Garden cheering, but what a good time. Zach brought his picture of Jimmer and sported his jersey. We screamed BYU! No one had to question who our loyalty was with. We did however cheer on the Blazers all for a free chalupa. Kate went to bed that night asking when she could get her chalupa. After the game was over they had a special court shooting for all the BYU alumni. Zach was all over that. What a great family night.



And without fail, another blurry picture. I think a new camera is in my future. If I keep thinking it, maybe it will happen.

Oh Sweet Kate...

This is what happens when you wake up before 7am. I wish life would slow down so I could join you!



Kate spends half of her days dancing and singing to music on the ipad. No wonder she drops mid-day for a snoozer.

The Other Tooth...

Over Christmas break Zach lost his other tooth. We tried to talk him into tying his tooth up to a beyblade and "letting it rip". Justin got as far as tying the floss around his tooth, until Zach got nervous and decided that pulling it was not a good idea. He then demanded that we untie the floss from his tooth. Simple right? Well, Justin tied it so tight we couldn't get it off. It was bleeding, and Zach was screaming. Justin finally could not take the drama so he yanked that floss and out came Zach's tooth, and lots of blood. Zach's reaction was priceless. The video says it all.

Our First Christmas...

Our first Christmas with just the four of us rather. I have to admit I was a little worried that the excitement of Santa coming and the opening of presents would go by so quickly, and that we would end up looking at each other thinking is that it? I worried for nothing.

The Nativity story was reenacted. Santa worked overtime on Kate's kitchen that came with over 200 screws. Justin and I went to bed later than usual. The kids woke up earlier than usual. Zach finally got his DSi. Kate got her dog, that walks. Justin got a book about poop...long story. I got my boots. We went to church to help us remember the true meaning of Christmas, and I hosted my first Christmas dinner.

What was going to feel like a low key Christmas, ended up being just the Christmas we needed. It helped that my brother Jeff and his family came into town at the last minute. Zach and Kate love having them around. Lots of cousin time was consumed!




Santa brought a Kitchen for Kate and a Lego Table for Zach!




Kate with her dog Charlotte. At least that was her name today when I asked. It changes frequently!




Finally! His very own DSi..no more having to watch over some one's shoulder.



Justin's poop book. It is actually a pretty funny read.


And in case anyone wondered what I look like when I wake up...wonder no more.


Justin has been wanting a sweater vest. Don't ask. I don't have answers, but he loves it and wears it every Sunday.


A big shout out goes to Grandma Raelynn for my table make-over. The top used to be brown. She sanded it a million times and painted it a million times while she was out visiting in September. Let's just say it took a lot of patience that I clearly do not have. Her hard work made for a festive table setting though. I think I could get into the whole entertaining thing. I see why people collect dishes.

2011 Christmas Card...

If you didn't get our Christmas Card this year, it wasn't because we don't love you, its because we don't have your address! A big thanks goes to my SIL at MST Photography, for cruising over to our place, to snap a picture with her nice camera of us in front of our first home. I realized I have not posted any pictures yet and we have been living here for over 6 months. We love our new neighborhood! There are tons of kids to play with, hardly any cars driving by, and we have a park right next door making up for our lack of backyard. We live in a double culdesac, weird right? It's a good thing though because culdesacs encourage all the kids to play with each other in the street in front of our houses, again making up for our lack of backyard. We love it here!

T'was the Season...

Yep, pretty sure life just keeps happening and my journaling gets more and more sporadic. Good thing it's never too late to reflect. We had a lot of "firsts" this past season. In keeping with tradition, we set out the weekend after Thanksgiving to Lock Lollyland, the best tree farm around, and cut down our first "live" Christmas tree to put in our first home. Exciting right? It was, but not as exciting as it was to sit on Santa's lap as an adult. The things we do for our kids. Santa was more than willing bless him. Poor Kate is shy and Santa was a little bit too scary for her this year. Zach had to read her wish list for her. He is such a good brother.

We gingerbreaded too. Now I'm making up words! Picture me trying to frost and assemble the walls and roof together, trying to get the house to set with just my two hands, and you get a pretty good idea of how I feel about this tradition. But again, the things we do for our kids. They loved the candy part, both the decorating and the eating.

We watched some of our favorite Christmas movies too! The faves were How the Grinch Stole Christmas and Home Alone. They never do get old.

Zach's Birthday Week...

I say a week, because every day this past week something was always about Zach! This year was a family birthday year, so the extra days of feeling a little birthday love were great! It started out with Grandma Laraine cooking up his favorite pasta dinner, and ending in cake and BEYBLADES on Sunday! Tuesday morning he opened gifts before school, and ate dinner at Red Robin that night, adding more beyblades to his collection. Over the weekend he lost his tooth(well Kate knocked it out with a pillow, but it was loose to begin with) and got a hair cut. Then yesterday he had birthday lunch with the principal(she has lunch with all the kids who have december birthdays and gave wach one of them a Krispy Kreme dounut) of his school and came home to a gift from Grandma Raelynn and Grandpa Marty. I have to say he had a pretty darn good week! Turning 7 isn't so bad.

Pinkalicious...

My mom, my sister and I took the girls to see Pinkalicious. This was Kate's first musical and she loved it! It ran for a little over an hour which was perfect. She has asked to go see it again and every time we get on the freeway she states, "This is how you get to Pinkalicious!" Her favorite color is no longer purple...it's now Pink. Kate has not been into pictures lately and gets all embarrassed about it, but I managed to bribe her for a couple.

Fall 2011...

Our entire fall consisted of soccer, soccer, did I mention soccer? 5 out of the 7 days in a week, over the past two and half months, Zach had practice or a game, and two games on Stuardays...just sayin'. Justin had Zach in two leagues this fall, which lets be honest, I was worried about. I was worried that he would have melt downs about having to go to practice because he was tired, get hurt for playing in a second grade league, etc. I could not have been more wrong. There is something about having a goalie and a larger playing field that motivated Zach to try his best! Kick and chase was fun too, just not as challenging. I played the role of the chauffeur, minus the SUV soccer mom thing, Kate played the cheerleader, a cute one I might add, and Justin was the co-coach for both teams. Zach had a great season, scoring a few goals here and there, survived without any injuries, and loved playing with all his buddies from school, especially Nate.