Tag Archives: holiday

Nov 5 2013

Catch up

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Okay it’s been too long since I posted anything.  So this is one big catch up post.  I’ll post a bunch of pictures with a short description of the event.  Hopefully that will get me caught up for the holidays.  I like to keep record of all the stuff that happens in our lives and this is sort of a family journal.  Not only is it good for me to have a record so I can remember all those great moments but also so we can share it with our friends and family who don’t get to see us often.

First we have to go all the way back to September.  YES I said September.  That is where I left off.  After school started and things start to get crazy canning season starts.  This has been great for my family’s food storage but also very time consuming.  Corey and I love our garden and we get a lot of produce out of it.  Have I ever mentioned how much I love my mom?  Well I do A LOT.  She came up for a week and a half, despite not feeling well, and helped me can. I put her right to work canning green beans.  Everyday we did something new. The biggest thing we canned was apple sauce.  We had the apples from my tree and some apples that a friend let me pick.  In the end we canned 48 quarts of apples.  I really did have a lot of fun with my mom and really do miss her when she is gone.

You're seeing right that is a 5 gallon bucket of applesauce.

You’re seeing right that is a 5 gallon bucket of applesauce.

Mom and I with all the applesauce ready to process.

Mom and I with all the applesauce ready to process.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

On to the next event.  Our camping trip to Craters of the Moon National park. We are fortunate to live in an area where we don’t have to travel far to get to some great camping spots.  We said goodbye to our tent trailer and got ourselves a new trailer.  We had to try it out the weekend we got it.  We joined some friends up at Craters and had a blast.  We explored caves and lava fields. This was the first time I’ve been to Caters.  I’ve driven past and wasn’t very impressed but once we explored I was amazed.  We’ll come back again.

Our new home away from home.

Our new home away from home.

Kids climbing rocks

Kids climbing rocks

 

 

 

 

 

 

Walking through the giant tunnel

Walking through the giant tunnel

Exploring caves

Exploring caves

 

 

 

 

 

 

Well paved walking trails.

Well paved walking trails.

Even here pretty things grow

Even here pretty things grow

Group Picture

Group Picture

 

 

 

 

 

We have made it to October!  This was the first weekend in October.  We decided to take the trailer out one more time before we had to store it for the winter.  We ended up going to Palisades Reservoir.  Again I feel the need to express how blessed we are to live in close proximity to these wonderful places.  When we arrived it was snowing.  It was a pretty cold night and we only lasted one night before deciding to pack up and head home.  It was beautiful.  So many fall colors mixed in with the snow.

Our very snowy campsite.

Our very snowy campsite.

All the wildlife we saw. He didn't like Corey.

All the wildlife we saw. He didn’t like Corey.

 

 

 

 

 

 

View of the Lake

View of the Lake

Family photo

Family photo

 

 

 

 

 

 

Fall Colors

Fall Colors

Being silly on a rock wall.

Being silly on a rock wall.

 

 

 

 

 

 

Next there was a free ice skating lesson at the hockey shelter.  We signed the kids up and they had fun skating on the ice.  Did you know ice is slippery? It was fun to watch them skate around.

DSCF5629 DSCF5614

 

 

 

 

Last on the list and then I’m all caught up.  HALLOWEEN! We had a blast this year at our ward’s trunk or treat.  Corey and I dressed as Bert and Mary from Mary Poppins.  Sophia was a ghost, Levi a zombie, and Preston a nerd. The trunk or treat was the Tuesday before Halloween.  That was good because on Halloween it rained and was very chilly.  Sophia and Levi went trick or treating but Preston just wanted to hang out with his friends playing games down in our basement.  I guess he is growing up.  If anyone knows a cure for that please let me know.

Sophia the Ghost

Sophia the Ghost

Bert and Mary

Bert and Mary

Zombie, Ghost, and Nerd

Zombie, Ghost, and Nerd

 

 

 

 

 

 

carving pumpkins

carving pumpkins

scraping out guts

scraping out guts

 

 

 

 

 

finished product

finished product

Monkey see, Monkey do.

Monkey see, Monkey do.

 

 

 

 

 

 

All lit up.

All lit up.

Apr 4 2013

Easter

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Right before church. Looking pretty all dressed up.

Right before church. Looking pretty all dressed up.

We had a great Easter Sunday last week.  We did our traditional Easter egg dyeing on Saturday evening.  After church on Sunday we had the kids look for eggs in the backyard.  This has become a tradition of ours this is the 7th or 8th year that we have been doing this.  We prefer doing the egg hunt in our back yard rather than fight the crowds of people at the public hunts.  This year felt a little different than most.  I think next year we aren’t going to focus so much on the Easter bunny but rather what Easter is all about our Saviour.  I think we might have been missing that a little this year.  Corey and I did enjoy singing with the choir at church and when I asked the kids at dinner what they thought Easter was they did tell me all they learned about Jesus Christ.  So it wasn’t totally missed.  Maybe it was just me but next time we are going to remember a little better.

Dyeing Easter eggs

Dyeing Easter eggs

Preston really getting into the hunt

Preston really getting into the hunt

Levi looking for his eggs

Levi looking for his eggs

 

 

 

 

 

 

Eggs in a nest. (Corey made the nest for Sophia)

Eggs in a nest. (Corey made the nest for Sophia)

Aren't they just so cute?

Aren’t they just so cute?

Feb 14 2013

Happy Valentines Day

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DSCF4440This morning I surprised my kids with a Valentine breakfast.  I decorated the room with streamers and hearts.  They were so surprised.  Levi my second grader asked if I did this all in one night.  It really wasn’t hard but he thought I spent a lot of time.

The hearts were left over from last year.  I had to cut out a bunch of hearts for Levi’s school valentine party.  I saved them knowing that I didn’t want to have to cut hearts again and also knowing that I could use them over and over.  There were a few big hearts that I chose to write a little note to each of my kids on.  This was very simple but made a huge impact on my kids this morning.  In the note I just told them how much I loved them and some special things that they do that bring happiness to our lives. The streamers were left over from Sophia’s birthday party last year.  Corey helped hang the hearts on the ceiling fan and wal- lah we have a Valentine room ready for a special breakfast.

little notes for the kids

little notes for the kids

enjoying their valentine breakfast.

enjoying their valentine breakfast.

heart shaped cinnamon rolls

heart shaped cinnamon rolls

 

 

 

 

 

I like to do a special breakfast in the morning to start the day off right.  Last year I made heart shaped french toast.  This year heart shaped cinnamon rolls.  I got the idea from pintrest.  I have a really yummy cinnamon roll recipe so I made the dough yesterday and let it rise in the fridge all day and when the kids went to bed I rolled it out and put it back in the fridge.  I woke up at 6:00 to put them in the oven.  I put it on delay start for a half an hour that way it had a chance to warm up and rise.  By the time 7:00 rolled around we had fresh warm cinnamon rolls for breakfast.

I also like to make a cute lunch so the kids can keep feeling the love during the day.  I cut their sandwich into a heart and this year I put some vanilla yogurt in a dish and cut some strawberries for the top.  There is a note that goes on top of the yogurt container that says “I love you berry much”.  So simple but every year the kids tell me how much they appreciate it.

lunch packed with love

lunch packed with love

flowers from my sweetheart.

flowers from my sweetheart.

My cute little valentines.

My cute little valentines.

 

 

 

 

 

 

My sweet husband got me flowers and chocolates for Valentines.  This is a huge step for him.  I hardly ever get flowers because he thinks what’s the point they are going to die in a week anyway.  So I really do love these flowers.  He surprised me with them last Saturday and look they made it to Valentines day!  Valentines day is a good day to tell anyone special how you feel about them .  My family hears that I love them everyday but today I got to show them in a special way.  I hope you take the time everyday to show your loved ones how you feel and if you don’t at least take a little time out today to do so.  Hope you all have a wonderful Valentines day.

Nov 24 2012

Temple Square

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Corey and I  have been wanting to take the kids to Temple Square in Salt Lake to see the Christmas lights for a long time.  The last time Corey and I saw the lights was December 1998.  That’s before we were married.  There is a lot that has changed on Temple Square since the last time we were there. We knew the kids would enjoy the beautiful lights.  The day after Thanksgiving was the best time that worked for our schedules. Although I don’t know if we would go at that time again.  Apparently as soon as it gets dark people come out of no where.  We spent most of the day exploring the buildings and all around temple square with very little congestion.  As soon as the lights came on we were shoulder to shoulder with all the people.  It got a little crazy trying to navigate through the crowds.   By the end of the evening we were tired and sore from walking.  On the way home we stopped at In-N-Out Burger and had dinner.  It wasn’t long after we got back on the road that the kids all fell asleep.  We really wore them out.

Inside model of the Salt Lake Temple.
Found in the South Gate visitor center.

Preston viewing a video of the different rooms in the temple

The kids on the temple steps

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

The family in front of the temple

The old tabernacle

Levi in the Church history museum.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Kids in front of a life size model of the angel Moroni that is found on top of most LDS temples.

The nativity just outside the Tabernacle

Temple square before dark. Taken from the conference center.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Temple with the lights on

Temple with Christmas lights on.

A blue tree that Preston really liked

Nov 24 2012

Thanksgiving 2012

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We don’t have any family that lives close so sometimes Thanksgiving can be a hassle or a little depressing.  Not this year.  We have a couple of friends who also don’t have any family near.  We combined forces and had a big Thanksgiving feast.  We did this last year and thought that it turned out so well that we would do it again.  It turned out well with only one hitch.  I had a band-aid on before I started pulling the meat off the turkey but not after (eeewww).  I was freaking out that someone would find it in their food.  Reminded me of that friends episode when Monica looses a finger nail.  Anyway, we did find it later while cleaning up and it wasn’t in the food (yay).  We did have a good laugh over it.  What a great night.  Always so much better to spend the holiday with a large group of people. There was 21 in all.  Thanks Jennifer and Andrea for saving our Thanksgiving.

Carving the Turkey with Jennifer

Sitting around the table

Kid table

 

 

 

 

 

Little kid table.

We had quite the spread

Dessert. We had 6 yummy pies.

Nov 1 2012

Halloween 2012

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The pumpkin bunch

Hey!  Look at this I’m actually up to date on my post.  Anyway I hope everyone had a fun and safe Halloween.  This year we, as a family, decided to do a family costume theme.  So here is the story.

There are these two criminals at large.  Very dangerous.  They are wanted for grand theft, larceny, leaving the toilet seat up, and crimes against a pizza.  Their recent heist  was stealing a giant bag full of money.  Anyone who had information about these two are asked to contact the FBI.

FBI finally got the bad guys.

We had so much fun with this.  The boys were chased by numerous people trying to receive the reward.  We also had a lot of kids pretending that they were thrown in jail.  Harry Potter was a frequent guest in our jail along with “the Hulk”, a gangster, and the money bag herself.  Halloween is such a fun holiday.  It’s a time to step out of your shell and be who ever you want to be.  After the trunk or treat Preston went with his friends to trick or treat and came home with over 5 lbs of candy.  Sophia and Levi went with their dad around the block and got just about as much.  I hope this year will be a year they all remember.  We really had a great time.

Sophia and her daddy trick or treating (at our house.)

The super awesome FBI agents

A better view of the jail and Sophia being Sophia.

Apr 16 2012

Easter

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Family picture after church

Okay, I know Easter was over a week ago, but I’m finally getting caught up on blogging.  Next week is Preston’s birthday and I have to get caught up before then, right?!

I’m always forgetting to snap pictures so I only have a few of Easter.  On Saturday we colored eggs and had them for breakfast on Easter morning.  We have early church (9:00am) so after breakfast it was straight to church.  After church we took a little family photo of us all pretty.  Then we did our traditional Easter egg hunt in the back yard.  Corey always does such a good job of hiding all the eggs.  The kids were still finding some the next day.  In the picture with the three kids Levi doesn’t look very happy.  That’s because he thought his brother was finding all the eggs and he wasn’t getting any.  Next year I think we’ll have to make up some rules so the boys don’t fight over the eggs.

Sophia finding eggs

The kids with their baskets

Sophia being silly

 

 

 

 

 

 

I love this time of year.  It’s a great time to reflect on the Savior’s love for us.   He sacrificed so much for each one of us.  I’m so grateful for his atoning sacrifice.  I love the Savior Jesus Christ with all my heart.  I know it was for us that he suffered.  I know that he did suffer for us so that we may someday return to him and be like him.  What a great blessing to have him in our lives today.

Dec 24 2011

Christmas Letter

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I think it is sad how more letters are being emailed/posted every year.  I love to display the letters we get on our hall wall.  It has been a really fun tradition that I have carried on from my childhood.  Unfortunately last year we received so few letters that I didn’t even hang the line up.  I made it work this year but it seems it’s starting to look more and more pathetic each year.  I know it’s easier to send via email or other electronical means.  So I really appreciate all those who took the time to send us a card this year.

I did send out letters this year to a select few.  I like to make my own cards and it can be very time consuming.  I had only made 26 this year so I’m very sorry if you didn’t receive one.  I try and send a letter to all those who sent me one the year before but inevitably we always miss one or two people.  So if you didn’t get one from us this year here is the link to a copy of the letter that went out with the cards.  I’m sorry and I’ll try and send one for you next year.  Although if you follow this blog you probably already know everything that is going on in our lives so this might be a repeat.  I hope you all have a very wonderful Christmas.

Christmas Letter 2011

Nov 1 2011

Pumpkin follow-up

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Our Three Pumpkins

I told you I would give an update on the pumpkins that we grew in the garden.  That’s right I said pumpkins.  Last time you saw one of these it was just a blossom.  I hand pollinated 3 more for a total of 4.  One pumpkin got the size of a baseball and then shriveled up and died.  These pumpkins kept growing and growing and growing.  I had to pluck them off the vine while they were still green.  I then put them on my porch and let them turn orange.  They all still have green on them but the kids didn’t mind.  They are  27lbs, 24lbs, and 19lbs.  These were the biggest pumpkins our family has ever carved.  Definitely going to try growing pumpkins again next year.  I just hope we get some blossoms about a month earlier than we did this year.

I let each kid design their own pumpkin.  Preston decided he was going to name his count pumpkinstein.  Corey had a little trouble with all the teeth Levi wanted on his.  Sophia likes the circle (hers was nice and easy to carve).  They turned out pretty cute and the kids had tons of fun scraping out the guts.

So being the forgetful person that I am I forgot to take pictures of the kids in their costumes 🙁  Preston’s was the most creative.  He wanted to be an ice cream man and unfortunately I don’t have a picture of him.  Sophia wanted to be a fairy.  Levi wanted to be Dracula. There was one day last week that Levi had a School Program and we got pictures of him and Sophia dressed up.  We went trunk or treating at our church and then Corey took  Sophia and Levi around the block some more.  Preston is getting so big, he wanted to go with his friends this year.  One of the other parents went with them and they really scored on the candy.  Pretty soon he is going to be too old to go trick or treating and I ‘m having a hard time coming to that realization.  When did he start getting so old?  I haven’t aged any so what happened here?

Corey Carving and Levi being a goof while Preston watches intently.

The kids in front of their pumkins

Three little pumpkins sitting on a bench.

Pumpkins all lit up

 

Levi and Sophia in Costume. Levi is sad because his dracula teeth hurt his mouth.