Merry Christmas!!!

So, I know what a complete slacker I've been with my blog. I'm not going to bore you with my lame excuses. I just wanted to say that I am so grateful for this time of year when we get the opportunity to reflect on the life of our Savior. We all are so blessed to have such an amazing example to look to and the knowledge that He has paid the price for all of our sins that we may live with Him again someday. All we have to do is accept the gift that He has given each one of us. Doesn't it feel wonderful to be so loved?

I hope all of you have a fabulous Christmas and a wonderful New Year!

Kaylenisms

Kaylen says the funniest things! And since I still don't know how to download pics to my mac, I thought I'd at least share some of the funny things she says.

I was running my fingers through her hair and she pulled her head away and said, "Don't touch my hair, mom! It's gorgeous!"

She also tells us, "I'm gorgeous!" anytime she is in trouble. I assume she thinks that means she should never get in trouble.

Every time she tells us about something she did, it always happened "last night". It doesn't matter if it actually happened 5 minutes ago, or 5 days ago.

She got a sucker out of the pantry when I had told her she couldn't have one and unwrapped it in front of me with a big smirk on her face. I took it away from her and told her that mommy had said no. She yelled at me, "No! You told me yes!!"

We were in the mall and she saw that they were setting up the place where Santa sits and she got really excited and started talking about Santa and Christmas. I asked her if she liked Santa and she told me, "Yes, I want to hold him!" Santa will be at our mall starting Saturday and I am so excited to take her! I think she will be the only one of my kids who will actually sit on his lap. My other three have always been a little terrified of jolly old St. Nick!!

She will bring a book to me and say, "Read to me, mom." So, I start reading and get through about 2 pages before she takes the book from me and says, "Now I read to you!" Then she moves her finger along the words and makes up her own story.

She thinks that any little kid is automatically her friend. It doesn't matter how old they are. Even 10-year-olds are her friend in her mind. She will go up to any kid and just start talking to them and ask them if they want to play with her. I think it's annoying to some of the older kids but I love that she has such an out-going personality! She will even see pictures of kids and tell me, "Mom, that's my friend!!"

We were in the car the other day and she wanted to listen to Taylor Swift. I didn't have the CD in the car so I told her that and she said, "Dang it!" So, we were just listening to the radio, and the introduction to Love Song came on and she gasped and said, "Taylor Swift!" I think it's amazing that she can already recognize songs like that!

I love Kaylen, she makes me laugh every day and I am so grateful she is a part of my family! I just have to say that I am in for it! The next 18 years are going to be a roller coaster ride with this one!

Yes, I'm a slacker, but I have good reason....

Our computer totally crashed about a month ago. It was absolutely fried and the geek squad guy that Scott took it to said it would cost more to fix it than it would to get a new computer. So that's what we did!! Scott decided that he wanted a Mac this time around and that is what we ended up getting. Now, here is my problem- I don't know anything about Mac's and I'm still learning how to use it! I still haven't figured out where I'm supposed to put my memory stick in to post pictures. So that is why I haven't posted in so long!! My goal is to have it figured out this week so I don't get any more behind!!

So, here are some things that have been happening in our lives. Jayden told me last week that he is starting to like Grand Junction better than Boise!! I cannot tell you how happy this makes me! He has really struggled making friends here and his comment tells me that he finally feels accepted and feels like he has friends here now. Yeah!! He is trying out for the school basketball team this week. It's been really tough but he feels really good about it. He will make one of the teams. (Everyone does.) They have three teams A, B, and C. They put each kid on one of the teams according to how good they are. He is hoping for A but feels like he will at least make B.

Braedy joined an after-school program called Girls On The Run. They are learning about self-esteem, peer-pressure and body image while training for a 5K. Scott and I are going to run the 5K with her on November 7. She is loving it! She is also doing great in gymnastics. She just conquered her round-off, back hand-spring and is pretty dang stoked about that!!! She has just decided to join the school choir so that will be fun, too! She definitely loves to stay BUSY!!!!

Masen is not loving school this year!!! I think having to go all day and not having as much play time has made it really rough on him. He gets kind of tired and ornery but despite all of that, he is doing great in 1st grade! He gets 100% on his spelling test every week and gets his entire homework packet (that is supposed to be spread out through the week) done on Monday night. He loves to learn but would prefer to do it at home!! He is definitely our home-body. He is still loving gymnastics and is doing well. He can't wait to turn 7 (3 more months!) because then he can play football!

Kaylen is, well, for lack of a better word, Kaylen. She is such a busy little girl and into EVERYTHING! She doesn't like the word no and thinks that is an invitation to push her limits. She has been soooooo different from the other three and is definitely my test in life. Despite all of that, she is such a stinking joy! She is hard to handle, but she makes me laugh everyday, she is very loving, and she loves life. She loves to be on the go and gets very upset if she is left home from anything, even the grocery store!! She is the opposite of Masen, she loves to go, go, go! She thinks everyone is her friend and has to say hi to every person she sees. She has to talk on the phone to everyone that I talk to. It's really hard to explain to her that she can't talk to the lady at the orthodontist's office, or the secretary at the elementary school.

Scott is keeping busy with work and his calling in young men's. He has a fantasy football team that holds a lot of his attention lately and he just got NBA League Pass so we can watch ALL the Jazz games. (I'm excited about that one, too!!)

I'm going nuts trying to keep everyone's schedules straight and making sure everyone is dropped off and picked up at the right time. Oh, and making sure Kaylen doesn't ruin anything that is important to anyone (which happens a lot and of course I get blamed every time!). I also spend a lot of time at my second home, the gym. To date, I have lost 28 pounds. Not as much as I'd like but I haven't been as dedicated the last couple of months. I'm definitely happy that I'm losing, I just need to get back on track and be completely serious about it again. I do great with the work-outs and cardio, it's the food that really trips me up. I like it too much!!

Anyway, that's what we've been up to. I promise I'll get this computer thing figured out and get some new pictures posted soon.

Heigh ho, Heigh ho, it's back to school we go!!

So, it's the middle of the week, but my kids started school today!! CrAzY!! It makes me a little sad that the "lazy days of summer" are over! I love summer! It's good to get them back in school and a little more regimented, but I'm really sad to see summer end!

Jayden is super excited to be getting up at the butt-crack of dawn again. He has to catch the bus at 6:30 so I get the fun task of prying him out of bed and getting him moving. Actually, he's really good about getting up and getting himself moving. He's a great kid! He had mixed emotions about starting school this year. He was excited to go back to school but was anxious and worried about the bullies from last year. He looks a little startled in this picture because it was still dark in our house, the flash was so stinkin' bright, and he was trying really hard to keep his eyes open!!






Braedy and Masen don't have to be out the door until a little after 8:00 so that's a little more manageable. Braedy is always nervous for the first day of school but she was pretty excited too. We met her teacher on Monday and she seems super nice. She also has a lot of friends in her class so that always makes it easier. Masen has been excited for school to start since it ended last spring. All summer he kept asking me, "When am I going to be in first grade?" I think he was just excited to be like the big kids and go all day and eat lunch in the lunch room. His teacher seems really nice, too. When we met her on Monday, Mase wouldn't even look at her. I asked him if he was going to talk to her on the first day of school and he said, "I'll probably just talk to her on the second day." He was kind of bummed because his two best friends from last year aren't in his class. Oh, well.






Wednesday is early day so Brae and Mase got home first. Braedy had a great day. She really likes her teacher and had a lot of fun. This is her last year of Elementary School! Time goes way too fast! Masen found one of his friends from last year at recess so he was pretty excited about that! He had a lot fun, too. It was funny because he was so excited to eat in the lunch room but ended up taking his lunch today. He says he's going to do a "pattern" and switch off every other day. He's so funny!! They both seemed to have a great first day!

Poor Jay doesn't get home until almost 4:00! It's a long day and then he has homework on top of that! He scared me when he came home because he came in the door with a frown on his face and acting like he had a terrible day. But then when I started asking questions, he broke out in a smile and told me how awesome it was! He has a couple of friends in most of his classes so that helps. But BEST of all- the bully is not in ANY of his classes!!!!! I couldn't be happier and I'm sure Jay feels the same! I am so relieved that he had a good day! I hope this year turns out as good as the first day was!!

Our very own metal mouth!!

Today was the big day! Jayden got his braces!! He wasn't very excited about it and was even a little nervous. But it wasn't as bad as he'd imagined and he thinks he looks OK. Here is a picture of him right before we left for the appointment.





And this is a picture of the end result. Pretty handsome if I do say so myself!!



He will have them for about 2 years. I can't believe he'll be in 9th grade when he gets them off! CRAZY!! He also had to have some bite blocks put on his back teeth which make it so he can't bite down all the way. It's going to be a little hard for him to eat for the next couple of months. I keep telling him it will all be worth it in the end!

Our 2 week road trip!!

We took an insanely long road trip! The kids and I left for the Provo area on the 26th of July. My sister-in-law, Heidi and her family do swimming lessons in the summer so we took advantage of that. Then we headed to Ogden for a week and then to Bear Lake for a few days. It was so long and exhausting but so worth it! We all had so much fun!! Here is a little bit of what went on.....


Kaylen was a little too young for lessons this year so luckily, there was all kinds of toys and a nice playground to keep her busy! Next year, she'll be in the water!!





On the first day, Masen wouldn't even put his face in the water! By the end of the week, he was doing front stroke, back stroke, knee dives off the side of the pool, and jumping off the diving board! He rocks!!







Braedy wasn't too excited about swim lessons but ended up having a blast. She struggled with diving until Heidi told her, "It's just like doing a handstand in the water!" and then she was doing perfect dives!







Jayden had no desire to take lessons. He was actually mad at me for signing him up. But by the end of the week he didn't want it to end! He struggles with diving but so did I. He learned a lot and got so much better!!






After swim lessons, we headed to my parents house for a week. We got a very pleasant surprise when Dave and Leah and their girls decided to come and spend some time too!! They only pics I got were of the kids "swimming" in the hot tub! They had so much fun catching up with their cousins and spending time with their grandparents! It was a lot of fun and went by way too fast!










The last weekend of our trip we had a mini family reunion on Scott's side. Scott flew into SLC and then we drove up to Bear Lake and stayed the weekend with Robert and his son Cody, Troy and his family, Byron, Kevin and Heidi, and our family. We went up Thursday and came back Sunday. We rented a jet ski and had a blast on that. It was a little colder than I would have liked but it was awesome to just hang out and relax with our family. Here are a few pics.








We picked a bad weekend to go to Bear Lake. It was so cold! The water wasn't bad but I don't think the temperature ever got over 80 degrees! So, we spent a lot of time playing in the sand on the beach! It was so fun! The kids had a blast burying each other and Uncle Kevin and Aunt Heidi!












Beautiful Bear Lake in the background!!



Troy and Lisa's cute kids!!



Kaylen usually missed out on the first part of each day at the lake. She always fell asleep on the way there.



Crazy Mase! We were freezing so we hung out in the car!!




On Sunday, we decided to take a tour of the Minnetonka cave in St. Charles Canyon. It was really cold but lots of fun. The kids loved it, especially Mase and Ethen because the were vampires the whole trip and vampires live in caves! They even turned into bats a couple of times.

The crew-Braedy, Zak, TaeLor, Ethen, Jayden, Masen, Kaylen, and Rian.




While we waited for our tour to start, the kids had a blast feeding the chipmunks. They were really friendly and not at all scared of us. Kevin told Jayden and Zak that if they caught one, he would give them $100. I told Jayden he wasn't allowed to pick one up because I didn't want him to get bitten. He thought I was ridiculous and just plain mean until he say another boy pick one up and get bitten! After that, I think Jayden thinks I might be a little smarter than he previously thought!!





I just have to say how blessed I am to have such a great family! I had so much fun with everyone and I'm so glad that I have such a great relationship with each one of my family members! It sucks living so far away but I guess that just makes the time we have together even more special! Thanks for everything, everyone!!

Toothless at last!!!!

Masen watched all of the kids in his Kindergarten class lose their first tooth, one by one. Some even lost 2 or 3 or 4 teeth during the year. He kept asking me, "When am I going to lose a tooth?" I kept assuring him that it would happen before school was out. Well, the last day of school came and he still hadn't lost a tooth. It was very devasting for him. He thought that meant that he was the youngest one of all his friends! Poor kid! Anyway, the last few weeks he has had four really loose teeth but he won't let me touch them. Last night, Scott was getting him in the bath and said, "Let's surprise mom and pull your tooth." Masen was all over that! I guess he trusts dad because he is a dentist! So, Scott pulled his tooth and the Tooth Fairy visited and everything! He is so excited to have finally lost his first tooth!


He is a little self concious now. He doesn't think he looks like himself. I think he looks absolutely adorable!!



This is Masen holding the loot that the Tooth Fairy brought!