BYU Basketball

We got $1 tickets to go to a BYU basketball game. It was a lot of fun. The kids loved it. After buying dinner for our family of 5 at the game it cost more like $9/person! It was a fun game to go to and...BYU won!!

By the time the game was over we were all able to go home and I made it just in time to SLC to pick my parents up from the airport (they just came back from a Mexican Riveiera cruise).

Alex's 9th Birthday

I can't believe Alex is 9 years old already! Time does fly by too fast. He had a great birthday.

Alex started his day out with a number "9" pancake.

I made a Chinese Checkers cake for him. I used gum balls for the game pieces.

Alex loved the cake,

he also loves being goofy for the camera

Alex wanted to keep the design of the cake a secret, so the only clue I gave my mom and dad was that they were supposed to come ready to play games. We did indeed play Chinese Checkers on the cake!! :)

Make a wish, blow it out

That's what birthdays are all about!

10th Anniversary

Wow! I can't believe it's been 10 years already! Time goes by so fast. As Jon and I have reflected over the past 10 years we both agree that it has been a great journey together so far. There have been ups and downs, but we have been there for each other through it all. We had the chance to have a little anniversary get-away to Manti last week. We had a great time. Thanks mom and dad for watching the kids so we could go.

The Yardley Inn

Bed and Breakfast

Here's to many more decades together! Happy Anniversary!

Weihnachten mit Oma und Opa

Oma

Opa

Die Weihnachtsgurke
"The Christmas Pickle"
Caleb was the one who found the pickle and got a bag of Hershey Kisses



Oma's Decorations

Me and Jon

Oma with the kids

Opa with the kids

Oma and Leah are good friends. Leah loves to tease Oma by sitting in her chair.

One of the first places the kids go to play is in Opa's room.

It's full of fun things!

The fish hanging on the wall is actually singing in this picture
"Don't Worry, Be Happy"

And...the best part of all...

The slot machine in Opa's room!

Opa also has a bunch of small tops and toys that the kids love

playing with on his glass topped desk

Christmas--a Picture Memory Book

So, I don't have a lot of time to blog about every detail of our fabulous Christmas this year, so I'll do it through a bunch of pictures and captions. We did have a wonderful Christmas though and we were so glad to visit with a lot of family and friends during the season.

Caleb, Leah, Braydon and Alex on our way to Salem Ponds

The lights

Leah's favorite gift from mom and dad

Caleb on his Razor Spark Scooter from Nanny and Papa

Alex on his Razor Spark Scooter from Nanny and Papa

Gum, gum, gum and more gum!

Caleb and Alex's favorite gift from mom and dad

Hope everyone had a great holiday! We had a lot of fun spending so much time together as a family over the Christmas break. Jon took two weeks off of work so we could all spend a lot of time together. It was so great!

Discovery Gateway

We were invited to go to the Discovery Gateway with our friends, Randa and Eric, and their kids. Our kids love that place and were so excited to be able to go again. They had a lot of fun. Here are some pictures of their adventures.

Caleb

Alex

Kai wall climbing

Mail person, Leah.

Cowboy Carson

Leah and Makayela checking for chicken eggs

(Leah's favorite job at home too!)

Alex wall climbing

Caleb working the cash register at the grocery store

Gingerbread Cookies

There's no better activity to do while it's cold outside and kids are out of school for Christmas break than decorating cookies!! This is the treat Caleb picked for family home evening. We will also be saving some for Santa.

Leah loves decorating cookies!

Caleb did a good job making clothes for his gingerbread men

I don't think Alex really wanted his picture taken.

He did good decorating as well.
It's fun to do activities like this together. There's always a little less fighting in our house when the kids are doing something creative.