Sadie's Christmas recital '09

Sadie with her cute dance teacher Kylie.
We must have had our camera on the wrong setting and I'm so bummed about the quality of these pics but, whatever, Sadie did a darling job, as always. She LOVES dance and we love to watch her do it :))

Pretty little girl of mine!

Disneyland '09!

Maddy made a build-a-bear, bunny :)
Cousins group hug!
Sadie and Teagan were in heaven tracking down characters to visit with :)
Teagans Hero!
Maddy couldn't get enough of Maliboomer! Alex missed the height by an inch :(
Maddy finally got over her fear of characters!
Teagan has a serious crush on Jessie!

THE man himself!
Looking at bugs in "Bugs Life"
Sadie was meant to LIVE at Disneyland! Cute cousin Hanna :)
I sat down to rest and these two couldn't wait to hop in my lap, I'm running out of lap space!

Janeen braved the rapids with Maddy, Jonah and Alex on a cool day. What a champ :)
Kickin' it with grandpa.
Sadies fave was the jellyfish drop at California Adventure.


I told you, he has a serious crush on that redhead!
Fun times in Disneyland! Can't wait to go back :)

Ginger bread houses!

Helping Teagan construct his train. Hot glue is the way to go for sure!
Maddy picked a tree this year and then gave up on it! Not feeling super creative I guess...
Poor Susan stayed busy whipping up icing all night. She puts so much work into this fun tradition!
Sadie loved, loved, loved creating her house.
The boys both needed a little help from dad. That icing is tough stuff!

The Cabin

Hangin' with uncle Justin
The kitchen, our favorite hangout spot!
Baby Oliver is under there somewhere! The kids were relentless with him!
fun in the snow!
He climbed on me to give me a hug and ten seconds later he was sound asleep :)
Pulling out the D.S.'s
Grandpa taught Teagan to play ping-pong. They were besties after that!
Cute girlies!
Sadie loves little Oliver soooo much! We all do:)

After Thanksgiving we always go to my Father-in-laws' cabin for the rest of the weekend. there was enough snow for some snowmobiling and sledding. I always eat waaay too much when I go there and I spent as much time sitting around doing NOTHING as I could! I'm so glad that Josh loves to go out and play with the kids because this year I just didn't have the steam to even try. I love that place so much, mostly for the time that we spend as a family and that the kids get to just relax, play and have fun with their cousins.

Thanksgiving

Pool fun at the hotel.

Making a glitter snowman with cousin Abby
Sadie eating some yummy pie!
Alex getting ready to launch his bottle rocket
Grandpa Staples, the one responsible for this huge group of people :)
Crafting with Grandma Pam. she put so much work into this fun day! Thanks Mom!!!

Thanksgiving with my side of the family is always a HUGE affair! We have to have it at a church because of all the people. This year we celebrated with my moms side of the family. I think we had somewhere between 70-80 people! Lots of food, fun crafts, a brilliant "coupon" clinique and fun games. My brother Todd rigged up a bottle rocket station outside that kept all the kids and kids at heart entertained ALL day and I heard that they brought the house down with Rockband later that night but, sadly, we were not able to stay for that.

It was held in the Richfield area so Josh and I decided to stay at the local Marriott so we wouldn't have such a chaotic day of commuting. And then we headed up to the my in-laws cabin for the rest of the weekend. Fun times!

Ladies man

Yesterday Alex tells me in all seriousness that he doesn't want to go out to recess anymore because it's too scary. I'm like "Oh no, is there a bully or someone being being mean to you out there?" He tells me no but there are "at least" 20 girls who have a crush on him and chase him down as soon as he gets on the playground. Now, maybe his estimates are off a bit, but I have to say I think he is a handsome little dude and I'm not surprised that he gets chased down by a coupe of admirers.

Halloween!

Yes, Maddy is now taller than her mom!! Surreal is the only way to describe it!
Well it came and went in the blink of an eye it seemed. Halloween is getting to be such a wild holiday now.

Anyway, this year Maddy and a couple her friends dressed up as dead fairies. It was fun to help them put together their costumes and listen to them plan out their evening of trick-or-treating. Alex had a very stressful time picking something to be this year. He had a meltdown about a week before Halloween crying that he has already been everything he has ever wanted to be and there was nothing cool left. I was not sure what to do to help him out but at the last minute he did let me spray his hair blue and he wore one of Josh's old little league Bingham jerseys. I think it all worked out in the end!

Sadie was a pretty fairy and Teagan was a reluctant fireman. Josh and I just didn't have the energy to dress up this year! Now we have way too much candy at our house and I am using every bit of will power that I have to stay away 'cause in a few short weeks I will be wanting to pig out on pie after all!!

Labor pains...

Well not for me but for my poor children! Every fall it is time for some serious yard work and we have a lot of large shrubs and plants that need to be trimmed, dug up, and loaded into the trailer for a trip to the dump. It takes a few days to get it all done.

The truth is I am so grateful for the chance the kids get to really labor in the yard like this. We always have fun in the Spring when it is time to plant new things and they all love to help but the Fall clean up seems to spell dread for them. I am always happy that their dad has the patience and ability to make these big work days fun and rewarding for them. That doesn't mean we never hear complaining (Maddy, I'm lookin' at you!).

I remember dreading the looooong Saturdays of yard work as a child but It taught me so much and I can now say that I love getting my hands dirty and smelling the soil. Besides at the end of the day we always went to the 7-11 or Harts convenience store for hot dogs, fountain drinks and my dad would make THE BEST oreo shakes that night.

I know that as they grow they too will come to appreciate the hard work that it takes to enjoy a beautiful yard. Now Josh and Alex are off the the U game and we get to stay home and drink hot chocolate and watch a movie. I mean you have to reward yourselves after a day of hard labor ;)