Our Little Princess Turns Four!

I have loved every second with this precious baby girl, she has been a delight. We invited 10 little girls to her princess fairy party because she gets along with everyone so well. I love spending time with her, she is fabulous at thank you and I love you. I was leaving this morning to take the boys to school and she had to kiss both my cheeks and give me a hug first. I only got one girl, how grateful I am it was Olivia!

JOY!

I had the chance to speak in Young Womens about finding Joy in life. I have been blessed with the ability to overcome the adversary and adversity and turn negative events into positive happenings. I truly love life! I know that life deals some pretty hard knocks, but if we search, we find something for which to be grateful.

My family brings me great joy! I know it sounds cheesy and unrealistic, but I am best friends with my sisters, my brother and his wife, my parents, my kids, my husband, and in-laws. I would rather play with my family than anyone else. The Gospel makes me happy. I love the peace the knowledge of the Savior and the atonement give. I can't imagine life without this gift. I know I am getting old, its hard to accept, but having a healthy body that still lets me be outside enjoying nature rocks. This week I was able to run up suncrest on a gorgeous sunny day and then a few days later go skiing with Brig on another amazing day, could life get any better?

Happy Birthday Charlie!

How can I describe our Charlie? Our passion child is truly a passionate child! My sister Whitney told Charlie he was her favorite nephew, a fact he did not keep secret. But he is really hard not to adore! Char was born with a sense of humor. He is a social butterfly and has made some great friend in his first grade class. He is realizing he is not 11 years old and he can play with kids his own age. The other day we were shopping and he borrowed my cell phone to chat with his budddies.

My Dad took he and his cousin Christopher to a BYU Basketball game. We had a great time! Thanks Dad. Charlie loves anything to do with BYU. For his Birthday party we went to the Bean Museum ton campus to check out the "creepy" animals and then to the creamery for ice cream. It was awesome! We love you Charlie.

MERRY CHRISTMAS

Christmas Morning, still in pj's at 3:00

Sam, our first time sledding this winter, we have been pounded with snow!

Charlie, singing in his school Christmas program,

of course 5th, 3rd, and 1st were the last to sing.

Brig and Olivia, more sledding!

Olivia and I have had so much fun singing Christmas songs. One I sing to her often to help her remember to be good, is Santa Claus is coming to town. Olivia also talks in third person and I think it is cute and shes the baby so I don't even try to correct her. The other day I heard her singing "Him knows when you are sleeping, him knows when your awake." Oh the sweet joys of motherhood, I couldn't stop giggling.

We had a wonderful, relaxing Christmas day. The boys asked for the usual heroscape, pokemon, star wars, and more legos to add to our collection of a million. Sam and Dave got air soft guns, watch out! And Brig hasn't stopped playing his new DS, red for the Utes, Santa knows. I gave Dave running tights and a blanket. I asked for a watch and he is taking me to Switzerland in May to pick one out! Yahoo. Olivia got a barbie house and I don't know who is more excited, Livvy or her mom. We feel so grateful to have family in town and to all be together happy and healthy (although my poor mom just broke her toe last night and was still bravely making pizzas). We are so grateful for our many blessings, especially the gift of the atonement from our Savior. Merry Christmas everyone!

Christ is the Reason for the Season

We had an amazing experience last night that really helped us feel the true reason we celebrate Christmas. We went to a live Nativity in Alpine. We took hay ride (time machine) to a barn where we saw lots of animals and Charlie bonded with Max the camel (he even got a camel kiss!) Next we followed the lights to another barn, live music was playing as we visited a darling baby Jesus. We ended the perfect evening with about 5 cups of hot cocoa. Hopefully we can keep the spirit of the event in our hearts for the rest of the season. Sam said he was fasting today to find someone to help this holiday. I highly recommend this fun evening, I think it runs through Monday, so go!

Sam turns 11!

I can't believe Sam is 11 and in another year he'll be taller than his mom. Sam celebrated his birthday with a few friends and cousin Scott at Space Camp. They got to go in a space ship and simulate a 3 hour mission, even though the aliens blew them up at the end, they had a blast! We also celebrated in St. George and at Grandma's house and brought donuts to his class. Sam has been a delight since the day he was born, we love his witty sense of humor and gentleness. We are proud of Sam for receiving his arrow of light recently. Sam's favorites include: Food-hamburgers (esp from Nordic Valley), Movie-Kung Fu Panda and Star Wars Episode I, Dessert-Nachos Dulce, Candy-Heath Bar, Book-anything in print, Restaurant-Sweet Tomatoes. We love you Sam!

INTRODUCING GODZILLA

We have a new addition to the fam. Meet Godzilla our new/old leopard gecko. She is a hand-me down from a son to his mom (a school teacher), to her student (our cousin Taylor), to us (Taylor got a dog). Dave thinks she's disgusting, but the rest of us really like her.