The GIRL Cousin Sleep Over!

This weekend Tanner went and stayed the night with Kohlton, while Karrah and Kiley got to come stay with us.  They played Rock Band until the middle of the night, made cup cakes, rode on mini racers for hours, and watched movies on Karrah's new 1 inch screen i-pod nano!  So much fun!

Uncle David Called!

And he said that Makena and Sam could sleep over for the second night in a row!! Yeah!!

I am not sure what it is, but cousin sleep overs are the best!  I remember how much I loved them when I was a kid.  You can go months without seeing your cousins, and as soon as you see each other you are instant best friends.  I love it, and I love having the cousins sleep over!

We had Family Home Evening with them tonight, and we talked about the kinds of gifts we can give the Savior for Christmas.  We talked about Having a Humble Heart, Repenting of a Sin or Weakness, Serving Others, Praying with Sincerity, Studying the Scriptures, Making and Keeping Goals, Having Faith during the hard times, Becoming a Lifetime Learner, Gaining a Testimony of a Gospel Principle, and Giving Thanks to Heavenly Father in All Things.  The best gift we could give Jesus Christ would be to change a part of ourselves that needs to be improved.  As we give Christ the gift of ourselves we will be the ones who are blessed.

Update

Well, it wasn't the "Gingerbread House" that made Tanner sick.  He ended up with a fever and upset stomach for 2 days.  He missed his school Christmas Party, the Sing-a-long, and the Pizza lunch that his class collected change for until they had enough $ to buy the pizza.  We are happy that he is now healed, and just hope that no one else gets the "Gingerbread" illness!!

We were planning to go on a snow ski trip with Jason and Regina (my brother, his wife, and their 3 kids) on Wednesday Dec 17 through Sunday Dec 21.  Jason and Regina had their time share reserved at Powder Mountain, Utah for this week.  B.....U......T...  there is NOT enough snow for the ski resort to open.  We are SOOOOOO bummed.  It would have been so fun for the kids to ski with their cousins.  Hopefully we will be able to schedule a trip with them for another time. For now I think our family is going to leave on Dec 31 and go to our usual Homewood Suites Hotel in Sandy, Utah and ski at Alta, Snowbird, and Brighton.  Justin would be a ski bum if was the responsible thing to do!  And now Tanner is following the lead.  He is a great little skier, and talks about skiing all the time!

Hurry Take the Picture!

Every Christmas we make Gingerbread Houses.  As you will notice Addy is holding the roof up on her house.  As soon as we took the picture, the roof slid off!  So Tanner started eating it, and then he threw up all night!  I wonder?  What could have caused that?  Even if it was the cause, it is still one of our favorite traditions!

Merry Christmas, Friends and Family!

I mailed out most of our Christmas cards today, and will mail the rest tomorrow.  I love taking or finding the perfect picture for our Christmas Card each year!  Justin and I have made it our tradition to have cards made every year since we have been married.  It is fun to see how each year everyone changes.  I love getting picture cards from our friends and family also.  I save all of them in a big box and every year when we get out the Christmas decorations I look at all the family pictures I have collected.  Thank you to all of you who have helped build my collection!  I love it!!!!

2 Students of the Month!

Congratulations Addy and Tanner!!!

Today at an assembly, that I didn't read the letter about parents being invited to attend, Addy and Tanner were both recognized.  Luckily Tanner's teacher is a good friend of mine and she called me to find out where I was!  Thank you Linda! The Character Trait they were recognized for is Responsibility.

Addy's teacher said  "She has been observed many times helping others in need both on the playground and in the classroom. Addy thinks things through before acting."

Tanner's teacher said "He makes responsible decisions to say and do the right thing, even when the right thing is difficult to do."

I am so proud of both of them!  Thank you Addy and Tanner for being such great examples!

The Tradition Continues!

Last night we had the annual Young Women Young Men Christmas Party at our house.  It is always a super fun and well attended party!  I'm not sure what they love more the Soup in a Bread Bowl Dinner or the Hayless, Hayride!  Whatever it is, Good Times is what will be remembered!