Hayden turns 12!!

What a handsome yet crazy kid!! (Next time I am making him brush his teeth before the photo!) And getting him to give me a real smile instead of the I'm a maniac in the making look!


Tying his own tie!! He was so sweet-he kept saying the only thing I want for my birthday is one of those vesty things the guys were to church. You mean a suit coat? Yah, that. Thank heavens for Burlington Coat Factory! He sure looks sharp. I am somewhere between tears and a giggle watching him pass the sacrament. He looks so sharp and takes the resposibility of the preisthood very seriously.

We are so blessed to have Hayden in our family. He is great fun to be around and keeps the conversation going. What a special time!

Here are a couple of friends having Bubblegum pie at the party.

Wow

Christmas Break in Arizona

Again-no photos. This time it's because we forgot our camera. We had a great 2 weeks in the sun playing with cousins and staying with the Smiths. The boys felt Wii deprived since they hadn't played for almost nine whole days, so that is ALL they did at the Smiths. Thanks to everyone for putting up with us. We had a blast!

Dallin 's Double Digits!

I'm sorry to say that we don't have any photos of Dallin's birthday because our computer had some issues. But-we are thrilled to say how much we love Dallin. He is such a great kid. He is always willing to help and is always the first to obey. We are so lucky to have him in our family! (His birthday was on Thanksgiving this year, so we had a "backwards party" over the weekend.)

Our little snow bunny

Emma can hardly wait for it to snow. She keeps asking when the cabin will be built so she can go play in the snow. This will be the first time we have ever been able to spend some time in McCall during winter. (Sounds like Emma wants to spend the entire winter up there.) It is also the first time Emma has had snow pants. So far she has worn them every day since we purchased them. Steve's glad she's getting use out of them. As you can see by her mittens being on the wrong hands and upside down-she's also in the independent stage, not that she's ever had any other stage in her life.
As an aside-I am more than happy with the Fall weather we've been having. It is absolutely beautiful! And-I'm super grateful that we will have a warm cabin to go to after playing in the snow so we can thaw out and drink hot cocoa.

Go Cougars!!

We took a family trip to Utah this past weekend. Steve's birthday was Saturday so part of his gift was to attend the BYU football game. We spent most of Saturday milling about campus...showing the kids where we met, eating lunch in the Wilk, purchasing BYU memorabilia, and explaining that a college is a LOT of buildings-not just one like their school. Emma was thrilled about the Y on the mountain and everyone loved going the the SWKT observation deck. The highlight for me was Training Table of course. In fact-we made it there 3 times in 3 days!
Steve took Hayden with him and the rest of us went to the Fun Center in Sandy. Everyone had a blast! We woke up to snow on Sunday-in October?! Our "vacation church" was a tour of Temple Square and the Conference Center on Sunday. The snow was exctiting but made for a long drive home. The freeway was closed from the border up to Burley so we had to drive to Pocatello and then home.
I think Steve's favorite part of the weekend was Emma singing the BYU fight song..."the Cougars of BYU. Rah, rah, rah rah rah. Rah, rah, rah rah rah. Rah, rah, rah rah rah. Gooooo Cougars!"

A 12 step program

They're hidden everywhere....in my nightstand, under the couch, by the piano, in the car, in the endtables, by the television. I'll admit, I'm addicted. I gathered all of them together. The grand total=34 sudoku books and 1 electronic game. I need a 12 step program!

The Merc

Here is our local market. You can get just about anything there-food, lumber, liquor, sporting goods, plumbing supplies, miscellaneous hardware, and so on. Definitely no Wal*Mart, but good enough for a quick trip for milk or gas. I have yet to meet a cashier that has all their teeth.