Since Ben had to work in Grand Junction the whole week before we left for Idaho, we didn't have a chance to open our presents before we left town. So once we got home and had some dinner we opened up our gifts. We all had a wonderful Christmas season celebrating the birth of our Savior and being with each other.  |
| Yay for Lego guys. |
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| A boy can never have to many cars. |
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| Santa knew just what he wanted. :) |
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| Joseph got his own chess set. |
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| Reenacting "Big" |
This year we were lucky enough to be able to celebrate Christmas in Idaho with all of Ben's family. We enjoyed a wonderful week with our family while eating yummy food, watching Christmas movies, playing games, visiting, target shooting, family dinners, hot tubing, etc... It is always so much fun to be with family and I wish that we could do it more often. We Love you all so very much and can't wait to see you guys again soon.  |
| Macy |
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| Maddie with Grandpa |
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| Santa sure did good. |
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| Ben made the nice list also. |
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| Me and Macy |
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| Our Angry Bird |
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| Melanie |
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| Calvin with Grandpa |
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| Lexi |
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| Joseph and Charley |
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| Garrett and Jacquie |
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| Zach, Lisa and Ben |
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| Uncle Ben with Macy and Calvin (The babies are 4 days apart) |
On Joseph's last day of school before winter break he had a Christmas party at school. The kids were all so excited because it was Polar Express day at school so they got to wear their pj's, watch the movie, drink hot chocolate and have a party. I had Lily with me that today so she was able to come to the party with me and she was so excited to be with Joseph in his school. The kids all looked super cute in their pj's and had so much fun doing all the activities we had planned for them. |
| Joseph and Braden |
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| Lily pad |
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| Silly Mae |
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| Yummy cookies!! |
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| Kaylee, Joseph and Aiva |
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| Lily and Joseph |
A few weeks ago when Sam and Brad came for a visit we took the boys to do my favorite Christmas activity of looking at the lights. It was a pretty chilly night, but we all bundled up and had a great time. The boys were so excited they just kept running from place to place, but when we found the train they slowed for a few minutes to watch it go by. They did a great job of decorating all the trees and some of them even still had their leaves on. My favorite tree though was the purple and white one, it was just big, beautiful and breathtaking. I just love everything about this time of year.  |
| Joseph and Brad |
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| Ben and I in the Rose Garden, where we were married. |
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| Awesome tree |
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| I loved this purple tree |
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| Santa is on his way. |
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| Ohhh lights |
Grandpa On November 16, 2012 my grandpa returned to Heaven to be with his high school sweetheart. While this didn't come as a complete surprise, it has been really hard on me. I have so many wonderful and fond memories of my grandpa. From the time I was born we had a connection that even we couldn't explain. I remember when I was in Kindergarten and my Grandpa came to meet me at school and walk me home, but since I was a big girl I walked on the opposite side of the street and ran home to lock Grandpa out. Of course I was just being silly and Grandpa just laughed at me, which he did often. My fondest memory of him was when him and I would wake up long before anyone else in the house and play Gin Rummy for hours. I will miss him terribly and our game playing but know that he is in a much better place and so happy to be with his sweetheart. I Love You Grandpa.  |
| Love |
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| Happiness |
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| My blessing day |
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| Horsey ride |
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| Loving life |
In November we made a quick weekend trip over to Utah and had some free time on Saturday afternoon so Joseph and Kaden asked their uncles to play soccer with them. Joseph and Kaden are becoming quite the soccer players and gave their uncles a run for their money. It was a perfect afternoon for a game and once all the boys were tired and hot they had a yummy Popsicle to cool themselves down.  |
| Joseph and Kaden are off. |
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| Oh no the Uncles have the ball! |
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| Air ball!! |
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| Some fancy footwork and teamwork. |
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| My little Indian. |
Joseph had such a fun time celebrating Halloween since we seemed to celebrate all month long. He had a costume parade at school followed by a super fun party. Then we headed over to Trunk or Treat where Joseph scored on candy and played with Levi for a bit. When we finished at the church we came home and had a quick bite to eat before Joseph headed back out with Uncle Collin. Since it was a little bit later in the evening, the neighbors were very generous with how much they were giving out.  |
| Joseph's class |
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| My little vampire |
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| Levi aka Swat officer arrested Joseph aka The Vampire. |
Joseph's first class outing of this year was to a local photography studio who was doing a canned food drive for the homeless. Since it was Halloween the kids got to dress up in their costumes, walk through a haunted house, do a little trick or treating, have their picture taken for free and play outside. With it being so close to Halloween not many of the kids were able to make it, but those who did sure had a good time. It was also nice to help out the community and show the kids that you don't have to do much to make a difference.  |
| Aiva and Joseph |
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| Mina, Aiva, Joseph and Mae |
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| Holden's helpers |
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| I am going to drink your blood. |
Joseph's first big project this year in first grade was a diorama on one of the four habitats they had been studying. Joseph spent a lot of time researching and thinking about what he wanted to do and finally chose a desert habitat. He had a ton of fun painting the sky, making all the animals, plants and sun and gluing the sand. I am so proud of all the hard work Joseph did. |
| Desert Habitat |
Joseph was so excited this year that Uncle Collin was there to help carve pumpkins. Joseph was a little more into it this year and really got into the carving part, but still did not want to help with cleaning them out. Maybe someday Joseph won't mind getting his hands all slimy. :) Joseph and Uncle Collin sure carved some creative, spooky pumpkins.  |
| Ewww guts!! |
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| Joseph's least favorite part. |
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| Getting his hands dirty. |
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| Working with Uncle Collin |
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| Cutting like a mad man |
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| Joseph's pumpkin |
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| Spooky |
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