Christmas 2008

We had an amazing Christmas this year, the kids were spoiled of course and got almost everything they asked for. I say almost because some of the requests were a little out there, Gage wanted a new dirt bike for instance and we just weren't going to spend $2000 on each of our kids. Sorry Gage. We did have a fabulous time though. We woke up to a great breakfast, had a fun filled morning with all of the new gifts and then went to Grandma Jan's house to spend the rest of Christmas Day with Blake's family. Later that night we went and watched Bedtime Stories to end our day. Here are some pics and a few of the gifts the kids received.


The boys got Guitar Hero World Tour, they also each got a Jazz jersey, and a couple of Bionicles. Gage also got an origami kit because he loved it so much at the breakfast with Santa activity, a couple of Nintendo DS games and a new MP4 player.

Max also got a new camera, a light up coloring board, play-doh, and

Eliza got a Learn to Potty baby doll, a Little Mermaid dress,a Barbie princess castle, a light up coloring board, and a Littlest Pet Shop toy.

They each got a few other little things in their stockings as well. The gifts were fun, but the important part is that we all had a great time using them together as a family and making some memorable moments.

ChRistMas 2008

Every year on Christmas Eve we make sugar cookies for Santa and Reindeer food for Rudolph and his pals. It's a fun tradition and the kids always get excited about doing it and have a TON of fun. This year was no exception, we had a great time as usual.






There was one difference however....we got a call from Santa Claus!! Only Eliza ended up talking to him because he was so busy trying to deliver presents to all of the children in the world, but luckily the boys didn't seem to mind too much. She was so thrilled and her eyes beamed with excitement, it was very cute!


After all of the fun and excitement we played Settlers of Cataan, one of our kids favorite games to play together as a family.

I came home from work one morning to this very sweet, heart tugging note. Max wrote: Dear mom, I hope you get home safely. Love, Max. He is the sweetest, most caring, darling boy. I don't know what I would do without him in our family, I love him dearly. He is such a positive influence in our home and always kind to his brother and sister. He always puts others feelings and needs above his own and is always thinking of others. I love you dear, sweet Max!

Breakfast with Santa....

Saturday we went to Wheeler Farm for breakfast with Santa. We did this last year also but last year we did dinner. I much preferred the dinner and not sure I would do breakfast again. The food was awful and they ran out of a lot of different items by the time the boys and I got through the line. The boys were so into doing the crafts that they didn't want to get breakfast when they first started serving food and I figured no big deal, I'm sure they have plenty of food and why go stand in line. Boy was I wrong! It was still fun, food and all, because the kids enjoyed making the crafts, we were with great friends, and it's all about the memories for me! They had ornaments that the kids could make and an origami table also. Gage and Max must have had the poor origami lady show them how to make about 10 different things each! They just kept going back for more and more. They also had face painting and pictures with Santa. Last year when it was dinner, since it was at night, they took you on a ride through their Christmas lights and gave you hot chocolate. I kind of missed that part of it, but since it was so cold I decided I could live without it. The kids had a great time and that was my goal in taking them, so I'd say it was another successful Christmas activity.

We're Moving to North Carolina!!!!

I found out yesterday that I was accepted to CRNA school in North Carolina. I'm soooo excited!! It is at Wake Forest University in Winston-Salem which is about a half hour from Greensboro. It doesn't start until August so we'll be here until the summer time. Thanks to all of my friends and family who have supported me through this entire process. I couldn't of done all of my shadowing and interviewing without your help! Now we just have to sell our house. Think good thoughts for us!

Eliza's Preschool Program

The day after the boys program Eliza also had a Christmas program. They asked the kids to dress nice, which wasn't a problem because she likes to feel "beautiful and fancy". They sang several songs and also highlighted each child. They had already gotten the children's answers ahead of time but then at the program had them come stand in front of everyone and read their answers. Eliza said to be good this year, she helps her mom cook noodles. She loves noodles! She also said for Christmas she wants a REAL pony and puppy. Too bad Santa doesn't bring live animals for Christmas. She also said that for Christmas her mom would probably want a picture of her and her dad would want the same. Then Santa came to visit them and we had some refreshments. I love this age, they are just so darn cute! Her two preschool friends that are with her in several of the pictures are Brooke and Lucy.

 

The boys had a Christmas Carols Program at school this past week. Each grade sang two songs. They do this every year and it's pretty cute to watch. Here is Max with his friend Summit who is in his class.




Gage with his friend Luis. Luis and Gage have been in the same class for the past two years.

Gage's class made gingerbread houses and Eliza and I went to help out. Gage still likes me to come and help out in his class so I like to take advantage now while he still lets me. Who am I kidding?? I'll probably be the mom that volunteers to chaperone school dances and stuff like that. Poor Gage! Here is the finished masterpiece. I especially like the snowman.

Ogden Christmas Village and Gingerbread Houses

Last Saturday we went to the Ogden Christmas Village. We had never been there before but wanted to do something different as far as seeing Christmas lights. They had lights in the trees, bushes and on the ground and also had some lighted images. They also had tons of mini cottages filled with different scenes using dolls. We walked around and looked at all of them while sipping on hot cocoa. It was fun. When we got in the car the kids all said, "Thanks mom, that was fun." So we enjoyed ourselves, had some good family time, and to top it all off - it was free! Can't beat that!

 

After the Ogden Christmas Village we came home and made gingerbread houses. I learned from last year that having just one house doesn't make for a peaceful activity, so this year we had two. The boys shared one and Blake and Eliza made the other. I took pictures and helped a little on each of the houses. Max was the last one at the table decorating his house. He wanted to use every single piece of candy, and he did too! Eliza ended up sad and crying because Blake accidentally cracked her roof trying to get it back into place after it slid down a little. Aside from that little drama it was a really fun night!

A few days before we also bought a Christmas Tree. Unfortunately I didn't get any pictures of the choosing or decorating of it because after all of the Disney World pictures my camera battery just couldn't take any more and I hadn't recharged it yet. It turned out nice though and the house smells even better. I love getting real trees, except for the cleaning up of the pine needles!

 

The gingerbread house on the second row is Gage and Max's and the one on the bottom is Blake and Eliza's.

Disney World!!! Nov. 27th - Dec. 6th

We surprised the kids with a trip to Disney World over Thanksgiving. They thought we were going to Cedar City for Thanksgiving so they didn't think much of all of the suitcases. They were pretty surprised but not jumping up and down like I expected because first we didn't tell them at home which I think was the big mistake. The morining didn't start out ideal because Gage was trying to find his Nintendo DS to take with us and couldn't so he was getting upset because he felt bad since I had rented him two games and bought a new charger for it. I was a little upset because he is always losing things and I am so over it. Anyways, I went upstairs to get something and when I came down they were all already loading into the car and I almost called them back in to tell them the surprise but I thought oh well we'll just tell them at the airport. I really thought it would go better if we told them at home but Blake and a good friend of mine thought it might be cool to tell them at the airport. So I went with that since they were already out in the car. We got to the airport and they were all asking, "Why are we here?", so Blake told them that we thought it would be fun to fly to Cedar City this time. We could of just told them then but we wanted to get their reactions on camera. So anyways, all three of them were bubbly, excited, little balls of energy bouncing around, and each one of them just had to roll their own suitcases around the airport. It was really cute and made me so excited to tell them the real surprise. So when we got to our gate we sat them down and told them that we had another surprise for them. That we weren't really going to Cedar City....We were going to DISNEY WORLD!!!!! They all sat there kind of stunned for a minute. We were totally waiting for some kind of reaction but I think they had to process that we had just told them were going to Cedar City and now were saying Disney World, what?? So they start smiling and getting excited and Gage comes over to me and leans in close and says quietly, "Mom, I'm trying really hard right now not to freak out in front of all these people." with a big smile on his face. I laughed because it was so stinkin' cute but I knew I should of done it at home. That's what I wanted! I wanted to see some freaking out. Eliza came over and just couldn't believe it. She kept asking if I was tricking her. She said, "Are we really going to Disney World? Are you tricking me? Are we going to Disney World or Cedar City?" It was pretty funny and she kept asking multiple times throughout the flight, even when we landed. She finally believed us when we got to Downtown Disney that afternoon. She also gave me a little squeal after the first time that I told her yes that we were really going to Disney World and would get to see the Princesses. I loved it. Max was pretty mellow about it, but then again, that's just Max. He is one of the most laid back kids I know. When we arrived in Florida, we decided to just go to Downtown Disney for the first day and get some dinner and then go get settled into the hotel. We ate at a new restaurant called T-Rex. Not your traditional Thanksgiving Dinner but a fun place to eat nonetheless! The kids really liked it, they had dinosaurs all over that made noises, an ice cave that changes colors, and meteor showers about every 20 or 30 minutes. We had debated to go there or Rainforest Cafe because we heard a lot of people say that Rainforest Cafe was a fun place to go. Well we ended up going to the Rainforest Cafe on one of our last days and it was unanimous that we all liked T-Rex a lot better. Here's a few pics of us on the plane and at the T-Rex restaurant.

 

Animal Kingdom

The first park we went to was the Animal Kingdom. The kids really liked it there. In fact, we went there twice. On the last day of our trip we had several hours to do something before our flight so we had the kids vote where they wanted to go. Max and Eliza wanted to go to the Animal Kingdom again and Gage wanted to go to Hollywood Studios. I think it was the Kilimanjaro Safari that won Max over. Actually, we all really liked it. Max and Gage were brave and rode Expedition Everest with me. It's their one and only roller coaster. Gage was very nervous and not sure he wanted to do it because he has always been afraid of heights. Well, he did it not only once but TWICE! He actually rode every roller coaster we went on throughout the entire trip twice because he would ride once with me and then again with Blake. He grew leaps and bounds this trip as far as conquering his fear of heights. By the end he was asking us to take him to the roller coasters. It was a proud moment for me! I've always wanted a coaster buddy. Blake likes them okay but gets headaches after riding too many and Max is usually good for at least one run, but I could ride them over and over. I think Eliza will be like me and love them though. She was pretty put out when she wasn't tall enough to ride one and LOVED the ones she was tall enough to go on. I'm keeping my fingers crossed! We also really liked the Dinosaur ride. Well, except for maybe Eliza. It was a little too dark and noisy for her. Animal Kingdom was definitely worth visiting.

 

Epcot

The next day we went to Epcot. I was a little nervous about Epcot because I thought they might be a little bored with it. I was pleasantly surprised when they really enjoyed it. They loved Future World. Favorites were Mission Space, Test Track, the game area after you get off of Mission Space and the game area after getting off of the ride inside the big signature silver sphere (can't remember the name of it), the international soda tasting station and going around to all of the different countries. I thought the countries is what they would be most bored with but Gage especially liked looking at them. The soda tasting station was interesting. It is sponsored by Coke so I thought it was going to be what Coke tastes like in different countries but it was actually popular sodas in different countries. Italy's was the worst! It tasted okay for a split second and then the worst bitter taste ever. Costa Rica's was pretty good, it was a melon flavored drink. Gage and Max really got into this and were lovin' it because you could have as much as you wanted. When we left Gage was feeling a little sick to his stomach from all of the sweetness. It didn't last long though. I was excited because Epcot has Princess's out and about to meet and Eliza didn't get to see any at the Animal Kingdom. Unfortunately, they only have them around the countries, which we did later in the day. By the time we saw Belle and the Beast, Eliza had fallen asleep literally two minutes earlier. Bummer!! For any of you that don't know, Belle has been Eliza's favorite princess since she was old enough to start liking them.

 

Sea World

Next was Sea World. I knew the kids would like this for sure and I wasn't the least bit wrong! They loved it! The only bummer was that this was the only day of our trip with poor weather. The first couple of hours that we were there were okay but then all of a sudden it got pretty windy and starting pouring! When I say pouring, that doesn't even do it justice. The rain was coming down something crazy!! We were determined not to let it ruin our fun though so being the prepared (kind of) mom that I am we busted out umbrella's and poncho's. The kind of prepared comes from the fact that I had the umbrella's with me but not the ponchos and with the wind blowing the rain sideways at times the umbrella's alone weren't cutting it! So Blake being the best daddy and husband ever, ran out to the car to get the ponchos. When he came back there was not one dry spot on him! I felt bad but he didn't seem to care at all. We stayed and watched some shows and rode the Polar Express ride and saw Santa. It turned out to be quite fun. Before it started raining the kids saw the sting rays and Gage and Eliza touched them. Max wanted no part in trying to touch one of them but he liked observing them. Gage and Eliza also fed the dolphins and Gage was able to touch one of those as well. It was a really fun experience for them. We also rode a water ride (of course we did, that is so our luck!) and got a little wet but then with the humidity and the rain starting right after, it was impossible to dry. The kids were such troopers, not one of them complained once.

 

Okay so I know this is already the longest post in history but I do definitely have more to post. I'll be posting it in order though so it will be down here if you want to check back and see the rest of our fabulous vacation!

Ogden Treehouse

Early in November I went with Max on his fieldtrip to the Ogden Treehouse. It was a neat place for kids, he had a great time. He pretended to eat sushi, ran around in a big tree, played on a huge chess set, taught a class and watched some of his classmates participate in a play and more. Max doesn't like to be in the public spotlight and even with my coaxing chose not to volunteer for a part in the play. I had worked the night before and came home and Max said to me "aren't you going on my fieldtrip?" Well I had not heard anything from his teacher about me being able to go (they usually only choose a few mom's to go) but he seemed like he really wanted me to, so I got dressed and went with him to his classroom. The teacher was not planning on my attending but was very nice and let me tag along anyways. Thanks Mrs. Bigler! She is probably the cutest teacher any of my kids have had so far. Anyways, I am so glad that I decided to forgo sleep and go with Max. I love spending time with him and I love to see how excited he gets to have his mom there with him. I think it makes him feel special since not all of the kids have their moms with them. Whatever it is that makes that sweet boy smile by having me there with him is worth giving up any amount of sleep for!

 

Little Sahara Sand Dunes

Okay so I am a tad bit behind on posting but November was a really busy month for me. Back in early November we went to the Sand Dunes and it was a really fun day. The weather was great, the kids had a blast and best of all we were together!

So here is Gage on his dirt bike...

I think he is getting a little big for it, don't you?? We really need to buy him a new one, soon! He still enjoys it though. He isn't a huge dare devil, which I am absolutely thankful for, so he doesn't mind that it is a little small for him and not as powerful as it once seemed. In fact, Blake took him out for a ride on the 4 wheeler which he was a little reluctant to do because he knows his dad all too well. Well when he got back, all I can say is that he was not happy and swore never to ride with Blake again! I'm sure that won't hold forever but at least for a while!

Here is the picture where Blake took Gage out. You can't tell from the picture how fast he was going and spinning around but when I saw him out there I knew Gage was not coming back smiling. We all laughed about it after a minute or two had gone by because Gage had spilled some Sprite on himself right before they went out for the ride and when he got off the 4 wheeler he was still wet from it, but it made it look like he had pee'd his pants he was so scared. We all had a good laugh, especially Gage!

Here's my 3 handsome boys, being boys. What would a day at the sand dunes be without BB guns?? Ummm...less stressful for mom! The boys love it though and so does Blake. He shot guns with his dad and now he gets to share this male bonding time with his boys. At least I can say he is all about gun safety and is very careful.

Here is little Eliza sassin' it up! She does look pretty cute with those big ol' goggles on though. This is her tough girl, ready to sport some karate moves pose. She thinks she is so tough, yet she is this little petite thing that doesn't pack much punch. It's hilarious, we love her spunk!!