Hey Santa!

This year, we got to see Santa at our ward party and discovered a few things. Dallin thinks he is officially too big to sit on Santa's lap, but will shake his hand. And Peyton will accept candy canes from strangers, but doesn't know who that red, hairy guy is and why in the world should he sit on his lap! We also got to see real live reindeer, but discovered that comet isn't as friendly as he looks.

Peyton, taking the candy cane and running.

Talie, happy to tell Santa everything on their list, and Kennedi, just happy to be here.

Ashy, super excited to see Santa!


Dallin, ending his wish list with a gentlemenly handshake.

Introducing . . . John Cabot

Talie wrote a report on John Cabot. Who, for those of us who do not even know who he is, was an Italian explorer who sailed for England and landed on the NE shore of North America. Not much is actually known about the explorer - even by historians, but she worked hard and completed the report, complete with a model boat. The second part of their report was a Live Wax Museum, where parents were invited to come, walk around and look at the models they had created, and listen to the students (dressed up as the explorer) as they shared their life stories and adventures. It was a great idea, and Talie worked hard and succeeded! Go Talie!

Talie's fellow explorers.

My Baby's ONE!

So Wednesday, our baby turned ONE! It's amazing how time flies! She has been so fun! Everyone loves her. Even Peyton asks where she is if her nap goes a little long. Here are her stat.s for the year: She weighs in at 17lbs.4oz. (Now at what age is it no longer ok to list her weight=)? and stands (or lays) @ 29 1/4" tall. This leaves her 3% in weight and 56% in height. She still does her gimp crawl, but her little vocabulary is growing to include: mommy, dadda, baby, Ashy, Talie and Dallin (which sound the same to me), uh-oh, anana (banana), peekaboo, doggy and puppy. So she may not be an athlete, but we can hope for a . . . debater . . . or something. Her favorite things are her binki, giving kisses, the basement, the loft with polly pockets and doll house toys, loud music, dancing, peekaboo, baths, Mom, and pulling absolutely everything out of every cupboard she can get to. I like to call her our little tornado. She just comes in, picks things up, and moves them to new places.

I was all excited for her to blow out her own candle, because we practice blowing on our hot food. But instead of blowing she wanted to go for the candle . . . .

OK., I know what you're thinking, isn't this her 5th? Yes, I should have known better, but none of the others have gone for the candle. And I was busy playing photographer.

Luckily, there were no marks and she quit crying in time to enjoy the cake and get excited about her presents.

She celebrated her 1st Birthday party with her family and Aunt Kim, Uncle Jeff and cousin Morgan. For her 1st Birthday cake, we went more for flavor than appearance - caramel fudge cheesecake. And by the looks of it, we succeeded!

Thanksgiving 2008

This year, the week of Thanksgiving Celebrations began with a cute pilgrim play put on by Ashlynn's kindergarten class, where she played the very important role of an Indian woman, and her lines consisted of, "shhh".
Wednesday morning the kids were huge helpers and helped me clean and get ready for company. I'm thankful for my big helpers. Then, since it was about 60 degrees outside, we ran to the park and enjoyed the beautiful fall weather. I'm grateful for children who still enjoy going to the park, and for my older three who find joy in playing with Peyton and Kennedi. We then began baking the goodies: cheesecake and pumpkin pie - I'm thankful for sweets. Afterwards, Dallin and I ran to Sam's Club to get the few last things on our list - he sat in the cart and ate pizza and a berry shake as I raced around (with an extra 75lbs. in the cart) filling the cart, trying to beat our guests home - I'm grateful for one-on-one time with my kids. Then people began arriving at 6:30. Grandma and Grandpa Smith, Scott, Bart and Holly, and Shannon, Hailey, Andrew and Aaron and Indie came from Idaho and Utah. I'm grateful for family that will drive a long ways to spend Thanksgiving with us. The week was filled with card games, movies, kids playing, hot tub sits, great baby news! water plant tours, the Aquarium, pizza, Imaggiano's, laughter, snowball fights, and lots of good food! As we sat down to Thanksgiving dinner, Aaron (5) spontaneously started praying - I guess the food looked so good he couldn't wait any longer=). Then we all said what we were thankful for and the spirit of gratitude filled our home. I am thankful for Thanksgiving and how it helps my family and I remember our loving Heavenly Father and all the blessings that he so graciously gives to us.

The 1st Snowfall

We had our 1st snowfall this morning, and there is just nothing that compares to waking up to a white wonderland! Fresh, clean snow that is just begging to be tromped through. We all jumped out of bed to search for our clothes from storage and throw them on! Unfortunately, by the time I got everyone dressed, the first ones were already cold and coming back in to get warm, so I didn't have time to get bundled up and take the prize-winning photos I had hoped for. (Instead I get one of Peyton, coming back in cold and grumpy)
Last year the first two times it snowed, we weren't aware that school was delayed an hour, so this time I made sure to check the website. Thinking we had an extra hour, we made cinnamon rolls and hot chocolate and had a nice relaxing morning, only to realize that we were actually an hour late for school. Oops! oh, well, the memories are more important than perfect attendance, right?