Merry Christmas

We took some Christmas Eve pictures tonight in the boys new pj's. Here are the outtakes.

(Click on this so it gets bigger and you can see Keenyn's face.)

(This is Keenyn's life. Isaac is always mauling him.)

The best one.

My personal favorite. These boys LOVE their little brother.

Keenyn's the only one who would sit on Santa's lap this year.

Pres. Uchtdorf

On Halloween Chris and I went to a fireside given by Pres. Dieter F. Uchtdorf for members of the military and their spouses. It was a really great meeting. Afterward Pres. Uchtdorf went through the crowd shaking peoples hands and taking pictures with them. We weren't really waiting to talk to him but he happened to come our way and we were lucky enough to shake his hand. Chris's old boss was there and got it on video. I thought some of you might be interesting in seeing it. If so click here.

Christmas Card 2010

2010 has been a great year for our family. Chris continues to work for the Utah National Guard as the Emergency Response Officer. He really enjoys his work and has learned a lot. He is currently in an online masters degree program in emergency management. He is serving as the 2nd counselor in the Elders Quorum and spends whatever free time he has building things, fixing things and playing with the boys.

Heather spent the year growing, having and taking care of a baby. Now she spends her days trying to figure out how to get anything done with three kids. She was recently called to be a Bear Den Mother in the Cub Scouts which helps keep her busy.

- Eli -
Is 6 and in the first grade. He is in a French Immersion program at school and really likes it. He has picked up on the language quickly and told me that French is what he likes most about first grade. (Although he might be referring to his teacher because he told me he "likes how she looks.") Eli played soccer and t-ball this year and enjoyed them both. He managed to scar his face a few more times this year, the worst one being a scooter crash into a tree at the beginning of November that gave him quite the cut under his left eye. He likes Legos, trains, video games and playing with friends. Eli has an amazing mind and always keeps us thinking.

- Isaac -
Just turned 4 and certainly keeps us moving. He stared preschool this year and absolutely loves it. He is the best helper but can also cause quite a bit of trouble. He has a smile that can help him get away with almost anything. He loves to play with trains, legos and board games. He also did some beginning sports programs (soccer and baseball) and enjoyed them. He always keeps us laughing and adds so much joy to our family.

- Keenyn -
(key-nin)
Joined our family in July and it didn't take long for him to have us all wrapped around his little finger. Each and everyone of us is completely in love with this little guy. He is the most laid back, content baby there ever was. He smiles easily and gets lots of hugs and kisses from his big brothers. It is a joy for us to watch him grow and learn new things.

We wish you all a Merry Christmas and a very Happy New Year.

Isaac 4 Years Old

Isaac turned 4 the end of last month so I wanted to do a little update on him. He is such a little crazy pants. He seems to be always moving. He tends to spend his days getting into things and making messes. He LOVES Keenyn and is constantly wanting to hug and kiss him. He can be the best helper. He also tends to do what I ask him to. This doesn't happen all the time and when it does happen it usually has some whining involved but then he does what he was asked's. He's always asking if a friend can play, even at 8 am. He gets bored with Eli in school all day. He loves preschool and counts down the days until he gets to go back. He still wears Crocs all the time. I can't find any other shoes that he will wear consistently. He sings a lot. He always seems to be singing a song from something he heard or turning normal phrases into a song. (I love this.) He almost always sits on the "white stool" for breakfast and lunch but if there is a random day that Eli sits there then Isaac "Never gets to sit on the white stool. Eli always does." He always wants the purple bowl and still fights with Eli every night over who gets to sit by Chris at dinner. He still has the best smile in the world and is such a joy. He adds so much to our family and I am so glad that he's mine.

Thanksgiving Weekend

We had a fun Thanksgiving weekend this year. We once again had 3 birthdays to celebrate which made it even more fun. We spent Thanksgiving Day and the day after in Sandy with Chris' family.

My favorite picture of the day. Whatta kid.

Isaac's birthday was on Thanksgiving this year so Harmony made him some cupcakes. (Technically the ones she made got left in Santaquin so Brian's mom made some different ones that Harmony decorated.) He didn't choose the cupcake with the 4 candle on it. We opened some presents and then couldn't really play with them because we didn't have batteries and didn't want to lose any Legos at Pa's house.

On Friday we went to Incredible Pizza which is similar to Chuck E Cheese but way better. They have a buffet and a lot of cool games, attractions for you to do. The boys all loved it. I spent most of the time lugging Keenyn and a bunch of stuff around and watching them all play and have fun. I tried to take some pictures but it was too dark so they didn't turn out very well.

Saturday morning we went to Alpine to cut down our Christmas tree. There is a tree farm there and we went in October to choose our tree. It was super fast and easy to go cut it down.

The boys got to ride on the trailer pulled by a 4-wheeler out to find our tree.

Family picture in front of the tree before it's cut down.

They provided the saw and would've cut it down for us but Isaac wanted to do it.

Isaac wanted to do it so much that he would NOT move over to let Eli have a turn. Then when Eli forced his way in he cried that he was getting squished. Someone had not had enough sleep.

I decided that it's nice to go choose your tree ahead of time when it's warmer outside. I like Beck's Tree Farm.

Our weekend ended with a very disappointing BYU vs. Utah game but we enjoyed watching it with family.

Isaac's Birthday Party

Isaac turned 4 a few weeks ago and was able to have is first friend birthday party. I decided to not have it at our house which was the best decision ever. Isaac chose Nickle City and it turned out to be great. The kids all had fun, there was very minimal planning on my part, and it was inexpensive.

A classic Isaac face.

The highlight of the party. If you look closely at the box you can see the cake topper stuck to it. Isaac was holding it up to show everyone what it was. The fact that the cake topper was stuck to it was extremely hilarious to all of the kids there. And them laughing like that can only make you laugh. It was a fun time.

The party guests.

The cake. I realized the night before the party that I needed a cake so the next morning Isaac and I made this. Since the decorations weren't much to behold I tried to make up for it on the inside.

Isaac liked it and that's all that matters right. That and the fact that I didn't spend any time stressing about making a perfect cake.

They let Isaac spin a wheel and he won however many tickets it landed on. He ended up winning 800 tickets. It was pretty funny. At first the only thing he wanted was candy. That's a lot of candy to fill 800 tickets. Eventually Chris got him to choose some of the bigger items. It was a great party. The only thing that could have made it better was if Chris had actually gotten a ball from the hand crane game that he spent several dollars on. Kids would come up and play it once and win and Chris played it over and over again and couldn't ever get one. They would drop out right before they fell into the hole. I found it quite amusing.