I was grumbling earlier today about my driveway that hasn’t been shoveled and what a pain it is. But my boys found the bright side to the situation. When you have a steep driveway that hasn’t been shoveled it becomes the perfect sledding hill! They sledded and “snow boarded” out there for hours! They had a blast!! The down side…. the packed down driveway I was grumbling about earlier is even more packed down now. But, at least they enjoyed themselves, eh? I bet they are going to try and convince Dad to never shovel again!
On Saturday we had the awesome opportunity of taking our kids down to see the new Draper temple. It’s always exciting to get to walk through a new temple, but it’s even more exciting when it’s in your own hometown! In fact, the spot where it’s built is in my old ward (before South Mountain exploaded with houses), so it was so exciting to be able to go celebrate it’s opening! It was also great to be able to come home and have a Family Home Evening all about temples on Monday night while the kids were still excited about it. How blessed we are to have temples!! Mike’s taking the Youth down to see it tonight, so hopefully it’s a great experience for them as well! Here’s a fun picture of the temple taken on that super foggy night:
Well, today Mike turns the big 3-0! Everyone keeps asking him what it feels like to be turning 30 and he just kind of laughs and says it feels just like 29. He doesn’t see what all the fuss is about turning 30. But I think it’s exciting to begin a whole new decade! So for his birthday the boys and I just wanted to let him know how much we love and appreciate him! He is such a wonderful husband and father, and we are so blessed to have such a kind loving man to fill those roles. What would we ever do without him?
To celebrate the big 3-0 we had a big surprise party for him on Friday night. It’s hard to pull off a real surprise, but I think we pulled it off fabulously! It helps that he’s the bishop because it’s not quite so hard to get him to the church at strange random times. :> It was so much fun and I am so grateful to all the people that helped put it together, decorated, cooked food, submitted things for the book we made, and sent me pictures for the video. I couldn’t have done it without everyone’s help! Here are a couple pictures from the party:
I’ll try and add more pictures later today when I have more time!
But for now, HAPPY BIRTHDAY, SWEETIE!! I love you!
(And a Happy Birthday to Mandy and Melissa as well!!)
Well, it has happened – just like it does with all babies. We knew it was coming, but we just weren’t quite ready fot it! Kyle has now entered the messy, destructive stage of babyhood. If he sees anything with order to it he feels it is his sole mission in life to get to it as quickly as possible and restore chaos to the situation. Here are some examples of his current ideology: the bookcase can no longer have books on it, the wipes container can no longer have wipes in it, laundry folded into nice neat piles has to be removed from those piles as quickly as possible, food is for wearing not eating, Mom’s make-up is for dumping and eating (check out the picture below with base all over him – nice!), dishes need to be taken out of the dishwasher faster then Mom can put them in, nothing can stay in a container or box. The list could go on and on. How fun this stage is! Despite having to keep a close eye on him at all times, Kyle is so much fun! We love this stage when their personalities just seem to burst out of them! Here are a couple pictures of our messy Kyle from the past week!
Pres went on a fun field trip to the dentist! They were so good with the kids, and Preston has now become our dental health expert. He keeps demonstrating the proper ways to brush, telling us to brush for 2 minutes, and all sorts of fun dental tips. Here are a few fun pictures!
I just have to share this picture I took at dinner the other night. I looked over at Preston and this is what I saw:
Preston was having a “Lady and the Tramp” moment with Princess. I almost died laughing!
Gotta love spontaneous kid moments like this!
Happy New Year to you all!!! I just love this time of year! I love putting the Christmas stuff away & cleaning everything out & having that new, fresh feeling. I love making resolutions (whether or not I keep them is another story). I love looking forward to all the adventures that are bound to come our way this year. What a fun thing it is to welcome in the New Year!
For New Years Eve last night we stayed home and had a family party with just us and our kids, and it was so fun! I love the all too rare times when I get to just gather my husband and kids around and relax and have fun together – just us! After the crazy holidays we were ready to just be us for a moment. So, we had a fun “international dinner” with foods from all different countries. Then, we played games and had an awards ceremony where everyone received their “2008 OV Award.” We had each person leave the room one at a time and the rest of us decided what award they deserved from the past year. Kyle got the “Best Crawler” award. Preston got the “Best Theme Song Singer” award. Zach got the “Best Lego Builder” award. Mom got the “Best at the Computer” award. And Dad got the “Best Filmer and Best Bishop” Award. It was too fun. Earlier in the evening we had set our clocks ahead two hours, so when “midnight” hit at our house it was really only 10:00. But we got online and found the video feed from Times Square and rang in the New Year with all the New Yorkers. Then Mike and I got some us time before midnight as well. What a fun New Years Eve it was!!
And as a side note, we also wanted to give a shout out to our Utes and say “GO UTES!!!!” We aren’t as lucky as Michelle and Jim to be spending New Years in New Orleans for the big game, but we’re sending our good vibes from here in Ogden!
