Christmas 2010

we had a great christmas this year. i was so excited--i put my tree up the second week of november---i NEVER do that but i have LOVED having it up for the last two months. (i am however, VERY ready for it to come down--that's my project for tomorrow) my kids were off track the entire month of december, so i felt like we spent three weeks celebrating before the actual holiday and then another two weeks after. it's been so fun. we have gone to classic skating, mcdonalds, the zoo (it was SO warm at the first of the month) the dinosaur museum, to several movies, sledding and ice fishing . those are JUST the activities we have done together, not to mention all the fun things the kids have done with my dad and kim. gage told me that this has been the BEST off track EVER---i am confident that will change come march when they go off track again, because we are going to DISNEY LAND!!! but i digress, back to christmas. my kids lists this year were super simple and short, they got everything on them and then some. the best thing about it all is the older two are kind of getting out of the "toy" phase and are totally into the "electronic" phase, electronics are SMALL and don't take up any extra room in my already overly crowded house so that is great for me!

we spent christmas eve at my dad's per tradition. we ordered chinese food and it was DELISH. my dad and kim gave my kids the micheal jackson experience for the wii---let me stop here and tell you that my kids (espesh gage is OBSESSED with MJ) they have wanted this game for forever, i adamantly told them that i would NOT waste $50 bucks such a dumb game---so, (Thanks Heather!!) my parents gave it to them and they opened it on christmas eve. they were ESTACTIC!!! i have to say, it is SO fun---i totally felt like the best dancer ever, and well, suffice it to say, i'm not! we also opened christmas jammies while we were there. we came home and retold the christmas story, put cookies and diet coke (funny thing that santa has kinda been in a diet coke phase lately, INSTEAD of diet pepsi!) out for santa, carrots for the reindeer and put the kiddos to bed. i have been done christmas shopping since the end of november and have been wrapping steadily since then, so we didn't have too much to do as far as putting the gifts out.

christmas morning the kids slept till 7:30!!! awesome for neal and i. they were so cute and loved everything they got. ryder is so funny. for the past two months, he has had a VERY consistent christmas list that HAS not deviated. when you ask him what he wants for christmas, he says "a firetruck, a backpack and a sleeping bag-that's all!!!!" sometimes socks (??) and elmo jammies would make an appearance on the list but the other three things DID. NOT. CHANGE. so, ryder got JUST what he wanted and he was super content. he carries his backpack with him EVERY.WHERE. he is so funny.

we went to my dad's christmas morning for brunch, more gifts and a little wii competition---that afternoon we went to neal's parents for {more} gifts, lunch and visiting. it was such a wonderful day. i am so grateful for the spirit of christmas and the way it changes the world every winter. if someone could figure out how to bottle it up and sell it the world would be a much better place. merry christmas!

CHRISTMAS EVE:

CHRISTMAS DAY:

THE DECK{ED} HALLS...

just a few pics of the merrimas and cheer that is decking our halls....

Carving Pumpkins

i forgot to include these pics with my halloween post but wanted to post them because they are so dang cute!

Halloween 2010

this was the first year i let the kids choose what they wanted to be. usually my OCD self likes to have a THEME to halloween. since this is the year of letting things go, i told them to have at it! this is what we got: Micheal Jackson, Harry Potter, a (NICE) lion (because he is PETRIFIED of lions and would only be one if he could be a NICE one) and a lil' pumpkin.



the kids got to wear their costumes to school on friday. it was fun to get lots of use out of them. this is a picture of our little friends brock and parker who looked AWESOME! parker was the best lil' pirate i've seen and brock looked C.L.A.S.S.I.C as brett micheals. hahaha, i was dying when i saw him!me, ryder and lucy went with my dad and kim to the parade friday morning and then we stayed and helped out with the class parties. it was a fun-filled sugary day! saturday we got a TON done around the house and yard and that night my dad and kim came over for the traditional chilli diner before trick-or-treating. it was rainy and cold but the kids had a great time. it was ryder's first real year of going door to door and he loved it. i am SOOO glad that the candy has officially run out-with ALOT of help from me ;) i LOVE halloween--such a great, fun time of year.

Starvation Vacation...

a couple of years ago our family and my dad and kim decided to take a weekend camping/boating trip to duchesne and its BEAUTIFUL starvation reservoir. we happened to go over "duchesne days" which turned out to be the best time EVER! plenty of mullets and skullets and WT to go around! really though, some of the BEST water-and beautiful scenery. anyway, we have wanted to go back ever since.
a couple of months ago we were talking at the gatherum's house trying to decide if we wanted to do a family vacay this year. neal and i suggested a boating trip and told them about starvation and voile! the vacation was planned.
we went up over the 24th of july. it was HOT as hell and i am SOOOO-O very grateful that we have our trailer. it made it heavenly. not only did we have an AC but we also have a stove, microwave, fridge, freezer, TOILET and SHOWER! seriously awesome! we spent five days up there relaxing, boating, laying out, EATING, reading and sleeping. the kids had a great time with all their cousins and it was nice to reconnect, play and talk with everyone.
duchesne had a 24th of july "parade" which consisted of a horse, firetruck, police car and a couple of people on four-wheelers. it was great. the kids got TONS of candy-WAY more then they ever get at any parades around here! that night we were treated to a "fireworks" show over the reservoir. this consisted of about 10 fireworks with the grand finale being three set off at the same time! good times good times. gotta love small town utah!the kids waiting for more candy at the parade...boe got SOOO-O much candy that i finally had to cut him off. he filled up neal's hat, both of his pockets and bot of my pockets...gage got bit by something, it made his eye swell completely shut-he looked like a completely different kid!
ryder LOVED his first camping trip! he enjoyed playing in the sand and water and eating dirt..yummy!boe watching the fireworks show-what a little ham!

July 2009

continuing on with the updates...

we ended the month of june with the last day of kindergarten for gage and with boe's end of year preschool program. i cannot believe that i am going to have TWO children in elementary school in just a few short weeks! gage LOVED mrs. winegar and i am so grateful for her for being such an awesome teacher and helping him into his kindergarten transistion. boe is going to miss mrs. amy-after two years of preschool with her, kindergarten is going to be a lot easier to handle, but he has loved going to mrs. amy's for school.
gage on the last day of kindergarten
gage and cute mrs. winegar, we are so happy to have her again this year for boe
neal, gage and boe on gage's last day of school
boe boe and his two buddies libby and mercedes, what cute kids
boe with mrs. amy
boe with kim and grandpa
cute boe boe during his program

i LOVE july! the 4th and 24th are some of my favorite holidays! we started our festivities early on in the month by going to a buzz game. the kids LOVED it and it was actually pretty fun. we had really great seats and ate dinner there. afterwards we got to watch a great fireworks show to get us all geared up for the FOURTH!




RIVERTON TOWN DAYS...
every year our little city has a bunch of fun festivities to gear up for the summer holiday season. they have the city of lights carnival, a rodeo, demolition derby etc. we went to the carnival again this year, went to the rodeo with our friends the gees and my friend jeri and i ran the riverton 10k. all of this BEFORE july 4th! it made for a fun, busy couple of days!








JULY 3RD
our pre-fourth festivities continued on friday when we met up with neal's family at eagle wood golf course in bountiful for their annual fireworks show. i don't know if there a more beautiful setting in the state for fireworks than this. gage got lost-he went to find his shoes and didn't make it back. neal and i were looking for him and we heard the announcer at the stage saying that they had a lost little boy. just as they were about to announce his name over the speaker, my sister in laws sister (did ya get that ;) heard him say his name was gage gatherum and his parents are adrian and neal. she told the policeman that she knew where his family was. so, with a police escort and all, they brought him back over to us. not gonna lie, it scared me, thankfully it scared gage pretty good as well! we ended the night without anymore drama and with an outstanding fireworks show.





JULY 4TH
we started out the 4th nice and early. as i mentioned, my friend jeri and i ran the riverton 10k. neal took the kids to the annual neighborhood parade and breakfast where jeri and i met up with them after the race. after breakfast we met up with my dad, kim, ashlee, kaylee and davey at willard bay for a day of boating! my dad had bought some kids waterskis that he wanted to try out with the boys. they LOVED it and did SO well! they both got up with just a little help from neal. it was awesome! we headed home after lunch to get ready for a bbq that night at our friend's the proulx's. after dinner we headed over to riverton park for the fireworks show. i feel that i have been to many a fireworks show and i am not kidding when i say that this is one of the best! it is so long and they have an awsesome variety and display of fireworks. we ended the evening with three VERY tuckered out kiddos.






whew! that gets us through july 4th! i still have a wedding, birthday and the 24th to blog about...we'll save that one for tomorrow!