2010 - General Conference

Missy and Kelsee

This past October, all the seniors from our Stake were invited to attend the afternoon session of the LDS General Conference. They left bright and early Saturday morning. We are so blessed to live close enough to attend General Conference on occasion. What a great opportunity for all of the kids who were able to attend.

Missy, Marissa and Kelsee posing on the oversized chair in Beaver. Headed home from an awesome day!

CHRISTMAS MORNING 2010

MERRY CHRISTMAS!

Maddy and Abby looking through the stockings...

Abby and Kelsee happy :)

Four SpOiLeD and happy girls

CHRISTMAS EVE 2010

We had such a great time celebrating Christmas Eve with the Draney family. Great food, talent show and dressing up to "act out" the nativity.

Opening presents....Traditions...

I wonder what we will get???

Traditional Christmas tree photo op...

New Christmas pajamas

Christmas Traditions

A few more traditions throughout the holidays....

The kids enjoy dimming the lights each night at dinner, and lighting a candle. They younger ones take turns blowing it out at the end of the meal.

WOW!

Christmas lights....I love driving around the neighborhoods and enjoying all the hard work people devote to their Christmas displays. This year the winner goes to this house.

This year Kelsee had a swim meet in northern Utah. This gave us an opportunity to visit Temple Square and enjoy the beautiful decor and ambiance. We haven't been to see the lights for several years. After moving away, making a trip up to SL during December is often hard to schedule. This is not an annual tradition but we enjoyed walking around.

Jared and Kim inside the Joseph Smith Memorial Building.

Wow...we are getting old :)

Christmas Traditions

During the Christmas holidays, we have a few traditions. One of the kids favorites are making and decorating

Gingerbread People

I love their creativity!

The kids invited the Prince girls over to help decorate all our cookies.

Finally finished and displaying their hard work.

BAILEY'S SOLO BIKE RIDE

It has taken a little persistence, but Bailey finally had the courage enough to ride her bike without training wheels. I have made many attempts to help her learn. She wants to but doesn't have the belief in herself that she can. I could tell she was getting more confident but still hadn't fully mastered the solo bike ride until.....

One day while I ran the other kids to piano, Bailey asked her dad to help her ride the bike. Lo and behold.....she did it! Wow, he got all the glory, and I didn't get to witness this milestone. I wasn't going to be home until after dark, so Jared recorded a little video "surprise" for me. Yay.....Bailey!

More winter concerts - 2010

Kelsee performed two duets with her teacher for the recital.

Sleigh Bells and A Christmas Melody

Kelsee after her orchestra concert

Desert Hills High School Orchestra

Winter Concerts 2010

December is a busy time for musical concerts...

Maddy

Pieces performed: Away in a Manger and March of the Goblins

Abby

Pieces performed: Spooks and Silent Night

Maddy joined the school's choir this year. It is so fun to watch them perform. The conductor really has done amazing things with these kids.

Mr. Schmidt, Abby and Sarah after their band concert. Abby changed her instrument this year. She is playing the flute and enjoying it.

Sarah and Abby helping put away the african drums.

sLeEpOvEr PaRtY for Bailey

Bailey has been feeling left out because she is the only one not old enough to have sleepovers. She doesn't understand she is only 5 and has a different set of privileges than her sisters. She devised a plan....a sleepover PARTY! She said she would have her friends come over and "pretend" to have a sleepover but they would really go home when it was over. Sounds good to mom so......

Bailey happy as a clam!

Bailey's friends enjoying a movie

The hit of the sleepover: a smores maker. We got this from a friend's garage sale. A lightbulb "toasts" the marshmallow....well, really, more like warms it a bit. They all lOvEd it!

Happy Birthday JArEd!

It's time to cElEbRaTe! Opening the gifts.

Jared and Bailey......I love this picture :)

The girls being silly as usual. I hope they remember these days.

Thanksgiving 2010

Thanksgiving Day brings to mindthe blessings in our lives
that usually go unnoticed:
a home that surrounds us
with comfort and protection;
delicious food, for pleasure
in both eating and sharing;
clothes to snuggle up in,
books and good entertainment
to expand our minds;
and freedom to worship our God.
Most of all we are thankful
for our family and friends,
those treasured people
who make our lives extra special.
You are part of that cherished group.
On Thanksgiving, (and every day)
we appreciate you.

Happy Thanksgiving!

I'm not very good at taking pictures at Thanksgiving. I need to make a better effort next year. I did take a couple pictures of food. My kids and my husband thought I was crazy.

We enjoyed spending Thanksgiving with Grandma Luthi, Aunt Karen and Uncle Curtis. We even did a little "traditional" black Friday shopping.

Abby cElEbRaTeS!

Abby is a social butterfly. For her birthday party, she invited her friends over to hang out, play the Wii, roast marshmallows and have lots of fun.

Glow in the dark tag.....

Smores!

trying to take a picture with a bunch of hyped up girls was more challenging than taking pictures of a wiggly toddler.

sitting by the fire, acting crazy after eating a bunch of smores. Finally getting the chance to make crazy faces.

ABBY IS OFFICIALLY A TEENAGER!

Thirteen (13) years ago, a sweet baby girl joined our family. She weighed 8 lbs. 10 oz and was 19 inches long.

Abby was a great baby. She found her thumb when she was only a couple months old. From then on she slept through the night. I always joke about wishing my kids had an off switch so at night I could turn them off at bedtime and turn them back on in the morning. Abby had an automatic switch. I could lay her down at 7 p.m. and she would sleep until 7 the next morning.

She is full of life and is constantly joking around. She definitely makes the house lively when she arrives home from school. She likes to be in charge and have things work out HER way. I guess she takes after her mom just a little ;) She is a good student and plays both the piano and flute. She enjoys a variety of sports and likes socializing and hanging out with her friends.

Abby is a teenager....13 years old!

Ice cream cake roll.....yummy!

Opening presents....new hEaDpHoNeS.

Abby must have the music on at all times. If she doesn't have it blasting through the house, she is listening to her ipod. She tells me she cannot concentrate without it.

HAPPY BIRTHDAY ABBY....WE LOVE YOU!

HALLOWEEN 2010

Our carved pumpkin creations...

Bailey's Kindergarten class

Emma and Bailey....best buds!

Bailey - ROCK STAR

Maddy - LADY BUG

Abby - VOLLEYBALL PLAYER (really creative huh?)

Getting ready for trick or treating and halloween parties
I love Halloween on the weekend! Jared had to work but the kids and I took the afternoon and went to the Stahli Farm corn maze. After arriving and riding the wagon over to the maze, we ventured out into the first of four mazes. It didn't take long for us to get lost (that's where Jared comes in handy...he is great with this kind of stuff) and the younger two kids started to complain. We then tried a second maze. This time we did a little better but by the end the kids were ready to head home.

HAPPY HALLOWEEN!