Christmas 2008

This slideshow begins with the night we decorated the tree. For some reason the kids and Evan started a tradition of goofing around while I get the tree "fluffed." Then the next pictures are of Christmas morning and afternoon. I love the one of Aleeya sleeping in Conrad's arms.

New House Update

We had a good snowstorm yesterday. Unfortunately not all of the shingles were installed on the roof yet. We have about 75% of the roof done. We really have been blessed with great weather.


Upstairs Bedrooms

Great Room


We bought our current home 8 years ago. It was a track home and we were able to pick out a few things on the house. We were really excited to build a custom home this time. But I am amazed at how many things need to be decided. We love being able to pick everything out but it does get overwhelming sometimes. (Especially when what I pick out is "over the budget"!) The house seems to be crawling along right now. They are working on plumbing and electrical. After the drywall goes up, I think it will seem like things are moving again. I can't wait to have you all over when it is done!

Thanksgiving

We had a nice Thanksgiving with Evan's family. Evan's parents are still on their mission in Siberia, but we enjoyed spending time with Evan's 2 brothers and 2 of his 3 sisters. Check out the Rock Band video!




Rock Band Video

Merry Christmas

That's Evan in the grey jacket!

Treygan's Birthday

Treygan is 10 years old! I can not believe how quickly the last 10 years have flown by. Treygan wanted a Ben 10 Alien Force late night party. It was a "Ben 10 til 10" party. We had 14 nine & ten year old boys from 5:30 to 10:00 pm. We had pizza, games, cake, movie, and lots of treats. It was an amazingly easy party. The boys were great! On Sunday we had a small family party for Treygan. All in all a great birthday!

Treygans Birthday Photos

Family Photos

We recently had our family pictures done. It has been a really long time. Our last formal family photo was with 2 less children!

New Family Photos

Newest House Construction Picture

It's coming along!

A Funny Halloween Story

At Disneyland we told Snow White that Sareya was going to be Snow White for Halloween. She told Sareya NOT to eat any apples on Halloween because they could be poisonous. On Halloween morning, Evan reminded Sareya not to eat any apples. Well I guess Sareya decided to play along with the adults and while I was on the phone I looked over and saw Sareya lying on the floor in her costume. At first I thought she was hurt, but then I saw the apple lying next to her. I thought it was hilarious that she came up with it on her own. So I made her do it again for her dad and so I could get pictures!

Halloween

Treygan was a vampire bat this year. Kyra was Christine from Phantom of the Opera. Sareya was Snow White and Aleeya was a ladybug. It was fun to take Aleeya trick or treating for the first time.

Pumpkin Carving

California!

We recently returned from a trip to California. We went during the kids fall break last week. First we visited the beach for the amazing sunset and then the next day we went to Legoland. If you have never been to Legoland, it is a fun place to visit before Disneyland.



This picture looks like a great picture of the Las Vegas strip but it is actually "miniland" in Legoland. Look at this next picture and notice the people (not in our group) behind the display. "Miniland" is amazing! They have recreated several cities from around the world using legos!!!!

Legoland Photos

California Part 2!

Then on to Anaheim. On the way from Legoland to Anaheim, Kyra got sick, stomach flu sick. We were all very anxious to get to our Hotel. In the night, I (Kelly) got the same stomach flu. So the first day of Disneyland was spent in the hotel room by Kyra, Aleeya, and I (Aleeya wasn't sick but we thought it would be more fun for everyone else if she stayed behind). I think everyone else had a good first day. Luckily no one was sick on the second day and we were all able to enjoy "The Happiest Place on Earth!"
I love Disneyland! The last 3 times we have been to Disney, I have been pregnant or had a brand new baby. This time I was able to ride on all the great rides like: Space Mountain, California Screaming, Splash Mountain, etc. Our oldest 2 kids loved all the big rides and Grandma came with us and kept the little two happy with the smaller rides. Thanks Mom!
The highlight of the trip for me was to see Sareya get so excited to see the Princesses! We ate dinner at Ariel's Grotto so she could see all of the princesses at one time. The last picture on the slide show is dinner at the Rainforest Cafe after Disneyland Day 2. You can see we wiped those kids out! It was a great trip despite the sickness. I can't wait to go back! I think I like Disneyland more than my kids!

Disneyland Photos

Sareya's First Ice Cream Cone!

Yes you read that right! Sareya had her first Ice Cream cone a few weeks ago. I know I am a terrible mother to deprive my child of one of life's greatest pleasures! Ok here is the story, Kyra is allergic to many things including dairy products so we don't go out for ice cream very much. (if we do it's always Cold Stone so Kyra can have non-dairy sorbet).

However, since the kids have been in school, Sareya gets to run errands with me. We were picking up lunch for Evan at Coney's and Sareya had been so good all day I offerred her an Ice Cream Cone! But she was struggling to eat it. Finally I realized she didn't know how to eat one because this was her first ice cream cone! So I showed her how to eat ice cream on a cone and then of course had to document the event with pictures!




She kept telling me how delicious it was over and over again. Sometimes I wonder what other things I forget to do with the third child!

More Updates on the New House

Front View


Back View (It is a walk-out basement)

We are getting really excited as the house is starting to take shape.

Birthday Party

Sareya celebrated her 4th birthday with her friends at Jumpin Jack's. It is a really fun place where they have blowup slides and jump houses. We had 11 children, my sister Krystle,Evan and I. It was a great time! It was the easiest birthday party we have ever done. If any of you decide to have a birthday party at Jumpin Jack's, it is way cheaper to not get the party room and do cake and ice cream at home!

Jumpin Jacks

New House Progress

Building has been so much more fun this time around. Last time we were only allowed to choose very limited things like the color of carpet. This time we get to choose everything as well as design the house. So far it has been very enjoyable. We now have a basement!

Naughty, Naughty, Naughty!

Aleeya has learn a new trick...climbing! (Thanks to her cousin Preston!) Over the last few weeks I have found Aleeya climbing on top of the piano, the kitchen table, the back of the couch, and unfortunately the top bunk bed! So I decided to outsmart my 17 month old and take off the ladder to the top bunk. However, within minutes she was back up there! So I had to see how she was getting up there and yes I had to video it!

Another Climbing Story: I was in the kitchen and told Aleeya to go get me a diaper so I could change her bum. She immediatly went upstairs but she didn't come back so I went upstairs to find her and found her smiling so proud on top of her changing table ready to have her diaper changed! We cannot keep her from climbing everything!

Little Fish!

This summer I had BOTH Treygan and Kyra on the city Swim Team. Treygan has been on the team the last three summers, but this was Kyra's first year. They both improved so much it was a great experience for both of them. The final meet of the summer was the county meet and all of the qualifying swimmers from the entire county swam against eachother. In Kyra's age group there were 17 swimmers. She took fifth place in backstroke and 10th in freestyle. Treygan took 11th place in his backstroke and his freestyle relay team was 5th. His age group was 9 and 10 year olds and had about 24 swimmers. He is looking forward to being one of the oldest in the group next year!

It's Official! We are building a new house!

For a few years, Evan and I have been trying to decide if we should leave our wonderful neighborhood and build a home in Elk Ridge. We have wanted a larger home for a while now, (3 girls in one room is just not so much fun anymore), but we love the neighborhood and our friends. However, the desire for a larger home has won the battle. (We hope our friends will still hang out with us!) We visited our lot today and found a very large hole in the ground! We are very excited! As this will be the highlight of our lives for a few months, you might see a few more posts about the house as we progress through this fun project of building a home.

Camping for the 4th of July

All right I am not as quick as most of you in updating this blog. We went camping over the 4th of July weekend with Allison & Jon & kids as we do every year. Our children really like this tradition and look forward to it all year. We went to the Manti-LaSalle National Forest and enjoyed much cooler weather, pretty good camping food, four-wheeling, smores, and of course good company! Here are a few pictures from our trip.