New tree

I have never really liked the tree we bought a few years ago for the kids ornaments. It wasn't very full and pretty sad looking. I hated that I could see through it. So for a few weeks I kept looking for a new tree. Price checking and being picky about spending money on a new one. We finally decided on one and once we put it up, I was finally happy with the kids tree. I couldn't wait for the kids to be able to decorate it. When it was time, they seemed just as excited as I was.

I have a hard not moving some of the ornaments around when their done, but this year they actually did a pretty great job and I didn't have to move any of them. Absolutely love the new tree.

Thanksgiving with Annie

I truly appreciate Annie and how she tries to make it possible for everyone to get together, despite every ones schedule, during the holidays. It makes it easy knowing that with every holiday we plan to get together the Saturday after. Takes all the confusion out of it. 

Beth offered to host Thanksgiving at her place again this year. Luckily even after the move it's about the same distance. We planned on meeting around 1:00 and everyone pitched in to provide the meal.

A few weeks out everyone was able to pick what they wanted to bring to contribute to dinner. We choose to bring sweet potatoes, others signed up to bring stuffing, potatoes, veggie tray, rolls, salad, drinks, dessert, etc. Beth even made some yummy appetizers to munch on while we finished getting things ready. Once everyone was there and the food was ready to go, we sat down to have a prayer and eat.

Everything was so yummy. Everyone seemed to enjoy all of it. We all ate so much we were all to stuffed for dessert. We decided to wait on dessert and play a game while we let our stomachs settle.  

Beth came up with/found a game where we all were given 2 slips of paper. On each slip of paper we were told to write something that no one knows about you. That was really hard to do. Ben knows pretty much everything about me, it was almost impossible to come up with one. I had to go all the way back to my childhood. When I finally figured out one, we were reminded to do two, it started all over again. Finally everyone was able to get at least 1 done, we got the game rolling. When it was your turn you pulled out a slip of paper from the bowl and read aloud what it said. Then one by one we each took a turn nominating who we thought it belonged to. Once everyone had guessed, the person who it actually belonged to fessed up and if you guessed right you got a point. The person with the most points at the end of the game won. Annie even had a prize for the winner.

When the game was over we pulled out the desserts and let the kids choose what they wanted. They each seemed to try a little bit of everything. That showed when they all went wild and were running around like crazy. Amanda then told them that they could take some funny pictures. They weren't sure what she meant and then she showed them the picture props and they all came running. It was hard for them to all decide what they wanted, but once they did, we snapped a pictures before cleaning up and heading home.

Black friday shopping

Black Friday shopping is something we have done over the years. We never go with something specific that we are shopping for that way we aren't disappointed if we don't get it. We merely go to people watch and see if there is anything worth getting. Most often than not we just get movies.

As the years have gone by we have been joined by a few friends. This particular year the men and the girls went together. Ben, Brandon, Christy, Shantelle and I hit the stores after perusing some of the adds. We weren't really impressed by the adds, but headed out anyway. 

We first went to Walmart. It wasn't a crazy frenzy as we have seen in the past, but there were still plenty of people crowding the isles. We grabbed a few things, most of which had nothing to do with Christmas. After over an hour walking around Walmart we were done. They didn't really have that great of deals this year at least none that interested us.

We then said goodbye to Ben who went to pick up the kids and take them home to put them in bed and I went with the rest of them. We headed to target. There weren't that many people there. I was surprised. They too didn't have much there, but we were still able to have some fun. We found some random hats sitting on a shelf that really didn't belong there and we decided to fashion them for a bit. It was a lot of fun. Sadly our time there didn't last long. We were done with the crappy deals and decided to be done for the night. This was the first time in a few years that we were done and home by 11.

Helping in the snow

While we were home for Thanksgiving there was a snow storm that went through North Ogden. Grandpa and Grandma weren't able to come down because of it. So after we were all done eating we went up with Dad to take them some Thanksgiving dinner. When we got there Grandpa had a tree down and we decided to help out.

The boys helped out shoveling snow off the steps and walk way. Gabbi had started with them, but didn't last very long. She was cold and went inside and visit with Grandma instead.

While the little boys worked on the walk ways, the big boys started on the tree. They did what they could to break the big pieces into small enough pieces to put in the garbage can and what was left Grandpa planned to break down with a saw later.

After all the hard work was done we went inside to warm up and visit a little bit with Grandma before heading to our next stop.

Cane

With Ben needing to do some homework downstairs I tried to keep the kids upstairs so he could work in peace. So the kids and I went upstairs and watched a movie. Papa was able to find come Christmas movies on and we sat down to watch. The boys who of course can't manage to sit still unless they really like the show had a hard time not playing. They brought up the large Lego's and started making things. They made boats, guns, and even canes. Yes you heard right, canes. I was stunned that their minds came to that. They walked around with the canes pretending they were old men. It was hilarious. 

Sleeping beauty

William absolutely kills me sometimes. He got this sleeping mask from his primary teacher at a Halloween party they through for them. They used it as the blindfold for pin the nose on the Jack-o-lantern. He was the last one to take his turn in the game. After his turn was over he never took it off. When it was time to go home he didn't want to take it off. They allowed him to keep it and he has used it pretty much every day since. I had only ever really seen him playing with it, not actually sleeping with it. This time I got him in the act. He looked so peaceful too. It made me smile and laugh...quietly (because I didn't want to wake him).

Character counts

I was surprised when I got a call from the school letting me know that Gabbi would be recognized at this months character counts assembly. They told me when the assembly was and that parents were invited to see their kids receive their certificates. I said thank you and before I was about to hang up, she told me that William would also be receiving a certificate. I smiled and said thank you again and hung up the phone. At first I was very excited and very proud of our kids, then I wondered why they didn't let me know when Owen was recognized at the character counts assembly last month. I shrugged it off and awaited the day of the assembly.

The morning of the assembly Gabbi reminded us that she was getting a certificate and wanted to make sure that we would be there. We told her yes and sent the kids off to school. In the afternoon when we got to school for the assembly we were instructed to go into the gym and find a seat. I was worried that William would be lost in the shuffle because he was morning kindergartner who was coming back in the afternoon for the assembly. Luckily, I was worried for nothing. 

This months theme was Integrity. Before handing out the certificates they asked a few of the teachers what it meant for a student to show integrity. They had a few different definitions and I was pleased to hear that 2 of our kids were nominated for their integrity that they have shown at school. They called the kids up in two groups because each class could nominate 2 kids and that's a lot of kids at one time. Gabbi was in the first group and William in the second. They both had huge grins on their faces when they went up to the stage. I felt bad for Owen that we weren't notified for his and weren't there for him. I was grateful that they let me know this time.

Rush funplex

We were invited to tag along at Brooklyn's birthday activity. She picked the Rush funplex and we had some coupons that needed to be used, so we decided to come up for the evening. It made it all worth it when we saw the looks on their kids' faces when they walked in and saw us. They had no idea that we were coming. It was a fun surprise. 

When we were ready, we went to the counter and bought our passes and then had at it. There were so many thing we could do, I over estimated how big the place was, plus they had changed quite a bit since the last time we were there. 

With all the choices we had before us, we first decided to do laser tag. It was hard to get all of the kids to settle down when the instructor was giving them the rules of the game, but they eventually quieted down enough to hear what they could and could not do while in the arena. The best part was watching William and Ryker. They vests for one were gigantic on them. They could barely hold the guns up, but that didn't stop them. When we were let loose in the arena, I followed them around. They were having so much fun despite not actually understanding how to play the game. Neither of them scored very much, but they didn't care. They had a blast. Everyone did. So much that we decided to play another round.

When we were done with laser tag, we put our names on the list for some lanes to bowl and while we waited we went to venture to see what else we could do. The kids found a giant foam pit and they all instantly jumped in. They didn't even bother to see what else there was. They all looked like they were having a blast despite not knowing how to move around in the foam. Christy hopped in to see how easily it could be maneuvered in and she discovered that it was extremely difficult. Luckily the kids were much lighter than us adults and they didn't really have a hard time, at least not hard enough to stop them from play in the pit. They even had a swing that they could jump off of and land in the middle of the pit. All of the kids were doing the swing, so William wanted to too. They let him and sadly on his first try he didn't let go when he was out over the pit. It took him two more swings before he finally let go and land in the foam. It was hilarious. He loved it so much and know knew what to do that he did it again and again.

They played in the foam pit for what seemed like forever. Christy and I had wondered why they hadn't called our names for bowling. We had passed an hour, the time they had told us that a lane would be available, so she went to go check it out. She found out that they had never actually wrote our names down on the list and our time that he paid for was almost done. Christy was able to get us three more hours on our passes so we could still bowl. Sadly the lanes wouldn't be available for another hour and a half. The kids didn't mind, that just meant they could play some more.

Once we got our passes updated and after working up an appetite in the foam pit, we hit the food court to get some dinner. We ordered a pizza. I was surprised how big it was for the price. It wasn't too bad either. Between the kids and I, we ate one entire cheese pizza. While the kids waited for all the adults to finish eating they all ran into the mini golf course. They were actually able to play two games before everyone was done eating and ready to play again.

When everyone was done eating we planned to go upstairs and hit the go carts. Being the only adult with my three children presented a problem though. William couldn't go and both Owen and Gabbi couldn't ride without an adult. So we divided and conquered. Christy took Gabbi while Owen, William, Ryker, and I stayed down stairs and played on the kiddie go carts and the bumper boats. When everyone else was done upstairs, we switched. Owen and I then got our turn on the big go carts. Owen was upset that he didn't get to drive, but after some talking he decided he would be happy enough that he actually got to ride in one.

When our turn on the go carts was over, they had finally called our name. Christy and everyone else had headed down to the lanes and Owen and I met them when we were done. It was chaos with all the kids. None of them knew how to put the names in, so I did and they all were requesting stupid nick names. Then the machine was dumb and kicked me out twice on each machine I entered names in. It was driving me crazy, but we finally got everyone's names entered and it was time to start bowling.

It was still chaos as they bowled. I was with all the little kids which made it even more chaotic. I had to try and keep them wrangled in so no one would get hit by a bowler or a flying ball. I was happy when the game was finally over and it meant I could relax a little bit. At least while they were playing the kids were having a lot of fun.

When we were done bowling, it was time to call it a night. We still had 45 minutes on our passes, but it was time to go. We still had a drive ahead of us. So we gave Brooklyn her gift, said our goodbyes, and headed out the door. Luckily the ride home wasn't bad and as soon as we got home the kids went straight to bed. It was a long day and I was grateful it was over.

Reflections

Owen really wanted to participate in the Reflections competition at school this year. He has wanted to in the past, but just never did. He could never decide what to do to match the theme. His teacher this year asked the kids if they wanted to participate and actually gave them an opportunity to work on something during class. Owen decided that he wanted to submit a 2D drawing. He ended up drawing a picture of himself as a marine biologist studying sharks. When he was done with the picture he had to fill out the application and write why he chose to draw that picture and how it fit the theme. This took him longer to do then it did to draw and color his picture.

Entries were due the week before Halloween and they wouldn't hear the results for at least two weeks. Owen couldn't wait to hear how his entry did. 

Two and a half weeks later Owen came home with a participation award and a coupon to go out to eat. He was to happy with it and said that he couldn't wait until next year to be able to send in an entry again.

Anniversary

Ben and I have been married for 13 years. It has been a crazy 13 years and so many things have changed recently. It's a good thing we work really well together, as all these changes could have been a nightmare if we didn't. 

With Ben's busy schedule at school and having drill this weekend, it was hard to plan anything for our Anniversary. We talked about doing all sorts of things, but with how busy our lives have been lately, we couldn't make any big plans. In between different appointments and classes, Ben and I were able to go to dinner. It wasn't anything fancy, but it was still nice to get out on our own, even for just a short time. It didn't last long enough, as soon as we got home, Ben had to get back to work on an assignment for one of his classes. Before going to bed we gave each other a gift. Ben got me a book and I got him a shirt. It wasn't anything special, but enough to let the other know that we were thinking of each other. 

Sister Missionary lunch

One of my campions I served with in Orange was traveling to Utah for a visit. She wanted to get together with as many missionaries as she could during her travels. While in Utah she got some help from both sets of Mission Presidents. She was able to put together a luncheon to be held at our second Mission President's home. Sadly since the missionaries we served with are located all over the United States, not many of us were able to attend. Even for those who lived close to Salt Lake. By the time the day had come, only 6 of us were able to come. 

Even though we were small in numbers, it was a blast to see everyone again and reminisce. Sister Harmsen had put together some photo boards that she had collected during their time in California. It was so much fun looking at all the pictures.

While we were eating we talked about what we have done and what we were currently doing. It was nice to be able to catch up. Facebook it an amazing tool to stay connected to the missionaries I served with, but it only does so much. It was a great afternoon. 

Even the kids had fun. They were able to munch on the goodies that were there and Sister Harmsen told them that they could go play downstairs in the play room. They had a blast with all the toys in that room. The only down fall, was having to clean up the mess when they were done.

Once they did, we said our goodbyes and headed home.

Lego's

Owen is still so in love with Lego's. Honestly, any chance he gets he will build with Lego's. Its a toss up as to whether he is building with a kit or making something on his own. This time around he was building on his own. We were at some friends house and they had some kit that he didn't. He wanted to make something that could go along with it and this is what he came up with.

It was a pretty clever looking ship. He wanted to desperately take it home with us. As a compromise I took a picture of it so he could recreate it once we got home. He was so excited about it and couldn't wait to get home and make it bigger and better than this one.

White Ribbon Week

At school the kids got to participate in a White Ribbon week. It was all about being safe while using the internet. We talked about it before while on the PTA at North Ogden, but we never did. It was nice to see it used here.

The theme for the week was "I can be super safe on the web!" Each day the kids got to dress us in one way or another. They had a lot of fun choosing their different items.

Monday - "I will protect my mind by turning away if I see inappropriate pictures" (crazy hair or hat to protect the mind). I'm not the best at crazy hair so all of the kids decided that they would wear a hat. They had plenty to choose from too. William went with his Turtle hat, Owen is Mickey Mouse ears hat, and Gabbi borrowed William's crown from the Disney on Ice show that we saw. 

Tuesday - "I will run for backup by telling a trusted adult right away if I feel uncomfortable or scared" (wear silly socks for super speed). William didn't have school today because of Parent Teacher Conferences, so he didn't pick a pair of socks, Owen choose to wear two different kinds of socks, and Gabbi choose to wear her fuzzy socks on the outside of her pants.

Wednesday - "I will protect my identity by never giving out my name, address, phone number, or school name" (dress up in a disguise, i.e. moustache, glasses, wig, trench coat, etc.). William wanted to look like Iron Man. I told him that he couldn't wear a mask, so he decided that we would draw Tony Stark instead. Owen wanted to be Harry potter with glasses and the lighting scar, and Gabbi wanted to be a boy. She had me draw on a mustache and wore a beanie. They made me laugh with their choices today.

Thursday - "I will protect my body by limiting screen time to less than 1 hour a day" (wear athletic attire to remember to be active). This one is my least favorite theme. We aren't a sports family. We don't watch sporting events and we don't wear sports gear. Ben and I decided that since he was a student at BYU the kids could sport that attire. Sadly that meant we actually had to go and purchase shirts. They kids were excited, me not so much. Buy a shirt for just one day...ridiculous. We did it anyways. They each got to pick out their favorite shirt. It took them forever too. William picked a Soccer shirt, Owen a basketball shirt, and Gabbi picked on with just the BYU logo.

Friday - "I will protect the citizens by speaking up again cyber bullying" (dress up as a super hero). This day I think was the kid's favorite. It wasn't even Halloween and the kids got to dress up in costumes. William choose his costume that is actually for next year, the Hulk. Owen wore is Bumblebee costume and Gabbi ironically wore pajamas. They just happened to be Captain Marvel.

The week went by without missing a beat and the kids seemed to really have fun with it. I'm glad they did.

Mess

All of the kids have recieved a "Character Counts" certificate. As a part of their rewars and along with their certificate the kids got coupons to a few different places to eat. One of the coupns was from Golden Corral. The kids were really excited about Golden Corral. They love their dessert bar. Their favorite part of the dessert bar, the chocolate fountain. They take a little bit of everything and cover it completely in chocolate. They definitely take way too much chocolate, but that never stops them from eating all of it.

This particular visit was no different and in the process of eating his overly chocolate marshmallow he managed to get it all over his face. He never believes me when I tell him he has food on his face, at least this time I had proof.

Bug

William and I were running some errands and while doing so we came across this car. I couldn't believe what I was seeing, so much that I had to take a picture of it. William was super excited because he thought that was the coolest car ever. Ben said that they took two Volkswagen Bug's, welded them together, and then painted it. I have to admit, I was pretty impressed with their end result.