Happy April Fools Day!

     Apparently we celebrated April Fools at our house....that's sharpie courtesy of older brothers.

Let the biking begin!

     Corey did his first race of the year a few weeks ago in St. George.  It's the True Grit 50 and he did great!  It was a beautiful warm St. George weekend! 

 

A Comedy of Errors

     When Mac came home with one of the main parts for his 6th grade Shakespeare play I was nervous.  There were so many lines, many of which he didn't have a clue as to what they meant.  Boy did this kid prove me wrong.  He worked so so hard and memorized every line perfectly.  He'd repeat one of his big parts and I'd ask him if he knew what they were saying, and he didn't, but he could still recite the lines.  We talked about the play and what it meant and he loved it.  His teacher has been so wonderful for him and thinks the world of him. I'm so grateful for good teachers who see the strengths in my children and let them shine.  Ms. Larson has done that for McKay. 

     It was a great day watching his play.  Both sets of Grandparents were there to watch Mac in his starring role.  Great job McKay!!!

Check out that wig!!

Love you Mac, we're so proud of you!!

Rough Day on the Playground

     This kid had a rough day.  I got a call while I was out shopping and the lady at the front desk said she thought I should come take a look at him.  The picture really doesn't do it justice.  His eye was quite swollen along with his fat lip.  It was a good enough that I took him home to rest.  When we got home I said "Wow, Tate you must have been running fast!"  to which he replied with a straight face "no, I was just speedwalking." 

Just Can't Get Enough!

     Anyone that knows me or reads this blog knows I love Christmas cards! I love that despite our busy schedules and long-lost efforts to stay in touch we can wish someone well and let them know that we still think of them and are grateful to have known them. 
      So when the end of Christmas comes I'm happy to take the tree and the decorations down and get back to normal...except the cards.  I leave them up until I decorate for Valentines, which is what we did this past weekend.  But I just couldn't throw them away..so I thought of this fabulous idea, string 'em all together and keep them.  So if you're over feel free to thumb through our bunch of cards from people we love.

Snow Cave

      In the dead freezing cold of winter we've had something great going on at our house....the snow cave.  I love that my kids will spend hours (into the dark of night....@ 5:30 pm) working on this.  They play wonderfully when they're dedicated to a cause and I can't get enough.  Bradley is McKay's best buddy and would come over and work on it while the boys were at piano...seriously dedicated.  It was pretty impressive about ten feet in one direction and then turned and went another six or seven feet. 
    So while I'm so happy to see the sunshine and blue skies and clean air today I'm sad for the end of the snow cave. 

Bring on 2013!!

    One of our favorite family traditions is to go to the cabin to celebrate New Years.  This year it was our family, the Ruggs and the Moirs with appearances from Ty and Annie and Corey's parents.  It's a great little cabin and we all squeeze in and have fun.
    Corey, Jase and Kedar banded together to fix some things and declare themselves "cabin certified."  They replaced the water heater element, fixed a few leaky pipes and installed a bunch of new coat hangers which were much needed and quickly put to use!  Great job men!! 

 Avery and Aubrey were great friends this trip doing hair and playing lalaloopsy dolls.

     The main attraction at the cabin (besides the food, of course)....SNOW!!!!!!!!  As the kids get older we're lengthening the time getting ready to time playing outside ratio.  Pretty fun!

McKay & Avery

Conner..."posing"

     Tanner and Carter....can't beat that Tanner, definitely a big part of the cabin entertainment!!

Tate taking on the "jump."

Gotta love "twin moments."  (Ya know, the ones where they're not yelling or hitting or scratching or throwing toy fire engines at each other)

Keaton boarding down the hill. 

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All good fun must come to an end!

    I got a new camera for Christmas (thanks Corey!!) which has a pretty good learning curve, so don't mind my learning-on-the-job pics.                                                                                     Kari & Kedar.

Marci & Jasen. I do believe Marci has grown out of her making faces in every picture thing...beautiful Marc! 

Couldn't resist snapping a pic of this snow princess!!  

                                        Corey working on becoming "cabin certified" 


 On New Years Eve we forgo dinner and we all make fun foods and I have to say....I think it was our best year yet.  The pictures simply did not convey the wonderful-ness of it all, feel free to drool over this list...

Stuffed mushrooms
cheese balls
buffalo chicken dip
veggi tray with fiesta ranch dip
coconut shrimp
7 layer dip
caramel pecan brie
pita chips and hummus
date nut bread 

Yum!!    Happy New Year!