Christmas Candids

Christmas Dresses

 Abby just wants to hold the camera...

 Painting with Goop and having a ball

 Snuggles with Doggy

 Sarah's last day of Preschool before Christmas Break

Taking out the Trash

There is something about crawling into confined spaces that toddlers can't resist.  Nate adds a little humor by threatening to dump her in the trash can...

 The sisters get in on some sliding car action

 Never a dull moment

Student of the Month

Katelyn has had a big month of awards.  She had a reflections/literacy night display at her school and her sunflower drawing was chosen to go on to Council (to be judged against all the other elementary schools in the district).  She received a ribbon, certificate, gift card to an ice-cream parlor, a fun day at the Kangaroo Zoo and a ceramics day with all the other participating kids at her school.  She also found out she was chosen as Student of the Month for November and was invited to come back to school for a special assembly (she's in half-day kindergarten).  I will post images of her entry once we get it back but here are some shots of her ceramics day and awards assembly:

Katelyn with her Friends

Getting a hug from Mom

Busy Painting



My mom joined us for our afternoon at Kangaroo Zoo (indoor bounce house playland) and pizza lunch (you order pizza but it's really just placed through Dominoes and then delivered...smart).

And Katelyn at her Awards Assembly by her class paintings

 Hearing her name announced

 Accepting the Award and listening to all the nice things Ms. Vandyke wrote about her

 Showing off her award certificate

Way to Let your Light Shine Katelyn!!

Temple Square Lights

We took the girls down to enjoy the lights at temple square.
 A few tips:
      a. dress warm
      b. arrive early before the lights are on so you can see all the visitor center stuff first and then enjoy the lights.
      c. hot cocoa is a must have
We hung out in the visitor's center and the girls were absolutely amazed by the little house display that had television screens for windows playing mormon ads.  They could have been content there alone.  Next of course is the open model of the Salt Lake Temple.  Nate and I were married here so it was fun for the girls to see the miniature rooms like a dollhouse display.  We walked past a model of Angel Moroni and Katelyn exclaimed, "Look it's the whistler!!!"  We had a fun filled night watching Abby stare with open wonder at the Christus Statue and adoringly squeal, "Neigh" at all the horse-drawn carriages.  Sarah mostly snuggled and of course they all were oohing and ahhing over the lights.

Sarah gave up on walking early in the night...

 Katelyn taking in the lights

 Everyone is starting to really feel the cold

 the light display

it looks like there is fire coming down...

 Slowly kids are making dibs on mom's layers

 in the restaurant where it's nice and warm

finally peeling the layers

Ward Christmas Party

After the storm passed the food from the Relief Society Dinner was added to the Ward Christmas Party.  The delicious Chicken Primavera was happily eaten by all.

Darling Primary Reindeer Craft

Sarah couldn't look at the camera because she was studying dessert.

Katelyn singing with the Primary

Abby attacking everybody else's plate

Which is Scarier, Daddy or Movie?

Nate Chasing the Girls Up into the Windowsill

 A Quick Lunge

  Roar!!!

 Abby getting nervous

 A little more

 Can't watch for a minute

 Abandon the movie, it's too scary

Wind Storm Damage

Nate had heard about a big windstorm coming through Ogden but he didn't mention it to ME.  So I was totally unprepared for the 26 hours without power and the destruction through the backyard.  Though even if he had told me I don't think we would have thought we were in for all this.  Didn't take a shot of the roof but that is a satellite dish that came off the roof and pulled a whole bunch of shingles with it.  There are also patches above the garage and addition that are missing as well.  We have our insurance adjuster coming to evaluate whether we need a new roof tomorrow.  Wish us luck!

Just in case you were wondering how the playhouse looked before here's a refresher:



8 Girls at once

Sarah decided she wanted a playdate with some friends from preschool and she decided to call the twins.  Small catch.  This playdate overlapped picking up Katelyn from preschool.  And we carpool.  So we loaded Abby in the Kelty backpack, the twins in the double stroller, and Sarah held onto the strap.  When we got to the school we decided to invite Katelyn's carpool buddy over for a playdate (rather than walk the few blocks to her house with everyone in tow).  Then we decided to invite one more friend so they had an even amount of friends.  They were GREAT playing together and it was a memorable day for sure!

Lucky for us it didn't start snowing until after we got home!

Seattle Thanksgiving

We decided since Heather was in her 9th month of pregnancy that we would travel to see them this year.
We started with a day of preschool and kindergarten.  Sarah was the leader and we didn't want her to miss out.  We made a poster full of photos and Sarah's favorite things to introduce her to the class.  She brought her pet hermit crab, Swirl for show and tell.  We were in charge of the snack and Sarah wanted to share her favorite food: pancakes with whipped cream and blueberries and Chocolate milk.  It was a fun day!  Katelyn had a Thanksgiving Parade in her headband and vest.

 Making handprint turkeys

 She wanted to say a prayer at school...

The first night, we stayed at a nice hotel with an indoor pool/hot tub and exercise room.  We ran a couple miles, swam with the girls, and had breakfast before setting out again. 
We had at least two miracles on this trip.  One was that we made it the 60 miles to the next gas stop with our red light on and the second was that our tire went flat in Yakima with a full tire shop rather than in one of the tiny towns along the road or on the freeway.

Thank you good samaritan that helped us switch the flat for the spare so we could drive to the tire shop!



We finally made it to Mukilteo and had a great time eating delicious food, wrestling and chasing, opening matching jammies, watching Beezus and Ramona, hiking in the Gulch, reading stories, and playing games.

 Aunt Annie entertaining the kids with stories

 Family Photo

 Returning from the Gulch Hike

 Opening Matching Christmas Pillowcases

 And Matching Jammies

 Wrestling with Uncle Matt

Three Sleepy Girls

We had a fun filled day in Seattle visiting the Pacific Science Center and Pike's Place Market.  The girls got to play with butterflies, and water hermit crabs, starfish, giant chess pieces, you name it.  We didn't quite match up with the Richins family but we did see Occupy Seattle and the lighting of the Macy's Christmas Tree and Firework Display.  We started our return trip with a decadent 7 course breakfast at Snowqualmie Falls.

 The Butterfly House (one landed on Katelyn's head but we didn't get the photo)

 Jamming on the teeter totter

 Climbing in the tunnels

 The music area

 Snowqualmie Falls

 Sarah refused to wear a coat but always ended up stealing mine along the way...