Christmas 2009

We had a wonderful Christmas. We started by having a great party at my mom and dad's house on Christmas Eve. The kids were so excited, nothing we could do would calm them down. So they settled on wrestling each other to the ground. They acted out the nativity. I took a picture of Dylan's costume before but we didn't get any during the actual event. The kids did fantastic. They opened up their jammies and looked so darling.

The next morning was perfect. I haven't had a Christmas morning in my house since Livie was born. The kids were darling. They were so excited and so happy with everything they received. We had been working on present manners so I was glad that they were so grateful for everything that everyone gave them. After going back to my mom and dads house, we headed to Provo. Jon's mom and dad just got back from Hawaii so our presents had a Hawaiian theme. The kids share a bed while we are there and I couldn't resist snapping a cute picture of them snuggling up together. Everything was perfect until the next morning. A couple of kids the night before had started getting sick, but we thought we were okay. Then it hit me. I knew I was getting sick so we went home early. The night all four of us had the worst stomach flu I have ever had. Jon was the hero of the night running back and forth to each kids room while I was downstairs almost dead on the floor. Luckily twelve hours later we had stopped vomiting and we are recuperating. We have Clorox and Lysoled every inch of our house and have used our washing machine for almost 48 hours straight. But if you exclude that, it was one of the best Christmases ever!

The Nutcracker

My mom, sister, and my niece Savannah went to see the Nutcracker today. It was so beautiful. I haven't seen it in so long and I can really appreciate it now. It was so much fun to spend time with them and have one on one time with Savannah.

Happy Birthday Livie

Livie's 4th birthday was a week ago, so I am a little slow, but better late than never. She had the cutest little birthday. It was on a Sunday so it was kind of a laid back day, but I think that was good for her. She played with her presents and we sang to her at church. She was the only kid with a birthday that week so she thought she was pretty special. That night my family came over for cake and ice cream. She was so happy, but she was a little sad when it was over. I didn't get any pictures of the party because it is all on video. But here are a few of her opening her presents.

Send your own ElfYourself eCards

Christmas Card

Things are a little tight around here this year, so we are cutting back on everything we can. Although I love sending and getting Christmas cards, it seemed like one of those expendable things. So I am posting a pseudo Christmas card on my blog, since almost everyone I would send one too, reads the blog! Merry Christmas everyone.

December so far

I only have one more final left in school, and I have noticed that I have a lot more free time on my hands. That being said, I have a lot to blog about. Livie is in a singing/performing group called TaVaci. They had their first concert last night. It was so darling! Livie is in the class with her cousin Denver and both of them did fantastic. They sang and did all of the actions. I wish I could upload the video on here. Dylan and Beckham sat in the audience and watched, but they were rewarded for their good behavior by going to get ice cream after.
We took the kids to see Santa, and Livie was so excited. Dylan was okay with it, he was more interested in getting his candy bag. It has been snowing here almost nonstop today. Jon and Dylan are outside building a snowman. Livie is more like me and still has her warm Vegas blood, so we are staying inside snuggling on the couch. But then her dad got the four wheeler to plow the driveway, and she changed her mind.
Dylan has also started building cars. He makes a new one almost every day out of Lego's, but this morning he made a life size one. He even added headlights and a pedal.

Artwork

My kids are little artists. They love to draw all of the time. These two are my latest favorites.
This first one is Livie's. She drew it after her friend Rebecca came to stay with us. She has had it hanging in her room ever since.
This one is Dylan's. He drew this stating that it was his favorite thing to do with his best friend Denver. I found a picture I took of them this summer, and Dylan's drawing is surprisingly accurate.

November Happenings

Well I am averaging about a post a month. That is pretty good right? A week ago my great friend Emily Bowman drove up from Vegas to go see New Moon with me. It was so wonderful and we had so much fun. Our kids loved seeing each other and they had a ball. The picture below is the four of them watching Dr. Seuss How the Grinch Stole Christmas on my bed. Jon said this was right before Livie and William freaked out and went running out of the room. It was so wonderful to see Emily and we already have our plans made for Eclipse.

The other picture is of a Lego car that Dylan made. He also made a Lego remote control to go with it. Every time he pushed the green button he pushed the car to pretend it was moving.

This last Saturday everyone in my family rode the front runner train to Salt Lake to see the lights. The kids loved the train, I think more than the lights. Temple square was absolutely beautiful and I just love the spirit that you feel in that holy place.

Halloween

Our Halloween was so much fun this year. We started it off by having a Halloween party at Jon's mom and dads. Friday night the grown ups had a How to Host a Murder party. Sadly I don't have any pictures of that. But it was great and I ended up being the murderer. Then on Saturday the kids had their Halloween party. They got to dress up, go on a pumpkin hunt, play Halloween bingo, and eat delicious food. Heidi was so sweet and wonderful to organize it all. Then we headed back to Tremonton to eat delicious soup at my mom and dads. The kids loved showing each other their costumes. Dylan and Denver thought they were so spooky. We then made the rounds seeing relatives which was so much fun! We didn't do trunk or treat this year, but being around family that loves us was so much better. After that we went door to door with Gunner, Savannah and Maverick. It was a great Halloween.

I need to do better

I know, I have been horrible at blogging. I got a slight reprimand from my friend Tawni tonight, so I came straight home and started to download pictures. So, to catch up on the last month and a half:
We went camping up at my sister in laws cabin. It was so beautiful. We rode four wheelers, went fishing, where, Dylan and Livie both caught their first fish. In fact, all of the kids caught one. We tried to release them, but some of them didn't make it, so we took them back to camp and cooked them up. Surprisingly, Livie loved the fish and couldn't get enough of it. The two nights we stayed there was horrible weather during the night. It was windy the first night and poured the next. But we had so much fun.
Livie and Dylan both had sleepovers on the same night. Dylan slept over at Denver's house, and Savannah and Lexie stayed here. The girls were funny and darling, stayed up way too late and ate a lot of candy. But they had a fantastic time. Tangi was lucky and got both boys to sleep at 8:30.
Livie started dancing here. She loves it and dances for me all of the time.
Dylan started kindergarten this past Monday. He is doing so well and he loves his class. We had a little incident on Friday where he started a food fight in the cafeteria, but he was disciplined and he swears he will not do it again. The story is funny and it is hard not to laugh when you are telling him it was a bad choice.

Catch-Up

This summer has gone by so fast! I haven't had anytime to post. We have spent the summer playing with cousins, working, doing homework and having so much fun. A few of the highlights:
Each summer the cheerleaders put on a little camp for little girls where they teach them a dance and some cheers. Livie had so much fun. She can't wait to go back to her cheer again.










Dylan has found a new best friend. He loves his cousin Denver and they have had so much fun together. Here they are doing their favorite thing.












Dyl and Live have been in swimming lessons and doing so incredible. They were both swimming underwater by the end of their session. On the second to last day Livie hit her chin on something and had to get five stitches. She wasn't too upset about the stitches, but was very mad that she had to leave the pool.











On a sad note, Dylan's best friend from Las Vegas passed away on Tuesday. He loved Giovanni. Gio was a little autistic boy in his class. The amazing thing was, Dylan was able to get Gio to talk sometimes. It has been an interesting lesson for Dylan to learn about where Gio is now. Dyl was convinced Gio was in the cemetery, but he now knows he is with Heavenly Father and Jesus. Dylan thought that sounded so good, he told me he couldn't wait to live with Heavenly Father. Umm, yeah, I think I can wait.
We are looking forward to celebrating our first pioneer day in five years this Saturday.

Hair

Emily, this is for you and your not so subtle reminder. :)

Updates

This may be the longest post ever, but I don't want to do a whole bunch of little ones. We moved into our new house. I love it. It is so cozy and homey. The kids love having their stuff back and love that we live within walking distance to a park. The dogs even love it. Having grass is a major plus for them. The best part of this house, are all of the beautiful flowers.
We went to Hogle Zoo the other day with my brother Cody and his wife Shiloh and their darling daughter Lexie. We had so much fun. Livie loved the elephants. I think she could have stayed there the whole day. Dylan's favorite part was the zoo train.Finally, I got in a car accident last week. A man ran through a red light and smashed into our van. Luckily, no one was hurt except for some sore muscles and bruises. We are so blessed that nothing worse happened. The kids were terrified, but some wonderful people helped them feel better with balloons and movies. The cute ambulance men even gave them some bears. Our van is fixable, so we are just driving a rental for a couple of weeks. The last picture is the peaceful intersection where it happened.

Changes

So many things have changed in the past month and a half. To start off, the job Jon originally came up here for didn't work out. But, the good news is he got another job with fantastic benefits and perks at Malt O Meal. The best part is, every time he works, he gets to bring home 3 bags of cereal! We are moving out of my parents house this weekend. We are going to live in Tremonton, since that is where the factory is, and we are going to move into my brother Cody's old house. I am so excited and it is such a cute house. Also, I cut my hair off today. I was so ready for a change. It is just above my shoulders now. I still don't have my computer set up, so as soon as I do, I will post pictures of everything.

Saying Goodbye

Livie and I had to say goodbye to a few friends today. It was sad, but it made me realize how much I appreciate the people that have been there for me. I love these girls and their kids.

Changes

As most people know, Jon lost his job with Pulte Homes about a month ago. We have been searching for a new job and we found one about a week ago, in Logan Utah. Therefore, this Friday we are leaving our beloved home and friends and starting a new adventure. Everything happened so quickly, (Jon is starting this Monday and coming back to help us move this Friday), that we haven't found a place to live yet, so we are staying with my parents until we can find somewhere. It has been a sad week saying good bye to people we care about. Dyl said goodbye to his wonderful occupational therapist Shannon. She has been such an inspirational person in his life and has done so much for him.

On Saturday night, my friends threw a goodbye party for me. It was so incredible. I am going to miss them all so much, but I know I will always have a place to stay when I come and visit. I want to thank Jenna and Kate for organizing the party and getting so many people to come. I know I am so blessed to have so many amazing women as friends. Thank you all so much, you will be missed greatly.

Easter Vacation

We went up to Utah for our Easter vacation. We first stayed at Jon's mom and dads. The kids had so much fun, and Dylan actually ate in a restaurant. He hasn't been able to do that for awhile. Livie and Emma were so cute and thought they were little princesses. Dylan terrorized them by being a shark and putting them in the smelters. It seems Livie has gotten over her irrational fear of babies, and actually loved playing with Gavin. After Heidi and Wayne's, we went up to Tremonton to my parents house. It was fairly good weather, on the non rainy days at least, and the kids loved playing outside. My dad took all of the kids on a jeep ride while we hid eggs. They had so much fun searching and Dylan managed to sneak most of his candy in his mouth before we made it back to my moms house.

That Saturday we went bowling. I think Coby's little boy Beckham beat all of us. Thank goodness for bumper pads. Easter Sunday was beautiful and Dylan kept saying how much he liked what "the rabbit" brought him. I was trying to teach them about the true meaning of Easter, and how Jesus was resurrected and came back to life. Dyl and Liv were convinced that meant he was coming to visit us that day.

Livie's Dancing

We had our first parents day at Livie's dancing class. It was so much fun. Livie is doing so well. She has only been in for about a month, and the girls in her class are a year older than her, but I think she is doing great! She loves going and that is the most important thing. Her teacher Miss Stephanie is so wonderful. She makes them use their manners and teaches them balance and rhythm. My friend Emilee and I were observing that she does a lot of stuff with them that an OT does. She even had them do Miss Puffy, which is a dance I did as a little girl.

Spring Mountain Ranch

This past Saturday our family went on an outing to Spring Mountain Ranch. Livie and I had been there a couple of times, but it was Jon and Dylan's first time. It is so beautiful up there. Not everything was in bloom, but the mountains next to the little lake is breathtaking. Livie loved feeding the horse. She got a little upset when the horse sucked on her finger for a minute, but then she convinced herself the "horse thought my finger was a little piece of grass." Dylan was bound and determined to catch a duck with his makeshift weed fishing pole, but the ducks were a little too smart for that. Anyone who lives in Vegas should go up there. It is such a beautiful open space that is filled with history. By the way, I know the sweater I am wearing is ugly, but it is warm and comfortable and it was chilly up there.

Bailey Girl Weekend

A couple of weekends ago, the Bailey girls left their kids and families, and we went and spent a night in St. George. We had so much fun. Here are a few of the highlights:

• Heidi Lynn being camera happy and trying to snap pictures of me at every second, including my telling people on the shuttle goodbye.


• April's funky shoes that "teased" almost everyone else there.


• Nobody wanting to sleep with Brittnee. I won't say why, but she knows.


• Going shopping and getting great deals at the Children's Place outlet.


• Seeing Shopaholic. We all loved it except for Brittnee. But she hates August Rush so you can't really trust her taste in movies.


• Shopping some more at Target.


• A delicious dinner of steaks.


• Not knowing that the time share people changed the pool house key, so we walked around it multiple times. Finally, I scaled the fence to get us in. Heidi Lynn of course took a picture of me doing this. She didn't really care that I could slip and impale myself. As long as she got her shot. :) I didn't post it for fear that people would be blinded by my white flesh.


• The guy who thought he was Buddha and had perfect knowledge of all things literature.


• Floating on our backs while secretly being scared that there could be sharks in the bottom of the vents.


• Finding out that sugar ants love Advil, and Tami and I waking up covered in ants.

It was such a fun trip. Thank you so much Heidi for planning it. I can't wait for next years!

Jerzi Rae

I have a new niece! My sister Stacie had her baby last Friday, the 13th, and we welcomed Jerzi Rae Sorensen to the family. She is 6 pounds 2 ounces, and 18 inches long. I think she looks just like her big sister.

Dylan's Birthday Celebration

Dylan's birthday was split between two days. On Tuesday, his actual birthday, we had a party at school, and cake and presents at home. Dyl loved all of his presents, especially his Lego's, which he has used to build some pretty cool tire stores.

On Saturday, we went to the Lied's Discovery Museum. They both loved it. Livie's favorite things were the stage where the kids are able to dress up and perform. She also loved the little supermarket. She kept refilling basket after basket. Dylan loved the airplane and the car mechanic shop. It is such a fun place to take kids.