Chan's thank you...

Chan insisted on making a quick video thank you for his gift- he was very exited, and as you know has already put it to good use!!

Thanks Grandma and Grandpa!!

Thanks Grandma and Grandpa!!! We all LOVED our gifts- you can see for yourself!!

Christmas morning....

Here is a small hint of what our Christmas morning was like with the kids opening their gifts! They loved everything! Of course they were more exited about some things more than others, but we always have a blast watching them!

PS- for a bit of background- the shirt we gave Carter is a University of Utah Sugar Bowl shirt. Chan has been promising to bring him home one from the family stores but kept "forgetting".. hee hee!! We LOVE Christmas!!!

Happy Anniversary babe!!

Chan and I at his Company Christmas party. I swear we didn't plan on wearing the same colors!!

Chan and I Christmas Day at his parents home- sharing a quick self portrait!!

Hard for me to believe that it has been almost 14 years since Chan and I went into the Salt Lake temple to be married!! It was December 29th 1994!! Time has gone so fast but in looking back on all those years I have NO regrets! So I just wanted to give Chan a special note-

We have had many wonderful memories as a family with the births of our three kids and many more of just the two of us on our many "anniversary trips" whether it be to the movies in town, or all the way to the edge of the grand canyon. We have a lot of great stories to tell our kids when they get older!! The best part is that I still love to be with you and see you laugh, play with the kids, watch you at work and what you have accomplished there, see you serve others and have a blast with you as you cook to entertain our friends. Your such a wonderful man and I am the person with the wonderful pleasure to be your companion! Thanks for being such a loving husband and treating me with respect and love. Thanks for being a wonderful father as well- our kids are very lucky to have you in their lives. Thanks for all the awesome years and the many more to come!! I look forward to many more "anniversary trips" as well as many more memories spent with you!! I LOVE YOU!!!

Christmas Eve sledding...

Last year we started a new tradition of going sledding on Christmas Eve and this year the weather cooperated and we again had plenty of snow to go! Unfortunately Dakota wasn't able to join us this year because he got sick- and we did miss him and Annie! But Carter and his friend Trevor came as well as Will and Brianne and they had fun! It was VERY cold and windy so we weren't out long, but they got in some good runs. Here is Will and Brianne about to go down the hill in the toboggan sled!

Here is Will with a big grin on his face just as he came down to the bottom of the hill. He was WOOOO HOOOOO-ing the whole way down!!

Here is Brianne as she comes down the hill in her purple sled that she loves! She was really cruising down that hill so she has to throw down her elbow and dig it in the snow to help her stop, and once she did she said she had to "finish with style" so here is her "style shot"- hilarious!!

Here is Brianne flying down the hill! And Will is at the top of the hill getting ready to go!

Here is Carter on his favorite sled. We got it for him several years ago- I think he was about 9- and it is his favorite!!!! He won't use anything else!! He was flying so fast down the hill that he actually hit a fence because he couldn't stop! I started laughing- I couldn't help it!!! Thankfully he wasn't hurt- wish I had video of that!! But I do have a shot of him wearing my fuzzy pink gloves cuz the dork forgot his!! Love ya man!

Crismon Christmas party 08

Make a Smilebox slideshow

Christmas at Sunrise Elementary

Make a Smilebox scrapbook

Merry and Bright...

Here is a picture of our home looking very Merry and Bright! I LOVE the red and green lights- they are new this year! :) Our tree you can see in the bay window and the white things on either side are lighted up snowflakes (that didn't show up so well on the picture). I think our house looks awesome!! C'mon people- let's see your decorations!!

Let it snow, let it snow, let it snow!!

Well today was the first real measurable snow storm we have had this winter! The kids were so exited to get out in it and play!! I snapped this photo of them before they came inside for hot chocolate!

Here is Will out in the snow- you can hardly see his face at all! I don't know what the deal is with the chair- he was just being silly!

Here is Carter with the snow block maker. You can use it to make forts- which he always does! He likes to make a fort and then have a snowball fight and hide behind it while he throws them at everyone else!

Here is Brianne looking cute as ever in her snow gear! I called he name and she had to strike a pose before I took the photo! Such a girlie girl!!

Will's Christmas dance recital

Here is a picture of Will doing his solo part in his dance recital! They did such a great job! He loves to go to this dance class- it's a hip hop/break dancing class. You go Will!!!

Here are all the boys "bringing sexy back" they even turned around and wiggled their butts for us!! Will is the third from the right and Dakota is second in on the left.

Here they are jammin out!

I put Carter in charge of the still photo's cuz I was videotaping and he did a good job, but of course he had to do a few funny self portraits!!

Here is a picture of Brianne getting ready to watch her brother! :)

" Deer" Friends...

Each year I try to give my neighbors a little something to let them know I love them and this year it is these reindeer root beer! I have to confess I took the idea from a Mom that gave them to me last year when I was an aide for Brianne's school. I thought it was such a cute idea that I made a ton for friends/neighbors!

AREN'T THEY SOOOO CUTE!!!

Seeing Santa

We have spent a little time every Christmas since Carter was a baby waiting in line at the local Mall to see Santa, and this year was no different! This is the photo that was taken when the kids were letting Santa know what they wanted for Christmas. In case you were curious- Brianne asked for the crayola glow station, Will asked for the Lego mission 6 Agent Command center and Carter asked for the Vulcan Nerf gun. My guess is that they will get what they asked for- they have all been good this year! :)
This is the photo that I added to my Christmas letter this year. I snapped it while we were waiting in line for Santa- it turned out really good! Funny how that happens!
This is the first photo I snapped and Miss Brianne had to be cool and flash the peace sign! She's such a dweeb! And here's a funny story for ya- Carter turned to me while we were waiting in line and with a very serious face asked me if Santa was real. It was cute, and of course I told him he was- duh!!! WE BELIEVE!!! :)

All aboard!!

What is a Christmas tree without a train running around the bottom!! For the last couple of years we have added a train to ours. We usually put in under the tree in the family room, but this year Will wanted to put it up under the living room tree. So Chan told him he could build it- this was huge!! Usually Chan doesn't let the kids build HIS sets (and most of you know that he has a TON) but he wanted Will to give it a try.







He did a great job!! He spent quite a lot of time doing it, but he built the freight train and let Dad set up the track for him. Then the both of them put it on the track and tried it out.









This is a photo of them doing their testing of the track! :)












This is a picture of the two of them working again, but in this one you can see how many pieces there were to the train! CRAZY!! But it sure looks cute- and thanks to our Lego advent calendar we have Santa driving the train! Way to go Will and Dad!

Getting festive...

Well I have finally gotten off my rear end and taken some photos of the house and it's festive decor! I still need to take some outside ones, but this is a good start anyway!!

This is a picture of the tree we have in the family room. It is a fun one cuz it's got ornaments on it from when I was a kid as well as all the kids ornaments they have collected from their Grandma Panko- she sends them one each year :)














This is a close up picture of the top of the piano. I made that "snow" thing last year in my craft group and the cute little snowman was a gift from Tammy last year- it fit my decor perfect!!










Here is another shot of the piano. I have such high ceilings in my house that I can get away with these big trees on top :)











This is by my front door. The cute little wagon was given to me by the warehouse manager at the airport stores. It wasn't something they could use and she thought I would like it- she was right!! :)








Here is the tree in my living room. This one you can see from the street. I guess it's obvious that I have a snowflake thing going on..... I love it!!

This is a slide show of some pictures from our Thanksgiving trip to Lake Powell. It was amazing- as usual- but it did rain on us the first couple of days. I took 200 some pictures but just chose a few to share with you. I couldn't download all of them or it would take a whole day!! but this gives you an idea of what we did and how our feast was! I hope you enjoy the pictures- we sure are grateful to have such wonderful families to share the Holidays with!

PS- sorry some of the pictures are sideways- I forgot to change that before I put them in!

THE HOLIDAYS HAVE ARRIVED!!

YAY!!!! It's finally the Holiday Season- hard to believe! It seems to have come so quickly this year, but I am exited! I will be posting some pic's soon of our festive house and trees etc. I also took TONS of pics from Thanksgiving so those are to come as well. Hope your Thanksgiving was wonderful!! Merry Christmas everyone!!

HAPPY TURKEY DAY!!

Happy Thanksgiving everyone!!! We are doing some last minute errands before we leave to celebrate the holiday with Chan's family, but I wanted to send a quick note out to all of YOU to enjoy your Thanksgiving Holiday!! There will be pictures to come of ours and I hope to see some from yours as well!! Love you all!!

Will's additions to the blog...

So my little man Will wanted to contribute to my blog- he loves that I have a blog!! So he decided to take a couple of photos and wanted me to add them on. So here goes Will!!!

The first photo is a creation he made from legos- they are an amazing toy don't you think! He loves to create his own things with them. This is a "jet suit" pretty cool huh?!!!

This other picture is of Will's amazing collection of Yu-Gi-Oh cards!! All 86 of them!! he didn't realize he had that m,any until he had them all laid out like this on the floor!! Pretty cool- he wanted to share them all with you!

DAISY'S DAY OUT...

This past Wednesday night the window in the restroom by the laundry room in our home got left open and our cat Daisy decided to venture out. Unfortunately we didn't even notice her escape!

It wasn't until the next morning that Carter realized the window was still open and that they had not seen her that morning. So they immediately went out to the back yard to see if they could find her.
But our Daisy had appeared to have ventured farther than our yard because we continued to check for her later that day, but still no sign. The kids were getting really upset, especially Brianne who cried quite a bit. I was really afraid that she was gone and not coming back, and Chan felt the same way.
But on Thursday evening before I went to bed I let our dog Chloe out to go potty and Carter and I were chatting in the kitchen when I realized I needed to let her back in. When I looked at the back door at Chloe- there was a little friend right next to her!! It was Daisy!! I couldn't believe it!! I was ready to accept her being gone- when she showed up again! We don't know where she went or what her adventure was, but we are glad to have her back home!!

ALTA BLACK BANQUET

Well it's finally over....... Carter had his banquet last weekend and it was a really fun event. His team has such an amazing season and the banquet was the cherry on top! The team Mom had jackets made for the boys (for those who wanted them) and Carter is wearing it in this picture. It says Alta Football State champs 11-0 on the pocket. He was very exited to get that!! And I got one for Will as well, but his does not say state champs on it.
Here is a shot of all the coaches and their boys. I thought it was neat the way they did that- they acknowledged all the other boys first and then had all the coaches sons come up together at the end. They still spoke about them individually, but I thought that was cool.
This is coach Hill thanking Chan for helping out with coaching, as he did with all of them. He also gave them a gift- which is a book called "Season of Life" it is a book he uses often in his coaching style.
Here is a shot of the boys all watching the DVD that was put together. Usually these things are just photo slide shows of the games and such, but this one was AMAZING!!! There was a camera crew following Carter's team for most of the season- apparently it was done for the district and we don't know exactly what for- but the things he captured on film were awesome! I paid to get a copy so whenever you are here with us- we'll have to watch it cuz WOW! It's like little league ESPN!!
Here is our Man!! I guess a center can never be without a ball huh? We are so proud of you dude! You have come a long way and we can't wait to see what you bring to your talent next year! We love ya man!!

Carter's starstruck!!

So Carter and Chan had the opportunity to go to the University of Utah "blackout" game against TCU on November 6th and were VERY exited!! They went with Brain Barnhill a coach on Carter's football team and his son Mason who plays with Carter. When the game was over they rushed the field and got to meet some of the players and even got some underarmour arm bands from some of them, but the best part was getting to take this picture with Matt Asiata who plays running back for the Utes. I think you can see in Carter's face how starstruck he is!! He was SOOOOOOO exited to have gotten to meet him!! And he has the picture to prove it!! Go UTES!!

ALTA WHITE BANQUET

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Here is Will with his major happy face on!! It was his first ever football banquet and he was very exited! it was held at Rock Creek Pizza here in Sandy. There was some great pizza yummy salad- and I think Will's favorite part was that he could have some Mountain Dew!!















Here is Will with his wonderful head coach- Coach Henriod! I LOVE this coach!! He is such a stud! And there were 4 other coaches as well and they were equally as great. Will learned a lot from them, and thankfully Coach Henriod is moving up to coach Pee Wee next year- so we're gonna hope we end up with him again!!













Here's the whole gang and their coaches. From Coach Henriod it goes to Coach Jansson, Coach Saxton, Coach weeks and then Coach Toleman. And you can't beat all those cute boys!! Such a fun sport!! Will is over on the right in this picture :)




The video clip below is Coach Henriod talking specifically about Will and what he contributed to the team. The first thing he said which I didn't totally get because I was slow to start the camera- is that he gave Will the name "Mr. Saturday Night" and he was telling why that was, as well as some other things about our little man!! :) (PS- he accidentally calls him "Ormond" in there, but his wife corrects him shortly after- hee hee)