Sunday, December 28, 2008

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!!!

Saturday, December 27, 2008

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!

Saturday, December 13, 2008

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!!

Saturday, December 6, 2008

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!

Monday, December 1, 2008

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!!