December fun & Christmas

After my last post it's been a whirlwind to get Christmas ready to go here at our home! I hadn't done ANY shopping so Chan and I got busy! In the meantime Carter and Elle went to the Christmas dance and had a BLAST! They played in the snow for their day date, as well as made gingerbread houses, then they went home for a couple hours before donning their ugly sweaters for dinner and the dance. They had a blast and I enjoyed taking pictures of them before the dance. It was fun!

Our Ward party was also fun. The decorations turned out great and the food was awesome! It's also the night we choose to do our family tradition of "Santa Bombing" but we wended up doing it the following Monday night instead. This year we targeted the Ross family and it was Will, Brianne and I that went to do it. We were in the middle of tying off Santa when we were caught by their son Noah while taking out the trash! We scared him to death! But they enjoyed it and have enjoyed having him on their porch!

Another fun thing was the combined activity we did for December. We went to a nursing home in Draper and did a Christmas program for the people there. Carter was dressed in a full Santa suit and was the MC for the evening. Our youth sang Christmas songs as a group as well as a few solos and it was wonderful! One of the nurses grabbed Carter at one point and asked if he would please come with her to see an older woman who was bed ridden. She said she would LOVE to see him, so Carter grabbed me to come along and we went to see her in her room. The minute she laid eyes on Carter she yelled, "Santa" and was reaching out for him! He took her hand and she began to tell him over and over that, "she had been a good girl" and Carter said that he already knew but wanted to know what she wanted for Christmas. She told him she wanted a radio and he said he would get it for her. It was the sweetest moment! I was so proud of Carter for being so sweet and tender with her! We then walked the halls singing more before leaving to do some caroling in our neighborhood. We hit a few homes that the bishop asked us to see and then we were off to the mall! I had the idea to do a "Caroling mob" in the food court! So we all walked in separately and spread out in the food court until we heard Carter say out loud, "the best way to spread Christmas cheer is singing loud for all to hear" and as soon as he said that we all put on our Santa hats and began to sing! I was sad that it wasn't packed with people, but the few who were there really enjoyed it! Carter even went into a store where a friend was working and sang to her with Dakota and Will! Pretty cute! It was a fun experience!

Brianne participated in her school choir again this year and even landed a solo in the Christmas program! She did an awesome job (as usual) and we really enjoyed the program. The ladies in charge always find some interesting songs! I will admit though I would have like a few more traditional ones! Anyway, it was fun and we were so proud of her! She also graduated from the NOVA program. (It's like DARE) She even received special recognition for the rocket she made for it! We were very proud!

While all these things were going on Chan and I were out shopping and got the kids their Christmas :) We really enjoy doing that and love to see their faces when they open them! But I also ended up doing some shopping for Kathy since she became very ill with pneumonia and couldn't do it herself. I was able to pick up the items for our kids as well as some for Brooke's kids. I was glad to do it!

My neighbor gifts this year were a canning jar with Twizzlers licorice inside and a note attached that said "Twiz the season"! It was a fun idea I found on Pinterest and the kids and I had fun delivering them :)

On the Sunday before Christmas Carter, Brianne and I sang in the Ward choir, Carter also had a small speaking part, Will sang with the Young Men and Brianne sang with Primary. The program they did was AMAZING! It was basically just music and scriptures were read in between. It was so good and the spirit was SO strong! The last song we sang as a choir I had to stare at my music or I would have just cried! I hope they do that every year because I loved it! Music is so powerful! After church that day we had Chan's family over for a turkey dinner. Annie & her family were in Oregon but the rest of the family was there and we had a great time! The food was so yummy, especially the gravy! It was a perfect day!

Christmas Eve we went over to Brooke's home. She made a beautiful meal that we all enjoyed and we loved visiting and spending time together. Chan's Grandpa had to go in for an emergency surgery that evening, but has since gotten much better and is recovering well. We ended the evening with our usual EVE gifts, but this year Brianne was the only one to get PJ's! My boys just don't wear them anymore so I decided to break the tradition and get them something they will actually USE! Carter got an Oregon shirt that said "Win the day" and Will got an under armour jacket that he had been eyeing since we were in Vegas! They loved it! Brianne loved hers too and especially liked the matching slippers!

Christmas Day for us began around 7:30am when we got up to put the Sausage Fondue (that Carter made this year!) into the oven. We then got the kids up and had them start with their stockings. I now wrap everything in the stockings too which makes it more fun for them! They were so cute and very pleased with all they got there! Including Chan who got some nifty kitchen gadgets! Then they opened their presents! I'll save you all the details but their big gifts from us were:
Brianne- a new ipod that has a camera so she can face time and a new mattress set
Will- an ipad mini
Carter- a Dr Dre"pill" speaker and some speakers for his car.
They are VERY happy kids and very blessed! Chan surprised me and got me a beautiful new coat (which I very badly needed) on top of the carpet cleaner that I asked for :) But the best part for me was the letter Carter wrote me and the amazing drawing of the Nativity Brianne made for me! Both were so thoughtful and meant so much!

We are so blessed!! I know I keep saying that, but it's really TRUE! We have such a wonderful family and I couldn't be happier right now! I am trying to stay positive every day and to focus on the things that matter and the things that make me happy! On this New Years Eve I can only hope that this year brings a lot of the same wonderful opportunities that have found us this year and that my family will continue to be healthy and happy!

Love to you all! Happy New year!! 

November into December Update!

Wow! It's been crazy busy around here! I figured I had better get an update in before the year came to a close! Hahaha!

I went in to do an update on my blog shortly after Carter's surgery and discovered that I have maxed my picture capacity with blogspot :( So after having a mild freak out I showed Chan and he started to search options. I could purchase more storage space through google but would have to pay a monthly fee which I really didn't want to do. So after a lot of searching we think we've figured out a way, we just have some final things to iron out. So for now there will be no pictures which I HATE! But when we have got this other thing figured out I will let you all know!

As for Carter's knee he is healing really well! He has already gotten the "all clear" from his doctor and is doing physical therapy 2-3 times a week. He had minimal pain, which is great, and now that he can he will slowly start to get back into his weight lifting routine. He is VERY excited to start working with his trainer again in January.

Will's football team played in the championship game on November 10th and he and I went out the evening on the 9th to put signs in all the players yards. It took us much longer because we got a nasty winter storm and it was snowing and foggy in some spots! But we braved the elements and got them all up! While we were doing those the cheerleaders were out doing the coaches homes- it was fun! The morning of the game we had got roughly 10 inches of snow! Thankfully his game wasn't until noon but even still it was REALLY cold and WET! You couldn't even see the field at all! They had orange yard markers on the sidelines but the field itself was 10 inches of snow! They were playing that same Copper Hills team they had played earlier in the season and they were just ugly. They played dirty that day so we were worried it was going to be more of that same kind of play. The snow FOR SURE was a factor in it being a slow game. Not a lot of scoring and not a lot of movement. Running was difficult for both of us! We just kept pushing on and pulled together as a team and at the end of that cold day they were victorious! Up until that last moment I tried to not get excited because this was Will's 4th trip to the championship and every other time he had lost, so I really didn't want to get too excited. But as soon as we knew it was a for sure and that final whistle blew, all the emotions came out! I was crying, Will was hugging his team mates and Brianne was charging the field with her team mates! It was awesome! I was so proud of them!

About a week and a half later the weather changed back to unseasonably warm weather (of course-geez) and they went on to prepare for the National Youth Football Championship in Las Vegas! We signed up for this tournament in early October and most of his team were going. We only had to replace 2 players that had already made Thanksgiving plans. But after a couple practices the Wednesday before Thanksgiving we hit the road! On our way we stopped in St George to pick up Tammy and then we were off to Las Vegas! We stayed in the Rio all Suites hotel & casino and we got two rooms. Tammy, Will and Brianne were in one room and Chan and I were in the other. Carter got to stay with a bunch of his friends who also had brothers on the team- I think there were about 7 boys in that room! Yikes! Once we got checked in to our own rooms it was time for the team check in. We met the other team members and began a roughly 2 hour wait for check in! YUCK! But once that was over the rest was easy! They had a game on Thanksgiving day at a local high school and they played a team from California called the Rush. They just killed us! It was really awful! Thankfully, we have some great kids on the team who walked away with their heads up regardless of the loss! After the game our little family and Tammy went back to the hotel where Chan had gotten us reservations for Thanksgiving dinner! It was a small Bar and Grille right inside the hotel and the food was SO GOOD! I was very happy! After that we were pooped so we all headed to our rooms for rest :) The next day we had another game with another California team and once again we got creamed :( I kept hoping it would change but they were just bigger and stronger so we weren't able to overcome them. But again, our guys walked away feeling great about themselves and having had the opportunity to be a part of this tournament. They were still having fun together! That night Brianne went to her Cheer Mom's room for a cheer sleepover, Will went over to a friends room and Carter was with his buddies so Tammy had her room to herself for a while and Chan and I had some much needed alone time! It was wonderful! Saturday we had the whole day to ourselves so our family decided we'd go shopping! YAY! We went to an outlet mall first and then went over to a new outdoor mall called Towne Center. We had a great meal at a place called the meatball spot which was fantastic! Then it was time to shop! We were there for quite a while! They had everything from an apple store to Tommy Bahama! We had a blast! We went back to our room, watched a movie and hit the sack! Sunday morning we headed home it was a wonderful weekend and we enjoyed having that time as a family!

When we returned from Vegas I jumped right into preparations for the banquet. It was held at Apple Spice Junction on the Wednesday after we returned. I had done a lot of stuff to prepare before we left so it wasn't too bad! It was a wonderful evening and it all went as planned- even better actually! Will received a HUGE trophy for winning the championship- I've never seen him happier! He was in heaven! What a sweet few months for him and for us! Brianne's team also got trophies and the best she's ever received! She had a great team this year and has made some great friends! It was truly one of the better football seasons in little league that we have had! One to remember!

Once football was really over it was time to focus on the holidays! I have to admit that because the weather was still warm and we had been in Vegas I hadn't done much thinking about Christmas! As soon as I could I grabbed the boys and had them get down our decorations. I started with the small things because our 2 fake trees were in storage. But in a few days I had Chan meet me there and we got those too! However, last year we had decided as a family that this year we were going to buy a REAL tree! This is something we have NEVER done! We had intended to go out to our friends farm to purchase one, but the day we had chosen to buy it became to hectic for that long drive so we went to a local nursery just down the road. We all jumped out and walked the rows of trees and we came to two trees that we were deciding between. Carter wanted it to have a good vibe, so he kept staring and checking it out! It was funny! But we finally decided on one and strapped it on top of our truck and off we went! When we got it home Chan and the boys got it down, put a fresh cut on the bottom and took it inside. The kids all helped each other get it into the stand and properly leveled in the front window while Chan and I got started on the outdoor lights! By the end of the day our house looked very festive! I never got to decorating the tree that day but I did get the lights on it! I finished it out the next day and it looks beautiful! I have to say I am really enjoying having a real one! I absolutely LOVE the smell and the pine needles aren't too bad yet! I just keep the vacuum in a nearby closet in case I need to do a quick swipe! But our house is very festive with 3 trees! One in the front window, one in the family room and one (that Will and Brianne put up) in the basement! I'm loving it!

Carter decided last weekend that he and his buddy Jayden were going to ask some girls to the Christmas dance! So they got some poster board and made poems to ask them along with some props! Carter did a small Christmas tree with ornaments that had the letters of his name written on them and Jayden did snowflakes with his letters. They went out and delivered them and the girls were thrilled! Carter is excited to go and he tells me that he and his date are going to wear ugly sweaters! This should be fun!

This past week was interesting because I spent a good majority of it preparing to decorate for our Ward Christmas party! The young women were put in charge of doing it and we had nearly zero budget so I came up with the idea of spraying pine cones (that the girls collect) with silver and gold paint and putting them in clear vases. It ended up being quite the ordeal (yeah- imagine me bent over spray painting pretty much ALL day and having to run out and collect more pine cones half way through for fear of not having enough!) It was crazy! But the party was this past Friday and it was a success! The decorations turned out beautifully and the food was great! For me the best part is just talking with friends and neighbors! It was wonderful! And yes, I have A LOT of leftover pine cones! Oh well!

Well that was LONG!! I doubt that all of you read everything which is fine! It was mainly for me and my posterity anyway! Hope the holidays are finding you all happy and healthy too!

Surgery Day!

 While waiting in the room for the nurse Chan, Carter and I were having a blast! When he came walking out with this garb on I started laughing and then he hit this pose and I was seriously crying! Hilarious! I was glad that he seemed calm and was in good spirits, it just makes things go smoother.

 He was having a scope on his right knee as well as a lateral release. This picture above is of the top of his knee and that bit of white off to the left is his knee cap. Obviously that is NOT where it should be!

 Here is the picture after the release- the knee cap is now resting in the groove above the knee- right where it should be! The knee cap issue is genetic and this is the best way to fix it!

 The main reason for the scope was to get out some floating cartilage that was mucking up his joint. They knew there was ONE piece in there because it showed up on his MRI, but when they actually got in there they found SEVEN pieces! The picture above is some that they found while in there! They used this fancy little grinder and broke them up and sucked them out! :)

 Here is he after the surgery! It was an outpatient procedure and he did AWESOME! He wasn't even that loopy! He has been home since Thursday and doing really well! He even felt good enough to come to church on Sunday so he could sing in the choir! (He and Brianne and I have been singing in our Ward choir :) I am super proud of him and hope his recovery continues to go well! He gets his stitches out on Wed!

Alta Black Playoff Game

 The playoff game was two weeks ago and it is a do or die situation. Your either a winner and your in the championship or you lose and your out! Thankfully the weather cooperated and there was a fall nip in the air but not bad at all! Perfect football weather! I was thrilled that we had some people to join us to cheer as well! This is a great shot of Kathy and Carter!

 The game was a fun one to watch. Our guys were ready for this team and came out very strong!

 Tom, Carter and Chan were also talking college football because Utah was playing that day too :) And it's always nice to have some guys around to give advice too!

 The game was really a great one! We were able to relax and enjoy it which was so nice! It was a great win!

 I was glad that Annie and Dakota were able to make it too!

In the end it was a great win and we were SO excited to be 10 and 0- an undefeated season going into the championship! Let's do it!!

Election 2012

 I had to do a quick post about the election this year. It's been two+ years of getting ready for another Presidential election, narrowing down choices and finding candidates etc etc etc. I have always had a passion for my country and always wanted to do what is right. This year was especially that way! It was an important election and so I was even more careful in my study of the people running all the way down to our new County Mayor. The local elections went pretty well and most of the people I had chosen were elected. I wasn't as worried about those as I was the Presidential election. Our country is changing and a lot of those changes are not in keeping with my core values. Some are not in keeping with the way the country was founded! It's a difficult thing to watch happen, but I had a lot of faith that this was going to be the year that good people and those of Christian faith were going to stand and make their voices heard. To say I was disappointed in the Presidential outcome is an understatement! I guess there are more "taker" people in my country than I care to admit. I was so saddened by these people that would put their trust in the wrong place. The wrong idea, not necessarily the "man". This is not what our country is about! That night and the morning after were so hard and I was trying to find a distraction or something to get my mind off it. I wasn't having much luck. I was making my bed and getting ready to take my morning carpool when I got this text below:

What an amazing thing! My son, who was at early morning seminary text me the spiritual thought that another student gave because he knew I needed it. He also told me to pass it on to my Mom and sisters and anyone else he felt could use the comfort. What a wonderful thing to receive. I wrote that scripture down on a post it and put it on the mirror in my bathroom. Now it is a daily reminder that my Heavenly Father is there and also a daily reminder for me that my son loves me and wants me to be happy. I am blessed! Now I just have to remember that and not focus on the bad!

Brianne's 11th Birthday!

 It's hard to believe that my youngest child is now 11! YIKES! It was pretty cute how excited she was about her birthday! She kept sharing ideas of things she wanted for her big day!

 She decided that instead of a big party that she wanted to spend the weekend with one of her best friends! We did our usual morning birthday surprise and she opened her gifts- a new Just Dance 4 game and mine craft for XBox! She was a very happy girl! She even ended up staying home from school that day! Yes- we let her play hooky!

 Then later that afternoon Halle came over and the fun began! She and Halle and Will played and ate snacks while Chan and I went up north to the Alta High football playoff game.  Initially they were going to come along too, but they decided not to go the 1 hour drive both ways and to just hang out and play! I think it was a good choice!

 The next morning was Will's playoff game , so we all geared up and went over to his game. Brianne was cheering with Halle close by and Halle even did her hair for cheer- pretty cute friends!

 I neglected to say earlier that Chan made this beautiful cake! 4 layers of yummy chocolate cherry cake topped with chocolate frosting, chocolate chips and more cherries! It was SOOOO good!

 Looking at all her treats!

 After the game we went home to change and then headed over to Black Bear Diner for a yummy birthday brunch! Some of us had breakfast and others had lunch but ALL of it was YUMMY!

 While we were waiting to be seated we were being a bit goofy with the bear! :)

We filled our tummies and after Chan and I ran a couple of errands I went home and got the girls and we went shopping! It was so fun to go out with the two of them and try on clothes and pick out jewelry! They are such cute friends! And I even picked up something for MYSELF! I never do that! Once we were done shopping I took them out to Halle's house for one last sleepover! She had a great time and a super fun birthday! We love you Brianne!!

Halloween 2012

 Halloween started off with the annual trunk or treat at our church building. This year it was combined with another ward so there was A LOT of cars! Super fun! And Brianne decided to throw a costume together from our costume bin! She was a mighty cute witch!

Check out all those cars! The kids all came through about three times too! That's a lot of candy!! :)

 Then the next day (Halloween day) I went over to Brianne's school to help out with her class party. It was her last one EVER! Hard to believe! I got to serve them their donut and drink and read them some scary stories! It was fun!

 Here's Brianne's group from her class- they are super fun girls!

I grabbed a quick photo of us before she had to go on to the next group! She makes a pretty dang cute football player!

Perks of having a brother play I guess! She had fun wearing his gear but she kept saying she couldn't believe how heavy it was!

 Then later that night we went over to Annie's to  celebrate together! Here are Brooke's kids all geared up and ready to trick or treat!

 Tom tried on one of Annie's freaky masks! And that is Dakota with him!

 Annie made some fun food- some "guacamole" and "witches fingers" to eat!

Will was a lumberjack but decided not to go trick or treating this year! I was SHOCKED! Instead he picked up his new XBox game he had pre-ordered and went home and played it all night! He was a happy camper! Little Chloe was a pirate! The only thing Annie could put together since she's still so little! Carter went out with friends too and I am kicking myself that I didn't get a picture because he dressed up as Chris Farley! He actually put together an outfit that made him look the part and was ready with some one liners from his best movies! Brianne dressed up as a nerd for trick or treating and went out for the first time to trick or treat with a friend! It was so nice far Chan and I to be able to stay home and relax! They are all old enough to do what they want! YAY! It was a fun night!

Pumpkin Carving

 I have to admit I am not the best at remembering to carve our pumpkins for Halloween. It's a busy time for us with all the football happenings, but I promised Brianne this year that no matter what we would carve them! So Saturday I grabbed them and cleaned them out with Brianne so she and Will could carve them. I found these cool teeth at the store and had Brianne follow an idea from the package to carve hers. I actually like it better than what was shown!

She tweaked it a bit and made the eyes a bit more scary and I LOVE the nose! She did an awesome job carving it all by herself!

 Carter's he did with his date for the Halloween dance. He said it was a pumpkin unicorn! Apparently when he was cutting the hole for the top the stem came off, so he turned it into a horn! So clever!

 Will's was fun too! He also had some teeth to work with and I showed him what was on the package and he tweaked his a bit too! I love the crescent moon nose, shaved eye brows and I really like the way he layered the teeth in! It looks great! And the fact that it leans a bit makes it even better!

Way to go kids! I think we are ready for Halloween now!

Halloween Dance

This past Saturday was the Halloween Dance at Alta and carter discovered this poster on our porch a few weeks ago along with a few packs of Trident gum.

 we were excited to see what that meant, so in we went to figure it out!

 We realized that we had to unwrap each piece to find the pieces of gum with letters on them. So we began to separate and put the opened ones in a baggie.

And after some putting together we came up with this name! She's a good friend of Carter's and he was excited! We answered her with a trick or treat pumpkin pail with candy inside and a poster that said it would be a treat to go with you to the dance! SO fun!

 I LOVE the costumes she chose! And actually it was a big group that went and they ALL had a cave man thing going on! Doesn't Carter look like Bam Bam from the Flinstones! Anyway, they went out to lunch and had hamburgers, went to a house to carve pumpkins, came home to change, went out to dinner, then the dance and then after went to a local gym where they rented a room to watch a scary movie.

He had such a great time and was LOVING that he had to do NO planning whatsoever! This time he just got to ENJOY! So glad he had fun!

Youth Activity..... and more

 I have been serving in the Young Women's organization for (I think) almost a year. Recently I was called by the Bishop and he told me he wanted to meet with me. I knew it was a calling and I somehow knew it was still with the Young Women. I had been feeling this coming on for quite some time. I was released from my calling as a Laurel advisor and was called to be the Young Women Secretary! They ended up changing the entire Young Women's presidency and Relief Society presidency, as well as making changes to Primary! It was a big day! And I am THRILLED! I love being with the youth and I am SUPER excited to be serving with these women. They are all AMAZING and I can't wait to see what I am going to learn from them! This past week was our first combined activity as a new presidency and we were thrilled to see the turnout! I am sure it had a lot to do with the fact that is was a haunted boat ride on the Provo River!

 The previous Presidency had discovered it and we thought the kids would have a blast! It wasn't very "scary" at all, but I think they all still had a fun time and that's what is important!

 I am sure eating donuts and sipping hot chocolate was a plus too! We will for sure try to have lots more fun activities like this one in the future! We have had several meetings as a Presidency and we are slowly transitioning into our roles, making changes we see are needed, and making sure the girls know we are FUN! We even surprised the Young Women the week before (during our own YW activity) by doing our own version of "gangnam style" dancing and all! I made up words and we danced and sang "young women style"! It was funny and I'm sure we got their attention!

Funniest part of this combined activity was that I was there as a young women leader and ended up with Will and a bunch of deacons driving to and from Provo! Go figure! But Will and his new Beardo can ride with me anytime! Thanks to my friend Jennie for making it for him! He LOVES it!

Chan has also had a change in a calling recently. He has had several callings over the past two years, most he STILL has! They required him to do a lot on the computer as the Wards Technical specialist and at one point he was also the building coordinator. But then he was called to be the financial clerk about 6 months ago and was LOVING IT! It's a challenge given that the Bishop would call at a moments notice and need him to run over and help him cut a check, but Chan was enjoying every minute. He was really feeling a part of the bishopric. Then about 2 weeks ago he was called by the Stake Presidency and asked to come in to meet with them. It was a funny experience because 2 of them were there (President Fitt and President Davies) and they were being really chatty- talking about weddings, football and such- then we realized they were waiting for President Dahl! It actually made Chan nervous thinking something real major was going to happen! Once he arrived they extended the call and it ended up being a calling as the Ward Clerk. He apparently already had an idea that is what it would be. He accepted and has been attending ward Council the last two weeks. It's been so neat to see him serve in this calling and to see how much he is learning and growing from doing it. We are sure that the Bishopric will be the next thing to change. The Bishop has been in for almost 5 years next month. I just hope Chan will get to stay on- I imagine he will! How grateful we BOTH are to serve!