Conner Is Three!

Sadly, my baby turned three on January 9, 2010. Yes, he's a big boy now and I'm pretty sad about it. He loved his "Happy Birthday." He turned three and had three different parties to celebrate. The first one was at Burger King with all his little friends from church. The kids loved playing and eating their kids meals. It was the easiest party ever!
His second party was a family party at Chuck E. Cheese's. He loves this place. We all had a great time!We took him out for ice cream after Chuck E. Cheese's. It was so adorable when Conner wiped Cameron's messy face with a napkin.

Conner was a lucky boy. He got a new wagon and Diego bike.

His third party was at Grandma's and Grandpa's. Grandpa got him a cake and gave him a construction set.
I know I am his mom, but I have to admit Conner is one of the cutest and sweetest little boys. He talks a lot and he says the funniest things. We all love and adore him so much! Happy Birthday, Bubba!

New Years 2010

For New Year's Eve, the whole gang came to our house for a fun, family party.On New Year's Day we took the kids to Del Osso's Holiday on the Farm. They had fun jumping on the pillow jumpers, playing in some "snow," going on the train, and racing bikes. It was a fun day to be with our cousins! I loved seeing my sister!

Our Christmas

The fun and joys of Christmas morning ... "Look what Santa brought us!"Later we spent Christmas at Grandma's. These pictures were taken on Sunday, December 27.Grandma and Grandpa with their nine grandchildren.

Christmas Traditions

For Christmas 2009, we have continued with many of the holiday traditions we have come to love... *I made 100 Christmas cards and sent our annual newsletter out with them. We tried to keep the cards simple this year!

*For friend gifts we gave out children's books about "The First Christmas" and chocolate covered peppermint sticks. I looked all over town for the peppermint sticks and finally just ordered them online this year!
*A tradition we've had for years is to dress the kids in coordinating Christmas outfits. The girls have outgrown the matching dresses, but I still got to match the boys this year (these adorable vests were hand me downs from a good friend).

*Every year the kids look forward to going to "Journey to Bethlehem" at the Grace Community Church in Ceres. This year Grandpa Jay came along. You really have to bundle up because it's quite chilly in the cold December night. I opted to stay home with Conner this year (actually I was truly being a wimp about the cold).
*Every year we attend the Ward Christmas Party. I especially love going now that I'm no longer in charge of it.
The Young Women sang "The Twelve Days of Christmas" at the ward party. The younger kids sat on Santa's lap - Conner didn't love it!

*We love to drive around and look at all the lights around town. This home was featured in the newspaper so we decided to check it out. All the lights are synchronized with Christmas music played on your car radio; it was pretty amazing!

*We always take the kids Christmas shopping for each other and Mom and Dad at the Dollar Tree. The kids love picking out gifts and giving them to each other. I was able to get this picture in the Dollar Tree this year. The girls thought it was pretty embarrassing, but I think it's cute.

*We always have a block party on Christmas Eve and decorate our street with these luminaries. We call it "Santa's runway."

*We try to make it up to Temple Hill at least once during the holidays. The lights are fun to see, sometimes we watch a concert, and we take the kids to the Visitors' Center.

We are glad we are creating holiday traditions. We really look forward to them every year!

Photos with Santa

We added another Santa photo to the collection. At age 14, Courtney decided to sit this one out. My mom made me take a photo every year with Santa every year until I was 17. I guess I'm just trying to keep the tradition alive. I love seeing how the kids have grown throughout the years. We've had a few crying photos, but Katleyn by far was the most terrified of Santa. We cherish the memories!

Holiday Performances

The holiday season is the "most wonderful time of the year." This year we were able to watch three different holiday performances that our children were involved in. Courtney performed three different dances at her high school winter dance presentation. The first dance was a warm up that demonstrated various exercises and stretches the dancers do to warm up each day. The second dance she performed was to a Grease medley. This was Courtney's favorite. All the girls looked cute with their scarfs and their hair in pony tails.
The final dance Courtney performed was to "Rockin' Around the Christmas Tree." The dancers looked very festive in their Santa hats. We loved watching Courtney perform her dances. She is such a sporty girl, I especially enjoyed seeing her do something a little more "girly."
Cameron performed a holiday program at his preschool. He was very animated and very proud of himself. We loved seeing his huge smile.

Cameron LOVED the Polar Express train his class made. His class consists of eight boys and they all loved the train.Katelyn, Kylie, and Cameron all performed with other Primary children from our stake at the Stake Nativity Festival. The children were wonderful. The power went out in the middle of their performance, but they just kept on singing in the dark.

These holiday performances were precious to watch and helped set the mood for a glorious Christmas season.