What did your pet get for Christmas?

This was Cooper's stash...
And he thoroughly enjoyed himself!

Family Pictures

I LOVE our family pictures this year... I wish every picture was touched up so we always looked like this!
We've been married 21 years and have had 5 children!

These guys get along great and have so much fun together...

The gals are alike in some ways but so different in many ways...

Hillary, 18, the BYU freshman...

Garrett, 16, sophomore at Woods Cross High and currently on a job hunt...

Hailey, 14, 9th grade cheerleader at Mueller Park Jr. High...

Grayson, 11, 5th grader at Boulton Elementary...

The kids (the boys USED to be towheads...)

A woman and her dog...

First Time!

You know Fridays are early out for elementary school, and when you throw in lunch and an afternoon recess there really isn't much use of staying at school past 11 am....

... especially when you're 11 and you're ready to try snowboarding for your very first time!

Grayson loves and excels in most sports but has never wanted to try anything in the cold--until today. He and his friends took a 3-hour snowboarding lesson and are ready to hit the slopes sans instructor next time...

What would I have done with my Friday if Grayson hadn't drug me to Park City for the day???

... until next Friday...

SNOW!!!

I believe the weather man was incorrect when he said the Bountiful Bench received 10 inches of snow yesterday. MY bench received at least 12-16 inches!!!

And another thing... someone was having a lot of fun in the snow yesterday, and it sure wasn't me!

Just Saying...

It was fun to have Hillary home with us over the Thanksgiving holiday. We don't see her very much anymore so I appreciated being together as a family once again.

Just saying...

Never Too Old...

Well, it happened. The family got me on an ATV. Garrett said he was sure I would like it because I'm a daredevil--(that was like before I turned 40!) I took it for a little spin but enjoyed reading my book more in the car while the others went out for hours.

We spent 3 fun days in St. George after a DELICIOUS Thanksgiving dinner at my parent's house in Sandy (have I mentioned that I've NEVER cooked a turkey before??)

We brought our inflatable mattresses and soccer chairs to set up in the St. George house along with bags of leftovers and we were set!

I did make John get up at 2:30 am for a couple of Black Friday sales. Now the house is sporting a 32-inch TV which is much more fun than watching DVDs on John's laptop computer screen~

Oh, can't forget to mention that Cooper had a good time too!

14 out of 25...

... is how many free throws Grayson made at the Elks Club Free Throw Shooting Contest on Saturday.

A little bit of nerves...
and worrying about stepping over the foul line...

resulted in dropping 14 shots (out of 25)

instead of Grayson's usual 90% from the foul line.

He still took 2nd place out of the 10-11 year old boys, had a great time with his buddies, and got a free dinner compliments of the Elks Club!

Have I mentioned that I don't really enjoy watching these competitive types of things??? (I'm going to DIE in January when Hailey has 3 cheer competitions--double UGH!!!) The pressure, the anxiety, the stress, the perfectionist in me and my children... Good thing they're not into Spelling Bees! That would kill me off.

Happy 18th on the 18th!!!

I was SO mad I forgot my camera (remembered it driving halfway to Provo)! But glad I got one birthday shot on Hillary's phone. Hillary turned 18 today so Grayson and I took flowers, balloons and presents down to her during her break between noon-2. She wanted to go to Olive Garden and then we zipped to the University Mall for 45 minutes before her next class. She was happy we came and when we dropped her off she said, "I'm so glad I'm finally the age of the kids on campus." I guess being 17 and in college wasn't very fun...

She and John went to a play last night at Hale Theater since he had meetings all day today that he couldn't get out of. Roommates are taking her out for a treat tonight and throwing a party for her this weekend. I think she's covered...

Happy birthday beautiful girl!!! (And like I said on FB, I must've been 12 when I had her!)

Hailey at Hazen

These are some of my favorites of beautiful Hailey at one of her recent photo shoots...

AND OF COURSE WE HAD TO HAVE COOPER IN ONE OF THE PICTURES!

The thing I'm most proud of as a mother is that Hailey is as beautiful on the inside as she is on the outside! I truly love this "little" girl...

Friday the 13th...

...was the day we welcomed darling Grayson to our family 11 years ago! It was a Friday back then too and I almost lost my life as I gave Grayson his. Very scary time that our whole family will never forget. We're so blessed with the positive outcome...

Grayson woke up early this morning to open his gifts, eat his favorite blueberry muffins and bacon for breakfast (not sure what it is with my kids and bacon, but they can't get enough!) We took donuts for his school class and he's having a birthday party tonight--6 friends coming for dinner and then attending the BYU basketball team's season opener in Provo.

Happy birthday little bud! Only one more birthday to go this month!!!

BYU 11 - Westminster 3

John and I were so excited that Hillary had a lacrosse game so close to home. (We're also excited for the Santa Barbara tournament in February so we can sneak in a warm trip in the throes of winter...)
She's a freshman. She's #15. She's not used to standing on the sidelines. She's wearing red under armour AND neon orange shoelaces. (Mom quickly sent a "care" package in the mail with BYU-blue under armour & leggings. I'll leave the shoelaces alone for now...)

Gets to play second half and tears it up...

Great shot at goal...

Loved this "raw" shot... (just wish it wasn't blurry...)

Final: BYU - 11; Westminster - 3

Happy 16th Garrett!!!

ONE of my babies turned 16 today! Our family tradition (which the kids love) is that you get 16 presents on your 16th birthday--the only birthday that works that way...

Garrett had 7 pieces of bacon for breakfast with one of my homemade rolls with a candle in it, got taken to lunch with friends, got his driver's license after school and is heading to Winger's for his favorite all-you-can-eat sticky fingers for dinner.

Can't believe he's 16! Good thing one of his gifts was an electric razor--he needs it!!! Happy Birthday Garrett!

Halloween Happenings or Hauntings?

John and I went to a FABULOUS adult-only Halloween party Friday night. The costumes were all amazing and the food was to "die-for!"

Grayson and his friends left the house at 5:30 pm for trick or treating...

returned before 9 pm with a full bag that hit jackpot status...

and was gone by 10:30...

I'm just happy we have a sunny November day, got an extra hour of sleep and the Halloween decorations are put away...