For Thanksgiving, we loaded up the car and headed to Arizona. Now I know your thinking of the sun and the warmth, but no Ashlee and Matt live in the only cold spot in Arizona! Nice pick, Ash! ;) One afternoon, we decided to take our kids and Bennett to see more of the area where they live. We ended up on a dirt road that had forks in every direction looking for elk. We were literally in the middle of nowhere. But we found alot of elk so everyone was happy!
Can you see them? It was getting dark!
I took all sorts of projects to work on so one day, Robert took my kids on a bike ride and Jacksen was sleeping...Now what to do with Bennett! Being the ever creative person I am, I built a blanket fort, gathered snacks and plunked him in front of the TV. (I know, I'm a GREAT aunt, aren't I?)
On our way home, we stopped at the Wigwam Motel. It is located on Route 66. Triva Question for all you Disney Buffs...Which movie portrayed a version of this motel? 
Just after we got out of Kanab, there was a cave to stop at. It had a museum in it...not necessarily the kind of cave we were expecting but the kids were glad to get out and stretch their legs.
On December 6, we went to Pleasant Grove to attend Chase's baptism. That made Ben really excited for his baptism in June. While we were down in Salt Lake, we decided to go to dinner and take the kids to see the Christmas lights on Temple Square. Heather joined us and we really appreciated her help. We also met up with Park and Becky's family for dinner. We ate at the Mayan. It's kind of like a Rainforest Cafe. The kids spent more time watching the performers than at the dinner table.
We finally started getting some snow a couple of weeks ago. The girls love to make snowballs to throw at me. This winter has already been a lot of fun (and a lot of work keeping the driveway plowed.) 
Robert pulled the kids around in the sled behind the four wheeler. My mom wants to know what happened to kids sledding down a hill and having to hike back up it to go again. 
Ella's kindergarten class had a Christmas program. They sang songs and recited poems. It was really nice.
Carter is in kindergarten this year too. There are two morning classes, Ella is in one and Carter in the other. They have a lot of fun playing together and trying to convince the bus driver that they are supposed to go to each other's houses. They even tried to forge a note. (I think they really fooled them with the note) ;) !
Ella's birthday was on Monday the 21st. She is now a 6 year old! (going on 25!) She is definitely going to give me a run for my money. I am not looking forward to having 3 teenage girls in the house. I now have some sympathy for my poor parents.
We celebrated Carter's and Ella's birthdays together. When I went into the hospital to have Ella, Meg was in the room next door. She had had Carter the day before. I remember Shayne bringing Carter in for me to hold while I was in labor with Ella. Not many people can say they were holding their newborn nephew while in labor with their own child. 
I had a theory that there would be very little snow here this winter. It seems like I always miss the big storms. Keith, Nancy and Robert just smiled and laughed. So much for my theory! We have already had a LOT of snow and are expecting more tonight and tomorrow. This picture doesn't do the amount of snow we have had justice.
I have even gotten out and been sledding with the kids. I try to give them rides on the snowmobile but realize just how weak I am. I just don't have the muscle to get it to go where I want it to if the snow is very deep. I haven't ridden the snowmobile for a couple years. The last time I did though, I managed to tip it over on Ella and myself. I wasn't going fast and that was part of the problem. Ella had just gotten over being scared to go on the snowmobile with me when I tipped it over again on Monday. I had both Ella and Grace on with me. Thankfully , I'm the only one who ever gets hurt but I have now told Robert that the fun with the snowmobile is his job. I mean if the kids need someone to sew something, they don't go to him. He knows I'm the most accident prone person he knows and so why he would suggest for me to take the kids on a ride is beyond me! Oh well, I've now got all the kids scared of riding with me so they won't ask me anyway!
I have Christmas Eve dinner calling my name. I need to finish making dinner so we can start the cookies for Santa. I hope you all have a very Merry Christmas!
ps. on a side note, I had a couple of people wonder from the last post what movie or commercial I was in... It was just a local company that I modeled for that did a commercial.. It's was definitely big time! ;)
Nancy took the kids to pick out their pumpkins this year. Everyone came back with huge pumpkins except for Felicity. She loved her little pumpkin and it was just the right size when you are trying to be patient for a 2 year old who is insisting on cleaning the inside of the pumpkin out!
Since we live way out, we went to Meg's neighborhood to Trick or Treat. Her kids kept saying that they wanted to go to the Haunted House. These pictures do not do this house justice. I'm talking weeks must have gone into getting this house ready. It was super creepy! One of those things that you leave and think okay... That was definately too much!!! 
They even had people dressed up standing still to all of sudden move and scare people. Ben took Carter's light saber to defend us all. 
Our next big adventure will be the 11 hour car ride to Ashlee's house for Thanksgiving! I can hardly contain myself...I'm so excited. Ashlee and I will be heading off to the movies to see 'Twilight.' We have both really been looking forward to it! Then we have (or I have) all sorts of projects that I want us to work on. I had tons of fun spending her money to buy things to decorate her house for the holidays and we have lots of little girly things to make for this new baby of hers! Ash, you're going to love the fabric for the burp clothes!!! Hope you all have a great Thanksgiving!!!
We have really enjoyed watching him play!
After Ella's party, we went up Logan Canyon to have a cookout with one of Robert's friends from high school, Dusty, and his family. He has a boy who is about 2 weeks younger than Ben and then twins that are about 6 months older than ours. We all had a great time, although I probably drove everyone nuts with being nervous that one of the kids was going to start a forest fire or catch themselves or another kid on fire. This wasn't completely irrational because they big kids kept finding long sticks to put in the fire and every once in a while they would leave the fire pit to be flung around. 
I often wonder how any of us make it through childhood in one piece. Maybe it is just my kids but I think if we have made it through a day with only 1 or 2 bandaids, it has been a wonderful day!!! 
This picture is classic Ben. Always dressed up in some garb! I think the goggles really helped on the slide and the wet sweatshirt helped keep him warm! I think this must be some mutation of my dad when he was little. Grandma Betty has told stories of my dad always being dressed for the occasion.
Ben decided to become a daredevil! One day I was told to come and see what Ben was doing! Ask me if I had a heart attack seeing my little boy standing on the seat of his bike riding down the road! Let me just say a mixture of Robert and Myself is a dangerous combo! And we wonder why our kids are like they are!!!
We had a first day of school... Ben was trying to act unexcited! Ella could hardly wait to get out of the door!
Just before the move, Stephen called to see if Robert and Ben wanted to go on a jeep ride! They went up to this lake(I have no idea of the name....I think it's up some trail in American Fork Canyon). They all really enjoyed themselves.
And then the move... thus, another first day of school. The kids are on a traditional schedule here. They seem to be really enjoying school and I am enjoying the time to spend with just Grace and Felicity.
The highlight of living where we do is that the kids get to ride the school bus. They are really enjoying this too. The other morning I was late getting Ella's hair done and they missed the bus. They were upset that Robert had to take them to school. Go Figure!
The little girls love the freedom of wandering out here. There is really not much in the way of traffic so they can roam freely. Though, the freedom often means it could take hours to get back to the house. 
Ella has lost her first tooth. She is so very proud. It has now been a month and her permanent tooth is growing in and she still acts like it happened yesterday. She will be very excited to know that I have posted the picture.
Grace and Felicity are longing to be big girls... They get upset when we drop Ella off for dance because they want to go to. Grandma is the hero at our house because she has gotten them dance leotards and tights...Just like Ella's. I have to be careful to hide them because they would wear them all day, every day if I would let them. I do let them get into them often and they spend hours dancing around by themselves and with each other. 
And lastly, for this post.... Every Labor Day weekend, there is a kids rodeo here. The kids have participated in the past and one year we almost had to bring the 2 chickens they caught to live in our backyard. (I wonder if the city had an ordinance....If not, I'm sure the neighbors would have insisted on one!) Anyway, we learned that Ben was too big to do mutton busting and if he wanted to enter he would have to ride a cow! I was surprised ...I actually asked if they had a city kid clause. Anyway, he got on and rode it... for the whole 8 seconds. There were at least 20 kids who tried and only 4 managed to stay on. Ben ended up in 3rd place!!! I'm still working on figuring out how to get the video on but I have promised Ben that I would and so there will be more to come on that!!!!
I guess that city slickers have some cowboy in them too!!!
