Christmas 2015

We had an awesome Christmas!  Christmas eve we went to Derk an Debbie's for a delicious prime rib dinner. The kids reenacted the Christmas story then Debbie read us the story of the Christmas orange and told us a story about grandma Archie and grandpa Hollis and how an orange was one of the few gifts they got on Christmas.  The kids then opened their presents from grandma and grandpa and Kyle surprised his family with a trip to Disneyland!  We had dessert and then headed home to wait for Santa.  The kids had a hard time winding down, especially Kinlee.  It was 11:00 pm before she finally fell asleep.  Then, Connor was up at 2am begging to open presents.  Finally at 5:00 I let him wake everyone up and open presents.   After opening presents we went to Nana and Papa's for breakfast and more presents.  Breakfast was delicious and the morning flew by!  After breakfast we went to Derek and Nicole's to talk to Taylor.  It was so fun to see him and talk with him.  My favorite part was when Nicole asked Matthew if he remembered Taylor, we all laughed and reminded her he's only been gone 7 weeks.  The rest of the day was spent napping, playing with toys and visiting with family.  I can honestly say it was a perfect day.

This has been an amazing year and I'm so grateful to spend it with the people I love.  Here is our top 10 of 2015:

1.  Matthew and Kinlee learned to ride their bikes with no training wheels.  Kinlee tried it first, Matthew saw her do it and decided he was going to do it too and the rest is history!

2.  Rory began his job as a detective for Carbon County and received the Employee of the Month award for the month of May.

3.  Connor received his Arrow of Light in Cub Scouts and promoted to Boy Scouts.  He also received his Hunter Safety certificate and ran for student council President and won!  This is his last year of elementary school before he's in middle school, so crazy!  He is still playing baseball, basketball, and tackle football.  He also does guitar lessons and Musical majors, so he is one busy kid.

4.  Kadee joined Musical Majors (an after school singing group at Wellington Elementary) and got to sing her first solo at the Christmas concert.  She also did cheer for a few months in the Spring and is now in dance and absolutely loves it.  She is still in Gymnastics and is working on perfecting her back hand spring.  She is an awesome student and was picked to be in an accelerated learning program at school called Peak.   

5. Kinlee started Kindergarten!  She has started to read and learn addition and subtraction.  She loves school and loves her teacher, Mrs. Penry.  She also started dance this year and loves Mrs. Tori and making up dances in our living room.  

6. Matthew started his second year of preschool.  He played t-ball for the first time this Spring and totally loved it.  He took it very seriously and even whacked the ball several times, we have another ball player on our hands!  He is our animal lover and outdoorsy kid.  If he has shoes on when he goes outside we are all shocked, lol!   

7.  We finished the new house and moved in April 25, 2015.  It is so wonderful to not be renting and each of the kids has their own room. 

8.  We adopted our puppy Maggie.  She is a German Shepard and is so lovable.  She loves to learn tricks, bite ankles, and play with Connor.  She has been a fun addition to the family.

9.  We were able to go on a few camping trips, a few trips to the Living Planet Aquarium, take in a bee's game and Jazz game, visit Fish Lake, spend a long weekend in Glen wood Springs CO., spend a few weekends in St. George playing ball, playing at Sand Hollow and a girls weekend to the Tuacahn.

10.  We have been blessed with the best family and friends. I am so looking forward to 2016 and what the future holds for our little family.  

Christmas Cheer

 Last Thursday the kids had the opportunity to perform at care centers around the area.  I was invited by their teacher, Mrs. Grant to tag along and run the music.  It was an amazing experience.  The kids sang a handful of the Christmas songs they've learned in musical majors and and completely rocked it.  Kadence even got to sing a short solo.  It was so fun to follow them and be apart of the experience.  I liked it better than their big performance because I could really hear them and watch them on an individual basis.  My very favorite song they sing is, "Over the River" because of the way the music is put together.  Kadee's favorite song is,"This Holiday" because that is the song that she sings her solo in, and of course Connor likes, "Silly Holiday Song" because he gets to tell jokes in the middle of it.

Friday Kinlee's Kindergarten class made their Christmas Candy trains.  I had to work at the school, so grandma Debbie helped her.  They got their aprons on and went to work.  I had bought Kinlee some extras to put around her train so she had gingerbread men and a candy tree as well. She had lots of fun with grandma and was so excited to bring her train home.  At first she wanted to save it until Christmas, but the candy was too tempting, so her and Matthew ate several pieces.  That night Max Powers decided it looked too good to resist and he helped himself to some of it as well.

 
Finally last Saturday Connor got to go to a Jazz game with his dad and grandpa Derk.  They had really really good seats so he got a visit from the Jazz Bear and Matt (Taylor's dad) gave him a basketball and wrist band.  I think it was one of the best days of his life.  This Saturday he played in his first Jr. Jazz game of the season.  He played awesome and his team won!  He loves his sports and is seriously obsessed with basketball right now.  I'm super proud of him and all the effort he puts into school and the things he loves.