New Year's

I am collecting great pics, like this one, of my brother Ryan!

We had our traditional New Year's of making no resolutions to break, and snow shoeing! I kind of think true snow shoeing is different than what we do, but we have a great time. It is always so fun to get warm enough to want your coat off while hiking through a snow covered mountain! The kids (and grandpa) spent lots of time throwing, jumping in and sliding down the snow.

Christmas

A SNOWMAN like this could only be made with the help of DAD!

When Conner has a mission, it has to be just right! With a carrot nose, raisin eyes, scarf and big hat!

NEXT, for the INDOOR snowmen . . .

We believe in Santa!!



I was very excited to see what Lucas (my cute boy who tells his preschool friends, "I am an awesome boy!") would name his 2 new hamsters he got for Christmas . . .

my guess: Luke and Lukey

Jason's guess: (we can't remember now, but not as accurate as mine :))



Results: Luke and Luke



Then, with siblings prompting him along: Luke 1 and Luke 2



And, after a good look: Luke 1 Alvin ("the skinny one") and Luke 2 Theodore ("the fat one")





I am just truly excited she still wants dolls for Christmas!





Another football lover in our family already! And for some reason (we call the Sorensen family) he shouts BYU at random times!

Christmas pj's from Grandma and Grandpa!

And Conner with his DS - the reason I have no individual shot of him. He said I could have asked for a picture, oops.



And, my great Christmas gift - a new bathroom! The first to enjoy - the kids, of course!! Jason roped off part of our bedroom for over a month and had our old bathroom gutted. He designed and decorated the entire thing without letting me look. Knowing what a great designer he is I had no desire to peek. I was not one bit nervous that I would have to put on a smile while looking at something atrocious that I knew I would have to live with. And, living up to his rep - it is gorgeous (and accented with my favorite blue). Love you, jas!

Christmas Performances

Anika is involved in a production company where she learns to sing and dance. We are on year number 3 and she absolutely loves it! After the 6th perfomance of the year (doing the same songs), and 1 gymnastics performance I still couldn't get enough. I guess you could say I'm a very proud mom. Anika is a talented girl and we love to watch her and see her cute smile. Jason got teared up watching his only little girl on stage. Oh, the strings they pull in our hearts!

I am grateful for . . .

If you read this post you are tagged and must post the 10 things you are most grateful for this year!


10 things I am grateful for . . .

1. A husband I am in love with

2. Four healthy and wonderful children

3. A healthy body

4. Loving parents and great siblings & in-laws! :)

5. Jason's work

6. A safe home

7. My testimony

8. Amazing friends

9. To be a woman

10. Lipgloss

Viva la Vida!!!

What an amazing concert! Jason and I went for the 2nd time to see Coldplay. The last time was in Vegas almost 2 years ago - and then last Saturday! I really can say this is my favorite band! And what great performers, they are at full speed the whole concert. We went with some friends who had seats by the walk out stage. Our seats are what Jason called by the "walkout roof" - but really, they were great! We were able to sit the entire concert if we wanted and then the band came into the audience to play a song and were directly underneath us. I'm not really one to get excited over "stars", but it was fun to be so close to the greatest band!

This is the shirt I was goint to get, if the line hadn't been so long - but I really liked the brown. I guess this will do since, now that I'm not at the concert, I don't have an urge to buy it! :)

Twilight

I gave in to the madness of going to the midnight showing . . . dinner at the Melting Pot (at 9:30 p.m.) and craziness with the girls was great! The movie, on the other hand, was beyond cheesy - and I needed a little more in the vampire department. Too bad, but a fun night overall!

Hooray for Teachers!

I went into both Conner's and Anika's classroom last week to volunteer, like I have been doing for the last 6 years. It is not some great service I am performing, I just really like being there. I love to be in the classroom - seeing how my children are doing, getting a feel for the classroom climate, checking out the friends, etc. Anyway, I left feeling so happy for the teachers my kids have. Anika is very serious at school! She won't even wave to me or Jason if she happens to see us in the hallway at school - no talking, you understand! She is very self-motivated and does neat work! Her teacher is fit just to her! The classroom is open, all students were busily working on their own assignments at their own pace and moving forward when they were done. It was great. . .
Then, I move to Conner's class. I walk in and notice Conner sitting at his desk with a paper bag over his head. Of course there are eye holes and he has his glasses on over the bag to keep it in place. Mrs. Christensen (or Mrs. C) says off hand that he is being an example to the class that it is okay to be different - I am thinking it must be some kind of object lesson or something. Looking at my blank face, Mrs. C asks if Conner told me about the book they read - no! Apparently they read "Bag Head", a story about a boy who wore a bag over his head to prove the point of being different. Conner decided to bring a bag to school and wear it - Mrs. C says, "He's so creative!" I just laugh and Conner looks over at me coyly! The class then proceeds to tear apart newspapers all over the classroom to have a "real world" experience with decimals and percentages. The whole while Mrs. C is apologizing for the class being such a mess every time I come in. I love it! I hear so much criticism for teachers everywhere, so, I want to say Hooray for Teachers this week!