Christmas 08

This was the first Christmas in 12 years that we stayed home. I wanted to be with the rest of my family in Az. But actually really enjoyed spending Christmas at home with our own little family. Santa was able to still get to us despite all the snow.
This is taken out our back window.

Ethan likes the fact that he doesn't have to go outside to get icicles. He just reaches out the back window.
Santa brought Kaden a cross-bow. The arrows seemed harmless enough, But the spongy yellow darts have Velcro on the ends of them. Kaden scarred Porters face with one.
Porters favorite gift was a firetruck from Grandma Gardner
Ethan's favorite gift! No not the truck, but the blanket. He keeps thanking me over and over again for it.

This is a shout out to Grandma Gardner!

We went to Karl's brothers house for Christmas dinner in Lehi. We got stuck parking the car on the street, Yeah it was that bad.
But Karl and Steve took it as an opportunity for a good time.

Karl trying to kiss up to the cooks, Liz and Caroleen so he could steal a few nibbles before dinner.
Karl and friend Darell working off Christmas dinner by clearing a path to the cars.
We enjoyed our white Christmas and spending time with friends and family.

Quick Rundown

I obviously haven't written in awhile , so here is a quick rundown of the last month.
We enjoyed Thanksgiving and Karl's brothers house in Lehi Ut. It was nice to not to have to travel. After Thanksgiving I was busy getting Christmas pulled together and ready for the Dance Studio's Christmas Recital. We went to Arizona for 4 days for the recital and was able to see a lot of friends and family, that made the trip worth it.
The students all did so great at the recital. My teachers are all really great this year. Thanks to Peter for all the amazing pictures.



Thanks also to all my family and friends that helped with the recital. I never can do it alone.

So we have also had a lot of snow here. Ethan couldn't ride his bike to school because the sidewalks are too icy. So those days I usually drive him to school. I'm glad we live close to the school because I went to get the car warmed up and I couldn't open any of the car doors they were frozen shut. Ethan had to walk to school and not happy about it. I do like Utah for one particular reason and that is there are plenty f service opportunities for the kids. Ethan and Kaden have had plenty of opportunities to rake leaves and shovel snow, for our neighbors and Home Teaching families.
Two Sundays ago, Karl got up early and He and Ethan pulled one neighbor out of the snow, shovel our drive and walks, helped with two other neighbors and walks. Then went around the block to help Karl's families that he Home Teaches. Restful sabbath. But all the neighbors are out helping each other and it is good for the kids to learn. Yesterday our neighbor lady had her baby in the car they had just come home from the Dr. He was sick and it had snowed a lot while she was gone and wasn't able to get her car up her drive. So Ethan and I grabbed some shovels and worked on her drive awhile until she could get home.
Karl couldn't get his truck out of the drive himself this morning. I was parked in front of him and he slid right into the back of the car with his truck. He was able to get me car out and just left the truck. We are really thankful for our heated-seats and 4WD . We never had much use for it in AZ. Especially the heated-seats.
And of course Porter keeps us in stitches laughing. He insisted on eating his cereal out of the big red bowl. Big appetite. He actually usually just eats bread and water (that's what he wants, honest) so if he was willing to eat some cheerios I gave him the bowl he wanted.

So that's our month in a nut shell. Hope everyone has a very Merry Christmas.

Mother of The Year Award -NOT!

Yeah ok, so every time my sister and I make a mistake in Mothering (which is not too often) but yes happens occasionally. We also say "ok so I just won the mother of the year award", meaning we just did something not so great. So Kaden came in a couple of days ago and was crying, you know one of those I am really hurt, not just faking it this time cry. So I picked him up and noticed his bloody hands and scratched up ear and tummy. Between sobbs he explains, " I was riding my bike down the driveway, and when I slammed on my brakes my chain came off my bike and I ran into the back of the four-wheeler". Oops my bad, you know the last post about me fixing the bike and I think I recall a "Yeah Me", well I guess I have to take it back. I felt really bad. He asked if Daddy could fix the bike next time. I think that is a great idea. Here is a picture of our driveway. It is pretty long and slopes down, Kaden can get his momentum really going if he starts at the street, I'm sure he was going pretty fast. But in my defense the bike did work for a few days. Here is a video of him on his bike ramp that he built.


Porter wanted to be fast like lightning, then he decided he asked me "can I put the towel on like Superman"? Here is our little superman.
Here are the yummy cupcakes the boys made.


Do you like the half of bottle of sprinkles on the blue cupcake, no one has eaten it yet, I wonder why! Porter was so excited as he was pouring it on. Ok so I'm not Mother of the Year, but my kids make me happy, so I guess that's all that matters.

Things I was NEVER meant to do!

Ok so there are actually a lot of things I am not good at, but this has been a particularly frustrating week, because I have had a couple of projects right in a row that have been very challenging for me. First off Ethan wanted to learn to sew, so I asked him what he wanted to learn to make, he said a Teddy Bear for Aunt Alli's new baby. Sounded easy enough. I don't sew, but really how hard could it be? So off to JoAnns to get a pattern and material. Kaden then decided he wanted to make one too. Ok no big deal, great learning opportunity for the boys right? So Kaden and I started on his a week ago. Here is some of the process.....
The very first piece we sewed together, not too bad yet.....

Kaden keeps wanting to use the sewing machine, not really a project for him, I am having a very difficult time putting all these silly little pieces together, and reading a pattern, what? The pattern says "Simplicity", such a lie!Ok, so here is our eyeless, dog/bear/retro rhino. I had about 8 left over pieces, who knows where they were supposed to go. Yeah I hope Aunt Alli appreciates the effort, because I am soooo done with sewing!

Project number 2: Kaden's bike tire. He rides his bike so fast down the hills and then slams on his brakes he wore through the tire and tube on his bike. So it's a small bike I should be able to fix it with no problem. We headed out to Wal-mart this morning and picked up the new tire and tube. So we get home and start the switch.How many tools does it take to change a tire?
Well 30 minutes later of trying to get the tire off of the rim and many annoying "mom, why don't you have it off yet", I got out the scissors, "not even close", the saw, "nope". The razor blade, "sorta" then the metal snippers "yes". And to make things worse it was the back tire, so that means a lot of bolts and the chain and the guard have to come off. I got them off first try, getting them back on, now that is a different story. It took me three trys to get the chain bolted back in the right place, that means I put it all back together three different times and realized each time it still wasn't right....AARGGH!!
Yeah, done and yes it works. Next time I will leave it for Karl. And surprisingly no left-over parts. Yeah me! But my hands are bloody and greasy, but what a sense of accomplishment. So yes I would have to say I would fix a bike again before I would try sewing another teddy bear. "Yeah it was that bad"!

Porter too was tired of this project, he was ready to hit it with his tool! :)

Scary - Karl is Blogging

Yes it's true, Kellie has a cup of hot cocoa and me some hot apple cider - blogging. Reality check Ethan just passed by dancing the funky chicken. Poor kid, he got my dancing skills. Kellie got mad at me for sleeping in church today. I think she is just jealous that she can't. When I was a kid my teachers preferred me that way. I think my teachers today still prefer me that way. So as we ponder Utah here are some shots from work.



I regularly snap shots of the progress of the project and shot some cool shots of the area around.

Our Walk Around Town

The boys and I were enjoying the colorful changes around town About two weeks ago, so we grabbed our camera and went for a walk.
This is taken right outside our house. Porter on Right and our house on Left.

This is an empty lot across the street, Kaden is enjoying his picture being taken.

Now we turned the corner and headed to downtown.
This is the local dentist that Kaden and Karl have already had to visit. Dr. King is also our next door neighbor, so Kaden was more willing to go. (We stopped by the local barber to fix Kaden's hair, but as you can see he wouldn't go in).
Porter and I walking down State St.
Porter and Kaden sitting on the bench in front of the corner Mexican restraunt. (This is a place mom "Marie" would like).
In front of Town Hall.
The path headed down to Ethan's School.
Main St. (It looks a lot prettier in person)
This is the Tea Shop on Main Street. I got Ethan out of school for lunch and took the boys for sandwiches and Tea. They did pretty good, We just had to make it fast.
The Museum.

Porter outside of old City Hall.
My visiting teacher was outside her house feeding the chickens. She has converted an old hotel into her home. Porter is holding the egs, but Kaden wasn't so sure about holding the Chicken, "big chicken" Just kidding. :0
This is the old rock church, this is were we go to church. It is fun it has a neat mural painted in the old chapel where the first primary was ever held.

I love the vibrant red trees.
We ended the day with picking the grapes out of our yard.
Then we headed to Arizona, so we took the grapes to Jane, because she is so good at canning.