7-up date night

A few weeks ago Jason and I were out and I needed to stop at the store so we stopped at Albertsons. They were having a cherry 7-up promotion were they gave each customer a free 2 liter of Cherry 7-up. They didn't even charge for the sales tax. We were in a silly crazy mood so we thought it would be fun to drive to all the Albertsons in our area and see how many we could get. We ended up with 24 2 liters for FREE. Some of the cashiers would let Jason get 4 at a time. The most I ever got was 2 at a time. I was a fun little game. We aren't even big soda drinkers but we'll be prepared when we need to bring drinks to an activity.

Little Ballerina

Cloey started dance lessons a few weeks ago for her first time. She has been very anxiously waiting to start. Last year when we took Macy to her dance lessons Cloey would watch through the window and follow along with Macy's class. She has begged and begged me to go. Everyday she asks me "how many more days until dance" and the night before dance she sleeps in her leotard and tights so that she will be ready. The only problem is that she has preschool before dance lessons and so I have to pry her leotard off of her to dress her for school, but she quickly puts it back on RIGHT. AFTER. PRESCHOOL. Then waits for 1:30 to roll around.

Another Home Project

About 8 months ago a friend in my ward got me all hooked on the whole coupon and stockpiling thing so I needed some extra storage space for all the groceries that I have been stocking up on. My handy husband and his brother came to my rescue and turned the closet under our stairs into an additional storage pantry for me. I was pretty impressed. They even cut a hole in the back of the closet to get further under the stairs. Our stairs wrap around so there was lots of unused space and there we put all the long-term food storage. Then the boys added some doors to the front of the hole to finish it off. They built me these wonderful shelves, and I love the extra space. They even changed out the wire shelves in our regular panty to sturdier wood ones that they built. I am soo thankful for my handy man.

Pouring Cement

Ever since we bought our home Jason has been dreaming of finishing the backyard. A few months ago we took the first step toward doing just that. We had our patio poured, a walkway down the side of our house, and a walkway from our front door connecting to the side walkway. It was a fun project for the whole family to watch. The kids and us enjoyed watching each stage and seeing the progression. At one point I came outside and Troy was busily helping the workers shovel rock and they were nice to let him help. It is so nice to let the kids ride their bikes around the house and in the backyard. My favorite part is our families handprints. It makes our house feel so much more like a home to me.

Duck Creek with Trapnell's

Jason had 10 days off earlier in January and so we headed up to Duck Creek and invited the Trapnell's to come along. We were very excited that they were able to come. It has been about 6 months since we had last seen them. I could not get over how well Little Ty could talk and he was still as cute as ever. I enjoyed every second catching up with Noel and making plans for our next get-together. Noel taught me how to make the best crepes and my new favorite soup, and I showed her how to make hair bows for her little lady that will be arriving soon. We played in the snow, went on a little snowmobile adventure, watched movies, had Tetris wars, laughed and had a great time together. They truly are wonderful people that we love and adore sooo much. Thanks so much for coming and THANK-YOU for the crepe maker that showed up on our doorstep a few days after we got home.

Pinewood Derby

This year was Jaden's first Cub Scout Pinewood Derby and it was also a first for Jason. They had a really great time designing and making the car together. The actual race was a fun experience for our whole family. The girls were his little cheerleaders and they had even made him some signs to hold up during the race. They were really cute in supporting him. Jaden took 4th place and was very excited about that.

Merry Christmas

First things first... Merry Christmas! We had a wonderful Christmas. It is hard to believe that another Christmas Season has come and gone. Christmas was filled with many opportunities for us to mingle with family and friends more than do during the other months of the year. I love taking the kids around to drop off goodies too many of our friends to say Merry Christmas and let them know we love and appreciate them in our lives. We also love the extra visits and goodies we get. Christmas morning was very nice and the kids were as happy as ever even though we decided to cut back on the gifts. I actually found that my children were more excited with the gifts they received and played with them more than in past years when they had gotten too much. We enjoyed Christmas Breakfast together and then spent the day visiting at my dad’s, Jim & my mom’s and The Mohlers. It makes for a long day but we love seeing everyone at each home. Merry Christmas a month late.