Snow, snow and more snow!

Ok. I love the snow. And it turns out that I am the only one in my family who does! They especially hate it when I make them shovel the driveway and the sidewalks. And they especially hated it today, because apparently they thought that Christmas Vacation means sitting on your butt all day and all night. Not today, boys. Not today.

And I probably should mention that Robb and I even helped. And once the boys got into it, they realized that it wasn't that bad. But they all still want to move to St. George. As for me, I am sooooooo grateful for a White Christmas and all the beautiful snow that came after.

Halloween - just catching up

The Halloween Party at Grammy and Grandpa Hunt's is always a good time! Here are a few of the main highlights.


Trying to get a group photo of the grand kids. Not easy at all.

Cutest little Bat Girl ever!

Tanner was a ninja. He always comes up with creative and super cheap costumes. He took a long sleeve t-shirt and fashioned it as a ninja mask. Clever!

Jason and Jen

Kade was a 70's cop (think Starsky and Hutch).

My mom with her traditional Chicken Noodle Soup in the pumpkin bread bowls. Always a favorite.

My dad, dressed as a Jazz Fan. Wow, Dad, that was a stretch. :)

Angie and Justin

Robb and I dressed as "Smarty Pants." I know, I know, a stretch for me as well.

Caleb was a knight in shining armour.

Halle is "one," in case you were wondering.

Justin's got the moves. Do doubt about it!

Tanner was a ninja. He always comes up with creative and super cheap costumes. Of course I don't have a good photo of it, but he took a long sleeve t-shirt and fashioned it as a ninja mask. Clever!

I sooooo wish I could remember what Jason was doing here. We were playing "Boo Am I." He does make a great Clark Kent/Superman though, doesn't he?

Justin and another crazy Justin move. If only I could have taken a photo of the Brazilian Butt Dance. Classic.

Cam is my favorite "Boo Am I" player. He makes me laugh out loud with his creativity!

And, of course, there was the Mummy Wrap.

I just love Kody's cute face. He was such a good sport about being wrapped up with toliet paper!

Is Grammy doing the Monster Mash???

Collin was dressed as an "army guy."

Thanks again, Grammy and Grandpa for another successful and fun Halloween party!

AHHHHHHH!

I am losing my dang mind.

The other night, when Robb and the boys were all in the Live Nativity, I thought I had left the stove on. SO I ran home (literally, I ran the whole way in boots - not the best shoes for running) to find that I, in fact, had NOT left the stove on.

This morning I woke up to a really awful smell. I walked into the kitchen to find a frying pan on the stove, and the burner set to high. Which means it had been on all night long. I can't believe our house didn't burn down. Craziness! I was so ready to blame Robb for the mishap . . . when I vaguely remembered that the night before I was trying to make the job of cleaning the pan that had burnt food in it. I cannot believe that the pan was on the burner on HIGH the entire night and everything is ok. Well, except the pan. And the burnt smell in our house isn't very pleasant.

Yesterday the boys had stew in their lunches in their thermoses. Collin decided he didn't like his stew, and by the time it came back home in the thermos, it was kind of like glue. So I filled it with water in the sink to let it soak. Later I loaded the dishwasher, and somehow missed checking that all the Glue Stew had left the thermos. And washed the thermos full of stew in the dishwasher. When I went to unload the dishwasher, I found bits of potatoes, carrot and meat literally cooked on all of the dishes in the dishwasher. Nice. It looks a little like someone threw up on all of our dishes and let it dry. Even nicer.

AND not to mention, we have had a little problem with mice at our house. Which means, I am in constant fear, and I am not sleeping at night. I cannot walk anywhere without shoes on, and my skin is crawling all the time. I may need counseling for this. Or Dr. Phil. And I swear our house isn't filthy. And I have been in super psycho deep cleaning mode. Mice do that to me. I probably shouldn't mention this on a public blog, but one day after the boys had left for school, I was cleaning the kitchen. And it was pretty quiet in the house. So a d&*% mouse decided to come out from hiding and scare me to death. I starting screaming . . . and no one was home to save me from the evil creature. I literally peed my pants. Really, I did.

The holiday season always seems to bring out the best in me.

Live Nativity 2009

Wow. The Live Nativity never disappoints. I absolutely love it every year. It is my very favorite tradition! This year Robb was the potter and Tanner and Collin traded off as the potter's sons. Kade got to be inside and tend to the donkey. So cool! Kade and Tanner also got to wander around and be street merchants, and Collin got to hang out in the Shepherd's Camp (which is pretty much the best place to be, because you get to sit by the fire and eat Shepherd Camp food - while in character, of course).

This year their was a strict "no flash photography" rule - which I don't remember from past years. So . . . my photos are limited, but this is what I was able to get from the outside. And the one of Tanner is one I snuck (using my flash) from the inside!

I am truly grateful that my Stake puts on such an amazing event. It takes a ton of volunteers, and countless hours to put on the Live Nativity each year - but we all love it! And we love helping out when we can. Kade and Tanner helped with setting it up, and they were so proud of what they did to help. I helped with dressing on one of the nights, which wasn't much. The Jenson Family in our ward comes each night and they bring their farm animals. Jodi Jenson has her traditional post in the Shepherd's Camp and gets to see each person as they leave. She says she wouldn't miss it for anything.

We are truly grateful for this experience each year!!

Kade and Tanner all dressed up and ready to go. They have to fit a lot of WARM clothing on underneath their costumes.

Rhyan Esmiston and Kade. It was sooooooo cold, and they had the job of being street merchants. They wandered around outside - freezing! But good sports about it. Earlier, when Kade got to tend the donkey inside the nativity, he was much warmer.

Tanner as the potter . . . Robb had to get up and move around a bit, so he let Tanner take his post as the potter. It is really hard to sit for hours, pretending to make a pot. And the "cast members" cannot interact with the people walking through. Tanner was trying to not look at me, or smile. :)

Collin at the Shepherd's Camp. Lucky kid. Can you see the shish kabobs on the fire?

Random . . . random . . . random

PLEASE NOTE: My computer is having issues. I can't download any recent photos. Ugh. So, I maybe I will add photos later. But this is a super long and probably boring post to anyone who isn't me. So, feel free to skip it. My blog is like a memory time capsule for me.


I made Pumpkin Bars last night and they were oh so good! Thanks Christy Wangsgard for the awesome recipe that was in our ward recipe book that I was reading last night like it was a novel. Collin picked it up after I put it down, and flipped through every page too. Funny how a new recipe book can make you want to do that. I am thinking of doing a Julie & Julia year of cooking all the ward recipes (have you seen that movie? If not, you should - I loved it!). Wouldn't that be fun? I am pretty sure my family would love all the home cooked goodness. If I do it, I am making ALL the recipes - just to make it fair. Even the Oatmeal Drink one . . . which I am a little afraid of.



In our family, we trade off planning a family activity on Sunday nights. Last week it was my turn and we played Whonoo (so fun!) and watched The Bucket List. Last night it was Kade's turn, and he picked watching Mamma Mia!, which he gave me for Christmas last year. Man, I love that movie. I am not so sure my boys did though - at least they are not going to admit it. Well, I am not afraid to admit that last year when they went out of town for a hunting trip over New Year's, I watched Mamma Mia! a few times. . . and I put on the Sing Along setting on the DVD, and yes, sang along at the top of my lungs. Since no one was home to hear me, I felt like somehow it was ok. And even though I am not a good singer, I don't sound half bad singing Abba songs . . . well, as long as no one is there is hear them. Hahahaha. So, last night, after watching the movie, we put the sing along version of he songs on - and Collin sang right along with me. We sounded incredible. Really. ;)


On Thanksgiving morning, the boys and I "ran" in Draper's Human Race. It was the first 5K for the boys. Kade absolutely loved it! Tanner tolerated it. And Collin HATED it. I just happened to be Collin "running" partner, and he complained the whole time. He didn't even get caught up in the excitement of being in a race. So . . . we basically walked the whole thing, except when he saw the finish line. That got him moving. Kade and Tanner were running partners, and they made it in a loooooong time before we did. It was a great morning though! So much fun!


Robb's old girlfriend asked if we would help out with volunteering at the race. We were supposed to help on Wednesday night, but they didn't really need a lot of help - we showed up and left a little while later. Robb helped out the morning of the race too - what a great way to weasel out of running, don't you think? He had a ton of fun doing it, but the boys and I are going to guilt him into running next year.


We had Thanksgiving at Robb's dad's house this year. It was the first time without Robb's mom - which was kind of hard. But he actually did great. The food was great, and we all had a great time! My favorite part of the whole meal was Jan's homemade rolls. Which she let Robb know that she won't be sharing the recipe for. Which is probably fine, since I am thinking that I need to start cutting the carbs again. And I absolutely cannot resist those rolls.




We missed Anona's pies so much this year (and her too, of course). I put this in my last random post, but Anona made INCREDIBLE pies. They were oh so good, and even looked beautiful too. Cherry pie is my favorite, and she would always make cherries out of the dough and put on top - fancy! Her pies always looked professional and tasted awesome. I am so sick that we never ever even took one photo of her with her pies. I have a few photos here and there of the actual pies - which I am grateful for. But not a single photo of Anona with one of her famous pies. So very sad.




Robb's family hates it when I take photos. Which always makes me feel a little awkward taking them. One time Robb kind of snapped at me (I think it might have been at Thanksgiving) that if no one wants their picture taken, then stop taking them. So I did. And that is why we don't have any lovely pie photos. And it was really hard to find enough photos of Anona after she died. AND I am always the only person snapping photos at family parties. I tried to take a few picture on Thanksgiving, but everyone was still bugged at me for taking them. Which makes me feel totally awkward. The above photo was taken at our last Thanksgiving with Anona (two years ago). Also the photo of the pies was taken that day. Yes, she made all of those pies.



I am a fan of the Twilight series, and I am not afraid to admit it. I am not a crazy fan, but I do love it. I got to see it the day before it came out at a special screening, thanks to Jen taking me as her date. It was awesome! I really loved it sooooo much better than Twilight. We were sitting by my brother Justin and his friend Mark, and they kept making us laugh. This is one of those "you had to be there" moments, but in the part in the movie when Bella invites some friends to see the movie Face Punch, that got us laughing. But even funnier, was when Justin leaned over to Jen and said, "Face Punch, let's do this," which was what was on the movie poster in the background. And somehow that was just the funniest thing ever. We all couldn't quit laughing. Jen thought she was going to have to leave the theater. And I am pretty sure the guy next to me thought I was completely inappropriate. Although, I should mention, that none of us were laughing out loud - just that silent laughter that you do when your whole body shakes. And we laughed all the way through a tender moment between Jacob and Bella. But it was totally worth it. I tried to find a Face Punch clip, but no luck. But the following little interview was kind of interesting.

Movie Trailers - Movies Blog

The next day we took the whole family to see New Moon (thanks Michele, for the awesome tickets!!). They all LOVED it like I did. Even Robb really liked it, although if you ask him about it he will downplay it to maintain his manliness. And I didn't even laugh at the Face Punch part. It wasn't even funny at all when I wasn't sitting with Justin and Jenni.

Collin had a two night sleepover extravaganza at the Yancey's. I am really thinking that he would rather live there. They so have a really fun house, and a really laid back and cool mom. He even got to help put up Christmas lights on the roof. They also just got new carpet, and now Collin is 100% that we need new carpet. He is also 100% convinced that we should put up Christmas lights. Which Robb hates doing. Hmmmmm, who will win this battle? Collin? Or Robb? Stay tuned and see. My money is on Collin. Anyway, thanks Jen, for making life so much fun for Collin. He just LOVES you guys!!!

Greg and Heather were also in town for Thanksgiving, but we didn't see them as much as we would have liked too. It was their year with Heather's family, and they also crammed in a lot of stuff like going to a Jazz game and family pictures with every minute of spare time. They packed in a lot! But luckily, Tanner got to have a sleepover at Grammy's with Austin . . . and they got to hang out at our house for a day. Tanner just can't believe that when they come to town that Austin might have other plans rather than being with him 24/7. They are the best of friends. And I am pretty sure Tanner is trying to use The Secret to somehow get his cousin to move back to Utah. I'll keep you posted on his progress with that.

My parents were also in town . . . and we didn't get to see them as much as I'd like to. BUT my mom is still here, and we will be seeing her this week. Yay for that!

I haven't even started Christmas shopping. And I think that just typing those words made me break out in hives. Great.

I haven't even started putting up Christmas decorations. Even more hives. Great.

Tanner has been trying to do jobs around the house to earn money. And he is really doing such a great job! I didn't think he had it in him, to be honest. He really is the kind of kid who is happier in a mess. BUT yesterday, he cleaned out the game/miscellaneous closet and did such an amazing job!

I am wondering how bad it would be to have Pumpkin Bars for breakfast. Probably not great with the trying to stay away from carbs thing I was going to start today (yet again - I am always starting that over, it seems).

Kade is singing a SOLO in his school concert this week! Yes, you heard me! He is excited . . . and nervous. Robb and I are amazed that he is such a good singer since neither one of us have any talent in that category, whatsoever. Well, unless I am singing along to Mamma Mia!

Things You Should NOT Miss Out On This Week

My sister Jen and her husband Jason, and their sweet baby Kody. They got to play the very most important parts in the live Nativity - amazing! These were taken two years ago.

1. Live Nativity. Our stake puts on a live nativity each year - and it really is incredible! It runs Monday thru Thursday, from 6-9pm each night. It is such a great way to kick of the season and it is my very favorite activity leading up to Christmas. It always brings me right back to reality of why we celebrate this chaotic holiday. So worth your time! Get there early, and dress warm. You have to wait in line for a long time, and it gets dang cold.

Robb and the boys are in the nativity on Thursday, so if you choose to go that night, look for them. Robb will a potter, and he will be switching off with Tanner and Collin - they will be playing the part of the potter's son. :) Really though, they actually have to put their acting skills to work, and they can't smile, laugh, talk or interact with anyone walking through. Kade will be helping tend the animals outside - yes! they have real animals. And Tanner will help with that when he is not playing the roll of the potter's son.

Really, you should not miss this. It is so worth it. And let me know if you are coming so I can look for you! Our family is going tonight, I will be there on Tuesday to help dress the participants, and then Robb and the boys will be in it on Thursday . . . so I will be hanging around all night too, most likely.

2. Kade's School Christmas Concert. Wednesday night, 7pm @ Summit Academy. The cost to get in is $2, and there will be a bake sale to help fund some of the school programs. Kade is singing a solo, and is in a few of the percussion numbers. So much fun!

And obviously, this not to be missed event, is listed here to remind Grammy Hunt, Grandpa Leishman, and any other family members that are interested in supporting Kade. ;)

3. The Festival of Trees. Which is always delightful, but this year is extra special because it will have a tree on display in honor of Gracie Gledhill. For those of you who are new fans of my blog (hahahaha) she is the beautiful daughter of my dear friend Michele. Gracie passed away in March, and you can read all about her story here. Funds to help decorate her tree were donated by readers of her blog from all over the world - she has a lot of fans. I am so excited to see her special tree, which so much work and love has gone into it to make it absolutely perfect. The Festival of Trees runs December 2 thru December 5, from 10am-10pm, at the South Towne Expo Center. For more information, click here.

Photo Randomness

I have been a horrible blogger lately, due to the fact that I can't download my photos for some reason. My computer is having major issues, which shuts down blogging pretty much. But is does give me an chance to do another random photo post! These are from pre-blogging days. Which makes me wish there was no such thing as pre-blogging days. I soooooo wish I had kept better track of, well, everything! And taken more photos. I really don't think you can have too many photos.

So, here's to randomness!

Our neighbors, The Jensen's, have a farm stand across the street from us. It is awesome!! These were taken on Halloween 2005. We waited last minute to get our pumpkins for carving. But we still got some great ones! How great it is that we can just take our wheel barrow across the street and fill it up? We love living across the street from a farm.

A fun day at Gardner Village with Grammy Hunt and the Yancey's. I love this cute boyish photo. I'm not sure why Caleb wasn't in it though! 10.25.05

Grammy Leishman used to make us pies for our birthday - just because she knew how much we loved them. And it was usually cherry pie. And always amazing. This is Kade with his cherry pie on his 13th birthday (4.20.08). Oh what I wouldn't give for a photo of Kade actually with his grandma holding his pie (note to self: take more photos of loved ones . . . you just never know . . . ). Grammy's pie making skills died with her, which makes us so very sad - we never thought to ask for the recipe, and no one can find it now.

Kade with his brothers on his birthday. I just love to see photos of them actually loving each other. That is not always the case. 04.20.08

The boys meeting Kody for the first time. 10.06.07

We attempted a Fall photo shoot - which didn't turn out so good. The photos were fine, but Tanner's dog Tuff got off his leash and was hit by a car and killed. It was such a sad day. I am so grateful for this photo that really shows the love between Tanner and his dog! (09.26.05)

A rare photo of my boys and me (note to self: take more photos like this.)

A Wayne County fishing trip - we went with Grammy and Grandpa Hunt and the Yancey's (this was after a Hunt Reunion that celebrated my Grandpa Peterson's 80th birthday - just so I can remember the details). 08.21.06




This is a rare photo - whenever we get together with the Park cousins, the HATE getting their photo taken. This was Christmas Eve in 2005.

I have always loved this photo of Kade. I took it after his school Christmas program in the 5th grade (12.05.05).

So, if you actually made it to the end of my random photo post, I am giving you a homework assignment. Take photos of yourself with your kids. Do it today! And take photos of your kids together. Just a little random photo shoot. Really, it is so important! I am usually behind the camera . . . or feeling like I am not cute enough to be in front of the camera. After Robb's mom died, we realized we had so few photos of her . . . and so few of her with her kids and grand kids. Which is very, very sad. Ok, now I am just randomly rambling. BUT, it really is important. Take time to take some photos of you with your loved ones. Do it today!!!