Happy Birthday Grandma Grace!

Last night we celebrated Grandma's 85th Birthday. It was a nice dinner at Ruby River for everyone related to her over the age of 15---just the age to keep the great-grandchildren from showing up. We so enjoyed hearing all the wonderful comments about Grandma. I think my favorite quote of the evening came from a pillow Melissa gave to Grandma. It read, "Grandma's House--Where cousins go to become best friends." I couldn't agree more. I have to echo Mark's comments on his blog that most of my close friends are also family members. I know most of that reason is Grandma Grace. We all love her a ton. Her energy, support, and love is felt by all.

This is a picture of the "3 Beauts" as they are affectionately (or sarcastically---depending on who you are) called. I have to say I have a wonderful Mom and am blessed to have great aunts also.

Foot Trauma!

Last week Megan was at tumbling trying to move up to the next level in her passes, and in trying to get higher landed and bruised her ankle bone. I didn't rush her in to the InstaCare this time thinking maybe we would get another miraculous 30-hour recovery like her injury in November. No such luck this time. She couldn't even walk the next morning or touch it and it was still swollen. She actually missed 2 days of school because she just couldn't walk. We even got her some crutches, but that must take coordination she doesn't have. Needless to say, she is very upset. Her first competition of the year is today and she is so frustrated she can't go. (I'm frustrated that we paid and don't get our money back). Let's just hope she's good to go by the February competition.

No School!

So after a long 2-week Christmas break I was more than ready for school to start on Monday the 5th. I woke up the kids a little early and started them getting ready when the phone rang. Tyler's teacher and then Megan's called to say a pipe had broken outside of the school and there was no water. That meant no school. A kid's dream and a mother's nightmare. Knowing we wouldn't last cleaning all day, we headed to Chuck E. Cheese. Can I just say this was the perfect day to go. It was Megan, Tyler, Emily and then a bunch of toddlers roaming the place. Tyler was worried when we pulled up knowing that every other kid in the state was in school. He told me I had to tell the workers that they really didn't have school and it was o.k. that they were there. Luckily one of the teachers from their school was buying pizza also so Tyler relaxed and had fun. I'm sure his apprehension of being out of school won't last his entire career--or maybe it will.

Watch Out Below!

For cousins from California, there is nothing better than snow and sledding. During the Christmas break the kids all bundled up and headed for the nearest hill. Tyler and Spencer were quite reckless, but didn't wear the helmet that Natalie sent with them.

Emily loved the sled. She was even willing to climb the hill by herself to do it again.

This was Megan and Emily's favorite way to ride down the hill. It looks like we may have competitors for the Olympic skeleton race. Great times with no school.

Welcome 2009!

The kids spent the afternoon decorating for our traditional New Year's Eve party. We always go out to dinner and then to a movie and then back to our house for games. This year we saw "Marley and Me" which is probably not recommended for young kids. At least most of the inuendos went over the kids' heads.

This is the scene right before midnight. All of the kids stayed awake and anxiously awaited the dropping of the ball.

I think the true reason they stayed up was for the chance to shoot silly string all over the house. Luckily our vacuum sucked it all up nicely around 1 am. Happy New Year!

Family Christmas Party! Part II

Yes we posted similar pictures about a month ago with different families though. This time we went with Wendell's family bowling and out to dinner for their annual after-Christmas party. We started at Weber State and tried our luck with the pins. We thought we would be really good considering we had been a couple of times in the last few months and we are really good on the Wii bowling. After all was said and done we were just grateful to get close to a score of 100. No one in our family should look into professional bowling.

Tyler and the cousins used the bumpers. Their scores were quite respectable.

After bowling we all went to El Matador to eat. We were happy this was the restaurant of choice since it is one of our favorites. A lot of good food and fun.

After dinner we all went to a hotel nearby to spend the night and take advantage of the indoor swimming pool. Emily immediately found the lounge chairs and the nice soft towels. She is a fair-weather type of a swimmer. The snow in the background doesn't really encourage swimming, though.

Tyler loved the hot tub.

Emily did venture in the water a few times. The hot tub was also her favorite.

Megan should be a fish. She doesn't care the weather. She is always up for a little water fun.

The next morning we all went to Jeremiah's for breakfast. Lot's of yummy food. We feel like we have frequented this restaurant quite a bit in the last month. Wendell just loves their breakfast menu. I don't mind not having to cook either.

Fat Cats Here We Come!

The kids were biting at the bit the use their tokens they got from Mammy. The soonest we were able to go to Fat Cat's was on Monday after Christmas and you would think that it was forever. The day after Christmas we pretty much just sat around and recovered and then Spencer's baptism was the next day.

Tyler, Spencer, and James figured out this one game gave tons of tickets. They used all their tokens in a matters of minutes. The tickets are what counts--Like any place, the prizes are so valuable that I think they are in the trash at our house within a week after getting them. We just call them treasures of trash!

Emily and Megan pooled their tickets and tokens so they could get even more. I don't know if it worked, but Emily was suckered in. Another fun day at the arcade.

Christmas Day!

Yeah! We have finally figured out how to download with our new camera. This is the aftermath of Christmas morning. The kids spent some time rummaging through their goods before we headed off in the snow to Grandma's house.

Emily with her doll that pretends to go potty on her very own toilet. I think it is just a gimmick to make parents buy batteries. Of course the doll needs batteries and so does the toilet--Go figure.

In Tyler's dream world he would spend the entire Christmas Day putting Lego sets together. By the end of the night, he did have the majority of it done. I guess Santa will have to give more challenging sets next year.

Emily showing off her new camera to cousins at Grandma's house. Unfortunately this is probably the last time it worked. Luckily the elves suggested we return it to Inkley's the next day for an exchange. We just love the "North Pole" hotline for issues with toys.

The girls are content with full bellies of pancakes, egg casserole, and home-made cinnamon rolls.

Tyler sporting his new scarf made by Grandma Grace.

After Grandma's house, it was off to Mammy's house. The presents just never seem to end. I would say we were all very spoiled. The highlight was the sack of coins to Fat Cats for the kids.

Tyler set up a chair right next to Jeff to watch him put his 5,000 piece Lego set together. Tyler found this very fascinating---Megan and Emily lasted about 1 second watching this.

After Mammy's it was off to Grandma and Grandpa's house for another party and lunch. We had a good time eating and playing with cousins before we headed back to our house for another party.

More cousins, Grandpa Tom, and Mammy came to our house for dinner and Wii games. One of the most entertaining games to watch on the Wii is "Dancing with the Stars."

Tyler even got in the action trying his hand at dancing. I think Spencer and Tyler better stick to Mario Kart. It takes a little less coordination.

Megan got right into the whole dancing thing. I think she is trying to play the maracas. Whew! An exhausting, but fun day. Good thing we slept in that morning. The parties went until late and the snow blew in just for a white Christmas.

Christmas Morning

Christmas morning dawned dark and stormy. We had told the kids the night before that they couldn't wake up until it was light outside. Well, because of the snow it still seemed dark at 8:00. Tyler had been waiting in bed patiently for the sun to come up and finally got out of bed when he heard me checking to see why everyone was still asleep. Emily and Megan were sound asleep but woke up quickly when Tyler asked why we let them sleep in. It was very nice to not be up at the crack of dawn. We were all much happier having had a full night's sleep. Emily was all smiles that morning.

Tyler loved his Legos and Ripley's Believe It or Not book.

Megan has grown out of toys and now loves clothes on Christmas. We also got the Wii working and spent the morning trying our luck at the bowling game. Christmas was over in just a few minutes with paper flying. We then went to Grandma's house for the traditional breakfast or brunch by the time we got there. Wendell and I got a new camera for Christmas and now have to figure out how to download all the pictures for the rest of the day.