Halloween

Ok, so it's been about what, six months since I've last updated? Pretty sad, I know. But I promised Mom I would post some pictures of my kids in their costumes. So this is for you, Mom (and anyone else who cares).

Here's most of the gang that went with us. We also had our kids' favorite babysitter, Brittney, there. But she and I didn't dress up. So we're not in the picture. Jarin had lots of pressure from the youth in our ward to be the toilet again this year. Apparently it was a big hit last year. It's actually very convenient because we can both go out trick-or-treating with the kids and still hand out candy at the same via the toilet seat. Jarin went around saying, "Trick or Treat, lift my seat!" Pictured are my family, of course, Aunt Chalyce, Uncle Courtney, and Taylor's best friend Jon.

Where's your "game face", Taylor? You look too nice.

Dallin created his own costume again. This time he's a "gangsta".

I knew my cheer leading outfits would come in handy. Here's little Miss Kamrie ready to bust a move.

Last, we've got our sweet flower ready to melt your heart. I'm so glad we didn't have any princesses this year. I've got nothing against princesses. But we've had one every year for the last four years, I think. It's nice to have a change.

After trick-or-treating, we had dinner--mummy dogs, salad, and corn on the cob (nothing real special). We ended the night with the movie Monster House, which is perfect for kids. It's not too scary. Also, we allowed the kids to engorge themselves with all the candy they wanted this time. We figured it was better to get it out of the way rather than prolong the eating of sugar all month long. We did, however, ask the kids to donate the candy that wasn't their favorite to our common bucket. That is stored away for a sugar-lift-me up for some other time.

Sisi Marie's Birthday

Sienna chose a chocolate cake and rainbow sherbet for her celebration.

Phew! I finally have time to blog about Sienna's fourth birthday. Of course she was treated like a princess all week since it was Sienna Week. She didn't have to do chores (not that she really does much anyway because she's the baby and is spoiled that way already) and everyone was really good at sharing their stuff with her and letting her have basically whatever she wanted. I think it was a real shock when the week was over because it went back to the old ways and she wasn't sure why she wasn't getting all the attention anymore ;). Overall, she seemed to have a wonderful time. The day before her birthday, we did whatever she wanted. She chose to go to Olive Garden for lunch as a family. She was talking about the place for a month prior to the "big day". I think she just liked the look of the building. It is a pretty restaurant.

Here we are at Olive Garden.

Sienna getting sung to by the waiters/waitresses.

After Olive Garden, she wanted to go play tennis. Taylor talked her into that one because he has been dying to go for a year now. We bought everyone a tennis racket and went down to the high school and played for about an hour. I'm not sure that she loved the activity, but she sure looked cute in her tennis outfit. With a summer dress, zip up hoodie, white tennis shoes, and a ponytail, Sienna looked like a tennis player. Unfortunately our camera wouldn't work for me at the tennis courts, so I don't have a picture of her playing.

After tennis, we went to Cold Stone Creamery and got her her very own Kid's Creation--cotton candy ice cream with gummy bears. Of course the rest of us shared some favorites, a chocolate peanut butter lover's creation and sweet cream with strawberries. I love Cold Stone ...mmm mmm.

Later that evening when we got home, Sienna went on a "hunt" for her new present. Since it was too big to wrap, we told her to search the basement for her present. She found it in the shower and was very excited to get a new princess two-wheel bike with training wheels. Our camera was still not cooperating, so we video taped the whole thing. When I can figure out how to put short video clips on the blogger, I will post it, because it was really cute.

The next day, Sunday, was her real birthday. She chose the dinner:

Sisi's birthday dinner: Top Ramen, strawberries, and Hannah Montana rainbow yogurt. Well the yogurt isn't Hannah Montana like she wanted; I couldn't find that. But it is a rainbow yogurt and I added in a grilled cheese sandwich for more options. Yum yum!

Sienna opening presents.

Doesn't she look gorgeous?



Sienna modeling her new apron made by Grandma D and her Tinkerbell sunglasses and flip-flops. She also got a Tinkerbell beach towel, which she loves.

Sienna is wearing an adorable outfit she received from Grandma and Grandpa D.

Happy 7th Birthday Kamrie!

Last week was declared Kamrie Week. Starting the Sunday before her birthday to the Saturday after, Kamrie did not have to do any chores, would get to go first with everything, and had little acts of service performed for her throughout the week. I think she was in heaven.

On her birthday, I pulled her out of school early to get these pretty little things on her ears:

Next, as a family, she wanted to go swimming at an indoor pool. I "accidently" forgot to take pictures of that. The water was warm and we all had fun playing "Marco-Polo", racing, and playing on the water slides. We ended up getting McDonald's for dinner due to the lack of time. It wasn't her top pick. In fact, if she could've, we would have ended up at Red Lobster for some lobster, shrimp, and crab. When we got home, we sang Happy Birthday, ate a Hello Kitty cupcake concoction and ice cream, and opened presents. She loved the outfit she got from Grandma and Grandpa D, the makeup she's been dreaming about for a year now from Grandma and Grandpa Price, and a makeup mirror and Littlest Pet Shop toys from us. I think it was the best birthday ever! She was all smiles that day.

Sisi The Beautician!

Sienna is always wanting to do my makeup. I've let her practice quite a few times. She has really quite improved. Here are her masterpieces.


Her first time:

Sorry about the non expression. I had to take the picture several times since I was by myself and Sienna couldn't figure out how to take it for me. A little scary, I know.

The last time:

She even put on my eyeliner in this last picture. She has got a steady hand for a three year old.

Introducing Jarlie

Here's the newest member of the family, Jarlie. I'm not sure where the really dark eyes came from, but he/she looks like he/she could be a sibling to our other four. After seeing Mom and Dave's internet baby, I had to try it out too. Here's the website if you want to try: http://www.vw.com/vwhype/babymaker/en/us/

True Blue Fan

Do you recognize this man? He may look like a bruiser to you, but it's really just Jarin. He decided he had had enough of his long, curly, lush hair. So he cut to the chase and went straight for the buzz. I thought I would hate it, but it's only been two days since the hack and it's starting to grow on me. (The real reason he cut his hair was because he made a deal with his Young Men that if they got rid of their long hair, he would too. Well, the deacons kept their end of the bargain, so Jarin had to keep his. Way to be a good sport Jarin!)

If you can't tell in the picture, Jarin is holding BYU sugar cookies we made last night for his co-workers. There were about 60 cookies and he saved the last 5 for us. They ranged from oval shaped cookies with a Y on it, to helmets with a Y, to brown footballs. Jarin said his office LOVED them. They are gluten-free and surprisingly taste better than normal sugar cookies. He respectfully wore his black U of U sweatshirt to symbolize "death to the Utes" tomorrow as he hopes to be attending their funeral (well, at least watching it from Uncle Jim's house).

Happy Halloween!

I loved Halloween this year. The weather was unusually warm. Halloween was on a Friday. We hung out with Scott, Maran, and Hannah that night. And, of course, the candy is always delicious. Thanks kids for doing all the work and getting the treats! Jarin actually did a bit of trick or treating himself. Instead of staying home to hand out candy, we brought it with us to hand out as we passed by the neighbors. You'll have to see as you scroll down how my creative and attention-loving husband handed out the candy. Boy is he a ham!

Here's our darling angel walking along in the school parade.

Dallin couldn't decide what he wanted to be until about a week before Halloween. That's when he picked out the cheapest Halloween costume anyone could think of. He wanted to be a bag of trash. Unfortunatley, we miscommunicated about what he should do with his costume at school and he threw away his "trashy" costume. So, he wore three other costumes that we had lying around that day (he was a bit undecided).

We didn't get good individual pictures of Sienna, Taylor, and Jarin. But here is a group shot. If you can't tell, Sienna was a Snow Princess and had the most beautiful eyes that day. We put mascara on her and her blonde eyelashes turned into these lush, long eyelashes. I think she enjoyed feeling so pretty and getting comments on her eyes all day. Taylor came up with the idea of being a hobo for Halloween. That was easy enough. His sign said, "Hungry. Need treats." In a sense, aren't we a bit like the beggars on the streets at Halloween time? And Jarin . . . was a toilet. Nice, huh? The kids would lift the seat to retrieve their prize from inside the toilet bowl. He would tell the kids, "Trick or treat. Lift my seat." Some kids weren't too sure about that and would give him funny looks.

Afterwards, we got home about 8:00 and ate Mummy Dogs, fruit, and orange/banana smoothies topped with Cool Whip shaped ghosts. I should've taken pictures. But I got in such a hurry that I forgot. I probably won't make this meal a tradition. Personally I like the soups and chilis in a bread bowl. We'll have to see if we can find gluten-free bread bowls next year.

We ended the day by snuggling up with each other on the bean bag and watching "The Nightmare Before Christmas." We thought it would be a good transitional movie from Halloween to Christmas. But it ended up being even more weird than we remembered. The most important thing was just spending time together. While lying there on the bean bag, I felt so much joy just being with my family.

Hi There, Remember Me?

The kids' first day of school was August 18th. Summer seemed shorter than usual this time. Kamrie started first grade, Dallin started third grade, and Taylor started fifth grade. They all seem to be enjoying their teachers and classes so far. But we never have had bad years in the past. So this year shouldn't be any different. Taylor already enjoyed an overnighter at Clear Creek, UT with the other fifth grade boys earlier this month. He's growing up too fast. I remember how old I felt when we got to go to an overnighter at Sly Park, CA in grade school.

Dallin earned his Wolf badge in August. He was very self-motivated and kept bugging me to help him complete all the requirements. Great job, Big D!
(Apparently I didn't realize how much I looked like a frumpy mother that day. I thought I brushed my hair. Oh well, I DO have four kids who keep me very busy. That's my excuse.)




Sisi's first day of preschool was Sept. 9th. She goes Tuesdays and Thursdays from 9-11. She is in a similar type of preschool as Allie. There are six moms who feel like we are smarter than a three year old and can teach our own free (or dirt cheap) curriculum. We each take two weeks in a row every semester and teach the letter, number, shape, and theme of the week in whatever teaching style or method we want. The kids also get to have structured play time. Sienna loves it and feels like a big girl just like her older siblings. She even has Kamrie's old backpack from last year. (Obviously the sun was in her eyes for this picture. I didn't like the shadows that were being cast on her face, so I had her close her eyes and then open them for the picture at the very last second.)




Dallin is on a competitive traveling soccer team. He was hand picked by a coach who was tired of the recreational soccer and wanted more. Coach Bjorn is an amazing coach and doesn't even have a child on this team. (He has a daughter the same age, but this league is for boys only.) He and another guy from Saratoga Springs started this competitive team for the first time this year. The Saratoga Sting u9 (under age nine) is in first place out of ten teams so far! They are amazing to watch! I love that Dallin gets to be a part of something like this. In this particular picture, Dallin was the MVP for the game. He worked hard and made one goal. He almost made two more, but he was off sides both times. So they didn't count. We are proud of all his hard work.




One last thing . . . this is Jarin's contribution to the Cougs! Go BYU football! (I'm not sure what the pinkish, orange thing is in the middle. Maybe you can figure it out.) Since we love attention around here, this seemed appropriate. There have been many comments made because of this. In fact, one father in the neighborhood had to drive his six year old boy down to our house to show him "the Y" because he was concerned that there were too many "U" decorations in the area.

Some Updates

Obviously I'm not the most talented at blogging. Nevertheless, here we are with our latest (and oldest) news.

Today I was released as a den leader over Dallin's Wolf den and called to be an assistant secretary in the Primary. We have such a big Primary that we have two counselors and a secretary over the senior Primary and two counselors and a secretary over the junior Primary. I am the secretary over the junior Primary. I am actually very excited about this calling. I love working with young children. They are so sweet.

Jarin was released back in February or March from his calling as the Primary Chorister. Now he works with the 12-13 year old Boy Scouts as an assistant Scout master (as well as a Home Teaching supervisor). Needless to say, he is very busy with the Scouts/Young Men now.

Jarin is working VERY hard in his new landscaping job with Odyssey Landscaping. It is the busy season right now because the snow is gone and everyone is getting ready for the outdoors. So we hardly see him. His responsibilities are with sales and account managing. His dreams about driving a truck have come true. He drives all around Utah in a brand new Toyota Tacoma talking with hundreds of new people. He is loving his job and I am loving having an income!

Some More Updates

Taylor is pinning on the mother's pin because he earned his Bear rank in Cub Scouts. He worked hard to accomplish this and here is why . . . scroll down



He went from this . . .

to this.

Yes, we had to bribe him with contact lenses. He's very active and his glasses kept getting in the way. He's so much happier with them and actually takes better care of them than I do of mine.



This is what happens when teeth meet teeth.

The boys were jumping up to bite the string of a deflating balloon (fun game, I know) when their teeth met in the air. Fortunately Taylor's front right (his right, our left) had just a minor chip. Unfortunately Dallin's right front tooth got the brunt end of the deal. He now has half of a fake tooth. That's boys for you. I'm sure we'll have plenty of fun accidents in the future with these two.

Birthdays

Here are the birthdays I have missed over the last few months:


Feb.10 : Kamrie Jeneal turns 6! She wanted a "date" with her parents. So we took her out to dinner at Red Lobster (her choice) and went shopping at the mall and Toys R Us.

This is one sweet girl ready to dig into one sweet cake.

This is the family, minus the mom because she is always behind the camera.

March 28: Jarin turns the Big 3-5! We took the whole family to get some burgers from the Training Table. It wasn't his first choice to eat out there; but it was getting late, we were hungry, and the Training Table didn't have a wait like everyone else. However, we made up for it by going to Red Lobster later to get his favorite meal, the Ultimate Feast, thanks to Mom and Dave's gift card.

We're ready to dig into a gluten-free angel food cake with strawberries! Yum! Yum!

Jarin's reaction to Mom and Dave's card.




Jarin's reaction to my (sniff) card.

April 19th: Sienna Marie (aka Sisi) turns 3! This time we took the family to Red Robin.

Sisi was very excited when the waitress brought out this monster of a Mudd Pie.

As you can see, we were all very excited too!




She almost inhaled the fire trying to blow the candles out.
Her cake was very pink--just how she wanted it.

Sisi loves her new dress that Grandma D made for her.

Life

Sienna insisted on doing the dishes. She actually did a good job rinsing and placing them in the dishwasher. I need to cherish this because her enthusiasm for helping will fade, I'm sure, like the others. We are not allowed to call her our baby anymore. She will correct you and say, "I not a baby. I a big girl." And that she is. We are potty training her this week. Her "number one" is doing great. Her "number two" needs a little work, as I feared. She is afraid to go number two in the toilet. She will actually ask me to put a diaper on her when she needs to go. A few minutes later after she has "done her duty", she will let me know and I put her underwear back on (after I clean up, of course).


Kamrie had two loose teeth for a couple of months. She was excited to get her permanent teeth in, until the first one came in behind her baby tooth. I called the dentist and made an appointment for her to be seen because I wasn't sure if it would somehow still come out on its own or if it would need to be pulled. The dentist said that it had to be pulled. She only had a topical ointment placed around her tooth before they pulled it out. But she was tough. Then the dentist had to try and decide if her other bottom tooth would have the same problem. If so, she would be right back in to get it pulled as well. He felt it would be wise to pull it now versus later. This one was harder to get out. I could see her body tense during the process. I HATE watching my kids be in pain. Tears came to both our eyes. But she was still very tough and the dental assistant commented on how amazingly brave she was. Kamrie then got a big chocolate covered ice cream cone from Arctic Cirlce and eight quarters from the tooth fairy that night. Kamrie said she felt the tooth fairy take her teeth and give her the money. She now has a harder time saying words with "s" and "sh". It is quite cute.
















On the left is the Juarez Temple in Mexico. This is the temple that inspired President Hinckley to build many small temples around the world. On the right is the "Jenny Phillips" fireside group that went to Mexico to sing a few weekends ago. They are standing in front of the LDS high school called the Academy. They sang here as well as for the Stake in the area. Jarin stayed with a really nice couple with a big house. The wife is from Utah and the husband is native to the area.

Temple Square

Every December we like to go to Salt Lake Temple Square and look at the lights. This year we invited Grandma Nae, took some hot chocolate, and had a nice time enjoying one of our holiday traditions.