Sunday, December 30, 2007

Rayman.....



This game is a must have for friends, family, New Years', any good time that is wanted.
Cameron's sister and her husband got us this game for Christmas- and we love it!!!!! Kairi has to have a time limit to play it, because otherwise, she would play all day long. Last night we had some family over and the boys played this game. The antics it created were so funny I snapped a few pictures so that all could see how ridiculous it made you look, but what a great time we were having. Happy New Years'!!!!!


Santa & Santa?


My Dad and his wife are quite the adventurous couple. They decided to sign up to run in the Las Vegas "Santa Run" that benefits Opportunity Village. Anyhow, this year was of particular importance as they attempted to break the world record of the most people dressed as Santa in one place. They actually beat the world record with over 7,000 people. However, England stomped them within the week with over 10,000 people. Better luck next year, Dad.

Eskimos, & Igloos & Penguins & ICE?!

Well not only has the Uintah Basin been blessed with extreme cold a few weeks ago. It was then nudged out by some storms which warmed us up, and then brought SNOW, lots and lots of Snow. One day I measured 11 inches on the ground with probably a 3 inch layer of ICE underneath that. We have icicles everywhere and snow and it feels like all of the above. Some time has gone by that we haven't had snow, but they keep telling us it will continue to come. I think it may have been about a week now that we haven't had any snow which has been a welcome reprieve. Anyhow, the amount of snow has led the people here to become creative with snow removal and management. We caught this being done across the street from our apartment and snapped the shot as it truly shows what it has been like around here....



Yup, he has a snow blower on the roof and a salt spreader too. We have come up with all kinds of scenarios that could explain Why someone would go to such great lengths and the most popular is that since it is a business, an icicle dropped and hit someone and so it has become important to manage the snow and ice in this way.. Leave your comments as to what could have caused this and after a few days I will post them and we will take a poll.

Christmas Day!!!

Every year for Christmas, Cameron and I go overboard. This year was no exception, financially.... but the gifts were a much smaller scale as we are holding out for that darn house to complete. However that is a whole other post/blog. So needless to say it was great fun. Kairi loves what she got and most of it consists of accessories to some other "thing" that we have. The one other thing that stays consistent is our #1 Christmas rule (instituted the, year we were married) absolutely no Christmas presents can be anything that is needed!!!!! It must be frivolous and materialistic and unneeded. Perhaps this detracts from the Christmas spirit, but it left us time to just enjoy the season (because we all have wants) and teach Kairi about gifting and how the Lord didn't receive anything he needed. He gave the one thing that we all WANT (whether we know it or not.) It was a wonderful Christmas.

Emo-snowman


Nuff said......

Grandpa's Hat


My dad and Talon came here for the holiday and of course, came bearing gifts. My dad also came with this outstanding hat that the girls thoroughly enjoyed- especially Kairi. So we went outside to showcase the hat, the Grandpa, the Girl and the Snow..... Merry Christmas!!!!

SANTA CLAUS



Yup it is time for the annual trip to see Santa Claus. In years past Kairi would have nothing to do with the Jolly Fat Man, but this year she was all about him. She was still a little nervous, but managed just the same when I went and sat by Santa too. After a few minutes she finally warmed up enough to tell him what she wanted. Kesslynn was with us when we went to see Santa, however she fell asleep before our turn, so she missed out. Kairi, of course, asked for a horse with a carrot. Now she spoke of this several times and when I finally went Christmas shopping, we discovered exactly what she was talking about-- that stupid "Butterscotch" Furr-real Pony that is touch activated and moves around and is HUGE!!!!! Heck no was I getting her that thing!!!! So Santa just forgot and that was that. Maybe I'll be the one with the coal this year as a result....

Tumbling





Kairi started Tumbling last summer and really enjoyed herself. So I kept her going in it. For Christmas, her tumbling group had an exhibition. It was fun to go and see her perform, however she mostly just jumped on the trampoline. She really struggled at the beginning, because she wanted to be all decorated like some of the other kids and after a classic Kairi-meltdown, we finally got her calmed down enough to participate. Needless to say she (and we!) finally pulled through.

Shoot-Bang

I recently was asked to take pictures for friends and family. Kaitlynn is the subject of many a picture because she is so fun to shoot and Kathy (my mother-in-law) claims she likes my work. Anyway so Kaitlynn's school pictures are here and we did them in like 30 minutes. We take a lot of pictures here at the Temple grounds because not only is it the Temple, but it also has beautiful landscaping and masonry work that dates back to 1907. Needless to say that I always know I can get a great shot off here. The other subjects are of our friends the Young's. They have been friends for 7 years and asked me to take a picture for them for Christmas. I was more than happy to do it and we had fun with the snow. It made for beautiful scenery as a great backdrop. The only drawback is how incredibly cold it was. Especially for the girls who had to be without coats to get just the right picture. I hope you enjoy the pictures......

Saturday, December 8, 2007

Men of the Snow

There has been a lot of snow. Now that means there are a lot of snow men being built. Here are a few that our family has contributed to:


Gingerbread Houses




I am normally ambitious and make my own gingerbread and all of that stuff. However, I decided this year I could make the gingerbread and be burned out on decorating the house, or improvise with graham crackers and enjoy the decorating part. Option B had more appeal and so that is what we went with. Kairi and I spent an hour or so decorating the houses and had a blast doing it.

Clapping Kesslynn




Sorry about the naked (mostly) baby, but we caught her clapping and it was so cute!!!! I just had to share it. The more you cheered for her the more she would clap. How fun!!!!!

First Snow

Ya!!! We finally got our first snow of the season. And how appropriate it was on December 1. (Happy Birthday, Madeline!!!) Nothing gets me more into the season than the Snow. Cameron says I am funny, because I grew up where there was no snow, so he struggles to understand how it matters. Personally I think the snow carries a magic with it that draws our thoughts a little quieter and allows us to slow down and appreciate the season. Anyway, we all got out and enjoyed the snow and all the fun things it offers. Our neighbor and his little girl that is Kairi's age joined us as well. Trevor and Tarah. They were a lot of fun and Trevor wasn't afraid to get in there with the kids. It was inspiring....

Mental Note

I have been trying to give my kids every conceivable Christmas experience I can this year. And that would include writing a letter to Santa Claus. So as Kairi is learning to write, I decided that I could help her write a letter to Santa Claus. This is what we came up with...



Her letter reads:

Dear Santa,
I have been good. May I have 1. Horse 2. Ice Cream 3. Violin 4. Dolls 5. Books Love, Kairi

Where she came up with this stuff, I don't know. I also think that we will have to leave a couple of these up to Santa, because we don't have room for the horse for sure.

I'm really good at.......

STANDING!!!!!! Kesslynn is mastering the art of standing on her own. She is also walking up and down the furniture. This month she has exploded in the number of things that she is doing. I am anticipating that any day now she will just take off walking. She can pull herself up to anything, bend down to pick up a toy and stand again without falling over and now she is even taking Kairi's doll stroller and walking around the living room. It has been fun to watch and she enjoys the freedom it brings her.

Community Holly Days

Each year Vernal has "Community Holly Days." They are great fun with all kinds of free activities throughout the day on the day after Thanksgiving. We went this year. It was cold, but we were rewarded with some fun things to see and do. We barely touched what was available, but Kairi seemed to enjoy it and that is all that mattered.

There is always a parade of lights with Santa at the end.......



And the "Polar Express"......



This year they had the fire dancers and they were pretty cool as well.......