Blessings

One of the families that Zach recently helped move called him up and asked him how many tickets he could reserve for us at the Sprint Center for the Harlem Globe Trotters Basket Ballgame in January. Zach told him he didn't need to do that but the guy worked at the Sprint Center and was able to get them for free and could reserve them for us. So we got 5 so we all could go. What a blast! I cashed in some of my points I get from reading emails and got us a $50 gift certificate to eat at the Olive Garden before the game (you can do the math for all the emails I had to read to get this. 6500 points is what it cost and I get 5 points/email) But it was all worth it! We had a great night and the kids sure loved the game/show!Dylan getting all the confetti off of us. They threw it right at us. It looked like a bucket of water, and as we had just watched them throw a cup of water and a bucket of water on the fans on the other side of the court we all flinched when the bucket was tossed our direction, but to our surprise it was full of confetti. Dylan loved it. Kendall had a total look of terror at first but once she realized she wasn't covered in water she was all smiles again.
She sat in her own chair most of the game. She loved to have it in the up position so that she was a little bit higher and could see more. Just over half way I look over just in time to see her stand up on the chair in this "up" position and say "ta da!" The people just behind us almost had a heart attack as she stood up and they were almost faster than I was at getting her back down.
Dylan sat in between Zach and I. He had such a great time.

Carter sat by his friends. We weren't the only family there with free tickets from our ward. Turns out the Bishop with 2 of his sons and another family with a son Carter's age came too. We all really enjoyed the show.
These guys started out sitting on chairs if you look closely. Then the guy with the magic hat took all the chairs away and the guys stayed put.

Some of our favorite stunts were the baby they took from a spectator who then spit up on the players and the audience (turns out it was a doll, with silly string). Also when one player grabed another player from behind and his jersey fell off in his hands. and third when they handed a player the ball to shoot a free throw and the ball just went up up up up up and away!

If you ever have the chance to go. I would recommend it we had a great time.

Christmas

Here are a few pictures from Christmas. We had a really nice quiet Christmas this year we just got to hang out together as a family. The Best present of all this year was that daddy was able to be home with us! We really enjoyed the whole month we got to spend with daddy before he had to finally head back to Houston to work. Ben put it off as long as he possible could and now we just have to make it through until around Brody's birthday before he will be able to make it back for a short visit so only 2 months to go.
Shelby got a shopping cart with food that Takoda found very fascinating.

Shelby just enjoyed going around and opening whatever she could.

Brody also had a really good time opening presents.

The nerf guns were a total hit with Ben and both Brody and Shelby. They had so much fun as you can see. They were so excited to just run around all afternoon chasing Daddy and getting to shoot at him. Shelby really enjoyed that part of the whole thing.
One of the best presents the whole family got was this picnic quilt made by the very talented and awesome Aunt Camry and Uncle Jesse. They put so much thought, energy, and time into this wonderful gift. The top right part is an actually checker board and she even made pieces to go with it that fit in a zipper pouch next to the board. The left side is a tic-tac-toe board with pieces also, there is even a place for the kids to color and it comes off and is washable. Then around the center piece is a square with each of our family members names on it and some extras for those who are not here yet. Thank you guys again we love the quilt.

Then just a random picture of Takoda sitting inside of her drum holding her singing sea horse playing. She just looked really cute I thought even with messy hair.

Erin

One might tend to think that after a summer full of spending time at a different park almost everyday that the kids would not want to go back to the park, but the last week of break we went to a park almost everyday. The first time I took my camera, and we tried out a new park.
The kids really had a great time at the park as you can see by the smiles on their faces. Maybe it was just that it was nice enough to be outside and play instead of being stuck in the house all day long.

It was this day that Kendall also learned to pee in the grass, as the bathrooms were locked and she needed to go. So I took her around back and she peed in the grass. That was just about all she talked about the rest of the day. "I peed on the grass." She told her dad later that night.

HAPPY BIRTHDAY JEN

Just wanted to wish you a happy birthday!!!!

My new hobby

A friend of mine makes jewelry for herself and friends. We had a foot ball party and since I had missed the class where she taught how to make it she brought her stuff and taught me while most other people watched the football game (BYU vs Arizona GO WILDCATS!! We won by the way!) So anyways I just love this necklase with the accompaning bracelet and earings I even had enough beads to make Kendall a matching bracelet. The clasp is in the front if you look closely. Anyways it was so much fun and if I made all my jewelry it would end up being so much cheeper. She is going to go shopping with me and show me some of the stuff that would make doing this easier. I am so excited. Desi I can't wait to see you and make jewelry like we talked about today. We'll have a blast! This necklace set only cost me about $4 although she provided the chain, and the clasps and wire but those are just pennies each. she told me not to buy them in a box until I was sure I was going to make more than just one set since they come in sets of 25 or 50+

Lynette