Christmas!

We had a good Christmas this year. Jared spoiled me and got me everything I wanted and although the kids didn't get the one thing they asked for (presents were already bought before they made a request), they still loved what they got. Jared was pretty happy with his Christmas. Thank you for online deals so I could score him some new tools!

 Our one picture with Santa at our ward Christmas party. Aly didn't want anything to do with him, only the candy, so I had to hold her for the picture. The boys definitely know who he is though!

 Christmas morning! We told the boys they couldn't go out until everyone was awake so they hung out in our bed until Aly woke up.

 Aly wasn't too far behind the boys when she woke up. And the boys were sure excited to get her when she woke up!

 This is the 2nd year I've made the kids pajamas for Christmas (just the bottoms). The boys loved theirs so much last year I decided to keep doing it. They opened them in St. George so they could wear them home (they fall asleep on the way home so we end up putting them straight to bed). Crue and Cooper were pretty excited for theirs with the motorcycles and bikes and things on them. 

 Checking everything out!

 Santa brought Aly a new bike! Good thing because whenever there's one of those bikes at someone's house, she immediately starts riding it. Now she has her own.

Aly got this scooter from my parents on her first birthday. My mom sent us a charger and we found out the batter still worked so Jared brought it upstairs Christmas day. She loved riding it with Crue and Cooper!

Salt Lake & St. George

We finally went to visit my parents in Salt Lake since once a year isn't good enough for them. :) We don't mind being there, but we could do without the drive and all the tons of people there. Made us even more happy to be home!

 Jared put all the kids on the fridge before we left. Aly was grumpy I think so he got her to smile by putting her up there and then the boys joined her.

 Our first stop was Scheels. We brought lunch and ate it in the parking lot and then went inside. My brother came and joined us. It was a lot of fun to see him! He held Aly while I went to the bathroom and they looked at the fish and she let him hold her the rest of the time. She LOVED the airplane. She says airplane anytime she can see or hear one.

 The boys in front of the Santa Moose (and a lot of other animals that they loved looking at).

 They have these little picture spots so Crue, Cooper, Aly, and my brother Lex went and stood in one.

 They have a ferris wheel inside that is only $1 a person to ride! Aly was too little so Jared stayed with her so I could go with the boys since he took them the only other time they've been on one. It's been a while since I've been on a ferris wheel. I was fine once we were going but when it was stopping to get everyone off and the baskets would shake a little every time, it was kind of nerve wracking!

 We went to Temple Square and City Creek Center while we were there. The boys got to ride on dad and grandpa and I had Aly in the framed carrier that she LOVES (so much in fact that we put her in it at my parents' house and she got mad if anyone tried to take her out or even take the cover off).

 It was so beautiful!

 Crue and Cooper in front of the reflection pond.

We went to St. George on Christmas Eve like we do every year. These are the 2nd cousins that were there minus Aly and one other baby. Berlin, Crue, Dresdin (Berlin's brother), Kyri, Cooper, Berklee (Kyri's sister).

 Aly hung out/hid by the xylophone for a while. Not sure why but I made sure I got a picture.

And of course there's always the singing! Aunt Louise played and everyone there sings so well that it's wonderful to listen to!

funeral, snow, transmission, cute kids

Jared's grandma passed away so we went to St. George the weekend before Thanksgiving for her funeral. She was such a wonderful woman. Instead of sadness at her funeral there was so much peace and happiness for her because she finally gets to be with grandpa who passed away 12 years ago!

 Cute little Cooper in one of the chairs before the grave dedication.

 Jared got to be one of the pall bearers. They all put their flowers on her casket.

 This is the best picture I got of Crue. The little stinker wouldn't smile. Good thing he's still cute:)

 Aly and her cousin Cait, who is only 4 months older than her.

 In the willow tree in grandma great's backyard. She was less scared about being up there than her big brothers were!

 The kids playing in the snow while Jared was looking for the perfect Christmas tree. I love that Crue was feeding Aly snow.

 Aly was having a blast!

 Crue made these balls out of play doh for me. He was so proud. I love him so much!!

 First big snow of the season. We came home and Jared was shoveling at lunch so I let the kids play in it for a little bit. This was before Aly started screaming because her hands were so cold.

 My cousin's wife made Cooper this cute dinosaur hat! And of course it's on a cute little boy. :)

 You can kind of see how much snow we got. I think it was around 9 inches.

When we went to St. George for the funeral I dropped Jared off at the temple to do Baptisms with the youth from our ward. I turned around and heard a loud pop. I stopped to check all the tires thinking one had exploded. Jared heard something and saw me pull over so he called to see if everything was ok. I tried backing up a little and then started going again while I was talking to him. I realized that when I tried to backup it only revved so I pulled in a parking lot and sure enough, no reverse. And only 2 gears when driving. So for Christmas I got a new transmission in the suburban! We've been waiting for it to go out since we got it (2 years ago). The suburban has over 200k miles on it and it was the original transmission which is pretty amazing!

 We took daddy and Kyle dinner while they put the transmission on the suburban. Aly was feeding Cooper french fries. It was hilarious because you know how when people feed babies they open their mouths like they want the baby to do? Aly was doing that! It took several pictures but I finally got one with her mouth open.

We got some of our carpets cleaned one day so we hung out downstairs while it dried. It was during Aly's nap time but because the hall was one place they cleaned I couldn't put her down. I went to get the kids for lunch and she was crashed next to Crue, cuddled up to him. It was so cute. It's really cute to see these guys together. Crue and Cooper love Aly and she sure loves them!! She started saying Cooper and Grandpa the weekend before Christmas!

Aly

Want to see what happens when you mix an 18 month old and baby powder?

 Yep, she was covered. Along with everything in that little corner of her room where she had been.

 It was seriously everywhere. The best part? Big brother confessed. :)

 I was pretty mad (it had been a rough day) but then all I could do was laugh because she's obviously too little to know what she had done. When Cooper saw how funny we thought it was, he proudly admitted he did it to her. We weren't quite as happy anymore. :)

Alyson loves to be like her big brothers lately. She's started getting the stool and her toothbrush so we can brush her teeth like her brothers (still working on getting the stool where it needs to be to brush). Last night we were leaving Home Depot and the boys were running to the suburban. She wanted down and then took off running (as much as she can with her little legs) right after them.

Aly is so much fun. She loves all the boy stuff - cars, four-wheelers, motorcycles, airplanes, but also is a girl a little bit (not too much). She loves her bows and she loves shoes. She can also say both words which is cute. Lately when we ask her things, instead of saying yes she says yep. Not sure where it came from but she does it. She's also learned to say what when we say her name. She's growing so much! It's fun to watch her. I can't believe how big my baby is getting!

Painting Pumpkins & Halloween

Thanks to Roberts closing their Cedar store I got some paints for around $.20 a piece that the boys used to paint their pumpkins.

 I had them strip to their underwear and put their Home Depot aprons on so they wouldn't get it on their clothes. They were loving it!

 Crue painting his pumpkin.

 Crue's pumpkin. You can see the black eyes and mouth.

 Gotta love Cooper's tongue hanging out!

 Cooper's pumpkin. Beautiful creation. :)

 This little girl is the cutest thing. Along with loving hats (see previous post) she loves glasses. She brought these Mr. Potato Head glasses to me to put on her and every time they came off she'd bring them back for me to put on again!

 Attempted pictures at the end of the night after going to all the dealerships in town (they do trunk or treats - games and candy), a ward party with chili and more trunk or treating, and going to a few houses in the neighborhood. I love Aly's smile! I was squatting to take their picture so she wouldn't stand up. She had to be down like mom.

 My cute ninjas. Luckily their costumes from last year still fit (Cooper was a little too tall for his) so Jared and I wore our Ninja Trainer shirts with them.

 I call Aly "bug" a lot. When she first started walking she'd walk like a stink bug sometimes so the name kind of stuck and I shortened it to bug. It was perfect when our friends gave us a lady "bug" costume that fit her perfectly! She was the cutest little bug!!

 From the back. Notice the slippers too - they had little bug heads on them.

 Today I made cookies and after the boys had had 1 or 2 cookies we told them no more. Later Crue tells me Cooper's under the table with a cookie. I just laughed and took his picture.

Then Crue wanted me to take his picture under the table with a cookie too. I have the cutest boys!

Random, Crue's Birthday, Nitro Circus

We went to St. George to help Jared's mom plant a tree that her HOA said she had to have. 

 Jared and his dad had a race in his dad's 2 scooters. It was a tie.

 All the grandkids with Grandma except for Jared's sister's 3 boys that live in another state.

 This little girl loves hats like you wouldn't believe. She steals the boys' hats or daddy's hats and puts them on, even if I just put a bow in her hair (which she also loves).

 Why play with the toys when you can play with the basket they go in?

 The Saturday before Crue's birthday my parents and my brother & his family were down from the SLC area. My sister and her family from Cedar and all the rest of us went to St. George (reason below) so we went to lunch at Red Robin to celebrate Crue's birthday.

 Along with a free hamburger they brought ice cream and sang to him.

 My brother's work (he lives with us and works for H&S Performance in St. George) was putting on a big thing with drag races, dinos, and track runs. Nitro Circus performed that night. Jared, Cooper, Lex (my other brother), and his son Porter in front of a BIG truck (so big there was a crossmember in the way of putting the driveline in so it was only 2wd).

 My niece Dixie, Crue, and Cooper by the truck.

 At the start of Nitro Circus two guys with the wing suits jumped from a helicopter.

 One of the bikes. My camera wasn't taking good pictures for me (probably user error).

 My brother that was visiting has this big rc vehicles with independent suspension. It was flexible and the boys had fun with it (big and small).

 His son Porter having fun on the diaper boxes. That is one cute little boy! He has the biggest smile. I LOVE it!!

 Crue's birthday was the following Wednesday. We got pizza and our friends met us at the park to surprise Crue. It ended up being pretty cool so we took the cupcakes and ice cream home. I can't believe he's 5 already!

Crue was telling me he wasn't tired and didn't need a nap one day. Yeah, looks like it. :)