Wednesday, January 12, 2011

Christmas 2010


Whit has three best friends. Annie the dog, Pearl the chicken and his little sister Anna.



This was the Christmas of Wheels

Whit got a Strider. Look up Strider on Youtube. We have high hopes.

Heston says he got a "real pro bike."

Casey got a bike with gears so she can "keep up with the rest of us."

Levi got some roller blades for the "new skating rink."



Jodi got a hole.........

and Chris got some concrete for "the new skating rink."

Actually, we finally broke ground on our new house December 12th. It has been a long process of designing, getting bids and financing. We began this process last Easter. Things are progressing very good despite the cold weather. We are pretty excited about it all. Truth is, we can't afford to finish the basement so we told the kids we were building them a skating rink in the basement. Levi asked if we could buy a disco ball.

Sunday, January 2, 2011

December 2010

We had the opportunity to travel to SLC and attend the Mormon Tabernacle Choir and Orchestra Christmas devotional. The guest artist was David Archuleta from American Idol fame. We were excited when we were randomly selected from the Church's random selection process (lottery). Later we found out that there were over 1 million requests for tickets and only 84,000 were granted. Who knew this show was the hottest ticket in town. People were selling them on KSL.com for $70 a piece. It was a really good show and a good experience for the kids to see the Conference Center.

Luckily we have a sister-in-law that lives on the U of U campus so we had a place to stay. Dallas is always a good host and so gracious. The kids had a lot of fun in the snow.

We also took the opportunity the next night to go to Temple Square and see the lights. The kids had fun but were definitely ready to get out of the city. You can imagine the crowds on a Saturday night the week before Christmas. We always ask the kids when we are in the city if they want to move. I guess it is our little way of reminding them how lucky it is to live in such a rinky dink town.

Levi was a little discouraged that we didn't have snow. He said one evening, "This stinks, we won't have snow for Christmas." A couple of days later, we were hit hard. We had a foot the first night and a few smaller storms after. In fact, the district even gave us a snow day just before the break. However, when our spring break in late April is one day shorter, you can bet that everyone will be moaning and groaning about the snow day.
Levi and Casey told us they were building a winter wonderland. We didn't get a lot of pictures but we had forts, recliners, snowmen and anything else a winter wonderland has.

Here are some pictures of the night of the first big snowfall. Whatever the apparel, rubber boots and pajamas or shorts and bare feet, everyone had fun.

We thought we had better include a picture of Anna. It is so cold she is always inside or bundled up. She is really growing fast. Time for another one.


Just kidding about another one.

Here is a cute video of Whit playing in SLC at Aunt Dallas's house.


Casey is still progressing with her gymnastics. We haven't decided if the whole gymnastics thing is worth it. She is gone 3 days a week for a total of 9 hours. The tuition for a year would be one mortgage payment. This will lead to competition which will be more money and all for what, so she can try out for cheerleader when she is in high school which will be even more money. But on the other hand, she loves gymnastics, it keeps her active and it has been really good for her confidence. Plus she loves the TV so we are certain she would sit in front of the TV and snack during the 9 hours she is gone to gymnastics. We have decided that it is worth it......as long as she still practices the piano. She is doing great!


Listen for Casey's little cheerleader. We had a family night at the gym. The girls were able to show off for their families.