Happy New Year 2009!

We had fun ringing in the new year with Marf and her family. Liz and Neil hosted and it was super fun and relaxing. We all brought our Nintindo DS games and linked up and played together, it is really fun linking up with eight people! The rest of the night was filled with hanging out and pigging out on snacks! Thanks for the fun!

Christmas Day

Christmas morning is always fun...and we all got a little spoiled this year. Bri especially loved her new ipod nano, JT got an ipod touch and I am having fun with my new GPS. Yeager also got a bunch of Bri's old McDonalds stuffed toys and has been having fun shredding them and leaving piles of fluff all over the house.

For the rest of the day we all enjoyed relaxing and playing with our new games and toys. JT made us the BEST turkey ever and we had a delicious dinner.

We had a great Christmas!

Christmas Eve

Some of our favorite Christmas Eve traditions include :

Opening new Christmas Jammies

Reading the Christmas Story in Luke Chapter 2

A Christmas Eve pig-out while watching movies

And leaving Milk and Cookies for Santa.

We also drive around and look at lights. We love spending time together as a family.

On the beach...

Two weeks ago when I taught the lesson in Relief Society I got finished with my lesson and turned to my counselor and said "Three months until I have to do that again!" Well, about an hour later one of our Bishopric asked me to speak in sacrament meeting today. I have been stressing about that because I was the only speaker and they asked me to fill 15 minutes. I also have been finishing up work, had a work party, spent time taking care of some other Relief Society needs. We also had our progressive dinner a few weeks ago and we give every sister in the ward a small gift which need to be delivered to many sisters that didn't attend the dinner. That night turned out really well and I think everyone that came had a lot of fun. We have a good enrichment committee that put that together for us. Bri has had dance class, dance practice and dance recital. She went snowboarding, had voice lessons and has a voice rectial in two days. JT had a co-travel with his boss and another big-wig from corporate and he was super stressed about that.

Today I gave my talk and Bri was so very brave and sang a solo in Relief Society. It is the most beautiful Christmas song and I am so proud of her for going outside of her comfort zone and being willing to do that. She did a great job!

So basically what I am getting at is that as of right now (except for the voice recital) we are ON VACATION! I don't have meetings or parties or much responsibility to worry about for the next two weeks and best of all I don't have to work! This is the first time in years that I have been able to actually enjoy Christmas break and actually take a break! I am SLEEPING IN tomorrow!

Dance!

Bri had a dance recital with her cousins Courtney and Alex. Bri has had so much fun being with them in Jazz class and they did a good job at their recital.

Snow bunny

Bri got to go on a ski field trip with her 5th grade class a few weeks ago. She learned to snowboard and had a lot of fun. Too bad we are not a winter sport family because that was probably her one and only outing unless she has another field trip next year!

Happy Birthday JT!

Happy Birthday JT, We love you and think you are the best husband and father in the world.
You're the GREATEST!

Boys in the Hood

JT and Yeager like to bond in their hoodies!

Someone had a growth spurt...

From the time Bri and Keekin were little girlies (they are two months apart) they have been pretty close to the same size. When they were playing over the weekend I noticed that Bri seemed taller, but she was wearing heels so I didn't think much of it. Later I had them stand next to each other without shoes, and then I measured them on the wall. Bri is now 1 inch taller than Keekin...but it won't be for long I am sure. Probably in two months Keekin will have her age 10.5 growth spurt and catch up to Bri! : )

Bri started calling her Keekin when they were toddlers and she couldn't pronounce her name. We think it is cute and still call her that. Hopefully she doesn't mind!

I am including some fun pics of the girlies together. I love that they are best friends!

Home Depot Project

Bri and Keekin got to go to Home Depot and make a project. They had a lot of fun making art easels and then spent the day together playing at our house. (Jen, thanks for the idea!)