Pinewood Derby

Our ward had an elder's quorum family pinewood derby. We had no intention of going and then one morning Easton said, "Did you know that there is going to be a race car race and the primary kids are invited; even me!" Well, how are we going to say no to that? We did not want to spend much time or money on a car, so a few hours before the activity we made this one. It is an old pinewood derby car of Riley's that we sanded down. We taped a can of corn on top to give it more weight. Then we let Easton and Brady color it. It didn't turn out too bad.

Our car was definitely not the fastest but it did win an award for "Best Use of Materials."

Our Kids

Easton enjoys posing for pictures.

Silly Brothers

While shopping at the fabric store last week, the boys found some superhero fabric that they wanted. They looked so cute picking out their own fabric that I just had to get it for them. When we got home I made them some pajama pants.

Jaylee and her Backpack

Sweet, Loyal, Noisy Chewy

Jaylee woke up too early and crashed at her desk. She needs to sleep in a little better!

Jessica Turns 30

I am now 30 years old! I celebrated for an entire weekend. On Friday night I had a girl's only "Just Dance" party. Sara made me the cake and Shayla decorated. It was a spur of the moment thing but it turned into a real party.

On Saturday my parents took me and my family out to dinner. Afterwards we came back to our house for cheesecake (by Riley) and presents.

On Sunday, Riley made me a fancy dinner. We tried to use the opportunity to teach the boys about good manners. It actually worked, but only for that night!

The boys were worn out from my busy weekend! At least they didn't ask why I get a whole weekend of birthday festivities and they only get one day!

Jaylee's First Haircut

Don't worry I am planning to let Jaylee's hair grow! However, since Melanie was already trimming the boys' hair I thought it would be good to have her trim and even out Jaylee's hair a bit. Jaylee is so used to having her hair fixed that she just sat and didn't make a sound the whole time. She probably enjoyed it (I don't think I am quite that gentle when I fix her hair).

Happy New Year

We spent New Years Eve with Riley's family. On the way to their house we stopped at the store to purchase candy bars for the traditional Candy Bar Game. Every year since Riley was a little boy his grandma has sent him money to purchase the candy bars for this game. It was fun to see my kids start picking out the candy bars. It is a tradition that I want to keep going in our little family.

Since we weren't together on Christmas we opened gifts on New Year's Eve. Of course, my kids were excited about that.

Nana and Papa led the grandkids in a New Year's parade. It was pretty adorable!

2nd Snowfall of the Winter

Sadly, we have not had much snow this winter (though it is snowing pretty good while I write this). This was only the second big snowfall we have had, but it was wet enough that the kids were able to build a snowman. Riley helped them and they did a respectable job. However, in true boy fashion Brady began destroying the snowman shortly after we took the pictures! Poor Jaylee was sad to see her snowman be destroyed... darn brothers.

Random Shots from the Past Few Weeks

A few months ago I found a cute pattern for making dinosaur, turtle, and caterpillar blankets. I decided that I wanted to make them for each of my nieces and nephews' birthdays this year. I have made two so far and I am really happy with how they have been turning out. Hopefully I don't get tired of making them, or else the kids with birthdays at the end of the year will be bummed out!

My kids are always dressing up like superheros. Does anyone elso notice that Jaylee is always looking at her brothers to see what they are doing?

New Hairstyle Alert: Double French Braids.

Christmas Day 2012

Easton and the rest of the kids were excited to see that Santa came.

For some reason our boys love flashlights, and enjoyed finding some in their stockings.

Jaylee got a Cabbage Patch Kid from Grandma and a Barbie from us. It is weird shopping for girl toys.

As expected Jaylee, Grandpa, and Lyra looked cute in their matching Christmas clothes. It was totally worth the time I put into it. I was really glad Jaylee and I were feeling better and were able to go to church. Though we didn't get any pictures, the rest of Christmas Day was fun. After church we went and sang Christmas carols at a nursing home with the other members of my parents ward, and my mom made a turkey dinner for us when we got home.

Christmas Eve 2012

Christmas Eve ended up being kind of eventful for our family (if you consider half of your family puking eventful). We spent the day at my parents with Joe and Jared's family. I did not feel well most of the day and threw up twice. I decided I would tough it out so I didn't miss any of the festivities. That plan was working well until Jaylee decided to start throwing up when the family was all gathered and ready to say the dinner prayer! Aside from that, we had a good day.

Joey brought along his little dirt bike and Grandpa built him a jumping ramp! It was pretty entertaining.


In keeping with tradition, Santa stopped by for a visit and brought everyone presents. Easton noticed that Santa's boots looked just like Grandpa's boots. He is getting a little too old to be fooled, I guess. Luckily, he kept it a secret from the little kids and still believes in the "real" Santa.

The above pictures were our attempt to get a picture of all of the cousins together. It went about as well as could be expected!

Brady was sweet and gave Grandma a hug to thank her for his new dinosaur.

When we got back to our house we exchanged our family gifts while I laid on the couch. When the boys finally went to bed, I fell asleep on the couch, and Riley set up all of the Santa stuff. He did a great job, even though he got stuck doing it all by himself.