Merry Christmas to all, and to all a good night!

On Christmas day it feels like all the fun stuff happens before 7:00 am and then the rest of the day drags all day long! It has been a very long, wonderful day. The kids have played with all the toys they got for Christmas. The girls have been doing crafty things all day, and the boys have been playing Guitar Hero, Aaron included. Ashton got a stash of about 15 Cars the Movie cars. Him and Brayden love them. Taylor got a digital camera, scrapbooking things, and a knitting loom, amongst other things. Emma is all about the drawing, coloring, and crafts. Dallin got Guitar Hero and an electric drum set. They are all very pleased with their loot. It has been a very peaceful, happy day. I am however, very excited to go to bed tonight, it has been a long day.(OOPS, did I already mention that once or twice!) We have had a wonderful holiday season and we are looking forward to the new year. (Notice Braydens new SMILE)

Are you sure it was a Christmas party?

Ashton had his preschool Christmas party today. All week he talked about getting his face painted. He wanted a candy cane and a Christmas tree, very "christmasie" right! Well, when I went to pick him up, this is what he came strolling out with on his face, Spiderman, go figure!!!

A glimpse of what's to come!

My brother and sister in law came for Thanksgiving and we went out in the freezing cold that Saturday for them to take family pictures of us. From the small glimpse that I saw, they were so awesome. I can't wait to get the CD and share more of these great pictures with you all. Thanks Alma and Nicole, you ROCK!

Happy Birthday Ashton

Today is Ashton's 5th birthday! He waited all day for his party this evening and had a great time playing games and he got lots of toys. He had a Madagascar party! I was so happy with how the cake turned out. I tried using some fondant icing for the first time! He loved it! I can't believe my little guy is already 5. He seems so little still. We love you Ashton and we are so happy that you are a part of our family.

So it's not the best family picture, but it was fun. The night we carved our pumpkins we decided to mess around with the camera timer. This is what we got!

Halloween part 2

Halloween

My happy little pumpkins

That's not all

No pictures or anything, but we also had a piano recital and and friends birthday party in between all of the other things. Now, onto Halloween week!

Church harvest hoedown

We had our ward fall party tonight. We had a square dance caller and I was so excited, however Aaron was not! We had a good chili and cornbread dinner and then the dancing began. We(including Aaron) had a great time. It was so much fun laughing with everyone learning the steps. I didn't get a lot of pictures, but if you can see the barn in the background, I painted it. Nothing fancy but it was nice to do something creative again.

Halloween Party

Our friends had a Halloween party last night and it was a lot of fun. We had great food and got to have a great time with friends. As you can tell, we went as a german couple. My mom had a dirndle from when we lived in Germany and I cut off a pair of Aarons old cords and used suspenders for lederhosen. It turned out pretty cute!

What a busy week!

Aaron had his "ribbon cutting ceremony" on Monday afternoon. It was an oppurtunity to meet a lot of new people and the picture will be published in the newspaper in a few weeks. His new location is great and we have had a lot of positive feedback. The other guy in the picture is the other doctor sharing space with Aaron. He is a good doc and gives Aaron someone to help keep him motivated and to bounce ideas off, not to mention, share half the expense with! Keep up the good work Aaron!

A hunting we will go!

So this weekend was opening day for deer hunting, and Aaron had a buck tag. So Saturday we loaded up the family,(yes, we made it a family event) and headed up to the mountains to our area. Aarons area is only about an hour from our house so it is not to far. We found a herd of 6 or 7 bucks but they were on private property and we couldn't find who owned the land to get permission. It was so frustrating because they were only about 50 yards from us and they could care less that we were sitting there watching them. There was a 7x7 point buck in that group!!! We got permission to hunt on the land next to where they were so we tried to spook them that directions but they wouldn't spook! It was so frustrating to be so close but not be able to do anything. It was like they were saying, nany nany boo boo, you can't catch me! So, we ended up staying the night at my sisters house who lives about 10 minutes from where we were. We got up bright and early in the morning at headed back to the same area. There were two 5 point buck on the property. It took Aaron a little while to actually shoot, but he took out the bigger of the two and he went down right away. We called my brother in law to come help us gut it and load it up. We came home and took it to the processor and in 7-10 days we will have our deer meat. It was a fun time with memories to always remember!

The photo tag

So here is my photo tag and the story behind it. You are suppose to choose the 4th folder and then the 4th picture and tell the story. When I saw which folder it was, my first thought was, I hope picture #4 is decent!! The reason I say that is because it is Braydens birth pictures. Just so you know, all the birth pictures are modest and appropriate. So here is my picture.


If any of you are wondering, yes, I had a home birth in a birthing pool. It was a fabulous experience! My labor was 2 hours long and it was the coolest thing to be able to lift my own baby up out of the water. The picture is taken as he came out of the water so he is only seconds old. I have had 3 home births and 2 birthcenter births, all natural, unmedicated. They were all great experiences. I could go on and on about my experiences but I won't. If you are ever interested, just ask, I love to talk about it! So enjoy my picture tag and I tag- Stacie, Shannon, and Jill
P.S. Don't mind the date on the picture, it isn't right

Happy Canadian Thanksgiving

Yes, today is Thanksgiving in Canada. Aaron's mom is Canadian, which makes Aaron 50% Canadian, which makes my kids 25% Canadian, which they all think is really, really cool! So tonight for dinner, we were invited over to mom and dad Smiths house for Thanksgiving dinner and boy was it yummy. It was a great teaser for our American Thanksgiving! We had all the great food and then we had pies for dessert. Homemade pumpkin and apple pie. Thanks mom and dad for a great night of food, we are so stuffed!

The Pumpkin Patch

Tis the season for the annual pumpkin patch trip! Today we went with my brother, Chad, and his family. We enjoyed the time together, but more importantly, everyone got along with no fighting!! The patch had a slide, 4 goats to pet, a straw bale maze, and a tractor hayride. It was a nice cool fall day and this really helped us all get into the mood for fall. I love fall! The "sweatshirt" weather, the leaves, the change in the foods I can cook, like soup, I love soup on a chilly day. The kids each got a pumpkin to bring home that we will carve in a few weeks. This season is so exciting for my kids because it is the beginning of "the funnest part of the year." Hope you all have a warm and cozy October!

I'm so proud of my kids!

Sometimes it takes something like parent teacher conferences to reaffirm that all you are doing as a parent to raise a good citizen is working. Last night we went to see Dallin and Emmas teachers. They are both doing fabulous! Dallin is the 5th highest reader in the entire 5th grade of the school. They say he is somewhere around an 8th grade level. She also told us about a "game" they play called sticks. Each student gets a stick and they have to pass it to the person in the class that has helped them or been kind to them etc. She said that each time they do it Dallin gets about half or more of the sticks from the other students. The students all say that Dallin is always kind, helpful, and considerate to everyone. He is everyones friend! We sure love our gentle, compassionate Dallin! Emma is also doing well. She is above her grade level in reading and writing. She is always helpful to everyone and likes to show people how to do something if they don't understand. We have always called her our "little mommy". She is also always thinking of others feelings and including everyone. She is such a great friend. We love you too Emma! Taylor didn't have conferences this time, but she is doing great and we love her too!! They all have 2 weeks off from school for the "fall break." We don't have much planned but I am excited to spend some time with my kids. We love them so much!

On the move!

Well, it is official we are moving! Before anyone freaks out, let me explain. It is not the family that is moving, it is the office. We have been talking for awhile about moving the office further north and an office space was brought to our attention about 6 weeks ago. The space use to be a chiropractic office for a long time. After switching hands some, and a doctor that got in trouble with the law, it has now been sitting vacant for over 2 years. It is in a great part of town, with more square footage than the old office, but mostly we got a smokin' deal because the landlord wanted to fill the space. Because we have more square footage, we found another doctor to come in and share space/overhead with us, which is even better. It has been a crazy few weeks with a few more still to come, but once everything is settled down and running smoothly, I know it will be a great thing. Stop on by and see us! (Sorry for the car in the picture, this is actually the proof for the sign being made.)

HoHum

Well, I have been waiting for something exciting in my life so I can blog about it, but nothing is really going on. Kids are all doing great in school. Ashton is in preschool and swim lessons. He is loving both! That's it! So here's a few pictures just for fun.

Aarons New Ride

So about six weeks ago we sold Aarons truck for 2 reasons. Lose the car payment and lower our gas bill! So for the last few weekends we have gone to a car auction to try to get a second car. It's been hard when Aaron takes the only car to work and it is raining when it's time to pick the kids up from school!! We just hadn't been able to get what we wanted for the price we wanted. So today we had a VICTORY! He bid, and won, a 1999 Land Rover Discovery! It is a nice vehicle and will get him to work in the winter. I know the gas mileage isn't much better than the truck, but we will have no car payment, YAHHHHHH! So here it is!




Sorry the pictures are in the garage, it was raining outside so I didn't open the garage door. You get the idea.

Goofing Around!

And saving the best for last!!!

Braydens new hide out

This is how I found Brayden the other day. He likes to climb in the toy box and throw all the toys out onto the floor. He also likes it when Ashton shuts the lid on him, but only for a minute.

Ashton is off to Preschool

Today was Ashtons turn for his first day of school. He was so excited all morning and kept asking me when it was time to go! Once we got to his teachers house, he seemed a little nervous but still OK. Well, she told him to go ahead and go downstairs. He looked down the stairs, looked at me and started crying! Poor guy! He ended up being very brave and staying. I haven't received a call so I guess he is doing good. He started asking to have his hair spiked each day, so cute. Way to go Ashton, we are so proud!