Temple Square

On Monday, December 20th, we went downtown to see the lights on Temple Square. It was very beautiful. Both, me and Mike haven't been there since before we were dating and I have really been wanting to show the kids. They added quite a few stuff since we had been there so it was really neat. I know my pictures aren't the greatest but you get the idea :)

Gotta love all the people :)



I just loved all the trees up close. It just amazes me how many lights they put on every tree.



The kids



Being goofy...trying to wink at mommy :)



Joey really wanted to take a picture of the temple. The Salt Lake Temple has always been his favorite. His 2nd favorite is the Nauvoo temple. He was really excited when I finally let him take the camera.

Joey's picture



This was my absolute favorite of the evening. They had shepherds on each side of the reflection pond and then in the middle of the pond were Joseph and Mary. It was absolutely beautiful. They had candles all around the edges of the pond as well.




The Shepherds. I just love the tree in the background. So Pretty!





This was another tree they had created in the entry way off of South Temple.



After Temple Square we decided to go check out the new Deseret Book. They were selling cookies and hot chocolate for a dollar and they had a live performance there. They also had an art gallery of Richard G. Scott's water color paintings. They were really neat.

The kids by the pretty tree they had on display. I love the huge snowman ornaments.



Enjoying hot chocolate



Joey was super excited...we got to ride the train to and from the temple.



It was a lot of fun and I was glad the kids were able to see the lights. It is something that I have always enjoyed and miss terribly about living downtown. I was happy to be back :)

Joey's Birthday at School

On Wednesday, the 15th, we got to celebrate Joey's birthday at school. This whole month his kindergarten class has been talking about traditions. Every student and their family came in on a different day and explained to the class about a tradition they do in their family and then had an activity for the kids to do that associated with that tradition.

We chose to talk about all the activities we do for birthdays. I purposely chose one of the last days of school so that we could celebrate Joey's birthday at the same time. We talked about how we have special breakfasts and dinners and decorate our house all up and have big parties. We then gave all the kids cupcakes and let them decorate their own cupcake. They had a blast. When they were done they sang Happy Birthday to Joey. He was really excited.

All the kids decorating their cupcakes



Joey about to eat his finished cupcake





Emma still trying to pose for the camera while making sure daddy doesn't steal her cupcake :)



We had a half hour to explain our tradition and do the activity. It was short and sweet and Joey just loved that his family could all go to school with him!

O Christmas Tree!

So, every Christmas we have lived in an apartment with a very small area to put a tree. Because of that, we've got ourselves used to having small trees. I think they are cute and the kids love that they can reach the top. This year, we probably could have got a little bigger of a tree but money is tight and so we settled again on a smaller tree.

I think it is rather pretty and the kids did a great job decorating it.



Ever since Mike started BYU, I really haven't had a husband. I think this semester has been the worst of them all. Who knew that the music department could be so competitive and time consuming. We rarely have time to do things as a family. Well, because of this Mike picked up some ornaments for us to make tonight as a family. The kids really enjoyed it! Emma made a snowman, Mike made a Santa, Joey made a stocking, and I made a reindeer. We got to color them, put glitter on them and little jewels. It was fun!




I hope you are all having a great Holiday Season!

Halloween Part II

On Saturday, October 30th, the kids started the day out by having Boo Berry Cereal!




Mike's mom and brothers came over and made spider cookies out of brownies and the kids made turkeys to officially say hello to November



Then we got ready to go to Trunk or Treat. Our ward is actually a branch (weird being in Utah, I know) so they didn't have a trunk or treat so we went to my mom's.

Here they are all dressed up! I know I am biased but I do think Emma was the cutest Snow White I have ever seen! :)



Unfortunately, it started to rain pretty hard so they had trunk or treat inside. They had tables set up in the gym and all the kids just went around to the different people. I made the suggestion (like we did in Moscow) that they decorate the doors to the different classrooms and then the kids would get to knock on the doors like trick or treating. Hopefully maybe next year they will do that. My kids sure loved it!

The kids going to the different tables



Joey got tired of wearing his mask halfway through so he let daddy be Optimus :)





The kids and all their goodies!



After we went around the gym, they had a chili cook off and hot dogs and doughnuts. They also had some games like a cake walk and face painting for the kids but my kids get freaked out just thinking of face painting so we left.

I felt so bad, it was raining so hard! I did get to take the kids to 3 or 4 houses around my parents neighborhood and they really enjoyed that. After my mom's house we went to Mike's parents and trick or treated there and to 2 of their neighbors. I can't believe how much candy my kids got. Between Saturday and trick or treating at my grandmas, man they will be stocked for months.

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On Halloween, I woke up early and made my traditional pumpkin pancakes! YUM!

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Then we headed to church. After church we ate lunch and then made pumpkin cookies. As you can tell, Joey really likes his Optimus mask :)



I also made a pot pie pizza for dinner and made a jack-0-lantern for the crust. I thought it turned out rather cute



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We were going to carve pumpkins on Halloween but completely forgot and then it got too late so for FHE on Monday we did it. A day late, I know, but Oh well! Joey had wanted to carve his pumpkin all week but Mike was out of town and so we waited. So Joey was very excited and dove right in to get the seeds out.



Emma was a little more scared too but towards the end she put her hand in a tiny bit :)



Mike carving the pumpkin



The finished product



He made a D for one eye because that is what Joey requested and the other eye Emma wanted a heart. I chose the mouth. So it was a family effort :)



We had a pretty good Halloween! It was nice to see so much family and get to celebrate it with them.

Halloween Part I

On Tuesday, the 26th, my Grandma's assisted living center had a Halloween party. The kids were so excited to be able to dress up in their costumes more than once. Emma had 2 costumes this year, Tinkerbell and Snow White. She chose to be Tinkerbell tonight and Snow White for Halloween.

The kids at my mom's house all dressed up and ready to go



First we had pumpkin cookies and played BINGO. They had some awesome prizes but unfortunately none of us won any. :( We also got to meet Dani's new "friend" :) Mike. Yes, another Mike!



Emma was ready to trick or treat! Can you tell?



After BINGO, the kids got to trick or treat around to all the houses in the building. They had a blast and some of the residents were so funny! This guys was hilarious. He started to sing to Emma when he saw that she was a fairy. When we were almost done we came around to where he was at again and he was still singing :)




I just love this picture. I was trying to get all of them trick or treating but Emma turned around and posed. She is such a funny girl!



Finally we got to Grandma Madison's





It was a really fun night and I know my Grandma sure enjoyed some of her great grandchildren being there.

My Grandma is actually moving out tomorrow so I was glad we were able to do this one last activity with her.

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On Friday, the 29th, Joey had his school Halloween party and I was able to be a help room mom. So Emma and Joey got to get dressed up again. Emma decided to be Snow White this time. I was glad too because those wings were sure annoying on her tinkerbell outfit.

For the first hour they had centers. They had 4 different activities the kids got to rotate through. My station was reading Halloween stories. The kids also got to make spiders, play BINGO and make a fun treat.



Joey and his goodie bag. He is holding his spider he made.



Emma got a little goodie bag too. She enjoyed watching Joey while she ate her snacks.



Joey's spider treat he made



All of Joey's class dressed up



Then there was a parade. I was so happy to hear they were having a parade. I remember growing up as a kid and having parades every year and my mom coming and watching. They stopped doing them for awhile and I am sure some schools still don't do them do to the different religions but I was sure excited to see Joey's school doing it.

It was a lot of fun to see all the kids costumes. Some parents are so creative! Joey had a blast too!

Here is Joey's class joining the parade



This is a kid in Joey's class. I just loved his costume




Emma was a little sad because when I told her we were going to watch Joey in a parade she thought there were going to be floats and she would get to ride one.

Sad little Snow White!



After the parade everyone came back to the room for treats!



It was a lot of fun. It is fun to see all the different activities Joey does in school. He sure loves it!