Ali's Christmas Program

'tis the season for school programs. Lydia's post for her's follows this one. Ali's was a cute half hour program followed by a visit from that jolly old elf...Santa! Ali was throwing a HUGE fit just moments before this program because I didn't let her get the peanut butter out of the cupboard that she can't reach for her pb&j sandwich lunch. She is just a touch on the unreasonable side at times. So, if her eyes are blotchy and red it is because of said tantrum. Then of course immediately following the program she smiled, told Santa she's been a good girl this year, and told him she wants a puppy! Good luck with that one Ali.


Have I mentioned Bryant is terrified of Santa? Here are our most recent two visits with a very kind Santa.


Oh well, I'm sure Santa will still bring him something on Christmas Eve.

Merry Christmas, Lindon Elementary!

Lindon Elementary has a Christmas sing every year. We went yesterday and I must say, it was VERY LOUD! Lydia's choir sang a couple of songs, then each grade sings two songs.

First grade sang a cute little song called "Christmas Cookies and Holiday Hearts" and "All I Want for Christmas is my Two Front Teeth" It was cute. Then all the kids sang a song called "Merry Christmas, Lindon Elementary" They love this song and sing it at the top of their lungs. Imagine, 600 kids shouting in a very enclosed space that is barely fitting us all. Yes, LOUD! It was fun for the kids though. My biggest beef with the event though is that they work so hard to squish families in there with these 600 kids and mine never even knew I was there. I walked up to her at the end and she said, "Mom, you missed the whole thing!" Not true, my dear, I heard everyone ear ringing note. So, I don't know if I'll go next year, but it was fun for the kids, so I'm glad Lydia was a part of it.


Does your kid's school do a Christmas sing, and what do you think of it?

Awesome giveaway!

My friend is doing a great holiday giveaway called "My Kind of Presents" with a cookbook, toffee, jewelry, a jewelry box, and itunes gift card! Awesome. I hope I win something. Here's the link if you want to join in the fun. She is VERY funny, so I love to read her blog. Enjoy!

Lydia's Dance Recital

Lydia's school does some after school "enrichment" classes. I think it is amazing so many teachers are willing to put in this extra time. Anyway, one of the classes was a dance class that Lydia has just loved. It was only six weeks long, but they did a cute little Chinese fan dance at the end. It was one class with one dance, so the recital was 5 minutes long. Then a couple of parents got there 5 minutes late, so they did it a second time. It was cute, and Lydia loved dressing up. I'm glad there are so many dedicated teachers out there who enrich my daughter's life.

6 New Posts!

Keep reading. I tried to make my comments brief so you could catch up quickly!

Lydia's First Piano Recital

Lydia has been taking piano lessons for about 3 months now. She had her first recital this week. She stayed calm and did a great job. We got to do a duet together. I'm happy with the progress she is making and I'm so proud of her for her great performance!

Halloween 2010

Since I live in Utah, I would totally get away with pretending Halloween was on Saturday instead of Sunday. We had a little pre-trick-or-treating party with some neighbors. After, it was POURING, so we waited a bit then headed out with umbrellas. It stopped raining shortly after and we had a great night of trick-or-treating (after the husband headed home with the toddler to hand out candy). Bryant caught on quick though and would head up to the door and knock. When someone answered he grunted till he got his candy then would head back to his stroller to eat his treat. CUTE! He only went to about 5 houses though before said husband used him as and excuse to go home. We had a great Halloween. I hope you all did too!

Lydia's Halloween Parade

Lydia was a ballerina/fairy again this year. Many people told her she looked beautiful to her delight, so she will probably be that again next year. After the school parade, I went to her classroom to help with the class party. I did a concentration game. It was fun, but once again, tough with a toddler.

Ali's Halloween Program/Carnival

Ali's preschool always does a Halloween program for the parents followed by a great carnival. Ali wanted to be a witch. She did a great job singing with her friends.


The carnival is fun, but it gets pretty crazy trying to wait in lines with a toddler. Oh, the things we do for our kids!
What do you do at Halloween that you HATE, but your kids LOVE?

Gardner Village

Archibald Gardner is my great-great grandfather. When my family comes to visit they like to go to Gardner Village because...it's family history and fun all rolled into one! While my mom and sister's were visiting we headed on over for some great witchy fun! The girls rode the ponies.

Then we went to the mill.

Next we made friends with some witches.

We got some candy at Sweet Afton's. Last we went to the Village Christmas Shoppe for some Christmas ornaments. What...it's almost Christmas!
We're so glad my nieces Shayla and Jessalyn got to come for the visit.

Witch's Tea

Two of my cousins and my aunt threw a family witch's tea. Two of my sisters and my mom came from Washington to participate! We had so much fun. We dined on bat droppings, eye balls, and moldy soup.

Then we had a cackling contest, and a mind reading contest. We also made our own bobbles to go with the beautiful soldered charmes my cousin made. I had a wickedly great time!

Family pictures

After church on Sunday we went up Provo Canyon to view the beautiful changing leaves and take a few family pictures. I'm too cheap to go pay someone to take pictures of my kids and my family. I think they turned out pretty good though! My sister, Shannon, took them for us. Enjoy!










Which family one is your favorite?

Bryant Plays Catch!

Bryant loves balls...well, really he loves to throw so that isn't limited to balls. Sometimes he tries throwing whatever toy he's holding while he's laying down getting his diaper changed. This usually results in a bumped nose. Other than that, he has pretty good aim and distance. Tim is delighted he can sit and play catch with his boy!

Ali's First Day of Pre-school

Ali started preschool. She has Ms. Jodi who is the same teacher Lydia had. She is wonderful. Ali has already made some new friends, like the girl with the curly hair and the girl with the orange hair like mommy.

This pose is her "Ariel" pose. Oh, the things they learn from Disney princesses.

Now it is just Bryant and me three days a week for 2 1/2 hours. Nice.

Are you a celebrator, crier, or both when your babies go off to school?

4 New Posts

Yes, I'm behind again. Please keep looking after the first post. I can't believe summer has gone already. I'm excited for fall though.

What was your favorite thing your family did this summer?

Lydia's First Day of First Grade!

That's right ladies and gentlemen, Lydia has survived the summer and made it to first grade. She was a little nervous about the cafeteria, but went to school very excited to show the world that she knows everything. There was a big party at the bus stop where breakfast was served and excitement ran high. Lydia has settled in well, learning a lot, and has made some great new friends.

Pioneer Day

We got to spend Pioneer Day with Aunt Shannon. It has been so much fun to have her here in Utah with us. We went to Pioneer Day Extravaganza in Provo with the Christensen's. I didn't bring my camera though. We did a lot of fun crafts and had some good food. If you ever get a chance to go, it's great and it's free! Then we had a bbq with Aunt Shannon and lit our fireworks. We also had ice cream and peaches. Yummmm. Shannon took all of these pictures. I'm glad she did, but that's why she isn't in any of them.

Family Hike

Tim's brother and sister-in-law came to town. We had so much fun visiting with them. They have boys both Ali's and Lydia's ages.

The Rest of Oregon

Yes, we did visit with Tim's siblings in Oregon as well. We had a great time visiting with cousins and seeing more of the PNW (Pacific Northwest). Many of their cousins are older than my kids, but older cousins were very kind and welcoming with our kids. We put a sprinkler under the tramp on a nice warm day.

Bryant liked the sprinkler on VERY low and just sat and played with the streams for a long time.


The girls loved playing Just Dance on the Wii at Uncle Brent's.

We also went on Aunt Joelle's boat, played at the park, and went on a hike! Thanks Joelle, Brent, and Andy for the wonderful time and the great hospitality. We'll have to do it again soon!