Christmas Programs

Both Makayla and Caden had their Christmas programs at Little Learners. 

Makayla's program was on Saturday December 12.

 Makayla did so well at her program. She was one of the loudest singers in her class and did all of the sign language and dances. We were so proud of her!

 My favorite part of the night was when the kids sang their last song. All of the kids were screaming it. I was laughing so hard my hands were shaking, then I was crying because I was so proud of Makayla and so sad because she is just growing up so fast.

 Both sets of grandparents were there to cheer her on.

 And Makayla just adores her teachers this year. Miss Shaylee and Miss Leslie are so cute with the kids.

 Caden had his program on Tuesday, December 15.

 Before we left for the program, Caden had a little melt down because he didn't understand why he was wearing his church clothes. He was bawling and telling me, "What if my teachers don't like my outfit!" I assured him his teachers would love it. Then he started crying because he didn't want to go up on the stage. After a lot of reassuring and a good pep talk from Daddy, Caden was ready to go. He even got really excited right before the program and was telling us he was going to sing "Jingle Bells" really loud.

However, when it came time for Caden to go up on stage, he got nervous again. This was pretty much the face he had all night. Even when we tried to get him to smile, he just stayed so stoic.

 Until the program was over and he got a sucker, then he was happy again. He kept screaming, "I got a sucker!"

After the program we could tell Caden was so proud of himself, and we were even more proud of him. We knew he was nervous, but he still went up on stage and did his very best.

We are just so proud of both of our little preschoolers!!

Thankful

I'm thankful for these three kids. They bring so much joy and happiness into our lives. I'm thankful they are so close in age and that they love each other and love to play together. 

 I'm thankful for Brynnli. She is our baby, our mess maker, and our snuggler. She is like the perfect puzzle piece that brings our whole family together. The kids absolutely adore her, and she adores them even more.  I'm thankful she is a happy, healthy, and busy one year old. I'm also thankful for her even though she wouldn't eat her dinner this particular night, but she had no problems eating her Oreo cookie.

 I'm thankful for this little dude! Caden is our little buddy, our comedian, and our peace maker in the family. I'm thankful for his positive attitude in every situation. Even when he is sad about something, he usually says something like, "but that's okay because..." I love the way he puts so many emotions and hand gestures into everything he says, and how he sometimes stutters, and how he just makes us laugh with his stories. I'm thankful his pesky tonsils are gone, and he is in a major growth spurt now. It is so fun to see him chunking up, sleeping better, and asking to eat all throughout the day.

 I'm thankful for our sweet Makayla. Makayla is our little mommy, our boss, and our best friend. I'm thankful for her desire to learn. She is only four years old, but is already reading. I'm thankful for her creative side. She loves to color and draw pictures; she makes us at least 20 pictures a day. I am thankful for her willingness to help. She is always helping me clean up or helping me with Brynnli and Caden. And I'm thankful for her insistence to pose and take multiple pictures when she gets ready in the morning.

I'm thankful for Tyler. He is my best friend, the hardest worker, and the best dad around. I'm thankful he makes me laugh every day. I'm thankful he works so hard so that I can stay home with the kids. I'm thankful he is my best friend and that I can talk to him about anything. I'm thankful he is grounded, conservative, honest, and ethical. I'm thankful he is such a good dad and that he plays with the kids and teaches them. I'm grateful he is mine!

 I'm thankful we are so close with both of our families, and that we get together for family parties a least a few times a month.

I'm thankful for my health, for living in America where we are free, and for my religious beliefs. 

Happy Thanksgiving!

Brynn

I'm kinda late posting this one, but this little cutie pie got her first teeth! Her bottom two teeth showed up about a month ago. I couldn't get a good picture, but if you look closely, you can kind of see them.

 Brynnli is such a cute little girl! At 14 months she:

-Can say a few new words: "nigh-nigh," "buk" (book), "piggie," but her favorite words are still "no, no, no, no!" and "hi".
-Loves to say hi to everyone, especially at the store and at church.
-Thinks she can walk wherever she wants. Seriously taking her to the store or a restaurant is an absolute nightmare!
-Still needs her binkie and blankie to fall asleep at night and loves to tickle her face with her blankie.
-Loves Caden and Makayla, and loves to try to play with them.
-Hates to be in her car seat. I feel so bad for her because she ends up being in the car a lot these days with Makayla and Caden's busy schedules.
-Looks more and more like Caden everyday.

Occie Evans Award

We got the chance to present the Occie Evans Award this year, and I was lucky enough to go out on the field with them to present it. It was seriously one of the coolest events I have experienced! 

 I don't have any pictures of us actually on the field because obviously we were on the field. Between us and the recipient and her family there were a lot of people on the field. We were in the back so you couldn't see us, but it was just cool to be on the field.

The award is awarded to the top female athlete and this year a softball player won.

 Some more pictures of us for your enjoyment.

 Then we got to watch the Utes lose the game... bummer, but it sure was fun!

When we Weren't Having Fun, We Were...

When we weren't having fun this month, we were...

Crawling in the dryer and screaming bloody murder until Mommy came to the rescue

 Snuggling with our blankie

Looking handsome and grown up for preschool

 *Doesn't she look more like a 16 year old than a 4 year old? Sigh. 

Being best friends 

 Eating a very nutritious dinner of peanut butter, yogurt, Eggo waffle, and mac and cheese. Mom thought it was healthy. Daddy disagreed. Caden ate every bit of it.

 Sleeping in our ugly hat.

Visiting Grandma Draper and Dellah

 Making scary face pizzas.

 Reading our "magazine" AKA the Halloween ads

 And wearing our underwear outside of our pajamas.

And finally, my favorite part of the month: #Convoswithourkids

While driving up to HannaLand, Tyler and I were trying to talk and we kept hearing Caden in the backseat saying, "excuse me guys... excuse me guys! We finally asked him what, and he responded, "Excuse me guys, but I think we're going to crash!"

We were talking with our neighbor and she was commenting about how cute Brynnli is and how she wanted to take her home, and Caden got all upset and told her, "But Brynnwi is our wittle sister, and we wuv her!"

If you ever want to know what I sound like when I get mad at the kids, just listen to Makayla go on one of her rants, "That's it. I'm not going to clean up your mess anymore Brynnli!"

I was commenting to someone how Brynnli is just so busy lately and it is exhausting to keep up with her, and Makayla piped in as serious as could be with, "Maybe we should throw her in the garbage."

Trick-or-Treat and Something Sweet

Halloween day was so much fun this year. We got together with Tyler's family for our annual Halloween/Birthday party. 

Meet our adorable kids: Princess Anna from Frozen, Pirate Caden, and Tigger

 We arrived at Tammy's and got to see everyone's costumes.

The Chavez family as witches and a werewolf.

The Jones family with a goul, Cubs baseball player, and a lion

 Craig as Tom Brady and the deflated football scandal

 Tammy and Bruce as the hunter and the deer...

 Ryan and Beven as Popeye and a bear

 Grandpa Collard as a clown and Lousie as an Eskimo

 Now I don't want to brag or anything, but Tyler and I came up with the best costume of the night. We convinced Tracy and Terry to be part of Warren Jeffs' polygamist family.

 We arrived a little later than everyone else, and Tyler pulled up the car with the tree of us in the back seat. Everyone was laughing hysterically, and it was so hard for us to keep a straight face. I have never laughed so hard as when I saw Terry and Tracy dressed up. Seriously the funniest costume. EVER! We seriously nailed it!

Wife #1 with Warren. I am his favorite wife.

I really don't think that costume could be topped. 

A few more pictures for your enjoyment...

 We had lunch, played Bingo, and then went Trick-or-Treating around Tammy's circle.

 Brynn is not the smartest... she kept getting her head stuck in the railing.

 After the party we came home and the kids got to go trick-or-treating around our neighborhood. They had so much fun and got way too much candy!

Halloween is so much fun with my cute little family!!! Until next year, Halloween.