Kids Valentines 2013

Surprisingly Sara wanted to do Valentine's this year and this is what she came up with.  The nice thing is she did everything herself. She designed them on the computer, colored them and cut them out. 

There were three different sayings:

I saw you and I was hooked!

You're "FIN"tastic!

You are the only fish in the see for me!

Brandon's were pretty simple.  I found a printable online for game Valentine's and he really liked them. When I asked him what kind of candy he wanted he said not chocolate. Easy peasy!

I didn't take pictures of Sophia's actual Valentine's, but here is what we did.  They said "So glad we're in the same school."  

This is the first year I have not done store bought Valentine's and they were pretty fun! 

Zurie and Sophia

I am always looking for toys and things for Zurie to chew on that will last longer than a few hours.  A huge thank you to Lizz for suggesting a hoof. I went to Petco that day and bought one.  Zurie loves it and we have had it for about a month now.

Sophia and Zurie have become best friends and by the end of the day Zurie is worn out!  I love it!

She drags Zurie around the house for hours on the leash.  So funny!

Snow adventures

Ben was itching to go snowboarding after we got a bunch of new snow, so he took Sara and Brandon to Kelly Canyon one Saturday morning.  From what I heard they all had a great time!  Brandon likes to speed down the hill, but he stayed by Sara a lot to keep her company.

 I picked up Sara and Brandon early from school and we went sledding with some friends.  Sophia was a little cautious at first, but once she got comfortable with the hill she wanted to go all by herself.

L to R: Dallin, Parker, Brandon and Jaydn

                                      

Our friends brought a tube and Sophia loved it!  Probably because it was a much smoother ride than our sleds.

 We went to Utah for a friends wedding and while we were gone there was a huge snow storm.  In fact we stayed in Utah an extra day because the roads were so bad.  When we got home we had at least 2 feet of snow on our driveway.  There was no way we could have shoveled all that snow.  Luckily a friend around the corner let Ben borrow his snowmobile with a plow.  It was hard enough just shoveling the front walk, so I was super grateful we didn't have to attempt shoveling the entire driveway.

Ahhh the joys of living in an area that gets a lot of snow.  We have to enjoy it somehow I guess :)

Chrismas 2012

*Warning-  Picture overload!*

We went to Utah the weekend before Christmas and we were so busy!  First was the Walker family Christmas party at Grandma Walkers' house.  It was so much fun seeing all of my cousins and letting all the kids play.  Santa even made an appearance with candy canes and presents.

The next night was the Esau family party at Grandma Esau's new house.  We had dinner and opened presents.  Once again the cousins had lots of fun playing with each other.

 Of course Ben had to hold Charlotte- the newest (and cutest) baby in our family.

I must say Grandma did a great job this year!

We came home for Christmas which I love!  It is so nice and relaxing spending Christmas at home with nowhere to be.

Zurie got a new toy which she promptly pulled all the stuffing out of.

Zurie also got a super long bone.  It was halfway gone in about an hour.

Next came the stockings.  Sophia made us take a picture of every little thing she pulled out.  

Brandon got a ripstick that he has been wanting for months!

 Ben is so hard to buy for, so I usually just get him clothes.  He also got a couple of books and video games. 

Disneyland Adventures for the Kinect.  Sophia loves this game and plays it everyday.

Sara and Brandon each got a Kindle Fire. They use them everyday and are always asking to get new apps.  Pretty soon they are going to run out of memory.  Ben installed kindle free time, so they can only play games for two hours a day with unlimited reading.  I love it!

Spontaneous dancing with Dad in the kitchen.

My new baby!  I love it!  Ben asked me if it was really that much bigger than my old one.  Two quarts makes a big difference babe!  I can now do a triple or quadruple batch of frosting instead of struggling to make a double batch in my older, smaller mixer.

Brandon asked us to move the van outside so he could practice riding his new ripstik.  It was freezing cold, but he stayed out there for a long time.  Now that the snow is melting he is outside almost every day and getting a lot better!

Sophia got an Innotab with a Jake and the Neverland Pirates game. She likes playing the Kindle Fire better because it has all the apps she likes, but she still plays her Innotab a lot and especially in the van on long drives.  Sara and I both got tickets in our stockings to go see Les Miserables Christmas day, so after presents we got ready and met our friends at the theatre.  It was such a great movie!  I have seen it twice now and am going again this weekend.  It just gets better and better!

I love Christmas, but am always glad when it's over.  It's a lot of work and we are always so busy! It has been nice to settle back into our routine.