Temple Square

Friday night we headed down to Salt Lake to see the lights at Temple Square. We went with my sister and her family and then we met up with Josh's brother Jason and his family. Before we went to see the lights, we came across Santa at the Gateway, so we decided to let the kids go talk to him. Jaedyn was not happy to see him again this year, so I ended up having to sit with her and the boys in the picture. Santa gave the kids a Christmas coloring book and then we headed to see the lights.

We took the Trax train from the mall to Temple Square and the boys thought it was pretty cool. It was really crowded at Temple Square since this was the first night the lights were on, but we were able to get a good family picture in front of the temple when we first got there.

Here's a few random pictures I took around Temple Square...

(Top: Jaron, Treven, and Jantzen; Bottom left: Laykin and Jaedyn; right: Randy and Amy)

We watched the Nativity story...

I thought this was a beautiful angle of the temple, so I snapped a picture...I love it! I think this is the most beautiful temple that's ever been built (that's why I got married there).

After we watched the Nativity story, we went inside the visitor's center and made our way through the huge crowd to see the "Christus" statue. Jaedyn didn't want to go stand by Jaron and Jantzen for a picture, so Josh went with her this time...you can see how happy she was, she tried to wiggle her way out of his arms.

We then headed over to the temple gardens. This used to be a street that you could drive on, but the church bought it and changed it into a huge garden area that is very beautiful. This is a pond in the middle of the garden area and there were lights floating on the water with Mary, Joseph, and baby Jesus in the middle...it was awesome to look at!

I actually got Jaedyn to sit by herself for a picture!

We can't go to Temple Square without getting some pictures of me and Josh (have I mentioned how beautiful this temple is?)...

The winds started picking up and my family was "freezing", so we decided to leave. On our way out, Jaedyn hitched a ride to keep warm inside Randy's jacket.

Before we left, I got some pictures of some of the decorations in the garden area. There were several of these lanterns all over and they looked awesome in the dark...

Also, there were three different nativity scenes from Asia. They were pretty big statues and they were awesome as well...

After we left Temple Square we went to dinner at Applebee's...it was yummy. Jaedyn came out of her shell and entertained us all. We then made the drive back up to Tremonton and spent another night drinking hot chocolate and watching a movie. It was another fun night with the family.

Thanksgiving Day...2011

We spent Thanksgiving this year up in Tremonton with my family. We got into town late Wednesday night, so we didn't get to see anyone until the next day. As we were loading up in the car to go to my parents house, Jaedyn found a little pile of snow on the ground outside our hotel. This is the first time she's seen snow, so she didn't know what to think about it. It didn't take her long to figure out that it's kind of fun to play in, although she didn't play too much. She was very girly about the way she played in it (she insisted on bringing her Tinkerbell back pack with some of her favorite toys inside to grandma's house)...


We got to my parents house and the kids quickly started playing, and by playing I mean, they ran around like wild animals! My family hasn't seen me or my kids for two years, so they welcomed the craziness with open arms.

While the kids were all playing, I went to help out my dad with dinner in the kitchen. I had to get a picture of him cooking because he was using a stainless steel serving bowl as a cooking pan on the stove...I thought it was hilarious! Apparently stainless steel bowls work really good, as long as you have an electric stove.


While I was helping out with dinner, Jaedyn found a new game to play. She was shutting people in the coat closet and not letting them out until she wanted to. Laykin was a good sport and played with her for a long time. Jaedyn would call names of whoever she wanted to shut in the closet, it was cute! She even called out her name and shut herself in there.


This is what Josh did most of the day...chat with Randy (my bro-in-law) about bikes, guns, etc...all that "guy" stuff.


Finally, Thanksgiving dinner was all ready to eat. My kids are some of the pickiest eaters I know, so they didn't end up with very much food on their plates.


After dinner, Jaron, Jantzen, and Treven went outside to play at a park next to my parents' house. They found lots of snow there and they couldn't resist playing in it. I don't blame them, they never get it at our house. I love how they think they don't need to wear their coats or gloves.


I asked Jantzen why his toosh was all wet, he said, "Cuz I went down the slide into a puddle of water". I thought, "Oh goody", I'm so glad he found a puddle of water to play in, in the 30 degree weather!


The boys had a snow ball fight...


...until Jaron realized how cold the snow gets on your hands when you don't wear any gloves...


I think Jantzen's hands were already numb from the cold, so he just kept playing with the snow...


Then, the boys decided to play a little "snow ball baseball" with a shovel they found at the park...they had a blast!


When the boys were done playing, we went back to the house and everyone was already eating pie, so we joined in. Jaedyn loved the chocolate mousse pie...




After pie, we hung out while the kids played around. It took Jaedyn a little while to warm up to my sister and her family, but eventually she did and then she wanted all of their attention. She made Amy and Laykin play "Strawberry Cake" (that's Shortcake if you couldn't tell) and princess' with her, they didn't seem to mind. Jaedyn had a blast playing with her dolls, especially since she had people to play with. She smiled, laughed, and sang the whole time!




Later on, we went back to our hotel room and spent some time in the pool and hot tub. Okay, the boys spent some time in the pool, I spent the whole time in the hot tub and it felt sooo good! Before we went to bed, we all enjoyed a cup of hot chocolate and a movie (Cars 2) in our room. It was a perfect ending to a fun day.

I'm so thankful that I was able to spend Thanksgiving with my family, I wish we could spend more time together.

Princess Tea Party!

A couple weeks ago Jaedyn was invited to a princess birthday party for her friend Avery. She was excited because this was her first princess party she's been invited to and she got to dress up like a princess. She wore the dress that Avery gave her for her birthday, her pink sparkly shoes, and her tiara that she got at Legoland...she loves to dress up like a princess. Jaedyn gave me a cute smile before we headed to the party...


When we got to the party there was a table set up for a tea party lunch. On the plates were tiaras and jewelry for all the girls to wear. Jaedyn was so happy because she loves jewelry. It didn't take her long to put on the new tiara and the bracelet she got.


She loves the bracelet and she actually wore it for about three days straight after she got it.


Jaedyn didn't want much to do with eating any lunch, except for the grapes. She mostly wanted to play with the balloons that were tied to her chair...


...and drink lots of juice...


I caught Jaedyn and Rylee playing with some princess crowns that were on the table. They were using them as crowns for themselves, it was really cute...


I think the thing that Jaedyn enjoyed the most at the party was the birthday cake...she LOVES cake! (Check out the girl next to Jaedyn, she's shoving her cake in her mouth, it was funny to see)


After cake, a special guest showed up to the party...Snow White! Jaedyn wasn't happy when she showed up, she wouldn't get close to her.


This is her "Stay away from me!" face...too funny!


Even though Jaedyn didn't like Snow white very much, she still had fun dancing around with the rest of the girls...


When Jaedyn found out that Snow White was going to paint the girls' nails she decided to give her a chance. She loves her nails painted and she sat really still until Snow White was all done. However, she did give Snow White the stare down while she was getting her nails done.




This is Jaedyn showing me her nails...she's so pretty!


I tried to get Jaedyn to sit by Snow White so I could get a picture, but she didn't want to, so I sat there with her. You can see how well that went!


Jaedyn had so much fun at this party, I can't wait until I can throw a princess party for her.

"Breaking Dawn...Part 1" Girl's Night

Last Friday night I had a bunch of friends over for a party celebrating the release of the new Twilight movie, "Breaking Dawn, Part 1". I decorated my house with black and red streamers on the ceiling...


...on the table I made a sign that read, "I'm on a special diet"...a quote from Edward himself in the first Twilight movie, along with some feathers (to represent the honeymoon) and red rose petals...


I made special drinks for this special occasion. To quench our thirst, we had blood and water bottles covered in my favor vampire and werewolf, along with a sign I made...


Here's a close up of our drinks...oh la, la!!


I set up a Twilight treat table that included our "special" guest for the night...


For treats we enjoyed "blood bites" (Twizzler bites), drinks, red velvet and white chocolate chip cookies, and "werewolf kibble" (muddy buddies), served in a dog dish...


Here's a close up of the blood bites. I made a prescription tag to go on them, along with some yummy cupcakes that my friend Lara made. They represent Edward and Jacob, they were so cute!


We had themed plates to use...


...to enjoy all this yummy food...


Before we ate, we all had a little bit of fun with our guest...




Amy seemed to have the most fun...


Here's me with my girls, Savannah and Lara...


And, what's a fun night with the girls if we can't act a little crazy?!?!


"Cheers"!


There were lots of fun conversations going on while we enjoyed dinner...and Jacob even got a little extra love from Mary!


The youngest girl at the party was my little princess. She just had to hang out with us girls because we were having so much fun. Actually, she just wanted some sweet treats to eat!


After eating and socializing for a while, we played a Twilight trivia game. Taryn ended up winning (she only missed 2 questions out of 30). Then we snapped a quick picture before we headed to the theater to see "Breaking Dawn".

(From left: Amy, Rikki, Melissa, Taryn, Savannah, Me, Amanda E., Amanda's sis, Amanda D.; on the floor in front: Michelle, Natalie, Mary, Lara, Minette)



We headed to the theater an hour before the movie started, and it's a good thing we did because there was already a huge line waiting to see the movie. Luckily we were all able to sit by each other. The movie itself was good, there were a few cheesy parts and a honeymoon that lasted a little too long, but overall I loved it! It was fun having a bunch of friends to hang out with and enjoy a good "chick flick" with. Thanks girls for a fun night, you guys are the best!