Santa Pictures :)

We did the FotoFly Santa experience at Thanksgiving Point this year, and what a deal!  Nathan is the Santa in these pictures, and because we had gone in the summer, we got a %50 off coupon! I think they turned out fantastically.  They boys thought it was funny that Daddy dressed up as Santa, and there were reindeer to see and a real Santa to talk to as well.  I highly recommend them!

 

Best.Ski. Day. Ever!

James and I got to go skiing with Oaklee and Erika 

on Monday.  James was great, and immediately took 

back to skiing.  Erika is a really

good skier, and said James is probably even ready for the

next bigger lift!

Well, we also saw skiing down the Little Cat run Santa!

The real, legit, Santa! We waited for him at the bottom of the run

to be able to talk to him: 

 Santa had candy cane skis, a bag he carried with

candy canes to give out, and jingle bells.

Well, after saying hi and getting a picture, 

we were getting on the lift,

and he said "can I ride up with you?"

Um, of course!

 

  Santa and James!!

This was such a neat experience! 

He even told James he'd talk to the elves

about the helicopter that turns into a velociraptor 

that he asked for!

At the top of the lift, I could tell Oaklee was sad that

she didn't get to ride up with Santa, so we

said "wait for our best friend Oaklee".

Santa then took the time to have her grab his bells and 

ski down with her, then rode back up with her. 

Then after the ride back up, he WAITED for us to have James

hold his jingle bells, and gave a mini lesson all the way down!

What lucky kids!  

Pays to go on a Monday afternoon, half day pass!

 

 At the end of the day, all smiles from Mommy and James.

James did the jumps, can turn great, and doesn't need

help to get approach the lift(it gets steep at the bottom before the lift).

He really only needs help getting on and off the lift.

Santa taught him a great way to get there on his own!

I was happy I had rented a helmet for him as he is much faster

this year.  I can't believe how well he's doing!

It was THE Best. Ski. Day. EVER!

Dipping Pretzels

Grandma and Papa just moved into their new home a few days ago,

but one of the last activities James and Jack helped them with

was dipping pretzels for Christmas.

 James was great at it and dipped all the pretzel knots,

by himself!

 Taste testing for quality control :)

 Jack was happy just playing with some toys and Papa

 We've missed Papa and Grandma, but it's only been really

two whole nights that they've been in their new house.

We loved having them though, and we are very excited that

they'll be living so close now!

A Very Successful Provo Trip!

A couple of weeks ago we got to take our cousin Lilah out to play 

and give Kristie a much needed break when we
headed down to Provo:

All loaded up

We headed out to see the Bean Museum at BYU, 

but when we got there we discovered it was closed!

A few tears were shed (seriously), but Mommy came up

with going to the BYU dinosaur museum instead.

That worked out as the pictures can attest:

 All together on the camera phone :)

 Before going back we ended the day with ice cream,

and there were happy faces all around.

They were so good, we'll take Lilah anytime!

After dropping off Lilah back at home we met Kirstin
to get some dinner at the Riverwoods in Provo.
The boys saw the lights, and they wanted to walk around
them.  It was FREEZING at this time,
in the single digits, but we still did it.
The boys also asked for shrimp(?) for dinner,
so we got theirs from Tucano's, shrimp on a skewer
to-go, then over to Kneader's for Kirstin and I's dinner.



 A tree made out of these light balls

Look who was at Kneaders in the Riverwoods?

A Santa's helper, and both kids ate so well so they could
go and say hi, and ask for what they would like for Christmas
(a v-tech helicopter that turns into a velociraptor,
yep, a combined dino and flying vehicle for their
playing pleasure). Neither was scared of the big guy himself,
and they were great to take a picture as well.


Also at Kneaders was my old Bishop Jeffs from
my freshman year at BYU!  He was a wonderful
Bishop, and a friend too.  I had lost touch with them
about three years ago, and actually thought about him
and his wife on the way to the Riverwoods, and then there
they were eating as well!


Jack put on this hat in the car, then kept saying
"look, I'm Santa"


Giving hugs :)
Overall, a very successful trip to Provo!  

Black Friday

So while most people in the country might have gone 

Black Friday shopping...

 

 ...and while we did look over the toy magazines...

...Nathan's Aunt Heidi and cousins from AZ were going to be at the

farm, and since we love that place anyway, 

that's where we decided to spend half the day :)

 We took a long fourwheel ride down to the riverbottoms,

and we went over some big logs while we 

followed an owl, found a herd of deer at least

fifteen strong and the BIGGEST buck I 

have ever seen not mounted.

He was actually fighting another buck

for control of the does, and we got to watch!

 Londyn and Jack up at the Porter's house

 Taylee, James, Londyn, and Jack on the

fourwheeler I was driving

 Ty, Sydney, and Taylor that Syd drove

 Back at Grandpa's house there were kittens :)

And these three just adored the kittens

 Misty and I prego together!

Her baby is coming the day after Christmas,

and mine in February sometime, so these boys will be pretty close

in age (and hopefully to each other)

 Aunt Heidi and I

She is such a doll, I love her sense of style, and she is

so beautiful inside and out.

A wonderful example of a wife and mother.

Happy Thanksgiving!

Thanksgiving this year we spent with the Kutterer's, it was great! The kids ate (there went the turkey legs, they love the legs!), cousins played, and adults were able to have time to talk.  I'm so happy we got to spend it with my sisters this year :)

 The little kid table :) Cousins Tyler, Kira, Tanner, their cousin Jesse Kutterer, 

 and Jack and James

 He likes the juice, go figure :)

 Playing at the pool table with Tanner

 Tyler, Kira, and James

 I love my sisters :)

 I'm so grateful for me little family,

they complete me

We set up the Christmas tree that night,

and they kids kept wanting to take their

picture in front of it! 

Grammies Comes to Visit!

We drove back home from Colorado on Wednesday, and we had a stow-away...Grammies came home with us for a few days! The boys loved having both of their grandmas right there with them for  a while:)

 On Saturday there was "Time Out for Women" in Salt Lake City.  I had had a ticket, and we were able to get another for my mom to go with me.  Kathy, most of the Aunts, Grandma Hiller and Grandma Haworth, and a few cousins went.  It was wonderful, and I loved how close we sat and we got to see Ann Romney!!  That was my favorite.  If I never get a girl, I can always be like her (she had five boys!).  I also enjoyed hearing Sherry Dew speak, which is big for me because I thought I didn't like her, but she was good, and I've had a change of heart. 

 Me and my moms

 More of a group shot

Kirstin came on Saturday and spent the night, then on Sunday

her friend Mark came up too.

 Group shot

 Mom and her girls

We really enjoyed having Grammies stay with us

and visit.  And we are so glad she is well enough

again to travel!

 James and Grammies

Kisses at the airport

Love you Grammies!!

An Early Thanksgiving: Part 3

 Tuesday in Colorado:

In the morning the boys and parentals and I 

headed over to see their horse, Cinnamon.

She is getting really old, I can't believe she's about 

33ish?  Give or take a two years.

Nathan was content to not go 

a) he had some work to do, and b) he's allergic

to horses and doesn't like going much

to the barn or to see them.

 

 No, this is not their horse, this is Ben, whose 

four greats-grandfather is

Native Dancer.  Don't know who that is?

Neither did I until I looked him up, apparently 

he was a pretty big deal back in the day, won 

every race entered in, except the Kentucky Derby, but

still won the Belmont Stakes and the Preakness.

(So almost the triple crown)

Was horse of the year twice...etc.

Anyway, you could tell that Ben was different

from the other horses at the stable.

He was chisled, tall, beautiful,

not a regular horse but one with good lines.

And we the owner happened to be there, AND

happened to have him saddled, and asked if we wanted

a ride around the arena!  Pretty cool!

 Jack's turn

 This is Boompa and Cinnamon with her winter coat

 Jack loved the horses, and actually wasn't scared!

He asked to ride Cinnamon again and again and again.

 James wanted to make volcanoes in the dirt...

 ...but we got him up, and he did like it once he

was up, (I'm holding him, you just don't see me 

in the picture).

 At the barn

 Jack ran to the tractor that is just there to "drive" it

 After the horse experience we went back to Grandma Kitty's

and next door (literally) is the 

Wildlife Experience,

another neat museum, and luckily she got us

free tickets!

 Pulling Grandma Kitty along.

All the grandparents were worn out after

spending a day with the kids!

 Most of the animals moved when you approached them.

 Looking at prairie dogs poking their heads out of their holes

 

 Another kids zone area,

Mommy and her baby elephant 

 Mommy and her tiger

...right after the this they pretended that the tiger was

eating the baby elephant. They were crawling around,

the tiger literally pouncing on the baby elephant,

then saying "I'm eating you", the elephant "oh no,

I'm dead".

...some of their favorite shows are

National Geographic for Kids,

which still shows the circle of life I  guess.

 

 More kid's zone, and James was still sporting

the tiger tail.

We drove back on Wednesday morning. 

Jack did not want his picture taken then,

but James was good with it.

Thank you Grandma Kitty for having us

stay with you!  It is always a pleasure!