A few gems from my iPhone camera

All it took was one little cold snap with a light snow and we were in the Christmas spirit!  We made hot chocolate, lit a fire, got in our jammies and spent the afternoon cozying up together.  I have no problem with cold weather ... it means Christmas is coming!

Good thing Elle's nails don't really look like this, but her spelling of pedicure alone might win her a trip to the nail salon.  Cracks me up.

Notice anything different about Haley??  No braces, baby!

Nana came to visit at Halloween time.  These grandkids couldn't love her any more if they tried.

We need to visit Temple Square more often.  Elle was definitely moved by this amazing room.

Had a fun get-together with some of Mike's high school friends.  I adore all of their amazing wives, too.  It's always interesting to me to see where life takes people.  We ladies talked over dinner (yes, we did sit guys at one end, girls at the other -- we laughed at ourselves but it made for fun conversation) about jobs, testimonies, raising great kids who sometimes struggle with very, very hard things, financial ups & downs...  Love these great people.

Turning 15 meant that Christian could officially get his learner's driver's permit.  He studied up with a great neighbor who taught driver's ed for years and then passed the test with flying colors!


Then he drove me to lunch. :)  Look out Bountiful!

This is what happens when ...

.... Elle stays home sick from school.  Really and truly, she was sick.  Anytime she gets a cold, it becomes a major respiratory event.  But although she was hacking a ton, she felt relatively ok.  So we decided to meet Aunt KK and Grandma for lunch and to do some crafting.  I chose some cute candy jars and Elle spied a couple of pilgrims.  I turned her loose with a paint brush and she had a ball.

Seriously proud of her!  I helped a little with the eyes and wherever 2 colors met, but she did the rest.  They'll be centerpieces for our Thanksgiving table forever more.

She also decided to set up a bakery in the pantry.

She had a little bell we could ring for service, and then charged 1 hug for anything we wanted to buy.  Pretty sweet little deal.  I bought lots and lots.

I didn't mind having her home at all.  A couple of sick days did us both good. :)

Jazz night

by special guest-blogger, Haley

The other night, my dad was given two tickets to the Utah Jazz vs. Spurs game... on the first row. Knowing his other children don't care about sports at all, he gave his extra ticket to his amazing, sports-loving daughter.

The night started out with a delicious dinner in the VIP lounge at the Energy Solutions arena, complete with mashed potatoes, gravy, and pork roast--Dad's favorite.  

 

Literally five feet away from one of the Spurs' best players, Tony Parker.

Watching the players warm up before the game,

and on the court after the game.

The Jazz played well for the first three quarters, keeping their lead of about 8 points the entire time. In the fourth quarter, though, the Spurs started playing hard and the game ended 82-91. Despite the loss, it was an awesome night! I'll happily be my dad's sports daughter any day.

He's so old

Mike's birthday fell on a Sunday this year -- and since he is typically pretty busy on Sundays, we pretended it was on Saturday instead.  Which meant for some fun celebrating doing just the things he likes to do.

First of all, breakfast in bed by these cute girls.

And then we were off to the UofU game.  Definitely his happy place, and with two of his favorite girls (Haley and me).  They lost, but he was still happy to just be there.

Friends at work helped him celebrate ...

... and early the next morning, the good people he serves with at church surprised him with this little plate of goodies for breakfast.  Thank heaven for good people who take care of him.

That's 3 birthdays down (Christian, Paige & Mike) and one more (Elle) to go...  Always a crazy fun birthday season around here this time of year.

A grand retreat

About a month ago, I started asking Paige what she might want for her birthday.  She quickly replied, "I just want to spend a night at the Grand America with you and hopefully one friend.  That's all.  No presents, just a night at the Grand America."  Well .... ok then. :)   After weeks of talking and dreaming about it, her birthday weekend finally came and we headed to the Grand America.

The cute girl at the check-in desk told Paige that they had a penthouse room for the birthday girl.


Paige & Alyssa were impressed by the view.   

And the bathroom was obviously very impressive, too.

First item on the girls' to-do list was to swim in the indoor pool.  They sashayed down the hallway ...

... and then we found this amazing pool.  So beautiful!

Chandeliers in the pool area?  Yes, please. 

I cozied up on the chaise lounge and read a book while the girls swam.  Not a bad view, too. 

Paige struck a pose everywhere we went.  Very Paige. :)

Fun toy store with quite the candy display.

Free gelato in the lobby.  The girls kept ooh'ing and aah'ing over everything.

We ate dinner next to the fire in the cozy lobby restaurant, and then spent the evening painting nails, doing crafts, watching kids' shows, admiring the view and living it up "in the lap of luxury" (as the girls called it).  Fun, fun weekend.  Lucky me for getting to be the parent to take Paige.  Great way to celebrate her 10th birthday. :)

My favorite son

Ok ... my only son.  But this kid stole my heart years ago.

And he just turned 15.  Handsome guy, huh?

Elle drew him a picture of his favorite rock star, Slash.

He spent his birthday with these hoodlums. :) I'm so grateful that these guys are really good guys, under all of this freakishness.

Little bit of a transformation over the years, eh?

I love this guy, and am so proud of who he's becoming.  He's funny, witty, creative, artistically talented, respectful ... Just what a parent hopes for.  It's been a fun ride so far....

Love you, my favorite son. :)  Happy 15th!

Trick-or-treat

2 kids at 2 different schools in 2 different costume parades. Talk about multi-tasking.

My bug people ...

Love Elle's cute teacher.

I got to help in her classroom after the parade for the class party. I've sort of been banned from her class (except for parties) because Elle gets upset when I show up and begs me to check her out for the rest of the day. Her teacher & I agreed that we'd let Elle try school without mommy showing up and see if she adjusts better that way. Poor kid. Poor mommy.

Fellow bug people. :)

For trick-or-treating that night, she opted for a warmer costume.  Princess of Pop. 

Can I just say how much I love this time of year?  Look at our tree!  Every color of fall in one tree.

Mike always claims the right to take the kids trick-or-treating while I stay home and hand out candy. I don't mind. Lots of fun visitors at home, too. I bought 100 bags of chips and ran out after about an hour and a half.

My next favorite holiday?