Family PLAY time!!

We had all of Shayne's family in town this Christmas season - we love having everyone here!  There is always something going on and so much to do.

Here we are just chilling and welcoming the Texan's back to the cold.

FAMILY SKI DAY!!  @Snowbird Resort (right?!?  I shouldn't do these blog posts 3 months later)

Clayton, Connor, & Hunter

Chyanna 

Mychaela, James, & Hunter 

Kristin 

Hunter and James posing for me 

my snowboarder 

 Hunter, Shayne & I

how tired we felt after the day...

A pic of almost everyone - missing the Chanin's family (who made this day possible!!!) and Carson.

I just have to write down for memory's sake that James was an absolute angel all day for his Aunt Lea.  He saw that I was struggling and he stuck by me and was the super patient hero for the day.  I got myself onto a hill of moguls (accidentally) and that was not pretty.  Thanks James, for going out of your way to help me.  I absolutely love being up in the mountains and it's just 100 times better being surrounded by family!

And, bonus picture - check out our newest Christmas decor!  I'm sure it'll be enjoyed for many years to come.  

Best moment about this lamp - I teach clarinet to one of the band teachers at the neighboring high school.  As she was leaving the house - I asked what she thought of our new lamp.  She said - "it's interesting" and I quickly realized she did not know the reference to the classic movie "A Christmas Story" and sure enough - she had never seen it.  Friends, if you haven't seen this movie - it's over-due.  It's a classic family Christmas movie!

Happy Birthday to me

For my birthday, Shayne took the afternoon off from work, his parents came over to watch the kids and we hit the slopes.  It was my first time to Brighton - and I was nervous as can be (skiing accident is still fresh in my mind 9 months later).  I went TURBO slow, seriously, really, really slow and even shed a few tears as I remembered how it felt to ski like I knew what I was doing - I knew I wasn't doing it.  I was nervous and cautious.  Shayne was patient and even more patient.  After the tears, it got better.  Sorry, but this girl sometimes just has to cry to feel better.  I definitely want to keep skiing and I have no interest in pushing my limits - I've decided I can be slow and that's ok for now.  Let me get over it at my own pace, and I just feel bad for anyone who has to hang out with me sorting through that emotional roller-coaster.  All said and done - it was still a lovely day for my sweet hubby and I to celebrate my birthday.  I loved being in the mountains and I loved being with my favorite person in the world.  

Some highlights about me:

I currently serve as Primary President at church - it's overwhelming and demanding in ways I never suspected or expected.  And I love it.  I especially love the people I serve with.  I absolutely love our ward and the people in it.  It makes me never want to move.

My favorite color changes by the day - Skyler keeps asking me since his is always green.  Most of the time I say pink and I think it's because I just see so little of it in my house.  It brightens my day to wear pink or have on pink socks - silly, I know.  It makes me feel a little bit like a girl in this all-boy territory.

I dream about carpools.  I remember back in the day I dreamt about school or band rehearsals or concerts - now it's all about carpools.  This is my life.

Favorite Song: I think "Try, Try, Try" by Colbie Caillat is a definite favorite.  I cry whenever I watch the video.

In fact, I cry when I read the news, I cry when I see sad/moving stories on TV, and I cry even while reading Facebook posts.  No, not often, but often enough.

Goal for 2015: Run a half marathon.  I don't consider myself a good runner - at all.  It's by far, the most exhausting exercise in my routine - but I love the "runner's high" I feel after a run and it's something I want to do before the big 40.  I imagine myself running it and finishing it - but whenever I start the 3 mile run I normally do, I think that I'm crazy!!

I'm 3!!!

The day before Skye's birthday we made his green cake together.

The next morning, we went to the Christmas Party on BYU campus.  We've done this every year (I think we missed last year's for a friend's baptism) and Shayne remembers going as a kid every year too.  Shayne's parents joined us - and it was a fun morning of crafts and games.

Skyler told Santa he wanted a green present with an octopus inside it.  Do you see a recurring theme here?  And why an octopus??  (He had been saying this for a couple weeks now)

After the Christmas party, we had lunch together and then went to Grandma and Grandpa's house to celebrate Skyler's birthday officially.  My parents also came over to join the party - so we had all the grandparents and Skyler was so excited to have his Green cake!

While at the BYU party, Grandma decided to go look for an octopus for this little birthday boy and she found one!!  Let's see if I can do this story justice in writing - it's worth remembering!

Skyler is Grandpa's boy - always has been.  And Grandma has had every grandchild wrapped around her finger and I think it's really surprised her that she can't win this guy over like Grandpa.  So, she got this special gift and handed it to him saying "This is from Grandma, NOT Grandpa!!"  We all giggled and he opened his present and sure enough, a green octopus!!  He was very happy and Grandma said, "Can I have a kiss now?"  Skyler exclaims "Sure!" and as she leans in to get a kiss from the birthday boy he quickly holds up the octopus and let's her kiss the octopus!  Oh, writing this just doesn't do it justice.  We all laughed so hard and for so long - once again, Grandma was denied a little lovin' and it just cracked us all up!  She can't win!

Here's Skye's new computer.

Skyler's favorites:

His big brothers - he's just as big as them in his eyes

Color: Green, Green, Green

Letter:  K  (and S too) but K is definitely a favorite 

(I don't remember any kid loving a letter so much, but he goes out of his way to find K's!)

He loves to sing - he sings what he's doing, or what he just heard, or any song that comes to mind - I think his life is a musical

White blankie and blue blankie - they have to both be with him

TV Show: Blues Clues

He can name all the Simpson's characters - hmmmmm

He told me that when he turned 3 he would go in the potty and no more diapers, I'm a little behind and writing this post in January and FYI, we still have diapers

Toys: "Animals" - his little people toys and Trains

Food: Bananas

Favorite breakfast: Mommy's cereal (Multigrain cheerios) with bananas

Favorite snack: anything.  He eats ALL THE TIME!

Music: Coldplay's "Sky Full of Stars" because it sings his name and it's HIS song

Everyone loves to hear him talk - he's really adorable and always has so much to say.  Always!

We're so grateful to have this little "Skyler-man" in our family. 

A few random pics

visiting Hunter for lunch and playing ball with the big boys

Danny and Skye at Lagoon

Cole entertaining Skyler

Thanksgiving in Vegas

 This year, ALL of our family went somewhere else for Thanksgiving.  So, we decided to go somewhere warmer with just our little family.  Vegas is driving distance and maybe you're wondering how family friendly Vegas is - but we went with it and had a FANTASTIC time!  We splurged and got our family Power Passes (I think that's what they were called) and it gave us access to all sorts of family friendly activities.  It gave us the opportunity to do things we have always wanted to do - but we're too thrifty to ever do it all.  This was our chance to do a bunch of new activities!

Our first resort was a surprise (Hotwire rocks!), and turned out to be AWESOME - Hard Rock Hotel.  Here are a few quick shots of our room.  Added bonus was the heated pool.  PLUS, it was on the second level - with windows at the bottom.  You'll see Hunter and I swimming around...

We went to Madame Tussaud's Wax Museum.  There was even a 4D super-hero movie to wrap things up - that was a fun surprise!

Vegas now boasts the tallest ferris wheel in the world - it was really cool, but honestly the view over London from the "Eye" takes the cake.

Here are the gardens at the Bellagio, one of our favorite places to visit every time we go.

This was a new adventure - the Secret Garden at the Mirage.  They had dophins and also the lions and tigers that were used for Siegfried and Roy's show back in the day.

Look who was in the garden for photos!!  And he did a little magic trick for the boys too - he was a very kind man.  And he was there for only 15 minutes - we really lucked out!

Hersey's World...

Our tickets included this Comedian.  It said family friendly and it WAS!!!  It was a great show and he did a little photo op at the end too.

Another highlight was doing the VooDoo Zipline - which goes between the Rio towers.  Skye and Danny weren't big enough - but they weren't itching to go anyways.  

We also went to a fun family center with go-carts, rides, and included pizza with our passes.  And the big bonus was getting $10 per pass to the Planet Hollywood every day - we got a couple meals and also some souvenir t-shirts.  Our Thanksgiving day was at a Buffet which honestly felt like eating at a buffet any other day.  The "Thanksgiving food" was actually the worst part.  The boys loved eating whatever they wanted and of course, desserts till you felt sick.  It didn't feel like Thanksgiving.  Thanksgiving is about family and being together - so we missed being with grandparents and cousins, but we really enjoyed being together as a family.  It was a very different Thanksgiving, but a fun one!