Ending our year in Utah…

When I realized that I would be going to Rexburg for our friends sealing, I decided I might as well another 3 hours and be in Utah and see family.  Andy was working everyday until the new year, so I figured why not, and it would be a fun way to spend the rest of the break.

We arrived in Centerville around dinner time and wasted no time at all to have fun.  In sitting around and talking with KayLee and Carlee, we decided to hop in the car and go get Carlee's ears pierced.  She has been waiting so patiently since her birthday in October, but there are no places in Helena to have your ears pierced, so we haven't done it.  It was so exciting to be doing this with Grandma KayLee and all the kids and cousin Sammie came too!  We went to the Claires in Farmington and luckily there was no wait and Carlee hopped right up in the chair and chose her blue flower stud earrings.  The closer it came to the actual piercing, the more nervous Carlee was, but she never backed down.  Marin was so cute to hold her hand while the rest of us tried to document the moment on video, cell phones, and cameras.  Then it was done and over in 2 seconds and that was that, done, and pierced.   There were no tears, just a little red and sore, Carlee did amazing.  Porter, Tessa, and Marin were so proud of her, as was I.

The next morning, Sunday, KayLee and I thought it would be fun to head down to temple square and watch the MOTAB perform, we made Porter and Carlee come along.  Going downtown to watch them perform is never a disappointment, brings tears to my eyes every time, the music is so moving…..so moving that Porter fell asleep and slept through the whole thing!  After the concert we took a few minutes to walk around the Salt Lake Temple, it was cold, so that didn't last long. The rest of the Sunday was spent being together and hanging out with the fam and the cousins playing.

Monday, KayLee and D were brave enough to go on a shopping adventure down past Salt Lake.  We had fun trying on clothes and dresses etc. and then had lunch at Chik-fil-A.  Porter stayed home with Grandpa and did men things like going to the outdoor store and shooting bows.  After shopping D, Erin, and I took all the kids to Get Air, the extreme trampoline park.  The kids had a blast and got all sweaty which equals success.

Our last day in Utah was pretty chill, we just hung with Grandma, went to a few stores and visited more with family.  It was New Years Eve, so I let Porter and Carlee sleep over at the Tyler's, which they had a blast staying up late doing fireworks and being with their cousins.  Tessa, Marin, and I hung out until Marin fell asleep, so Tessa was my date.  I woke up New Years Day and headed back to Montana.  Again, the kids were so great on the drive.  I think they know that when we do this drive without Dad that they all need to help out more.  I am so happy that I decided to make the trip down there, we always make memories that we wouldn't have other wise.

Tyson's sealing….

I had the amazing opportunity to be a part of the sealing of Reid and Mishel to their adopted son Tyson.  Andy was working a string of night's and unable to come, but Mishel had lined up a few babysitter's to meet us there.  So I loaded up the kids and we were off to Idaho.  The drive was a little iffy with snowy roads, but so worth it, and the kids were great.

Being able to be in the sealing room with our friends and their super cutest kids was such an honor.  The feeling of spirit in the room was peaceful and perfect.  Thank you Reid and Mishel for letting me share in your special day, it was so fun!  I love you and your kids like my own family.

Christmas 2013….

Our Christmas holiday this year was great.  Andy had to work on Christmas Eve, but only until 3, so it wasn't that bad.  We spent the evening together with Gramps and Nana and had a wonderful dinner with a ton of food and just enjoyed each others company.  The kids were all having a hard time leaving some of the presents alone.  It was a constant begging of "can we pleeeaaassseee just open one???".  After dinner and letting the food digest, we finally opened our Christmas Eve pajamas and movie.  After our movie, Andy and I worked hard and quick on getting the kids to bed, then it was time for us to set up Christmas.  It is such a job, but oh so fun and worth it.

Of course Porter was the first kid up on Christmas morning.  We called Gramps and Nana and let them know the rest of the troops would be over soon, so they came over.  When everyone was awake and together we decided to rip open presents, not really though, the kids are all so good about taking turns opening presents.  It was just so fun and I think Santa delivered some awesome gifts!  I think the biggest surprise was from Andy….he bought the family a camper, yes a camper, like a trailer camper!  He put the keys inside of a box and told the kids to look outside.  Carlee went into the garage and was the first to figure it out and just started screaming!  It was so fun and crazy.  Andy was so great and he and the 3 older kids spent the night in the camper.  We spent the rest of the day just being together and playing with toys.  Nothing is better than all of Christmas day in PJ's.  That night the missionaries came over for dinner and for a game.  It really was the best way to end the day, with the elders sharing a message of Jesus, the true reason why we have Christmas.

The next morning we woke up and got the kids going and went skiing!  Porter, Carlee, and Tessa were such pros and I was so impressed by them and their moves.  Marin and I just kind of hung around the backyard (the bunny hill) and played in the snow and sat in the snow shack watching and having snacks.  Christmas break has been a blast!

Finally some snow….

The kids have been waiting and waiting for some snow and it FINALLY came!  It is not much, but it is enough to do a little sledding.  So we got all geared up and went for it.  The funnest thing this day was the ditch in the back yard.  We have this little dug out area to help with the flow of water and because we have had some rain/snow mix that melted, along with freezing temps, it created our own little luge track.  The kids would get a running start, flop onto the sled, and slide down it, even I could not resist the fun!  There are times when I wish I lived in Hawaii, but then I have moments like these where I see the kids sledding and all bundled up and I realize, that seasons are a good thing.

Girl Day….

December is such a fun time of year and also a little crazy.  The girls and I did some last minute Christmas shopping today at Murdoch's, of our favorite stores, although there is not much to choose from here in Helena.  I have had many moments where I cannot believe that I am the mom to three beautiful, crazy, fun, and sweet girls.  Today was one of those.  I watched them for a minute at the store just laughing and being together as sisters.  They were probably a little louder than they should have been, but they were happy, truly happy with life, and that is what makes me happy as their mom.

After shopping, we went home, took a 5 minute breather and then got ready for their surprise.  I was taking Carlee and Tessa to see the Nutcracker with Nana!  Nana came to our house and then we all drove together to Mckenzie River Pizza Co., another one of our favorite places.  The Nutcracker was so fun to see and it was fun to see Carlee watch and understand what was happening.  The girls loved the music and dancing, it was a great performance and a great night!

6th Annual White Elephant Party…..

To keep the tradition going, we decided to have another White Elephant Party!  It was a blast, and this year, to spice things up a bit, we added an ugly sweater contest to it!  I was so impressed by all of the ugliness that was happening at this party, people's sweaters really were some of the most horrible things I have ever seen.

We started off the evening of the other Shay and myself taking pictures of everyone in their sweaters, then it was time for the great food we had.  To determine the ugliest sweater we had a voting station where everyone was to vote for the ugliest sweater and the sweater that displayed the most Christmas spirit.  After everyone ate it was time to get serious about the gift exchange.  The gifts that were given and exchanged were great, or not so great, which was great, haha.  We had things from rubber chickens, to Duck Dynasty floor mats, Christmas Story movie cups, Handerpants, custom N'Sync band ornaments, Christmas bears, chocolates, and many more items.  I think the best gift of the evening was the gift that Andy and I ended up with.  I will not go into too much detail about the gift, but the picture might say enough.  The Seamon's went above and beyond and made a custom doctor kit the was "endorsed by Andy".  It was so funny and slightly embarrassing, but oh so great.  The big winners of the sweater contests were Nate for ugliest sweater and Reid for most Christmas spirit, it was a close call though. 

I cannot say enough about how great the night was.  I am so grateful for the fun friends we have made here and for everyone's willingness to go along with the festivities and be silly.  We are already on the lookout for horrible gifts for our next party….

Nate and Tiffany


Reid and Mishel


Seth and Kristin


Jared and Brooke


Us.  Please take note of Andy's elf boxers….


Micah and Nichole


Brett and Shay.


Kurt and Leann


Nate and Davina


The pile of gifts


The Sanders and their loot.  See the hander pants…..


Andy and I with our medical kit, white silky robe, and whipped cream.  I love this picture because you can see the tears in our eyes from laughing so hard.


Making the final decision of the sweater winners.




 Reid and Nate with the ribbons and horribly ugly sweaters.

Gingerbread houses and Kindergarten….

Andy and I were able to go into Tessa's class and be helpers for the gingerbread house making activity. It was such a fun and messy afternoon.  All of the kids were set up with their own package of graham crackers and can of frosting and they were able to go over to the candy table and choose any candy they wanted for their house.  The candy selection was amazing because each child in the class brought some of their favorite candies.  Andy, Marin, and Tessa had a pretty rocking' gingerbread house.  I was so lucky and was able to help Tessa's friend Samara because they were short a few helpers.  Samara was so cute and sweet and Tessa was so great to check on her and make sure we were doing okay.  I love when we are able to go in Tessa's class and spend extra time with her especially when she is doing awesome things like this!

Gym fun at HAC….

What do you do on a Saturday in Montana when it's freezing cold in December???  You go to the HAC gym and play around and get the crazy to kids to run around and get the sillies out.  Mishel needed to clean the gym this day, so we all went along, helped out a bit, and played.  Marin gets so excited when she knows she is going to see Jessie, they are just the best of friends.  The kids had a great time playing on the bars, running around dancing to music, attacking each other, and being bounced on the tram by Reid (who was almost crashing into the ceiling).

Warren Christmas Program 2013….

Porter, Carlee, and Tessa were all so great in the school Christmas program.  Warren Elementary puts on the best show every year.  The songs they sing are so fun and they all have great dancing to go with them!  It is fun to hear new and creative Christmas songs besides Rudolph etc.  Not that I don't like those songs, but it's fun to hear "Cowboy Christmas" where the kids are swinging their lassos around.  Porter, Carlee, and Tessa all looked so cute and they did an amazing job singing and dancing.  I can't wait for next years show!

A visit from Glama….

The kids were so excited when they found out that Glama would be coming to visit from California.  It was perfect timing, right after Thanksgiving and just in time for us to go and hunt down the perfect Christmas tree.  Glama came the day after Thanksgiving and our tradition is to go and get a tree, and that is what we did!  We paired up with the Sanders, bought a $5 tree permit, and hit the mountains.  The weather was good that day.  There was snow on the ground, but not too much to make it scary.  It took us a long time to find the perfect tree.  Being new to Helena, we are just finding our way around trying to figure out where to go.  The Sanders found one pretty quick,  and we eventually gave up and Andy went up further in the mountains, where the van couldn't go, to find a tree.  We met back up at home and had a fun party setting up the tree.  It was so great to have my mom there as we got out the ornament boxes, so many of my childhood memories are in those ornaments.  I truly think that opening up the ornament box is just as exciting as Christmas morning!

We did lots of fun things with Glama while she was here.  It was fun to drive her around Helena and show her where we live.  She was able to go to the kids school and see their classes, we went to Buffalo Wild Wings, shopped at Target, went to see Frozen, got Carlee's cast off and hung out and watched movies.  On her last day here, we went to Tessa's ballet performance at the festival of trees.  That was so adorable!  Tessa did an amazing job at her first ever dance performance!!  I was so proud of her.  It was also so fun to walk around and see all of the decorated trees, then we headed upstairs to the craft area where the kids did all kinds of things.  We needed to leave a little early to take Glama to the airport, but first we went to Wendy's for lunch and then it was time to say good-bye.  The kids were sad to see her go, she is so fun with them, but we were grateful for the time we did have!

 

Tessa's first ballet performance…..

Our little Tessa May is a dancer, and a dang cute one too!!  Tessa loves to do ballet and she loves her teacher, our friend, Mrs. Kris.  It was time for their first ballet performance which was at the Festival of Trees!  She was so nervous and wasn't sure at first and was hesitant to go. Her group was performing to "All I want for Christmas is my two front teeth".  But when Mrs. Kris came up and took her hand she was off.  Tessa did a great job nailing all of her moves and to top it off, she looked soooooo cute!  I am just so proud of her, she really went beyond her comfort zone with this and it just shows that she is growing up and getting older! After her performance we had time to walk around and look at all of the trees and we took the kids to the kids craft area where they played games, made crafts, and got their faces painted.  It was a really fun day.

 

Coolest class reward ever….

Tessa's Kindergarten class won the school contest for most box-tops collected.  Their teacher, Mrs. Ralph, opted for them to go bowling instead of doing the traditional ice cream party!  It was so awesome for the whole class, what a fun field trip.  They all got loaded up on the bus and went to the bowling alley and Andy and I were able to meet them there to cheer them on!

Take my picture mom….

My little Marin likes me to take pictures of her with things, it's so funny!  The latest few requests came when she was wearing her favorite "mousy" hat and with her water bottle.  Of course I don't mind taking her picture at all because she is so darn cute!!

And it's off, for the third time….

We have been waiting a looooonnnngggg 4 weeks for Carlee to get her cast off.  We went to the doctors office with not just our fingers crossed, but everything possible crossed, hoping that it would come off for good.  Luckily that was the case and she only has to wear a brace for 6 weeks or longer if necessary.  She will have to ease back into cheer, but should be okay.  It was so cute and sad when the cast came off.  First off all her leg was nasty, so Andy took Carlee over to the sink and gave her a mini bath right there in the cast room.  Carlee was a so excited to walk, but slowly she began to cry when she realized how hard it was to walk again.  I think she was a little embarrassed by her new limp, she didn't even want to go back to school, which was fine.  We had her just come home and take it easy and watch tv.  I really just can't believe what a trooper Carlee was throughout this whole ordeal….again.  I just pray that she never has to be in a cast again, but that probably won't happen.

Thanksgiving 2013….

I love the Thanksgiving time of year.  I love that it's fall, the kids get a break from school, we spend a lot of time together, we make lots of yummy food that we can't eat, and it's prep time for the Christmas holiday.  This year I started to make a lot of the food the day before, and of course, I had some great kitchen helpers.  Carlee and her friend Natalie "helped" by watching and being silly.  The thing that takes the most prep and time is the rainbow jello.  I don't even like jello, but it was a tradition in Andy's family, so I make it for him, and it looks so pretty.  Marin and Tessa helped Andy make the pies which was a huge mess, but oh so cute.

Thanksgiving day was great.  We had Nana and Gramps over, the missionaries, and our new friends Brett and Shay over.  It was a great group and so much fun.  I love after everyone is done eating and the kids run off screaming happily and playing and the adults just sit and relax waiting until the last possible minute to start the clean up.  Really everything about the day was just so fabulous and fun, I am so grateful for those we could share it with.

Young Women In Excellence, The Treasure Within….

We finally had our Young Women in Excellence program to end the year.  We went with the theme of The Treasure Within, going with the idea that the girls have a treasure within them.  We had a wonderful program reviewing the Personal Progress Program and seeing all of the amazing projects the girls worked on.  I was so proud of the girls and proud of them for following through on their commitments.  It was a great night and I am so lucky to work with these Young Women, other leaders, and especially the Beehives.

Boo for Halloween and Boo it happened again….

It is easy to say that Halloween this year was NOTHING like we had planned.  The day started off great, the kids all went to school so excited for all of their class parties and had their costumes in tow, ready to change into at the end of the day.  Porter was Willie from Duck Dynasty, Carlee was Dorothy, Tessa was Glenda, and Marin was an Angry Bird (again)  I took Marin in town during the day for the trick-or-treating at the shops which was so fun.  It was a good way for her to get a lot of good loot and fast.  We met Nichole and Anna there making it extra fun for Marin.  Then later Marin and I went to the Warren for the school parties.  When we got there, Carlee's class was just coming from gym and starting to change into their costumes.  I noticed Carlee was limping around and trying not to cry.  She said that she has twisted her ankle and fallen in gym when she stepped on a hula hoop and slipped and fell.  I kept asking her if she was okay, but she was trying to be tough and didn't want to leave her class party.  Meanwhile, Tessa's class was doing their Kindergarten costume parade and walked through Carlee's class.  Tessa looked so pretty in her Glenda the Good Witch costume.  I think she was so proud of her awesome costume and wand that we had made the night before.

After school we went home and had dinner and Carlee just rested, her ankle was really bothering her.  Finally it was time to head to the church for the trunk-or-treat.  Carlee was still in pain, so Andy took her to the ER to check her out and splint her leg, he was pretty sure it was broken.  So I was at the church with Porter, Tessa, and Marin getting some candy, but it was soooo cold and windy.  Marin did not want to walk around.  Finally Andy and Carlee returned to the church with a wagon for her to ride in.  I was so sad for her and just wanted to go home, but Andy was not about to let that happen.  He pulled her around the parking lot, then insisted that we go and do some real trick or treating.  We headed over to the East Gate neighborhoods and again, Andy was pulling Carlee around in the wagon and carrying her to the doors.  Finally the temps beat us and the kids were tired, it was time to call it a day.  I typically love Halloween, but this year threw me off a bit.  Hoping for a better, accident free Halloween next year!

I have to give a huge shout out to my amazing mother-in-law for making the girls costumes.  We just could not find good Dorothy or Glenda costumes for the girls, so I finally asked KayLee if she would make them, and of course they turned out amazing, I know the girls felt so special in them.  Thank you so much for your time, talent, and effort KayLee, it means so much to the girls and I.  Love you!

Carlee's Baptism Celebration.....

We had an amazing weekend celebrating for Carlee's baptism.  First to arrive here in Montana on Thursday evening was Andy's parents and they brought Danielle and her kiddos, and Chris and Aubrey and their kids.  They got in pretty late, but we woke up our kids to say hi, they all just love each other so much and get so excited!

The next morning was a lazy morning.  We all took our time getting ready, the kids just played, and we just sat and visited.  Eventually we made it out the door for some girl shopping time and the men headed to the virtual archery range.  Us girls had so much fun at Target and Murdoch's, that is about all we have here in Helena.....After our shopping was over and the kids had enough, we went home and made dinner.  It was about this time that Mike and Erin showed up and they also brought Lauren.  We had a great dinner together and a wonderful dessert of Uncle Chris's cookies, I am pretty sure he made 6 dozen for everyone!

Friday night was a highlight for me because us girls finally had time to do our "Favorite Things" activity.  This year was just as wonderful as the past 6 we have had.  We all laughed and cried and talked, sometimes all at the same time!  There were some great "favorites" this year.  Danielle gave us each her favorite cookbook and showed us some of her favorite things in the book to make and she also gave us a bottle of the Torani syrup in coconut flavor to make dirty Dr. Peppers.  Aubrey gave us each cool water bottles and a pair of socks.  Lauren chose a super cute scarf and wrote each of us a letter that made us all cry.  Erin gave us all bubble necklaces.  I gave a baking mat and a picture of President Monson.  KayLee....well she always goes above and beyond....she gave a coat, purse, jewelry, ice cream scoop, chap stick, lotion, and more that I know I am forgetting at this moment.  After all was said and done us girls stayed up late chatting, doing nails, and taking horrible pictures of ourselves that caused me to laugh so hard I was crying.  I love these women and I am so grateful for their presence in my life, they inspire me and are great examples to me, I am just so lucky to have them as my sisters and KayLee as my mother-in-law.

Saturday morning my family had family pictures so we went and did that and left everyone home to get ready.  Pictures went well, Marin had a few moments, but I feel like we got the job done and I am so excited to see the final product from my friend Janna.  We took some pictures on my camera but I know they don't look as great as Janna's will.

When we got home from pictures everyone helped to do a quick pick up and then we headed to McKenzie River Pizza for lunch.  We had a great lunch, good food, good company.  After eating we came home and started to change and get ready for the baptism.

Our family headed up to the church early to get some pictures of Carlee and get her changed into the cute white suit.  She looked so adorable and yet so mature at the same time.  She didn't seem nervous at all and I could tell how special she felt each time someone came up to congratulate her.  The program began and talks were given about baptism, one talk was about the Holy Ghost given by KayLee.  Erin and Lauren played a beautiful musical number while some of the grand kids sang along.

At one point during the program I looked backed behind us because we were sitting in the front row, and I was overcome with emotion.  We had so many people there to support Carlee on her special day, it just meant so much.  Each of Andy's siblings were there, his parents, Aunt Chris and Uncle Glen came from Bozeman, my parents, so many of our friends from Helena were there, it was just so wonderful.  I will say this over and over, but it is because it's true.....Andy and I are so blessed with the people in our lives, they are great to us.

The baptism itself was great.  Carlee just walked right into the font and was ready.  Seeing my little "stinker" standing there with a big smile on her face brought tears to my eyes.  The feeling of the spirit was so strong and peaceful, I was so happy that Carlee was so happy.  I was so proud of her for choosing to be baptized.  After the actual baptism was performed it was just her and I in the bathroom getting her back into her dress.  She kept talking about how warm the water was and that it felt good.

After many pictures and hugs we headed back to our house for food and fun.  It was so nice to sit and visit with everyone and to just relax.  Carlee was having a great time with her friends and her cousins.  I would watch her walk around the house and I knew she felt special and that she was happy, and that is all that mattered to me.

Again, I am just so overwhelmed by the love and support we had from family and friends over the weekend.  I so appreciate the effort of everyone to show Carlee they loved her and were proud of her, it just means the world to all of us and we couldn't have asked for a better weekend for Carlee.

8 is great when your horsin' around.....

We celebrated Carlee's 8th birthday last night with a horse party of course. Before her friends showed up I took some pictures of her and her cake, something I always forget to do until it's about time to cut the cake.

 
Birthday girl loves her cake.

  Kissy kissy.

 
The cake was so fun to make. The ruffles were fun to play with and I chose to make them in her favorite color and topped the whole thing off with her very first Breyer horse. Needless to say, Carlee loved it! 

Now it was time to party. Carlee's riding instructor came with some horses for everyone to ride. It was a perfect evening, just a little chilly.

  Quinn, Hallie, Marin, and Tessa chillin on the bench eating pizza while they waited their turn to ride.

  Carlee and her best friend Natalie were the first to ride.

 
 Carlee on Luna.  Luna was the horse Carlee first learned to ride on, she's a sweetie.

 
 Girl talk on horse back.

 
 My Tessa May, she loved riding and I think she looked good doing it too!

 
 I love this picture, the girls were just having so much fun. Carlee is pulling Quinn, and Candy is pulling Tessa, they loved trotting.

 
Carlee and Hallie.

 
And finally my little Marin had a turn to ride. She loved it so much, it was so cute.

Next we were on to the hide and seek game. Andy bought some saw dust chips and hid some toys and of course candy in it for the kids to find. I was not to fond of him doing this in the house, but he pulled it off. He made some sort of box thing and put the tarp inside of it and it worked out great. The kids loved trying to find everything.

 
 Carlee and Natalie looking for the goods. Andy even bought the cute horse bags for the kids to put the goods into.

 
 The whole gang. Time for cake, ice cream, and presents!!

  Happiness.

  Wait for it, wait for it.....

  BLOW!!!!!

 
And that's a wrap and a super fun party. Overall the kids had a super great time. Andy also made each kid a lasso to play with and take home, that part was a little crazy but great fun.

It is so weird to look at these pictures of Carlee, she looks so big and beautiful. More than anything I love her smile in all of the pics, and that is what I love most about her, she is always happy. Carlee is such a joy to have in our lives and I am so lucky to be her mom.