Snow Day

Sunday we attended my sister's ward to listen to my nephew,Taylor, give his farewell address. He is entering the MTC next week and then will serve in Frankfurt, Germany. We ate lunch at their house after sacrament meeting and then had the rest of the day to rest and relax. Since we got more snow Sunday the kids thought it would be fun to go out and play in it. It wasn't good for much except snow angels. They tried to pack it to make a snow fort like last week, but it wasn't going to work.





It was frigid out there. I ran out to take pictures and was surprised the kids lasted as long as they did. I think it was about 10 minutes total. Gotta love getting all that snow gear on for 10 minutes of wintry fun!

Trimming the tree

Saturday we decked the halls! While Eldon and I were putting lights on the tree(that's right, some people still have to put their own lights on the tree) Julia took the camera and took pictures of the kids...

playing peek-a-boo...

posing...








playing with lights...

and looking bored.








Finally it was their turn to help.

Hanging ornaments on the tree is always a highlight! It is especially interesting with an 19 month old. AJ does not understand the 'hang them and then don't touch them again' concept:)

Pirate Island

Eldon's sister came to visit over the Thanksgiving break so we all decided to meet for dinner at Pirate Island. The dinner was just okay, but you don't go there for the food:) The kids had a blast playing all the arcade games and Emma and AJ especially loved the little carousel they had.


Kaylee and Andrew, cutest pirates ever!






Andrew's favorite game was playing the big kids basketball. This is a picture of he and Emily playing the little kids basketball. I believe he also enjoyed this one!

Even 3 days later the kids are talking about how much fun they had at Pirate Island.

Giving Thanks

for family, fun, and FOOD!
I didn't even get a picture of the Thanksgiving spread, just a bunch of pictures of us enjoying the good eats!
I swore this time I was going to control myself and wait to eat until the meal started, but I couldn't take it I had to try every appetizer to make sure they were good. Then I never quit. By the time the meal was ready I was full! Of course, I ate anyway, and didn't stop eating the rest of the day because I had to try all the pies!










I thought it was funny that when we got home Eldon and I couldn't think of eating another bite, but all the kids asked for a bowl of cereal.

Jazz vs. Kings

Eldon's boss gave us his Jazz tickets for last Monday's game vs. the Kings. We invited some friends from our ward, Aaron and Dana, to come with us. A Jazz game on the 2nd row is a whole lot different than a Jazz game from the nose-bleed section. You might as well stay home and watch it on TV if you have to sit in the nose-bleeds. That is just my personal opinion. We had a great time and can't wait until the Jazz vs. Blazers game in December since we sit behind the opposing team bench and Eldon is a huge Blazers fan!

Attitude of Gratitude...

was the theme of Emma's school program. It was so cute to hear what each child in Emma's class is thankful for. Emma did a great job on her part. T is for Turkey! She practiced all the time! She could even tell us a lot of the other kids parts also.


Not sure how this video of a video will work, or if it will work at all. I tried to make my vidoes super short so I could include them here. It says, "I am thankful for my body."

Articles of Faith Celebration

This was a pretty quiet week. Tuesday night Eldon and I got to go to the temple with my nephew who is leaving on a mission in a few weeks. It was great to be in the temple with almost all the adults in my family. We only missed Cindy, Brigham, Melissa, and Jeremy.
Wednesday Eldon went to the BYU basketball game.
Thursday night I had a Primary Leadership Meeting.
Friday we didn't have any plans and enjoyed a night at home doing nothing in particular.
Saturday morning was our Primary Activity. We have been working on memorizing the Articles of Faith as a primary this year. We were having ice cream sundaes and the kids would get a different topping for every article of faith memorized. At the celebration we had a carnival with a different game or activity for every article of faith. The kids who came had a great time and really enjoyed their ice cream!!



Saturday night Eldon went to the BYU Football game and from there headed to the BYU basketball game. It was a fun night for him. I was home holding Julia's hair back while she puked:(
We had to take all the food we had prepared and have Sunday dinner at Grandma and Grandpa's house since Julia was sick. Emma had a head cold so she stayed home also. Julia's flu bug or whatever she had went away quickly because she was feeling a lot better Sunday night. We even went out and played in the freshly-fallen snow. Then we came in and had cocoa and watched our new living scriptures video. It was a fun girls night!
This afternoon is Emma's school program and tonight Eldon and I are going to the Jazz game with some friends. Hopefully we'll get some good pictures from those two things!

What dads will do for their daughters

This was a big week for Julia. Wednesday night was her school program. It wasn't your typical program. They did sing a few songs about Utah History at the beginning but the remainder of the program was square dancing. They each got to pick a partner to dance with. Julia chose her dad! They danced the Virginia Reel, The Heal Toe Polka, and Oh Johnny Oh. The kids also did the Electric Slide and everyone joined in on the Hokey Pokey, neither of which have anything to do with Utah History. Eldon had been forwarned that he would be dancing and he was a great sport, especially since Emma had gotten nervous before the show started and wet herself on his leg. It was a fun and entertainting school program! Julia and her daddy did a wonderful job!

Thursday night was Julia's Duet Piano Recital. She has a duet partner and they have been working on a couple of pieces for Festival, but this duet recital was for piano students to do a duet with one of their own loved ones. About two months ago Julia had to BEG her dad to commit to doing this with her. He was NOT excited about playing the piano in front of people. He finally was convinced and then he made sure they practiced plenty so they would not make fools of themselves at the recital. The practice paid off! They played their piece perfectly! It was so fun to watch them! This just goes to show dads with do just about anything for their little girls! I didn't get a picture while they were playing because I was using the video camera that I cannot upload to this blog for some reason. I guess videos can only be 14 seconds long to be able to upload them.

Friday Eldon took most of the day off and I was able to go with Emma on her swimming fieldtrip again. Emma thought is was really fun to shut herself inside the lockers. Emma with her friend Zoey.



Friday night Eldon took Julia on a date to celebrate their success! They went miniature golfing and to Brick Oven for dinner.

Saturday Julia had Festival, where they get judged and critiqued on a few polished piano pieces. Last year she and her partner only recieved an excellent so we tried even harder to get them together more often to practice. The practice paid off! They received a Superior ranking! Yeah!!

Andrew made mustaches at school when they talked about the letter M!

If You're Happy and you know it....

SHOUT HOORAY!!!!

Too Cute to Spook!

This was a fun and busy week! Wednesday I got to help with Julia's Halloween Party at school, but I was too busy watching the kids play the game to take any pictures.
After school we had a Halloween Party with the activity day girls at the church. The girls decorated cookies and then we played "Grab the Ghost", the same game I played with Julia's class!



Wednesday night Eldon and Andrew went with Grandpa Tuckett to the BYU Blue and White basketball game. Go Cougars!

Thursday was the day Emma dressed up in Halloween costumes at school, although they didn't put their costumes on until after lunch. AJ and I went to watch Emma's Halloween Parade, and then we took a picture of her getting ready for the class party.




Friday night we got to babysit our neighbors newborn baby. Eldon and I both LOVED holding and cuddling that sweet baby, but we were also both a bit relieved to send him home with his parents:) That satisfied any baby cravings we might be having!

Julia and Andrew went with G. Tuckett and some other T. Cousins to a play Friday night called the Reluctant Dragon. Julia said the play was okay but that it didn't compare to the book!

Saturday night we went to our ward Trunk or Treat. Luckily the weather cleared for enough time to get rid of all our candy and for the kids to go around the circle once. We headed home just before the hail hit, although Grandma and Grandpa got hit pretty bad when we dropped them off at their house. Grandpa will probably never be dragged to the Trunk or Treat again:)


Andrew's bat costume...AGAIN, Julia is a beautiful fairy, AJ is the cutest Triceratops you have ever seen, and Emma is a sweet Snow White!

I love this picture because it looks like the triceratops is looking right at you!

We borrowed this costume from our neighbors and got lots of compliments on it. Its pretty cute, but that may be because of the person wearing it:) Although, I may be a bit biased!

After the Trunk or Treat we headed to Grandma and Grandpa Tuckett's house for a delicious dinner of candy, candy, and more candy. Grandma really did make us some yummy hamburgers, but the kids mostly ate candy.


Emma didn't eat much candy she was too scared of Grandma's candy bowl. The bowl has a hand that grabs you when you reach in to get the candy. It's pretty scary, and Emma was not going to go near it!

AJ loved his candy dinner and candy dessert! Luckily we had a safe, fun Halloween and nobody puked!!!!!