The Best of Both Worlds

WOW! What can I say? I had to check the kids out of school early to see the one and only Hannah Montana .. and Miley Cyrus .. and the Jonus Brothers .. in 3D! It was a movie released in theatres for one week only of the "Best of Both Worlds" concert that came to Salt Lake City months ago. Tickets to the concert sold out in minutes, resulting in a second night at the Energy Solutions Arena (and a lot of very upset parents). The tickets were expensive to start with, but as people started listing them on the internet, the price was upwards of $1500. Thats for one ticket! So, that was a lesson to be learned for many young girls. No pop star is worth that much money. Needless to say, we did not see the concert live. Instead, we payed $15 a ticket to sit in a theatre with 3D glasses and a bucket of popcorn. The kids had fun. Mom had a riot.

Superbowl Sunday

We always look forward to the Superbowl! Not really because of the game - more for the food and friends. But, I have to admit, this years game was a good one. We partied at Brady and Melinda's in Stansbury Park this year. The kids had so much fun together. Can you imagine? Five hours of uninterupted fun? We were worried about the drive home with all the snow we've had lately, but the roads were clear. This year has been so cold and snowy! Church was cancelled yesterday for several stakes. Magna and West Valley, however, seem to get the least amount.

Slumber Party

Who says you can't have a slumber party in the middle of winter with all your cousins? The kids can't ever seem to get enough of each other, so we had them all stay overnight last friday. They are party animals! They watched High School Musical (sing-a-long version), ate caramel popcorn, set up tents, wrote notes to each other, and stayed up late. Too much fun!

It was time again to take the kids to get their pictures taken. As hectic as it always is, I was all smiles with the end result. The kids are gorgeous! Before I had even gotten the kids in the car to come home, Jer called my cell to tell me how great they turned out. He was sitting at work viewing them on his Blackberry on e-mail. His co-workers caught him grinning from ear to ear and had to see what he was looking at. He is such a proud papa!

All Smiles

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Merry Christmas

The Christmas season is one of my favorites. I can't believe it is already coming to an end. It was a wonderful time, but somewhat stressful this year. Christmastime is always stressful, but this year had it's own set of challenges. We got our shopping done early and Jer and I were excited to spend the December month enjoying the festivities. We had planned to go downtown to see the lights at Temple Square, go to movies, see the lights, visit family and friends and enjoy the season together. We did do some of the things on our list, but due to the fact that our kids had a rough month with illnesses, we didn't get to do some of the things we wanted to. Emma started with tonsillitis which turned into strep and then pneumonia. She has finished the month by having surgery. On the 26th, she had a tonsillectomy and an adnoidectomy. She is still working on her recovery. Josh is usually pretty resilient, but at the first of the month he did have pink eye, an ear infection and strep. He quickly got over all of it and enjoyed all the fun at school that a third grader loves. Erin had a cold, but stayed fairly healthy. She gave Aunt Cari some stress when Care spent Jer's birthday with the kids. Cari took them to see the lights at Thanksgiving Point and Erin spent the time in the car throwing up. Fortunately, Grandma and Grandpa were there to help out.

We did have fun with all the family. Erin had a great third birthday. All she wanted was to have all her friends (cousins) come to her house. They all came and she couldn't be happier. The gifts they brought seemed to be just an added bonus to their visit.

This Christmas Eve was special in many ways. While at Grandma B's that night, Santa Claus stopped in for a visit. What a great surprise! He had gifts and candy canes for each child. They all seemed excited, but a little overwhelmed. He stayed and read a story to everyone and then was on his way. What a busy night for him! When the party at grandmas was over, Cari came to our house and spent Christmas Eve with us. I'm not sure if the kids were more excited for Santa to come or for Care to spend the night. She stayed up till after midnight reading books "at" Erin.

Christmas day was fun - it always is! We were all so tired due to Emma waking up at 2:30am ready to open gifts! But, we made it through the night and at 7:30 we finally let her wake up the other kids and get to it! We went to Grandma and Grandpa J's for our traditional Christmas Breakfast. I think Josh loves the breakfast casserole and hash browns more than the gift exchange. He looks forward to it all year. I was excited to hand out the aprons I made for all the girls. I gave one to each of the B's on Christmas Eve and then to the J's on Christmas Day. I think this was the most involved gift I have ever done, but it was worth it.

What a season! It was such a fun Christmas. The kids are at the perfect ages to fully enjoy every part of the holidays. By the time we were opening gifts at Grandmas on Christmas Day, Erin was to the point of not caring what the gift was, she just wanted to open open open!