A Diverse Nativity

Last night during Family Home Evening, Scott was teaching the boys about the true meaning of Christmas and he used our Nativity set to explain our Savior's birth. The boys quickly decided that there had to have been more animals present in the stable than the two that we have in our Nativity. Since we were short on animals like horses, cows, etc., they improvised. We definitely have one unique nativity. Apparantly, there were whales, alligators, polar bears, rhinos, elephants, zebras, giraffes and even a lonely toucan surrounding the manger . Tate even added a polar ice cap for good measure. I love my boys!

Who Can Resist a Big Pile of Leaves?

Apparently, not my boys.:)

Miles is 7!

We recently wrapped up our crazy birthday months with a big celebration for Miles 7th birthday. We started with a pool party for Miles and his friends. Everyone had a great time, especially the birthday boy!







On the morning of his actual birthday, he enjoyed his breakfast in bed and getting to celebrate at school. That evening we went to Fazoli's for dinner, a favorite of Miles. Grandma Kaye and Grandpa Jon and Heidi and Cory joined us for the celebration. We then headed back to our house for cake and ice cream and the long awaited presents. It was such a fun evening for our big 7 year old!












I still really can't believe my oldest is 7. It seems like just yesterday I was holding my sweet son in my arms at the hospital. Miles continues to amaze me everyday. He is such a joy to be around - so smart, pleasant and really funny. Happy Birthday Miles!

Orange Belt

Tate just received his orange belt in karate. He was really excited and we were so proud of him. He is doing great!

Paging a Stylist

My boys really crack me up when it comes to their fashion choices. From their questionable winter weather attire to their snazzy 3D glasses, I am always entertained. Gotta love it!:)

Fall Sports

My busy boys have been enjoying participating in a number of sports. Tate has joined karate and really loves it. He also did a session of preschool soccer which he thought was pretty fun. Both boys have been doing swimming and Miles tried football for the first time. In his very last game, he scored his first touchdown. So exciting!

Liam's First Haircut

Tonight we finally decided it was time to give Liam his first haircut. My sister Heidi did the honors and Liam was surprisingly well behaved while she cut it. I always thought he was so adorable with his cute blonde combover, but I have to admit he looks so much older and extremely handsome with his new do.

From shaggy and adorable:




To cool and debonair:

The Puppet Show

The first grade at Miles' school put on the cutest puppet show this last week. They have been learning about all of the different habitats and they performed a couple of fun poems and songs about various animals in their habitats. Miles participated in the water habitat part of the puppet show where he acted in the role of the "big frog." It was adorable!

After, we got to go his classroom and check out all of the shoebox habitats that the students had created and enjoy refreshments of animal crackers and purple cows. It was such a fun event and Miles loved being a part of it. Tate and Liam were quite taken with all of it and now Tate can't wait to be old enough to do the puppet show as well.

Las Vegas (again)

My husband is a traveling maniac. He has a work trip pretty much each and every week and people always ask me why I don't travel with him. The answer is that it is far too complicated to find sitters and juggle schedules to take such quick trips. But, when the opportunity came to accompany Scott to Vegas for a couple of days, I had to reconsider. I love Vegas and know my way around there quite well. If Scott had to work, I certainly could entertain myself.

We stayed at Aria, one of the newest hotels there, which was amazing. We were on the 27th floor and had gorgeous views. Scott spent almost all of his time working and I spent almost all of my time playing. I wandered the beautiful gardens at the Bellagio and had a pedicure at their spa. I shopped and napped and had a lovely time. Scott and I were fortunate to find a brief opportunity to have a nice dinner together one night and watch a water show at the Bellagio fountain, plus we managed to squeeze in a movie before catching our flight back to SLC. Special thanks to Heidi and Cory and Jon and Kaye for taking on our 3 kids. I appreciated it so much and it was fantastic to recharge and relax.