Thoe Joy of Playdoh

The kids loved the playdoh that Santa brought. Mom didn't love it so much. I love Matix cheese ball face in the background.

Look closely at that purple thing. It's a fireplace with stockings hanging. Ethan was proud.

Here's a close up.

The Train Park

The train park is akin to Disneyland for our children. They just love the place. So we made a trip the day after Christmas. Matix was terrified of this horse. He screamed until I pulled him off.

We were able to sit in the front car for this ride. Do you see those 3 men behind this kids? Is that Ethan's future?

Lexi, Matix, Averi, Ethan

Of course they have a Thomas play table set up. This place is train heaven. We rode the little train as well for the first time this trip. It's rarely open. Cory and I laughed at the hilarious signs all around the route. So funny!

Merry Christmas 2009

We enjoyed a wonderful Christmas this year. The Mortensen/Nicoll family party, Christmas Eve and day at my parents house and of course Christmas morning was exciting. Aunt Shari and her kids spent the night with us and Santa even found them here. Below the kids are showing some of their favorite presents.

Lexi, Averi, and Braily are so cute in these Barbie and the Three Muskateers masks. The boys received some new trains. Matix refused to open any other presents after he found the trains. He made Ethan play trains with him all day. (but that's not unusual) This year Ethan is almost 7, Lexi is 5 1/2, Averi is 3 1/2, and Matix is almost 2.

Ethan's las soccer game

Oh what a season this was. We debated signing him up, but since so many of his friends were doing it, we went along. There were ups and downs, but in the end, he really pulled through. We're really proud of our Ethan for working hard this year. He's throwing the ball in below.

Ethan is really good buddies with this little red head kid. He is in our ward and has Ethan's same personality. Such a sweet boy.

Taking a break.

Go Team! This was Ethan's best soccer season by far. Way to go E!

Lexi's First Soccer Season

Lexi just finished her first season of soccer. She was better and better with each game. She scored one goal this season, but was instrumental in setting up many others.

Averi really wanted to pose for me at the last game. Hmm...what is she doing?

Her little team often had only 4 or 5 players, so they would not get a break. She would be exhausted by the end.

She was so close to a goal here. She likes to take her time to line the ball up just right and before she can take a shot somebody usually gets in there. Go Lexi! Beat those boys! Good season team! She seemed to enjoy herself and she learned quite a lot. Next season will be fun.

The Stockings Were Hung...

I had no idea how I was going to hang stockings this year. I usually hang them on the stair railing, but I didn't want to. Tara organized a Christmas Stocking hanging craft that I never completed. So when I walked in my neighbor's house it hit me. Hooks! I used them for all kinds of things in Canada. So now my empty wall has a temporary filling.

It doubles nicely as a Christmas card holder as well.

Ward Christmas Party

We have truly enjoyed our English ward since moving back from Canada.

Not only did Santa come to the ward party,

but so did Buddie the elf. So Fun!

What a difference a year makes!

So last year we took our Christmas Card picture in the snow. I was blessed to find some amazing photographer friends in Canada so I have some great documentation of our time there. Below is what we looked like November 2008. (okay the first is from the back)

I love all of these pictures. We managed to leave Averi's coat at home, so she is wrapped in a blanket. We were new at the living in snow thing. It was so cold this day. It's such a different world. I do miss the nervous excitement as we awaited the first snow. But we have such beautiful weather here right now. I love hanging out with all the neighbors on the street just enjoying the perfect setting.

Below is our family as of the first week of Dec. Before moving to Canada last year I had planned to take a picture in the desert. We all know how that changed. So this year I was excited to pull it off. I have to thank my wonderful friend Sarah for taking this. I really wasn't feeling motivated to throw together a family picture. The morning of this picture we were still trying to plan when to do it and I had no idea what we would wear. So I threw this all together very quickly and we drove about 15 minutes to our location. I am very happy with the results. Thanks Sarah for using us as your guinea pigs.

I love the Arizona desert. It is home. This is us in our home. Love it!

Fancy Shmancy

Cory's work Christmas party was a fancy shmancy thing. We got all dressed up so we thought we would take a picture. We stayed the ngiht at this Scotsdale Resort. No Kids!

Catching Up

I've been trying to play catch up on some older posts. You may recall the camera/ computer cord problems I experienced while traveling home from Canada. Well, I'm finally getting around to posting all the pictures from my camera. If you would like to see them, you'll have to scroll back to June as I back dated them to the original date. I've updated up through Day 8 of the 12 day trip so far.

Thanksgiving 2009

Cory's parents and sister's family came here for Thanksgiving. It was busy. Below we see Cory and Wveri getting things ready for visitors.

The kids loved playing with their cousins all weekend. Below is singing lessons.

Cory with his dad and niece Brooklyn.

Cory's family is always up to something. This year the kids all made candy turkeys. Mmmm...

It wasn't an easy process, but I think they all completed the goal.

Matix and Ethan

Averi, Ty, and Macee

Lexi and MacKenzie

Left to right: MacKenzie, Lexi, Averi, Ty, Macee, Matix, Ethan

What a cute little boy! I love cuddling with this little guy.

More Triathlon Pictures

My friend Sarah's husband was able to get some great shots throughout the event. I'm not sure how he kept track of the 4 of us, but he did pretty well. Here is Cory during the swim.

Dang! Look at those muscles as Cory exits the swim and heads to the bike transition. The person facing backwards is me. My friend Sarah is next to me in the pool and Tara is showing off her belly on the edge. Cory looks like a pro coming around the corner. You would never know that we didn't actually train. We intended to, but life was just too busy. Next we find me on the bike. I was already slowing down here to dismount and transition to the run. Surprisingly, after all my complaining about it, the bike was my favorite leg. I'm not gonna lie; the run was difficult. My legs felt like 50 lb. weights. I was so glad to be done! I was so excited when I saw Tara headed for the finish line. She really was super amazing and put up an awesome time. Look at everyone staring at her and the poor guy who desperately wants to beat her. Must have been embarrassing not to be able to out run a super pregnant lady. And here are the 4 of us again. I think we were all just excited that it was over. My goal for the race was to finish in under 1 hour 30 minutes. As previously mentioned, I failed to find the necessary time to properly train. Okay, in the last 3 weeks I only rode my bike 2 times, ran once and never swam. Pretty lame. So I was pretty stoked this morning to pull up the results and see that I finished in 1:17. Cory came in at 1:07. And Tara made it with her 36 week pregnant belly in just 1:25. Now I really want to train and see how I can do.

My first triathlon

After 4 years of waiting, I finally completed my first triathlon today. It was the perfect birthday present to myself. Two pregnancies, one year of incapacitation after the St. George Marathon, and an absentee year in Canada have been my excuses. No more! I did it. My adorable husband completed his third tri as well and proved once again to be the super stud I married. We love competing in events together.

And my crazy 36 week pregnant sister Tara completed her second. She was the talk of the event. Everyone wanted to know how far along she was. Everyone was impressed and gave her major kudos. Nobody wanted to lose to her. I'd say that most of them did. She was amazing as she came sprinting across the finish line. I felt like a celebrity just being seen with her. Of course, we were accompanied by a real celebrity as well. Cory is decent friends with Sione. I told him that all I wanted for my birthday was a picture of us competing in the same event as my favorite Biggest Loser contestant. My husband pulled through. It's not the best picture, but I promise that it's him. My friend Sarah also competed with us. She inspired me to get exercising again since returning from Canada. We all had such a fun time this morning. I'm really looking forward to whatever comes next.