Polar Bear Swimming

In our desperate attempt to find something, other than playing in the snow, to do with the kids, we finally decided to go swimming. Yes, I said SWIMMING! I love having a pool that we can swim in all year. Once the kids were in and warm, it wasn't any different than swimming in the summer...except for the SNOW in the scenery. They even got out and went off the diving board! The kids have had so much fun doing things with their Georgia cousins. It was very emotional when we had to say goodbye. We love you and will miss you tons!

This picture cracks me up! It shows how cold it was, because the kids wore their robes and snow clothes. Doesn't the steamy water look inviting?:) They couldn't wait to jump in and warm up!
Matthew, Kynlee, Karley, and Kenzie
Matthew and Jarod

Kynlee and Grace

Uncle Nathan had fun making snowballs and throwing them at the kids while in the pool. It was probably the only time they liked getting hit with a snowball! The snow melted instantly once it hit the water.

The kids hanging out in the hot tub.

Jarod's feet were so cold that when they were in the water they felt like they were burning. He kept sticking them out of the water to cool off. It was so funny!

Winter Wonderland

The kids have been waiting for it to be cold enough for the snow to stay on the ground. Well, they don't have to wait any longer. It's cold and the snow is here to stay! The Cogbill and Thompson cousins came to visit and were just in time for a couple of really big snow storms. They had plenty of snow to play in! They loved playing in the backyard and then going sledding down the hill at the park. I don't have any pictures, but the adults went sledding too. We had a blast racing down the hill!

These crazy cousins had so much fun in the snow!
Mason, Karley, and Kynlee getting ready for a snowball fight.

Matthew and Kaej building their fort around the snowman they helped build.

Kynlee made one of the largest snowballs!

Karley made a fort under her soccer nets. Grace and Kenzie liked being in it too.

This is a video of Matthew jumping a picnic table on his sled. Pretty cool!

Matthew and Kaej

Kynlee getting ready to speed down the hill.

Kylie and Kenzie

Karley and Kortney

Matthew chillin' and looking like a stud after racing down the hill.

Kenzie carrying her own tube up the hill. So cute!

Grace, Kenzie, Kylie, and Kynlee showing how deep the snow is. Wow!

Matt doing the dirty work and shoveling the snow off the driveway. That's a lot of snow!

This is the biggest, widest snowman I've ever seen. He's in our neighborhood. The sign he's holding says, "Bur! It's cold, give me hot cocoa." I'd have to agree that it is cold and hot chocolate is exactly what warms us up. We have had tons of it!

Christmas Magic

Merry Christmas! What a fun time of year. I believe there is a bit of magic in the air as we listen to Christmas music, look at Christmas lights, are surrounded by friends and family we love, and most of all, remember the birth of our Savior. We were so happy to have the Cogbill and Thompson families spend Christmas with us! We love you! Our family went and stayed at a friend's house, who were gone for the break, to make room for our visitors this holiday season. It worked out so nice!

After our yummy Christmas ham for dinner, I had sugar cookies for the kids to frost for Santa.

Aunt Cassie liked the frosting!:) The cookies turned out awesome!

Later that night, the grand kids put on a play about the Savior's birth. Grandma Slider traced and cut out the cute costumes and most of us girls had fun decorating them. Matthew was one of the Wise Men, Kynlee was the Angel, Karley was the Donkey, and Kenzie was the Star. It was so sweet!

Grandma Slider started a new tradition by having each of us give a gift to our Savior. We wrote down something we would like to work on next year and put it inside of a stocking. Each of us hung our stockings on the tree.

All of the cousins in their Christmas pajamas.

The kids on Christmas morning. They couldn't wait to see what Santa brought for them.

Santa brought each of them sleds, but Mom and Dad got them the Wii and Rock Band!

They love the soft and beautiful blankets that Grandmama made for them!

Kenzie got the "Swimming Baby" from Grandpa and Grandma Debbie. It was just what she wanted!

They got Karley what she asked for...an MP3 player!

We broke out the Wii right away. It is so much fun for us all!

Grandma Slider made each of the grand daughters Raggedy Ann and Andy dolls. There was so much time and love put into each unique doll!
They are so cute!
The girls love them!

Polar Express

Last night we drove up to Heber to go on the famous "Polar Express" train ride to the North Pole. It was snowing like crazy all morning, but luckily stopped by the time we headed up their. Nathan, Cassie and their cute kids came in from Georgia a couple of days ago, so we thought this would be a fun outing with them. Along with their family, Steve and April's family, Grandpa and Grandma, and our family, we safely made it to Heber on-time. We were all bundled up for the cold weather. Once we were on the train and moving (at a speed of 9 - 13 mph) we enjoyed hot chocolate, cookies, Christmas songs, the Polar Express story, site of The North Pole, and a visit from Santa. The ride was 90 minutes in length. The kids loved sharing this experience with some of their cousins! I'm not sure if we would ever do it again, because it's costly, but we definitely had a blast and made a wonderful memory.

(For some reason I couldn't get the Slide Show to automatically play on the post. Just click on VIEW ALL IMAGES and then click on ORIGINAL VIEW. It will show the slide show how I created it.)

Santa's Little Helper

Last Christmas season, a cute, little Elf came to our house. He is one of Santa's special helpers. The kids decided to call him "Buddy". He is our very own magic Elf. Buddy has returned again this year. When the kids got home from school, there was a present at the door for them, directly from Santa himself. They were so excited, because they knew right away that it was Buddy. This little elf is Santa's eyes. He watches everything the kids do. Each night he quickly flys to the North Pole to see Santa and reports what he has seen. Have the kids been GOOD or BAD? When Buddy comes back he hides in a new place and waits for the kids to find him. Sometimes he stays in the same spot for a couple of nights!:) It is always so exciting to see who can find Buddy first...and he comes up with some really clever spots! There is only one rule the kids have to follow: Do Not Touch Buddy, or he will lose his magic. There have been a couple of times when the kids have seen him fall from his spot. They know not to touch him, so when they come back to Buddy later, he has magicallly returned to his spot. Wow! Santa Claus gave Buddy one rule: Do Not Speak, and he follows that well. The kids do their best to be good, because they know that Buddy is always watching them. We all love this special visitor!

News Flash

Fox 13 News did a special "Cool School" feature this morning at the Elementary school the kids attend. This was such a big deal...it was pretty exciting! They did LIVE segments throughout the early morning. One of their segments was the 4th graders playing "Jingle Bells" on their recorders. This included Kynlee. She has practiced so much, that she is pretty good on it and knows lots of songs. Overall I think that all the students did a good job this morning of proving that they are a "Cool School".

Kynlee with her recorder. Waking up earlier than normal didn't stop her from being so excited to play on T.V.!
When I first turned the T.V. on this morning, to my surprise, they were showing off the mummy wraps that some of the 6th graders made. I ran and woke Matthew up so he could look for the one of him. Sure enough, he saw it! His is the last one on the right. So, in a way, Matthew was on T.V. also!

After I dropped Kynlee off, I poked my head in the Cafeteria room and saw "Big Budah" from Fox 13 News. Can you guess why he is called that?:) I ran over to get a picture of just him, but he insisted I be in it too. I had just come from working out, so I was still in need of a shower. Gross...oh well!

(Before playing the video, press PAUSE on my Christmas music)

I rushed home to record Kynlee's T.V. performance. Unfortunately, she is behind a taller kid on the far side of the stage, so just part of her face is shown. Look carefully and you might see her. It was still neat and I know she played her heart out!

Sitting On Santa's Lap

We had our Ward Christmas Party Friday night. The girls were so excited to go! Along with having a yummy dinner and a cute program, we enjoyed the company of good friends. We are so blessed to be in this wonderful Ward! The highlight of the night, of course, was our visit from Santa. The kids sang Christmas carols in the hallway as they patiently waited to sit on his lap. They each got a bag full of yummy treats for being so brave. Thanks Santa!

Kenzie had no fear of Santa this year. She is so big!

Karley could hardly wait for her turn to sit on Santa's lap.
Kynlee matched Santa...so cute!

Matthew was headed out the door with his friends when I grabbed him to sit on Santa's lap. Thanks for letting me get a picture son!

Miss America

Kynlee is making a Christmas wreath at school. It's made out of kitchen garbage bags and tied to a metal hanger. Kynlee and some friends in her class made these cute "Miss America" banners out of the tops of the garbage bags. I think it is so cute what their little minds can create out of scraps.

Arizona Memories

We love going home to Arizona! We were so grateful to spend the week of Thanksgiving with Cousins, Aunts, Uncles, Grandpa and Grandmas. Matt had to stay and work, so it was just the kids and I that made the long, 10 1/2 hour, drive down. I am so lucky to have kids that travel well. Thanks guys! We had so much fun spending time with everyone. Sorry to those of you we missed seeing this time. The trip always goes by too fast. We still shed many tears when we leave. So sad! We love you so much and can't wait to see you all again!

We came down on Saturday, the 22nd, so we could see my stepbrother, Shane, and his little family before they flew back to Illinois Sunday morning. We hadn't seen Rynn since she had been born, so we held and played with her as much as we could. It was worth coming down early!
Rynn is the cutest, sweetest, and happiest baby ever.
This is the Keegan family: Shane, Wynnie, and Rynn. I am so glad we got to spend a little bit of time with you. It was so good to see you guys again!
Karley lost a tooth while we were staying at Grandpa and Grandma Debbie's house.

Karissa had a cute idea to have our kids write their Christmas Wish List to Santa.

They had so much fun reading their lists out loud. They each want some pretty cool things. Santa has his work cut out for him this year!:)

Mailing their letters to Santa.

Later, Grandpa heated his Jacuzzi for us! Karissa, me, and all the kids got in. Matthew, Kynlee, Karley, and Brigg were crazy and kept jumping into the big pool. It was really cold, so they would hurry and jump back into the Jacuzzi, warm up, and go again. Grandma Debbie made us some yummy Hot Chocolate to enjoy! Aunt Kristy joined us in the Jacuzzi after she got off work. Matthew, Kynlee, Karley, Brigg, and Kenzie had fun racing on scooters around Grandpa's cul-de-sac. The weather was so beautiful outside!

We visited the Thompson cousins before they went to Utah for Thanksgiving. We love you guys!

We loved staying the night at Uncle Jesse and Aunt Karissa's house. The kids are eating Drumstick ice cream cones while watching a movie. We all had fun being together! Thanks for your hospitality sister!

Princess Kenzie and Princess Presley showing off their matching Princess pajamas.

After leaving Karissa's we all met Grandmama and Nathan's family at Bounce U for the open bounce session. What a blast! This is a picture of all the grand kids: Matthew, Brigg, Baron, Deacon, Kenzie, Presley, Tate, Kynlee, and Karley. Not an ugly one in the bunch!:)
Kynlee and Tate going down one of the slides. I love their smiles!

Kenzie being a monkey and hanging upside down!

Sweet Presley on her way in to join the gang.

Kenzie and Deacon having fun bouncing together. The girls getting the best bubble bath at Grandmama's. Aunt Natalie washed and styled their hair!:)

It has been tradition for us to run in the Turkey Trot on Thanksgiving morning. I love doing it with my Dad and sisters. It rained hard the night before, but luckily cleared up for the race. We all ran at different paces this year. After running the 2 mile course, I had a nice cool down waiting at the Finish Line for the others!:) I was proud of everyone!

Our traditional family picture on Thanksgiving, minus Matt of course. We are nestled in one of Grandpa's beautiful grapefruit trees.

We had a wonderful Thanksgiving feast! We all stuffed ourselves. I loved being with my family. So special! Grandma Nikolaus was down from Show Low...what a treat it was to see her!

It's also tradition to go and see a movie on Thanksgiving. We all went and saw "Bolt" in 3-D. It was so cute and funny! This is Grandpa and the kids looking cool in their 3-D glasses.

Grandma Nikolaus with most of the great-grand kids from our family. They love you!
Sisters forever!

Grandpa had a treat in store for Matthew. He got tickets to the Phoenix Suns game Friday night! Matthew was thrilled! The Suns played against the Miami Heat. Unfortunately they lost, and Steve Nash was out with a bruised thigh.:( Matthew still had a great time, and told me all about the game when he got home.Grandpa and Matthew. He will always remember this special night with you! Thanks Dad!

Natalie and her boyfriend, Jeff, were at the game too. Aw, how sweet!

Matthew (5' 1") is exactly 2 feet shorter than Shaq (7' 1").

Matthew measuring his hand to the hand of his Basketball Idol, Steve Nash.
My Mom and sisters (Natalie was at the Suns game) enjoyed a G.N.O. Friday night. We ate at Texas Roadhouse and then went and saw "Twilight". It was so good the 2nd time around...I loved it! Thanks to Nathan for watching my girls. You're the best!

Grandmama gave the kids an early Christmas present the night before we left. They got the biggest, softest, and cuddliest Teddy Bears you've ever seen. They love them and will always think of you when they're snuggling with them. Thanks Mom!