DI Tournament

So the DI Tournament was on sat in Spokane. We placed second.

2nd place !!!!!! (Can you believe it?!?!)

I am sooooo proud of these girls. They worked so hard and helped each other. They are amazing. I am gonna miss our weekly meetings. They are so fun to be around. Technically we can go to State (in Seattle), but we have to be invited to go. I don't know if it will happen and to be honest, I don't know if I wanna. We already had the best experience just getting as far as we did!
Here are the girls right before the Instant Challenge.

And here they are in their perfomance. I don't think I am allowed to talk much about their performance and the tournament (Because it is a competition- and we still might go state) but don't think many would figure out their skit from this picture. The judges and audience laughed in all the right places and everyone really enjoyed it.

This whole experience is dear to my heart!!!
DI Rocks!!!!

Carli as Amelia Earhart!

I mentioned Carli's class'es wax muesum. Here are pics of that night (I made her take some after we came home too)

Her tri-fold of Amelia's life.

One of her props was this really pretty globe that THIS girl let us borrow and we mapped out Amelia's last flight with string and stickers.

You can see the pose she chose to stand in until someone came up and said her name (Amelia Earhart's name)

(You can also tell where I was playing with photoshop with coloring)-lolCarli's class. Some of the other kids were, Marilynn Monroe, Babe Ruth, Abe Lincoln, Harriet Tubman, Shannon Hale...can't remember the names of some of them- I will have to ask Carli.

She was so awesome! It was such a long day for all of them. They gave 4 performances during the day and even had to eat lunch in costume. After her last performance that night, you could just see how exhausted she was. I felt bad to send her to school the next day. But I am so pleased with my baby girl!

She has one more wax muesum coming up in the Spring (a science- themed one) -I wonder who she will chose for that!?!?!?!?

Valentine's Dinner

Last night we had Lasagna Soup. Of course I had to put the ricotta cheese mixture into a heart shaped mold. It was made with love- so why not show it!

Wanting everyone to eat dinner on Valentine's- I gave the option of soup or hot dogs- but what good is a hot dog on V-day without heart- shaped ketchup?

And our rolls were so much better with heart -shaped butter. Okay- so I went a little crazy on the hearts- It was a fun and refreshing change!
We topped the evening off wth Italian sodas and strawberry crepes with toffee syrup.

You can find the lasagna soup recipe HERE. (only I sub the tomato paste for plain tomato sauce and put in more dried basil than oregano) It is one of our favorites!

Hope you had a wonderful Valentine's!

Busy.

I am afraid that when I get busy, the blog is the first thing to get negleted. Just before Christmas, I found out that the DI group that Carli signed up for didn't have a leader. So I told the school that I would take that on. You may remember DI from last yr. DI stands for Destination Imagination. You can click HERE to view the official website. (Carli's team is doing the Triple Take Road Show Challenge)

It is super fun to meet with those girls 2+ times a week. They are fun to be around and it is a fun process, however, it is also a ton of work. It is taking all of my free time to get them ready for the tournament in Spokane at the end of Feb.

So, Like I said before- the blog is being avoided for awhile. If I have some down time I will come back to it. But it will be touch and go until the end of Feb.

Next to come: Carli had her Wax Muesum 2 weeks ago. This is where her class (only class that does it every year out of the whole school) each choose someone to be from history and have to dress like that person and give a short monalgue when someone says their character's name (otherwise they stand completly still in a pose, just like a wax statue). Carli chose Amelia Earhart. She did a phenomenal job. I am waiting for pics from her teacher as I think she probably got better shots than I did. But- I do want to post those soon.

Oh Nootz!

Every Year at Christmas, Santa leaves nuts in every one's stockings. (One year, Santa forgot and Daddy was not happy with Santa.-lol) Last year, I noticed that after meals, my lips where stinging and itching and had little hives on them. I didn't think much of it the first couple of times, but then one time, I wanted to scratch them off. I couldn't figure out what was going on? Then later on that day, I was moving the uneaten nuts into a smaller bowl and it dawned on me. (Slap hand to forehead) Jon likes to shell and eat mixed nuts after meals, kinda like a dessert. Then, he kisses me and thanks me for lunch. Oh wait- did I mention that I am highly allergic to Brazil nuts? It was his (nutty) kisses.

Jack came and bit me after eating nuts this Christmas and my arm itched and started to get tiny little bumps. (After, I figured it out, I made Jon thoroughly brush his teeth/ mouth after each smooch.) You can see that this year- we still have ONLY Brazil nuts on our counter. I am thrilled that my sweet Jonny chooses kissing me over dining on nuts (or nootz- it you say it like the Mr. Salt in the old Willy Wonka and the Chocolate Factory-lol)

Batman and Buzz by Jack

Jack Jack asked me if I could get the crayons down for him. He grabbed some paper and said he was gonna 'color.' I went into the other room and forgot all about it. The next day, I had some random papers on my counter that I was sorting and picking up and came across this one. At first, I just thought it was one of Bridger's pictures, but then I remembered Jack and the crayons. It had just struck me that my baby can draw.

I asked him what it was and he knew exactly what he was drawing. The big, round one is Buzz and the small, skinny one is Batman. Can you believe it?

Sunbeam.

My youngest is a sunbeam! (In church, when nursery children turn 3 (after the new year) they get to go to their first Primary class called Sunbeams) Jack is a maniac. He would be great except, I am not only in Primary, but have been teaching sharing time. It isn't going so well- but it is bitter sweet to think that he is my last baby to have graduate from Nursery!

(Note: No- we don't let him wear his Buzz Jammies to church- this was taken after with his new sunbeam hat on!)

Stupid Cancer.

I just found out yesterday that a sweet friend of mine recently passed away. We first met Kerry Rapp about 5 years ago when he became our home teacher. I was so embarressed when the first time we met him, that Bridger (then a baby learnng to walk) crawled all over him and wouldn't stay away. I later on realized how much he loved and valued children and how his testimony of the church grew a little each day. I will never forget him asking Jon's permission to hug me the day our HT's came over after I gave a talk at church and bore my testimony of Joseph Smith. I will also never forget the way he gave a HT lesson in our home on parenthood and had tears streaming down his face when he was done. The world is a much sadder place without Bro. Rapp in it. He will be truly missed! I don't think his obituary describes the spirit that was Bro. Rapp but it is HERE if you wanna take a glance. I thank the Lord for the time that we did have to get to know him.

Christmas at the J House!

Carli had her "girls only" gingerbread house decorating party at our dear friend's house.

When she came home with her finished project Jack couldn't take his eyes off of her colorful candy house.

He immediately said that it was Buzz's house.
(Does it still count if Buzz can't get his foot in the door?)

Our home on Christmas Eve.

The kiddos on Christmas Morning before all the excitement!

(Notice the sun isn't up yet)

Jack wanted a pic of his new toy story slippers

Carli with her new 'kids' video camera

A soft Buzz and Woody. Jack couldn't stop looking at them and smiling!

Nolan hugs his sister to thank her for the Pokemon cards she so thoughtfully got for him. (Note: This hug is a reinactment- it was so cute that he hugged her that I made them do it agin for the camera-lol)

Jon thanking Carli for the "True Grit" book.

(BTW- The new True Grit movie is AWESOME!- we got to see it for our anniversary!)

To all our loved ones,Thank You for making our 2010 Christmas Special! We love and miss you!

13 Years Already???

Today is our Anniversary. 13 years, Baby- oh yeah! And just an eternity more to go!

Today my poor Jonny is Sick. He came home Tues from work and when we finally took him to the dr. yesterday, he said it looked like Jonny has Pneumonia. Hopefully he will just be getting better before our Christmas break. But that means no celebrating our anniversary for awhile. Until after Christmas probably. I told the kids it was our anniversary and they asked if we were gonna go out. I said that we weren't going to for awhile. Carli said he can just stay home and smooch. (her word, not mine-lol) I told her I didn't think we would be doing that either. She said that we can just snuggle. I think we WILL be doing that!

Happy Anniversary, Honey!

Hope you feel better soon!

Love, T

Carli in the Choir!

Carli decided that she wanted to be in her school choir this year. They started practicing in Sept for the Christmas program. There are almost 200 kids in the choir. Some kids tried out for parts in the (musical) play- but Carli just wanted to sing. It was all the talk at our house for months.

The school is too small to house all the families of all the choir kids, so we had the program at the Faith Assembly church down the street. It has a huge auditorium. It was great cuz we got to sit close to Carli during her performance. (we never get to do that in the school)

Today.

At our house....

I am doing (never ending) laundry.

Spiderman is shooting bears.

What would I do without him???

Sweet, Sweet Sister Kristen.

This is my sister in law, (sister to me) Krissy. Krissy is the most special soul. She has a disease known as Retts. We see her about once a year when we go see Jon's family. What is so amazing about her is her love. She goes right up to you. Whoever you are. She can't speak, but just wants to be near you. (esp. if you are in the kitchen, preparing food- she is truly a girl after my own heart.) She is the most friendly and sweet spirit.

I took this pic while Krissy was cozied up on the couch for her morning nap. She looked so sweet and comfy that I couldn' resist.

Maybe because last summer we didn't see her, maybe because I had been thinking a lot about her when I was shopping for her present this year, but when I hung out with her last week, it felt like going home. (Full of innocent love and huge smiles)I enjoy being around Krissy and her loving spirit. If she could talk, I don't know what she would say. But for now- I will let her cuddle up next to me while I attempt to make rolls in the kitchen. I realized I missed her snuggles and I missed her.

I am so glad we got to spend (an unexpected lot of) time together. Take care until we see you this summer, Kris!!

What's gone on this month, you ask????

Well- let me tell you. First of all, I have no recollection of the 2 weeks before Thanksgiving - so don't ask. (No- I haven't been drinking-lol- I think we just did the everyday blah -blah -blah -stuff with Christmas shopping smushed in-between)


But for Thanksgiving we went to Utah to spend the holiday with Jon's family. Jon had a drew out for a hunting tag in AZ. So we had Thanksgiving dinner on Wed and on Thurs. morning, Jon and his Brother Aaron left for the mountains of Arizona (who knew they had those there-lol)

The kids and I stayed behind and hung out with my in-laws. It was a good break, but one that lasted longer than intended. Jon didn't shoot his elk until 5pm on the last day. He thought he would shoot his elk in the first couple of days like he did when he went to New Mexico a 2 yrs ago. But it didn't really happen like that. The kids missed 4 days of school last week. they cried (No- not really, they cheered actually-lol)

Did I mention that Jon's family are cattle ranchers in Bicknell, Utah (what....you haven't heard of it?- yeah, that's okay I guess it doesn't help that it doesn't have its own grocery store-lol) But it is a good place to raise cattle! On tues. night, a calf was born and because the weather was so cold, and her mother found a nice wet mudhole to birth her in -(Poor thing- what a rough way to come into the world) she was freezing and not doing so well- so Aaron brought her in the mudroom and we got to see first hand what a rewarding job cattle ranching is. This baby cow was so sweet and sucked down a bottle (actually it was choked down her throat- so she had to swallow- but you get the idea) Jack petted and loved the "Beebee cow"

She couldn't stand up for the longest time- but finally Uncle Aaron's lil' shadow (Carli) helped him to get the calf to stand up.

Then we had Thanksgiving. It was delicious. The kids took pictures of all of food (individually) - you know I love to look at pics of food-lol
LOVED these beans. They are called dilly beans because they are pickled. They were crunchy and perfect and now I want some!

There are just no words for this pic- (Just an adorable Uncle Aaron moment-lol )

Gramma had it planned that on Thanksgiving day (Since we had already celebrated the day before) that the kiddos could make Turkey cupcakes.

They turned out cute!!

The kids "helped" Gramma decorate for Christmas. -lol Yeah- I'm not sue how much they actually helped, but the house looked gorgeous in the end!

Jack wore his jammies all week. Buzz is all he wears now. I can hardly pry it off of him to wash it. (Actually he has 3 Buzz Jammies and it is still hard to rotate them so that he always has one to wear.)


When I was getting ready to leave and getting things together, I came out in the family room and saw that these four when transfixed on The Grinch. Add some popcorn to the mix and it was an adorable pic of my fab 4!

Thank You Gramma and Grandpa for leting us visit. We really had a Lovely time!

Hope you had a great Thanksgiving!

Mindy Concert.

Sat Night, Carli and I and my new sweet friend, Tiffany went to see Mindy Gledhill in concert. It was awesome! Carli was quick to tell Jon all of the funny things that Mindy said on stage and I added that I thought that she had such a charismatic personality. You couldn't help but love the person behind the songs!

Okay- even though THIS FABULOUS photographer took a beautiful picture- sometimes there is just no helping me take a lovely pic. Good thing everyone else looks awesome!-lol