I LOVE CHRISTMAS.....

Christmas was so fun, as usual. The kids had their programs at school. We had to divide and conquer because Kiersten's program and Witnee and Trevyn's program were at the same time. They all did very good. Kiersten makes me cry every year when she sings and does the sign language to Silent Night. It is so precious. We did something special this year. My mother's great Aunt Lapriel and Uncle Eugene just went to an assisted living center. We all went and did a little program for them. Kiersten did her sign langauge there and made everyone cry their also. It was a great opportunity for the kids to serve someone else. They were really cute after their performance handing out goodies to all the people there. I couldn't find Kiersten, and she was in talking with a little older women in her room. This started the Christmas week off on a good note. We then went swimming with our cousins at the Legacy Center in lehi. It was really fun until someone's kid pooped in the pool (seriously people put the plastic things over your kids' diapers). My cousins moved here also this year and so we were all invited over for lunch and games early on Christmas Eve. It was SO much fun. We all got a great laugh playing games. Then, we always do the christmas nativity at my parents house on Christmas Eve too and let the kids act it out. They are getting older and can read their lines and sit still better. Kiersten REALLY wanted to be Mary this year. She was cute. Her and her cousin were Mary and Joseph. We all participate in one way or another. We do the nativity, sing songs, read a Christmas story (the teacher coming out in Grandpa), and open presents from my parents. It is such a fun night. Then on Christmas day we all stay home and relax. This year my parents came around to all the kids' homes for a while. I love having a really relaxing Christmas Day. This year I made ham, potatoes, candied yams, and homemade apple pie for Christmas dinner. It was nice, tasted good, but tiring. My sister and her kids surprised us and came on Sunday, after Christmas. We've been playing all week with them (pics to come). We just got done sledding for 6 hours. It was a blast. The weather was perfect. There was like 30 of us. We built a fire, roasted hot dogs, marshmellows and made smores, had hot cocoa, and did some serious sledding. I have to say that I think everyone had some pretty funny crashes. The kids did awesome, never complained about being cold, and had tons of fun. I personally LOVE sledding and my family was the last one off the hill. What a fun time of year to be with family. This break is really making me not want to go back to work in 4 days, but who's counting right? We've been sleeping in until like 10 am every day. Crazy I know! I call it lucky:)

Santa did good. The kids got their wish lists. Witnee got a new bike, an ipod, and fake nails. Kiersten got "her" barbie, an ipod, art stuff, and a Tinkerbelle doll. Trevyn got his rapid fire dart gun. (By the way, we have enough dart guns for an army, but he really needed the "new" one. I told him this is the last year Santa would be bringing dart guns. We seriously have like 10 or so. Darts are everywhere.) He is also obsessed with sports, particularly the Steelers. He got a Steelers jersey, hat, and blanket. Trev also got a watch, and has been making sure we all know what time it is. Funny kid. Me and Erik got a Wii Fit, which has been fun. I also got running attire. YES, I've been running in the snow and really like it. Here's to more running!

On a side note, Erik finished his finals, and did very well. 1 semester down, 2 1/2 more years to go. It is flying by. Before we know it, he will be done. He loves what he is studying (Criminal Profiling and Forensic Science). He will have his bachelor's done in 2 1/2 years. Then on to get his Doctorate of Psychology. Fun, Fun!

Merry Christmas Everyone. I will post more pics when I get them.

Merry Christmas...

Gingerbread houses....

Every Christmas we do gingerbread houses. This year I got a train and a house. It is funny to see the kids' personalities come out while they are decorating. They can do the decorating themselves now. What is better than making a house out of sugar, and it doesn't matter if they lick their fingers? It is fun to watch the kids because they are so excited for the holidays. What did I ever do without kids? It seems that life would be boring without them. My girls wrote me the cutest notes tonight on their own, just for fun. I love trying to decipher their notes. In the pictures, Trevyn did the train, and the girls decorated the house. Happy Holidays.




I baby sat my nieces/nephew this weekend. This is Kiersten being a great "big cousin".

Trevyn is 9.....

Trevyn turned 9 on December 5th. I can't believe that he is that old. Time has just flown by. He is such a great boy. He is fun, kind, obedient, cheerful, fun loving, and a great big brother. He continues to be a great student and a hard worker. He is truly obssessed with sports and espn. He is one of the most competitive people we know. He watches espn EVERY day instead of cartoons. His poor sisters beg him to watch cartoons. He keeps us laughing, that is for sure.

We kept it low key for his birthday this year. He went to Trafalga with his dad and cousin. They had a good time playing miniature golf, X-D theatre, arcades, and eating dippin' dots. I made his favorite meal: ribs, mashed potatoes, beans, creme soda. I made him a Pittsburg Steelers cake. The Pittsburg Steelers are his favorite team. We ordered a mini helmet for the cake topper. It was a lot of work, but I thought it turned out really good. My mom made him an awesome quilt. He picked out all the fabric, and I must say this quilt is so "him." It has footballs stitched all over it. It is a great keepsake. He loves it.

Thanksgiving.....

Thanksgiving was alot of fun this year. I did my first 5K on Thanksgiving morning. It was cold and fun. My brother and dad were kind enough to do it with me. We did the Draper Human Race. All the proceeds went to the Utah Food Bank. They made their goal of $50,000.00. It was nice to go run and then not feel guilty about my Thaksgiving dinner. I have to say I was nervous because I run but I've never run in a "race". I am going to try and train for the Ogden 1/2 marathon in May. That is my goal.

After the race, we had a great Thanksgiving dinner. It was yummy turkey and all the dressings. It was just my family, my mother-in-law, and my parents. We ate and then went to my Dad's school gym. It is lots of fun, and it gets us moving after our turkey dinner. I do have to say that I had 1 plate, no seconds, and one slice of pie. SO I was proud of myself. At the gym we do all those things that I grew up doing: saucers, basketball, hula hoop, dodge ball. It is definitely fun, family time.

Then we raced home to get ready to leave to Las Vegas on friday. We went down and went to "The Lion King" production. If you have never seen it, it is amazing. The music, dancers, and performers are all amazing. Their costumes are truly amazing. They look like the animals (simba, scar, rafiki). I went to it 4 years ago in Spokane, WA, and thought it was great. The kids said it was "awesome". It is well worth your money. We, of course, also had a great time swimming at the Trendwest resort. Always a great time. It was beautiful weather there. We stopped in St.George and saw some friends on our way home. I STILL miss St. George like no other. WILL I EVER STOP MISSING THAT PLACE? I don't know. When I go there, I never want to leave. (sigh) AND then we got home. It was/is cold. I had to pull out the coats. UGH!

Now we are on to Christmas. We got home and got the Christmas up, which I truly enjoy. I love the excitement of the kids. Me and Erik just sat and watched the kids decorate the tree this year. They did a darn good job too. It is weird that my kids are old enough to do this, and they didn't break any of the ornaments. I guess I'm on to the next phase of life. Here's to life ever changing!!!

New Look.....

Well, as most know, it has started snowing. This is my kids 1st day in the snow this season. We welcome many more.

Kiersten got a new "do" today. Last time we cut her hair, she was mad that I didn't cut it short enough. She has continually asked me when she could cut her hair shorter. Well, today was the day. We have never had her hair this short, but I love it. I think she looks so cute. My girls have such thick hair that short hair is really cute. Hopefully, it will be easier to do:)

Halloween 2009....

Happy Halloween! Halloween was a little crazy but fun this year. We let the kids paint a pumpkin and carve a pumpkin. We got plenty of pumpkins from our garden this year, so that was fun. Witnee is our little artist, and of course, spent a lot of time painting her pumpkin. They all did very good at carving this year too. It is nice when they get old enough to really help with the whole pumpkin carving process. They were very creative and did very well cleaning, cuting, etc. They all had parties at school, a party at the church, and the halloween night trick-or-treating. We had some good food (soup and homemade cinnamon rolls) with my brother and his family, and then headed out trick-or-treating. I was feeling ill, so I handed out the candy. I didn't want any candy leftover, so I was very generous. The boys out lasted the girls, as always, but everyone had a great time. Just in time for Kiersten to get very ill. Sunday she woke up very ill. She has been home all week. Luckily, no one else has got it. I hope that keeps up.

Cute picture of Witnee dancing with her friend

Kids painting pumpkins



Out little Artist, Witnee

Funeral....

My Grandpa Zentner passed away Sept. 21, and the funeral was that next weekend Sept. 26. We went to Missoula, Montana, to the funeral. My grandpa had been fighting kidney failure for almost 2 yrs. He had been quite miserable for a while. We knew it was coming, but it is still sad. I'm not a crier, but when I got up there it was much harder than I thought. We traveled all day on Friday and went to the viewing Friday night. Me, my sister, and my brother were in charge of music. It is so hard to sing when you look out there and everyone is crying. Everyone did really good amazingly enough. I was doing pretty good the night of the viewing until Kiersten asked if she could give grandpa a hug and kiss. I lost it and the tears started flowing. I worried that my kids would be scared at the viewing, but they really enjoyed saying goodbye to grandpa. They touched his hands, gave him a kiss on the check, and asked a lot of questions. Kiersten wondered if she would be in a box and look like grandpa when she dies. It was cute. The funeral was beautiful too. My grandma was so worried that no one would be there. They have lived in Missoula their whole married life. I kept telling her that there would be lots of people. Sure enough, the chapel was full and they had to open the overflow. They did a military salute at the graveside. That was really neat, and for me persoanlly, very hard. He was a very loved man. He was a great husband, dad, grandpa, and friend. All of us knew that grandpa loved us. He would help anyone at anytime. He (and my grandma) are the most giving people. He will be truly missed. I was very glad that I was able to be there with grandma and the rest of my family. All of my cousins were there.

Everytime we go to Missoula, we go down to the carousel. The kids think it is great fun and there is a neat park there. After the funeral, we headed down to the park so the kids could get some energy out. They ran for hours, and then we went to a family get together. We don't always have time to see the extended family much, so it was fun to see everyone. The boys and my cousin Amy got a big football game going. It was quite funny to watch. It was all a great and very memorable trip.

My baby is 5!!!!!

Kiersten turned 5 on September 20. I can't believe that my baby is "5". She was our surprise child. She is so funny, talented, smart, loving, flexible, and friendly. Sports, school, friends all come very easy for her. On the other hand, she is the one giving me all my gray hairs. She is by far my most difficult child. BUT, of course, we love her none the less. We had a good weekend with the family. On saturday, we went to Classic Skating with our family, cousins, grandma and grandpa. The kids love to rollerblade, and are actually getting really good. She loves it and had a great time with her cousins. We then had a great BBQ with Kiersten's favorite food. Her favorites were BBQ ribs, potatoes, watermelon, plain Lays potato chips, carrots with ranch, and a chocolate Hannah Montana cake with mint chocolate chip ice cream. She loves Hannah Montana. She knows all the songs from the Hannah Montana movie. It's fun to have girls love music. We gave her a Barbie scooter to match her pink Barbie bike she got for her birthday. She is all about pink. She is such a girl and we love her!

Cheerleading.....

Some of the high schools here have a cheer clinic done by their cheerleaders. They teach the girls some cheers and a dance. My girls wanted to do it with their friends really bad. So we let them. They had so much fun with the cheerleaders and their friends, Gracie and Marissa. They then perform at the high school's football game. It is a fun opportunity to see a glimpse into cheerleading. Witnee isn't in to sports (ie soccer, etc.). She is all about gymnastics, cheerleading, and dancing. Kiersten loves gymnastics, cheerleading, and dancing also, but she enjoys sports too. They did really good and had a great time! It was fun to watch them.