A lot to be GRATEFUL for.....

We had a wonderful Christmas this year.  We made sure to honor some of our favorite traditions....

Gingerbread houses, the reading of The Night Before Christmas (done by Caiden this year, who did a great job :) and of course we open one present, which is always Christmas jammies which the kids always wish is a toy.  Never gonna happen kids!

Preston was completely content with wrapping paper, boxes, a loose orange that fell out of someone's stocking and a plastic candy cane.  I totally took advantage of this easy-pleasing baby and bought him....nothing.  What more did he need????  But Grandma was nice and got him a walker....which I think it's safe to say he likes it.  

As for Paige, she fell in love with this doll.  It came with an armoire with several outfits and may I just say it is the most organized "dresser" in this house.  After we opened presents and were getting ready for Church, she was laying in my bed with her doll and Caiden was reading a book, and I heard Paige whisper "I just love you" (to her doll, not her brother).  It made me smile.  And chuckle a little too :)

And Mr. Caiden got himself a new pair of skis and boots.  Shhhh...nobody tell him they're actually used and not new at all.  Hey, come on.  Gotta save a buck somewhere.  He is SO SO excited to go skiing with his dad.  And no, he did not get a new phone.  He's eight, who does he need to talk to? Casey got a new phone for his birthday and gave Caiden his old one (except without the phone part).  It is solely for games and guess what?  I already want to throw it out the window after having smashed it into a thousand pieces with a hammer.  It's no secret I'm not a fan of video games, but alas, they have them.  However, they are strictly regulated by ME and it is my new favorite thing to take away when they are misbehaving.  In that sense, it works wonders :)

Speaking of skiing, the kids were so excited, they convinced Casey to run around the backyard pulling them on skis.  They had a blast.  Caiden even built a "jump" and was pushing Paige over it....who loved it :)

Sitting through church on Christmas Day, I couldn't help but feel how blessed my family is.  In every aspect of life.  I couldn't help but think of those out there who were NOT having a "special" Christmas Day with their families and maybe all alone and maybe this was, in fact, one of the worst days of their life.  Next year, I am determined to make a new tradition of having the kids buy or donate gifts or time or something to others.  I think it's an important experience they need in their life.  Yep. That's it. I'm gonna do it.  It's officially in writing!  A couple years ago when I was Primary Pres., we decided as a presidency to put together a box of items a family needed for Christmas and we left it on their doorstep.  We got in our dark clothes and I was the "get-away" driver and we snuck up to their doorstep and rang the doorbell...and RAN for our lives!  I was parked in a place where we could see them open the door and wonder who on earth left a box full of goodies on their doorstep.  It was seriously so fun!  Anyway....those are just my random thoughts this Christmas season.  Hope you all had a very Merry Christmas too!

Let's try this again....

This is going to be mine in a couple of months.  Yes, that's right.  I am going to be the winner of HGTV's Dream House this year. I'm just documenting now because I am a believer in exercising POSITIVE THINKING. You will see :)

Now, I know I said that last year, but in my defense I was big and fat and pregnant and not as on top of things when it came to daily entering and plus, it was in Vermont.  I mean, really, what business do I have in Vermont?  None.   But this year, it's in Utah.  What business do I have in Utah? ALOT!!!!!!!!!!!!  So, you see, it's all about timing.  Now is the time :)  Wish me luck! Wahoo!!  Yay me!!! Positive thinking everyone!

Scootin' and Dancin'!!

First off, sorry these are sideways.  It only took me 500 hours to get these dang videos from my phone to my blog.  Geeeeeeezzzzzzz.  Dang technology.

Anyway, Preston is so cute.  Have I mentioned that before?  He's starting crawling.  And by crawling I mean weird-one-legged-scoot-on-the-butt-thing type of crawl, of course.  That's the second video.  He's officially into EVERYTHING and has recently discovered the Christmas tree.  Ugh.

Then, tonight I looked over at him and he started doing this crazy shake-it-all-around dance just smiling away!  So I grabbed my phone and he did it again, except not as much smiling, but just as much shakin'.  So funny!!!!!  

Just Sayin......

Eight is GREAT!

On 11-11-11, Caiden celebrated his very special EIGHTH birthday!  He had a grand ole time with his friends at his birthday party, which was held in the arcade at Lake Bowl.  Fabulous entertainment for a bunch of crazy eight year old boys.  They had a blast :)

One of his favorite gifts was this bow and arrow from Papa.  We made sure to have the "this-is-not-a-regular-toy,-you-have-to-really-take-care-of-it" and "your-sister-is-not-target-practice" talk beforehand.  I think it went well.  No major mishaps so far.  And oh, how he loves it!  He also got 2 swiss army knives from his other Papa, to which the same pep-talk applied.  Apparently, this was the year for weapons :)

Another favorite was his kickball and bases.  So easy to please, this little boy.  We had a family game of kickball, (where I doubled as photographer - and excelled more at that than an actual player).

You know how some dads go easy on their kids and let them win and not kick the ball their VERY, VERY hardest?  Yeah, that didn't really happen :)

 "Am I supposed to kick this thing?"

 And look who thinks he's pretty awesome :)

Another reason Eight is GREAT is because he's now old enough to be baptized.  Yep, I officially have an accountable child.  I'm so very proud of Caiden for making this important decision.  And so thankful to all the family and friends who came for this event. 

 It was so awesome that several of Caiden's closest friends were able to make it.

Caiden with his cousins Keenen, Lauren, and baby Scarlett.  Lauren came up with my parents from Colorado.  I purposely didn't tell Caiden and once she was here, we went to pick him up from school.  Lauren was hiding in the back and on the way home, she leaned over and said "Hi".  Caiden was so surprised!!  It was awesome.

Later I asked Caiden how he felt on this day.  He thought about it for a minute and said, "I felt proud".  And then my heart melted and oozed right out my body.

Oh, and here's a funny little memory.  I'm not exactly sure the conversation said between he and Casey prior to this day.  But I know Casey took the time to explain to him just what being baptized means.  On the way home he apparently got one little fact a bit mixed up, as he said "But dad...you said I wouldn't remember my sins anymore.  And I remember them.  Like the time Paige was running to jump and land on the automon and I pushed it away so that she fell flat on her face.  I totally remember that."  Oh, he's a funny kid!

Family Pictures!

My sweet friend Michelle took our family pictures last weekend.  I love how they turned out.  Who knew I had such cute kids?  Oh wait, I did.

Halloween 2011

Carvin' Pumpkins......

This year Caiden could actually carve his own pumpkin which was nice, so I only ended up doing mine...and Paige's....and Preston's.  As usual Paige requested a cat, and if I do say so myself, it pretty much rocks (look at it all lit up - awesome, huh?).  And Paige's black polka dots was a nice added touch :)  Casey went all out and did the skull.  I quite like it.  The bottom one was Caiden's second one....yep, he did two and somehow managed not to cut off any of his fingers.  I started to worry when he tried to carve hair into his pumpkin.....

But this is his real masterpiece - The Pumpkin Eating the Pumpkin.  I think it's great.  I did the top and bottom - one for me and one for Preston.  Everyone deserves equal representation right?   

Halloween Night....

Caiden - a Ninja....Paige - a "pretty, but mean" Witch.....Preston - a Spider

This was one cold and tired little spider.  So we bundled him up in the stroller, and when that didn't work, we gave him his first-ever sucker....and it did the trick....and the treat, haha!

After trick-or-treating in our neighborhood, we went to Grandma and Grandpa Gublers.  Caiden discovered on the way there that he got several full size candy bars (and I was super excited too because Twix is one of the best things here on Earth.  Right next to Ding Dongs.)  Both kids got even got some money from our neighbors.  Not bad.  Maybe I will dress up next year :)

And by the end of the night, Preston decided this whole candy thing was pretty awesome....I love this little spider :)