Christmas

Christmas this year was fun for the kids. It started at 8:30 in the morning. It was nice that the kids slept in. I know that one day they will not sleep so late. Santa came and brought Travis a wand and a train set. Santa brought Lizzy a baby, car seat, and diaper bag with lots of baby stuff.

They both were thrilled with their toys from Santa. They didn't want to unwrap the presents under the Christmas tree. We finally convinced them that it would be fun to unwrap the other presents. The kids passed out all the gifts.

Travis was first to open his presents. He got some cars, Toy Story dress up clothes, Thomas the train, and Leapster 2.

Lizzy got to open her gifts second. She got a doll house and accessories, Dora dress up clothes, and Leapster 2.

Then Mom opened her presents. I got a bamboo cutting board, a cake platter that also works as a punch bowl, and a 20x30 picture from Eric. He took 160 of our wedding pictures and had a company make a larger wedding picture using the other wedding pictures. It is really cool looking. I just need to buy a picture frame and then I will post a picture. Eric was last to open presents. He got a nano bug habitat from the kids and I gave him a leather coat. The family got a gift from Santa and it was a Dairy Queen blizzard maker. The kids are excited to make a "milk shake" with it.

Then we went down to Eric's parent's house for Christmas diner and presents. It was nice seeing all of his family there. The kids had fun seeing all their cousins. It was a late night but it was fun staying.

Gingerbread House

We made a gingerbread house on Christmas Eve. The kids had so much fun making it. Eric and I messed up making the walls so we had to make a second batch. It was a good learning experience.

Temple Square Christmas Lights

This weekend we went to Salt Lake area to help Ryan and Lindy move to Ogden. We decided to make a weekend trip and go see the lights at Temple Square. We stayed at the Days Inn and took a train from Midville to Downtown Salt Lake. The kids had so much fun on the train. When we got to the lights it started to rain. We walked around for about 1/2 hour and then took the train back to the hotel. The kids loved looking at the lights.

Dad and the kids on the train.

The train station.

Temple Square

The Nutcracker

Lizzy's ballet class had a performance tonight. They put on the Nutcracker. They had professional dancers from the Utah Regional Ballet Company. Lizzy had so much fun dancing. Here are some pictures.

Elizabeth's 4th Birthday

Lizzy turns 4 today. I can't believe that it has been 4 years already. She has had a week of celebrating. She started with going to dinner and to the book store with Grandma and Grandpa Turner. She went to Burger King and ate Macaroni and Cheese. At the bookstore, she choose a princess book with a little piano attached to it.

Then Wednesday, we celebrated her birthday at school. The class sang to her and she got to bring a poster board with pictures of her growing up. She got to tell the class what each picture was about. That was a special day for her.

Friday I made her birthday cake. She got to choose with type of cake I made. She even got to watch me decorate it.

Lizzy choose a princess cake.

Then she had a birthday party at home on Saturday. She invited 5 of her friends, some from school and ballet. She had so much fun playing with her friends. She got a princess outfit, a Dora book, a stuff animal, a Dora blanket, and a Princess Barbie.

Serena, Caitlin, and Emma play together.

Serena and Torry pose for a picture.

Lizzy opens her presents.

Lizzy blowing out the candles on her cake.

Then Sunday she was sang to in Primary. She got a birthday bag with popcorn and a pencil.

Then today she gets to open presents from Mom and Dad, Travis, and Grandpa Cox and Grandma Tina. She is going to love her presents. I will post more pictures of her tonight when she opens her presents.

Snow!

Well we have reached snow season. This weekend we got hit with a good storm. We still have another big storm today and tomorrow. They estimate between 4-10 inches today and tomorrow. The kids love the snow so they had fun Saturday.

This is what our truck looks like this morning.

The kids love playing in the snow. The flakes are huge.

Catching snow on their tongues is lots of fun.

Halloween

This year was full of Halloween activities. On Thursday we went to Lizzy's preschool for a trick-or-treat. It started with reading a Halloween book. Then the kids got to go around the parking lot and trick-or-treat at the cars. There was even a little spooky trailer for the kids to walk through. They had so much fun.

Travis choose to be a dragon this year.

If you ask Lizzy what she is, she will tell you "Fairy Wings."

Then Friday we had the ward Halloween party. The kids and I made a bunch of cupcakes for the party. They had fun decorating the cupcakes. The kids had fun playing the games and trunk-or-treating at the party.

Saturday Eric wasn't feeling well so I took the kids to Boo at the Zoo with Michele and Serena. They had so much fun looking at the animals. There was a costume contest and the kids had fun dancing on the stage. They danced for 1/2 hour. Then when the contest started, they didn't want to be up on the stage. I had to stand up there with them. They didn't win the contest but they had fun. It was so fun to watch Lizzy. Every time Lizzy would see one of those big inflatable decorations (ie pumpkin, ghosts, gorilla...) she would get so excited and run over giggling. The kids had so much fun this year. They can't wait til next Halloween.

Last Minute Mini Vacation

The kids and I went up to Billings MT 2 weekends ago. Grandpa Vorhauer had bypass surgery and a heart valve transplant. My Mom and Aunt Diana flew up to see their Dad. We went up to see my Mom, Aunt Diana, Aunt Angie, Uncle Barry, DJ and family, Grandma, and Grandpa. It was fun to see everyone. I got to spend a couple of hours at the hospital with Grandma and Grandpa. The kids and I also got to go play with DJ's family one evening. It was great to see everyone. Grandpa is home from the hospital and recovering quickly.

Puppet Show

During our family reunion, Lindy and Ryan put on a puppet show. I'm just finally getting it off the camcorder. The long show is on youtube.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Y75viA9mXf0

This video is when the kids were given a puppet to play with. They had a blast!

Preschool

Lizzy started preschool today. She is so excited to be going to school. She didn't even cry when Travis and I dropped her off. She is going to have a fun day.

Cake Decorating Class

I have been taking a cake decorating class for the past 2 months. It has been fun. The first class was the basics and used buttercream frosting. The second class was using fondant and gum paste.

This is the first cake I did in class.

We got to decorate cupcakes. We learned how to fill cupcakes too. These are filled with chocolate pudding.

This is my final cake for the buttercream icing class.

This is the final cake for the fondant and gum paste class. We also learned how to make roses, carnations, daisies, and mums.

Youth Jam

We were able to go to the Youth Jam at the Snake River this year. The kids enjoyed making crafts. They even got their faces painted. Home Depot was there and gave the kids an apron. They got to build a boat. We happen to run into Michele and Serena so we spent the day with them. We also went to the garden and got some carrots. The kids love eating our carrots and they especially love having the green part left on.

Travis wanted to be a kitty.

Lizzy wanted a shooting star.

Grandma, Grandpa, Daniel, Melanie, and Payton come to visit

Grandma, Grandpa, Daniel, Melanie and Daniel came to visit on their vacation. We were able to go to the Temple and walk around one evening. We also went to the zoo. We enjoyed having family visit.

Melanie and Payton at the zoo.

Payton playing on the Lion.

It took a lot of coaxing to get Travis on the lion.

Lizzy had fun looking at the animals.

Grandma read books to the kids one evening.

Aunt Donna's House

We were able to stop at Aunt Donna's house on the way home from Eric's family reunion. My mom was able to drive up from California for the weekend. We had a wonderful time seeing each other. Here are some pictures.

I bought Lizzy a bunch of new clothes. She was in desperate need of the next size bigger. Grandma also got some new clothes so they did a fashion show. It was fun.


Aunt Donna and Uncle Richard have a big sand pit in the back of their house. The kids loved playing in it. Dad and Lizzy are covering up Travis' toes and Travis is saying, "Where are my toes" as he wiggles them.


We went to a big garage sale at the local public library. The kids got this car for free.


The kids got to go see some animals. Lizzy loved the horses.


The kids got to feed the sheep.