6 Deans + a Dog

We went again this year up to Thousand Peaks Ranch to cut down our Christmas tree (thanks to Michelle Bagley for inviting us). We went with 3 families from our neighborhood. It was nice this year because there wasn't alot of snow so we were able to drive right up to where we got the trees. Our tree isn't the greatest but the time we get to spend with friends and searching for the perfect tree makes it all worth it :)Rachel and Jake didn't come this year. Rachel was hanging out with friends and Jake was snow boarding. We missed having our TEENAGERS with us.

Bruce Family
Minus Steph who had to stay home because of a broken ankle :(

Lang Family

Bagley Family

Will and Sadie are in search of their own little trees.

The Kids.The Moms.All decorated and ready for Christmas.
(Our tree REALLY needs more ornaments.)

HAPPY DECEMBER...
only 25 days until CHRISTMAS :)

WILLIAM ROBERT DEAN...

turned "11"on November 27th.

Will celebrated his birthday over the Thanksgiving break. We are so grateful for Will and that he is in our family. He is such a sweet, sensitive, kind and loving boy. He is a good student and very helpful. He loves to play soccer. He loves to hangout with his friends. He is so excited now he is 11 that he is a boyscout and gets to go on camps with Mike and Jake. He LOVES to spend time with his family. He loves to play games.
We love you Will.

HAPPY BIRTHDAY!!!

We had the grandparents over for dinner to help celebrate Jake's and Will's birthdays.

November is a pretty busy month for us with birthdays but it is nice that Jake and Will get to celebrate together.

Will played in a soccer tournament over Thanksgiving break in St. George. We were there 3 nights and 3 days. Chad and Holly Little let us stay with them in Holly's parents home. It was so fun hanging out and spending time with the team and their families. It sure makes watching the games fun when you get to be with people you get along with. In this tournament we were put in the Premier level group so the teams we played have played a lot longer than we have so we lost all three games (1 -2), (1-2), (3-4). At least we didn't get killed :)The boys sure played hard for playing teams 3 levels above what they played in their season. Friday they had 2 games and Saturday they had 1 game.

Friday night after the game we had a swim and pizza party with the team and their families.

Ryan Reynard, Gavin Little, Sadie

Sadie and Avery Powell

Rachel and Sarah Reynard
Cutest baby EVER!!!

Saturday we played La Roca. They were a very rough and aggressive team. Our players had several injuries in this game. Will got kicked in the face with the ball. His nose bled quit a bit.

We were so proud of our boys at the end of 3 games you would have thought from our cheering that they had won the tournament.

Everyone cheered together on the field at the end of the last game.

Good job BLAST.

Saturday night we got together with the Benees, Reynards, Powells and Littles. We went to the house that the Reynards were staying in. Mike and I brought a cake to help celebrate Will's "11th" birthday.

Garrett Powell, Payton Reynard, Will, Noah Benee, Austin Little

Last Wednesday when I came home at 1:00 after working at Driggs and a quick stop at the grocery store (which I never do I always come right home to let Diesel out but today I just decided to go straight to the store.) I drove into the garage and I noticed our door between the garage and the family room was wide open. I thought that is weird since I was the last one to leave I was pretty sure I had shut it. When I came inside the house I noticed our black TV cabinet cupboards were both open, also weird since I was pretty sure I had shut cupboard doors before I left. I walked into the kitchen and the drinking glass cupboard was open and we have a basket full of things on our desk in the kitchen that was in the middle of the counter. Now I was really suspicious so I called Mike and asked him if he had come home for lunch. He said no so I started to get a little freaked out. I kept Mike on the phone while I walked through the house. I went in to the office next and our desk cupboards and drawers were all wide open. The closet door in the office was open too (luckily our nice camera that was in a backpack was still sitting on the floor in the closet.) Next I went into our bedroom and saw our top dresser and nightstand drawers were all pulled open as well as a our closet door. I said to Mike we have been broken into because there were duplicate checks laying all over our bed and I knew I didn't leave those there. Sadie's top drawers were wide open in her dresser too (her wallet was taken off her dresser). I kept Mike on the phone while I walked downstairs. I went into our family room and I noticed there were some cords that were hanging out of the TV cabinet. I told Mike that our XBOX and Kinect were missing and there was a big space by the games so I knew they had taken some of our XBOX games (4 of them and our Insanity workout videos were taken.) I left that room and walked down to the kids bedrooms. All of Will's dresser drawers were pulled open in his room (they took his wallet off his dresser), Jake's room didn't look too disturbed but when he came home he told me his wallet and shuffle were on his nightstand and they were missing. Rachel's bedroom door was wide open which it never is because she doesn't like Diesel laying in her bed. Her room was really cold and I noticed her window was WIDE OPEN. That is how they came into our home through Rachel's tiny basement window in our 50s house (this person was not a big person that's for sure.) The good thing is they didn't break the window it turns out Rachel hadn't locked it from having it open during summer. It was shut but not locked so they just took off the screen and slid it open. Rachel's wallet was missing from her room. I came back upstairs and realized we had two itouches that were on the office desk and they were missing. I hung up with Mike and called the police. When the police got to the house I went back in the garage with the policeman to see if anything was missing and discovered they had taken Mike's road bike. So it looks like they filled a backpack full of things and road off on Mike's bike.

Now for the THANKFUL part of the story:
This break in took place during a day that the youth were having a fast and feast in our ward. Rachel and Jake had been to school all day without eating anything. When they came home they couldn't believe we had been broken into. Jake was so excited to play his new XBOX game that Judy and Roger had just given him for his birthday (which of course was one of the games that were stolen). He said to me I cannot believe the day we fast that THIS happens. I told him we fast for blessings in our lives and not things. When I told Rachel that I went to the store right after school this day and didn't come straight home she said "Mom I know my fast was answered because I fasted that our family would be blessed and maybe they were there during lunch and if you would have come straight home at 12:00 you could have walked in on them". I am so grateful for my kids and their testimonies and their great examples. Sometimes we are showed we are blessed in ways we wouldn't choose. Although it sucks of course to have someone come into our home and invade our space I am so grateful for the things in our lives that are not material (because thank heaven for insurance we are getting all of our material things that were taken replaced $5,000+), like family, friends, health and the gospel. We were all so grateful they didn't hurt Diesel because he was just roaming the house when I got home. A few days after this happened I found out my mom had, had a minor heart attack and had been admitted into the hospital. It turned out she had a blockage in one of her arteries so she needed to have a stent put in. This happening helped put things in perspective for the importance of our relationships and to cherish the time we have with our family and friends. This break in experience has helped bond us as a family and brought us closer together. I hope we can all be THANKFUL on this THANKSGIVING DAY for the things that REALLY matter in our lives. I know we are :)

HAPPY THANKSGIVING!!!

Happy "13th" Birthday
JACOB MICHAEL DEAN

Jake finally got a phone for his birthday. In our house the rule is you have to be a teenager before you can have a phone. You would have thought we killed Jake's social life because he said he has missed out on things because he doesn't get texts. I mean really he has been in Jr. High 3 months and no phone. Can you even imagine? How could we do that to him. I am so glad now he has a phone he can now be included :)

Jake is such a great kid. He is so mellow and easy going. He is willing to try anything. He is fearless. He is getting so good on the piano (I am just trying to convince him to play in church sometime so he can impress all the girls.). He is a great student. He still gives me hugs and says he loves me which melts my heart. Thanks Jake for the great example you are to your sisters and brother.
We sure love having you in our family.

This morning we woke Jake up by ringing his phone with a "birthday song" ring tone. He was very excited to FINALLY have his own phone.

Jake spent his birthday at Park City snowboarding with Mike and 3 friends. He was excited to wear his new coat and pants we gave him and new helmet Grandma Ruthie and Grandpa Robert gave him. Lookin good Jake :)

HAPPY BIRTHDAY!!!