To Everything There is a Season...

Family pictures - always his favorite event of the year.

Vacationing in Cancun. Keepin' it real.

Here he is with his buddies Carter and Deacon. Every time I see Boston in his little red sweater my heart skips a beat. So cute.

This conductor was full of knowledge and posed for a picture. The ride lasted about 45 minutes. One lady commented on the beauty of the mountains and I said, "I guess they're beautiful for the desert." She replied, "You must be from Utah." I am yet to find more beautiful mountains than the one's in Utah. However, the desert has gorgeous sunsets and you can ride in an open-air train in December without a coat. Always trying to see the positive. Ha, ha.

This last week for family home evening I attempted to have a spiritual lesson, then the kids opened their pjs, jumped right into them and we went to look at Christmas lights. The house below was my favorite. The whole street was a different theme and almost as good as Disneyland. Then to top if all off, we had Golden Spoon yogurt. Kennedy was so embarrassed to go in with the boys in their Star Wars pajamas.

This is very bad video taking but something I thought the grandparents would enjoy. It's a little snippet from the kids presenting the Christmas Nativity at our ward Christmas breakfast. Jackson (in the turquoise) reminds me of a minister and Leighton a wizard. Boston is suppose to be Joseph. Just watch Jackson. He was in his own world. It's mainly for the grandparents.

Notice the girls actually have their feet off the ground. And yes, I was a cheerleader in my former life. Pathetic at that.

Merry Christmas!

On the same night, Kennedy played the piano for her Jr. high fundraising concert. She has nerves of steal! She did a great job and I was pleasantly surprised at the rest of the talent. Some serious American Idol contestants.

The twins had their friend Price (real name Dean) over to play and see Megamind. If you didn't know any better, you would've thought I had triplets. They all played football across the street.

Here is Jackson with Annica, actually petting a beagle. This is monumental. He has run from teacup Chihuahua's before.

We took the kids out to do a little go karting Friday after Thanksgiving. Kennedy, Meeka and I were to meet the boys after we picked up the pizza. By the time I got on the scene, Jackson announced that "he almost died for the 2nd time!" (The 1st time was this summer when his knees were stuck in the tube, turned upside down) The go kart went ballistic! It accelerated and wouldn't stop and the brakes wouldn't work. Jackson was driving with Leighton in the passenger side, all buckled in. They were spinning in circles and screaming their heads off. Eric had to chase it down and throw his body in front of it. It went up his leg and chewed a hole in his shoe. A major benefit of having some size is that you can stop a moving vehicle.

After the adrenaline wore off, Eric thought maybe he did some damage to his ankle. It's the same one he broke during a football game but I think the plate that's already there saved him.

I got up at 5:20 this morning for with jog with my friend Nikki and her family. It was a great way to start the day. Eric played in the 2nd annual Turkey Bowl for our ward (he played quarterback?) while the kids and I enjoyed Holiday Outreach at their school. It's a great event where the kids and adults can walk/run the track, baked goods are sold, and donations are made for those in need. It's a wonderful tradition that makes me feel like we really do belong to a community.

We drove North, South, East, and West. The above picture is at Echo Lake in the mountains with a view of the Rockies. Below is a little town called Evergreen.

Echo Lake was already starting to freeze over but the weather was unseasonably warm the two days we were there (70 degrees).

I was channeling my inner chi. Hopefully we are directed to the place we are suppose to be. As of right now, we have a few other places and opportunities to check out but Denver is definitely in the running.

These three were asked by Brad and Pam to sing for Sean's mission homecoming sacrament meeting and they surprisingly said sure! They did a fabulous job - staying on pitch and even doing a little head-bobbing to I Hope They Call Me on a Mission. They also sang two whole verses of When I Am Baptized.

Before they went up to sing, my mom sent this note down the pew:

Eric was quite the cowboy was upon a time and jumped right in to show Kennedy the ropes on calf roping. (In his senior picture he was wearing Wranglers and a Stetson hat.)

Grandma showed her true colors as well.

Leighton was determined to figure this out. He spent much of his time trying and eventually got the calf by the horns.

Boston was a natural, of course.

Kennedy was a natural with the rope swing. The twins just dropped to the ground.

Jackson was fixated on this rubber ducky water race. He is going to be an engineer one day, I just know it. Or maybe a monster truck driver, a surfer, or a professional football player. He's still trying to decide. Those are his choices (per a conversation with him).

This merry-go-round was worked to its bones today. We all tried it out. Poor thing.

Even my mom gave it a whirl.

This was actually how these two were hanging out talking. Too good of a picture to pass up.

The corn maze has been a source of stress in the past for Jackson. He bravely took it on and we made it through the level 1 maze without any tears; however, that was enough for the twins. They were back to the trailer as soon as they heard the tractor pull up.

Eric has a bit of an advantage in a corn maze...

The only injury of the day was the corn cob that fired back on Eric's leg. It was a red-neck sling shot gone wrong. Could've been operator error?

The pumpkin patch was a little picked over but we found one to make everyone happy. I love fall and the colors that come with it.