New Years Eve

For New Years we traveled North to Utah County to visit family. We stopped at the ice rink in Provo and the girls tried Ice Skating for the first time. They used these skate aids which made it really fun for them.

We met up with Mike and his family at the rink telepathically. We both happened to show up with our families at exactly 3PM on New Years Eve. We had lots of fun skating around, trying not to crash into people and fall down.

Next we were off to Kim and Shaun's house to partay with the fam.

Colby hadn't even drank any bubbly yet and he is already 1 sheet to the wind.

We ate a yummy dinner. I'm still dreaming of that delicious fruit and cream dish Sydna made.

Now we're talkin' I'm not sure what the brocolli is doing amongst all this goodness. Are those gummy bears by the twizzlers? Just for the record, Shaun had purchased a 6 pound bag of those puppies and I would be surprised if there was more than a couple ounces left by midnight!

Phase 10 Baby!

The cousins all raced outside at the stroke of midnight with their pots and pans.

Now we break out the Bubbly. Kassy: 2 Sheets to the Wind.

Kim: 3 Sheets to the Wind. Even Little Macy was puttin' it back at midnight.

The next day we gathered at Mike's ward to repent of our midnight misdeeds...and join Matt and Ashley for the blessing of little Jake. Afterwards we met at Mike's seminary to enjoy a luncheon. It was great to see so many of our Northern Utah family. We always have lots of fun together.

Beautiful Heartbreak

Growin' Butterflys!

Donna and I finally gave in to those commercials about butterflys and purchased the kit for $20 bucks. A few days later this little container showed up in our mailbox complete with 5 tiny caterpillars. The girls were so excited to get bugs in the mail and were pretty fascinated with how fast those little critters grew.

After about a week we noticed one of the caterpillars crawled to the top and instinctively dropped into a J shape and held very still. Within 12 hours a hard chrysalis formed around its body.

We waited patiently for 1 week for the butterflys to hatch from their chrysalis'

And then.....the first butterfly crawled out and unfolded her wings!

The girls were very impressed with how beautiful their butterflys were.

Little Kort kept trying to eat them! This butterfly narrowly escaped her chubby fingers to live another day. Soon we released them into the wild. We all had a blast growin' butterflys.

April Fools!

Mom decided to trick us all for April Fools day and she made us a delicious breakfast of Fakin-n-Eggs. The girls LOVED it!

Then for dinner, Mom made us Mashed Potatoes and Gravy, Fish Sticks, peas, and an Apple with a worm in it.

Kaitlyn's expression as she tried her "Mashed Potatoes"

Jessy couldn't figure out why she couldn't drink her coolaid!

This is the moment Nicole figured out the Coolaid was really Jello!

For some reason, Kortney couldn't get enough Mashed Potatoes

Then it was time for Dessert which were delicious cupcakes with yummy frosting.

Kaitlyn discovering her "Cupcake"

So here is the food legend:

Eggs = White Chocolate with a yellow M-n-M

Bacon = Tootsie Rolls and Caramel

Mashed Potatoes = Ice Cream

Gravy = Caramel Topping

Peas = Sour Apple Laffy Taffy

Fish Sticks = Wafer Cookies with Corn Flake coating

Coolaid = Cherry Jello

Cupcakes = Meatloaf shaped in cupcake foil

Cupcake Frosting = Mashed Potatoes with food coloring added

FHE: Samuel the Lamanite

For FHE tonight we talked about Samuel the Lamanite. Jessica had the lesson so I helped her tell the story of Samuel prophesying to the Wicked Nephites in Zarahemla. The girls thought the story was pretty exciting and couldn't wait to act it out. Donna made a Rice Crispie wall and poor Samuel had to endure the wrath of the semi-automatic Nerf guns we unleashed on him.

Our activity turned out very realistic to the actual event because Samuel was definitely being protected from our Nerf bullets. None of us could hit him for the life of us!

Jessy took this VERY serious!

We all took turns until finally we perfected our aim and down he went! Little Kortney kept wandering into the Line of Fire and several Nerf bullets would bounce off her fuzzy, bald head! Then it was time to Devour the "Wall" and strike Charlie's Angels poses for the camera.

Nicole striking her best Steve Correl "Kill Shot" for me! Love that movie!
Thanks Nate-n-Lisha for the FHE board. We love it. The girls can't wait to move their names each week to the next assignment!

Kaitlyn's Baptism

Kaitlyn was baptised earlier this month. She was so excited for the big day. Donna took Kaitlyn shopping for a new white dress and shoes for the big occasion. I think Kate was more excited about her new "High Heel" Shoes than the actual baptism. She asked to put them on the following day for church at 9 in the morning; our church doesn't start until 1PM! She is silly. Kaitlyn is a wonderful older sister to her siblings and sets a good example for them.

Lake Powell

The Lake Powell trip was great this year. September is a beautiful month at Powell. Its always tough to leave the lake after such a relaxing vacation and come back to reality. Water levels were higher this year which allowed us to camp further back in Gunsight Bay at the base of some impressive cliffs.

Playing cards over delicious food. Lake Powell Life is too good.

We celebrated Sharla's birthday on the boat. We are quite the party animals!

A Big Thanks to these two pirates for providing this fun adventure each year.

Surfing was so much fun this year. We are all getting the hang of it the more we surf.

Kyle caught several catfish and bluegill and immediately filleted them and cooked em' up with yummy seasonings and fresh lemons he had brought. As you can see below, that catfish was absolutely delicious. It was the freshest fish I've ever eaten. Thanks Ky!

Little Kaylie was an angel out at the lake. I was pleasantly surprised how good she was for being just 2 months old. This was the first of many Powell trips for Kaylie

We had a full pirate moon the whole week we were on the lake. My picture does not do it justice. Each night we would go out on the top deck and enjoy the moon-lit gunsight bay.

Donna and the girls were able to join us for a few hours on the lake. They had a BLAST riding in the wake boarding boat exploring Antelope Canyon. That was so much fun to have them join me for part of the trip.