Christmas

We started off our christmas season by making a gingerbread house. This is something that has quickly become a tradition in our house. The kids really look forward to this. We buy a gingerbread house kit, but this year the house came pre-assembled so the gingerbread house was finished much quicker.



On Dec. 23 we decorated cookies with Michael. I had bought some food coloring so hopefully get some good red and green frosting. The kids had a good time and didn't make too much of a mess.













For christmas eve we decided to have turkey and funeral potatoes. Alan wanted to try something new for cooking the turkey, so he got on line and figured it out. I let him because that meant less work for me. He did a really good job. The turkey turned out great! We had Megan over for christmas eve dinner and had a great time. We eat dinner and after cleaning up we watch some christmas shows with the kids and then we open new pajamas. I look forward to this every year and the kids love opening a present on christmas eve. After opening pajamas, we set out cookies and chocolate milk (cause Santa loves chocolate milk!) and got the kids to bed. They went to sleep pretty quickly.













The kids woke up around 6:15 Christmas morning. Alan jumped up to start making his christmas breakfast that needs to cook for 90 min. Then we let the kids start opening presents. They had a really good time. I love watching their faces as they open their gifts... their looks are priceless!














Alan thought it would be fun to buy nerf air guns for the whole family! I was a little nervous but they have been a hit.













After we opened presents, we ate Alan's breakfast casserole, which turned out really good. We then played with our toys for a little while and then it was time to get ready and go see family. We went to Great Grandma and Grandpa Doty's around noon. We exchanged gifts and then ate some really good food made by Alan's Uncle Donald. We played with our new toys and played games until about four. Then, it was time to go to Great Grandma and Grandpa Jensen's. We were the first to arrive. Michael got Nerf air guns and decided to show them to us... well he unloaded the one whole gun on me and the war was on! We had a good time chasing and shooting each other! We then played a few more games and had snacks before we headed home for the day. We were all tired, but it was a good day. !

Kairi's Christmas Dane Recital

Kairi had her Christmas dance recital on Dec 13 and did so well!! Kairi has a good presence on the stage. We get complements all the time. She loves music and dance. Thanks to the family and friends who came and supported her.

Family Pictures

When we came to Idaho for Christmas I asked Leslie if she would use our camera and try and take some pictures of our family to use in our Christmas card. She did a great job, but I was so busy that I never got the Christmas cards out! Thanks Leslie for being willing to help us.

Camden in the girls make-up

It's time to catch up on the blog... never too late!

Camden and Tahlia were playing while I was working around the house. They had gotten really quite and then I heard crying. I ran upstairs to my bathroom and I found Camden with pink make up all over this face! We keep the girls make-up in our bathroom and Camden found it! Instead of getting mad I thought to take some pictures.



He was much happier after he was cleaned up!

Kairi gets her Tonsil out!

When I took Kairi in for her 5 year doctor appointment he was concerned with the way she breathed and pronounced her words. After having x-rays, seeing a specialist and trying antibiotics the specialist, Dr. Hill, thought it would be best to get her tonsils and adnoids out. We scheduled the appointment as soon as we could so as not to interfere with her dance competition and soccer in April. We were scheduled to be at Primary Children's Hospital on Mar 23rd at 11:45 am. Alan and I both took the day off to be with her. She was so excited to have her tonsils out! We took her shopping for ice cream, pudding, yogurt, etc so she was really excited for the food she got to eat afterwords. She had no idea what was about to happen.

Primary Children's is a great hospital. There are all about the kids. The have fun murals on the walls and ceilings, toys, and lots of activities to take kids minds off what is happening to them. The doctor said Kairi was happy right until she went to sleep from the gas. The surgery only took 30 minutes. Dr. Hill said Kairi did great! We had to wait at the hospital for about an hour and a half to make sure she was doing well enough to leave. After she woke up from surgery, she was a little grouchy and didn't want the nurses to touch her. After the anesthesia wore off a little more she calmed down. We were leaving the hospital about 3:30. When we got home she ate a chocolate pudding and had some liquid. She did so well. Yesterday she was is a little more pain, but she is doing great. We can't wait for her to be back to normal... and to hear what she will sound like now!






Kairi on the train waiting to get registered.


Sporting her hospital pajamas.




They gave her a cloth doll to color that had a hospital gown just like her.


Watching some TV after she took her medicine.


The drive home.

Brian Regan

For christmas, Dustin got Alan and I tickets to Brian Regan and offered to babysit for us the night of the show! The tickets were for his 7 o'clock show on Saturday Mar 13th at Abravanal Hall. We looked forward to it since Christmas. We have heard a lot of his comedy and he is hilarious in a clean way. If you ever have a chance to see him you should. Thanks for the gift Dustin!

Reagan Spring PTC

Alan and I went to Reagan's spring parent teacher conference on March 17th at 4:00. She is doing great! She loves going to school and learning. I love that she gets so excited to tell me what she has learned at school. She has been doing challenge (2nd grade) spelling words since January and she has not missed any words on her spelling tests! She hates that we make her write each word she misses five times during our nightly practice, but she is always so excited to see that she spelled all her words correctly. She is still doing great in reading. She has gone up 3 reading levels since our last ptc, she is a level K. She is also doing well in math (good thing or what would people say! :-)). She received all 4's in all other areas. We are so happy that she is liking school and doing so well. Keep up the good work Reagan!

Kairi's 5th Birthday

I can't believe Kairi is 5! She is so excited to be going to kindergarten in the fall. She loves to learn. She loves to write and color. She loves to "read" books to Camden and Tahlia... she is a pretty good story teller! She also loves to learn at church. She is always telling me things she learned at church and telling me how important it is to live "good". I love her sweet personality. She is always thinking of others. She goes about life with such a positive attitude.

Kairi is the only girl her age that we know so, we decided to go to Idaho and celebrate her birthday with Kahler. They are about 8 days apart on a non leap year. Her birthday was on aTuesday and we wouldn't be going to Idaho for the party for a couple of weeks, so we decided to do a little celebration at home Tuesday night. We went to the grocery store and she picked out donuts to eat for desert. She opened a few presents. She got some new pajamas, a pink Snuggie (she really wanted one), a book and some money. We saved a few more things for the party in Idaho.











The week before we went to Idaho for the birthday party, Kahler was in the hospital with RSV. Mary and I had planned to go bowling and play in a bounce house in Rexburg, but when Kahler got sick we decided to just stay in Idaho Falls. It ended up to be just as much fun! We brought up Disney Bingo and the kids loved playing that. After bingo we broke a pinata that Mary had brought. She put some great candy and prizes in it! We were really lucky that the weather was nice enough to go outside and break it. After the pinata we had homemade pizza. This was a great idea! I love homemade pizza. After pizza we opened presents, sang happy birthday and had cake. Leslie made Kairi the cutest cake ever! Leslie called me about a month before Kairi's birthday and wanted to make the cake. I showed Kairi the cake and after a few minutes of thinking she said yes. Thanks Leslie for helping make her birthday extra special. Kahler had a cute little dump truck full of cake. He really didn't want to much to do with it. Eventually he had some and made a mess. Thanks to everyone who helped with the party! It was great.