Check out our new hot tub

Look how big it is. Everyone can fit. Come on over.



Okay I am just kidding. I wish this were our hot tub. HA! HA!

Everyone is still invited anytime of course. You just won't need swimming lessons like with this giant one.

So for those of you who haven't heard yet, we have a hot tub now in our back yard. We hauled it home from Dane's family's Pine Valley Cabin. It was not working when we got it. Nate has been using his skills of course and now we have a hot tub. The kids love it! Little Nate will be turning 8 years old the first week of Feb. and he is so excited to have his friends over for a hot tub party for his birthday. They were all planning and talking about it in their primary class on Sunday. If they were older, and planning a hot tub party at church I might have stopped them. But at 8 yrs old, it was just cute. I currently do not have any pictures for the blog, but I will soon. Sorry. I was in the hot tub and did not want to have a picture of me in my swimming suite. I am sure you all understand.

A day at our house

Today is a great day. We got up early this morning and all three kids got to go to the dentist for their semiannual cleaning. They all passed, no cavities! Aubrie thinks our dentist is handsome so she just smiles at him the entire time he's talking to her. He even had to repeat a question one time because she was all googly eyed and couldn't remember what he said to answer him. Whatever works. I would rather do that than the kicking, screaming, scared reaction.
Then we were off to school-not even late! Grayson and I went to our exercise class and now we are home in time to do our bread baking for the week, our housework, and check our blog before school is out. We even get time to play! I love days like this.

Pine Valley

My sister Alicia and her hubby Dane came to visit a little before Christmas to celebrate Christmas and New Years.
This is a 4 min movie. It is silent. It is more like a slide show.
We just had such a fun time visiting Dane's families cabin. I wanted
to share some of the fun.
One of the nights we did a Murder Mystery Dinner Party and everyone dressed up for their parts.

This is a tagging game. If you read this, you are tagged. You just copy and paste everything below to your blog. Then put the things you have done in bold.

This is a tagging game. If you read this, you are tagged. You just copy and paste everything below to your blog. Then put the things you have done in bold.

This was so fun to read through. I can't believe I haven't even cracked half of them. Always time to add I guess. Consider yourself tagged. It's a blast to try to figure what a friend has done. Knock yourself out.

What Have I Done?

The things I've done are in bold. This was kind of fun!
1. Started your own blog
2. Slept under the stars
3. Played in a band
4. Visited Hawaii
5. Watched a meteor shower
6. Given more than you can afford to charity
7. Been to Disneyland /world
8. Climbed a mountain
9. Held a praying mantis
10. Sang a solo (only at bedtime to one of the kids)
11. Bungee jumped
12. Visited Paris
13. Watched a lightning storm at sea (from the beach)
14. Taught yourself an art from scratch
15. Adopted a child
16. Had food poisoning
17. Walked to the top of the Statue of Liberty
18. Grown your own vegetables
19. Seen the Mona Lisa in France
20. Slept on an overnight train
21. Had a pillow fight
22. Hitch hiked
23. Taken a sick day when you're not ill (Uhh..not recently?)
24. Built a snow fort
25. Held a lamb
26. Gone skinny dipping
27. Run a Marathon
28. Ridden in a gondola in Venice
29. Seen a total eclipse
30. Watched a sunrise or sunset
31. Hit a home run (probably on accident)
32. Been on a cruise
33. Seen Niagara Falls in person
34. Visited the birthplace of your ancestors
35. Seen an Amish community ( Does Shilo Valley count?)
36. Taught yourself a new language
37. Had enough money to be truly satisfied (I am blessed)
38. Seen the Leaning Tower of Pisa in person
39. Gone rock climbing (I've climbed over a rock. Does that count?)
40. Seen Michelangelos David
41. Sung karaoke
42. Seen Old Faithful geyser erupt (I was there with the science club, but I was paying a nearby lodge $3 to let me take a shower :( It kinda counts)
43. Bought a stranger a meal at a restaurant
44. Visited Africa
45. Walked on a beach by moonlight
46. Been transported in an ambulance
47. Had your portrait painted
48. Gone deep sea fishing
49. Seen the Sistine Chapel in person
50. Been to the top of the Eiffel Tower in Paris
51. Gone scuba diving or snorkeling
52. Kissed in the rain
53. Played in the mud
54. Gone to a drive-in theater
55. Been in a movie (Just the ones we made for science class in high school)
56. Visited the Great Wall of China
57. Started a business (If Home Interiors counts. I was my only customer. I also sold lemonade at the railroad crossing as a kid. You just wait for a train and start knocking on people's car windows. They can't get away. The price was always, "Whatever you have")
58. Taken a martial arts class
59. Visited Russia
60. Served at a soup kitchen
61. Sold Girl Scout Cookies (I've eaten plenty)
62. Gone whale watching
63. Got flowers for no reason
64. Donated blood, platelets or plasma
65. Gone sky diving
66. Visited a Nazi Concentration Camp
67. Bounced a check
68. Flown in a helicopter
69. Saved a favorite childhood toy
70. Visited the Lincoln Memorial
71. Eaten Caviar
72. Pieced a quilt
73. Stood in Times Square
74. Toured the Everglades
75. Been fired from a job
76. Seen the Changing of the Guards in London (On TV :)
77. Broken a bone
78. Been on a speeding motorcycle
79. Seen the Grand Canyon in person
80. Published a book
81. Visited the Vatican
82. Bought a brand new car
83. Walked in Jerusalem
84. Had your picture in the newspaper
85. Read the entire Bible
86. Visited the White House
87. Killed and prepared an animal for eating
88. Had chickenpox
89. Saved someone's life
90. Sat on a jury
91. Met someone famous
92. Joined a book club
93. Lost a loved one
94. Had a baby
95. Seen the Alamo in person
96. Swam in the Great Salt Lake (gross and stinky!)
97. Been involved in a law suit
98. Owned a cell phone
99. Been stung by a bee
100. Read an entire book in one day (too frequently)

Happy Thanksgiving!

We had Thanksgiving dinner at our house this year. It was wonderful. I love having a house full of family. Aleesa and Nate started things off with dance dance while everyone was arriving. They both are very good and very competitive. We had a beautiful dinner. Everyone contributed resulting in plenty of food and lots of variety. Thank you for being so generous. After dinner, the kids took off in various pairs to the toy room, bed rooms, and outside. The girls got to visit and play games (Thanks Dianne for bringing such fun games). Some of the boys started a movie downstairs, and some started the various nintendo selections. As the day evolved, Nate, Lance, Mike, and Dianne ended up playing nintendo for hours and hours. It was like they were kids again. We did get to have cousins sleep over, which my kids thought was fabulous!












We stayed up until well after midnight and set the alarm clocks for 4:00 am. We couldn't miss Black Friday. This was Mike and Brooke's first year to attend the crazyness. Nate and I are old pro's, so we were excited to initiate them. We had a great time and were able to get everything we needed. We did have strategy and planning. The only thing we forgot were the walkie-talkies. Black Friday was a success ending in a delicious breakfast at IHOP. It is always a requirement of Black Friday to end by going out to breakfast.

Tonight we are finishing the day by watching movies (per redbox!) and eating leftovers. I overestimated our families homemade roll eating abilities. I made 150 rolls and have 100 left over!

Tomarrow is Christmas tree cutting day, and the kids know it. They are so excited to get out everything and decorate.

Our family is having a fun filled holiday weekend. Thank you to all our family for sharing in the holiday with us. We love you and are Thankful to have such a good family.

Aubrie did it!!
She danced at a performance. She is in her second year of dance, but has had stage fright so far. I have not wanted to force her. I have tried bribing her. I want her to dance because she loves it, not because I made her. When they were performing she got scared and stayed by me in the front. Then after watching them, she got up and ran out and joined them. She did not do the entire dance. She said it looked like her friends were having so much fun. Afterward she told me, "It was actually fun!" I told her of course it was fun. That is why you should dance. It is fun. As you can see from the pictures, she really likes her dance costume too.This is Aubrie and her friend. They are so proud of themselves.

As you can see, She feels very pretty, nervous, excited, happy.

They are so cute! I was hoping to get pictures with some of her other co-dancers/friends/cousins. Aubrie usually does not allow pictures. I am shocked she took any of these. This is a big deal! This is all she let me have. I love everyone of them.