Quiet typically equals mischief!

When Talan is really quiet, that's when I really start to worry!

"Talan where are you?"
"Talan what are you doing?"
"Has anyone seen Talan?"

"Oh I thought you were up to something!"

But believe it or not, he did this beautiful manicure without making a mess! At least no mess that I have found, as of yet!

Wow Talan!
Your nails are super pretty!

Talan turned 4!

Talan couldn't have been more excited for his birthday to come! The night before his birthday I decorated his Lightening McQueen birthday cake. He was so excited to see it all finished but I guess I must have taken too long because by the time I was done he was fast asleep on the couch. So I got the Lightening McQueen footy pajamas that I bought for him and dressed him for bed. I tucked him into bed and then I couldn't wait for him to wake up on his big birthday morning!

He woke up and came into my room. I asked him what he was wearing. He got a big smile on his face and told me, "Lightening McQueen!" I took him into the kitchen and got out the cake for him to see. He loved it!

I was pleased with the way it turned out. My Uncle Mark was here and pointed out to me that Lightening McQueen was driving on the wrong side of the road! Oh my gosh he is! And then I got to thinking, "No! He's just passing some slow car in a no passing zone!"

I had been thinking about having a friend birthday party for Talan this year for quite some time. In fact I even bought little invitations several months ago. But since his birthday is January 2nd I found it hard to plan and put it all together with the holidays and everything. So come birthday morning I had the cake, but no party planned!
I quickly called a few of his friends and luckily they were all free to come for a party! A few hours later Wyatt, Marcus, and Griffin came to our house. Talan insisted on wearing his new Lightening McQueen pajamas for his party!

We colored pictures of Lightening McQueen while eating pizza and drinking root beer. We played a little game with Lightening McQueen balloons and then opened presents.

At all my kids birthday parties I always have all the kids that come go get the gift that they brought and hold it. They all sit in a circle and then one at a time they take turns giving the birthday child their gift. I started doing this just so that I could keep track of who gave what. And it's turned out to be great!

After the gift is opened the birthday child is required to get up and go give whomever it was who gave him the gift a big hug and a thank you. This is my favorite part of all birthday parties! I think it's so important for the birthday child to recognize who brought them a gift and thank them. I also think it's important for each kid that comes to the party to feel special and loved for coming and bringing a gift!

Grandma Adair was still here for Talan's birthday
which was a special treat!

After presents it was cake and ice cream time!

Oh how I wonder what a 4 year old might wish for!

Happy Birthday Talan!
We sure do love you and couldn't be more
thrilled that you came to our family!

A Winter Wonderland!

This winter has been so weird!
It's really been more like spring rather than winter. It gets really cold but then it doesn't snow. And then the next thing you know, it warms back up! The kids have been wearing short sleeve shirts and shorts to school! Actually the weather has been down right beautiful but I worry as to what might come.

This morning was the first morning we've woken up to snow. It looked like a beautiful winter wonderland! As Ethan and Carsten were getting ready for school I heard a flock of geese flying over our house. I told the kids to listen. "Do you hear the geese flying outside? Oh those poor guys, they must be so confused by this weather!" Then Carsten piped up in a loud voice, "They've already come back twice!" Ethan and I couldn't help but to laugh! Now that there's funny!

One thing I love about snow is that the kids
get out of the house and play in it!
Talan invited his friend Griffin to our house to play this afternoon. They decided to shovel the melting snow in the driveway. I went out to check on them and they told me that they needed a carrot. "Mom go inside and get us a carrot!" Just as they were putting the finishing touches on their "FROSTY" Carsten came along to help them out.

Here's the finished FROSTY up close!
Totally awesome!

Then Carsten and his friends Tate and Dylan had to get in on the action. Notice the cool earing he's strutting!

And notice the short sleeve shirts these boys are wearing! It's not very cold, hence the MELTING SNOW!

This kid is so dang cute!

Talan couldn't be cuter... or smarter!
He amazes me daily with some of the things
he says and comes up with.

A few weeks ago we were sitting in the kitchen and Talan had a milkshake. Ethan came in and asked Talan if he could have a sip. Talan quickly said NO! Ethan continued to ask and try to convince Talan that it would be okay for Talan to share with him. Finally after being rejected time and time again Ethan pointed to something behind Talan and said, "Oh my gosh look at that!" Talan quickly turned around to see what Ethan was talking about!" Ethan grabbed his milkshake and started sucking it down as fast as he could. When Talan turned back around to see Ethan sipping on his milkshake he got a really sad look on his face and hung his head down and said in a really sad voice, "But Miss Cindy said I'm smart!" Ethan and I looked at each other totally baffled by his response. "What did you say Talan? Miss Cindy said your smart?" He shook his head in agreement and said, "Yes." And then began to explain. "Miss Cindy said I'm so smart that she can't trick me!" Ethan and I couldn't help but to laugh a little. "Oh Talan, did Ethan trick you?" "Yes but I thought I was smart!"

Talan loves his Grandma Adair so much and wishes that she could lived with us. At the end of her last visit Talan drove with me to take her to the airport. When we got to the airport and he realized that she was really going back home he became angry. So angry that he refused to say goodbye! He cried for a good half hour after she was gone! That night when it was bedtime he asked about Grandma. I explained to him yet once again that Grandma needed to go home to her own house. He quickly responded in an angry tone, "But she has a bedroom here!"

This morning he wanted to know if Grandma was going to come home. I asked him if he wanted to call her on the phone. We called her up and he asked her if she could come to our house. And then proceeded to tell her that we were going to clean up. "Grandma are you going to come to our house after we clean up?" Grandma didn't fully understand what he was talking about and said, "Sure, after you clean up." After we hung up the phone Talan seemed pleased with his conversation with Grandma. I told him that Grandma wanted me to give him a hug and kiss and tell him that she loves him but she didn't have enough money for a plane ticket to come right now. He looked and me and said, "But she can go to the polar express and get a ticket! She can go to the north pole and Santa will have a ticket for her!"

The other night we went to the BYU mens volleyball game. Talan had fallen asleep in the car on the way their. It was snowing so David dropped us off as close as he could get us to the building. Since Talan was asleep I had to wake him up to get him out of his car seat. As I held him walking in the snow he said,
"It looks like Santa is coming to town!"

Those are just a few of the cute things he's said lately. I wish I could think of some more. I really should write them down as he says them but then that would be too out of character for me so I imagine it wont ever happen!

Slade get together

Whenever Grandma Adair is with us I like to make it a point to have a little get together with any of the Slade's that can make it. This year we got together for lunch on New Years Eve. Jim and Pam Slade came and we had an enjoyable time talking with them. Then after a while Jeannine's brothers Harry and Everett came with Aunt Janice. They had gotten lost along the way multiple times and by the time they finally got here and into the house we started to rethink our little get together! Oh my gosh it was a production! Harry and Everett are so unsteady on their feet that it took several of us to get them into the house and seated. Janice was flustered because she couldn't figure out how to get to our house and Harry kept leading her astray. Everett just kept telling them to go back home because they would probably never find it! If we had any idea how much effort and stress this little get together was going to cause them we would have never had it. Or at least we would have never had it here. Next time I think that we'll go to them!

Jeannine and Everett
It's absolutely amazing how 84 year old Everett just keeps on ticking! They were telling us that a few months ago they had to take him to the hospital because he was dehydrated. They ran all sorts of tests on him and the doctor says he's completely healthy! They couldn't find anything wrong with him! He eats donuts, cookies and chocolate milk religiously. He doesn't like water (hence the dehydration) or anything healthy, yet aside from his terrible eating habits he's as healthy as a horse!
David had to go somewhere and so when it was time for them to go home it was up to Jeannine and Ethan and I to get them out to their car. It was quite comical to say the least! I think it was good for Ethan to help out though. It's not easy getting old! Once we got them in their car Jeannine explained to Ethan how her brother Harry use to be the star football player. Life sure is interesting! It's a good thing we have family to help take care of us and love us all along the way!

Just passing through!

One of the great things about living in Utah is that we get all sorts of 'just passing through' visitors. Mark & Camille, Scott & Suzanne and their 2 kids, and Kate with her new little baby Blaine stopped by on their way to Idaho. It was fun having them here even if it was just for a night.
I thought this was a sweet picture of Reagan holding baby Blaine!
She was in heaven!

Auto Pilot...

I wonder how much of our lives are lived on auto pilot.

I most often notice I'm on auto pilot when I'm driving. Most days I drive down the hill from my house and go to the drink store (gas station/convenience store). I can't tell you how many times I've caught myself driving to the drink store when I was really suppose to be going somewhere totally different. And my only excuse is, auto pilot! Or when I'm taking someone home but then drive straight to my own house. Auto pilot!
This morning I caught myself on auto pilot while dropping Carsten off at school. I pulled into the schools load and unload zone. I put my car in park and waited for Carsten to hop out. After waiting the appropriate amount of time I put my car in drive and pulled out. As I rounded the corner getting ready to go out to the main road I heard Carsten say, "Mom! Where are you going? What are you doing?" I initially thought to myself, "I'm going home!" Then it occured to me that Carsten was still in the car! It surprised me! "Carsten why didn't you get out?" "I was putting my stuff in my backpack!" I quickly turned right instead of left out onto the main road and pulled over to let him out. "Sorry bud! Have a good day, I love you!" And then I sat there and thought to myself, "What were you thinking?" And then I realized, I wasn't thinking! I was on auto pilot!

4 eyes, pop eyes, glasses!

BRADON WEARS GLASSES!

Pretty cute huh?

It's funny how we just assume are kids can see fine.
Bradon has always preferred to sit in the front of the classroom.
I thought nothing of it!
Last year he struggled at the bat in baseball.
I just assumed he was in a slump!
Then this year he brings home a little slip from the nurses office.
Bradon has FAILED his eye exam!
What? Bradon, do you have a hard time seeing?
Yeah, it's hard to see the board at school.
Well why didn't you say anything?
I don't know!

I can remember when I first got glasses.
I was in high school.
I played volleyball and I was the setter.
All of a sudden I was in a slump so to speak.
My coach told me to go have my eyes checked.
I did and sure enough I needed glasses!
They made all the difference in the world!

I sure hope that Bradon's glasses
make all the difference in his world too!

The unassuming dancers!

For Christmas the family got Just Dance 3 for the Wii. When Karl and Shannon and their kids came for a visit we put it in and told Ethan and Austin to play it. Ethan and Austin are both very similar individuals. Both 14 years old, both pretty shy, and both very unassuming! I seriously thought there was no chance that either of them would actually get up and dance!

They started out both sitting on the couch just moving their arms around. Then they progressed to a standing position but still just moving their arms. Then before we knew it they were both going all out! Austin won time and time again and you could just see his confidence grow. Ethan's competitive edge came out from who knows where and surprised us all. These boys danced for hours!

Darth Maul!

My good friend Amy called and asked if she could employ me to decorate a cake for her. I said, "Sure! How would you like it decorated?" She told me it was a cake for her son Trace who was turning 16 and he wanted Darth Maul on his cake. "Darth Maul? Who is Darth Maul?"

I got online and pulled up pictures of Darth Maul!
I immediately thought, "Wow! This is going to be challenging!"

She brought me the plain cake and the plain frosting and then I went to work! It was definitely a test of my cake decorating ability! Not to mention that all my kids were home and I had them hoovering over me as I decorated! As I put the finishing touches on the cake my hoovering crowd became very opinionated as to what I should do, second guessing and questioning me! RELAX PEOPLE!

When it was done they were all like,
"That's so AWESOME! I want a birthday cake like that!"

I personally liked the flamed edges!
It was so HOT!

I delivered the cake the night before his birthday and his reaction was priceless! He loved it! I think his exact words were something like, "That's SICK!"

Happy Darth Maul Birthday Trace!

Christmas Morning 2011!

All the stockings were hung by the chimney with care,
in hopes that St. Nick soon would be there!

Reagan was the first to wake up! She could hardly contain her excitement! She came in our room where David and I were sleeping and told us that Santa had come! She told us that he had brought her a PINK rip stick! Then she went back out to the family room. She inspected a little more and then returned to tell us what one of the other children had received. She did this over and over again until she had reported on each of the kids gifts one kid at a time! Finally we asked her to lay in bed with us until some of the other children were awake. She agreed to but it only lasted for a few minutes before she was begging to wake them herself. David must have allowed her to because before I knew it we had several of them up and ready to go!

Talan carrying his slinky dog from the night before
came down to find a Cars GeoTrax set!

Bradon took a quick look at his Modern Warfare wii game and then tried to play it cool like it wasn't that big of a deal. But we know that he was thrilled!

Carsten quickly jumped on his rip rider 360.
The great thing about Christmas this year is that the kids either asked for very little or nothing at all. So everything was a major surprise! We had no idea what to expect!

Isn't she lovely?
Yes I was bundled up in a blanket.
Keep in mind that I had very little sleep and was
fighting a cold that just about killed me!

Talan checking out his stocking!
A little tiny glass bottle of apple cider... So cute!

After the kids had all enjoyed their Santa stuff for awhile we began opening the presents from underneath the tree. Grandma Adair got Talan the Zurg gun that he threw a major fit about at the Disney store. He was SO EXCITED!!!! Talan is at the perfect age for Christmas!

But then Reagan is at a good age too!
She couldn't have been happier with her new ipod touch!

Ethan is growing up and he's more into adult like things. He got a cool new watch, an ihome and new clothes amongst other things.

Including this awesome Euphonium ornament!

Christmas was wonderful!
Everyone was pleased with all they received.

We all quickly got ready for church without a fuss and enjoyed a wonderful sacrament meeting filled with music sung by the choir. As we listened to the choir Talan told his Nursery teacher Brother Whittington who happened to have sat behind us every last detail about what everyone in the family got for Christmas. It was awesome!

Christmas Eve!

We were very lucky to have Grandma Adair with us again this year for Christmas. She came a few days before the kids were out of school for their Christmas break. She made Christmas break fun playing games, watching movies, and putting together puzzles with the kids!

This was our 6th Christmas in Utah but only our 2nd Christmas Eve with just our little family. We've always gone to either an Aunt or Uncles Christmas Eve party, so deciding what we want our own family traditions to be has been kind of fun!

We had a Christmas Eve dinner ate by candle light. We did this last year and the kids loved it so we did it again! After dinner we watched a Christmas movie, Elf. While the kids watched the movie I quickly wrapped their Christmas pajamas. While I was wrapping I realized that Reagan's pajamas were mismatched. The top was the right size but the pants were about 3 sizes too big! So I made an emergency trip to Target. Luckily they had one pair of pajamas left that were the right size. It was like a Christmas miracle! I raced back home just in time for dessert. We had a birthday cake for Jesus. We lite the candles and sang happy birthday. Growing up my mom had a Christmas candle collection and on Christmas Eve we would lite all the candles and sing happy birthday to Jesus. I always loved this tradition!

Then it was time to open our pajamas.
After opening the pajamas the kids begged to open up just one gift. They wanted to open the gift from their sibling. I agreed that this sounded like a good tradition and the kids were thrilled!

All the kids loved what they were given.
Talan got a slinky dog from Reagan.
Reagan got a pillow pet from Bradon.
Carsten got a rotating light base for his crystal trophy
and lacrosse socks from Talan.
Bradon got the 2012 world record book from Ethan.
And Ethan got a shaving kit from Carsten!

By far the shaving kit was the highlight of the night! Carsten couldn't wait for Ethan to open it and Ethan's reaction was priceless! He told us that he sort of expected it was coming! Now if we could just get him to use it!

We read the Christmas story, had family prayer and then sent all the kids to bed. It was a fun night! All very simple, yet fun!

A little Christmastime fun!

A few days before Christmas I got word that there was a movie star in town! A movie star that I was sure Talan would love to see!

MR. TOW MATER!

He was parked on one of the corners on Center Street in Orem.

We pulled up and Talan could hardly wait to get out of the car to go see him!

Oh my gosh! It was REALLY him!
It was really Tow Matter!

Seriously, what could be more exciting than this?

Santa Claus perhaps?
You guessed it! Our next stop was University Mall to see Santa Claus. Talan was thrilled! As we stood in line he did all he could to get a glimpse of the old man!

I asked all the kids if they wanted to sit on Santa's lap to tell him what they wanted for Christmas.
Ethan politely objected coming up with various excuses as to why it wasn't a good idea. "I would but he's not wearing his red coat!"
Carsten with ZERO hesitation absolutely refused! "No! I'm not going to do it!"
Reagan really wanted to but just wasn't sure what she should say to him! We thought about what she could say and then she was on board!
Talan without a doubt definitely wanted to sit on Santa's lap!
Bradon wasn't with us but I'm sure he would have loved to too!

I was pretty sure that by the time we waited in line and reached the front Reagan or Talan would have had second thoughts. But much to my surprise they didn't!

They both marched right up to him and sat on his lap. They both acted a little shy but as soon as Santa started talking to them it became easy.
I listened closely to see what it was they were going to ask for. I was pretty sure it was going to be something that they have been asking for all along but much to my surprise they both asked Santa for something they hadn't asked for up till then! Oh my gosh! Reagan asked for a pillow pet and Talan asked for a Polar Express train to go around the Christmas tree! Well isn't that good to know?

After our little visit with Santa we strolled through the mall visiting the Disney Store. What a bad idea that was! Talan wanted just about everything in the store and threw a major fit about it! We got the heck out of there and the fit continued on! This kid just doesn't let things go! We made several notes to ourselves and never plan on taking the kids to the mall again the week before Christmas!

Oh there is just nothing like a little Christmastime fun!

Road Trip!

David and I took a little road trip!

On December 17th we got up early in the morning,
put on our Aggie gear and hit the road for Boise Idaho!

It was time for the Famous Idaho Potato Bowl!

Aunt Nancy and Travis Schultz
We met up with the Schultz family for a little
pregame indoor tailgate partying fun!
Minus the tailgates of course!

We enjoyed a little Aggie ice cream and then headed to the game!

I never thought I would have the opportunity to have my picture taken with a REAL IDAHO POTATO! It was totally AWESOME!
David and I bought our tickets just a few days before the game. And for the low price of just $16 a ticket we were seated in the 2nd row of the south end zone!

My cousin Eric Schultz #66
We had excellent seats to catch all the pregame warm up action!

Unfortunately for us, the majority of the game was all played on the north end of the field!

Eric coming of the field after the game!
Utah State played a great game! I was absolutely certain that they were going to win it! And then just like much of their entire season, in the final seconds of the game it all changed. If there is one thing Utah State knows how to do, it's making the game close! They had so many games this last year that were theirs and then in the last seconds of the game it slipped away!
It was another heart breaker!

David and I went out onto the infamous SMURF TURF!

We took a few pictures and then met up with our family to discuss the game. I tell you though, Eric has nothing to hang his head down about
because he played AWESOME!

It's not everyday you get to watch one of your own relatives play division 1 football! Thanks Eric for giving us that chance!