Bowling

 Doesn't he look so excited to be bowling!!??

 We spent an afternoon bowling with the kids. I think this is the 2nd time ever that we have ever took them bowling (and unfortunately it showed, hahaha...good thing they didn't care :) We went with some good friends and the kids loved having some one else to hang out with.

 Kathryn loves to take care of their little girl.

 Sarah so excited she got the ball going sorta straight down the lane. Cute girl!

 Luke wanted nothing to do with bowling. He wanted to look at all the video games and he was content to "try" them out the entire time. This boy sure loves guns lately. He asked me for his next friend party if he could have a "machine gun party" and he even drew up the targets he wanted me to take so they could shoot their guns at them. Silly, silly boy!

 Kathryn trying it out.

 The kids were listening to Heidi explain skittle bowling. It was a fantastic idea except the kids couldn't resist taking a handful every time they bowled so two frames in a huge bag of skittles were gone.

 Seth giving it a hand.

 Sam, who has great form. Hahaha...

 And these silly girls were crazy most of the time.

 See?

Oh what fun and won't put up our scores, let's just say they were pretty horrible!! But we had lots of fun (:

Jumptime

 Our sweet, sweet neighbors across the street gave the kids a certificate to Jumptime for Christmas. We were so excited to use it. They are brand new to our town and man did we have a blast!!

 We played lots of dodgeball, basketball,

 flipping into the foam pits (our favorite part),

 races, obstacle courses,

 bum wars (love that game from growing up),

 and maybe a little lounging.

 We had such a fabulous time with the kids. After an hour and half we were all absolutely pooped out! Plus this bladder can only hold so much jumping!!! It was so fun to spend such a great time with the kids and so thankful for our great neighbors.

Happy Birthday Sam!!

 This cute guy had a birthday!!! Boy were we excited to celebrate with him. His request for breakfast was eggs benedict, one of his favorite things ever. Also something that I have never made him, so after doing some research (on Pinterest anyway, haha...) I was ready. He loved them. Whew, I'm so glad because they are not my favorite things to eat so being the first time and I all, I wanted them to turn out well. And, guess what!? They are super easy to make, even the poached egg part was a cinch!

Since his birthday is New Year's Eve, we reserved our stake building and invited the entire ward and had lots of fun.  We set a wii area, a movie area,

 a soccer/basketball area,

 a volleyball area,

 and a food and board game area. It was a blast. We partied for 4 hours and wore the kids out completely!

 Then it was time to blow out all 38 candles (and no that's not me holding the cake...I'm taking pictures)

 He got all but one in a single breath. Silly guy!!

 And that was the aftermath of all the wax and candles.

 Yummy yellow cake with chocolate frosting.

 Sam playing around the world with Seth.

Mushy part: I am so grateful for this guy. He is an amazing father and husband and I am so thankful for him. He loves me and the kids completely and I feel so blessed to have him forever. He loves to hang out and play with the kids and be what they need. He is also so good to do whatever needs done around the house, for me or for the kids. Sam we love you!!

Christmas Week

My sister Natalie was calling at noon on Christmas Day from her mission in Paraguay. We had decided not to go down since Sam was going to work on Thursday and Friday and because we didn't want to leave him on Christmas I was going to head up with the kids by myself late that night and stay for several days.

But since we like to  be crazy and spontaneous, Sam decided about 9 am Christmas morning that he really didn't "need" to go into work and that he wanted to come with us so since he was coming we decided to pack like crazy fools and get up there in time to talk to Natalie.

In 1/2 an hour we were loaded up and took off like the demons were chasing us cause by dang it we didn't want to miss talking to her. And we made it, by the skin of our teeth, and boy was it good to talk to that girl. She is doing so well now and when she heard Seth, all she could say was "wow, that boy sounds so grown up and old!!". Hahaha...I love it, especially because his voice is still pretty high and he is still quite short compared to all the boys at school in his grade!

 We spent 5 days with the grandparents and had a great time! It was so nice to be relaxed and chill most of the time, plus I love it when Sam can be there with us.

The day we got there, all the fam was over so Grandpa and Grandma opened their gifts from everyone.

 My mom just had her 2nd knee replaced so she spent all day in her chair while we entertained her and took care of her. She was a pro at getting the grand babies to sleep.

 One of the highlights of the week was all the just dance dance offs we would have. It was an absolute blast. Emily pretty much kicked our butt the entire time but boy was it a party.

 These two surprised the parental units and showed up just in time for the big Christmas dinner (prime rib, potatoes, veggies, and rolls--so delicious!!). They are engaged and this was our first opportunity to hang out with Ken and get to know him. We were all excited to have them there!

 The kids brought up their new christmas movies and loved watching a different one each day. I would find them spread out on the couch like this most of the time. So funny!!

 We also spent time playing games (and organizing cards--which took these boys a couple hours because there was copious amounts of decks all shoved in one bag),

 going with Grandpa to feed cows (and teaching Seth how to drive),

 throwing a baby shower for one of the sister-in-laws, Beth, who is due in a couple weeks with their 2nd baby,

going bridesmaid dress shopping with Jessica, Emily, and a couple of her friends,

 getting some of the wedding planning done (which really wore out Ken),

 and having a lunch date with these 3. So fun!!

Oh how I love my family and being able to spend time with them is the best!!