The Month of January

The month started with a shout out to the Broncos. We all got some new BSU wear for Christmas. The girls were so excited to wear their shirts to school and to watch the game. The game was awesome. GO BRONCOS!

Ellie made this body at school. It is so cute. It has all of her body parts; heart, lungs, stomach and her spine is on the back. One of my favorite things they have made this year.

Last weekend we went to Pocatello to celebrate Jackson's first b-day. The highlights of the trip were swimming at the hotel and playing at the gym where Jackson had his party.

Logan LOVES the pool I think we will be spending a lot of time there this summer. He cried when he had to get out. The next morning at breakfast he just kept running over the the door trying to get in so he could swim. He is a fish.

El thought it was summer and she would just lay out by the side of the pool :) Since the water wasn't 90 degrees, Ellie preferred swimming in the hot tub. She may not look like me, but we have a lot in common.

Bailey lost another tooth while we were at the pool. She was a little scared of the blood. The tooth fairy did find her at the hotel. She was very happy about this.

The Birthday Party

This is a lot higher than it looks. Drew was brave he jumped right off.

Ellie climbed up, but didn't want to jump once she got up there. Good thing they had a slide. She did love playing on all of the gymnastic stuff though.

I tried to catch Bay in the action of jumping but I just caught the landing

Logan enjoyed all of the trampolines

There's the b-day boy

Happy Birthday Jackson!

I took this picture of Ellie on Friday because I felt horrible that I forgot to send her teddy bear with her to school on Friday for teddy bear (side note: I feel as though the teacher could have called me and told me to bring it this was a big deal and she knows I am home, I know its my own felt but still). Anyway I felt awful she had to use of the classrooms stuffed toys. So she asked me if I would take a picture of her pushing Emily Bennett. I was more than willing. This is the first shot I took, there was sun coming in so I told her to back up and I would take another one. In the meantime I dropped the camera and the zoom was out. It landed right on the front and totally smashed the front of it in. I don't think it is fixable. Friday was a bad day!

This picture actually turned out cute I should have just left it alone!

I am finally caught up on blogging. MIRACLE. But now that the camera is broken and I don't know when I will be getting a new one, I hope I don't fall behind again.

Christmas Break

We did some fun things while we were in Utah for the Holidays. Here are a few of the highlights...

RiDinG the TRaIn to Temple Square

My dad rides this commuter train to work most days. It is a great way to get to Salt Lake, connect with Trax and you wind up right by Temple Square. The kids love riding on it, Logan said choo choo train about 1,000 times. He loved it.

Look at those lips caught right in the middle of a "ch-oo, ch-oo"

The girls love spending time with Grandma and Pops


I love seeing Temple Square at Christmas time. Seeing the lights and eating at Crown Burger is one of my favorite holiday traditions. It wasn't too cold that night which always makes the experience a little more enjoyable. This tree with all of the red lights was my favorite.

It had been a few years since we had been in the visitors center. We got there early enough this time that we could get up to see the Christus. I don't think Ellie remembers seeing it a few years ago, she really enjoyed it. I really enjoyed looking around the rest of the visitors center with all of the prophets and the humanitarian aid information. The church does many amazing things.

Crown burger was crowded due to a Jazz game, but worth the wait. We had a really great time.

SLeDdInG

Ryan headed home for a few days to work. We stayed to hang out for a little while longer. We try to go sledding every year when we are here. The kids look forward to it, they had a good time. Logan loved being out in the snow, Bailey was more daring this year and went off a few jumps, Ellie loved riding with Drew and being pulled back up the hill on the sled.

Ellie and Loggy

Logan loved having Pops pull him on the sled

Bay after one of her jumps

The saucers are really fun on the jumps!

Happy Sledding

Other highlights during the week were....... a trip to Ikea. We took the big kids to the daycare and had an hour of shopping with just the babies. It was also kids eat free day in their cafeteria. Awesome! Free babysitting and free lunch, I love that place. I wish I lived closer to one. We went up to Jenn's for a few days, the kids played with playdough and at the McDonald's play place. We also met my aunts and cousins for lunch one day. I loved seeing everyone and catching up with what they are all doing. We saw Alvin and the Chipmunks the Squeqal. Ellie laughed harder than anyone in the theatre. We also ate at In N Out Burger. My favorite. There really are very few things better than a cheeseburger animal style. So good. I miss that place. The kids were excited when Ryan came back to celebrate the new year with us.

We played games, ate good food, and did fireworks at midnight.

Ellie was a little scared of the loud ones.

NeW YeArS DaY

Bailey made this snowman by herself. Logan took it a part by himself, Bailey had to put it back together several times. She named him Buster after the Boise State mascot.

Pops helped the kids make another snowman once Logan went inside for a nap

Cute matching sweaters. Bailey refuses to show her teeth in a smile since the front two are missing. I try to tell that it is cute and part of who she is right now. You can see how well that pep talk went over.

The cousins all had matching sweaters, this is the best photo we were able to get.

Cute bunch.

Here they all are in their jammies.

We had a great time hanging out with everyone. The time went by fast but the magic of the season lingered on. The kids are still talking about some of the fun things we did.

Until next year!

Christmas Day 2009

MERRY CHRISTMAS
2009

Santa blocked off entry to the loot. Bailey outsmarted him though and climbed under and then ran up to tell me that Santa left me a bike. Thanks Santa and thanks for letting me know Bay :)

Good times were had breaking through the wrapping paper barrier.

Santa found us this year and left quite a pile. They all couldn't wait to see what he left.

Logan got these awesome boots and a Thomas the Train set. He is still in love with choo choo's and was a great gift for him. He also got some new cars and a puppy that barks and coos, this little man couldn't have been happier.

Meet Emily Bennett (aka Emmy) she is Ellie's new doll. She loves her, I love her too. Ellie was very excited, she also got a salon chair to set her in so she can style her hair. Very fun.

I have to insert this not so fun story about Ellie's new doll, not to ruin the Christmas spirit, but the story must be noted. On the drive to Utah later this day Ellie thought it would be a good idea to use some of her new colored pencils, purple of course its her favorite, and draw on Emily's eyelids. Some eyeshadow perhaps? Not sure. I didn't see it until late that night when I laid her down by Ellie. Needless to say I was not happy and Emily slept with me that night. Ellie had to show me she could take care of her and has been pretty good with her since. Poor Emily I could almost guarantee will have to send her to the doll hospital at some point.

Meet Bailey June (named after her owner, Bailey Jr. was the inspiration, she is often times called June which I think is cute and a little more original than Bailey :)

Bailey loves this doll and has taken such good care of her. She has her ears pierced and Bay has done a great job at taking care of all the earrings too, Bailey got a new jewelery box and keeps both of their things in it and far away from her sister and brother. I am glad it makes her so happy. Welcome to the family Bailey June.

THANKS SANTA!!

Off to Grandmas we go............

The roads were clear this year and the drive down went pretty quickly with new movies, books, and excitement to make the time pass. After a delicious Christmas dinner there were a few more gifts to be had.

New lip gloss and chapstick, El's absolute favorite!

The girls got new snow boots for Grandma and Pops so they could enjoy playing in the snow and not freeze in the rain boots I have been making them wear.

There were also some new games and books to be had, the girls love getting new games at Grandma's so we can play them for the next few days together.

Logan got some Lego's (which he LOVES) and Mack from Cars and more cars. He now says "keen" for Lightning McQueen, it is amazing how quickly they pick up on things.

This is picture is not great, but the day was. We were blessed to be with each other and with family that we love. The gifts were fun, the food was great, the magic of Christmas is awesome.

MERRY CHRISTMAS!

Christmas Eve 2009

Christmas Eve was a fun day. Since we don't have any family close by, therefore no Christmas Eve party to attend, we have to come up with ways to occupy the kids all day. I have enjoyed going to a movie in the past and I think we have decided to make that our family Christmas Eve tradition. We started the day with a French toast breakfast and lots of energy as the anticipation kept building.

Ryan's hygienist made the kids these cute PJ's for Christmas. The girls are flannel nightgowns made from High School Musical material, and Logan's has Curious George pants. They love them and wear them whenever they are clean.

We decided on seeing The Princess and the Frog. It was really good, I loved the music and we all enjoyed the movie. Even Logan sat through it, we had to keep feeding him popcorn, but I was happy he sat and watched the whole time.

It was a nice day and the kids were ready to get some energy out after sitting through the movie. They were so excited about everything the whole day.
After the movie we went to Costa Vida for our new Movie & Mexican food tradition. I threw in the Mexican food idea. I am really hoping it sticks I could eat Mexican for every holiday.

Logan was excited to get to some gift opening.

The kids always get PJ's and a new book on Christmas Eve. Bailey got a Katie Kazoo book (her new fave in the chapter book genre), Ellie got Fancy Nancy's Splendiferous Christmas (I was just as excited as she was,I love Fancy Nancy), and Logan's was Polar Bear Polar Bear What Do You Hear (he loves all of the books in that series).

Love those new jammies kiddos, now off to bed before Santa sees you!!

December

We had to start of the holiday season by decoring the house and the tree (and since I have already taken it all back down, because I am a blogging slacker, I can say it is so much more fun to put up than it is to take down). We went to the mountains and cut this tree down all by ourselves, we have to get some use out of that truck :), Ryan and Bailey spotted it and then came and got me for my approval. It worked out well I think, it is always a little scary when you first bring it in, and I had to trim it up a little, but it was a good tree. Good find Ry & Bay.

The girls loved putting the ornaments and berries on Logan loved taking them off

The next event of the month was the Payne family Christmas party. It was so much fun and the perfect way to kick off the holiday season. We stayed at Julie's house, my kids adore staying there, they always have so much fun. We had a great party out in Oakley, the kids were spoiled as usual and loved every second of it. It was fun to catch up with everyone and just enjoy each others company. p.s. I did eat the Chinese food pheasant and it was actually not to bad. I preferred it in the egg rolls. The guys thought it was amazing, I don't know if I would go that far, but it was much better than I had anticipated. My BIL did find a few BB's I was pretty much done after that.
These crazies thought this would be fun

El looks a little cold

Santa always makes an appearance the kids wanted to give him a big group hug. Logan used that opportunity to play with someones NEW toy, he isn't loving Santa so much this year, a better picture to prove this point will come along later.

Logan has a new love---choo choo's. He discovered all of the Thomas The Train stuff at Julie's and spent the rest of the weekend saying choo choo every 10 seconds. This is not an exaggeration. He packed them all around with him everywhere. Julie had his name this year, she actually went and bought him his first train and took back the other thing she had already got him, she's cool like that. He still packs around that one she got him.

The girls all got some new bling

Bailey also got a new dress and her favorite move Monsters vs. Aliens

Ellie also got a new dress and stuff to play hair salon, she was so excited and in love, she LOVES playing hair salon

Aren't they all so cute and coordinating

Love You Payne Family

Next on the agenda was our ward Christmas Party, it was a fun night our friends who put it together did a great job, and we had all varieties of Costco cake for dessert, my favorite!

The primary sang a few songs for our entertainment

The girls had fun Christmas parties at school this year I am glad I was able to be a part of both of them and spend time with them at school.

Ellie's class had a Polar Express party. They wore PJ's, read the story, saw Santa and got their very own bells and Polar Express tickets. They finished the party with cookies and hot chocolate. I love Kindergarten!

Bailey's class made Gingerbread Houses, all of the kids brought the needed supplies to make awesome Gingerbread Houses. They even had milk cartons to put underneath so they wouldn't collapse, her teacher is always thinkin'. After we helped make the houses the parents went on our merry way and the kids had a little party and book exchange. They made the best presents for us this year, I was very impressed with her teacher and all of her efforts. They made books and painted cute canvas Christmas pictures. I loved it, I don't have a picture of it though, I do have pictures of the Gingerbread House.

We had a neighborhood Christmas party where the kids all acted out the Nativity. Bailey was one of the many Mary's, Ellie an Angel and Loggy and Shepard. It was cute and the kids had fun doing it.

Bailey as Mary

Loggy the Shepard equipped with a lamb

Ellie the Angel that was suppose to take off her cute red sweater but I forgot to tell her, oh well she was still angelic

A Trip to the Mall to see Santa
The line for Santa was long, the burgers and nuggets from McDonald's were devoured by the children, gifts were gotten, and this photo was taken. PRICELESS

I don't know why I think this picture is so hilarious. Maybe I am cruel, but all little kids dislike Santa for a few years and then he becomes their best pal. I just think you have to capture these little moments. Sorry Loggy I will get you another juice box at McDonald's :)

Bailey asked for earmuffs

Ellie asked for a Webkinz

Some Cute Christmas Photos

B A I L E Y

ALL SHE WANTS FOR CHRISTMAS IS HER 2 FRONT TEETH

L O G A N

E L L I E

CHRISTMAS 2009