Merry Christmas Everyone!

2008-12-11T08:50:00.000-08:00

What a year! I feel like we're at a really great stage in life right now. The kids are a little bit older and it doesn't seem so overwhelming to do things. If I could only freeze time. Aaron and I can go on a date and we don't even need to get a babysitter, we have two built in babysitters. It's a freedom we've never known before now and I like it.
Jacob turned 13 in August. We officially have a teenager. He's pretty mild mannered so Aaron occasionally feels the need to encourage him in deviant behavior. Scary, huh. After Halloween he took Jake and three of his friends to "smash pumpkins" off a bridge over some railroad tracks (10:45 pm). It was innocent enough, until they heard a train coming. It was only after they pelted the train with 11 pumpkins that they noticed it was a passenger train. The boys thought that was the greatest. Jake finished his first year at the Jr. High on the honor roll. He is now in 8th grade. He actually loves Jr High. He plays in the Advanced Percussion Ensemble. He's a dang good little drummer. He has also started the swim team and would like to play water polo. However, I think his favorite thing to do is tease his sisters.
Sara will 12 in March, yikes! Sara is in 6th grade. She is not thrilled with school. It's not that she's not smart, it just interferes with her playtime. Sara likes to swim and ride the four wheeler. She also likes to rip stik and long board. She plays hard and gets dirty. She loves animals. She has been taking horse riding lessons. She also took a babysitting certification class. She babysits quite a bit. Sara was in the school musical ALADDIN last year and will be doing Cinderella this year. She has grown so much... we actually wear the same size shoe (which is a bummer because now I can never find my shoes).
Emily turned 9 in August. As you can see she is smaller, but still slightly taller than Katie. She is in 4th grade. She loves school. She is very smiley and has a lot of great friends. Emily sings in the Westfield Singers group at school. She will also be in Cinderella this year. Emily will start gymnastics in January. She is our Little Miss Sunshine. She is very organized, neat and tidy....it really annoys Sara.
Katie is 6 and in 1st grade. She had a hard time with all day school. She missed me! Which made me happy. She lost her first tooth in November. Katie likes to be in charge, which can be frustrating when you're the fourth child. Emily, Katie and I went to the zoo in October and Katie took the lead and told us where to go and what to do. Luckily Emily's is pretty easy going. Katie is squishy and wonderful.
Zach is 5. He started kindergarten this year. I was really worried because he likes to talk so much. But he has done great! He's a good little reader. He is extremely social. He is the student body president/ life of the party kind of guy. There are so many things I could say about Zach, but I will put them on his personal blog www.wackyzachy.blogspot.com. Check it out. They're worth reading.
Our pet population has decreased this year. We gave Gracie the dog to some friends. Daisy the rat died. Alvin, Sam and Tweetie the birds died. We sold two ponies. So now we only have Molly the dog, Ruby the horse and Bella the cat. Yes, I said cat. We rescued a cat from a window well. It was weak and starving. We fed her and now she won't leave. She's fixed and de-clawed, so that's a plus.
Aaron has been working really hard. We feel very blessed to still be doing okay with the change in the economy. We merged with a national company in June and it's been a great move! He is also the Salt Lake office Branch Manager of this company. He's really happy. He enjoys working with the 11 year old scouts. And, unlike myself, he is very excited for the snow. He has dreams of snowboarding and of me. And dreams of me snowboarding. Dream on buddy... I tried it and I couldn't walk the next day. And besides, it's cold!
I keep busy with the kids, working in their classes and running them around. Housework and laundry can be a full-time job. I have been serving as the Primary President in our ward for the past year and a half. It's fun. I have enjoyed working in there with all my children. Jacob has graduated and Sara will soon. Like I said before, I wish I could just freeze time.

Day Dreams of Summer

2008-12-05T13:17:00.000-08:00

As winter approaches and the cold weather chills me to the bone, I find myself day dreaming of summer.

We had a great trip to Lake Powell this summer. We sold the motorhome and the houseboat, so we decided to be adventurous and attempt tent camping. We had not tent camped in several years because we had so many small children. It just didn't sound fun. But our kids are older now so we did it.

Yeah, except it was a popular toad hang out and they kept us awake all night. Finally we all got up and went on a toad hunt. We caught five of them. They were all humanely relocated (except one).

The water and the sun wore everyone out.

Except Sara, who decided to stick her head out the window and catch the wind (and bugs) in her cheeks. I guess she was curious why the dog liked it so much.

I HATE BEING COLD!!!!

The Beginning

2008-10-30T10:53:00.000-07:00

Okay, I'm new to all this technical stuff so be patient while I learn. I hope I don't bore you.... but I'm a really fun person so I'm sure it will get better. I finally learned to text this summer. Now it's one of my favorite ways to communicate. Especially if I'm really busy. It's short and to the point. For those of you that know me, one phone call can easily take an hour. What can I say, I like to talk.

Family Fun 2008

2008-10-30T09:57:00.000-07:00

Aaron & Shannon and Family

Merry Christmas Everyone!

Day Dreams of Summer

The Beginning

Family Fun 2008