Christmas Morning

We had a wonderful Christmas day this year. The kids were all happy with what they received. Avery was excited with what he got and still has dreams of having a treehouse  and a water slide into a pool. Aurora keeps saying that her favorite gift was the robe she is wearing in the pictures. And Logan was excited with every gift he received. He would oooh and aaaah at every gift. He jumped up after unwrapping a Christmas light box, thinking we bought him lights. We had to tell him to look in the box where he would find his actual present. The rest of the day was spent playing with all the new things and just relaxing.

Family Visit

Some of my family came to visit the weekend before Christmas for my sister in-laws birthday. We spent Friday evening at City Creek and Temple Square. We also went to dinner at the Olive Garden. We had a great visit.

Brittney and I ice skating. Brittney enjoyed it so much the first time that she wanted to go again.

Cousin's playing while Brittney shopped.

Santa

We had our condo Christmas party last weekend. We had a nice time visiting with neighbors. I think this might be the last year I can get Avery to sit on Santa's lap because he felt really silly. Avery is growing up so fast. Logan was also a little shy this year.

Aurora Loves the Outdoors

Aurora  is my child who can spend all day outside no matter the temperature. She does like to play video games and watch shows every once in a while but her love is being outside. She wishes other children loved it as much as her. She reminds me a lot of myself because I was the same way. I loved playing in the dirt and riding my bike. 

Thanksgiving

Logan asked me to take a picture of him being silly.

This year spent Thanksgiving with Joseph's family. I didn't really take many pictures. However, we did take a family picture that I will put up once it is edited. We had a nice visit and the kids were super glad that we went up again after being up there the previous month.

Logan Loves Learning

Logan has always loved learning and has always amazed me with how smart he is. At eleven months old he decided that he was going to walk up the stairs like everyone else. He practiced one step at a time. When he felt comfortable with the first step he added the second step and so on. Although he does love video games (like his dad and brother) and watching some shows he does know when he has had enough.Sometimes he will stop watching a show midway and ask for paper and a pencil because he wants to practice writing his numbers or words. He has caught onto reading in the last couple of months we have been working on it. He figured out how numbers work with almost no help on our part. I told him once, a year or so ago that numbers go 20,21, 22, all the way to 29 and then 30, 31... then he picked up the rest on his own. Maybe he will be a math guy like his dad, granted I have become more of a math person too. I am so happy that he loves to learn.

Cousin Weekend

We had a wonderful time going ice skating as a family. We were so happy when my brother Thomas and his family wanted to try it out with us. They all did fabulous on the ice. My little niece even decided to try it and loved it. Aurora was so happy to have so many skating with her. She loves it when we all go as a family. She is by far the best skater in the family.  

We enjoyed the visit we had with my brother and his family this weekend. 

Aurora Rocking Out

The other day we were waiting for Avery to get out of school and a song came on the radio that Aurora really likes. She immediately broke out singing, so I decided to take a quick video of her. This happens every time she hears a song on the radio that she likes.(she had no idea I was recording her) When I was her age I didn't know much about music because I was outside playing every waking minute.  

We Are Amazing

All the third graders put on a program called We Are Amazing. They spent two and a half weeks learning the nine songs and then performed it for the students and then again for the parents. It was amazing. Above is a picture of Aurora with her best friend A. A is the little girl I watched when Aurora was little.The lady of the We Are Amazing program goes to schools all over to help kids learn how amazing they are. I must say all theses kids did a fabulous job and it was so fun to watch them.  

Hand Holding

On our way back form Aurora's eye appointment last week I turned around and saw this. Logan and his friend B holding hands. I thought it was so cute, so I had Aurora snap a picture. By the way Aurora's eyes are doing awesome again. We are hoping she will be good but we are prepared if things go south again. She has had such a great attitude and has never complained. It is remarkable to see the way she has handled this situation. It has also amazed me to see her skate when she was considered legally blind. She is a tremendous girl.  

Antelope Island Campout

Avery and Joseph went on a scout campout a couple of weeks ago; it was the week we had a little bit of snow. They camped at Antelope Island. It was super cold. As we have mentioned before the boys are in patrols and each patrol is responsible for there own supplies and meals. The grubmaster of Avery's patrol forgot to bring a knife to cut up chicken for chicken pot pie so he had to borrow Avery's pocket knife. When this boy was cutting the chicken he slapped it right on the camp table. The old goat patrol (the leaders and dads) joked that it is a good thing it had been raining or the table may not have been clean enough to cut the chicken on it. This kid also had to use Avery's pocket knife because he needed a can opener. It is really gross to hear these stories but what a great way to teach these young boys to be men. We did sanitize the knife when he got home. For breakfast one morning they had a little bit of eggs with a ton of cheese. They also did a moonlight hike on the shore line and another hike the next day. Avery had a ton of fun and really enjoys these monthly campouts. 

Sledding

Aurora was determined to go sledding after it snowed ever so slightly. I told her there wasn't enough but she didn't believe me and had to see for herself. So we bundled her and Logan up and they went out to play. She found out that I was right about the sledding but they still had fun playing in the little bit that there was.

New Blog

After posting the Why We Left post, I promised that I would not write anymore on the family blog about the church and why we decided to leave. We have almost reached our year mark from leaving the faith and over that time I have gained a new perspective on things and feel the need to vent some of those frustrations. I plan to do this on a new blog. I invite all of you to read that blog if you would like and understand if you feel the need to stay away from it. Joseph may also feel the need to post on the new blog from time to time but he has found exmo forums that have helped him in his journey out of Mormonism. I am doing this new blog more for my benefit and am not trying to offend anyone. If you take it as offensive I apologize.The following is the blog address. http://lifeaftermormonism1.blogspot.com/

Wasatch Freedom Classic

Aurora had a wonderful day yesterday competing in her third competition. She skated beautifully and smiled lots. All of her hard work paid off and she won 1st place! All five judges placed her as the 1st place winner. She was ecstatic and is looking forward to more competitions and ice skating shows. Aurora loves ice skating and would be up at the rink almost everyday if she could but for now I think we will stick with the 2 to 3 days a week routine. We are so very proud of her and for all of her dedication and hard work. We feel so blessed to be able to provide this opportunity for her.  

Treehouse Museum

The kids and I went and had some fun this past week at the Treehouse. Logan found a triforce just like the one they have in the Zelda games.

Cuteness

This girl still comes up with some crazy outfits and she doesn't care what anyone thinks. 

Halloween

Avery wanted to carve a pumpkin this year so he carved a creeper from minecraft. Aurora and Logan decided they just wanted to paint a pumpkin.. 

Logan decorating a sugar cookie he made. I was so busy helping everyone that I didn't get many pictures. 

Aurora as Hermione, Logan as Link, and Avery as Chuck. Avery was mistaken as a missionary a few times which did not make him happy. He is an exmo and proud of it and would tell them so. :)

Oregon Trip

My mother in law bought tickets for Disney on Ice so that my sister in law and I could take the girls. The girls loved the show.

The girls having fun with Grandma's Boise State wigs.

Sad to say goodbye. Aren't they cute?

                                   

It had been a while since we had been up so they didn't really remember each other but they warmed up to each other quickly and had fun playing. 

The kids all slept for a while on the way home.