Mystery Reader

In A's class there is a mystery reader that comes on every Friday. They get clues all week to see if they can guess who it is and then on Friday someone walks in the class and reads to them for 20 minutes. Well guess who came the Friday before school let out...Grandpa!
He did such a great job reading to the kids. He really got them involved. A told us she had an idea it was him but when he walked in the room her face turned red and she was laughing so hard she was crying. Thanks dad for taking time off of work! It meant a lot to her and to me.

Christmas Performances

A is in a singing group and they do three performances every Christmas. This is her getting ready for her solo. She also had a school performance but the pictures were too dark.
Sing it girl!

C did a good job going to all the shows. What a trooper!

B in his very first school performance. He is a little performer. He had me laughing so hard I was crying. His buddies from church are in his school class, you can see them in this picture.

B walking up to the stage to get ready to sing.

Having the kids do so many shows with great Christmas songs was a good way to start the Christmas season.

Santa Comes For A Visit

My friend personally knows Santa and has him come to her house every year. It's wonderful to have more time with him then you do at the mall. They all wait for him and when he comes he reads them a book and they all get their turn talking to him then he has a little something for each of them. As you can see D did really well with him.
A and B had their lists to show him and C had a picture for him.

Merry Christmas!!

Oh Christmas Tree

Just as we do every year, we headed to Panaca for Thanksgiving. Most of big B's family goes and it is great to see everyone and for the kids to play with so many cousins. One of our biggest family traditions is to go and find our Christmas tree in the wild and cut it down ourselves. Big B did this all growing up but for a city girl like me I love it and can't leave Panaca without doing it. (Big B could live without because it is a lot of work getting it all the way back home.)
Here is the man hard at work. Thanks to aunt K for helping us decide on which tree.

We spent a few days in Cedar and the kids favorite great aunt got them presents, C got tools. So naturally he had to help daddy with the hard work.

A's Soccer

A tried soccer again this year and really enjoyed it. She learned a lot about the game of soccer instead of just chasing the ball.
She even played goalie.

Her coaches were amazing. One of them coaches for the local high school and the other was B's coach last year and he and his wife make sure the season is full of fun. It was a great season!

B's Soccer Season

This was B's second soccer season and he improved SO much!
Here he is in action.

This is at the last game after he got his trophy. I'm so proud of how hard he tried this year and how much he improved.

Peas

We've started the real baby food. She couldn't get enough of it but only the first night then she decided she rather not have the peas.
YUM!

HALLOWEEN!!!

This was Halloween night. Both of my brothers came over to partake of the nights wonderful festivities. We love when we have cousins to hang with!! We live in a great area to go trick-o-treating because the houses are so close together you can get a lot of candy in a short amount of time.
This was the night before at the trunk-o-treat for church. D was a pumpkin, C a cowboy with his lasso and stick horse, B was a shadow ninja/vampire, and A was a dancer because I spent too much money a that dance outfit for her to only wear it to one dance recital. (The other kid on the picture is our good friend who came with us.)

D and Rice Cereal

We've started D on rice cereal! I was going to wait a little longer but she is always eyeing my food when I eat and I was hoping it might help her sleep better. (it hasn't)
Can you tell what she thought of it? She actually started to choke on it. She has it down now but I can tell she knows there is better food out there.

This picture is just because she is so dang cute and getting so big.

(My friend made this dress and I just love it.)

Fun With Cousins

We met cousins at Jump in Jammin to celebrate a birthday. The kids had so much fun.
This is them. We actually got them all to hold still just long enough to grab one picture. I wish all the kids cousins could live so close. The kids would rather play with cousins then anyone else.

First Day of School

It's that time of year again! I can't believe A is already in second grade.
B started kindergarten. Gone everyday but for only three and a half hours.

I'm so glad to see that they love school and are excited to go. I know one day that won't be the case. Mom, C, and D now have to figure out what to do while we wait for the big kids to come home.

Summer Vacation-Part 1, Cedar City

This summer we did one very big trip. We were gone for 11 days and in the car for most of that because we had so many places and people to visit. It was very long but a great trip. It was nice to get it all in.

Our first stop was Cedar City. We stayed with our really close friends and they took Big B and I on a hike in Zion that involved repelling and swimming through nasty water but it was so much fun. While we were doing that Big B's sister and my friend took the kids up the end of the hike and played in the pools. They had so much fun jumping off rocks and playing with the frogs. This is A with a frog.
C had so much fun playing with the frogs that we lost (they died) two because he wouldn't leave them alone.

B had fun too but of course he spent most of his time eating. (I'm going to need a part time job just to feed this boy!)

After the hike we all spent a little more time jumping off the rocks. Zion is so much fun. I can't believe Big B and I never did much there when we lived so close.

Also while in Cedar we hung out with my "favorite aunt", uncle and their kids. They are so good to us and especially my kids. It was a fun start to our trip.

Summer Vacation-Part 2, The Cabin

Before getting to the cabin we stopped in SLC to visit my grandma and introduce her to D. It was really good to see her and get to visit with her. We also did Temple Square while we were in SLC.
We love visiting the cabin. This time we tried a hike. I don't think it was the best hike we could have chosen but it was still nice to get out and explore the area. (My sister was with us at the cabin, that's her daughter in the carrier.)

Here is B and C hiking away. I love how everything is still so new to C. He would find things and be so amazed by them. Oh to be young again.

After the hike we found a good place for our picnic.

The cabin is so relaxing and the kids love just being able to explore outside and I love being so close to good outlets. I managed to get all their school shopping done and even a little for me. Not long enough but still worth the visit.

Summer Vacation-Part 3, Mathews Reunion

The main reason for this trip was the Mathews family reunion. It was so much fun to see everyone but I don't know if I recommend sleeping in a tent with a new baby and three other little kids. It was only two nights and we made the best of it.
We camped at church ran campground and it was so nice, not to mention free. They had a lot of things we could do, including zip lining. C even gave it a try. He LOVED it! I was scared to death that he would slip out of the harness but he did great and even went three times.

A loved it too. I think it was the highlight of the reunion. Everyone got their turn but B, he got a little scared. Grandpa Mathews even gave it a try.

This is A with most of the girl cousins her age. She had a blast with them. I wish they could get together more often.

Summer Vacation-Part 4, Panaca

Miss D watching everyone ride horses.
C hanging out with Grandpa, trying to stay cool, while others are riding horses.

C getting his turn to ride a horse. He did really well. He even learned how to stop and turn the horse. C did so well he rode all by himself. That was the highlight of C's whole trip. Whenever he got mad or wouldn't do what we needed we would bribe him with the horses on Grandpa's farm.

A and B loved it too. For some reason I don't have a picture of A. But they could have rode those horses all day. Next time we will be more prepared and not go looking like the city slickers that we are, in shorts and flip flops. Relaxing in Panaca was the perfect ending to our long road trip.

D's Blessing

D had her blessing a few weeks ago. It was a crazy day but I think that is how everyday is now that there are four.
Big B's parents came and that was so wonderful. We loved having time alone with them. (That doesn't happen very often with Big B having such a big family.) A learned how to sew and the boys went to look at job sites. Then the men went golfing.

This is everyone that came to support D. My two brothers and their families and both sets of grandparents. We had a little BBQ after and it all turned out great, especially the BBQ corn. I'm so glad to have D in our family and I can't believe how fast she is growing.