Soccer

I have been playing on a women's soccer team with a bunch of girls that work at Jared's dental company. The name of our team is SMILES. It is so fun! I love getting out there and running around, it's such good exercise. Jared took some pictures of me, I didn't realize I could get so fiesty!

I scored a goal last week and Brycen and Blake thought I was the coolest mom, they ran out on the field after the game and gave me high five's and told me I was awesome. I even have a cute little fan club!

Saying Goodbye to Baby Lexi

My sister Kristin and her husband Taylor lost their baby girl on Wednesday January 13th. They found out on Monday January 11th that baby Lexi was not growing and would not make it. Kristin was 25 weeks along. That night I told the kids during dinner that Kristin's baby was probably going to die. Brycen with tears in his eyes pushed his plate away and said he was not hungry anymore, he asked me several times, "Isn't there anything we can do mom?". He said "Heavenly Father didn't answer our prayers" (we had been praying often for Kristin's baby). We had to explain that sometimes Heavenly Father answers our prayers, but not in the way we would like Him to. Tuesday afternoon Kristin went in for another ultrasound and afterwards she called me and told me the baby was gone, we cried together on the phone. Wednesday baby Lexi was born, the hospital took great care of Kristin and Taylor and gave them several neat thing to remember the baby. Thursday I was able to make a quick trip home to be with Kristin and our family at this sad time. It was good to be together, I'm sure glad we have the knowledge that family's are forever.

Christmas time!

We had a great Christmas this year. Here are some things we did this season (the pictures are in no particular order).

Family pictures after church.

We went to Utah to visit my family. Everyone was there except for Richard, who is finishing up his mission in Peru. We all got a turn talking to Richard on the phone on Christmas day, he will be coming home mid February.

Decorating a ginger bread house. The kids loved doing this!

Santa brought Allie a doll and some polly pockets.

The boys got a basketball hoop and basketballs from Santa.

Our ward Christmas party.

Our Christmas tree.

We meet up with our friends the Clarks in Utah and went ice skating, it was sure fun to see them.

We took advantage of the snow and went sledding at a park near my parents house.

Dad tried to get the dog to go down the hill with him!

It was fun hanging out with Kristin and Taylor!

Christmas dinner with the fam.

Brycen made ginger bread houses at school, he did a great job!

Christmas Parade

Some how Jared got talked into wearing this snowman costume for a Christmas parade his dental office participated in. He said it was miserable to wear and that he was dripping with sweat by the time the parade was over, but all the kids wanted to hug him and give "Frosty"a high five. The office had sweaters made for everyone else to wear and the kids and I got to sit on a float and wave to everyone. They handed out toothpaste, toothbrushes and t-shirts at the parade.

This is Jared's dental office.

Thanksgiving Weekend

This year we spent Thanksgiving in Utah, we decided to make the long drive! We left the Tuesday before Thanksgiving and drove half way to Boise. Wednesday we drove to Twin Falls and stopped to see my cousin Angie! It was fun to see her kids and her house and to catch up! My mom made the best Thanksgiving dinner ever! My uncle John (my dad's brother) came and ate dinner with us. Friday we were able to have our family pictures taken, we were way overdue for an updated family picture! I can't wait to see them. We had them taken at Wheeler Farm. Saturday Jared and I went to the BYU/UTAH game to see Jared's brother Shawn play in his last game at BYU. We got to go down on the field before the game and see all the players run onto the field. It was sure an intense game! It was fun to see them beat UTAH! Thanks to my parents for watching the kids for us so we could go. After the game we went and picked up the kids and started the long drive back home! We got to Boise about 4:00 in morning on Sunday, slept in until about 10:00 and finished the drive home. A few months ago we got new van with a dvd player. It was a life saver for the long trip. The kids watched movies and played the wii and slept the whole way. Allie had never been in the car that long in her life, towards the end of the drive home she kept yelling at Jared to "STOP DRIVING"!

Halloween

We had a fun Halloween, we decided to go with the BYU football theme this year. My parents came to visit for the weekend, they handed out candy at our house while Jared and I took the kids trick-or-treating. Allie was in heaven, every house we went to she would ask for two treats! She couldn't wait to get home and eat all the candy. Earlier that day we went to our neighborhood park and got some pics of the kids in their costumes.

Jared turns 31!

We just celebrated Jared's 31st birthday on October 28th! He had to work on his birthday, so we had a little family party with him when he got home. We gave him a basket full of exciting gifts like; razors and shaving gel, a book, some of his favorite treats, and a nose and ear hair trimmer. I guess when your a dentist your more aware of your nose hairs!

We made him some spider cupcakes!

Here is the birthday message he received at work from the staff, along with some balloons! Jared thought it was pretty funny so he brought it home to show me. His mom was so thoughful and sent a birthday cake to the office.