Look how far we've come.

I just realized (through some gentle reminders) that I never posted this article we were featured in: http://tiny.cc/PtwMA

Look how far we've come from this:Chloe at 1 day old.


To this:
3 goofy, 4 1/2 year olds!

Check this out!

So my very creative little sister makes some amazingly cute things - baby slings, nursing covers, bags (from scripture size to large totes), and baby dresses/preschool tunic tops (check these out they are awesome!). I think the talent for sewing skipped me, but she excels at it, and luckily I get to benefit from her talent sometimes, too. Check out her new blog: http://cornflowerattic.blogspot.com/

or go shopping here: http://www.cornflowerattic.com
Oh, and check out the cute models under the ZuZu dresses. :)

Super Bowl Party!

The excitement for the super bowl was huge this year as Cheyenne's favorite team was playing, and favored to win. Plan were set into motion a few weeks ago as the menu was carefully debated and thought out - key elements to a good super bowl. The game was going to be good, the food was going to be good, great friends and family were coming, just hoping the commercials would complete it all. Go, COLTS!!

Well, sadly, Cheyenne's team lost and she faced much taunting the next day as she still stood up for her beloved Colts. The food was delicious - pulled pork tacos with all the trimmings, spring rolls (we were going for an international flair, I guess), and carameled popcorn and ice cream cones for dessert. Our awesome neighbors and friends, The Huntsmans, came, along with Bill's Aunt Janie and Uncle Leon, and his brother, Tom. We had a great time! The commercials were okay, there were some good ones, there were some stupid ones, there just not as good as they used to be. And then after everyone left, Thomas stayed and played guitar hero for a while with us. It was a good night!Aunt Janie, MaryJo, Wade, Cheyenne, Tom, Bill, and Uncle Leon. The rest were playing upstairs most of the time.

Natalie, Lauren, and Page playing cards.Jon, Trey, Maddie, Chloe, and Billy playing nerf guns.And the guitar hero playing. Billy was rocking on vocals and really got into the guitar tonight!

Another Favorite Spot

A while ago I posted about my favorite things/places in my home, well, I have a new one. Okay, so really I took these pictures a few months ago, but I finally got around to writing about it now. :)The sewing machine was my Grandma C.'s and I have very fond memories of sleeping over at her house in the "blue room" and playing with the pedal on this sewing machine. My sister and I would try to see how fast we could get it pumping. Somehow I ended up with it in my room when Grandma moved to her apartment and I've treasured it ever since. The the doily on top was crocheted by Grandma H. and what a work of art it is. The sewing box next to it was also hers. As I look at these things I remember all the wonderful memories I have of these two incredible women. The fun of sleepovers and playing hopscotch on the stones out back, visits after school, "special plates", smarties, chocolate cake and frog-eye salad, her weekly visits (and loads of goodies) when the triplets were born and much more from Grandma C. Grandma H. reading "Henry Huggins" while we ate twizzlers on her front steps, lots and lots of playing and coloring at her house, her patiently helping me start (or fix) many a cross-stitch project, her telling me to never learn how to milk a cow, and so much more. I really miss my grandma's, but I'm so glad I always lived close to them and they had such a big influence on me. As for the pictures, that another story. One day as my sister Kristen and I were in Sam's Club, they had a display for these old-fashioned pictures. We decided it would be so fun to have the only grandaughters (my two and her two) take a picture together and we'd give it to Grandma for her birthday. The day came and as they were all playing dress up, Kristen's youngest decided she wanted nothing to do with it. She cried and cried (very unlike Hailey) and we ended up just getting a picture of Cheyenne and Natalie. We even tried again a few months later, but still no luck. Fast forward to a couple years ago and I saw the offer for these pictures again. So with Kristen's help again (she was the "mom" to the boys so we could get the cheap price) we got these taken. The kids had so much fun playing while the guy took some wonderful pictures. It was hard not to want to buy them all. It wasn't until later that I realized that Cheyenne and Natalie, in their picture, are about the same ages as Billy and Jon. I worked out perfectly! These pictures just make me smile every time I look at them, they're just so darn cute!

Christmas 2009

Okay, so I'm a little behind, blogging hasn't been the first thing on my mind. :) But we had a really great Christmas this year! The kids enjoyed a whole 2 weeks off from school which was fun for all of us. We did lots of playing. Christmas day was just a quiet day to ourselves. We opened presents, played with new toys (especially Guitar Hero), ate a yummy dinner - for which I successfully made rolls (yeah!), tried to play Guitar Hero again - but found Jon had broken our new drums, so played other new games instead, and just had a wonderful day together. Luckily, Uncle Shaun was able to fix our drums a couple days later so Jon was saved. :)Our Christmas card picture.

Chloe and Maddie in matching tutu's.
Jon and Billy with their new nerf gun darts and chest targets. Those things were really flying all day long, well, they haven't stopped flying actually.
Natalie, me, and Cheyenne in our Oobees - the coolest slippers ever!
And three cute Christmas kids! Chloe's wearing the dress that my mom made for my sister (I had a matching one) over 20 years ago.
I just realized we never got any Guitar Hero pictures. I guess I was having too much fun rocking out to stop and take pictures. With a little more practice now, Billy can play with us too, and the little three are always singing the songs around the house. Maddie's personal favorite - You Give Love a Bad Name by Bon Jovi, that's my girl!

How did this happen?!

How did my adorable little girl, who used to stand at the window and call to the kitties, "Leetle, leetle, leetle" and would sing, "Happy to You!", turn into this beautiful, 14 year old, teenager? Yup, Cheyenne had another birthday. 14! (I only had four candles.) That's like real teenager age now, no more a tween. She was a little bummed her birthday was on Sunday, but we had a fun day together (I think it was still fun for her, too.) The day started with a quick cinnamon roll for breakfast before church. Then the Primary did their sacrament program, so that was entertaining. A friend gave her a present at church (totally unexpected!) She got roped into singing with the choir - okay that part wasn't so much fun, and it wasn't even my fault. I got roped in, too. She about died having to wait for her dad to get home before she could open presents. But it was worth it, especially since her dad couldn't wait any longer and had to give the family a present for Cheyenne's birthday, too - Guitar Hero 5. We grilled hamburgers and had french fries while watching football. Then played guitar hero all afternoon. That night Grandpa and Grandma and Uncle Thomas came over and Uncle Shaun and Aunt Alana and boys for a party (we have a small group now :( ) We had a sad looking cake, but Cheyenne liked it. Then more football and more guitar hero, over all it was a good day, I think. Oh, and she also had another little party on Friday night when Aunt Kathleen and family and Aunt AmberLee were here. Her favorite presents - the John Deer tractor calendar, wrapped in Hannah Montanah paper, complete with Jonas Brother's card (which unfolded into a poster), all from Uncle Thomas. Right, Cheyenne!? :) I love you, sweetie!!

Halloween

Sheesh! Apparently getting pictures posted the Monday after Halloween isn't fast enough for some people! (ahmm, Mom, Leslie, Kristen :) ) Then I couldn't get them to download yesterday, so here they are. No theme this year, some of the kids were set on their costumes and we weren't going to Bill's office this year, so they all did their own thing.
So Jon was a cowboy.
Maddie was a kitty cat.
Chloe was a princess.
Billy was a vampire, thanks to Aunt Leslie sending home vampire teeth with them all - he LOVED them!
Natalie was a witch.
And Cheyenne was a pirate - she only dressed up because I made her dress up for the carnival. It was actually kind of nice having halloween on a Saturday. The kids had parties and everything on Friday. I didn't know Bill's office was still doing their thing this year, so we didn't go. The YM/YW in our ward did a carnival Saturday morning so Billy was fine with not going to the school carnival. YEAH!! They really had a fun time at the ward carnival, though. The youth did a great job, it wasn't even too big of a hassle for us leaders, so I'm suggesting we do it again next year - especially if it'll get me out of a school carnival again. :) That was in the morning, so we came home, relaxed for the afternoon, then got dressed up again. The kids got a TON of candy from the carnival so we really didn't even have to do much trick or treating. The weather was really nice, too, so we didn't even freeze while we were out. All in all, it was a great Halloween!