Black Friday & 4 Christmases!!

Nothing makes me more excited than, BLACK FRIDAY!!!!!!!! We made great time and I truly finished everyone on my list! I purchased gifts for about 15 different people!!! I think it is so funny to watch people run for a good deal!! We left at 4:00 am (my neighbor Jen joined my mom & sister-in-law and I! We were like a well oiled machine!! We hand 4 cart FULL in 10 minutes at Target with more than we needed, so we just passed it back to people behind us who had not been as sucessful (sorry to brag, but we are AWESOME!!). Later that afternoon my brother Shuan & his wife Tammy, my Dad & Mom, and Ryan & I (we missed you Nate & Ashley!) went to see 4 Christmases. We LOVED it I don't know why the paper gave it a D+ we laughed until we cried more than a few times!!

Thanksgiving!!!

We had an awesome Thanksgiving Dinner at my mom's house! It was just my mom & dad, my Grandma Hirst, Cousin Chantelle and her niece Danika, My sister-in-law Tammy (my brother Shaun was at the fire station working), my brother Nate, And then my kids & Ryan & I. It was so yummy I brined my Turkey which made it taste awesome!!! Then we went to pies at Robby's & Christy's with Ryan's side of the family. We sat and looked at ads for hours just deciding where we should go shopping!

O' Christmas Tree!

I LOVE Christmas trees!!! This is our tree this year! It takes forever & ever to put up, but I love it so much when it is done! The 1st picture has the kids standing there, so you can tell how tall it really is, 15 feet!

Pure Torture!!

We watched the sad loss of BYU vs Utah. We had friends over for the game which lightened the sting a bit.

GOOOOO COUGARS!!!!!!!!

I HAD to change my background from red to BLUE! It should be an awesome game tomorrow!!!! The Cougars are going to win!!

Coleman Wrestling!

Coleman has found his new favorite hobby, wrestling! He pretty good at it also!

Invention Convention!

Ashlynn's Hopscotch game for the "Invention Convention"! She did a great job on it, we played it the night before she turned it in at it was really fun!

Senior Grandparent Day!

Senior Center Grandparent Day! My dad is the director over city recreation where I grew up! Which includes the senior center. It was a Grandparent Craft day so we went! The kids had a great time making turkey's with Grandma Great & Grandpa!

Pretties!

Jaxsyn loves "pretties" that means lipgloss, I forgot that I had handed it to her while we were driving home & this is what we found when we unloaded from the car. She sparkled for 2 days!!

Christmas Letter!

Merry Christmas!

We've had a great year in 2008!

It's been a year of discovering new talents and loves.

Here's a quick update to catch you up!

Ryan, is still working at Blendtec and loving his new position that he started last year. He discovered his love of scuba diving while we were on a cruise with friends. He goes whenever he can fit it in! He is also loving watching our children grow and start playing sports, he is their biggest fan.

Chelsi, is still a busy stay at home mom! She loves the quiet time she has with Jaxsyn before the chauffeuring begins in the afternoon. She has discovered her new hobby of blogging and loves to save our memories on the computer instead to scrap booking (which she doesn't love)! She loves watching the children grow and and the crazy things they do that make her laugh (even though there are still times they make her want to cry!!)

Samantha, is the best babysitter-in-training. She loves to clean when watching the kids for mom's short trips to the store. She has discovered her love of gymnastics, she is getting really good at the bar. She loves "hanging-out" with her friends, and was so proud of growing old enough to be given a little more freedom, and sadly learning the consequences of pushing the limits of that freedom to far.

Ashlynn, is our compassionate little girl. She is very aware of the feeling others are having, and sincerely feels their happiness, or sadness with them. She has discovered her love of competition dance, she has begun dancing EVERYWHERE, she always is doing a dance move! She loves being mischievous and that spirit often gets her in trouble, but she always has fun until Mom & Dad find out.

Coleman, is our active young boy. He is always outside with his friends either playing flag football, bear in the woods (We could not explain the rules even if we tried!), jumping bikes, or just playing in the snow. He has discovered his love of sports, he was a star playing soccer and is loving his new sport wrestling. He loves being in Kindergarten, he is a great student and very helpful in his class. He loves being right and is very spirited in his ways of showing you, which is teaching both mom & dad much patience.

Jaxsyn, is still the charmer. She can charm anyone she meets, she also knows she can, so she often gets whatever she desires. She has discovered her love of friends & play group & nursery. She can play outside or inside with her friends for hours. She loves everything girl: pink, pretty shoes, her hair certain ways, and baby dolls. She has her normal 2-year-old tantrums, but actually is fairly reasonable.

Click on the other links below this letter link on the side bar, to see a few of our favorite memories this year! We will have our blog open until after Christmas and then we will make it private again, so if you would like to continue as one of our guests please post a comment including your email address.

Early, but too cute not to share!

I already took my kids Christmas photos, so they can wear there Christmas outfits to Church at Christmas time. They turned out okay, usually I am more impressed but it only cost $25 at Target for all the photos we need, so I can't really complain!!

Gratitude Turkey!

For FHE on Monday we made a Gratitude Turkey (idea from the Friend). Each kid had to come up with 5 things they were thankful for, and then Mom & Dad added a few so we could use it for a count down. I know one day they will realize how blessed they are, but until then I'll just keep reminding them!

Coleman lost his 1st tooth!!

Coleman was running around yelling "I lost a tooth!!!!" It was really cute even though he had tested my nerves so much earlier that day. That's what kids do, just when you are so mad at them they do something really cute! Ryan was out of town, so Coleman wanted the tooth fairy to leave his tooth behind. I told him to yell really loud and maybe she would hear him and leave the tooth. She did, but he lost it before Ryan got home (hehehe kids!)!

One More Halloween Photo!

My brother was the shower costume the kid from Karate Kid wore. It looked really good. That is Bailey my niece too. I think they all looked great this year.

Halloween 2008!

Halloween is always fun in our family for a few reasons:
#1 Ryan loves to dress-up, so it makes everyone join in the fun!

#2 School Parties & Programs

I helped in Coleman's Class Party!

Ashlynn had a Monster Mash Dance Program at school!

Jaxsyn almost fell asleep during the program.

She danced to the Monster Mash! She did great, she loves dancing. She dances around the house all day, everyday.

#3 Pumpkin Craving at Grandpa & Grandma Hirst's House

#4 Ryan's Family LOVES Halloween too, so Robby & Christy throw a Halloween Party! Here's a bunch of photos of the fun!

#5 Candy, Candy, Candy!

Sick Day!!

Ryan went buffalo hunting with Rick so we were just enjoying our weekend, when I ended up gettiing sick. That night Ashlynn got sick and then Samantha the next morning. So we took a sick day from church, the kids watched movies all day. It was actually pretty fun!

So very blessed...

Today the state we live in had an emergency food drive, because the food bank is running very low. I took Coleman & Jaxsyn to the store with me to buy food to donate. On the way Coleman threw a fit about me saying no to a toy, and how mean I was. I was so upset and explained that we were going to the store to buy food for people who have no food and you are mad that you don't get a toy. I said would you rather buy a toy or buy more food for a 6 year old boy who is hungry? Thankfully he answered "Buy food for a little boy". He was so good shopping and kept helping put food in the cart. On the way home I teared up in thanks for the blessing I have of being able to feed my children. I feel so lucky that I can open my pantry and find food there, and that I know my children will not be hungry.

How Well Do You Know Me?

Take this quiz and find out!!

http://www.quizyourfriends.com/take-quiz.php?id=0810252342035580&a=1

Warning I am really Happy!

Don't let this make you worry, I am truly happy, actually really happy, but my life sometimes makes me feel this way. With school, sports, activities, work, PTA, social life, family activities, church callings, church activities (all, not just one's I plan), making dinner, trying to keep the house clean, kids social life, doctor's appointments, dentist appointments, football games, parties, getting Halloween costumes ready and etc. etc etc I feel like I could use just a week to breathe!. So blogging was put on the back burner, but I will get it all in so I can print my blog to make a book (so I NEVER have to scrapbook AGAIN!)! So bear with me in the many post I have added and the more to come!

High School Musical 3!

I give it 2 1/2 stars, but the choreography was great. It was even chessier than I expected. But it was fun to go on opening day!

Gooooo Daddy!!

Ryan played in the champion flag football game, last Monday! He plays on a team with 3 of his 4 brothers! So on Monday afternoon the kids and & I made shirts to cheer him on! They won!

They Won!!

Here are some pictures of the game...

Ward Carnival!

I so wish I had photos of my kids at this, but since I was in charge I rarely get the chance to take pictures! These were taken right before the prayer (so before it began!) We had the Young Women & Young Men do all the carnival games, and the activites commitee did the food (nachos, hot dogs, & Scones). It was fun and I think all of the kids had a blast, it was a great turn out about 300 people!

Photo Tag!

Here's the fourth photo in the 4th folder in my pictures!

This one is boring, my new washer & dryer!

So I did the fourth photo in the fourth to the last folder. Miss Jaxsyn when she was 2 months old! Wasn't she a cutie! Tag you are it! This is an easy one so everyone needs to do it!

Family Pictures!

We went with the Brower's to take family pictures for each other! I agree with Jen in saying "We didn't do so bad!" It was really cold, but we had fun and having the other kids there helped keep the kids spirits up! Here's a few of my favorites...

Sunday Dinner Sundae's

My family came over for Sunday dinner and my parents brought ice cream sundae's for dessert. They buy the kids ice cream for 100% on spelling tests. So they were paying up for the 100's they had received. My Mom & Dad are so cute with my kids & Bailey my niece. They spoil them rotten and give them so many great memories.

A Normal Saturday, FINALLY!

1- Sadie & Jaxsyn 2- Landon & Coleman 3- Sam & Kennidee 4- Ryan & Ashes

We rarely have nothing to do on a Saturday. But with luck we didn't have many plans today. We did however NEED to get our basement cleared out for framing to start. We spent 2 hours doing this and it actually 1/2 way done. We have 3 years of disorganized messed to go through, so we are getting closer. Then it was the BYU game tonight, it was Ashlynn's turn to go to the game. So the rest of us had no plans, thankfully my good friend Heather called and she came over with her kids for dinner & to watch the game (her hubby was at the game too!)! We made yummy turkey sandwiches and just sat a chatted. Here's a few pics of the kids having fun, and Ryan & Ashlynn after the game, not even frozen even though it was only 35 degrees!

Coleman got the Canyon Champ of the Month

Coleman was a great citizen and was one of the few to get September's Canyon Champ Award! He got a candy bar, a certificate, a FREE movie ticket and his picture taken and his named announced over the PA system. He was ecstatic, and so proud of himself. He told me that he was a great citizen because in class he figured out how to cut up his 5 monkeys and then went around helping all the other Kindergartners in his class.

Conference Coffee Cake!?!?

Every 6 months our family gathers for Conference Coffee Cake (I didn't name it, I married into it!) during the Sunday morning session. Seems like a contradiction to have coffee cake at conference, but it is just Bisquick & Raspberries (I think) it's not my recipe it's my mother-in-laws. We had it at our house because Ryan's parents are serving a mission in the Dominican Republic. The kids all play and the adults watch LDS General Conference. It's a great tradition and I love being able to listen to the leaders of our church with my family surrounding me.

Coleman LOVES soccer!

We knew Coleman would love being able to play sports this year (in Spanish Fork you can't until in Kindergarten). He was a really good soccer player and loved it, when they subbed him out he would stand there get a drink of Gaterade and say "I want to go back in"! It has been a lot of fun watching him. Wrestling starts in 3 weeks!

Here's a video of one of his goals! Look to the right of the screen and you can see the ball go over the goalie's head!!