Christmas with the Boys!

Mitchell and Grant's flight from Wisconsin to Arizona for Sunday, December 28th was canceled. Their new flight was for the next day leaving at 3:45pm with a layover in Atlanta, GA. So they didn't make it to Phoenix, AZ until 11:30PM that evening. Boy were they tired when they got off the plane!

Grant was so tired that he convinced the airport assistant who was watching him to let his use a wheelchair.

Mitchell was sick of airports and traveling. He just wanted to get home. He literally was sick though. He had a stuffy nose and for the next three days he could't get his ears to get unplugged.

Our lovely tree with all of Mitchell and Grant's presents waiting for them. Although we didn't get home until midnight, the boys didn't want to go to bed without opening all of their gifts. Grant said that he had a half a dozen or more sodas that day so he wouldn't be able to sleep anyway. Needless to say, we stayed up and opened EVERYTHING!


Mitchell found a pretty pink tie in his stocking. He really likes it. He wanted to wear it to the New Year's Eve dance tonight with a t-shirt but then changed his mind. He talks about the tie everyday. Give him a call sometime and ask him about it.


Mitchell gave Grant a small box of Lego's. However, Mitchell wrapped the gift several times in various boxes within boxes. So the mess around Grant came from just ONE gift! Very fun!


Grant's most exciting gift, more Lego's. We have so many LEGO sets in this house that we could open our own LEGO store!

Mitchell's favorite gift was a bike frame. Yes, most kids ask for an entire bike for Christmas. Not Mitchell. He just wanted the frame. He is just going to use his imagination for the rest of the bike. No, I'm just kidding. He wants to build the bike himself and get all the custom parts for it. Then he can go to the bike park with the coolest and lightest bike!
Merry Christmas!

Christmas Day in Utah!

We had a white Christmas this year. We already had plenty of snow on the ground from it snowing earlier in the week; however, this morning it was snowing again. Amazingly, it snowed half the day giving us about a foot of snow.

I made some cinnamon rolls for the Jensen family. While they were rising, we opened gifts. The Christmas morning crowd consisted of Mom and Dad Jensen; Barb, Shawn and their daughter Amy; Sonya, Jeff and their son Owen; and Brent and I. It was fun to watch the two little kids open their gifts. They were so excited.

Brent was almost as excited as the little kids when he received this super nice leather wallet. Brent was in total shock when he found the new Quad set of scriptures with his name engraved on them. His current set of scriptures are about 30 years old.

I received a label maker. I've always wanted one. Now I just have to find ways to use it. Any ideas?

I also received a super warm snow hat and a hoodie. Cute, huh?

I was able to speak to Mitchell today. He says he is having a nice Christmas in Wisconsin. Him and Grant built a snow cave the other day and were planning on playing in it again today. He says that Wisconsin is very cold.

I only was able to speak to Grant for a few seconds. He was sitting next to a screaming baby and couldn't get away. I'm still waiting for him to call me back.

I hope you had a wonderful Christmas 2008, too!

Salt Lake City, Utah Temple Lights

Tonight, on Christmas Eve, Brent and I drove to Salt Lake City to see the lights at Temple Square. Our biggest challenge was finding a parking space. It seems that several thousand other people had the same idea. The lights were stunning!



This tree is huge and completely covered in lights. the picture doesn't make it seem nearly as big as it was when I was standing near it.
This is the Assembly Hall at Temple Square. It is a Gothic style building that was built in 1877. Usually, they have one hour long music recitals here each evening but tonight it was closed.

The Temple looks spectacular with all of the lights glowing around it!

On one side of the temple is a reflecting pond. In the middle of the pond is a nativity scene. The nativity scene is reflected into the pond.

It was very cold tonight as we walked around Temple Square. Brent and I were both bundled up in our coats, hats, and gloves. I had a bonus scarf on and long johns to keep me warm. Merry Christmas!

Backyard Visitor

This afternoon we looked in the backyard at the Jensen Family Home in Alpine, Utah and saw this.

This is a mule deer eating a pumpkin. She just stood there and watched me take her picture.



Brent said that he got up in the middle of the night two nights ago and saw a large buck in the yard. I think this is pretty cool! I never see these in my backyard in Chandler!

Temple Visit

Today Brent's parents, Brent and I went to the Timpanogus Temple. It looked beautiful in the snow. It was even more beautiful inside.

This morning Brent made me drive the car in the snow. It was a little scary at first. The roads out of the neighborhood were fairly clear. However, the roads around the house had lots of snow on them. I didn't wreck the car, so I did pretty good.

Christmas Ties

Sunday, December 21st
This year all of the men in the house received their first Christmas tie to wear to church today.

Brent loves his snowman tie.

Grant is thrilled about his Christmas tie.
Mitchell couldn't put down his reindeer tie all day!
The boys are ready for church with their festive ties.
Brent and I ready for Christmas.

Snow Education

Today Brent and I headed up to Utah to spend Christmas with his family. I love visiting Alpine, Utah. It is right by Mount Timpanogus, many hiking trails, and a beautiful forest. Unfortunately, going up at Christmas time meant driving through a lot of snow. Here is what I learned.
This is Interstate 15 with one lane clear to drive on. This is a good thing. It is easier to stay on the road at about 50 mph.
I learned that even though it's freezing outside, the cows still roam looking for food. Why aren't they in a barn?
This is us driving on Interstate 15 when the snow was getting bad. The road was slick and icy. We couldn't go faster than 40 mph. It was super cool to stare at the large snowflakes flying toward us. Brent said that you can get hypnotized by them and drive off the road. Is that true?
Ahhh, we are safely in Alpine. Now the snow looks pretty on the trees. This is what I imagine snow is all about.
Look on the left of this picture. It is a local snowplow! It is much smaller than the ones I saw on Interstate 15. Have you ever seen a snowplow working? I hadn't. Brent thinks I have lived a sheltered life.
On the left side of this house, attached to the roof is a super long icicle. Yes, I learned a lot about the cold snowy winter of Utah. I am glad I am only visiting. I hope when we come home on Saturday, the weather is sunny!

Grant's Early Christmas Present!

Saturday, December 20th
For the last three years, Grant has been asking for a puppy. Over the last few months the request has been much more persistent. He even tells us that he will take care of everything for the dog. He even listed all the things he would be responsible for if he got a dog. So the #1 thing on his Christmas wish list was a dog.
So on Saturday we surprised him with a 10 week old Chihuahua. He was ecstatic! He loved on the little 2 pound puppy constantly. He said he already feels like he is a part of him. He named the dog Max. Later, when Brent asked him what his full name was, Grant replied that it was Max Cuddles Ward.

Grant's could hardly let go of Max the rest of Saturday. He wanted Max to sleep with him Saturday night; however, we want Max to be potty trained and kennel trained ASAP. Max is doing pretty good with his training. Grant took in as many opportunities as he could to snuggle with his puppy. It was hard to say good-bye to Max when he had to leave for Wisconsin.

Band Concert

Tonight was Grant's first band concert of 6th grade. He was VERY excited to perform. He loves playing the clarinet. The 6th grade band played the following songs: Hot cross Buns, Au Claire de la Lune, Donkey Round, Jingle Bells, Dreydl, Dreydl, Surprise, symphony, Frere Jaques, Jolly Old St. Nicholas, Holiday Sampler, and The Nutcracker. Grant is one of the few kids in the band that played an instrument last year.

This is Grant after his performance telling me how awesome he is. He knows no humility!

Grant now wants to learn how to play the flute. He is also learning to play the piano. He has a keyboard in his room and I recently purchased a book to learn how to play the piano. So now each evening, I go in his room and am learning to play the piano. I find it very challenging to read the notes. However, Grant tells me I'm doing a good job. He loves having someone else in the house that is attempting to play an instrument.

Mr. Talent!

Grant did this perspective drawing for his math class. I thought he did a great job. I am very impressed with the straight lines and the distance he created. What do you think?

Family Pictures!

My awesome cousin Brandon took pictures of my family while we were up in Kingman. He was so much fun to take pictures with. He ended up with some great shots!

Married 6 months and still in "la, la land!"

Grant is almost 12!

Mitchell still plans on conquering the world!

Modeling contract, maybe?

My men!

Grand Canyon Caverns

Our family had a fun Thanksgiving Holiday in Kingman. It was awesome to have all 9 of my siblings there with their families. There was tons of food, tons of kids and lots of excitement. One of our activities was to go to the Grand Canyon Caverns on the day after Thanksgiving.

The cave tour begins by riding down an elevator over 200 feet. Since our group was so large, it took two elevator trips to get everyone down into the cave.

This part of the cave is longer than a football field!

Mitchell and his best buddy, Andrew, stuck together the entire time. Aren't they cute holding hands together!

A huge, 15 foot tall, ground sloth was stuck in the cave with us. There are even claw marks on the cave wall where she tried to get out!

My sweetheart is such a good sport and came on the cave adventure with me!

Minitown

Last Thursday afternoon I left town with other adults from my school to Prescott, AZ. We went to the camp ground called Pine Summit Camp to prepare for the 55 students who would be arriving the following morning.

We arrived in the evening to our large cabin facility. As we inspected our lodge, there were mice running here and there. Yuck! They were; however, very little and cute. They ran super fast. Some of the mice decided to go for a swim in the men's bathroom toilet. They couldn't make it out after their swim. Too bad for them!One of the counselors, a young lady in her late teens, fished them out and disposed of them. She is one brave gal!

Minitown is a diversity leadership program. The 55 students that were selected to attend had to apply for the program and write an essay. Many students had to be turned down for this amazing opportunity. While at camp, the students go through workshops and programs that help them explore stereotypes, friends, popularity, family structures, classes in society, etc. It was so cool to watch these kids open up and find common ground with other kids they never took the time to get to know. Its hard to describe exactly how the program changes and helps kids but I so grateful I was able to be a part of it.Our camp was short counselors so I has the privilege of being a cabin leader. These are the girls in my cabin: Shari, Sonia, Rachel, Shelby, and JD. These girls were SOOOO messy. Okay, a few of them were. Before they could go home, they had to clean the cabin. Three of these girls had never used a vacuum in their entire lives. They have maids. Needless to say, each of them took turns using the vacuum and I took their picture doing it.

This is my discussion group. After each program or at least once per day, we met as a group to talk about the program, what they learned, what questions they still had. Then we did some icebreakers and explored our family make-ups. Although it took time for the kids to learn to trust each other, these kids loved each other by the time Sunday afternoon came. We became incredibly close. This program is amazing in how it helps to break down barriers and let kids think about and talk about things they hadn't analyzed before. I have so much respect for the kids in this picture. The counselor of our group was Jon Jon. He is a college student at Phoenix Community College. He did a fantastic job leading our group discussions.

This is a picture of everyone who was involved n our camp. I am near the front of this picture. Although it was a fabulous experience going to camp, I was so glad to get home Sunday evening. I was anxious to take a shower with water pressure and to sleep in a comfortable bed.