Christmas Recitals

The boys both started piano with a new teacher this year.  Jake decided to give up on violin for a few years and he is focusing on piano now.  He is pretty good.  Luke is still really good by ear, but HATES practicing and reading notes.

 Felice did so well too.  This was her first experience with piano and did so well. She was the best practicer in our home.  I tell ya, it pays to practice!

Here is a fun video of all 3 of them playing together.

December Fun

We have a busy month.  Here is a few shots of what's going on.

We started the month off with decorating our gingerbread house.  This year, we just made one -- which was much more fun for me than trying to help everyone make their own! 

 We are all getting excited about Christmas around here!

 I had some fun Young Women activities to help bring in the Christmas Spirit too.  We trekked to temple square one week, and decorated cookies another.  Felice made the cutest cookie if I do say so myself!

 Then we took the whole family to see the lights at the temple.  It was fun because Heather's family and Kirk's family came too.  We wanted to try out the Front Runner... and we rode the train to and from Temple Square.  The kids loved it and it was actually cheaper than driving.  15 bucks for our whole family.

 The best part of seeing the lights is going ice skating at the Galavan Center.  We look forward to it every year.

 

 Seeing the big cousins help the little ones just makes my day!  Love all these kids.

 Felice's first time on skates.  She is excited to learn how to get better, but she was really nervous. :)

 There were some cool candy displays at the Macy's in City Creek.

 Love my people!!!

 A big group shot of us all!

 Sam and Nate enjoying the night

Of course, if there is snow we have to build a snowman.  Sam and Laura made a pretty cute one if I do say so myself.

 Here is their "selfie" with the cute little carrot man!

I don't think my kids will ever get sick of snow and sledding in it.  Here is Sam and Nate below being pulled behind the 4-wheeler.

 And... when the 4-wheeler isn't available (aka dad's at work), they use their own brute force to have some fun.

 above is a picture of Jake pulling Luke and below is Sam pulling nate..

It's cold, but it's always fun to play in the snow.

Thanksgiving

Thanksgiving at Bar 10 again this year.  It really was the Nadauld year, but we were excited to take Felice to the Grand Canyon and have the Heaton experience, so we had to split our vacation time this year.

Felice got to do a lot of things that were against the rules.  Ride/Drive a ranger is one of them. :)

Little mini men up above.  I just think these boys are little pees in a pod.  So fun to have cousins the same age.

W

The kids all had fun throwing rocks off the Canyon edge.  Especially Felice.

My mom just got back from a trip to Nashville and brought me and Heather these cute and WARM sweatshirts.  Love my sister.  So lucky to have her in my life!

It's funny how when you get older, parents just become really good friends.  I love hanging out with my mom and sister.  They are the best!

Felice thought the Cacti were awesome.  We found one as big as her.

And, the Thanksgiving Feast was amazing.  My mom and sis are great cooks and it was fun to have a small group.  We had WAY TOO MUCH FOOD, of course. But, isn't that was Thanksgiving is all about?  Love me some good eats.

The kids brought the mats down from the upstairs loft and had a movie night right in front of the fire.

Luckily, we had Heather's boys (cowboys in training) and they helped us saddle the horses and go on trail rides.  My boys love riding horses, but are still a little nervous around them.  I think they have my blood in them!

Another thing on the DO NOT DO list for Felice. :)

Nate and cousin Kaden. 

Nate actually fell asleep on the ride.  The weather was perfect and so relaxing.

And we're off....

We also got a little target practice in.  If you must know, I nailed the clay pigeon on the first try. 

The boys all hit too.  Here's Luke posing.

And Jake...

And Taylor.  Felice's job was to pull the trigger for the pigeons.  She did her job well.  She also hit a few of the targets, but we didn't want to post incriminating photos (another DO NOT activity).

Then thanksgiving night we came back into St. George and spent some time with the Nadaulds.

We got to go to the movie, have a turkey bowl, and mostly SWIM.  They swam for about 10 hours in 2 days.  They were little raisins.  So fun to have SO many cousins.  We love it!

Messing Around

It's the best to have big cousins that go to BYU!  I've been waiting for family to come up here to school and I finally get to enjoy it!

We love having Breckon so close, he eats Sunday dinners with us, and occasionally makes it over for family night.  He has a sweet set-up at school.  The totally POSH village living.  Anyway, there is a pool and a hot tub that fits 40 people.  The boys had a great time one snowy afternoon.  Kids even get to eat for $1 on Tuesdays at the Village complex restaurant.

One of my favorite things is to watch Felice jump.  You don't realize how you have to learn that skill.  My boys all started jumping as soon as they started walking, so to see an adult out there learning how to jump is so fun!  We have loved having Felice around.  She really is like a big sister to my boys and we'll miss her when we leave for NYC.

Our first little snow of the year.

 I say our first "little" snow, because it was only a couple inches and melted in a few hours.  But the little boys had to get snow cloths on and get out there none the less. 

 Luckily we have Felice who was willing to oblige them and help them build a snowman.

 Pretty dang cute snowman kiddos!