Lexie and Papa

I definitely need to thank my parents this year. They have been watching Lexie for me a few time a week so I can focus on school with J.T. It has made a huge difference. She loves to go to their house and is happy to be "saved by Papa" when he picks her up in the morning.

THANK YOU!!!!

A tribute to the greatest husband ever!

This post is a tribute to my husband. For all you women who think you married well -I am sure that I am the luckiest wife in the world. He was even jokingly asked by his brother recently to "stop making other men look bad." Right now he is giving me the Twelve Days of Christmas. One day I received 18 roses and another day it was an overnight trip to the Anniversary Inn in Salt Lake. He really does spoil me. And it isn't just the big stuff - it is the bathroom cleaning, talking with the kids at night, and grocery shopping with all 4 kids that makes him the ultimate MAN. I love that I married my best friend.

I love you Jay!

Wii have a BIG Problem

It was a traumatic week -- especially for Zachary. The boy LOVES our new Wii. Jay found one at Costco in September and the kids earned 500 "star points" to earn it. They finally were able to open it just before Thanksgiving. Well, even though he isn't allowed to play before school, Zach was bowling on Wii Sports without the strap on tightly when I was in the shower. He accidentally let go of the remote and it cracked our big screen TV. It kinda looks like a car windshield that has been hit by a large rock. It isn't an easy fix - $800.00 or more. Looks like poor Zach will be grounded for the rest of his life.
This video clip is something that JT made later that morning. I think he was a bit upset that it happened. As for Jay being "storming mad" he actually handled it better than I did - but I think it helped that he had all day at work to cool off first.

More pictures from Arches

Just a few more photos from our little trip down to Moab. Lexie took a long nap in the carrier while we were hiking to Landscape Arch. She was especially cute on a trip, minus a few minutes in the car, and she has her Daddy wrapped around her little finger.

Arches National Park

On Saturday after Thanksgiving we decided to drive down south and go to Arches National Park. (I get an itching to camp and hike and I get very few Saturdays off work. I also have this strange desire to take my kids to all the National parks in Utah before they grow up.) Even though it was a little chilly - it was a beautiful drive and the kids were great. We hiked around and really enjoyed just being together. We were especially glad to have Jay with us. He misses a lot of the adventures I have with the kids in the summer and the kids commented about how happy they were that Daddy could come too.

We are sooo Thankful!

When we asked the kids what they were grateful for we got some unusual answers from JT. Last year he told his class he was thankful for "factories in China". When this was met with puzzlement, he explained that "Everything we have is made in China". Well this year he said with a very serious voice, "I am thankful for extended warranties." Only J.T.!!!! We are not even sure if he knows what they are!

We had a really nice Thanksgiving season. As Lexie liked to say, we hope you also had a "Happy Pumpkin Day". We had three meals and still enjoyed every bite. We ate at my parents before they left for Washington, had about 25 people over for dinner on Thanksgiving, and ate with the Palmer's on Friday. We are blessed with such wonderful family! Here are some pictures fron the meal and some fun on Thanksgiving at our house. Our new Wii was a big hit. Notice that we had 13 kids under the age of 10!!!!

We love our new bunk bed!

With Lexie finally old enough to climb out of her crib, we decided to buy the girls a new bunkbed for their room from IKEA. It was quite the family job to put it together and we didn't even finish until about 9:30 that night. The girls were really excited and Lexie said, "Oh it's soooo cute!" She is such a girl. I worried she'd stop taking naps, but she really likes sleeping in her new big girl bed. Anything has to be better than the Pack and Play I left her in for years.