We had lots of very cold weather this month. We are very ready for spring. I started working at the elementary school in the afternoons in the office. I really enjoy using my secretarial skills and working with the parents, faculty and kids. I love learning new things as well. Asher now has a shorter cast and his arm seems to be healing well.
Lance and I took Asher on a fun little one on one date to the dino museum. He really loves one on one time with us. He is getting a bit too big for the dino museum but he still loves it. I was surprised when he wanted to do the sand and water area - he usually wants to bypass it but this day he wanted to play for a while.
Update on Asher's Arm
Yay! Asher got his cast taken off. He still has to be careful but he has healed really well. The hair on his broken arm grew tons and tons inside the cast! He has one really hairy arm! He also lost a lot of muscle on that arm that he will have to build back up over time.
Hannah's Sleepover Birthday Party
Hannah decided to have a sleepover for her 12th birthday friend party. There was a lot of high pitched shrieking and giggling. She has some wonderful friends that made her birthday party so memorable and fun.
Krazy Karaoke!
Pets
Recess Duty
I was asked to sub for one of our recess ladies so I got to be there the day we had super cold awful weather and when Asher's glasses got broken AGAIN!
Science Fair
Hannah participated in the science fair this year. She worked really hard on her project which was whether soaking a jack o lantern in bleach helped prevent it from molding (as pinterest says it will) and the answer is NO it makes pumpkins mold quicker!
Hannah with her friends Brandon Saavedra and Abbie Price
Hannah also had quite a few baby teeth pulled to make room for adult teeth that are already coming screwy. It wasn't very fun especially since she didn't have teeth to chew on for a long time.
Hannah also tried out out for our school play Shrek. The following video is of her call back audition. She killed it! She didn't get the part she wanted but she did get a great part and did so well in it.
We are constantly trying to find ways to help JJ figure out and understand the behavior that we expect from him. After having a major struggle with him we resorted to this consequence:
Basketball
Hannah and JJ both had Jr. Jazz basketball this month. It was fun, frustrating, exciting and exhausting to watch them participate. Please don't judge us too harshly for whatever you might hear on the videos. Better yet watch them without the sound?!?!
Hannah's Games
JJ's Games
JJ's team was Guest!
We got JJ an Ikea book shelf for his room. Lance had JJ put it together!
BYU Basketball Games
Lance's season BYU basketball tickets are always a favorite for the kids!
Pack Meeting
Asher really loved this month's pack meeting. The dens made box cars and raced them in the gym!
Hannah and JJ both had plans elsewhere so Lance and I took Asher to Cabelas for a hour. He loves the shooting gallery and looking at the fish and taxidermied animals.
The holi-daze is in full swing and with it came really cold snow weather. That means I turn into a hermit and only go out if I absolutely have to. My phobia of slipping on ice has just gotten worse over the last few years so I walk like Bambi on any kind of ice or snow. The kids and Lance just know that I'm going to take forever to walk across the parking lot unless they hang on to me. I really should get all my holiday shopping done in the summer because when the ice and snow appear I don't leave the house much. So online shopping is pretty much it.
Pets
Hey did you know that we love animals? If you didn't then you haven't read any of this blog or know us at all. We really do view our pets as members of the family and enjoy documenting the silly and weird things they do on a regular basis. Hannah's cat named Mouse sleeps in the strangest positions. Most cold days you can find him in Lance's chair laying tummy up and shedding all over the place. Good thing he is a good mouser and a very friendly cat. Hannah loves him to bits.
I don't mention our old cat Bo but I really should. He's been around longer than JJ has. He's pretty old now and spends a lot of time sleeping and drooling on the furniture downstairs. He is still a very friendly cat and loves to have his belly rubbed. I think he's getting some arthritis in his legs and hips because he doesn't move very fast any more.
I really love sunrises and sunsets. There is something peaceful about the way God paints the sky for us at the beginning and ending of our days.
Christmas Concert
One of the highlights of December is the Christmas Concert that our elementary puts on. The kids have been involved for many years either in the choir or the band. This was Hannah's second year in the band playing the flute. She and RegAnn were the most experienced flute players this time around which allowed them to mentor the newbies a little. Hannah has really enjoyed her time in band learning to play the flute and we are very grateful for the time and effort that Mrs. Vangie Jones puts into the music program at the elementary.
Ward Christmas Party
It's a Christmas tradition to attend the Ward Christmas party for a yummy dinner and photos with Santa. This year seemed a little different as the kids have gotten older and want to spend more time with their friends at the party than with us old folks.
Art Projects
Because our school has a more comprehensive arts curriculum the students are able to explore different types of art, music and theater with our Arts teacher Mrs. Jones. Hannah created her own version of "Starry Night" and it was chosen with a handful of other kids to have it shown at the Lehi Library! JJ has always enjoyed art and has really loved the art classes he has taken at the middle school. This year he did 3D art and his project, a paper mache dragon, was displayed at Willowcreek in the lunch room area. *it was really hard to get a good photo of it through the glass
Christmas Gift Projects
I have a love hate relationship with giving coworkers and neighbor gifts. It takes a lot of work to produce something truly homemade and unique. Sometimes it can cost really a lot of money too, something that is always tight this time of year. This year I was working a bit in the front office of the elementary so I wanted to give something to the other secretaries and Mr. Miller. I decided to make these fun rice bags that smell like peppermint when you heat them up in the microwave. They work really great for stiff neck pain and lower back pain. I found some cute Christmas socks and stuffed them with the rice. Tied off both ends with baker's twine and added a little essential oil and a tag.
For some of Lance's co-workers we did candles with the following note attached. It's always difficult to know what to do for at Lance's work because there are so many people and not all of them are religious in any way. I'm always on the lookout for other ideas. For the ward members and neighbors we did Jolly Rancher bags with a tag that said "Have a Holly Jolly Christmas!" I guess I didn't save the file for that tag.
Generally the kids come home on the last day of school before Christmas break with some sort of homemade ornament. This year I really had to laugh because we now have Asher's awful frowny school picture forever immortalized on an ornament!
Star Wars!
SOME people in our family have been waiting with baited breath for the return of Star Wars to the theaters. So of course we had to go to the movie with our Star Wars related clothing with high hopes that the new movie would be up to all the hype. I'll admit I thought it was pretty entertaining. We all liked it - some more than others. Star Wars mania lives on in our nerdy household.
Volcano
Asher has been pretty depressed lately because of all the activities he has to miss out on because of his broken arm. He missed out on basketball and karate and sledding, not to mention friend's birthday parties at trampoline places like Jump On It. It's been a bummer for him. He naturally struggles with being a bit depressed even without the broken arm so it has been tough to help him look on the bright side of things. We've had this science kit in his closet for a while and just never got around to helping him use it. One day Asher was so bummed about everything so Lance pulled this out and helped him follow the directions to make the erupting volcano. It helped him take his mind off of things for a bit and he loved spending time with Lance, one on one.
JJ's been pretty awesome about shoveling the snow before he walks to the bus in the morning. I really appreciate it because often, although Lance has shoveled before he leaves for work, the snow has built up again when it is time to get the younger kids to school.
Asher's Cast #2
After having his cast on for a few weeks Asher had to go in and have it taken off, x rayed again and then a shorter cast put back on. Neither Asher nor I really knew what to expect when they were going to take the cast off. The nurse really didn't say anything but just got to work. Asher had been really worried about getting it taken off but I don't think I really knew HOW worried he was. You can tell by the photos that he isn't feeling himself. When the nurse pulled out the "circular saw" to cut the cast off he went white a sheet. He held it together and didn't make a peep during the whole removal process. The next step was the x ray and he walked with the nurse in the x ray room holding his arm with his other hand. They took one x ray and he barfed all over the x ray room floor. He was so embarrassed and up set! All I could do was apologize to the staff and try and clean him up while not bumping his un cast arm. It set things behind a bit because they couldn't find any cleaning supplies (what?!?!). We waited quite a while until they finally got things cleaned back up so they could do the second x ray. It was pretty traumatic but who would have thought that a doctor's office that is in the same building as the hospital wouldn't have cleaning supplies like a mop and disinfecting cleaner readily available. After all that he had to get his new cast on and the PA who was doing it was so distracted by something he was going to be doing later that day that he had to start the whole process over 3, count 'em, three times! Poor Asher was exhausted and shaking by the end. The good thing was that the bones are healing really well and there will for sure be no need for surgery. He was told to be extra careful not to bump his elbow because the new cast is shorter and stops right before his elbow area.
Big brother made Asher feel lots better by playing Battleship with him.
Christmas Eve
It is our Christmas Eve tradition to go to Charlie's house and share the evening eating, opening presents, reading the Christmas story and the family Christmas story: A Christmas Dress for Ellen. I'm so grateful that Charlie invites us to do this with his family. Some of our happiest memories are from these wonderful traditions.
Everybody loves Brandon's dog Murphy, including Bridger!
The kids got to open their Christmas jammies at Charlie's house so when we got home we had to take a photo even though it was late and the kids didn't really want to humor me.
Even though everything isn't finished off in the basement I love that we can have our family Christmas down there. It is cozy and fun. This year we had our big tree upstairs in the living room and our three little trees downstairs decorated with the kids' ornaments from this year and past years. The kids get to decorate these trees and reminisce as they look at each ornament.
This year's ornaments:
Hannah
Asher
JJ
Santa brought a new blanket of snow with him!
Abby loves to be in the middle of everything. I think she is more excited than the kids are!
This year's Christmas Card
Seriously weird cat.
Asher got a drone (thanks Wes for putting that thought in his head, LOL) for Christmas so JJ and Dad helped him try it out.
Hannah's 12th Birthday
Hannah LOVES breakfast foods! She wanted German pancakes for her birthday breakfast so that's what we did!
This girl is growing up way too fast. I am not ready for her to be 12. She truly is the most caring sweet girl. She has many talents and is a hard worker when it comes to school. She HATES doing chores and can be very slow moving in the morning but we love her anyway. She adores baby sitting and playing with little kids. She enjoys piano, ukulele, flute and musical theater. She is a good friend who tries to make sure everyone is included. She is pretty scared to move into Young Women's because none of the girls her age are in yet. I keep telling her she has to blaze the trail for her friends.
Asher knew early on what he wanted to get Hannah for her birthday so of course we had to make it happen.
Despite the look on her face in this photo she LOVED getting a ukulele from Asher!
Lehi Arts Council Christmas Party
Lance volunteers at the Lehi Arts Council doing publicity so we got to go with the rest of the council to the Desert Star Playhouse to see their Christmas show. It was really fun!
New Year's Eve
I guess I didn't take many photos of our New Year's eve celebration. We stayed home as a family this year. I made homemade pizzas and we watched the ball drop on tv.
2015 was an eventful year. Here's to 2016 bringing us happiness, health and all good things.
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