Updates

I finally updated the last couple weeks. I still have Christmas to do, but that's for another day. If you keep scrolling down, you can see all that we were up to.

Christmas Eve at the Phillippi's (my family)

After visiting Dan's family we headed back to my parents house for another Christmas Eve celebration. We played games, ate and opened more presents. It's so fun to see everyone and it really makes me wish we lived closer. The kids got matching pj's and a ton of great toys. Every year Santa comes and brings all the kids teddy bears. It was a really great and exhausting night!

Christmas Eve at the Westons

On Christmas Eve we split our time between Dan's family and mine. Our families only live about 1 hour away from each other so its fun to see everyone. We had a great lunch/dinner and exchanged gifts with the cousins and siblings. The kids love seeing all their cousins on Dan's side because there are so many and Bradley really looks up to all the "big boys" (you know, like the 10 year olds!) It was a really fun afternoon!

O Christmas Tree

It has been a tradition in my family for 20+ years to go to the Silveyville Christmas Tree Farm to cut down our own tree and then head over to Chevy's for dinner. My parents have since gotten an artificial tree, but now we go to cut down a small one for the grandkids. They have free popcorn and cider and a "sleigh ride" around the property. The kids have come to love it as much as I did when I was little.

The whole family gathered around the Christmas Tree snowman that my dad also bought.

The kids getting their turn cutting down the tree

Santa comes to Preschool

Kylie's preschool has a Christmas party on the last day before the break. Santa comes and gives the kids a treat which, of course, Kylie loves. She wasn't scared, but she was confused why Santa had to ask her name again when she had told him the week before! Ben was reluctant, but when he saw the treats, he was willing to give it a shot.

Bradley turns 7!

After a week of celebrating Bradley finally turned 7 on December 18th. We had cake with family and he decorated cookies with his friend on his birthday. He had a great time and got some really cool gifts. I always thought he would hate having his birthday so close to Christmas, but he loves all the extra attention and extra gifts. Even at such a hectic time of year we have always found a way to have fun for his birthday.

Dancing Fools

Send your own ElfYourself eCards

Temple Square

On Saturday we went with some friends up to Temple Square to see the lights. We stopped for dinner on the way up and took a quick peek in IKEA. It was pretty darn cold that night, but it was so fun to see the lights and the manger scene. We were able to take a few pictures before the snow really started to come down. We then headed over to the Joseph Smith Memorial Building for some hot chocolate and waited while the guys made the trek back to the cars to come pick us up. It was a really fun night and I feel grateful that we live so close to Temple Square and are able to share it with the kids.

The World according to Kylie

Kylie says the most random things and they always make me laugh. I just want to write them somewhere so I don't forget.

Today she told me there are 5 "worlds" which she listed on her fingers:
1. Paris
2. Utah
3. California
4. BYU
and it took her a minute to remember her 5th "world" and she said "Oh, yeah"
5. England (of course!)

She has a very well travelled aunt and dad and I love that she lists Paris first.

Funny Conversation

This morning Kylie and Ben ran in our room and while we were all laying around I asked them (for the hundreth time) what they wanted from Santa:

Dan whispers: Kylie, say World Peace
Ben: I want word peace
Kylie: What is that? Is that some kind of toy?

We both started laughing. Out of the mouths of babes!

Jazz vs The Kings

With family in town for Thanksgiving, I got the company tickets to the Jazz game last Friday. We have 5 season tickets on the 7th row, so they're pretty nice seats (padded and all). Bradley and I went with Dad Phillippi, Matt, and his fiance Alyssa. It made it even better they were playing my team, the Kings, except for the Jazz beat them pretty badly. We all had a fun time, and Bradley even paid attention most of the time.

Bradley and I posing in our team gear

Grandpa and Brad in their matching Jazz hats

Brad got a little Jazz notepad and pen

Thanksgiving Day!

We had such a great Thanksgiving. We hosted at our house because I have 3 siblings (plus spouses/fiances) that go to BYU. My parents flew out and we had so much fun. Dan and I made our first "real" turkey. We usually just order a pre-cooked one from Honeybaked Ham, but this year it just wasn't going to be enough to feed everyone. We got an 18 pound turkey and it came out perfect! We had 12 people total and I wish I had taken a picture of how we all fit in our kitchen. It was definitely cozy! I didn't get a lot of pictures since it was such a busy day, but from the couple I got, you can tell we had a great time. After dinner, we went to the new theater by the University Mall and saw Madagascar 2. I highly recommend it, that movie is hilarious, even for adults. Throughout the week with my parents here we shopped, ate, saw a few movies and ATE!

Kylie and Ben at the kids table
Ben was attacking Uncle Brian
(laying on the ground)

Amanda sitting next to the appetizer table.

(We made 7 layer dip, apple dip and a cheese ball for Dan)

My parents playing Princess checkers with Kylie

(somehow she always won :) )

November Card

This is probably one of my favorite cards. I just love Christmas and it was a lot of fun to make. We had such a great time going out to dinner together, too. Now its time to get a jump on December's card before things get too busy.

6 Years Later . . .

About 6 years ago, when Bradley was 8 months old, he was pulling himself up with his teeth on our garbage can. Since the garbage can was empty, he and it went flying backwards. One of his two new little baby teeth popped right out. The first picture is him with his little lion he got at the dentist's office. He has had his special gap tooth smile since he was little. Fast forward 6 years and he came home from school yesterday and announced that he finally lost another tooth. He can now be officially added to the first grade tooth chart (who wouldn't want that!) I asked him how much he thought the tooth fairy would bring and he said, "I don't know, maybe 20 bucks." Are you crazy?! You aren't getting the Beverly Hills tooth fairy. I told him it was more likely that he would get a dollar and he was pleasantly surprised when the generous tooth fairy gave him $2.

All I want for Christmas is my 2 front teeth!

Smarty Pants!

Last week Bradley came home with another Eagle Award. He was so excited! He was called up in an assembly and was only 1 of 2 kids in his class to receive one. On the paper that came with the award his teacher wrote, "Bradley Weston is receiving this Eagle Award for Learning for his outstanding progress in reading and math and the excitement he shows in learning. I am so proud of him and the progress that he is making." Dan and I told him that we were so proud of him and he smiled and said, "I know!" I guess we'll be having a Family Home Evening on humility next. Here are the pictures that Bradley and Kylie took (which is why they are a little blurry):

"The heat is on!"

I normally only post cute pictures of my kids and family, but there is something on my mind that I feel really strongly about. As most of you know, Prop 8, which protects families and marriage, was just passed in CA. Today on the news I see that people are protesting in large numbers outside the Los Angeles temple and my mom told me that for awhile protestors were blocking the entrance to the Oakland Temple. At first I just felt angry, but now I feel more resolved than ever to look to the Prophet and the leaders of the church for guidance. These times are crazy and it's only going to get worse. We have to be willing to stand up and protect marriage regardless of how many people scream in our faces and call us "bigots". (Actually happened to my mom) I was sent this quote and found it extremely comforting:

This came from the Feb. 1979 Ensign.

'Make no mistake about it, brothers and sisters, in the months and years ahead, events are likely to require each member to decide whether or not he will follow the First Presidency. Members will find it more difficult to halt longer between two opinions. President Marion G. Romney said, many years ago, that he had 'never hesitated to follow the counsel of the Authorities of the Church even though it crossed my social, professional or political life.' 'This is hard doctrine, but it is particularly vital doctrine in a society which is becoming more wicked. In short, brothers and sisters, not being ashamed of the gospel of Jesus Christ includes not being ashamed of the prophets of Jesus Christ. . . . Your discipleship may see the time when such religious convictions are discounted. . . . This new irreligious imperialism seeks to disallow certain opinions simply because those opinions grow out of religious convictions. 'Resistance to abortion will be seen as primitive.. Concern over the institution of the family will be viewed as untrendy and unenlightened....Before the ultimate victory of the forces of righteousness, some skirmishes will be lost. Even in these, however, let us leave a record so that the choices are clear, letting others do as they will in the face of prophetic counsel. There will also be times, happily, when a minor defeat seems probable, but others will step forward, having been rallied to rightness by what we do. We will know the joy, on occasion, of having awakened a slumbering majority of the decent people of all races and creeds which was, till then, unconscious of itself. Jesus said that when the fig trees put forth their leaves, 'summer is nigh.' Thus warned that summer is upon us, let us not then complain of the heat.'
--- Elder Neal A. Maxwell

Sorry for such a long post, but I just feel such a strong conviction to stand with the Church right now even though the Church's point of view is going to become increasingly unpopular. Tell me what you all think!

Halloween Fun

This Halloween was fun and busy like all Halloweens are. Bradley got to walk to school in his costume and he was very excited. He really wanted to be Indiana Jones for Halloween, but since our Target was out and I didn't want to order one for $40 online, he agreed to be a "Bony Jack Sparrow" (much cheaper!). I think he looked great and he ended up loving it. Dan was able to get off early and went with me to the Costume Parade at his elementary school. When we got home I quickly made some yummy chicken noodle soup and pumpkin muffins which we had to eat at 4:00 to be on time to our trunk or treat. We had such a great time and I think everyone really loved being outside (normally we do it in the cultural hall). The weather was perfect. After that we decided to take the kids to a few houses to get the "real" trick or treat experience, but Kylie and Ben only lasted 2 blocks before they were done. When we got home they all sorted their candy into piles (why, I don't know), chose one piece and then off to bed. Whew, what a night!

The neighborhood gang

Jack Sparrow in the parade

Alice in Wonderland, Jack Sparrow and a ninja

Posing at the Trunk or Treat

Showing off their loot

One very tired ninja

Who are you?

So I took this quiz online and it turns out:

Take the Quiz and Share Your Results!

No big surprise considering I stay home and don't typically fight other vampires!

Yes, its true!

As you can probably see from the above ticker, we are expecting another baby! We are very excited and since I've told so many people already, I thought I'd share it with my fellow bloggers. I sent Dan the doctored picture below at work to tell him and he thought it was just another email forward of a funny sign someone really put on the freeway. So much for my surprise. I had to call him and tell him that that is our baby! We see the doctor on the 30th and will keep you posted on the baby's progress.

Big Red Barn

Every year we go to the Big Red Barn in Santaquin. This year we were babysitting our friends kids and decided to take them along. We went on a hay ride that takes us out to the pumpkin patch. All the kids picked out a pumpkin and we took the hay ride back to the barn where we had hot apple cinnamon donuts! It was a little cold, but we all still had a great time.

Bradley, Logan, Peyton, Kylie and Ben
The fam
Spooky kids
My little "punkins"
Donuts, mmmmmm!

Birthday Girl

Today is Kristina's birthday and we were able to share that with Matt & Allysa, Melissa & Taylor, and Brian & Amanda. Matt and Alyssa cooked up a nice pesto chicken dish and some homemade oreos. Everything was great and we had a nice time.

Last night we went out for her birthday up to Sundance with our friends the Boxxes and the Petersons. We ate at the Foundry Grill, which was tasty, and the atmosphere was great. We had a nice relaxing evening, but forgot to bring the camera. Oh well, it was still a nice night.

Kristina is a great wife and mother, the kids and I are truly blessed to have her.

The birthday girl

Matt and Alyssa, the chefs

Melissa, Taylor, Amanda, and Brian, enjoying dinner.The two divas, Melissa and Kylie, posing for the camera.

Bryce Canyon, the Boxxes and a bazillion pictures

This past weekend we went camping in southern Utah. We had a blast with our friends the Boxxes in Bryce Canyon. What a beautiful place! We had never been there and it was so great. The weather was perfect although the mornings were a little chilly. We stayed in these cute little cabins that had nothing more than a bunkbed and a table. It did help that it had electricity and a heater so we were very comfortable. We spent all Saturday touring the park and hiking in the canyon. The hike was gorgeous and going down I thought it was really fun. The way back up was a different story. I thought they would have to send an ambulance down to get me.:) The kids were laughing at me because they were practically running up the mountain. Oh youth! Here are some pictures from our trip:

The kids slept on the top, while Dan and I took the bottom bunk

The Boxxes made some great omelets the first morning!

The park had a free bus that took us to all the sights. The kids loved this part.

There were so many gorgeous views

This huge tree is actually on some of the postcards we bought.

This tunnel was on the way down, which is why Im still smiling!

The Guys

I think the kids got a little tired of posing for pictures

Taking a little break

Great view!

This picture is great, but I was scared to death because we were on the edge of a cliff with no fence.

Relaxing by the fire that night. We made smores and Jarom made peach cobbler. Camping is definitely not diet-friendly!

Right across from our campground there was a place called "Old Bryce Town". It was just a row of a few little shops, but the kids loved exploring it. I found a few little things there myself.

Silly boys (Bradley and Peyton)

Bradley and Kylie loved this cutout

Ben had a great time riding the "horsey"

Our campground had this great store with anything we might need.

The kids all got Bryce Canyon shirts to pose in.

The whole gang

(Jarom, Kirsten, Peyton, Logan, Kylie, Kristina, Dan, Ben and Bradley)

On our way out of town the boys thought that this "Restrooms or Bust" sign was hilarious.