Esther's Preschool Christmas Program

Scott and I went to Esther's preschool program the last week of school. Esther loves to sing. She knew every song and sang very loudly. There are only 4 kids in her class and she loves to singing more than the others. This picture shows Esther doing the actions of a song about a little elf sitting on her nose. Miss Jill had told the kids to touch their nose and look at it. I never knew Esther could cross her eyes until I heard her sing this song. It was adorable. I was teary eyed because we will never go to another preschool program for our children. I really don't want Esther to grow up.

Christmas Traditions

Every December I bake all month long. This is my favorite
time of year! We make fudge, toffee, cinnamon rolls,
sugar cookies, spritz cookies, and the best of all poppy
seed bread. The last day of school we have friends
over to decorate sugar cookies and on Christmas Eve
we decorated Gingerbread cookies with our friends the
Mallavias. When we have all our treats ready we go
Christmas caroling. This year my parents were here
and they came with us. It is fun sharing with others
and bringing the Christmas spirit through singing.
We buy a real Christmas tree and decorate it. This
year Esther got to put the star on top.

Hannah's Nutcraker and Birthday!

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Hannah was a rat, Russian dancer and in the party scene of this year's Nutcracker. My parents came to Page for the weekend to watch her perform. I can't believe how far Hannah has come as a dancer. She is amazing and so fun to watch. I can't believe she is 13! Hannah is a wonderful young lady and I am blessed to be her mother. We love Hannah so much. She is a great example and help in our home.

SNOW!

We had three snowstorms in Page last week!
We had school canceled one day and then two other
days school started 1 1/2 hours later than it usually
does. We have sleds that we take when we go to
visit Scott's family in Salt Lake. The kids were sledding
down our neighbors desert yard that has a small hill.
Esther has no fear. The snowday I took the kids and
some of their friends to the golf course where we went
sledding by the 11th hole. Some of their friend brought
sleds and everyone shared. Hannah's friend Marisa gave
rides down the steep hill to Esther and her little friend
Ali. There aren't too many hills in Page so there
were a few other kids at the golf course but plenty of
room. When we got home the kids warmed up for
an hour then went back outside to our neighbors hill.

More Thanksgiving Pics

Hannah and Tate waiting for pictures

Abby and Bo trying to stay warm

Ezra staying warm between pics

Grandma Beverly's magic tree that descends from the ceiling

What talented cousins!

Thanksgiving

We went to Utah for Thanksgiving with Scott's family. We stayed at his sister, Sarah's house in Sandy. She took such good care of us and her husband Cory made the best breakfasts and smoothies! All of Scott's siblings and their families were there. We had such a great time. We miss seeing all of the cousins. The kids had a blast playing with their cousins and everyone got along so well. We had Thanksgiving dinner at a church and the kids played basketball and did crafts. The little girl cousins put on a singing/dancing performance after dinner that was organized by McKenzie and Hannah. We have a few young divas in the family. Of course we all went to a movie after dinner and spent the evening together. The next morning I went with my sister-in-laws shopping way too early in the morning. We went and visited Grandma Beverly later that day and got to watch her Christmas tree "descend from above". On Saturday we had family pictures taken - all the cousins and grandma, everyone and then individual families. They were taken outside and I froze but they turned out great and we were happy. We love all of Scott's family they are such good examples and friends.

Grandpa Homer

My Grandpa Homer passed away on October 13. We went to Orem for his funeral the next Saturday. He had moved a couple years ago to Orem with his wife Beverly from Reno, NV where he had spent the previous 80+ years. I have several good memories of Grandpa Homer. When I was a kid our family would drive from Boulder City to Reno for Thanksgiving. I loved spending time at their house. Grandpa always had the best stuff in his basement. We would play store, chess, or ping pong. I don't think I ever beat grandpa at ping pong or chess. He would always call us over to show us a scripture and a thought about the scripture. I have never seen him angry or upset. He always had a smile and was the most positive person I know. When I went to college at UNR I lived at his house. He would make the best pancakes. When ever he went out he took Book of Mormons to pass out and was a great missionary. I loved staying with him and Beverly, I got to know and love them so much. I am so thankful to have such a good example for a grandfather. Everyone who knew him loved him. I am so thankful to have a testimony of the plan of salvation. This was the first funeral my kids remember and it was good to talk about life after death. Death is just another step, and I know Grandpa is happy and we will see him again. We have always talked to our kids about the spirit leaving the body until the resurrection. They know they will see Scott's dad again and he is working on the other side. What a great reunion Grandpa Homer had with his family that has passed on. It was great to see family at the funeral and we love Grandma Beverly for taking care of us.

Hot Air Balloons

One of our favorite weekends in Page is the first weekend in November with the hot air balloons. The balloons lift off on Friday, Sat. and Sun. mornings around 8 am from the old golf course. On Friday Esther and I walked along the rim trail behind our house to watch them lift off. We sat at the golf course for a while then walked back toward our house as the balloons were floating by. Saturday morning the boys, Esther and I did the same thing. Hannah had dance class and only watched coming home from dance out the car window. It is so amazing to watch the balloons against the Vermillion Cliffs. We counted over 50 balloons this year. Every day at least 5 land close by our house and we love watching them. Sunday morning before church there was a balloon about 20 feet off the ground in our cul-de-sac but it landed in the next one. It was great warm weather. Saturday night they close our main street to have a balloon glow. Some of the balloons anchor down in the street and they turn on their fires and in the dark the balloons glow. This year we didn't make it to the glow because our adult session of stake conference was at the same time. But we usually go and it is incredible to see. If you want to visit Page this would be a great weekend!

Halloween Trick or Treat

Each year we trick or treat with our friends the Demangones and any other friends that want to come along. In Page trick-or-treating is from 4-7 pm. I love the early time because it is light out and you can see where the kids are. I also love that everyone goes around the bureau home streets. On Date street homeowners sit in chairs outside to pass out candy. We see all our friends and neighbors. It is like a big block party. Hannah was a witch, Jonah a mad scientist, Noah a hockey masked murderer and Ezra was a skeleton. Ezra's face was very scary. When our friends came over to our house to start trick-or-treating, Esther took one look at Michael's mask and screamed. She ran over to Scott and would not go trick-or-treating with us. We left and Scott drove Esther to a couple of houses. After trick-or-treating we go over to our friends, the Mallavia's for chili. When Michael came over Esther told him she did not want him ever wearing his mask again.

Esther's Halloween Fun

Esther was going to be Belle for Halloween. Then she wanted to be a vampire princess. So we had a vampire cape to go around her Belle dress and vampire teeth and makeup. The day before Halloween the kids were going through the costume box and Esther found this Simba costume that Hannah wore when she was three. Esther loved it. She wanted to be a lion. She got to dress up for preschool on Halloween and have a party.

Carving Pumpkins

We had 5 pumpkins to carve. Everyone got their own and picked their own design. It takes at least 3 hours to do 5 large pumpkins. Luckily all the kids except for Esther could clean out the seeds by themselves. Esther wanted a cat. Noah started carving three ghosts and after and hour he turned the pumpkin around and carved a scary face. Hannah wanted to do something original and came up with her own idea - Vote 4 McCain. Too bad it didn't translate into more votes! We baked pumpkin seeds. Jonah's small pumpkin he is holding he carved at school. This was the first year the school didn't get pumpkins donated for the kids to carve for the Pumpkin Festival. Jonah's teacher got someone to donate money for her class to each have a pumpkin. We always light the pumpkins the first night and then usually forget the next few nights until Halloween.