Temple Lights

We were able to make it to the Temple in December to see the lights. I love seeing the excitement that the Temple grounds bring to our children's faces. Ashlyn especially loved the lights and the freedom of running around. The grounds were crowded so we didn't stay too long. Some of our good friends were able to join us, and after we went to a McD's for hot chocolate and some play time. It was a nice evening spent at a beautiful place with family and good friends.

I was unable to capture too many pictures because it was so crowded and then some of my children whom I won't mention any names RAYLE would not smile or be serious enough for the photo opt. There was a beautiful one with Rayle and the Temple in the background but he made a face and when I went to take it again there came a swam of people upon us, so I ditched my efforts. Teagan was too busy running around for me to snap any pictures of him.

BLASTING ZONE AHEAD

That's what it felt like anyway today when I finally started to tackle Mister Teagan and Mister Rayles room. I remembered to take pictures after we moved the enormous toy box out of the room. Also the boys "had cleaned up" their room too before I took any photos. I worked on the room for a few hours, but honestly it seems never ending!!! So I took a break for the day and will work again either tomorrow after church or some time on Monday. I made sure they could sleep in their bed tonight and that's good enough for me tonight. Last night they had so much stuff on their bed I couldn't even find their blanket or sheets to tuck them in. They should not mind the room too much in it's unorganized state.

Sorry two of these pictures are sideways not sure how to change it since they were from my phone.

PROUD PARENTS

Our boys are A-M-A-Z-I-N-G! We got their report cards the other day and STRAIGHT A's again this quarter. Truly makes us so happy, I might even take them to Krispy Kreme for some donuts. (because they get up to 6 free donuts with any A's from Krispy Kreme LOL!) I hope they both continue on with their excellent academics, and they get their Honor Roll medals at the end of the year. So fun to see them learning and excelling. This week Rayle brought home his first Fluency Read. He reads a passage timed for one minute and we watch him read to make sure there are no mistakes and where he stops we mark it down. The first passage that he was given was a word count of 82. On Monday he finished the entire read and still had twenty seconds. I prompted him to continue and he scored 87 WPM. Today he got 112 WPM!!! That's AWESOME!! Teagan also does this daily and his passages are longer and he has not been under 100 WPM in a long time. It makes me so proud of them both! I am grateful that both of our boys seem to pick up on learning so naturally. I actually struggled through my primary grades so to see them doing so well I love it. I hope Ashlyn is the same way but I know she is not hitting some of her progression marks like both the boys did. We will have to wait and see with our little princess girl! Love my kids and love that we have them at a school that works for their smart little brains!!!

New Starts

Today we tackled some "spring cleaning", yep I am well aware that its January 2nd, but with a high today of 79 it felt like spring! Also we will be gone over spring break so now is the time! Ashlyn will be two and a half next month so we decided her crib needed to go, and a big girl bed was in order. The boys have a bunk bed, but as of late they sleep together on the bottom full bed, so since all of our funds are being saved we went with the twin top bunk to save some money. We need some new sheets as all we have are boys character sets. Transformers will do until next week! During her nap she was less than thrilled to be sleeping in this new arrangement! I hope she can adjust quickly to this new room change! I wish I had taken pictures of her room before. Her closet was a disaster zone! All her toys were literally thrown in (by Rayle!). Now her room is pretty bare of toys, but are stored nicely within her closet. I also have saved all of our kids baby clothes and have not gotten rid of them yet because we are not sure if another baby is in the mix or not. They take up a lot of room but worth to save if we have another baby. So she still has some storage that could find another home if there was space to be found, but we will work with what we have. Here are some pictures of the end results!

Oh also I have a wooden kitchen set from me and my sisters youth that needs to be cleaned and brought in hopefully by the end of the week. Tomorrow we tackle the pit aka the boys room!!!

All the stuff inside her closet that is either being Craig-listed, thrown out, or donated.

Ashlyn showing off her new room! That big gray thing on the floor is her AC unit. Wish we had gotten a window unit she is ALWAYS messing with it!

One thing about this house that I do like is the closet space...for the kids ours is tiny. I plan on getting some decorative hooks for all her dress up clothes, right now they are lumped in a pile on her shelf.

Here is the other side of her closet.

The other side of her room. Not sure if I want to keep that HUGE rocker in there. It takes up so much space. I might move it out to the living/dining area.

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Good-Bye 2011

Well it went by fast and furious, or so it seemed. Didn't we just celebrate it turning into 2011? and now it's 2012 well in about 30 minutes. I hope you all had a wonderful year and look forward to new and wonderful things in the year 2012! We will be celebrating 10 YEARS OF MARRIAGE! in March. In February will be our 8th sealing date, very cool. Teagan will be baptized in May. My little sister is tying the knot in March as well (great month to get married). We are very excited to all that will and shall happen in the next year!!! God bless everyone and may you be merry and bright in 2012!!!!!

Christmas Day 2011

Christmas has come and it was a wonderful time for the kids. The boys woke up to find a few gifts and presents for Ashlyn from Santa, but there was not a thing for them from Santa. We had church at 9 am so we got ready and the boys waited oh so patiently to open the few gifts from mom and dad. They got the goods underwear, socks, and a few movies. Yep we are some AWESOME parents! Ashlyn got a push car from us and new boots, a furReal puppy, and Figit from Santa. So off to church we went and Teagan figured since they had already gotten gifts that Santa didn't need to leave them any. Well when church was over we had them open their stockings and what did we find but a treasure hunt for each boy to follow. Teagan and Rayle really loved it and we excited about their Christmas gifts from Santa. It was fun and and wonderful day spent with our family.

I took more pictures on my camera will have to up load them later.

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Santa Time

Yesterday we went to BassPro, but the wait to see Santa was over 3 hours. Brian and I were going on a date and it didn't include waiting for Santa with the kids. So when we picked them up from grandma's we headed over again. Today the wait was a little reasonable hour and half. We rode the carousel and then headed to a few other stores around the area. When we got back to BassPro I headed to the line to wait with the kids and they did well except Ashlyn because I don't think she slept very well, was a GROUCH!!! The kids loved seeing Santa and writing a letter for him. Also they added a snowball fight area where the boys had a blast. BassPro really is a wonderful place for the kids, they have slot car racing, remote control trucks, shooting areas, Santa letters, a craft in the evening, carousel, and snowball area. Lots of fun things and everything is FREE! Kids loved it.

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