Christmas

Hope everyone had a great Christmas! Ours was oh sooo fun! The day just goes by way too fast. We went over to my dad's on Christmas Eve and hung out and had a nice dinner that night...that I cooked!! (with a little help from Cort!) Then the kids and Cort and my dad went out and sat in the hot tub. I tell ya there's nothing better than sitting in the hot tub while there's snow on the ground. Taylor and Chase think it's the coolest thing ever! It was all planned that we were going to sit in it on Christmas Eve and Taylor had been talking about it for weeks. Then we came back home to sleep and wait for Santa. The kids had a blast opening their presents and between Santa and their Grandparents they got pretty spoiled. But I hope that they caught the real reason for Christmas. We talked about it and about what gifts we could give to the Savior. Taylor is so sweet she told me that she could get him some frankinsense and gold. But I explained to her that those aren't the kind of gifts he wants, although those are nice too. Then she thought about it and decided that being a good listener to her mom and dad and being nice to her brother would be good gifts and I of course agreed! We sure wish that we lived closer to our family in California and in Arizona, so that we could of been with them as well, but they were in our thoughts. Family is the best! What a wonderful time of year this is, I always hate when it's over because there's something so magical about it. I am so grateful for my Savior, Jesus Christ and for his life, sacrifice, and example. One of my New Years Resolution is to strive to be more like him in the every day craziness of life. That will be my gift to him.
Happy New Year Everyone!

a boy and his ball...

Ever since Chase was a baby he has been OBSESSED with balls! Whenever he sees one his face lights up and it's like nothing else matters. So, while we were out in California last month Cort's brother gave Cort one of his homerun baseball's from high school and Chase thought it was the coolest thing ever. Anyways, Chase was giving Cort a hard time the other day about taking a nap. So, Cort had himself an idea and told Chase that he could sleep with the baseball if he stayed in bed and went to sleep. Chase said kay and that was that. He was out like a light! Now he asks for it almost every time he goes to sleep. He absolutely loves the thing. It's quite cute. So, then yesterday when I walked in his room to check on him while he was napping, I couldn't help but smile when this is what I found; Chase fast asleep holding his dad's baseball! I love it! That kid just melts my heart!
PS On my last post I tried (several times...UGH!) to download a video of Tay's dance, the cutest little dance ever! Anyways, for some reason I couldn't get the thing to work, so if anyone has any advice for me on how I could get it to work, I'd appreciate it. It really is a must see!

Dance

Taylor's Christmas dance recitial was on Monday. She is taking two classes this year, a jazz class and a ballet class. She really is enjoying it and having lots of fun! We taped her Jazz dance performance and we can't help but want to show her off! She did such a great job. Good job, Taylor! We love you!

Snowman

The kids got up the other day and where SO excited about all the snow we have gotten! And when I asked them if they wanted to go out and play in it, they could hardly contain themselves. So, we got all bundled up and headed out. Cort was actually home that morning and he decided that he was going to help and show us how it was done! It was a lot of fun and I think that we did a pretty good job.

Preschool Christmas Program

Taylor has the cutest preschool teacher in the world! I believe this is her last year teaching and I don't know how we will ever find someone as good as her! She is amazing and Taylor just loves her! Taylor was so excited for her part in the program this year. She came home a couple of weeks ago from preschool all excited and told me she was going to be the "golden girl" this year in the program. I knew what that meant, but I asked her what she meant and she told me that she was going to be the one who brings the gold to the baby Jesus. I love that she knew that! And I love that they are talking about the Savior and his birth in her little class. It was the sweetest thing ever to see all the kids in their costumes gathered around this little manager acting out the birth of our Savior. And Taylor, of course did a marvelous job. Her class also sung three Christmas songs for us. Taylor had been practicing them around the house over the past month or so. She just LOVES to sing. She always has. I remember when she was only 18 months old and she could sing word for word "I am a Child of God," as well as some others. She just loves it! And we most definitely love her! She is such a doll and did such a great job with her program. It was a lot of fun going and seeing what she has been doing and learning in her class. We are so proud of our Taylor. She is such an important part of our family. Here are some of the pics we took during the program. Enjoy!