Merry Christmas Eve 2008

This was as close to a Christmas card I was able to get this year:

Chase 17, Taylor 141/2, Hailey 10, Morgan 5,

Piper 6 months

Snow Buddies

Amazingly enough, St. George got enough snow to actually close the schools!  (The date was incorrect on my camera---it should be 12-18-2008.  I have since changed it.)

Steve took Hailey and Morgan to a hill behind the elementary school.  Look closely at Morgan's face below.  Does she look like she is having fun?
Hailey showed off her skilz by snowboarding:

But, alas, the sun came out and melted a lot of the snow.  It's back to school tomorrow.

Hailey turns 10

December 15 was Hailey's tenth birthday.  The Saturday before, she went to lunch with her friend Abby.  We had lunch at a new pizza place called Pirate Pizza Island.  

Then we went to a movie:  Madagascar:  Escape 2 Africa.

On Monday, her actual birthday, she had a spaghetti dinner.  Grandpa Les and Grandma Betsy came over, too.  Then of course we had cake and ice cream.

Hailey is wearing her choir shirt, as they had a performance LIVE on the local TV news station.  She loved all the cards and gifts from everyone.  Thanks!

We love you, Hailey.

Nativity at Tuacahn

Steve's sister Barbara, her husband Mike, and their son Christopher came up to St. George for the weekend.  Friday night we went to dinner with them and Steve's parents, Les and Betsy.  Then we went to the nativity at Tuacahn.

Following that, we went on a little train ride, and then the kids played around and danced.  Don't let Christopher fool you, he danced around plenty, too.

On Saturday, Mike, Barb and Christopher picked up Morgan and they all went to the park.

Thanks Lamoureux family for a fun weekend!

I think I like them

We went to the high school last night to watch Chase sing in the choir.  They had several performing groups, including a small orchestra.  We had arrived early, and were watching the orchestra set up.  At one point we had this conversation:

Morgan:  "Oh my gosh!  Look at that giant guitar!  Hailey!  Look how big that guitar is!  That guitar is SO big!"

Hailey:  "That is not a guitar.  That's a cello."

Mom:  "That's pretty good.  How did you know that?"

Hailey:  "I've seen one before."

Morgan:  "OK,...what are the really little guitars?"

Hailey:  "Those are violins."

Morgan:  "Violins.  Right.  Very good, Hailey.  You are so smart."

At this point, Hailey and I look at each other and smile about how funny Morgan is.  They are both sweet girls, as evidenced below:

Fa,la,la,la-la

Hailey is in her school choir, the Coral Cliffs Coyote Crooners.  They had their Christmas performance for the families Tuesday night.

They have a very large group.  The music teacher said it was the biggest group they have ever had.  They practice early before school twice a week.

The choir got a little groovy at the end.  They did a great job!  

Chase is taking choir as a class at school.  He had his Christmas performance tonight (Wednesday).  They sounded wonderful.  Sorry about the blurry picture, but I had Morgan on my lap.  Maybe I can get him to pose in his robe later.  Can you tell which one is Chase?

The entire performance was a little long.  They had several groups each performing a number of songs, so Morgan decided to make herself comfortable.

Taylor was at volleyball, of course.  More on that later...

Happy Thanksgiving

Can't touch this

Saturday we (Steve, Jill and 4 more friends) canyoneered  Mystery Canyon in Zions National Park.  It was quite the adventure.  It only took us 8 hours.  That's actual hiking time, people.  That does not include the drive up and back.  Here is one of the easy ones: 

Our fearless leader:

His fearful sidekick:

This is our friend, Tom.  Look carefully and you will see this is a 2-part rappel.  Once down into a small pool of water, and then again to the lower part into a larger pool of water.

Another friend, Lissett, going down the final waterfall into the Narrows below.  This was 130 foot drop:

Yah, John, I know exactly how you feel:

We hit a few snags along the way, so by the time we finished it was dark.  We waded through the Narrows and hiked the Temple Sinawa back to our car.  I've said it before:  Life with Steve is never boring.

Jubilee of Trees

Each November there is an event in St. George called the Jubilee of Trees.  It is held at the Dixie Center.  There are lots and lots of elaborately decorated trees and wreaths.  They are sold for charity.  Grandma Betsy is helping with the booth that is selling wreaths.  We made three to donate.  Each girl picked a theme for her wreath, we bought all the decorations, and then Grandma helped us put it all together.  Here are the results:

This is the wreath Morgan and I shared.  This picture does not do it justice.  It has white lights and a 'woodsy' theme.

Hailey's was all pink and had a sparkly angel/fairy in the center.

Taylor went with classic red, green and white.  It was also very glitzy and cute.

A big thanks to Grandma Betsy for helping us make our creations look great! (and please ignore Hailey being a goofball in the background)

t.p. is so old school

This means I like you a lot and glad we are friends:

Candy, candy and more candy...

We had a darling pirate,

A cutie cowgirl,

And Taylor got very creative and came up with an 'Incredibles' costume at the last minute.

This was the only picture I have of Taylor, but it is a bonus because she is holding 2 day old Max (our friends Mike and Hillary's third little boy)!

Then our neighbor came up with this freaky costume and I had to add it at the end:

Hope everyone had a Happy Halloween!

Fascinating, I know...

My sister Jenifer 'tagged' me.  She also tagged my other blogging sisters.  I don't want to be the only one who flakes out.  So here are the juicy details:

5 with 5 tag

10 years ago

1. Steve and I were married 9 years
2. We had 2 kids, with the third on the way
3. I was working full time
4. We were living in our home on Larch Court
5. I was driving a minivan

5 things on today's list

1. workout
2. laundry
3. groceries
4. get dinner in crockpot
5. carving pumpkins for FHE

5 snacks

1. banana bread
2. microwave popcorn
3. apple
4. diet coke
5. diet coke

5 things I'd do if I were a millionaire

1. pay off all our debt
2. go out to dinner
3. that's it because I would be out of money

5 places I've lived

1. Las Vegas, NV
2. Rexburg, ID
3. Provo, UT
4. Las Vegas, NV
5. St. George, UT

5 jobs I've had

1. Wendy's drive-thru girl (hey-I learned how to count back change the hard way!)
2. tanning salon girl
3. lifeguard
4. RDH
5. wife to Steve/mother of 4 kids

5 people I'm tagging (umm....I don't know if 5 people, other than my sisters, read my blog)

1. Harlene
2. Susan
3. Cheryl
4. Hillary
5. Nikole

Hey, wake up now!  I' m done!  I will be checking on my five tag people...

Eeek!

For Family Home Evening tonight we carved our pumpkins....

Can you guess who is who's?

(Morgan and Mom shared, thus only 5 jack-o-lanterns)

Answers below:

Sorry a bit blurry...(maybe a little too much diet coke today?---nah!  no such thing!)

Hailey is holding puppy Piper, who happened to duck for this pic.

Relections of Christ

For many years the Mesa Temple of the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints (Mesa, AZ) has exhibits on the temple grounds during the Easter season.

This year, there was also a 'Reflections of Christ' photography exhibit in the Mesa Temple Visitor's Center.

The photographer was given permission to photograph Pageant cast members for the exhibit.  They traveled to various locations in Arizona that the photographer felt looked like the places in Israel where the events took place and recreated the scenes.

The photographer worked with a few other individuals to put together a 6 minute slide show which includes every image from the exhibit set to the hymn 'Come Thou Fount of Every Blessing.'

Just remember when you're watching the video that the photographs are real, they aren't paintings!

Remember to maximize the video so you can see it full screen.  You can expand the screen to fit your entire computer screen for a better view by clicking on the lower right hand square icon (next to the volume).

click here

Subway II

Saturday, Sept. 27, Steve and the gang hiked the Subway again.  I was not feeling so hot and Morgan had pink eye, so I did not go.  Here is a few of the peeps:  Chase, Chris (friend), Bret, Susan, Steve, David and Christine (David's girlfriend---I hope I spelled it correctly!)  There was actually 14 in the entire group.  When Steve makes plans, he does it big.  He's just a friendly kind of guy.

Susan and Bret, still smiling...

Dave and Christine, still smiling...

And a couple of show offs...keep in mind this water is FREEZING!

also known as "how to rip up a good pair of shorts"

Happy Birthday, Morgan!

Today was Morgan's 5th birthday.  She started if off with a bowl of her favorite chocolate cereal.  Then off to preschool, where she was given a red crown and cupcakes with sprinkles.  Mom picked her up and took her to toy heaven:  Wal-Mart.  She picked out a baby duck toy and a playdoh ice cream factory.  She also selected a Spongebob cake.  She wore the red birthday crown the entire time and received lots of attention.  Then off to a hotdog and pink lemonade lunch with dad.  

She talked to her grandparents in the Philippines via the computer, and played with her new toys.  Then her favorite dinner, SPAGHETTI!  Finally, best of all---blowing out the candles on the cake.  She said she wished for a real pony.

We love you Morgan!  You are a joy to our family!

you knew this was coming

I am getting pretty maxed out on cleaning up puppy accidents.  Our last puppy was 18 years ago...I can't remember how we trained her.  She was housebroken, though, so maybe it will happen eventually.  I have read a few suggestions on the internet, but I need to hear from real people with dogs.  Did you kennel train?  Just keep working at it until the puppy figures it out?  I need to hear from you Jenifer, Harlene, Maria?  And anyone else with the magic solution.  help me!

suggestions?

Steve and I are invited to a Halloween party.  We are supposed to dress as a famous couple/pair.  Any creative suggestions?

Minnie's dress and shoes are kinda cute, though....

I know, I know......

Say hello to the newest Simmons family member, Piper.  Yes, in a moment of weakness I reluctantly agreed.  She has barely had time to breath with all the love and attention she is given.  So far she has been good, but it has only been 3 days.  She is very cute, though, you have to admit.

I am sure there will be many, many pictures to follow in the near future.  Only leave nice comments.

Brains, beauty and volleyball talent

Taylor tried out for the high school volleyball team.  She made the team, and was required to get a physical.  She passed the physical easily, except we learned her vision was not so hot.  We had her eyes checked and found she needed glasses.  So here she is:

She has contacts also, which she can wear when she actually plays volleyball.  We think she looks fabulous!

subtle clue

Poor Hailey was not feeling well today.  How did I know?  This notice was posted on her bedroom door:

It says:  BAD head ache!  Quit!!! (I guess Morgan had been buggin' her)  Do NOT come-in!  Shhhhhhh!  I guess she forgot Morgan cannot read yet.

I gave her some Motrin and 5 minutes later went to check on her.  She was totally zonked.  That cloth was originally on her forehead, but I guess it slipped to her chin.

And she slept the rest of the night.  At least her nails were lovely.  We will see how her head feels in the morning.