Cousin Christmas Party

We had our annual Swanson Cousin Christmas Party last week. Of course, it was snowing and scary driving up the canyon but we finally made it. The kids got to decorate their own ornaments, decorate the tree, sing songs, and get a stocking from my Grandma. They were thrilled to get a whole dollar! We all brought gifts for our kids: Tyler a spider man memory game and art set, Kylie and Kenadie each got a princess bath set and Tinkerbell to share, and Easton got a Diego camera. All of us cousins brought a $10 gift and played the present game. I got bath and body works lotion and Eric got a extra soft blanket. (The kids have all been fighting over it!)








The girls were being so funny this night. They keep bending over saying they were "old men"

School Events

Yes, it has been forever since I've posted! It just seems like every time I go to update something happens or I get distracted. Before school was let out for winter break we had a couple of school events. Kylie had the usual Kindergarten Christmas program and Tyler had a school play. I tried to post some video but I couldn't ever get it to upload.

Happy Birthday Sis-Yesterday!

I just wanted to say happy birthday to my sis! She is only 18 months older than me so we played a lot as kids. Some of my favorite memories are playing Barbie's in her room for hours and trying to scare her by hiding in her closet very frequently. I also remember a few good cat fights but we always seemed to get over it. Even though we are very different we are alike in a lot of ways. Happy birthday!

Chuck E Cheese, Temple Square

One of the benefits of having Eric work at Schreiber's are his 12 hour shifts. He has every Thursday, Friday, Saturday, and every other Wednesday off. Tyler gets out of school early on Friday's so we headed down to SLC. We surprised the kids with a trip to the new Chuck E. Cheese in Layton. The kids had soooo much fun playing games and eating pizza. Tyler and Kylie made it clear that they could go around by themselves. I liked this new one because we could see everywhere from our table. The kids especially loved the horse ride and roller coaster simulator ride. After we finally left, we headed down to Temple Square. It was very busy but so beautiful. I think the kids enjoyed seeing all of the lights and the temple. Of course, a trip to SLC wouldn't be complete without a stop at Target. We got home late and tired but it was fun.

New Family Pics

This past week and a half has been extra crazy! I feel like there is not enough time to get what I need to done. It seems like all I've done lately is work, clean, work, clean, work, drive kids around, plan primary lessons, work, etc, etc. Last Saturday my awesome friend, neighbor, and co-worker Stacey took some family pics of us. Eric absolutely hates the annual trip to kiddie kandids for some family pics so this was a much better solution. We drove around to a few locations and snapped some photo's. It was a little chilly but I think they turned out well. I'm so excited to get them enlarged and on my wall! Thanks Stacey, you are the best!
Kenadie had her last day of preschool until January 6Th. They got to wear PJ's yesterday, sit on Santa's lap, and decorate sugar cookies. She made me a gift but says it's a secret and I can't peek. Kylie has her Kindergarten Christmas program next week and a dance program at the retirement center. Tyler has a play on Monday night that he has been working on for school. So basically, next week is going to be crazy. We are hoping to go to Temple Square tonight and do some shopping. Eric has never been to temple square and I haven't been in at least 11 years. I hope the kids will enjoy it.

My favorite family pic:

Thanksgiving Week

We celebrated our Thanksgiving at my mom's house this year. We traveled ALL the way to North Logan. The kids enjoyed flag football with Grandpa, Uncle Cory, cousins, and dad. After we came home we started to decorate outside. Eric gets waaaayyy into putting up our lights and even drew a map of what he wanted where. We still need to get a few things to complete the outside. Over the weekend I really didn't feel good but we all went to the Jazz game anyway. We were second row from the top but the kids just enjoyed the atmosphere. I woke up at 3 am the next day throwing up. Eric went and taught the primary lesson while I rested at home. I have such an awesome husband.
Here is the kids tree downstairs:

Mom and Dad's tree

Our stockings:

Thankful for.....

I guess I'm kind-of in a blogging slump. It just seems like life is so crazy lately especially with work. I have just felt bummed out for a couple of weeks and I don't know why. I think it has a lot to do with the season change. I'm such a summer person and all of this cold, kids being inside, getting dark early, etc gets to me. I got home from work tonight and we decided to make a gratitude turkey. We did this in sharing time on Sunday and I think it turned out well. All of us wrote four or five things that we were thankful for on a feather. We then each said ours and put them on the turkey. I realized after we were done that I felt better and not so grumpy. I guess sometimes we have to stop and think about all of the good things in life.
On another note, my friend/pinching your pennies website told me about this huge clock at Deseret Book that was 70% off. I got it for $40 instead of the original price of $130. We put it above our fireplace and I love it.