St. George Trip

In January, yes January, we went to St. George to find some sunshine. It worked! We are at Snow Canyon State Park by the sand dunes. We had a great time running, tumbling, hiking, and playing in the sand and sun.

This was at the top of the arch hike. It was a fun hike, and the kids did great.

.....Except with this picture. We were so ready to go after this one. I thought it would be fun to get the kids' picture all looking through the arch. Wow. Was I wrong. It was a pain in the butt. None of them wanted to cooperate. And no, this was not the arch the hike is made for, it is much bigger.

We went to Zions the next day and it was COLD but beautiful. We hiked the skyline (I think??) hike and it was a little sketchy with ice and snow, but it was so beautiful.

We did manage to find some spots without snow along the hike.

Some nice people offered to take our family picture.

This is the view at the end. Worth it???? YES!!! It was absolutely gorgeous!

The next day was Monday, our last day, and we decided to walk around the temple grounds in the morning.

Sitting on the steps of the temple.

Do you see the palm trees??? I wish I had some of those in my backyard!

Then we decided to go to a park before lunch. It started out really fun. The kids were having a great time!

....Then, well, I don't want to tell the whole story, but let's just say my Jackson genes kicked in (my cousins and siblings will understand) after I fell stepping off the playground, and I was out for the count for quite awhile. We made it home, but it was not a fun drive home for me. Overall the trip was so much fun and we may make it a January tradition!

Catch Up! (Mostly)

Well, here is a catch-up post. I say mostly because I still have pics on my camera so it's not a full catch-up. But it's a great start!

Yay for the annual Gingerbread House!

I think it turned out great!

Alyssa had her Christmas dance recital and she did very well. She looked so cute!

My girlies =)

Christmas morning....torture....pictures before presents???

Geodes. Boys. Need I say more??

Princess Tiana. Girly. Need I say more?

I love her faces. =)

The princess in the shooting war. You never know what will happen!

Christmas = Success

Yay for a great year! I'll finish catching-up soon, I promise =)

Lifehouse Concert!

Okay, I had to do it. I had to post the pics and one video from the Lifehouse concert. It was AMAZING! Somehow we ended up on the front row! It was awesome. Chris Allen came out and actually gave Justin a hi-five! And then Lifehouse came out and it was fabulous. I may turn into a concert junkie and follow them around the country =)

Chris Allen

Yup, that is Chris Allen's head about 12 inches from mine. Crazy. He came out into the crowd (obviously). I didn't get a hi-five or a hug, but I could have given him a noogie (sp?) or something!

Jason from Lifehouse!!!

Again. Can you see how close we were???

Oh, it was so much fun, even though my feet hurt so bad. I'd never been to a general admission concert and so I didn't realize you had to stand the whole time and I wore my boots with heels. Not smart. Will not repeat that mistake. But it was amazing nontheless.

Okay we'll see if the video works....



Pumpkin Patch (Yep, Still Behind....)

Last October we went to a local pumpkin patch. It is a really fun place. We started out with the animals. Kate loved looking at the animals.

Then on to the hay slides. WEEEEEEEEEE!

WEEEEEEEEEEE.....AHHHHHHHHHH!

Yes, I'm cheesy! =)

Having some cookies and cider.

Mom, please stop taking pictures!

On the hay ride to get our pumpkins.

Train ride. This is CRAZY! I seriously worry everytime they get on this. It is pulled by a teenager on a tractor. I'm surprised they haven't dumped any of the kids out yet. They go really fast.

Just playing. (Shhhh, don't tell her she's smiling!)

On the train again.

With our pumpkins. =)

We had a great time!



TJ Piano Recital (Yes, I'm Still Way Behind)

Okay, well, I have been trying for a week and a half to upload the video of TJ at his first piano recital and for some reason, blogger is not uploading videos (and I'm not a fan of putting my kids on U-Tube), so for now here is the picture of him with his cute teacher, Shaelyn. She is WONDERFUL!!! And TJ did really well. He made it through his whole song and did great! Great job TJ!!!! I love you!!!

Happy Birthday to Alyssa!!!

Happy Birthday to Princess Lyssa!!!

I can't believe she is 5!!! Wow. Time Flies. She is my girly-girl princess, and I love her so much! She had a fun birthday. On her birthday she got to open presents:

And everyone else got a little crazy:

(I love this picture =)

Then she had her first friend birthday party and yes, it was partly for me =) I had so much fun! I'm not going to post pics of the other little girls because I'm not sure if their moms want me to, but oh boy, it was so fun. They all dressed up in their princess clothes and looked adorable! We made princess neclaces, painted nails, took pics of the girls, played "Kiss the Frog" (pin the kiss on the frog), listened to princess music, ate princess cupcakes, and wore tiaras and held princess wands. It was fabulously princessy. Unfortunately it was raining so all the outside decorations were soaked, but it still looked cute.

Didn't they turn out cute???

Here is the birthday princess!!!! Happy Birthday Princess, I love you!!!