Hoppin Holiday!

Well.... it's been a crazy holiday! Here are a few pictures from what we have been doing over the last part of this month.

Here is Kaycee and her friend Mason before their Christmas concert at Lander High School. Was so cute!! They sang with the 1st, 2nd and 3rd graders. Kaycee's favorite song was "The Rainbow Connection". I did get the whole Rudolph song on video... might upload that later. We were so proud of her!! (btw.. that bruise on her chin was courtesy of Jackson throwing a toy pistol at her face).

Kaycee and Jackson with their cookie creations for Santa on Christmas Eve... as you can see, Jackson probably shoved more frosting in his mouth than on his cookie. They were so excited!

Who knows what Santa was thinking giving the kids lightsabers.... Jason was brave enough to challenge our little monster. Anyone else up for a duel is welcome over. Kaycee and I are just too chicken. We've seen what he can do with a pistol.

Grandma and Grandpa Conder found this perfect gift for Jackson.... think he will get a lot of use out of it.

While everyone else was snoozing, Kaycee and I snuck out to go ice skating. Was only her 3rd time going (1st this season) and after a few falls, she remembered how to do it. We had a GREAT time.

Sometimes, it's just the little things that make us smile!

We hope Granny and Grandpa had a fun time (poor Grandpa had the stomach flu while he was here - but he made a full recovery) we were so glad they made it here and back safely. Thanks for everything Gerald and Kathy!!!

Happy Holidays!!

Let it snow!

It started snowing in our "neck of the woods" this morning. Only have a couple of inces or so, but I hope it keeps on coming! Have been itching to get out on those sleds again.
Let it snow, let it snow!!!

Choppin down our tree.

We had a fun time picking out our Christmas tree yesterday - was especially nice this year since it was a balmy 55 degrees up in Sinks Canyon! Nice and toasty compared to previous teeth chattering, bone chilling, "when the heck is Jason gonna pick out a damn tree" years. Didn't even get a chance to drink our hot chocolate since we were out of there within an hour. Trimmed a bit off the bottom once we got home (very Grizwold-ish of us) but it turned out. The kids LOVED decorating the tree too.... who knows, we might still add a string of popcorn or a few more art projects before the New Year. ;O)

Gingerbread Houses!

Jodi invited us to come make Gingerbread houses on Friday night, so Kaycee and I made it over (Jackson was EXHAUSTED from Turkey Day... so he and Jason napped and watched Gladiator on T.V.). We had so much fun eating Jodi's yummie turkey soup and a bunch of candy. Kaycee's house turned out GREAT - she ate most of it on the way home yesterday though - so it might need some renovations this week.. ha! THANKS JODE!!!!

Thanksgiving

Thanksgiving ROCKED this year! We cruised over to Evanston and had dinner at John and Shaunel's house - her parents and big sis Stephanie came along with Jason's parents, my parents and my little Sis Heidi. Shaunel decorated her house so cute and all the food was DEEEEELICIOUS! I think both Jason and I have gained 10 lbs just from this weekend!!

Here's Jackson singing "The Turkey Song" originally sung by my nephew Colby when he was about the same age. Might need to pause my Playlist music to hear him... and in case you can't understand him it goes:

Mr. Turkey, Mr. Turkey, you are growing nice and fat.
People eat you for Thanksgiving, now what do you think of that.

Happy Turkey Day!!

GO UTES!!

We made it down to SLC for the Utah game this weekend - was well worth it!! The kids had a great time going to Madagascar 2 with Granny and Grandpa (Jackson sat through the entire movie - I was AMAZED) so Jas and I could actually watch the game. Was a GREAT game too!! Not sure which part I liked best though... the game or getting to eat at Greek Souvlaki beforehand..... Mmmmmm... I miss the good food from SLC. I know which part Jason liked best though. Go UTES!!

Sheeps Bridge

Jan, Susan and I were able to get in one more good trail run a couple of weekends ago... we ran to Sheep's Bridge. Haven't been there before, so had to take a few pic's. Was really fun - twelve miles never felt so short... but then again, I don't think we stopped chatting the entire time. Thanks girls!!

Kaycee helped make dinner the other day... here's her version of a pepperoni pizza. Was yummie too!

Jackson, Shayla and Yogi were inspecting a little wasp's nest on the ground when we went for a hike with Jan last week. Took this picture right before Jackson started playing with a half-dead wasp that eventually stung him on his thumb. Poor kid. Found out he isn't allergic to wasps though. Live and learn.

Happy Halloween!

We had a GREAT Halloween!! Since we didn't have school on Halloween this year, the kids had a blast playing at the Children's Museum and trick-or-treating on Main Street, the Ranch and in our neighborhood. I am pretty sure we have enough candy...... Kaycee's favorite part was trick-or-treating in the dark (on our street) and Jackson's favorite part (besides double-fisting the suckers) was eating some "brains" at the Children's Museum. Mmmmmm. Can't wait until next year!

Pumpkins!

Since I couldn't find my camera for a couple of weeks (which was in my coat pocket) I didn't get a chance to take pic's of some fun things we have been up to. Heidi and I had a BLAST in Moab over her birthday (the 19th). Was so fun to have a girls weekend out!! We ran "The Other Half" half marathon - was such a pretty race which went by too fast (must have been the great company). Gonna do it again next year -I just LOVE Moab. HAPPY BIRTHDAY HEIDI!!

I also missed out on taking some cute pictures of the pumpkin patch in Riverton, WY. We went there with

our friends Jan, Nolan and Shayla last week. We even picked out a few pumpkins - was SOOO FUN.... but no camera. I WAS able to take a few pic's of the kids in front of the pumpkins from our garden today (one of the FEW things to come from my garden this year). We had two more too, but the deer or skunk or whatever ate most of them - along with most of my spaghetti and acorn squash. Little rascals!

Here is Jason with his "lovely" beard which took a little over a month to grow. We said goodbye to that hairy thing last night. Enough said.

Speaking of hair, this is one of Jackson's art projects - his "Ogre". It has only been 2 weeks and his Ogre almost has a full head of hair! He can't wait to give him a haircut. We'll see how out of control it grows over the next month.

Now that my camera is finally found - we should have some fun Halloween shots of little sugar induced "bats" and "tinkerbells" gone wild by the weekend - I betcha can't wait!

St. George!

This last weekend my Brother Tom, Sister-in-Law Shaunel and I ran the St. George marathon! It was a TON of fun! DEFINITELY the wettest I have ever been since it rained from the time we were bussed up at 4 AM until about noon - my feet STILL feel pruny! But, the cooler weather felt NICE, especially around mile 20 when it's usually a scorching 80 + degrees.
Was Tom's 1st marathon - and longest actual run, he did GREAT! I was so glad he made it over - you're gonna be hooked now Tom!!

Here's a shot of Shaunel in an ice bath after the race... I made her take one because they're supposed to help your legs recover and relieve some of the soreness from all that pounding. Not one complaint out of her the entire 15 minutes she was in there. Then, it was my turn....... and I could hardly stand it!! After 10 minutes (and a few choice words) I bailed out. Okay, I admit it, I am a wuss!

We checked out the course after the race (my parents were so sweet to come and support us, and they wanted to see what we had just run). Here we are at the starting line. The very sweet "port-a-potty" employee gave us some interesting facts on how many port-a-poties there are in the county (all of which were at the race) and informed us that more than half of the port-a-potties had already been trucked out before this shot. Apparently, after last year's race, they were stuck in snow removing all of the port-a-potties, but they persevered and were able to get all of them safely back to wherever they come from.... there was even more .. should I continue???

On Sunday morning, we checked out Snow Canyon before heading out. Was so pretty after all of the rain, the pictures don't even do it justice!

While I was out trying to run my "kiester" off, Jason and John were hunting near Kemmerer again with the horses. John shot this nice buck - they didn't even have a camera with them, so this is from John's camera phone - good thing his battery was charged!! Both of them want to quit their jobs and become professional hunters.

Oh yeah, in case you were wondering, the kids got to hang out with Grandma and Grandpa Conder. They had a BLAST, as usual!! Jungle gyms, Great Grandpa Conder's house, taco bell, I am still hearing about how much fun they had!! THANKS GRANNY & GRANDPA!!

Pine Ridge

We had a great time Antelope hunting last weekend near Kemmerer with John and Shaunel. We weren't really planning on getting anything (with the kids & all... thought of it more as camping than hunting) but I had a good shot on Saturday and took it. Thanks to Jas spotting it and John distracting him while we snuck up on him. The kids thought it was great, didn't seem to mind the reality of hunting. Kaycee wanted to eat Antelope for dinner and Jackson just wanted to get in there and help Uncle John clean it up. Thanks John. Felt like I was being "guided" with Jason & John doing all the work and Shaunel playing with the kids the entire time... again - she ROCKS with those damn kids!! So, anyway, it was a GREAT weekend and we took some nice family pictures for Kaycee to take to show and tell on Monday!

Utes and G.K.

We had a CRAZY weekend of driving and visiting with family! We were able to take Kaycee to the Utah vs. Utah State football game Saturday night with John and Shaunel while Jackson stayed back with Granny and Grandpa Conder to help finish their bathroom remodeling (he apparently LOVES the Home Depot). Kaycee had a GREAT time being the center of attention and playing with Aunt Shaunel (THANKS AGAIN Shaunel... not sure how much of the game either one of them actually saw). Utah won too, so it was worth the trip! Then on Sunday, we made it to G.K.'s blessing. He is so damn adorable!!! Got some good pic's of the proud Grandparents below. The kids had fun playing w/their cousins and just goofing off at Aunt Heidi's house. After that we even made it to Grandma O'Brien's 80th birthday party before heading home. Didn't get any pic's of that party since I was exhausted by then and too lazy to get out my camera. Was a great weekend, just too short and too much driving (or riding...Jas did ALL of the driving). Maybe next time, we will be able to stay a little longer!!

Soccer Days

Just adding some pictures of the kids from the past few weeks. Kaycee has been having a great time in school (I was informed today that being home is "borring" compared to class.. we'll see how many more years I will be hearing that line... ha!) and she has been having fun making friends in soccer. Jackson just wants to be in school, he almost ran INTO the school yesterday to get his big sis and just wants to be IN soccer (I spend most of my time trying to get that kid off the field during the game/practices). He starts a fun art class tomorrow, so he should be learning some new things and making some new friends too. We'll see who his first victim of the "flying glue" or "rocket markers" will be. Anyway, we are trying to keep busy and have some fun outside while it is still relatively warm!