Celebrating the Season

This Christmas season we had some fun family activities to help us celebrate the Season.

We attended a live nativity in Alpine. The weather wasn't too cold, and we had a great time!

The Johnson family joined us.

We came to our home for hot chocolate and donuts afterwards.

Karl and I attended the Mormon Tabernacle Choir Christmas concert in SLC. It was wonderful!

 I love spending time with my best friend!!

Soccer and Choir

Ashlyn is obsessed with soccer...have I mentioned this??? 

 She played indoor soccer with her team, and will continue with futsal, then the spring season.  

I love it too!! 

 I love to watch my girl playing hard and having fun with her friends.

Connor's Acapella Christmas concert

Sister Jensen!!

Do you ever look at your children and wonder, 

"What did I ever do to deserve to be the mother of this 

amazing child?" 

 Alyssa is an inspiration to me.  She thrived in the Missionary Training Center, learning the second hardest language taught at the MTC, and getting her teaching certificate through BYU to qualify her to teach in Mongolia.  She has grown and matured and risen to the occasion beautifully!  

Here is a brief review of her past couple few months:

Alyssa and her MTC companion.  They have become fantastic friends!

Studying day in and day out!!

Her new Mongolian family.  These are the missionaries going together to Mongolia.

Finishing their last day with their ESL classes!  

This girl has ARRIVED!!  

She is half way around the world, in a foreign country with a foreign language, and figuring it all out!  I love her for her courage, 

for her faith and determination,

 and most of all for her love our our Savior Jesus Christ. 

We spent over $200.00 getting two coats that would layer and supposedly protect her from the VERY COLD WEATHER, but the grey coat didn't work very well when the temp reached -37 degrees...so wouldn't you know, she was able to find this adorable coat (pictured above), for only $43.00 in Mongolia, and it works like a charm!!  

Pollution is horrible in the city!  The missionaries have to wear masks when they are commuting.  

Merry Christmas from Mongolia!

Daily life

Among all of the preparations for the holidays, daily life continues..;)

This poor little car has been on it's last leg for the past 2 years at least!  But, she keeps on running.  Connor recently got into a little accident and so now the hood needs to be tied down, and the light duct taped in..ha ha!  It's perfect for a humble teen driver!!

We had an extended family home evening at my parents home.  I love being together and discussing the gospel of Jesus Christ.  All the kids had a part in teaching and participating, it is wonderful!

This month Taylor earned his Webelos award in Scouting and has moved on to the 11yr. old scouting program.  

He also earned his arrow of light.

We ADORE him!!

This is a symbolic crossing over from cub scouts to boy scouts.  

Denver Trip

Ashlyn, Taylor and I needed a little weekend break, so we headed to Denver to visit our cousins (and my sister!!)

Sharing headphones, because waiting for the plane can get BORING!  

Wish we had one of these!!

We all went to the Denver Zoo.

Allyson and I took our little daughters and went to the OUTLETS!  Super fun!

The boys stayed home with Matt and "bonded"!!   

Heading out for a hike!

I took some family photos while in Denver...they don't get any cuter than this amazing family!!

Taylor turns 11yrs old!

This adorable boy is growing up WAY TOO FAST!  I love my Taylor and am so proud of the awesome young man he is becoming.  Everything is more fun, more creative, more inventive, more unbelievable with Taylor.  His friends come over to our home excited to see what Taylor has arranged for them each day.  He put together an amazing haunted house for Halloween, involving several neighborhood kids, multiple props, his own money and hours and hours of after school prep work.  He saved his money to buy a dune buggy, an iPad mini, and several other things.  He works hard and has an incredible imagination.  

This kid is going to do 

great things 

when he grows up, so happy I get a front row seat!

We brought treats for his 5th grade class, and they had this adorable hat for him to wear!!! 

He LOVE IT!!  Ha ha!!

When I asked Taylor what he wanted for his birthday, he said a STOP sign for his dune buggy shed.  We looked on Amazon to see what was available, and we found a simple metal one for about $40.00.  I decided to keep my eye out at yard sales this fall, and....I know...it's quite unbelievable, but...I found a genuine stop sign and a speed limit sign...for 15.00 total!!!  It sounds crazy, but this happens to me more than you would guess.  

We are blessed!

Remodeling!!!

We have now lived in our home for over 11 years.  Uh...yeah, some things needed to change!!  I took on three rooms to re-do...check it out!

Ashlyn and Taylor's bathroom.  This room needed to change from day 1!  Dancing bear trim??  REALLY???  

Before...

I re-painted the mirrors and all the walls. 

Much better!!

Almost there...

I'm just waiting for my new towel rack to be delivered:)

I re-painted the top to be more beige, and the bottom a steel grey blue.  Karl put up a new chair rail.

My home has so much wood everywhere, which I LOVE LOVE LOVE!! However...I also happen to LOVE  light!  The wood trim and dark walls were too much for me, so I repainted my family room...all 10- 12ft walls!! 

It really lightened the fireplace and makes it pop so much more...

I LOVE IT!

Our basement has needed carpet and new furniture for a LONG TIME!  It just hasn't been our priority. However, I did want to finish it while kids are still living at home so they can enjoy it too, so we went for it.  

Now I just need to get an entertainment center and we are set!