Play Day in the Snow

Earlier this week Brigham, Kaiya, and I had fun playing in the snow. This was the first time Brigham and Kaiya got to truly play in the snow. We built a snowman, made snowballs, and went sledding. They loved it so much they keep asking to go back out.

At first, Brigham would not wear his gloves. I told him his hands would get cold, but he did not believe me. He ran across the yard, grabbed a handful of snow, and came back crying. After that he didn't mind wearing his gloves. Granted, he still would take them off, but at least he learned to wear them whenever he would touch the snow. I guess some lessons need hands on learning. :)

This is our snowman. We unfortunately forgot to name him.....maybe next time.

Brigham and Kaiya helped more than I thought they would.No snow day is complete without tasting the snow. I was sure to teach them that any uncolored, preferably fresh snow was okay to eat. Brigham's response was "mmm...I wike it."Of course sweet little Kaiya must try anything her brother does. I think she liked it too, but didn't verbalize it.

And finally, we (well everyone shorter than 4 feet) went on a sled ride. There were no hills, but we did laps around the back yard. They loved it. We even crashed into the lovely little snowman we had built. All that was left was a toppled lump of snow. Since Brigham is such a Thomas the Train fan he definitely liked the crashing.

It was so much fun to go play in the snow with Brigham and Kaiya. It was great to see their fascination with it. I forget how new and exciting things like snow are to them.

All Aboard.........

Grandma and Grandpa Palfreyman treated all their family to a ride on the Christmas Express Train in Heber City. It was super fun to get together and ride a train to the North Pole. Brigham, of course was estatic and is still talking about it.

On the train, we were served hot chocolate and cookies. Elves came and asked each child what they wanted for Christmas, danced, sang Christmas carols, and told Christmas jokes. The conductor came and punched our tickets while we read the book "The Polar Express." Mrs Claus stopped for a visit; finally, when we arrived at the North Pole Santa came aboard. He talked to each child and gave them a bell. Then a train load of sleepy children returned to the station. It was a memorable night.

Kaiya was dancing to the music while waiting to board the train.

Brigham shared a seat with Journey and Oakley.

Brigham and Kaiya have such great cousins. They played with them and entertained them all night long.

This is one of the entertaining elves. Her name is Starburst. I believe she is over five hundred years old. Kaiya loved the cookies, but didn't care for the hot chocolate.

Brigham spent a lot of his ride to the North Pole looking out of the window. Every once in a while he would look back and just giggle. He loved the train.Brigham is not too sure about Santa. At least he isn't screaming like a few years ago.Kaiya just loved getting a bell to jingle.

Brigham spent all his energy on the drive to the North Pole. After he met Santa Claus he was finished for the night.

Kaiya fell asleep shortly after that.

It was a great Christmas memory. Thanks Clark and Aldeen.

Love is in the air......

The best moment for the 2008 Thanksgiving Holiday was the engagement of my youngest sister Holly. We are all super excited for her; we wish her the best. Congratulations Sean and Holly.

Better late than Never

About a month ago I took the kids to the park. Amazingly, I even took my camera. Not suprisingly, I forgot I had taken these pictures until I downloaded them onto my computer. All I can say is "that is so Emilee."

Poopy Pants, Baby Planks, and Elbow Macaroni

I have been thinking lately about a post a friend of mine made. It talked about what would someone say about you if they could sum you up in one sentence. I have been wondering lately what that sentence would say about me. This morning I had to laugh at myself when I realized that if I was labeled according to this morning my "life sentence" would include the phrases Poopy Pants, baby Planks, and Elbow Macaroni.

Please let me explain. It all began this morning during my thirty minutes of "freedom." I will usually put on a video for the kids while I attempt to squeeze in some exercise. I normally run on the treadmill, which keeps the kids away and lets me run in peace. Today however I was in the mood for something a little different and decided on a weights routine. I quickly remembered why I invested in a treadmill in the first place.

Within minutes both of the kids had wandered over to investigate my weights. They were both in the way and dangerously close to moving weights. Luckily they soon decided the weights were not fun and they returned their interest to the television. I continued. I got to the first set of sit-ups. I was on number five when Kaiya decided to pay me a second visit. She walked over and promptly sat on my chest. I normally would have continued except with each crunch my nostrils were filled with the recent deposit she had made in her diaper. YUCK! I think she came over to let me know she had needs requiring my immediate attention. After attending to her needs I attempted to continue.

I was doing a plank and dear little Kaiya came over and got on her hands and knees. It was her feeble attempt at a plank, but super cute. The best part was when she made a little grunting noise. I only wish I looked as cute exercising. I certainly know my grunts don't make people sigh and say ahhhh-isn't that cute! So, after another short laughing break I continued.

My third phrase came while I was finishing up my exercise. I noticed a small bump on the back of my thigh. I felt it and I realized something was stuck in the leg of my pants. Rather than just pulling it and seeing what it was, like a normal person would have, I decided to wait until I had finished exercising. It would be like Christmas. I was so excited to find out this little mystery. (Is my life really that boring?---yikes!) So, I started making guesses of what it could be and this kept my mind occupied until I had completed my routine. I finally decided the unknown bump must be a piece of a wicker basket that my children are in the process of destroying. So, having decided what it most likely was, I removed the foreign object from my pant leg and ...................DRRRRR....drum roll please......it was a piece of elbow macaroni-DUH!

How could I be so blind? Of course it was elbow macaroni, that makes perfect sense. Just yesterday Brigham had broken into the food storage and decided to feed Thomas the Train macaroni and cheese. He had dumped a box of it all over the floor. I thought I had cleaned it all up, but apparently this one little macaroni escaped my detection and found its way into my pant leg. (how that happened is yet another mystery) Regardless, it created the highlight of my morning.

So what is the point of me telling you this? Nothing-LOL. I just happened to be thinking of this question lately and when I thought about it this morning I just had to laugh at my potential sentence. "She is the the lady who spends her time changing poopy pants, laughing at baby planks and savoring the mystery and excitement of elbow macaroni." Is this what my life has amounted to?? Is this where all my high hopes and dreams for myself have landed me? Perhaps, but I love it. Who knew being a mom would be so hard yet so much fun? I certainly didn't. I think many moms will agree that being a mom is worth it with its lows (poopy-pants), its highs (baby planks) and its random moments of insanity (elbow macaroni). I am still trying to figure out what I want my "life sentence" to say, but I am glad that some of it will say "she is a mom."

Happy 70th Birthday Aldeen

On November 10th my mother-in-law turned seventy. We held a suprise party for her at the Magleby's restaurant. All of her children except Bentley and his wife Bev were able to attend. Each of her siblings and Clark's siblings were able to come. It was a great party with yummy food and an out of this world chocolate cake. We also had a game with memories from Aldeen's life, and ended the evening with a video tribute (great job Mena)of Aldeen's life.

I could not have asked for a better mother-in-law. Anyone who knows her well can attest to what an incredibly generous and gifted woman she is. She has taught me so much and I am thankful she is my mother-in-law.

HAPPY BIRTHDAY ALDEEN!

All of the children and children-in-law

Clark and Aldeen with all their children

Aldeen with her siblings and sister in law

PS: She is a U2 fan. Definitely some great taste when is comes to music.

ABC'S

Now I Know My ABC's
I've been tagged. Answer each of the following questions.

A- Attached or Single? Attached! :)

B- Best Friend? Caleb

C- Cake or Pie? Cake-I had some last night that was scrumptious

D- Day of choice? Saturday

E- Essential item? Sleep-I love it-maybe too much

F- Favorite color? is Rainbow an acceptable answer????

G- Gummy bears or worms? Neither, give me chocolate

H- Hometown? I don't have one; I am a wandering woman.

I- Favorite Indulgence? Anything sweet, but mostly ice cream

J- January or July? Indecisive me; January for its new beginnings and July for my birthday

K- Kids? Brigham and Kaiya: couple of cuties

L- Life isn't complete without? Family and Friends or to steal Gwen's great answer....Love

M- Marriage date? May 10

N- Number of brothers and sisters? 1 incredible funny older brother, 3 beautiful sweet sisters

O- Oranges or Apples? Oranges

P- Phobia and fears? spiders and small dark spaces

Q- Quote? Do unto others as you would have done unto you.

R- Reasons to smile? Good question, I have been depressed for a couple of weeks. I will have to get back to you on that.

S- Season of choice? Fall, I love the holidays

T- Tag 3 people: Janie, Aimee, Caleb

U- Unknown fact about me: Somethings are best left unknown--he, he, he

V- Vegetable? love 'em

W- Worst Habit? Foot in mouth syndrome-I have is BAD!

X- Ray or Ultrasound? I have never had an x-ray but ultrasounds aren't too bad. I kind of like them.

Y- Your favorite food? Indian or Thai or Chinese

Z- Zodiac sign? Leo! ROOOAARRRR!

Trestlewood Cabin

In October Caleb and I went to his parents cabin in Midway. It was so fun and relaxing. I can't believe we don't take the time to go more often. We spend each evening together at home, but there is something special about getting away together. Without the distractions at home we were able to focus on being a family, spending time with Brigham and Kaiya, and just loving life together. No wonder God gave us families. These relationships are just about as good as it gets.

The first night we were there we just played with the kids and had fun. We watched Jungle Book and Winnie the Pooh. We played games, sang silly songs and danced to "Old McDonald." Brigham has invented his own version of this song. Rather than animals he will name different trains and sing "with a choo choo here, and a choo choo there, here a choo there a choo, everywhere a choo choo." He would sing it all day if I would accommodate him. Of course we played trains and also played at the city park and playground. It was great.

The next morning we drove to Wasatch State Park and watched the ducks. This pond also had a playground, so we let the kids play there for a while. Both of the kids loved to see the ducks. My favorite is how Kaiya says "whack, whack" for the duck sound. It never ceases to make me laugh.

Our next stop was the Huber Farm to pick some apples off the trees. They were the perfect sized snack. Luckily Caleb was willing to sacrifice himself to pick some higher up apples.

After the farm we drove through the canyon to look a the fall leaves. They were so beautiful. I know why I love this time of year.

I had to enclose this traditional picture of Brigham running away. My favorite this about these pictures is that he is running through golden fields. They just happened to remind me of one of my favorite songs by Sting. I couldn't help thinking of it while we stopped here.