We are so blessed to have such a wonderful "family" here in Wisconsin. We celebrated the holidays early with a nice dinner, gift exchange, and fantastic company. Thanks to the Seidel's for having all of us over. We love you all!

Let it Snow!

Wow - we have already received plenty of snow this year. It really started right before Thanksgiving, but just seems to keep coming. McCall decided to take full advantage of a little warmer day (32 degrees) and decided to build a snowman. Most of the time the snow just freezes and you can't really get past the thick, hard, crusty top layer of snow. However, today she just started rolling her snowball and didn't stop. Our neighbor joined in and they made their very own frosty the snowman. We also had a great time going with our friends on Monday for family home evening. We were able to go caroling in the middle of a snow storm. Everyone had tons of fun and they really liked the last stop at McDonald's for HOT CHOCOLATE - yummy!

Happy Birthday Boston!

The Bos-man turned three today and all he wanted for his birthday was cake so that made it pretty easy for us! Ok, he did get a few more things. We tried to sing to him first thing this morning and he would have none of it. He said "we have to wait for cake!" As you will see from the photo, as soon as you hit three at our house you gotta start earnin' your keep. We love you Bossy!

It really is our most favorite time of year

We usually wait until after Thanksgiving to deck the halls but this year we just couldn't wait. We figured since we will be in Utah for half of December that we would get an early start. Since we have been married Ryan's least favorite thing has always been to put the lights on the Christmas tree, but now that we have a pre-lit artificial he gets to "fluff" the branches. I think it's pretty safe to say this is now his new least favorite thing. (That and changing the girls beds from twin beds to bunk beds every few months.) The girls had so much fun decorating their tree and were so proud of their decorating skills. Boston had the time of his life wearing Santa's sleigh bells around his waist all morning and playing the singing snowman over, and over, and over... the rest of us desperately wished we had earplugs. We are officially ready for Christmas! Now, if we could just get the kids to trust us that Santa really will find us at Grandmas.

HALLOWEEN

The fun started early this week! We had a great time at our Trunk or Treat party at the church - except we forgot the camera. There were games for the kids and we had our first annual chili cookoff. We had a great time and there were so many kids that we ran out of candy and had to shut our trunk.
The kids then had the 30th and 31st off of school. They were getting really excited to go trick or treating. It was absolutely wonderful for them to go trick or treating without having to bundle up. It was about 60 degrees when the kids went out and it was fun for them to stay outside most of the evening.
We had a fun time with friends over at the house. It was a great way to celebrate and have some fun. There were lots of memories made and Boston still insists that he was a skeleton for Halloween - not Frankenstein.

Hunt for the perfect pumpkin

The kids had such a fun time picking their pumpkins and couldn't wait to get home and put them on the porch. Ryan and I didn't pick pumpkins, but we do get the priviledge of hearing "do we get to carve them yet?" for the next three weeks. The best part about the whole experience was bringing home a big bag of honey crisp apples... there's simply nothing better than a nice juicy honey crisp with fresh carmel - YUMMY!

Being a parent of small children does come with a few perks, one of them being, watching them do hilarious things. The other day, I was in the shower and Boston was supposed to be sitting on my bed watching a movie. He came in the bathroom and said "Mom, the man's here." I said what man? I was confused and a little freaked out at the thought of a man being in the house. He told me it was the "mail guy" and I asked him if someone was in the house and he told me "no". I figured maybe Boston opened the front door and saw the mailman drop off the mail. I turned off the shower and told Boston to go shut the front door, knowing full well that if he had opened up the front door, that it was still wide open. I heard the front door slam and then a few seconds later the door bell rang. As I'm scrambling to get dressed, I heard the UPS truck drive away. I was dying laughing thinking about this poor guy on the front porch having a two year old leave him standing on the porch for who know's how long and then coming back only to slam the door in his face.

Another precious moment happened this past week with McCall. Ryan has been pretty sick, so it is hard for him to sing to the kids at night. One night I was in with Boston getting him to sleep and Ryan was with the girls. He was having a hard time singing, so he told Olivia that McCall would need to sing songs tonight. She wasn't too happy with that, so he told her he would stay with her while McCall sang one song. She was alright with that, so he laid down and told McCall to go ahead and start singing. He was preparing for a sweet primary song (which he usually sings), but to his surprise he heard the following being belted out: "Oh, say can you see...." McCall continued to sing the entire Star Spangled Banner, as Ryan muffled his laughter. He couldn't stick around to hear what came next, but couldn't wait to tell me all about it.

We are enjoying this time of our lives and look forward to sharing more of our experiences.

Back to School

Although we hate to see summer come to an end, we were all ready for school to start! The night before McCall said "Mom, I didn't think I'd ever say this, but I can't wait to go to bed tonight!" She was so excited to see all of her friends and end the torture of not being able to wear the new clothes that have been hanging in her closet for weeks. Livy started 4k and did great! She really struggled last year in preschool, so we were a little worried. She hopped right on the bus and didn't look back. She loves her teacher and is already talking about her new friends at school. What a relief! Boston was sad to see his sisters go, but it wasn't long before I saw the look in his eyes like "hmm, this could work out really well for me". As fo me, I'm enjoying things being a little bit calmer around the house and getting excited to start up my excercise routine again next week. Yeah!

Happy 4th Birthday Olivia!

Livy was so excited waiting for her birthday to arrive she could hardly stand it. I don't know if it's because she has an older sister who has gone before her, but we had no idea what to get her. I recieved a toy catalog in the mail a few weeks before her birthday and told her to look through and see if there was anything she wanted. After thumbing through it for a few minutes she told me she was ready to show me what she wanted. She started with the 1st page and went through the entire catalog saying "I want this, I want this, I want this, I want this....." Needless to say she wasn't much help. Olivia loves to jump, she's always jumping around the house, and when she dances she doesn't really dance, she just jumps. We decided this girl needed a place to jump, so that's what we got her, and she was so happy, she jumped! Thanks Grandma & Grandpa!

Lovin' Summer!

We had such a great time in Utah! It was fun to see everyone and be surrounded by mountains again. We are getting back into the groove of things and thoroughly enjoying every minute of summer. Aside from a few humid days and an occasional thunder storm, the weather is so nice!! Hopefully it will be a few more months before we start complaining again. Today we went to a state park near our house where you can climb a tower and look out over Lake Winnebago and the surrounding area, it was amazing! As we have been exploring Wisconsin this summer it has made us realize what a beautiful place we live in. (This is starting to sound a little like a sales pitch from the Wisconsin Dept. of Tourism.) Anyway, things are great and we are happy and we hope you are too!

Happy Birthday McCall!

Remember the anticipation and excitement of your own birthday when you were a kid? For some reason this seems to lessen with each passing year when you're an adult! It was fun to see McCall so excited for her birthday and remember what that feels like. (Since it was, as McCall would say "so, so, so, so, so, so,so, so, so, long ago!") We went out to dinner as a family and took her shopping for a new bike so she could pick it out herself... she thought it was great getting to make the choice all on her own without any persuasion from Mom or Dad! On Saturday she had a "Candyland party" with her friends. We made a cake that looked like Candyland, and all the girls made their own board game to take home... it was lot's of fun! We can't believe this is already her 2nd birthday here in Wisconsin - time fly's!

We have guests!

McCall came running in the house the other day saying "Mom, there's a birds nest in the playhouse!" Of course I thought she didn't know what she was talking about and proceeded to tell her it was windy the night before and had probably blown a whole bunch of sticks in a pile. After lots of pleading she finaly got me to go outside and take a look. Somehow I've got to realize that I can't be right ALL of the time (only MOST of the time). It was so amazing! The kids are excited because this is the closest thing they will ever get to a pet!

Waiting for global warming to kick in!

We had a couple of really nice spring days last week... what happened! It's dang cold the last few days. It's so sad to watch the kids with their noses pressed up against the glass staring out at the play set wishing they could go out and play!

So, American Idol last night. Besides some good performances, and some pretty funny coments from Jimmy Kimmel, it was great to be reminded of how blessed we are. I couldn't help but think of all those little children in Africa when I climbed into my nice warm bed. It is unbelievable to me that it's for real... I just can't imagine the struggles! I told Ryan I just wanted to scoop up all those kids and bring them home and take care of them. What a wonderful life we have and so many things to be grateful for!

It is weird to think that there is only 8 weeks of school left. It seems like McCall just barely started 1st grade. Although she fools me with that teenage additude of her's sometimes, I can't believe she will be 7 this month! As soon as school's out, we'll be on our way to Utah for a couple of weeks. We can't wait!

Happy Easter & Happy Birthday!

Ryan's birthday happened to fall on Easter this year, thus our ham was replaced with a buffalo chicken pizza and a pazookie (per the birthday boy's request). The kids had an exciting morning after being visited by the Easter Bunny. Boston thought he was in heaven eating reeces peanut butter cups for breakfast while the girls were a little confused at why the Easter Bunny would leave them underwear in their baskets. (Yes, they got candy too, he's not that lame!)

We enjoyed church and it was nice to focus on the Savior and the real meaning of Easter. Olivia had so much to tell us about all she learned in primary today. She told us about the nails in Jesus' hands and feet and then said "now he lives in heaven with another guy who has his same hair." She cracks us up!

Although it has warmed up considerably and alot of the snow has melted, it is STILL winter! We are beginning to wonder if spring will ever come. Maybe by June we can put away our moon boots and pull out the flip flops.... who knows?

King for a... minute

Today in primary we talked about King Benjamin from the Book of Mormon. Cally got to stand on top of the "tower" and cry repentance unto all the children! She felt so special and it just so happened that Mom had her camera for this kodak moment. What a cute girl! I'm sure Olivia was listening intently even though the bottom of her dress was up over her head exposing more of herself than I'm sure anyone would care to see. (Mom opted NOT to take a picture!)

We did it!

We have been wanting to start our own blog for a while now, and um, well I guess we just haven't gotten around to it. Ryan is keeping busy doing his normal thing... taking naps, watching sports center and playing golf. Ok, just kidding... I guess -45 is a little cold to be playing golf. He loves his job, and his other job (church), and his other job (Us). Let's put it this way, we really value our time with him! I am enjoying being in the Primary Presidency and love being a Mom (most days). I don't even mind living in a home where unidentified flying objects are common - thanks Boston for keeping us on our toes! The girls are enjoying school and like all of us, are getting excited for spring. McCall is reading so well and reads the Book of Mormon to us every night, while Livvy composes her own hymns (very entertaining!).

One of our favorite things to do as a family is watch "Americas Funniest Videos", which Boston lovingly calls "Fritos". We had 5 bags of Fritos in our cupboard before we realized he wasn't asking for chips!

There are so many great things about living here in Wisconsin, but we really miss all of our family and friends back in Utah. We hope this will help us stay a little bit more connected.

Until next time.....