Merry Christmas!!

Wow it is hard to believe that Christmas is in 4 days!! I am finally getting ready. The kids are so excited and that is what makes it so fun. Adam keeps saying..."if we're celebrating Jesus, then Christmas should be everyday". Isn't that the truth. What a great time of year to refocus a little bit on what really matters. Our kids teach us so much.

Up until yesterday all of our snow had melted and we were feeling a little sad thinking we needed some snow for Christmas. It's amazing how a few hours changes everything. We currently have a beautiful winter wonderland. We got quite a bit of snow last night and now everything is beautiful with fresh clean snow. Hopefully it will snow again for Christmas. Normally I'm not a fan of the snow but it's a must at Christmas time!!

A few highlights from this year... Isaac's baptism started the year off...what a special time that was! We took a trip to Oregon in May and again in June for Bendia's (Ben & Lydia) Wedding. Fun times at the beach in Seaside with lots of cousins. Our big move back to Cache Valley. The kids have adjusted so well. We had a Dawson family reunion here in Cache Valley this summer and then again had almost everyone here when Chad came from Germany for a few days. We feel blessed that we've been able to spend so much quality time with our families this year.
Olivia started Kindergarten, Dawson preschool, Adam 2nd grade and Isaac 3rd grade. Wow they are getting so big... quite a few hikes up the canyons...not enough camping (that is for next summer) Oh and last week we had our first family Bowling outing. It was a hit. The kids are begging to go again.

That is just a few highlights of the great year we've had. Matt and I feel so blessed to have each of our children. Each is a joy and adds a special spirit to our home. They each have such amazing talents and are growing up to be great little people.

We feel lucky to have each of you for our family and friends. We hope 2008 be a great year for you all and may we remember our Savior Jesus Christ and make everyday Christmas!

Thanksgiving 3 times over!!!

We had a great thanksgiving this year. It started with the weekend before Thanksgiving with most of the Dawsons at our place...soo much fun! (see previous post). So when the actual day arrived, since we had already celebrated that freed us up for just relaxing!! We went and stayed at the Hilton Garden Inn in downtown SLC and swam lots, went to temple square, shopped and ate out at Chuck A Rama...no Kitchen clean-up. I'm thinking we need to make that a tradition! It was a very relaxing, fun, family day with just our little ones.
We then headed back to SLC area to Klint on Kim's the Saturday after Thanksgiving. We had so much fun!! It's amazing all that we fit in during the short time we were there... Lots of jumping on the Trampoline for the kids, feeding the horses (always a favorite), A little shopping at IKEA and a trip downtown to see the lights at temple square! That's not to mention all the great yummy food we ate. Another Turkey feast...yum yum. We felt so spoiled. It was a great vacation!!
It was hard to adjust back to reality of school and work after a full week of fun hanging out with so much family!!!

Early Thanksgiving

We had an early Thanksgiving this past weekend with most of my family. It was so fun to just relax and hang out with everyone. My brother Chad was here from Germany and my brother Todd's family came up from Southern Utah. My sister Tracey and her family came from Idaho as well as my folks and great grandpa. My 2 brothers Ryan & Scott live here in the valley so that left only Lisa in New York who didn't make it out. The kids all had a ball together. The weather was beautiful so they mostly played outside. I can't believe I didn't take more pictures than this. I should have atleast gotten one of all the kids. oh well, I was too busy eating, playing and relaxing. We are heading to Klint & Kim's this weekend for another feast with them...yum yum. Life is good.

Basketball

Isaac and Adam finished their basketball season last week. They have both loved playing on the city league here and it was a good chance for them to get to know some other kids. They both worked hard and had a lot of fun. I think we will sign them up again in January. You can catch a glimpse of the Mohawks they sported for a week (it was suppose to be 1 day).
Olivia and Dawson had fun watching (running around the gym).

Visit from Cousins!

We had a fun last minute visit from Melissa and Hank & Slade! We love it when we get visitors! Dawson and Olivia got to play the most with them because they are only in School a half day (Olivia & Slade have some great bed head in the morning). When Dawson & Livy left for school, Matt took Hank in the truck with him to the dump and Melissa, Slade and I got a good walk in (she always kicks my butt). Melissa also introduced me to Indian food...yummy. It was such a nice visit overall. We love visitors so you all are welcome any and all the time! Come on down!

I've been tagged, 7 random things about me

Okay Amber I'll give this a shot..7 Random things about me.
1. I was on the drill team in high school. Most people who know me now are very surprised to know that. Seems like there is "stigma" of what a drillteamer is. I probably fit that "stigma" in high school somewhat.
2. I grew up in Moab Utah before it became a tourist boom. Don't get me wrong it had tourist that came every year but we moved away just before all the hotels and fast food restaurants went in and things got really crazy. We spent lots of time in Arches, dead horse point and the Lasal mountains It was a great place to grow up. It has changed a lot since we moved away in 1990.
3. I am not a mountain biker. That is question I get asked every time someone finds out I lived in Moab. We moved away when I was 14 and it wasn't something my family was into. I think I would enjoy it though.
4. I have a child born in every season. (Jan, March, June, Sept)
5. I don't like the snow/cold. I am sure enjoying the beautiful weather we've been having.
I would not miss it if it didn't snow all winter but I know we need the moisture.
6. I use to teach LDS seminary. I was an OPT (outstanding part-time teacher) before I got married...they now just call them "student teachers" maybe they aren't as "outstanding" as they once were. I would love to teach again someday.
7. I have moved 26 times in my life (that is counting as a kid, apartments in college, newlywed apartments and homes we've purchased)

There's 7 Random things about me. I tag anyone who is reading this. I want to hear 7 random facts about you!

Goodbye Ocean

Well our little kitty has passed away. She took a sudden turn for the worse yesterday and this morning she died. It was kind of random how sudden it happened and how bad she got so quickly. The kids handled it well and Matt and the kids buried her this afternoon. I think it's an okay thing for them to experience. I still remember burying a couple puppies in the field behind our home growing up (after our dog had puppies that didn't live). I have good memories of stopping by that spot and trying to find where they were buried.
In the couple weeks that we had ocean she sure brought lots of smiles to four little faces.

We will get another cat, but this time we will not try to rescue the tiny stray.

HALLOWEEN FUN

Hard to believe that Halloween has come and gone! The kids had lots of fun yesterday and have way to much candy now. I helped out in Adam's class for their halloween party so I decided to go in costume...Yikes. Adam didn't recognize me at all until I went right up into his face. He knew I was coming to his party and he knew I was going to be a witch but he kept starring at me wondering who I was. It was great fun. Livy had a costume parade for kindergarten. She was "pooh bear" by the time school was out she was soo Hot in her costume that she made a quick costume switch before we headed to the Mall and University with Alexa and Lo Lo (cousins).
Dawson had a blast at his preschool party (pictured w/his class as they were coming out)
Isaac invented his costume again this year (tiger) and Adam thought of his too (alien).

Wind Caves

The kids are out of school for UEA. Yesterday the weather was amazing and Matt has been wanting to hike up to the wind caves with the kids. This was our first "real hike" more than just running around up the canyon. It was a pretty big hike for the little ones but we made it. The trail is 1.3 miles each way and you go up 900 feet in that distance. It is rated "difficult" and has some steep areas. I played the paranoid mother at times with some steep drop offs but the kids had a blast and weather was incredible. We were HOT in our t-shirts. We packed a lunch and ate it up a the wind caves. Lots of fun. Olivia and Dawson were pretty tired by the end but they Did it and I think they felt really proud!

Jack O Lantern

Adam is the Jack O Lantern this Halloween. He has lost 3 teeth in the last 3 days. Pretty cute!
Isaac was the Jack O Lantern last year (also pictured)w/ lots of missing teeth we started calling him Jack. It is amazing how they all start popping out at once. Adam lost the first of the 3 when Isaac let a banana chair at Ryan & Jaime's fall back and nail Adam right in the mouth. I was amazed the other 2 didn't pop out then too as they were all loose. He scored a nice fat lip from it too. Luckily Jaime had an otter pop on hand...saved the day!

Isaac's writing assignment

Isaac has always been a writer. Here's an assignment he brought home this week from school. He was suppose to use a lot of description and write about his favorite place. I was impressed. I typed it with the same spelling and punctuation that he had (better than I could do myself).

By Isaac Blackburn

My favorite place to visit is the tall grassy mountains with big trees with tan, orange, red and vilout leaves. When I am in the mountains I see animals that are going hunting, water falls swooshing, rivers going faster than lightning and the sun beating down on me. I see the mountains that are giants and foam from the swooshing water falls. I also see vibrant colors from the trees.

I hear the wind going thrue the trees, the animals making noise, birds chirping, and the water fall falling as quick as light. The wolfs howling at the glimmering moon at night and birds waking you up in the morning.

I feel happy and care free when I feel the breeze going against my rough skin. I feel the rough dark bark on a tree, the rough dirt and rocks, the ice cold water from the water falls, rivers, and lakes and the leaves from the giant brown trees.

I taste the water from the river’s ice cold waters and all kinds of vibrant fruits that are really nutritous. I can even taste the air slowly going threw my wet mouth and the dirt and rocks that get in my mouth when I fall from tripping over a rock.

I’d love to visit the mountains again.

Another great sunday

Today was stake conference...a broadcast from SLC. Stake conference is always extra uplifting but extra challenging to get the kids to sit still for 2 hours on the metal chairs in the gym...It was nice to be done at noon though and that gave us extra family time this afternoon. We've been having Family night on sundays because Isaac has basketball practice on Mondays. The weather was beautiful so decided to head up the canyon...this time we tried a new canyon "dry canyon" it is literally 5 minutes from our house. We built a fire and roasted mini marshmallows... this summer when fires were banned we changed our big camping trip into a "condo" trip. We were still able to fish and hike but enjoyed the conveniences (pool & tennis courts) of the condo. We had slept by the fireplace inside to pretend we were by the campfire. It was fun tonight to be able to actually have a fire. We had family night around the campfire. After we left we realized we had used a firepit just outside the public land property line and were actually on private land...oops. Guess we won't go back there but it was perfect and lots of fun! Each week we keep thinking it will be the last week of nice weather and we'd better take advantage...but each week it still continues to be beautiful! We will not complain!
The boys all got haircuts tonight after got home...a little trama once Adam saw his hair. They didn't really want haircuts but decided if they had to have one they wanted mohawks for a day or two (Isaac & Adam) that meant shaving off all of their hair besides the middle. Once Adam realized all of his hair was gone he was soo sad. I'll have to post a picture of their mohawks before they are gone.

Fall Fun

Some fun in the leaves. The kids raked a huge pile and had fun piling them on top of each other.
The last two pictures were from a walk up Smithfield Canyon Sunday afternoon. Nothing better than a beautiful fall day in the mountains!

Pets n Stuff

We gave our dog "Buster" away a couple of weeks ago. Our new home just wasn't a great place for him and our neighbors brother who lives on a farm wanted him. We were able to convince the kids that he would be much happier on a farm where he could roam to his heart's content. He was a great dog and the kids miss him. In order to get them to agree to finding him a home we told them we'd get another pet...perhaps fish. Well today we surprised them with a baby kitten. She was found in a garage a couple of days ago and needed a home. She is too young and really should be with her mother still. We are bottle feeding her and she seems to be doing very well. We don't know anything about kittens so I guess we will learn quickly! I think the kids settled on "Ocean" for her name. Her eyes are very blue...like the ocean. I don't know who came up with it. The other names they suggested were diamond (olivia), Snowball (Isaac), Scratch (adam) and Trucky (dawson).
She will be an outside cat once she gets bigger. We will make her a home in the garage but for now she is in a cozy box in the living room and all of the kids are having a sleepover with her.

Here we are (July) at Matt's brother's wedding (Ben & Lydia...better known as Bendia)

Following the Crowd

I am new to the blogging scene but since everyone else is doing it maybe I should follow the crowd right? I remember when e-mail was a new thing and it took me a little while to get on the band wagon but once I did I was instantly hooked. This will probably be the same.
I guess I'll start with a little bit about myself and my family. I am a mother of 4 amazing kids. I really think I happened to get the best ones out there. They are so much fun and truly are my life. Isaac is 8, Adam 7, Olivia 5, and Dawson is 4. They are all getting to be such big kids. We no longer have any kids in diapers, they all can buckle themselves in their seatbelts, they all know how to ride a bike and they all go to school! Yikes What happened? It seems like yesterday that I was home with 4 kids ages 4 and under with no one in school and no-where that I had to be. Life sure changes quickly! They are all busy happy kids with individual interests and talents.
Next I should mention my better half..MATT. He is an incredible husband and father. I am lucky!
Just an example of his incredible-ness...Tonight he made dinner (hamburger helper, green salad toasted garlic bread and a pineapply upside down cake to boot!) He's even been doing the grocery shopping lately. Yes, I am lucky.