CHRISTMAS 2008

I came into the living room to find Cannon staring at his presents. He was VERY excited it was Christmas Eve. He had been doing a count down since December 1st.

Every year on Christmas Eve my kids open their present from Jared's mom. She makes them pajama bottoms and they wear them to bed. It gets harder and harder to get this picture because the kids are getting older and complain more. I said that I have one of these shots every year and I will be doing it as long as I can. Hey I may have their kids and spouses on these stairs one day in grandma's pajama bottoms!!

The kids draw names between each other. Here Thomas is opening his Beatles CD from Cannon. Cannon is pointing out that there are 26 songs on it.

This was the biggest present under the tree. Seth was ready to finally see what was in it. Seth is a HUGE HUGE Seattle Seahawks fan. This was a fat head of his team logo. Before we could stick it to his wall we needed to paint his and Thomas' room. I will post pictures later because we finished painting it last night and put it up.

Kiley had a great Christmas. She said she got everything she wanted and then some. She is so easy to please. I love that she is happy and positive about everything!! Her favorite gift was her MP3 player and Taylor Swift CD. She is busy making a list of the songs she wants to download to her MP3 player.

There is nothing more exciting then watching a little one open gifts. Cannon was so funny with all his one liners and high fives after every gift. He was spoiled as usual and it wasn't just me. Thomas had his name and bought him more than he needed.

I love Christmas and the time we have together as families. I am thankful for the birth of our Savior. MERRY CHRISTMAS EVERYONE.

Biggest Loser.

Can I just say....THANK-YOU!!!! I love to watch biggest loser. I wanted Michelle to win soooo bad. She looked awesome last night kicking the finalists butts. This show inspires me to get out there and work out.

Snow and Parties!!

We had a big snow fall Saturday morning. Kiley hurried to get all her stuff on so she could shovel the drive way. Cannon didn't want to have anything to do with shoveling. All he wanted was to play in the snow and throw snowballs. I love the SNOW!!! I love how peaceful it is to watch fall and see all the fun things the kids make in it. Of course no one likes to drive in it, so we have plenty of cocoa stocked up for days like today.

That night we had our ward Christmas Party. Kiley had a part in the program as an angel and was dressed up for the part. Cannon sat on the stage staring out at me with a very mad face. After it was over he came running to me and said, "well....that was boring." I think he was just mad he didn't have a part.

And the angel said unto them, "Fear not: for, behold, I bring you good tidings of great joy, which shall be unto all people. For unto you is born this day in the city of David a Savior, which is Christ the Lord."

More Wrestling Hardware

Yes, I will admit that we have a problem. We love wrestling!! We had a very busy weekend. Seth had a National Tournament in Salt Lake. He wrestled hard and ended up with a 3rd place trophy. Jared was with Seth while I drove to Price for Thomas' first duel of the high school season.

Thomas started Friday with 4 matches. He went 3-1 pinning 3 and losing a close match 4-6. Saturday started with 4 pins and a win by points. He ended with a record of 8-1. He took home a 2nd place medal for his weight class. The Tooele Buffs took home the team trophy with 1st place.

Oh Christmas Tree.

We finally put up the Christmas tree. We have been so busy with sports and work that we finally took a night off and set it up. The kids and I put the tree together and when Jared arrived home he put on the lights. I grew up on a 30 acre farm in Southern Canada. We would hike miles to find the perfect Christmas tree. My mother almost dropped dead when she found out we used a fake tree.I fought it for years, but finally gave in. We have been setting this one up for 4 years. We started a tradition each year by purchasing a new ornament for the kids. This started when our oldest Thomas was born. That is 16 ornaments just for him. I love picking the ornament for them and secretly I think they love it too.

Every year we spend more time talking about the ornaments and remembering each one. Seth is the master of school ornaments. I think every year since kindergarten he has made a homemade one for our tree. Think about that...9 different picture ornaments to squeeze on our tree. I love everyone of them!!!

Coming in a close second with the homemade ornaments is Kiley Smiley. She will make her school ones and also a few of her own. Every year we weed through the saran wrap ones and the tin foil balls and replace with a few new ones.

Don't forget Cannon. Oh Cannon. If he isn't breaking an ornament then he is hiding them somewhere. He is such a joy! I love how excited he gets this time of year.

Oh Christmas Tree.

LINK TO ARTICLE

thomas manning

Newspaper Article

Tooele High School sophomores Thomas Manning and Tyrel Ostrerud practice Wednesday afternoon. Manning is fresh off of winning a national championship at the Monster Mash tournament in Denver.
- photography / Maegan Burr

This was an article in the Tooele Transcript Thursday night. They said some really nice things about Thomas. We are very proud of him.

Family Night is Always Fun!!

Okay, for games after family home evening Cannon loves to play "don't wake up the lion!" What is this you ask? Well one person lays on the floor pretending to be a sleeping lion. One at a time we sneak up and touch the lion until the lion wakes up and attacks the person touching him. Sounds crazy but a ton of fun to watch my kids play it with Jared. Even Thomas and Seth get involved. Here they all ganged up on Jared and he tackled everyone.

Cannon has to have his turn being the lion too. He waits every time for Thomas and then pounces. I really love the way the older boys play this with him. I don't think Jared knows he isn't the lion this time and he is headed my way!

Farewell to the Football season.

Farewell Football season. Another year has come and gone. We survived the LONG practices and COLD COLD Saturday games. Seth has a blast every season. He LOVES football the most and is disappointed at the end of the season. This year he scored a touchdown and some extra points. He ran for first downs and even had a fumble or two. He was a blocking machine and caption of the defence. Half way through the season he broke the bone in his thumb, but didn't slow down for anything. So farewell football season....hello wrestling season!!

Our Little Wrestler

Would we expect anything less for Cannon? He knew he would wrestle since the day he was born. It was just a matter of being old enough and finally fitting into his wrestling shoes. We travelled to American Fork for the first tournament of the year for the season. Cannon had 4 kids in his weight class. He pinned the first two kids and the third decided he didn't want to wrestle Cannon anymore. Cannon was winning 12-2. It was so funny watching how serious he was. Thomas wasn't there because of his wrestling team, so Cannon would quickly call and tell him all about the match. After they get their medals they stand on the metal stand for the picture. We were so happy for him!!!

HALLOWEEN

Halloween was spent in Canada this year with our cousins. This is a group shot of all my parents grand kids except two.

We were having a party for my folks the same day as trick or treating. The kids and a couple of my brothers really wanted to go out. We dressed the kids up in anything we could find and they went out to the big town of Creston. I was in shock about the great candy they received. It was mostly chocolate bars. Some even gave money. It was a cold fun time for everyone. They made it back in time to surprise my parents and get a hot meal in their bellies!!!

He is the Champion!!!!

This weekend Thomas headed to Denver Colorado for the National Monster Match for wrestling. This is a large tournament where kids from all over the nation come to compete. He wrestled 4 opponents pinning the first 3 and winning the championship match by 2 points. He brought home this HUGE trophy, and confidence to start the season for the high school which begins November 10th.

Happy 45th Mom and Dad!!!

My siblings and I travelled to Creston British Columbia for a surprise anniversary party for our parents. Here they are when we all screamed "surprise!" There were about 100 of their friends and family in attendance. We were all glad to see that they were still standing after the yell. My mother kept yelling to my dad "the kids are all here!"

All the family ran up and hugged them. They were truly surprised. I think mom even said she had tried to call a few of us and no one was home. We had travelled from various areas, Colorado, Utah, California, Oregon and Saskatchewan.

My parents never had a wedding cake but tonight they did. They were very cute!! I still think they were in shock.

We had a dinner and a program where a few of us sang, read, cried and laughed. I love my parents very much and hope they had a great weekend!

Saturday Hike in Settlement

This Saturday, before we headed to Salt Lake for Seth's football game, we went for a quick hike up Settlement Canyon. Jared's sister and family were here visiting. The kids spent a lot of time throwing rocks in the little stream and climbing trees. Thomas went golfing with his teachers quorum so he missed out. This is Cannon and his cousin Garrin. They are best buds. They ended up throwing as many rocks they could into this stream.

Here is the group. Notice Seth has his football.

Kiley loves to climb trees. I told her that was as high as she could go. Some of the younger kids were trying to follow her.

Before we took off down the trail I wanted a group shot. The hike was so pretty. The leaves are changing and the weather was perfect. We didn't see any wild animals but we did run into three cows which explained all the cow patties we were avoiding on the path. If you know me you know I HATE poop in shoes. If you step in it your shoes are history!!!

To the Birthday Girl!!

Kiley had her 11th birthday yesterday. She waited patiently, for everyone to get home from work and practice, so we could have the party. After a very sad rendition of "happy birthday to you" she tore into her presents while her brothers tore into the cake and ice cream. We are so lucky to have Kiley in our family. She is the most loving girl with the biggest heart. What can I say except that she deserves a medal for growing up in this house full of boys!!!

Back To School

Here he is on the first day of kindergarten. He was sooo excited to be grown up. I was really good about not crying his first day. I must admit on day 2 I broke down when I got back in the car.

Fifth grade for smiley Kiley. She is a social butterfly and will have a great year. Today is her birthday and she is 11. I promised that I would bring cupcakes to class this afternoon.

The boys!! Thomas is a sophomore and Seth is in 8th grade. It is hard for me to see how fast they are growing up. Sports is pretty much both of their lives and that is the way I like it.

PUMPKINS

The neighbors across the street invited Kiley to go with them to the local pumpkin patch. Cannon cried when I wouldn't let him go, but Kiley surprised him with his own little pumpkin.

Homecoming Queen

A girl that I taught in young womens was in the Homecoming Pageant. Her mother and I have been good friends since we moved here. Thursday night Kiley and I went to the Tooele High School to watch her perform. Not only did she win, but she took home Miss Congeniality and best talent. I think Kiley wants to be her when she grows up!!!

One Of My Favorite Pics

I was looking through some old pictures and ran across this one. I love the old fence at my parents farm. Thomas was painting the fence during a renovation project a few years back. He looks so little which makes me wonder where the time goes.

The Show Must Go On.......Without Him

Seth is a maniac on the football field. This week in practice he tackled a fellow teammate and broke his hand. He was begging to play in Saturday's game but Jared and I thought he should sit this one out. The team ended up winning the game!!! The doctor cleared Seth to practice and play in his next game. He will wear the cast for 2 weeks but with the right padding job he will be the star of the show once again.