Juanito Bandito!!!

The Davis' in the ward run Pickleville Playhouse. They have plays in Bear Lake all summer long. But, during the year T.J. has a Christmas show (that we went to in December...it was awesome), and on Monday we went to his other show Juanito Bandito. It was so stinkin' funny! Talk about talent! We had so much fun taking Oliver and Sabree to this show.

This is T.J. aka Juanito Bandito with the kids
Me and my friend Erin. I am her visiting teacher also, it's awesome! She's great!

Me and my cute little Sabree!

Oliver, Sabree and Luke...good times!

We got to watch T.J. and Erin's baby during a matinee. He was such a doll. The kids had the best time with him. At one point Oliver said, "I wish we could have one of these!" I thought it was funny to refer to the baby as "one of these".

Of course, Jaylee turned all motherly on us. She LOVED him.

It wouldn't be so bad having "one of these" if you didn't have to be pregnant with one, deliver one, if he came sleeping through the night already...

Fasting

I am so proud of my little ones! A couple of weeks ago we had a family home evening on fasting. We decided as a family that we would start a new tradition. Saturday night, before fast Sunday, we would eat out at an all-you-can-eat resteraunt. This would be a good reminder that we are fasting after the meal until Sunday evening. So Saturday came and the kids could not wait to go out to eat and start fasting...it was magical! Sabree is the only one that we really wanted to fast since she is now 8. During dinner we talked about things that we could fast for. We also told them that every time their tummy growls, it would be a good reminder to say a prayer in their head. Then when we got home we all began our fasts with prayers. The next morning, I was surprised to see that Oliver was fasting also. He had said a prayer and started the night before. It was a great Fast Sunday. Sabree said, "I have said so many prayers 'cause my tummy keeps growling!" I'm so proud of the kids for taking that step of obedience. They are good kids!

Cooking with mom, karate, Harry Potter, Friends and getting past hard stages!!!

Cooking with MomThe kids were helping me make dinner for another family the other night. They were really excited about serving others. Anyway, we had to chop onions...they each took a turn and it ended up like this. It was so funny! All of our eyes were watering like crazy! The dinner turned out great!

Karate

Oliver has been in karate the last couple of months. It's actually a mixed martial art (I forgot the name of it) but we call it karate. Oliver LOVES it and he is really good at it. His instructor gave him this karate uniform to wear to class because he wants to start filming him during class so others can take the video and practice at home, also to use as samples. He's a tough little kid. Every class they do a lot of conditioning. He's getting really good at push ups and sit ups.

Harry Potter
Sabree has really gotten into reading lately. We started reading Harry Potter in December. We read the first one together. She has gotten so into them now. She's on book #4. I've been surprised how quickly she reads them and how much she comprehends. I'm really proud of our little reader! Good job Sabs!

Friends
My friend Becky and her kids live in Boise, Idaho and they were driving home from a funeral in Orem. We haven't seen them in a long time so we met them in Brigham City and had lunch with them. It was really fun. Sabree and Sam were together almost everyday from 6 months of age to 3. We've gotten together with them frequently since then. They have always been great friends. Every time they get together it is like they were never apart! It's really cute. Here are some photos from our lunch.

Sabree, Paige, Ethan, Sam, Oliver, Jaylee

Oliver and Ethan (only 4 months apart)

Sabree and Sam (only 4 months apart)

Getting Past Hard Stages!!!
Many have seen how difficult Jaylee can be. For the last year she has had issues with her clothes being tight so she'll only wear certain outfits (stretchy pants, soft shirts with no weird seams, only slip on shoes that are 1-2 sizes too big). It has been really strange and VERY challenging. She also hasn't let me do her hair. Everything in her hair has been too tight also. She throws the biggest fits all day long if you fight her on her clothes or hair. It's not even worth it. Anyway, it has been really hard thing for me to deal with. I know it sounds weird but you'd have to hear the whole situation. Anyway, just over the last month or so we have seen some HUGE progress. She finally started wearing some different clothes. Most of them are still comfortable, stretchy clothes but she was quite opinionated in the past, even with those. For those of you who know that situation, you will see the huge progress in the pictures below.

The fact that she's wearing pink and a jacket is huge!!! She got to the point where she was very limited on the clothes she would wear...1 pair of black leggings, 1 pair of brown leggings, and 2 white shirts that were exactly the same. I was washing those clothes almost daily!

This is a new outfit and a new headband...huge progress!!! She threw a fit in the beginning but now she loves them!

What is that...her hair has a tie in it? I know its not much but it is awesome for us. Plus she has on a tight leotard.

2 hair ties...I haven't done this in her hair for over a year!

She let Luke put piggy tails in her hair...now we're on a roll!

Yes, that is a pony tail! She's also wearing her Christmas p.j's...she wouldn't even wear them on Christmas. It took her a month to wear these.

Who knew that a 3 year old could be so difficult...at least we are on the upside. She's really been cute and sweet lately. She is finally getting easier! I don't have pictures to prove it yet but she has even worn Levi's twice, she also has worn tennis shoes that actually fit her over the last week. It's AMAZING!

Saturdays at the Sports Academy

Every Saturday this year we have gone to our gym with the kids and spent several hours there. It has been a blast and is becoming a great tradition. The first hour Luke and I work out together while the kids spend time playing in the kids club. Then we take the kids swimming, then we play basketball. We end up being at the gym for 3 1/2 hours. It has been great family time and lots of good exercise.

Here's a picture of the kids cheesin' it! They are excited, and in their sports gear for some good exercise!

Luke and Jaylee playing ball!

Oliver has gotten really good at shooting and dribbling lately. I take Oliver and Jaylee to the kids club at the gym everyday. They get to go into the gym and play basketball. You hardly ever see Oliver without a basketball now. He loves it!

Surprisingly enough, Jaylee is a great dribbler. She's pretty coordinated.

Sabree is such a pretty girl. I thought she was cute leaning against the wall.

Here's Sabree swimming. She is on the Sports Academy's swim team. Her technique has really improved. She's a talented swimmer.

Anyone who has taught Oliver swimming lessons has said that they love to teach him because he always has a smile on his face when he's in the water. I love his smile!

Jaylee has always pretty scared of the water. She has been getting a lot more comfortable over the last couple of weeks. She's cute!

Jingle Bells!

So...Jaylee's favorite song since 2 Christmas' ago is Jingle Bells. We have had to sing that song every night for over a year. She loves it! Anyway, tonight Luke was tickling Jaylee's back in bed and singing Jingle Bells for the 3rd time. Jaylee was snoring at this point and he was pretty much whispering the song. He got to the point where he said, "Oh what fun it is to ride in a one horse open sleigh...." Out of no where, our snoring child yelled, "HEY"! It was so funny. She was totally snoring before and totally asleep after but she sure sang out at the right part! I love sleeping kids!!!!This wasn't her tonight but see...they are so cute when they are asleep!!!

Ice Skating Field Trip

Sabree's class went ice skating today and I was one of the lucky parents that got to go along. It was a lot of fun. For the first 30 minutes the kids had a lesson. The last half hour was free skating. Sabree is actually pretty good at ice skating. We've only taken her 1 other time and that was a really long time ago. She had a few good falls but over all it was a blast!

Sabree and her Silly friends just arriving at the ice rink

All laced up and ready to go!

This is right after a really good fall! She actually scared all of us adults. Her skates ran into the wall, then her face hit the wall, then she fell backwards. I thought she'd be really hurt but she was laughing!

Mother, Daughter skating event! Sabree's so cute!

These are some of Sabree's favorite friends at school...Addison, Sabree, Maddi, Mary, Faith and Jesse. She has some great friends here and loves it so much!

11 Years...Happy Anniversary!

It has been a great day! It is our 11 year anniversary. 11 YEARS! That's a long time. We've actually been best friends for 15 years though. I can hardly remember life without Luke. He's such a great husband and I'm so grateful that he is a part of my life. This morning I woke up to beautiful flowers and a poem. He used to write me poems all the time but it had been a while until today...I loved it! The poem was so cute! It pretty much summed up the last 11 years of our life together. It was perfect! He's such a sweetie!