Ewan enjoying his Jurassic village.

Ewan trying to put on his Christmas stocking.

Merry Christmas

Christmas blankets and pajamas for the kids. Merry Christmas!!

Evelyn's next joke..."What does Santa

Evelyn's next joke..."What does Santa eat?....soft grass."

We are telling Christmas jokes.

We are telling Christmas jokes. Evelyn's joke "What do pigs and reindeer eat?....hair and bricks."

Christmas Time!!! I am going to post a letter Karyn wrote to Santa a few days ago, but I wanted to give a little background before doing so.

We took all the kids out to go shopping for each other. Karyn was going to get something for Ewan, Evelyn something for Karyn, and Ewan something for Evelyn. As we were looking, Karyn was so distraught thinking about Evelyn not getting her an Etch-a-sketch (which she calls an Es-a-scetch) she could not think about what to get for Ewan. She told me she couldn't focus. We all knew she wanted an Etch-a-scetch. Brian and I had explained that if she did not get one for Christmas she could always use her saved up money to buy one. By the way, Evelyn was probably not going to get this for Karyn because she had something else in mind. So, after hearing all the whining and complaining from Karyn about what she might not get I told her she was done shopping and that she would not even participate in sibling gift giving this year. Now she wouldn't have to worry because she would know exactly what she was getting, nothing.

We left the store.

Brian and I had a good talk with Karyn about having gratitude. Since then, we have not heard her complain about anything. She has been very grateful and helpful. Then she came home with this letter to Santa...

Me-"Ewan, should we go get

Me-"Ewan, should we go get your clothes on?" Ewan-"No thanks Mom, no thanks."

12-16-11

12-8-11

Spikey

Swimming lessons. Karyn is in the water...you can see her head, she's swimming. Evelyn is in the black swimming suit waiting her turn.

Evelyn in the black swimming suit for swimming lessons.

Happy Sunday from Ewan.

Bat fume = Bathroom in

Bat fume = Bathroom in Ewanish

Who Stole the Cookies?

A couple days ago we were talking about going to the Festival of Trees. Evelyn got excited and said "We are going to the Festival of Refugees!"

Pooh Heads

Ewan's new haircut.

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11/22/11

ready to go outside! all he needs is a shirt and his boots.

Christmas request-I pod favorite fruit-stawberries

Christmas request-I pod
favorite fruit-stawberries and blueberries, plums, oranges and that's about it.

me-What do you want to

me-What do you want to be when you grow up? Evelyn-Like you. me-What am I? Evelyn-A regular mom.

you can play in the

you can play in the leaves
holiday-christmas
thing to do-help people make stuff and play. Actually, playing is good for us.

game-would you rather friend-Kaylee Webster

game-would you rather
friend-Kaylee Webster and Lindsay Harward
song-I love to see the temple
season-fall, cause then you can

Evelyn's favorites.... color-purple, white, red,

Evelyn's favorites....
color-purple, white, red, dark blue, pink
food-sticky rice
movie-avatar (tv series) she says Ang

We just finished our violin lessons together...now it's frogurt time!

favorite voice-santa voice

favorite voice-santa voice

Karyn's favorites.... season-summer, winter, fall,

Karyn's favorites....
season-summer, winter, fall, then spring

Karyn's favorites..... flower-daisy!, no...rose da

Karyn's favorites.....
flower-daisy!, no...rose
day of the week-saturday
primary song-BoM stories
game-wii resort
dinner-stea

Karyn's favorites and dreams.... wants

Karyn's favorites and dreams....
wants to be a mom
song-yoho yoho a pirates life for me
vacation-california
candy-swedish fi

Karyn's favorite...... color-pink subject in

Karyn's favorite......
color-pink
subject in school-math
friend-Turner
sport-swimming
food-pumpkin pie! no, frogurt.
movie-pi

Frogurt yumminess on our mommy/daughter date

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Karyn's fall bouquet.

It's a girl!!!

It's a girl!!!

We purchased golden delicious apples

We purchased golden delicious apples a few days ago. Yesterday, Evelyn told us she wanted to eat a golden yummy :)

Icecream bliss.

More halloween.

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Halloween

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A picture to embarrass Ewan with later in life.

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Evelyn's.

Ewan's.

Kids carving pumpkins.

Carving jack-o-lanterns.

angel

This year's honey harvest.

Journal

Journal Entry

Things continue to be busy.  Everyone has been going through some nasty stomach flu things this last week but seems like it is getting better.  Karyn did a fun run this last week for her school and ended up winning the whole thing.  It is amazing how happy a parent can be for their kids achievements.  It was amazing how much effort that Karyn put into running.  She was soooo amped up afterwards that it was hard to even get her to focus and explain that she had won.  She just loves running and even ran an additional half mile after she won for good measure.  

Brit watched the kids this Friday night and they had a sleepover at their aunts house and had a wonderful time.  This was great for Gunilla and I as it allowed us to have a night without the kids to go on a date and relax.  We went to Christopher's Steak House.  The food was great and it was very nice to just be able to sit down at a restaurant with Gunilla and talk.  She is so wonderful, I wish we had more time to do things together alone.  

We talked with Rise yesterday and spoke about another possibility for a foster care placement.  We meet her tomorrow night to see what we think.  So far it looks like things would be a good fit though and we are hopeful that this one works out for awhile  It would be great to get a fit that feels right and gets along well with the kids.

Gunilla is very busy with callings.  It is unfortunate that so many people do not accept callings in this ward.  It makes it challenging for everyone else because they get overworked and end up burning out a lot of times.  

My work is going well though and I am very hopeful that I can get a decent raise by the end of the year.  If it doesn't happen, it will definitely be time to start looking for a new job again.     

Crazy hair day at school.

Crazy hair day!

Number 1!

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Fastest kid in school.

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Winner of the Fun Run

The Winner!

Karyn participated in the Butterfield Elementary school fun run.  The 1st-3rd graders did a 1 mile fun run and Karyn started out running very fast and was the first one to be done on the first lap.  Gunilla and I were worried that she was going to tire out because she ran so hard on her first quarter mile so we told her to slow down a bit.  She paced herself a little bit but continued to run very hard for the next 3/4 mile.  On her third lap, Evelyn and I tried to run the lap with her but she was running so fast still that we could not keep up.  Gunilla was planning on doing the last lap with her but couldn't catch up either so just cheered her on from the side.  Karyn finished her mile well ahead of any of the other kids and won a ticket to go to Boondocks, and a tee-shirt.  She wasn't done running just yet though and ran an additional 2 laps for good measure.  The next day coming down the stairs she mentioned how sore her legs were from the running.


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At cousin Molly's cemetery.

Asleep

Asleep

Asleep at 6 on vacation

Karyn lost her tooth in the airport on the way to Colorado.

Losing a tooth in the airport.

The kids are dancing to

The kids are dancing to "It's Rainin' Bad" (It's Rainin' Men)...I love it!

She "freaked me out" with how pretty she is.

Rootbeer snowcone on our daddy daughter date

Karyn loves eating toxic waste

Karyn got her spray candy...drove around quite a bit to find it.

From the garden! :)

Our floor was even mopped. I am thankful for our family...so, I will choose the mess any and every day just to have them.