Courtlyn is 5!!

Our girl is 5!!! I cannot believe that our little girl is 5 years old. She is such a helper and loving daughter. I could not do it (whatever that is, each day is different) without my girl. Courtlyn Kennedy is such a blessing in our lives. I know it is hard to have a birthday so close to Christmas, but she was a trooper when I explained to her that we would wait until after Christmas to have her party. I love her and her analytical reasoning. Sometimes I wonder which of us should really be the mother. For her birthday, she got a Puchi Pup and would not let go of it for anything. Here she is sleeping, with it still attached to her arm. We tried to pull it away and she had that thing clenched tight. And when she woke up, with a glare she said, "Don't try to take my pooch away!" Alrighty then! We love you Court!

She has also been asking to go ice skating, so we took her. At first, I am not sure any of us were having fun. So, we kept working at it and the kids didn't give up and before long, they were enjoying a few "skates" around the ice.

Since Cannon couldn't go ice skating, we took turns trying to keep him busy with snacks. After they were all gone, he was hoping to find some stashed in the camera case. Darnit!

Afterwards we asked Court and Ash which they prefered: ice skating or skiing. Court said ice skating and Asher chose skiing. Guess we will be splitting up our free time. Personally, I prefer sledding. Maybe I can persuade them!

Holiday Season...And then some!

This holiday season has gone by very quickly. I guess that is what happens when you are having fun with your family. Wil has had a bit of time off of work, and we love having him home. Our Thanksgiving was quiet and we actually went out to eat instead of cooking. That was nice! Then it was time for Christmas preparations. I wasn't much in the mood for putting up the Christmas decorations, that is until it snowed the day after Thanksgiving. Then it was on!!! Snow made it just perfect for putting up the tree and snowmen. Courtlyn and Asher had their preschool Christmas program. Although they are not in the same class, the teachers combined the classes and they performed at the Church.

Courtlyn was a pro after doing this last year. As for Asher, he was just excited to have all that attention, not quite sure what to focus on. They both did great. We also had our ward Breakfast with Santa.

I think Cannon will need at least another year to get comfortable with the idea of a big hairy man dressed in soft, fuzzy red pjs. But, Courtlyn and Asher could have spent hours on his lap, telling him everything they wanted. Sweet, sweet Santa.

During the holidays, we also visited Uncle Chuck E. Cheese. Here are the three of them in their cute outfits that GG and GPa bought for them.

The kids had so much fun, well mostly. Cannon seems to be afraid of somethings (schoolbus?), but not monster trucks. Go figure.

We also chased him around the house as he used his booster seat to climb up on everything and turning lights switches on and off and on and off and on and off......

He is such a funny kid and he definitely keeps us on our toes.

After all that, we had a quiet Christmas Eve dinner, with all if us antsy for the next day! I love this season!

As for Christmas day.....It was wonderful! Stockings and presents, yummy leftovers and jammies all day. Just how Christmas should be.

The kids enjoyed playing with their new toys and we enjoyed seeing their smiles. Spiderman even joined us for a game of nerf darts.

Cannon loved his cars and Courtlyn and Asher enjoyed playing their Leapsters.

I love these kids and it was such a great day. We are so blessed!! Every year we try to "cut back" and we did not do a lot this year, but you realize how much we really have. We have those things that really matter: an eternal family, good health, our testimonies, and love and support from friends and family. All the other stuff is nice, but sometimes gets in the way. It is hard not to want more and more, but this "new" year I am going to try develop contentment. I have what I NEED, and I need to keep my priorities straight. I am so grateful for my life and for those that are apart of it. Thank you!