Happy Holidays!!!

This year I designed our Christmas Card in photoshop elements.  I had a hard time deciding which picture to use but ultimately had to choose the one where we are running.  Since I couldn't mail them to everyone I decided I would post it too.  And I figured in cyberspace I don't have to choose, I can post both, so here is the other one.  I hope all of you out there have a very Merry Christmas and a Happy New Year!

Opening Day!, Let the Fun Begin!!

Well today was the day.  The Summit at Snoqualmie opened and since the kids had no school today I decided to take Niko and Lucy up.  We had a lot of fun until the last run when Lucy got really cold and then she fell pretty hard and then I accidentally ran into her.  She cried the rest of the way down the mountain but I was really proud of her for getting down.  The snow was great and it was a beautiful day.  Sorry there aren't more pictures we didn't have a camera except my phone.


P.S.  After looking through my pictures from yesterday again, I decided I had to post this picture too. That is my hand in the picture.  

Snow Day!! and Early Merry Christmas to Me!!

So I have been really wanting an SLR camera for quite a while now.  Last year my Dad got a Nikon D60 and everytime I go over there I love playing with it.  So when the new Nikon D90 came out it became a huge want for me.  But, it is quite expensive and Billy and I weren't sure we wanted to spend that kind of money right now.  I had pretty much decided we shouldn't get it but Billy surprised me and let me open an early christmas present and it was the camera!  So far I love it.  

When we woke up this morning there was a fresh blanket of snow on the ground.  (For those of you not in the Seattle area, we have had snow off and on for the past few day.)  Billy called me with the school report and it was 2 hours late, which it has been all week.  With the fresh snow, it was the perfect opportunity to try out my new camera.  Here are the results.

This is what we call the Daddy Lift.

Did I mention it takes video too?

This is my favorite of the day!

While we were out playing the school changed their report to "School Closed" so we get to play all day.

It's Beginning to Look a lot like Christmas!!!

We have been busy getting ready for Christmas around here and I can't believe I only have a week left.  We  went and got our christmas tree early in the month.  The kids decided they wanted one with fake snow.  I think it turned out really pretty and love walking downstairs everyday to see it.

 

This is just a cute picture of Brooklyn's piggie tales, her hair is finally long enough to do.  Although, they usually only last an hour or 2 before she pulls them out.

What happened to November????

I can't believe that it is December 3rd!!!!  I figured I would catch up on a few loose ends from November.  Lucy finished up with soccer.  She had a lot of fun this year and I think she is really starting to get the idea of the game.  Here she is practicing her wave.

And of course, the most important part of the season, getting her trophy!

Nicholas finished his short season of Flag Football.  I don't have any pictures because it was always dark when he played.  He did really good though and even managed to score a touchdown in the last game.  Way to go NIKO!!!!  

We also had our Primary Sacrament Program.  I thought it went pretty well.  My favorite part of the whole thing was when Noah got up to give his part.  I was sitting by the stand to help any kids who didn't know or forgot their lines (which there weren't very many of, way to go kids!) and as Noah is walking up to the stand he gives me a big smile and the cutest wink.  Then he said his line perfectly and gave me a big high 5 when he was done.  I love that kid!!!  

We had a great Thanksgiving.  We started out the day with a fun game of football with friends and family.  Then the kids and I headed over to Bremerton to visit family.    My 2 younger siblings and their families were visiting also, add that to the 2 that already live in Bremerton and the only family we were missing was my brother and his family who live in Texas.  (We missed you guys!)    It was alot of fun to visit and play games with my family.  There were 23 of us at dinner so it was a full house.  Billy stayed here to get some sleep and was lucky enough to get to eat with the Banker/White/Alfrey clan.

On Friday, I asked my dad to shoot a few pictures of our family, it was pretty cold and windy out but we still managed to get a few good shots.  One of them is my new header.  Here are a few of my favorites.  

I LOVE this picture of Brooklyn, you can tell she is a little cold, but still cuter than heck!!

There were a lot more good ones of the whole family but I haven't decided which one I am going to use for my Christmas card so you will have to wait.  

Also on Friday, my sisters, mom, grandma, and myself went to see Twilight.  We had a good laugh at how cheesy the film was.  My 90 year old grandma treated us and afterwards decided it was definitely not worth the money.  It was pretty hilarious.  Overall it was a great weekend and month but now it is on to December.   I will try to post again before the end of the month but I'm not making any promises.

I love Brooklyn!

So I thought I would share a little of my love for my adorable Brooklyn.  That is not to say that I don't love all my kids but today you get her.  She is at an age that I absolutely LOVE!!  She is starting to say quite a few words and the other day I was testing her.  She was so good at repeating what I said that I decided I would try to catch it on video.  She did pretty good but my favorite word she says is "tickle, tickle, tickle"  except she says it more like "gulla gulla gulla" and her tongue goes in and out really fast.  It is hilarious.  Of course she didn't do it in the video but I thought I would share anyway.  Enjoy!

Happy Halloween!!

This year Halloween was a 2 day holiday.  On Thursday, Noah had his little preschool party.  The kids get to wear their costumes and they sing songs for all the parents.  They did a really great job.  Noah is the all black Batman.

Brooklyn and Noah at the party.  As you can see Brooklyn is an adorable little fairy.  

That night our ward had a ho down.  It was a lot of fun and they had a camera set up to do old-time photos.  Lucy and Brooklyn couldn't resist.  I really like the look of a "fairy cowgirl"

Friday afternoon, the kids got all dressed up to go Trick-or-treating.  Noah changed from Batman to Super-Spider-Batman.  He has a superman cape on that you can't see.  Lucy is a fairy-princess.  Niko is a wizard that goes to Hogwarts.  For some reason he didn't want to wear the glasses to be Harry Potter so he is just a student at Hogwarts.

Some of our friends came over to our neighborhood so we could all go trick-or-treating together.  These 3 girls were really cute.  Brooklyn, Kendall, and Dallis had a lot of fun when they realized that people were giving them candy.

After we made it down the street we decided that the little girls probably had enough candy so Brooklyn and I came back to the house to pass out candy to all the other kids.  I let Brooklyn have one of her Tootsie-pops.  I think she is a fan. (Notice the drool. . .)

Finally we went over to a friends house for doughnuts, hot chocolate, and homemade cinnamon rolls.  (My favorite part of Halloween.)  YUM!!!  

Phenomenon

Let me know if any of you can explain this.  We have a hydrangia plant in our front yard and it has pink flowers.  Well for some reason when we got back from our road trip there was one purple bloom.  The rest had already started to die and this one lasted for at least 2 more months.  Personally it reminded me of my friend Mara.  It started blooming when she took a turn for the worse and continued to bloom until after she passed away.  I hope she sends me one purple flower every year.

I've been Tagged

8 Favorite TV shows:

1. Heroes

2. Biggest Loser
3. House
4. Pushing Daisies
5. Survivor (although this season is pretty boring)
6. Amazing Race
7. Amercan Idol
8. So you think you can dance

8 Things I did yesterday:
1. Went to boot camp and got my butt kicked.  
2. Came home fed the kids, took a shower
3. Went to Noah's Pre-school Halloween Party
4. Cleaned up the kitchen and rest of my downstairs
5. Fixed Dinner while Niko and Lucy had piano lessons
6. Ate Dinner, cleaned up kitchen again.
7. Helped the kids get in their costumes and went to the ward Ho Down
8. Folded laundry and watched House and Survivor (DVR'd)

8 things to look forward to:
1. The Primary program being over
2. The Election being over
3. Christmas
4. Snowboarding
5. A date with Billy (anything will do)
6. New Neices and Nephews
7. Chocolate
8. Going to bed

8 Favorite restaurants:  (Anywhere I don't have to cook or clean is good, but more specifically)
1. PF Chang's
2. Red Robin
3. Chili's
4. My Parent's House
5. Olive Garden
6. Panera
7. Spaghetti Factory
8. Ruth's Chris

8 Things on my wish list:
1. A maid
2. A cook
3. No Debt
4. More Time 
5. My room Painted
6. More time to digital scrapbook
7. A new camera (SLR)
8. Peace on Earth : )

Pumpkin Patch

Our family finally made it to the pumpkin patch on Monday.  We had a really fun time. Afterwards we went to dinner and shared a big ice cream sundae for dessert.  It was a so much fun and hopefully will be a good memory for the kids.

Brooklyn LOVED running through the maze on mommy or daddy's shoulders.

Brookyln almost got lost in the pumpkins, her shirt and hair blended right in.

Long Time, No Blog???

So I know I've been out of the blog world for a while.  Apparently I've been busy, although if you asked what I've been up to I probably couldn't tell you.  Maybe as I blog about the month we'll find out.  

First of all Lucy has been playing soccer she is having a lot of fun and is really starting to get in her groove.  She is a very good defender and if she gets a little more speed I'm sure she'll be a great forward too.  No pictures for now but I'll try to get some soon.  

Nicholas is busy with school, orchestra, piano, and now flag football.  He was supposed to have his first game last night but the other team canceled.  He is having a lot of fun with it.  He also got to participate in the City Wide Choir Festival.   This is where the 5th graders from 3 schools combine with the Mountain View High School kids and put on a little concert.  It was a lot of fun to see the different programs offered through the HS and the fifth graders did really great.  I just tried to upload a video but apparently that's not going to happen.  

I do have the kids' school pictures so here you go.  I think they are pretty cute but I am a little biased.

We Love You Mara!!

For those of you who don't know, a dear family in our ward lost their precious little girl to brain cancer on Monday.  Mara was such a beautiful person inside and out.  Please keep the Adam's family in your prayers.  If you would like to know more, I strongly encourage you to visit her website maraadams.com but you will probably want some tissues nearby.  Go back a few updates and read the inspiring words from her wonderful parents.  We love the Adam's family and will miss Mara a great deal!

The Latest in Facial Cream

I think Brooklyn might be onto something here.  I'm sure there is a huge market out there for Peanut Butter Facials.  If you're interested in being one of the first to try it, just let me know.  

P.S.  It's all natural!!!

P.S.S.  There are 2 more new posts, so keep reading. . .

First weeks of School

I've seen many people blog about the first day of school but since I'm a little behind, I thought I would title mine the first weeks of school.  The kids are doing really well in school.  

Nicholas has a great teacher name Mr. Morris.  I think him and Nicholas will get along pretty well, he seems really great.  Nicholas is also excited about all the fun things that 5th graders get to do.  They get to start band or ochestra. (Nicholas has elected to play the viola and is really excited about it)  They also get to have "jobs" around the school and Nicholas was chosen to be one of the kids that gets to change the letters on the big reader board outside the school. He also gets to go to 5th grade camp at the end of the year.  It should be a very busy but exciting year.  I can't believe that he will start middle school next year.  AHHHHHHHHH!!!!!!

Lucy is also doing very well in school.  She is a 2nd grader in a 2nd/3rd grade split class.  Her teacher is Ms. Ferguson.  Nicholas had her as well and I really like her.  She is really going to challenge the kids this year with  a brand new math curriculum that only her class is doing.  They also get to do fun book projects and other fun things that Lucy wouldn't get in a normal 2nd grade class.  It is so good to know that she will continue to get an excellent education.

Noah started afternoon pre-K.  I love his school, Lucy went there for 2 years as well and I just can't say enough good things about them.  His teachers have commented several times on how well he is doing and how much he has changed over the summer.  Overall, it looks like we are off to a great school year!

Road Trip: Part II

So I finally got the 2nd part of our road trip put into a movie.  We had a blast.  This video covers the aquarium, six flags, and our visit to park city.  It was so fun.  I hope you enjoy the movie.  Hopefully there will be one more to come.

Hallelujah!!

Yes, we made it back from our road trip in one piece, and I will have more to post on that later.  I just wanted to leave a quick post because Noah started his preschool today.  It is 4 days a week in the afternoons which is conveniently the same time Brooklyn takes her nap.  So I now have a solid 2 1/2 hours of peace and quiet.  Now I know that most of these days I will spend keeping up on housework or other motherly duties but I have promised myself at least one of these days a week I will do something I enjoy, whether it be scrapbooking, posting to the blog, reading a book, or just whatever I feel like.  I just wanted to share that.

Promised Video

The Jessee's Hit the Road

We are on day 5 of our 2 week vacation.  We left Auburn at about 9:00 am on Wednesday and headed south.  We drove about 9 hours to Crescent City, CA.  We spent the night there and then on Thursday drove about 8 1/2 hours to Santa Cruz, CA.  So far things are going pretty well.  If it hadn't been for the flu bug that decided to come with us things would be great.  Noah was sick the day before we left and Lucy spent Friday throwing up at various places around Santa Cruz. She was a good trooper though, and still managed to have some fun.  Billy wasn't feeling great either but he wasn't sure if it was the bug or getting up early for surfing lessons, which he and Nicholas enjoyed.  We spent Friday exploring the boardwalk and beach of Santa Cruz.  We had fun riding rides and playing in the water.  I have put together a little movie of our day.

Ok, apparently my movie is not going to work right now.  I will try to figure it out and post it later.  

On Saturday we drove down to Monterey Bay to visit the aquarium they have there.  It was a  pretty nice aquarium and we got to see quite a bit of the beach front because we had to park about 7 blocks away.  I haven't downloaded any pictures yet so you'll have to wait to see them later.

Today  we went to Six Flags: Discovery Bay (near San Francisco)  It was a lot of fun.   My family can't quite hang with me in the Roller Coaster department, I could ride them all day, over and over!  Lucy shows real promise though. As you will see in the movie, she went on "The Fire Ball,"  (and that was while she was still sick.)  Today she went on almost anything she was tall enough for and right before the park closed we went on the same roller coaster 3 times in a row because there was no line.  It was a lot of fun.  They also had animals there including a dolphin show and a killer whale show.  Again, no pictures to show right now.

Tomorrow we are headed to Reno, NV where we will stay one night and then continue on to Park City, UT.  Hopefully I will get that movie and some pictures to share in the next few days.  

Too Funny!!!

Ok, this was too funny to not post.  We set up the slip n slide the other day and Brooklyn spent the entire time trying to drink the water.  She must have done this for about 15 minutes.  She would squat in one spot for a few minutes and then move to another.  Finally she tried drinking the water in the puddles.  It was hilarious!!!  What a goofball.  (Maybe she's trying to tell me she needs more water.)

Digital Scrapbooking, Here I Come!!!

This past week I went to visit my parents and my mom was nice enough to show me the finer points of Photoshop Elements 6.  She has spent many many many hours learning and using this program and she was nice enough to share her vast knowledge with me.  It was a ton of fun and I'm hooked.  Here are some of the pages I've produced so far.

Thank you to my Mom for teaching me and for getting me the program for my Birthday.  You're the BEST!!!

BMX anyone?

So many of you know my husband Billy, but if you don't I thought I would share a little about him. . .  

When Billy does something he doesn't just do it half way.  This summer he decided that it would be fun to do some BMX biking.  Well, we now have 3 BMX bikes.  But that wasn't enough, he needed to have some ramps and stuff to make the BMX bikes more fun.  Some of you might say, "Just go to a skate park."  Not Billy,  he decided he would build them himself. So while I was in Bremerton visiting my parents he built a ramp.  Here it is. . .

One ramp isn't very fun so he built a box to go with it. . .

. . .with the help of Niko and couple friends.

This was done on Saturday.  Today, (Monday) he built another ramp to go down the other side, unfortunately I don't have any pictures of it.   And just so you know, they are all built very well.  

Oh, and one more thing . . . he shaved his head. 

 Now I know that a lot of you might be thinking that he's having some kind of mid-life crisis, but don't worry that's just my sweet, wonderful husband and I wouldn't trade him for the world.