Christmas in Utah

This year for Christmas we spent it in Utah. We decided to go there after we heard my Dad was not doing well in the hospital. We got there on Saturday morning went and saw him that day. The kids were a little nervous to see him in the hospital because of all the tubes and breathing mask he had on, but I am so glad they got to talk to him one last time before he past away two days later on Monday December 16th. We brought all our Christmas stuff not knowing what was going to happen, so we decided with the funeral being the weekend before Christmas we would stay and do Christmas in Utah. My younger sister Katrina, her daughter Shanece and boyfriend Jake stayed too, so we all stayed at my brothers house in Draper and had Christmas there. My brothers family were having Christmas in California so we had his house to ourselves.

The week before Christmas we had a great time with all my family.

We went to the mall and saw Santa, he was a fabulous Santa.

My sister bought gingerbread houses for us to decorate.

Thanks Aunt Katrina!

We played in the gym, this was great because it snowed almost everyday we were there and the kids needed somewhere to go and run.

Ernie loved it too of course.

We all loved watching movies in the theater. It was a nice way for all of us to relax and have fun. This picture has two of my brothers, Katrina and their kids in it. Ernie and Kaison are in the back row.

On Christmas Eve we each open a present each with new pj's in them.

They were all so excited for Santa to come!

That morning the kids were all so excited to get their presents from Santa Kaison got a scooter, Aspyn got her Princess scooter and Courtlyn got a piano. Santa left their stockings full of fun stuff.

We all had a great Christmas. Aspyn got a Leapster, Kaison got 2 PS2 games and Courtlyn got a bunch of little people. Ernie got a Broncos hat and I got the Mama Mia DVD and soundtrack. It was a very fun morning and we were glad we got to spend it with family.







One thing they always get every year is a box of cereal they never get to have. This year they also got those cereal straws, they always ask for but never get, they were really excited about those.

Courtlyn loves Little People stuff, right now she enjoys chewing on all of it. Cousin Shanece helped her open it.

Courtlyn loved her first candy cane, YUMMY!! She got mad when it got too small and I had to take it away.

A big thanks to Uncle Bryan, Aunt Carolyn, Kennedy, Emily, Erick and Tyler for letting us stay at your house for two week.

Putting up our Chirstmas tree

The kids always love decorating the tree. When we decorate our tree we let the kids puts things where they want and when Aspyn puts all her ornaments on one branch we fix those a little later. Courtlyn tried to stand up to the tree and fell right through the branches, that was probably the funniest moment to the night.

The Denver Zoo

We finally got the Denver Zoo this year. This was Courtlyns first time to the zoo. This monkey loved coming up the glass, it made everyone laugh.





I think Courtlyns favorite parts were the merry go round and train ride. Kaison couldn't wait to go and see the aligators and Aspyn was so excited to see all the monkeys. The kids and I really had a great time at the zoo.

Estes Park

We love going to Estes Park in the Fall. We stay in Ernie's cousins cabin. They have really big rock around the cabin and the kids go out all day climbing on them. When we go down into town we like to take pictures of the kids by the river, as you can tell they had a lot fun in the leaves. For the first time we went and walked around most of the lake. There were HUGE elk everywhere. We didn't get very close to them like some crazy people do. It's always a nice weekend when we go there. It's only about an hour and a half from our house, we need to go more often.

Trick or Treat

This year for Halloween Kaison was a Jedi, Aspyn was Bell from Beauty and the Beast and Courtlyn was a chicken. The kids had lots of fun trick or treating, it was nice weather so we went to a lot more house this year. For the first time Kaison and Aspyn went up to the doors by themselves while Ernie and I stayed on the sidewalk, that was nice. Aspyn kept commenting on how many cars were in the driveways and things in the peoples houses. She didn't stop talking all night. They couldn't wait to get home and dump all their candy out... we got enough candy to last a very long time.

Carving Pumpkins

The kids had a great time carving their pumpkins this year. Kaison picked a skeleton on a pirate flag, Aspyn picked a cat and Courtlyn had a fun smiling pumpkin with two teeth just like her. Kaison loved pulling out all the insides and squishing it in his hands. When Aspyn stuck her hand in her pumpkin she wasn't sure if she liked the feel of it, so Ernie did most of hers. While those two were doing that, Courtlyn was enjoying her pumpkin lid. It was a fun night.

Fun times around the house

Aspyn loves to get Kaison's Batman costume on and pretend she can fly like Batman. I always tell him he's very lucky to have a sister who like Batman, Spiderman and Star Wars. If only he liked Barbie, Princess stuff and babies there would be hardly be any fighting around the house. Kaison took the last picture of Aspyn with her mouth open, not a bad picture. This was the only one I kept of all the sky, toys, grass and TV pictures he took in the few minutes he had the camera when I wasn't down stairs. It's amazing what they think of together when I'm not watching.

Courtlyn loves to eat

Wow Courtlyn is a messy eater...she loves her food! If I leave her in the seat most of the time she falls asleep, it's so funny to watch her eyes getting sleepy, her head getting heavier and finally crashing. She's getting better at picking up food too, sometimes she can't figure out why her food is still in her fingers after she put them in her mouth, soon she'll figure out that she needs to let go. The kids love feeding her too and think it's so fummy when she sneeze all over me as soon as she has a mouth full of food. She's such a funny and sweet little girl!!

Swim Lessons

Kaison and Aspyn have been taking swim lesson for a few months and love it. They are both doing an awesome job!!! Kaison was swimming after only a few lessons...he started out being terrified to put his head under the water. Aspyn cried the first lesson but now loves it. A few weeks ago Kaison jumped off the diving board for the first time and is swimming more then half of the pool length. Aspyn just started the next level up and is getting ready to start swimming on her own!!

Kaison goes to Kindergarten

We are so happy for Kaison!! We can't believe he's already in school. He was a little nervous at first...but now he is doing great. He's made a lot of new friends, one lives right across the street.

Our 2008 Summer

Wow I can't believe how fast this summer when by. We had a lot of fun this summer.

We went to Lava Hotsprings, Idaho for the Hunsaker family reunion. While we were there we played at the big pool, went down the river and had a lot of fun with all the cousins. There were about 100 of us. This is all of my family and my Dad's two sisters families...the Shoemaker and Walkenhorst families. My family has been going to Lava for over 70 years now and we don't ever get tired of it.





A few weeks later we went and spent a week on a houseboat at Lake Powell with my family. With the kids having 18 first cousins there they had so much fun. Kaison caught his first fish, Ernie got his toenails painted...with most of the other boys, Aspyn made mud sandcastle with her Aunt Steph, Courtlyn was a perfect angel and I got a tan. We couldn't keep the kids out of the water. We love Lake Powell and can't wait until next year!!






All of our Lake Powell and Lava pictures are on the slide show...mixed with others from the year.