Bowling Fever

Emily's friend, Zach, asked his mom if he could take some friends bowling just for fun, and we were happy to go. Our kids had bowled once before, so they thought they were seasoned pros.

Oh yeah baby!

"You are 16, going on 17..." or 28 (same thing)

For my 28th birthday, Wade went to the store early in the morning and brought me back beautiful flowers along with donuts and bacon, which we never have at our house, so it was a treat for sure. Cooking for us was an even bigger treat. I love that he knows his way around a kitchen, especially on weekends and special occasions like this.

While I was cleaning the house to prepare for my birthday party, I found Jonny playing with his wild animals on top of the kitchen set. Random, but funny!
For my birthday party, I invited some of my favorite girls over for Papa Murphey's pizza, salad, and Better Than Almost Anything Cake that Kim made. We watched the last 10 minutes of Anne of Green Gables, talked, laughed, and had a 2nd piece of cake..or 3rd or 4th..I can't quite recall HOW many pieces I ate. Man, I love that cake. It's the only kind of cake I like. I usually prefer pie, but not when this cake is around. Those 20 lbs I had lost since the baby was born probably came BACK on that night alone. :)

Best White Elephant Gift ever!

When thinking of a white elephant gift each of us could bring to the Stoney Family Christmas Party, we were blown away when we found this beauty in our friend's DI pile. It's an original Suzanne Somers exercise pole. Pure awesomeness truly. For some reason, Wade's step brother wasn't as excited about receiving it as we were giving it. haha But at least it gave everyone a good laugh at the party. I'll post more pics once I get them from my mother in law.

Reed Family Christmas Party

The moment Emily's dance recital ended, we raced home so we could host the Reed Family Christmas Party at our house, complete with a delicious brunch.

the Reed fam

just the five of us, with Emily and Sarah wearing their matching skirts made by Aunt Elizabeth

I love them!

Jonny was so excited for the wild animal set Grandpa and Grandma Reed gave him!

And they surprised Emily with a darling tea set...

...which the girls put to use immediately. :)

I knitted homemade Christmas stockings for dad and Claudia as well as mom and Keith. They seemed pleased. :) Thanks to my cousin, Carolynn, who helped me with the knitting.

cute cousins:

Ramsi, Raegan, Emily, Sarah, Caleb, Jake, Jonny, and Olivia

Christmas Dance Recital

Emily, the dancer

Sarah, the sleepy little sis' in a matching dress

Santa Claus is coming to town!

With Avery and Sophie out of town, we had a smaller group for our Preschool Christmas Program, but they sure did awesome! Here's Owen, Jonny, Emily, Conon, Vivian, and Taylor. They performed several songs and dances, but here are two of their favorites:

"Jingle Bells"

"Once There Was a Snowman"

After the program, we had a special visitor...SANTA! It's funny how even the most outgoing, enthusiastic kids can become a little shy around this big jolly guy. Here's Jonny sitting on his lap.

Emily

baby Sarah

Hey, I had some Christmas wishes on my list, too! ;)

November

Here are my little Indians having a Thanksgiving feast in preschool.

For the month of November, Jonny attended Miss Wendy's preschool because he had really been struggling having to share his mommy with a new baby sister, my other preschool students, the young women in our ward, etc. He was really acting out, being naughty, and driving me bonkers! I knew he needed something of his own to get excited about and just time away from me so that when we were together, we could both appreciate each other more. It was exactly what we both needed, but when I found out two of my preschool boys were moving, I felt I better bring Jon back to my class for the rest of the year so that Owen wasn't the only boy. So Emily made her Indian hat with me, and Jonny made his pilgrim hat with Miss Wendy. And they played pilgrims and Indians for hours that day. :)
We watched Cynthia's kids for two days, and it was one big party! Emily, Elora, Jon, and Max all had a blast having a sleepover together. And yes, Cynthia, Jonny is wearing Max's cool pajamas because Jonny begged him, and Max thought it would be cool to sleep in his clothes anyway. So funny!
Elora and Emily enjoyed their heart shared sandwiches...
...while Jon and Max played with their dinosaur sandwiches. Later, they did actually EAT it, but wouldn't YOU play with your food, too, if it was cut out like a dinosaur?! ;) Kiana has been really special to our family. She's one of the young women I serve with in our ward, but she's also one of my favorite people to hang out with! I'll take her driving (with her in the driver's seat) since she has her learner's permit and is close to getting her licence. And we just laugh the whole time. I love this girl! Oh, and she babysits almost every weekend, so of course our children adore her, too. Her mom is also a dear friend and my visiting teaching companion, and we have a sweet connection as well.
No, we aren't the proud owners of this adorable puppy, but she moved into our basement apartment in November, so we play with her daily. Her name is Bea Bea, and we call her "crazy pants" because she's a typical puppy and runs around like crazy nonstop...kind of like my 3 year old. ;) We also really like her owners. JR is the world's biggest Star Wars fan with tons of memorabilia and Adriane is an actress so she has boxes full of make up and dress up clothes. Needless to say, Jon and Emily want to go downstairs and play with them everyday! Grown adults with cool toys? I can't compete with that! We do miss our last family who lived downstairs. When I was on bedrest last summer, Brooke and Marin saved my sanity because we spent every morning relaxing in the backyard together while the kids colored with side walk chalk.
On Thanksgiving day, Wade and I ran the 5K Turkey Trot in Cottonwood Heights, in 17 degree weather. Brrrr! Wade ran while pushing the double jogging stroller, and I ran while pushing Sarah in her stroller. It was insane, yet fun to include the whole family because we REALLY had to try to bundle up warm at 9am, but we did it! In 2007, I set a goal to run at least one 5K every year of my life. My first year, I ran several, but this year, I was lucky to squeak one in towards the end of the year. I'm already training for my favorite run, the Heart of Holladay 5K, on June 12.

Here's Wade showing off his mustache with his little twin, Jonny. I'm not crazy about the mustache idea, but he grows one with a friend every November because it's cancer awareness month in Canada.

Before Thanksgiving dinner with Wade's mom and step dad, we stopped by my sister's house in West Jordan to spend some time with Margaret and Ruthanne and their families. They were originally planning on spending Thanksgiving in St. George, but with the weather report talking about that big storm, which ended up being kind of lame, no one wanted to travel on the freeway. I thought it would be fun to end this long post with a cute smile from our babe thanks to Aunt Ruthanne tickling her.