And how scary is this?!? He got a little to into the game. Ouch!
Setting up our trampoline!
The first jumps on our new tramp on January 2, 2012! My favorite part is John's satisfied face as we watches the kids having the time of their lives on our new toy. :)
Christmas Morning 2011--the kids were surprised with a trampoline from Santa! They were delighted! Carter's excitment was bursting out. He was screaming "a trampline a trampoline" and jumping around in circles. He was seriously jumping a foot in the air as he ran around the room. It was the most excitement I'd ever seen in my life--he was just bursting! It still makes me happy when I think about it, especially that I got in on video. :) They've all been begging for one for a couple of years but mom and dad DID NOT want one so they were especially surprised.
Matson got a little Wheelies Raceway. He loves it! He totally understood that this was HIS Christmas present. When Carter tried to take it over to play with it he pushed Carter right out of his way. We were all laughing at our funny little baby---okay, Carter wasn't as amused as us!
Carter got an Imaginext pirate ship and a BYU pillow pet. He didn't get a tool set like he asked Santa for and he kept mentioning it. He wondered if Santa didn't know how to make a tool set or ran out but finally decided Santa must have just forgot. I guess he was under the impression that you get everything you want.
Emily wanted another doll--a friend for Kirsten. She got a doll named "Ella" and Kirsten got a pet cat. Yes, our American Girl dolls have little stocking for themselves, thanks to Kelsie's great idea! :)
Kelsie got a sewing maching and she was so suprised. It is a mini, lightweight sewing machine but it can do everything a big machine does--it is really cool. She is going to sewing lessons in January.
I got John this canvas BYU basketball picture to hang in his office. It was the 1st time ever that I totally surprised him and I was so excited. John got me a little digital camcorder which I love!
After Christmas at our house and church, we headed to my parents for a gift exchange with all my family. Matson got this dog book from Grandma and Grandpa and immediately took it over to Grandma and wanted her to read it to him.
Then we headed to the Durrant's for the cousin gift exchange. Here is Matson with his cousin Kenna. They are just 6 weeks apart.
This year we each planned a few different games for the kids. It was really fun and kept the kids entertained. John broke out his awesome BINGO set and we had a huge group playing. It was a lot of fun!
Carter was the official BINGO caller! He loves to be in control so he loved every second of being the man in charge. Christmas always feels a bit like a marathon with both of our families living close but it was such a nice day and we loved seeing everyone!
John keeps very busy at working for National Benefits Services. In his free time he enjoys following all BYU sports, coaching soccer, and he’s taken up reading which was quite a surprise to all of us! He is teaching Primary for the 1st time in his life and he thoroughly enjoys that!
Every year we watch Mr. Krueggers Christmas and my girls want to go caroling. This year I decided it was time to finally fulfill their great Christmas wish! I invited three families to join us for caroling for FHE. I had never been caroling before and we had such a good time. There is nothing better than singing carols with dear friends to put you in the Christmas spirit. I'm so glad my girls wanted to do this and we finally made it happen! One of my adorable neighbor girls even left her mitten on our Christmas tree so we could have the whole "Mr. Kruegger" experience! That was a highlight for me. Thanks to everyone for making it so fun! Hopefully it will become a tradition!
Here's the kids ready to go caroling. It was freezing but I didn't hear anyone complaining about the cold. They were having too much fun. We had 21 kids between our 4 families and we only had a couple of casualties. Carter ended up with a black eye when I accidently hit him in the eye with the zoom lens on my camera and little Keira ended up with frostbitten fingers (even with gloves on). :( But not too bad when you consider we took 21 kids out in subzero temperatures!
I usually don't do preschool once school is out but I decided too this year since it was so early. Plus, when I mentioned it to Kelsie and Emily they were SO excited to come and help at preschool! How cute is that to see them sitting at circle with the preschoolers?!?
It was so nice to have them there! They were each in charge of a craft to do with a group of kids. It was so helpful and they had a great time. And the preschoolers LOVED meeting them! I wish they could come to preschool every day! They were so helpful!
Making gingerbread houses at Grandma and Grandpa's House...one of our favorite traditions!
The last day before Christmas break we went to the sing in. It was adorable, but a mad house, and we got NO pictures. After that was Kelsie's class service project. Kelsie's 4th grade class gave up their class Christmas party to do a service project. The kids brought in new and gently used baby supplies to donate to young mom's who don't have anything. Kelsie finished up her final donation the night before the "party". She cut and tied a really cute fleece blanket.
We ended up with TONS of donations. It was really neat! I wanted all the kids to feel ownership of this project so we divided them into groups and let them each choose items and create a gift basket for a mom and baby. There were tons of parents who came to help and we had a fun time wrapping things up and creating cute baskets. 
Here's my group with our basket. The kids had a great time and I thought it was so neat to see them give up the games and treats to do something nice for someone else at Christmas time. AT the end, a mom shared a really nice story and we had cookies and it was neat to see all their happy smiles as we loaded boxes and boxes of items up to donate! I'm so grateful I got to be a part of this and I think it ended up well. There were a couple parents who didn't like the way I organized it, I could tell. This bothered me a lot but it was a good learning experience for me. Sometimes your role is just to show up and be a happy helper and you don't need to give your 2 cents on how it could be better, if you are not the one in charge. I need to remember that too. All in all, it went really well. The kids had a great time and felt the Christmas spirit as they gave to others, and that is what I cared about the most!
This is the mural in Kelsie's hall. The art classes created it and it turned out SO cute!
Had to get a picture of Kelsie in her hall. Notice the plaque at the top of the picture naming the hallway "Kelsie's Crossing." How cool is that!?! The PTA auctioned off the naming of hallways. I didn't win, but the other "Kelsie" in 4th grade did and her mom named their hallway "Kelsie's Crossing." Pretty cool for my Kelsie, too. :) Everyone asks her about it and she just says, "it's a looonng story!"
