Christmas!

We are getting so excited for Christmas at our house.  This is the first year that we have had our basement finished at Christmas time, so we not only got to decorate upstairs but we got to decorate downstairs as well.  In fact we were able to put the Christmas Tree downstairs this year and it was the first year we did not have to move furniture around to make room for the tree!  My favorite part is that we finally have a mantle to hang our stockings from.  Charlie made the mantel himself so that makes it even more special!  We have been having a great holiday season and are ready to celebrate more with family and friends.

Sierra's B-day

I have been so busy making bags I have not taken the time to blog about Sierra's birthday.  Her birthday this year was on Thanksgiving day, so we had her party the Saturday before.  She wanted to have it at High Point, we already have to go there three days a week, but she does not get tired of the Gym so we had her party there.  The girls had a wonderful time, and wore the coach out with their trips on the Rip Line. 
We had Thanksgiving dinner at Charlie's moms house and it was wonderful.  After we ate we had birthday cake with our pie.  Sierra got just what she wanted for her birthday, an American Girl Doll!!!!  I can hardly believe that she is already nine, the time has gone by so quickly.

Fall Work!

 On Saturday we decided we had better get some leaves raked up before we get snow.  So we all went out and got to work.  Bailey and I raked while Charlie ran the leaf blower.  Sierra of course was swinging, but after a while I even got her to Rake!!!  It was a miracle, she didn't even complain.  She had an ulterior motive, I think.  She wanted a big pile to jump into.  After we had the leaves all in a huge pile we got some cute pictures.  Enjoy!!

Happy Halloween!!!

We had our annual Halloween party on Saturday, and it was great!!!
Everyone was supposed to dress up, but none of the other guys made it over with a costume on.  At least Charlie was a great sport!  We went with a theme for our costumes again this year---I think Charlie's was by far the best.  The kids had a great time and got a lot of treats!  Thanks to all our friends for joining us to make this year great!

Crazy Hair!

The girls both had crazy hair day recently at their schools.  Sierra's was last week and Bailey's was this week.  They ended up with some interesting creations!

Green Thumb

Ok, so I am not known for my Green Thumb, which is sad because my mom is a lovely gardener and my Grandma Ricks was one of the best.  The joke with anyone that knows me is that they feel sorry for the plants that have to live at my house.  But I love plants, especially Gerber Daisies.  I have had many Gerber Daisies through the years and I can usually manage to keep the greenery nice and growing beautifully, but I have never, ever had a plant that bloomed again.  Until now!!!  I bought a Gerber Daisy at the beginning of the summer and it has bloomed and bloomed since then.  I hope I can keep it up because this is the best looking plant in the house!  I had to post the picture so that others could see that I can actually have a plant at my house that I do not kill!

Go AGGIES!!

My sister and her husband brought her family to visit us.  Then I got to watch the kids while they went to the BYU v. USU game.  I was so excited to see them and we had so much fun with all 5 of the cuties!  But I informed her if they were staying at my house they had to cheer for my team.  Well they went to the game at USU and wore BYU shirts and took their BYU blanket.  I told them not to get beat up.  So as a favor for the while I was sitting I dressed their boys a little more appropriately for the game!!!

Hunting Season

Charlie came home from the weekend victorious! He was able to shoot a 6 point elk on Saturday night. This is the third year in a row that he has filled his tag. He was excited, and I was glad that the Elk season is over a week early!!! Now we have a week off until Goose hunting starts.

But at least he LOVES it.

Bailey's B-day

So, apparently I am a horrible mother as I missed posting for Bailey's birthday. I have a really, really good reason though. I took a ton of pictures at her friend party and her family party and before I could get them off the camera Charlie took the camera hunting with him for a week and a half. You would think we could have two different cameras, but we do not!

So here we go. Bailey turned 12 on the 30th of August, she had a party with her friends the Saturday before her birthday and they had so much fun. They played games outside and we had Pizza and Snickers cake. She has grown into quite a young lady and we are so proud of her!

Of course they would not just sit and smile for the pictures.

I did not get a normal one at all!!!

Cake at her Friend Party

Cake at the Family Party

First Day of School

Yesterday was the first day of school for the girls. I can't believe the summer

is already over and school is starting! Bailey is in 7th grade this year and has gotten so big over the summer I can hardly believe it. Next week she turns 12! Sierra is in 3rd grade this year and is at a different school than she has gone to, but is so excited and said her first day was the best day ever! They were so ready for school to start and I am glad they are excited to go, I just can't believe they have gotted so big! Time sure does fly.

Lion King!!

I haven't posted for a while, so this is what we have been up to. Last weekend we had tickets for the Lion King in SLC. We had purchased the tickets a year ago and finally told the girls about a month before that we were going. We were very excited to see it. It was really great, the show was amazing! The music and the costumes were unbelievable. It was nice to do something different like this, and we had a wonderful time. We stayed overnight and also went to the Mayan for dinner, I think Charlie and the girls liked the cliff divers there more than the Lion King!! We were also able to make our pre-hunting season trip to Cabela's!!! Hunting season starts next weekend, and Charlie had to make sure he was ready.

The Girls at the Theater

The Mayan

4th Of July Camping Trip

Finally a new post! We went to Blackfoot Reservior camping for the 4th, it was a blast. We went fishing and had a wonderful time hanging out with Charlie's Family. We went to their cabin for a Pig Roast and awesome fireworks. They were the best ever! It was a nice weekend and we want to go back camping there again. Even the dog liked going out on the boat. The only bad part of the weekend is that the fish weren't really biting. We got three bites and only caught one fish! But it was a good time had by all.

The Girls on the Paddle Boat

Daddy Helping on the Paddle Boat


Kobi Lounging in the boat

Bailey's Big Catch

Chillin in the Boat

Dad!

Update

So it has been quite a while since I have posted, but I could not find the camera and you can't really have a good post without pictures. So I went in search of the camera today and I finally found it. The girls had used it and actually put it away--no wonder I could not find it.

So we had Charlie's birthday and he has recovered quite well from his knee surgery.

Now the new past time is sitting in the fishing boat in the garage. After all what good is a fishing boat unless you can sit in it all day long.

The girls are almost done with school and they are ready to have summer vacation. Bailey had Breakfast of the Champions the other morning at her school, all the children who had earned a 4.0 during the year got a medal. We are very proud of her.

Sierra also thinks she is pretty smart, the other morning she told me she pretty much knows the answer to everything. (she is a smarty pants!)

Sorry it has taken so long for a post. I am trying to be better, and now that I know where to look for the camera my life should be a little easier!!

Easter

The girls got to wear their new Easter Dresses on Sunday and they looked so cute!!! They are getting so grown up! They were very excited. They are excited for the Easter bunny to come and visit, Sierra really wants some candy.

Charlie had to go in for surgery on his leg, I wanted to get a picture of him in his hospital gown, and this is the pose he pulled for me! He is such a dork. He made it through OK and is now recovering with 3 nurses waiting on him.

Changes!

We had a busy weekend last weekend. Bailey got new glasses and she looks so cute in them.

Bailey and I went up to ski the Beav and we took a snowboarding lesson. She was a natural! We had a two hour lesson and she was cruising down the hill right after. I however found out that I am not a snowboarder! It was so much harder that I thought it would be. I will stick with Ski's from now on.

Sierra had a program at school. It was the ABC's of america and she was B for Liberty Bell, she knew her part so well and sang all the songs. She was so cute! We had an eventful week.

We're done!!!!

We finally finished up the basement last week. We got the carpet installed and the furniture delivered. We have been working on it for about a year and it is so nice to be done with it and be able to finally enjoy it. The girls each have a new bedroom down there, we have a family room, a hunting room, a play room, and a computer room. Charlie and I have worked hard on getting it done and he did a lot of the work himself. We can now enjoy the fruits of our labor!

Here are a few pictures of the finished product.