Merry Christmas!

We had a wonderful Christmas. We were able to spend time with Scott's family. His sister Donna, her husband, David and their 2 girls Katie (19) & Kristin (16) came from Wyoming for a week. We missed Kevin who is on a mission right now in Mexico but it was nice to be able to talk to him on Christmas day. We had a fun filled week traveling back and forth from our house to Scott's parents home (who live 40 miles away). We spent Christmas Eve at Scott's grandma's house and then spent the night at his parents house and opened presents there on Christmas morning.

Our Christmas tree at home before we took all the presents to Scott's parents house for Christmas.

On Christmas Eve, we received a big package from my mom & dad. We enjoyed opening presents from them while talking on the phone. My mom made Lindsay & Caleb their own robes. Caleb wanted Steelers and Lindsay wanted "plain" pink. They love wearing them all the time!!

Here are pictures of Katie & Kristin and one of Donna & Dave. Kristin is playing Guitar Hero in the top left picture. The top right picture also has cousin Rachel along with Katie.

Grandma Vicki & Grandpa Ken's house (Scott's mom & dad) on Christmas morning.

At Grandma Vicki & Grandpa Ken's

Lindsay opening some of her gifts

Caleb opening some of his gifts

We hope that everyone had a wonderful Christmas and we would also like to wish you and your family a

Happy New Year!

-Love, Scott, Natalie, Lindsay & Caleb

12 Days Of Christmas

This Christmas song is dedicated to my brothers and my dad! (Mom, I would dedicate it to you too but I know what your reaction will be.) Anyway, it's sad to say that I have enjoyed potty humor my whole life. It is gross but funny. My brothers use to tease me by saying "diaper" or "potty" and it made me laugh. So this Christmas, one of the gifts that my brother Neal and his wife Sarah gave us is a calender called What's Your Poo Telling You? It is a daily calendar that delivers a years worth of poo trivia, interesting nuggets, dates in digestive history, and illustrated dookie descriptions. We will definitely learn a lot! So here is a song to thank you. When we saw this, we had to watch again and again and again! Enjoy!
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(Don't forget to pause the music on the bottom of the page!)

Farting Elves: 12 Days of Christmas Funny Jokes at JibJab

Yes, Lindsay, There Is A Santa Claus

Last Wednesday night, Caleb had Cub Scouts so Lindsay & I decided to have an hour of Girls Night Out. We decided to do some shopping at the mall and at Target. As we were walking in the mall, Lindsay asked me if she could go and see Santa. I was a bit surprised at her request. It was something that I did not think of doing this year since they both know the "grown-up secret". When we arrived, surprisingly no one was around. I suppose since it was a school night, Santa had some time to relax. Lindsay walked right up and started talking to him. He asked her to sit and asked her what she wanted for Christmas. As I stood there, (this may sound lame) I started to get tears in my eyes as I am now, thinking about this. For you to understand my emotions better, this past week we have been watching videos of the kids when they were little. We just started transferring the old tapes onto DVD's. We have enjoyed sitting down as a family and revisiting the past. I cannot believe how fast Lindsay & Caleb are growing up and how so many of the videos we watched seemed like yesterday. As she was sitting on Santa's lap, he was the sweetest, most caring Santa I have even seen. (Nothing like "Grouchy" Claus who we saw later in the week at Scott's work party for the kids). As Lindsay sat there talking to him, he had a smile and a twinkle in his eyes. He was slowly rocking her back and forth as he listened to everything she had to say. You could just tell that this Santa truly has a love for children. As I was fighting back the tears watching my little girl sitting there, knowing how precious she is, I was realizing how fast she is growing up. Next month she will be 11! Next year she will be in middle school! We always hear how we need to treasure the time that we have with our kids. I have always felt like I am trying to do so but now I hope to treasure our time and relationship even more before another year passes us by. Thank you Santa for your kindness and for listening to my little girl's Christmas wish! I love you Lindsay!

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"Yes, (Lindsay) there is a Santa Claus. He exists as certainly as love and generosity and devotion exist, and you know that they abound and give to your life its highest beauty and joy." -Francis Pharcellus Church

-Natalie

Let It Snow, Let It Snow, Let It Snow!

It's beginning to look a lot like...

This week we have snow! This does not happen much in Oregon but I personally love the snow and dislike the rain! It started on Sunday, snowed off and on during the week and it is still snowing today! Since Oregon is not equipped to handle the snow, even if it is an inch or two, they will cancel school. So the kids did not have school on Monday, Tuesday or today this week. Some schools in the valley were cancelled all week. I bet those kids were happy to get a 3 week Christmas break!! Lindsay & Caleb were excited when school was cancelled except for today. They were looking forward to their classroom Christmas parties. But instead, they are having fun outside playing, enjoying the snow before it goes away! Caleb has been out there for awhile now. He is trying to make an igloo. I think it is about a foot high now. I don't think he will get much further. I am making hot chocolate for him right now to warm him up. Thanks to Alison, I have a cool hot chocolate maker that I received last year for a birthday gift. It is getting used quite a bit!

The Banks (Scott's sister and family) just left from Wyoming today for Oregon! Can't wait to see them! Only 6 more days until ...Christmas!

-Natalie

Kids Christmas Party

Every year, the company that Scott works for has a few of Christmas parties. There is one for the kids, teenagers, and the adults. Last Saturday, the kids had their party. There are a lot of games and activities for them. Lindsay had fun having her face painted, Caleb enjoyed the games. There was pizza, chips, cookies, pop and cotton candy to eat. Of course Santa came. He arrived in a golf cart throwing stuffed animals everywhere. I was really proud of Lindsay. She caught a few stuffed animals and then decided herself to give them away to younger kids who did not receive one. Both kids also saw "Santa". When you look at the Santa pictures, take a good look at him. He looks looks really grumpy. It probably is because he was obviously having a bad hair day!

Caleb On The Right

Dance Dance Revolution

A Balloon Sword

Caleb Enjoying Some Cotton Candy

Lindsay With Grumpy Claus

Caleb & Grouchy Claus

-Natalie

Salmon Release

A couple weeks ago, Caleb's third grade class went to the river and released baby salmon. They have been raising salmon and learning about their life cycle and habitat in school. Once the fish reached about an 1.5 inches, the kids took a small field trip to release them. It was a cold day and thankfully it was not raining. The fish were in a big bucket and the kids each received a small cup containing a few fish. The kids had a lot of fun releasing them and watching them take off down the river.

I Better Hurry Because...

It Will Be Here Before We Know It!!!

Hope You Are Enjoying This Holiday Season!

Our Dancing Elf Family

Caleb requested that we "Elf Ourselves" again this year. This was something that we did last year and had so much fun with it. It is so funny to watch ourselves dancing as elves. The kids were in tears because they were laughing so hard. Since you can add up to 5 members of your family, the kids wanted Zeke to be a part of it too. We put the dances in the order that we like the best. 1. Disco, 2. Country, 3. Classic, and 4. Charleston. Please let us know which one you like the best. If you "Elf" your family, please let us know. We would love to see your family dance around too!

(Before you select play on any of them, remember to pause the Christmas music at the bottom of the page!)

Elfed Ourselves - DISCO

Send your own ElfYourself eCards

Elfed Ourselves - COUNTRY

Send your own ElfYourself eCards

Elfed Ourselves - CLASSIC

Send your own ElfYourself eCards

Elfed Ourselves - CHARLESTON

Send your own ElfYourself eCards

Basketball

Caleb just got done playing basketball. He had fun and learned a lot. Many of his friends from school were on the same team which was nice. Caleb enjoys trying many different sports but he told me that basketball is his favorite sport to play so far. He is already looking forward to next season.

Caleb with ...

Logan (top left)

Miles (top right)

Jacob (bottom left)

Coach John (a.k.a. Jacob's dad)

Happy Thanksgiving!

We had a wonderful Thanksgiving. We were able to spend the holiday here at home with Grandma Vicki, Grandpa Ken (Scott's parents) and Aunt Barbara (Scott's Aunt). We had lots of things to be thankful for and plenty of good food to eat. This year we decided to deep fry a turkey for the first time. It was delicious! Friday morning, we hit some of the sales starting at 4 am. Thanks to Aunt Barbara who willingly stayed home with the kids. The rest of us are crazy, I know, but we had a fun time!

Happy Thanksgiving!

-Scott, Natalie, Lindsay & Caleb

Seattle

Well Thanksgiving has come and gone and Christmas is right around the corner. Who has time to blog? I certainly don't but will try to find time to do so even if it means staying up late. I don't know how much will get posted tonight but most importantly I have the background changed and added Christmas music! Can you believe it is already December 1st? I can't and I am very excited for this time of year.
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Anyway, I wanted to post some pictures of our trip to Seattle. Like I said in the Forgotten Carol post, we were gone for 2 days. The main reason was to see the Forgotten Carols but while we were there we decided to see some of the famous sites as well. The day we arrived, we went to the Space Needle. We decided to walk there since our hotel seemed so close by. We could see the Space Needle and it was close - or so we thought. It is just big - that is why it seemed close by. The kids were pretty good about not complaining while walking there. It took awhile since we did not have a direct way there but once we arrived it was worth it. What a sight to see! It was a beautiful day so once we were on top, we had a wonderful view of Seattle.

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The Seattle Space Needle

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After we went to the Space Needle, we decided to take a Taxi back to our hotel. I think the kids were just as excited to take their first taxi ride as much as anything else. All I can say is at least it did not smell! We then were off to see the Forgotten Carols.

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We had a really nice room to stay in. The kids were excited to have their own bedroom and their own bathroom.

The next morning, we decided to go to Pike Place Fish Market. We had to at least say that we have been there and hopefully see the guys throw the fish. We have seen the fish market on T.V. a couple of times so I thought it would be fun to see in person. Not only were we entertained seeing the fish get tossed around, there was also plenty of shopping. Lindsay wanted to see all the fun crafts, jewelry and hair accessories. She finally decided on a multi-colored, rainbow, twisty, hair clip accessory with a panda charm on the end. I am not sure what the technical name of it is but she had to have it. Basically there were a lot of stores selling various things and it was like going to a Flea Market. Lets just say the girls had more fun than the boys while shopping!

And finally, the last activity of our tip, was taking a ferry ride just for fun. We bought round trip tickets to go to one of the islands to turn around and come back again. It was fun especially for Caleb watching all the cars drive on and then off the ferry. On the way back to Seattle from the Island, the captain spotted a whale. A few other people saw it but unfortunately we missed it.

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The Ferry Ride

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After the ferry ride, we headed home. Even though our time in Seattle was short, we accomplished a lot. It was fun and well worth the trip!

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-Natalie

The Forgotten Carols

On Wednesday night, we went to see Micheal McLean's The Forgotten Carols near Seattle. (Our Seattle trip will be posted later after I have some time to create some fun scrapblog pages!)

Anyway, for those of you who have not heard of The Forgotten Carols, the story is about a nurse who's name is Constance Chamberlin and an elderly gentleman named Uncle John (played by Micheal McLean). Constance is assigned to visit and care for John in his home during the Christmas holidays. Constance, or Connie Lou, as Uncle John likes to call her, has reason to think that her patient John has deep psychological problems because he insists that he is over 2000 years old. But his constant cheerfulness and compassionate attitude makes him appealing to her. "The Forgotten Carols" are sung by those who played a small part in the Nativity when Jesus was born. John is reminded of them when he places ornaments from them on his Christmas tree. He received the ornaments from people like the innkeeper who turned away Joseph and Mary, a shepherd who followed the star and one from an a young angel who tried out for the heavenly chorus to sing on the day of Christ's birth. Of course in the end, John isn't what he seems, and Constance comes to understand his gift to her as he shares the real story of Christmas.

Scott and I saw this play when we were at Ricks College 16 years ago. We really enjoyed it and every year we enjoy listening to the Forgotten Carols CD. We have been wanting to see the show again but it was always too far away since most shows are in Idaho and Utah. When we found out that it was near Seattle, we took the kids out of school for a couple of days because we did not want to pass up the opportunity. This trip was a great way to start our 2008 Christmas season, and for us to keep in mind what Christmas is truly about, the birth of our Savior Jesus Christ.

-Natalie

"When I Grow Up, I Want To Be An Artist"

Caleb has been telling us that he wants to be an artist for a long time. He loves to draw and make projects. His creative mind is constantly thinking of something to make or draw. A phrase we hear often is, "Can I use that for an art project?" He could be asking for a paper towel tube, plastic cups, foil, empty jars, pop bottles, and so forth. Unfortunately, he only receives about 1/4 of his requests and the rest goes in the recycling bin. We just don't have room for a bunch of extra art supplies around the house waiting to be used. If only we had a basement .... he could have an art corner all to himself!

Anyway, one day he came home from school very excited because there was a contest for all the students to draw a new school logo. It was going to be printed on sweatshirts and t-shirts. (I have to mention that Lindsay was excited too and drew an awesome drawing to submit). Caleb drew a flying eagle, the school mascot, with a circle of stars. A couple of weeks went by with them both patiently waiting for the winner to be announced, and .... Caleb won!! He was sooooooo excited and I was so proud of him. I was also proud of Lindsay for being a good sport and also for the fact that she was truly happy for her brother. An order was placed and the result is exciting. Way to go Caleb!!!!

Caleb With His Winning Design

A Happy Sister

-Natalie

Blog Class

The blog class is now over. It was a lot of fun and there was a nice turnout. I wanted to take a bunch of pictures so I could "blog" about the class., but with everything that was going on, I forgot!! I did, however, take a few pictures before everyone arrived. Thanks to Kris & Steve, we had a projector and a screen which made it nice for everyone to see. I appreciate everyone who came. It was fun seeing the changes you made on your blogs already!

-Natalie

Calling All Bloggers . . .

Kris asked me to teach an Enrichment class on blogging. Why me?, I wondered. There are a few sisters in our ward who have blogs but I have to admit, I LOVE spending time blogging. Here are a couple of reasons why.

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First, it is a great way for me to keep in touch with family whether they live here or elsewhere around the country. All of my family and some of Scott's family live out of state so it is a good way to let them know what is happening in our lives. I remember the days of getting pictures developed and sending them to my mom in Ohio to see. Now I can just put them on our website and write about what is happening. This works for good friends too. Who could forget Adrienne and her family. Even though they moved and now live in Minnesota, we can still see what fun things her, Steve, and their 3 girls are doing.

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The second reason I love to blog is because it is my way to record the events in our lives. Yes, it's sad to say that I don't write in my journal every night before I go to bed or even on a monthly basis. Blogging motivates me to document what is going on in our lives - even if it is just about something like the kid's fish! So even though I am keeping in touch with family and friends, I am also doing this for myself.

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Think of blogging like scrapbooking. This way, however, you don't have to have a lot of supplies all over your kitchen table and it can be instantly shared with those you love! You can personalize your blog by adding different colors, backgrounds, music and more. We are also going talk about safe ways to publish blogs since the Internet is an open invitation to everyone!

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In order to give me a good idea on how many people will be attending, please either let me know or for fun, use the RSVP poll on the sidebar. Of course I will have treats but if we have a really good turnout, I will just have to beg Kris to bring her Blondie Brownies, Serena to bring Peanut Butter bars, Alison to make the Bomb Cake, and Melanie to bring the Cinnamon Rolls that I have been hearing all about!

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Hope you can make it, Thursday, November 13th at 12:30, here at my house. If you have any specific things you would like to learn about, please leave a comment.

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-Natalie

Trick-Or-Treat!

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Halloween was a fun-filled day for us. Lindsay was a witch & Caleb was an OSU Beaver fan! It all started with a party at school. At the end of the school day, all the kids could put on their costumes and parade around school and then have a party in their classroom. Earlier that morning, Scott told me not to forget our camera so I could take pictures of Lindsay & Caleb with their friends. Well I remembered the camera but I left the memory card at home in the computer. So unfortunately, I did not take any pictures at school.

When we arrived home, it was time to carve pumpkins. We should have carved them earlier but since we were gone, it was put off until the last minute. Caleb picked out the biggest, thickest pumpkin possible. Luckily, Scott carved his and I helped Lindsay with hers.

Lindsay was not going to go trick-or-treating this year. She was excited to pass out candy. Can you believe that she does not like candy??!! It use to be that she liked plain chocolate like a Hershey bar but now she does not like those either. I wish I had that problem. But at the last minute she decided to go trick-or-treating with her friends. Not for the candy but for the company. So I took Caleb and we went with his friend Jake and his sister Rachael. It was so fun going with him because they run into everyone they know from school and the group of friends that you are going with is getting bigger and bigger. There were a few times that the boys needed a break. Running from house to house was exhausting for them. So occasionally they would sit on the curb to rest their feet and have a small treat.

Well, Halloween is now over, Caleb told me tonight that he is starting to think about what he is going to be next year. I am sure his mind will change many times before then but I guess it is fun to think ahead!

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The kids were really excited to help me design these pages below!

Carving Pumpkins

Caleb Dressed Up As A OSU Beaver Fan!

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Lindsay Dressed Up As A Witch!

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Caleb, Jake And Friends!

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-Natalie

Our Vacation To Eagle Crest

We just returned home from spending 5 days at Eagle Crest. It was a much needed vacation. Scott has been gone a lot with either traveling or hunting so it was time for some relaxation. We really enjoy staying here. It is about 2 1/2 hours away in Central Oregon. The weather was beautiful - in the 70's! We spent a lot of time outdoors (mostly swimming) but also spent a day shopping at the outlet mall in Bend, went to see High School Musical 3, and enjoyed taking some walks. It was so much fun spending quality time with each other and not worrying about the daily routine at home.

Here is a picture of the condo we stayed in.

Our "traditional" breakfast here is Belgium waffles with homemade strawberry jam, bacon (or sausage) and eggs! At home, we are usually running around in the morning getting ready for school so breakfast is usually quick. Cold cereal, eggs, or frozen waffles.
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Every night we play a game. Some of the kids favorite games are Life, Kids vs. Grown-ups, and The Price Is Right.

The first thing we are asked every morning is "When are we going swimming?" They both love to swim. There was an indoor pool and an outdoor one. They both loved going to the heated outdoor pool especially at night. We would spend a few hours there swimming, then getting in the hot tub, swimming, back in the hot tub, swimming - well, you get the idea!

Probably one of the highlights of the trip were the deer. They were so tame and cute! They would come right up to us. Scott (the hunter) wished he had his gun. Me, on the other hand, was glad I had my camera. "Quick, shoot a picture!"

One morning after breakfast, there were 5 deer that came up to our back porch. The kids were so excited. I know we are not suppose to but we quickly ran inside to get some food. As long as we were feeding them, they hung around. We were hoping they would come back the next morning. Caleb was saving a waffle for them but I guess they had a better offer somewhere else.

One of Caleb's favorite activities is the play with his "mote" control cars. He loves the one that Aunt Donna and Uncle Dave gave him for Christmas. He tries to drive his monster car over daddy's small car (the one Lindsay is driving).

Caleb is on a basketball team so Scott & Caleb took some time to practice with Lindsay joining the fun.

And finally, at the end of a long day, Lindsay's favorite thing to do is to take a big bubble bath. This night, however, we put too much bubbles in the water. So after relaxing for awhile, she headed for the shower. There was no way she was going to get all those bubbles off of her in the tub.

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Well it is back to school and work. We wish we could have stayed longer but everyone would have been too far behind. Plus, Zeke missed us! It was a fun time. I am so thankful for my family and I love them very much!

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-Natalie