The most popular guy in town...

Today we went to the mall to go see Santa Claus. When we got there the line seemed forever, and Cooper could not be convinced to come back another time. The thought of standing in line with all three kids was kind of nauseating. But, we stuck with it, and it only took us about 40 minutes to get through the line. Bode was actually surprisingly good. When we got towards the end of the line, I started to get a little nervous. I could picture getting both Peiton and Bode out of the stroller to get their pics taken, and Bode running off (which happens very often) while I was holding Peiton and not being able to chase him down. So, thankfully I saw a familiar face. Grandma and Grandpa Kunz (Collin's sister Kelly's, in-laws) to the rescue. They stood by for moral support. But, luckily I didn't even really need them. Bode was so good to get back in his stroller and Peiton went right back in her car seat. We did say goodbye to the shopping though, they pretty much had it by the time we were done seeing Santa, the most popular guy in town!

• Day 7- Visit Santa Claus

Live Nativity

The three wise men

The activity on the chain today, was go to the live nativity. My sisters stake puts on a live nativity ever year. It is so neat! The work they put into this is amazing. We went with the Peck's and had a real good time.

The clan

We probably had to wait in line for about an hour, which didn't seem that long. The temp was pretty good until the last 5 minutes and then it got a little brisk. Collin probably wasn't doing to well though, he had to hold Bode on his shoulders for the whole hour, I would say he got his neck workout.

The neck workout (your such a good sport Collin!)

So, basically what goes on at this live nativity is, they have decorated the church pavilion into the town of Bethlehem. There is so much detail that went into it. They have people doing their certain jobs in the city, pottery makers, bakery, beggar's, etc. And at the end they have someone come out of a hotel door and say "there is no room in the inn," and then around the corner there is baby Jesus with Mary and Joseph. It was perfect! The tears started to swell up in my eyes. This little baby that played baby Jesus was perfect. He was laying there with no clothes on wrapped in white blankets, perfectly sound, just sleeping. Mary and Joseph were looking at him so intent, it couldn't have been better.

The family

I am so glad that we took the time to go this year. I think Cooper really enjoyed it too. I have kind of been struggling trying to get into the Christmas spirit, and this really helped a lot. Hopefully my family and I can focus on the real meaning of Christmas this year. Thank you to the stake that put it on, they do an amazing job. It will continue to be a tradition in our family.

They had so many types of animals there. Donkeys, chickens, uma's (aka lama, I kind of forgot what they were called) and the best of all, they had a camel. I real life camel, named Max. I thought he had the cutest face, I had to get a picture. (Ignore the cheesy grin..on me, not the camel)

• Day 6- Live Nativity
  

Christmas movie

• Day 5- Watch a Christmas movie

Dear Santa

• Day 4- Write Santa Letters

The Last Straw

• Day 3- The last Straw

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Wow, I think I need to go to school again...

Meet Flippy

We are excited to announce "Flippy", a new member of our family for the month of December. Grandma Holly gave us this book yesterday as part of our early Christmas. It is called "A Elf on the Shelf." It is a darling book! So, I decided to make it day #2 on our Christmas chain.

Flippy is a elf that works for Santa...(of course he works for Santa, don't most elf's? Duh Nat) Anyhow, you get this book and it tells a story about this elf that you have to name yourself. Cooper picked out the name "Flippy," I think it fits him perfect. So, Flippy watches the kids in the house to see if they are being good, if they are doing all their chores, saying prayers, being nice, etc...and at nighttime he flies back to Santa and reports. He comes back every night, but he is hiding in a different spot. The kids will wake up in the morning and have to go look for Flippy, and then the days continue. Cooper is so excited for this new little tradition that we will have in our family. Now all we need to do is remember to hide Flippy before we go to bed...

• Day 2: "Elf on the Shelf"

Christmas Chain

Growing up as a family tradition, the first day of December my family would make a Christmas chain. On each link of the chain we did something to get us in the holiday spirit. It didn't have to be extravagant or anything, just a little something to put us in the mood. It was so much fun, that I decided to carry on the tradition in my family. We have been doing it for a couple of years now, and we have really enjoyed doing it.

So, each day I am going to post what the link on the chain says, and the whole experience we had doing it. I am pretty excited to do this, it will force me to make a post each day and then he will help me remember what we did this Christmas season.

• Day one - We make the Chain!

It's begining to look a lot like Christmas!

December is here! I can't believe it, the months have flown by. To start off the new holiday month, we had a early visit from Grandpa and Grandma Santa. Charlie and Holly brought by some early Christmas gifts for the kids and for ME!


The first gift was some Christmas books for the kids to enjoy during the holiday season- We love Christmas books! One book is called "Christmas Carols," it has a a bunch of the words to some Christmas carols and then a CD to sing along to. I am really excited for it. It was fun for the kids to open some presents a little early...okay, like 24 days early.

Last year they gave me a set to the Willow Tree Nativity Collection...which I loved. And to top things off, my gift this year was the stable and the stars to add to it. I love it. I have never had a nativity, and I always will remember my mom's beautiful nativity (which Hollie has now...lucky duck!) So, I am very excited that they gave it to me early, so I can display it all month long. Thank you, Thank you, Thank you!


To top things off for the day, we had a awesome snow fall. It has pretty much been snowing all day long. This is the only time of the year that I really like the snow, it finally looks so pretty outside and the feeling of Christmas is starting to be in the air.

Collin and the boys had a fun time out in the snow. Cooper loved it, and Bode liked it at first, until he started taking of his gloves and his hands froze. He didn't last too long. We are looking forward to the fun time we can have sledding this year.

Happy belated Thanksgiving!

I know Thanksgiving was like 5 days ago, but it was such a fun weekend I thought I would still post it. We started Thanksgiving off with the UTAH HUMAN RACE. Besides the fact that we were frozen solid...it was a blast.

Seriously, it was soooo cold! My face was literally numb, I felt like I had been to the dentist and got some serious work done. There were 5 of us that ran, Holly, Kelly, Court, Collin and me. We were going to push the boys and Peiton in the stroller, but thank goodness Charlie said he would stay home with them, bless his heart...they would have froze to ice cubes. This was the second year for the race, and they had a great turn out. All the proceeds go to the Utah Food Bank and LDS Humanitarian services, so we were running for a good cause.
After the race we went home to get ready f0r the big ole' Thanksgiving dinner. This year we spent Thanksgiving with Collin's family. Dinner was at Holly and Charlie's and it was FABULOUS!! Holly always seems to always outdo herself, she is amazing! Believe it or not...we had turkey, mashed potatoes, stuffing, gravy, rolls, etc..etc...it was all delicious! And to top it off yummy pie, which put me overboard stuffed!

It was such a fun day surrounded by family and the cutest little Indians ever! The kids played good all day, and to top it off Bode had a wonderful nap for about 3 hours.

After dinner and letting the food settle a little bit, the ladies moved on to the crafts. Our wonderful Nicky put together some AWESOME crafts. She is so creative! I ended up making these darling staking boxes and some cute boxes to put some yummy goodies in for Coop's teachers and other little gifts.

It was fun to sit and talk with each other while the men played RISK...or watched some football. They were kind enough to keep a eye on the kids so we were able to be crafty. Thanks Nicky for putting together some fun crafts, your amazing!!

About 9 we ended up going home and I just crashed right when we got home, it was such a busy, fun day! On Friday we left for the cabin. We spent the whole weekend up there with the Kunz's and Cam and Nick came up the last day. We literally did nothing!!! I think we watched like 15 movies and played karaoke and ate...that was the extent of the weekend, but super fun!! I was soooo lazy, that I didn't even break out my camera. So, sorry no photos of the fun, relaxing cabin trip.

"What????"

What the heck! What is Brad THINKING? I don't know about any of you, but I was pretty disappointed with the finale last night. Seriously, so I kind of thought that he would not pick Jenni, just because they lead you to think that he is going to, but then he actually chooses the other girl. But, I was not expecting a ending like that one. Why couldn't he just say, lets date and see how it goes instead of saying goodbye to both of them....Let's say, GOODBYE to Brad!! I thought I liked him, but I think he is a little unsure of things...how do you say "that's why you are still single!" And my question for all of you fans is: He sure did act like he was going to propose to DeAnna, and then freaked out (hilarious by the way). Do you think he was going to propose or not? That is the big question, what was he thinking??? I guess we might find out tonight when the ladies confront him. They better get something out of him, or just drop kick him, because it is pretty sad. So, I guess all of us were wrong the the whole voting thing...he didn't choose any of them, lame!!

Happy Birthday Mom!

Things my mom has taught me:

• To be optimistic. My mom is one of the most optimistic persons I know. She always tries to make the best of any situation. Everything will always work out, maybe not how you would like, but for the best.
• Not to be lazy. I have mentioned before that my mom is always on the go, no matter what. If she was to have a short nap, it would be a short nap...20minutes max! She is so good at prioritizing her time.
• Be kind to others. My mom is kind to everyone, she has always taught me in her example that it is better to be nice. Whenever I have anything bad to say about anyone, she will always back it up with a good quality about that person.
• To love my family, they are the most important. She has done this by example. Her family is the most important to her, she would do anything for us.
• The gospel is true! My mom loves the gospel, and by her example it has made my testimony stronger.
• Have fun. She is always up for a good time, and she is always fun to be with.
  

She has taught me many other things, and continues to teach me. Thank you for everything and for being such a great mother and grandma. We love you so much! Have a fabulous day.

"I've been tagged!"

I would like to thank little miss Keysha for taggin me...now I can let you all know how unique I am (okay, I am not really that unique, pretty boring!) So, here it goes....

1. I never really thought I had OCD, but lately I am starting to question myself. (It does run in the family...crazzzzy!) Anyhow, I am getting a little freaky on making sure my house is clean, and if it is not clean...well, you really don't want to be around. Poor family. I really can't seem to do anything until my house is clean, I feel like I am cleaning it all day long. I won't sit down and relax until it is clean. And I do have a hard time sitting down to relax, I think I get that from my lovely mother...she is always on the go. All I have to do is think of her if I want to sit down, and the guilt just pours in.



2. So, like Keysha, I love to work out too. My favorite is to run. I just love to go on a run and put the world behind me and just think and listen to my music. It is such a stress reliever. I love to go the gym too, it is great to wake up early and get it done with. It makes my day go so much better. The days that I don't get a workout in, I can really tell a difference with my attitude...working out just does something for you. And it makes it even better when you have a bunch of lovely gals that you go with.



3. I love to shop!! I even love shopping better when I have the money to purchase some items...okay let's clear this up, I only love to shop when I have the money to spend (so, not to often). Now, that I have a girl, it is even more fun, because there is so many fun things for girls. I love to find deals, I am kind of a cheap-skate, I will hardly ever pay full price for anything. If I want it really bad, I will maybe make the purchase, but otherwise it usually has to be on a dang good sale for me to purchase the item. And shopping without kids is heaven...I could shop till I drop!



4. I could eat the candy store out of business...it is so bad!! I love sugar! I am not such a chocolate fan, I am more of a sugar fan...gummies, cinnamon bears, starburst...yummy!! This is not a good thing! I am on a bet, or more of a deal with a friend that we will only have sugar (candy, dessert) once a week, we will make a few exceptions. But, I have to do this, otherwise I would eat candy all the time, and the weight would just sky rocket! So, candy is my friend, my BAD friend.



5. Let's see, I did backpack Europe for a month with 3 other friends. One I knew really well, and the other two I had never met. We had a riot! We stayed in Hostels (some kind of scary..The flying Pig in Amsterdam, wow!) and we rode a bunch of trains. We went to London (my fav), Belgium, Netherlands, Germany, Austria, France, Switzerland, and Italy. It was quite the trip, we had some rad experiences and saw some really neat places. After getting home, you did feel like you needed a vacation from the vacation you had been on, because it was a lot of work. Staying in Hostels, lugging the huge backpack around, not doing your hair, and not packing one ounce of makeup...not usually my choice of vacation. I was able to go back to Paris with Collin and actually stay in a nice hotel, it was fabulous, besides the fact that I was prego and everything stunk and nothing tasted good except for crepes and McDonald flurries.



6. I love to do karaoke....I am such a nerd! I guess I love to make a fool of myself, because I do not sound good while doing karaoke (ask any family member or friend). For some reason, if feels so good to just blurt out the words and not even care if you are in tune..because usually I am not. So, if anyone wants to challenge me to some karaoke, let's bring it on...except for Stacy, Haws, Jacki and Keysha, I know you can kick my butt...but mom lets give it a go!

I am not sure if there is 6 people I know that have not been tagged, so, I will give it a go. Here they are....

• Jackwee



• Alisha



• Coors



• Casi


• Paige

Off on the big yellow school bus...

It seems like I have been posting a lot of things about Bode lately, I guess turning 3 is a big milestone in one's life. Well today was a huge milestone for me and for Bode (I think more for me, than Bode). You wouldn't think going to preschool is that big of a deal, but when your 3 year old goes to school on a big bus, it kind of worries you just a little bit.

So, Bode started preschool TODAY! I have been kind of excited about it because it will give me 2 1/2 hours of free time a day (well besides taking care of Peiton). But, today I had mixed feelings. With the program that he is in, they provide transportation in a school bus. It is really great because it will make it so I don't have to take and pick him up from school. To make the whole transition a little less scary and sad, I decided that I would take him to school and then he could come home on the bus (this would help both Bode and I). He went to class great, he loves going to school and the teachers are great with him. As we got there he did see a big yellow school bus, he seemed pretty excited to see it, which made me a little less worried. Well, school ended at 1:30, so there was a little anxious mother, closely watching out the window from 1:30 on.. (who knows, maybe they would be a little early). I was just hoping everything went okay. Well, the bus pulled up about 1:45, and there was a sleeping Bode on board. After he woke up he realized he was home and was so excited. The driver said that he was nervous and did alright, I could tell there had been some tears, which broke my heart. Although, after a couple of more rides, I think he will do great. So, I guess we will see when the big yellow bus comes to pick him up on Thursday. Cross your fingers that everything will go okay!
Already for school
Bode's little friend Aleah gave him this backpack for his birthday. It was a great gift because mommy kind of forgot about getting a backpack for school. And even better, it has Diego on it, perfect! Thanks Aleah!!

Party Time!

The parties begin for the big 3 year old. The lucky boy was able to have 2 parties, one with my family and one with Collin's family. On Friday night we celebrated with Collin's family. He got some fun things. Bode has really been into helping me clean, so, what a better gift than a broom and mop. I can now put his hard work, into some real hard work...He loved everything he got, from the vacuum, to the shopping cart and all the make believe fruit in between...(You would think he was a girl) But, to throw in the masculine side of him, he did get some cars and trucks.

It was so much fun watching him open his gifts. He really got into it this year. He was so excited with each one, even the clothes. After he was done opening he would clap for each one, he was so proud of himself and then he would politely sign "Thank you." It was a good time watching him open everything. Thanks to all the family and friends that made this birthday special for Bode!!

Blowing out candles

"Yeah, I did it!"

The big Clan

"Anyone for some cake?" Yum, Yum....

Opening gifts
Blowing candles out from another cake..we are all caked out!
Yum, yum, yum.....
"A shopping cart, O' boy!"

Go Utes!!!

Collin and I went to the Ute game on Saturday, and boy did we have fun... First, of all we were surrounded by drunk people, which was pretty hillarious. And to start the game off, on one of the touchdowns, the guy behind me, gave the guy behind him a high five. I guess the guy behind him maybe gave him a little to strong of a high five, because before I knew it, the guy behind me came tumbling down on top of me and fell to the bleachers below me. It was quite the fall. Lucky me, I didn't get hurt to bad, just a sore head for a while. That was probably the excitement of the game, because Wyoming sure did not bring it. The Utes whipped them 50 to 0!! Go Utes!! It was just a practice game for the big game coming up in less than two weeks, the Red vs. the Blue...It should be a great game. Go Utes!!

"It has been 3 years...wow!"

I can't believe it has been 3 years since Bode was born. Time really does fly by. I still remember the day he was born, it is so clear to me, all the thoughts going through my head. "Was I going to be able to take care of a child with special needs?" "What is he going to be like?" So many questions. But let me tell you, we wouldn't trade this little boy for anything! We are so blessed to have him in our home and be a part of our family, we could not imagine our life without him. He is so full of character and personality. There is not a day that goes by, that he doesn't have us cracking up. He lights up a room when he walks in, people just draw to him.
The road hasn't always been easy, but it has been well worth it. Bode has taught us so many things. Lets start with patience, he had taught me to be better mother and have patience with him and his siblings. With him not being able to talk yet, my patience has really been tried, but my patience gets stronger and stronger each day. He has taught me to enjoy the simple things, he lives in such a simple mind, the simple things are the things that make him happy, and I have also learned to have the simple things make me happy. The list could go on and on of the things that he has taught me.

Bode, I am so glad that I am your mom and for all the experiences we have had over the last 3 years, and I am looking forward to all of the other experiences we will be having. I love you so much! Happy Birthday!!

Happy Birthday Grandpa!

I just want to wish Grandpa a happy birthday. This is one amazing husband, father, grandpa and friend. I am so thankful to have him in my life. He has been such a wonderful grandpa to my husband and I get the blessing of having him for my grandpa now. He is such a great example to all those around him and who he comes in contact with. Thank you grandpa for all you do for us and our family. We LOVE you!

"Brad you make me proud..."

So, I am really excited that our darling Bachelor Brad, made the right choice. From my previous post you all would have known that I would have been very upset if he picked Bettina. And I can't believe she didn't cry when she got kicked off, obviously she wasn't that into him. So, everyone cast your votes on who Brad is going to choose. My votes are still with Jenni.

And more Halloween fun...

The tough Optimus Prime
The cutest pirate ever!
Super smiley girl
The beat up boxer and the super old fairy