9th Anniversary Getaway

I can't believe that Don and I have been married for 9 years! In some ways, it feels like we just got married. Time flies when you are having fun, right? I feel so lucky to be married to him. He is the perfect husband for me and such a great dad! Thanks to wonderful family that were so nice to watch the kids, we got to stay downtown one night to celebrate. (Our anniversary is actually in December but we never celebrate until January because life is so crazy between Christmas and New Years.)

We had SO much fun! We had dinner and then walked to the Melting Pot for dessert. It was snowing and it was so pretty! We stayed at the Grand America and loved being lazy and not being on a schedule. The best part was that we got to sleep through the whole night without any kids coming in because they had a bad dream, had wet the bed, had thrown up, or just needed a binky. We actually even slept in until 10am!!! We haven't done that in years! We got to have breakfast in bed, went swimming in the hotel pool, got a massage at the spa, wandered around Sugarhouse, and had the best philly cheese steak sandwiches at this little "hole-in-the-wall" called Moochies! We had such a great time but we were excited to get back to our kids. When we went to pick them up from Tami and Glenn's house, Elle started crying because she didn't want to leave. I'm glad they love being there. It makes it so much easier to leave them, knowing that they are in such good hands. Elle and Easton loved playing games and doing the Wii with their "big kid" cousins! Nate and Lindsay are so cute with them. Tami said Jayne was happy as can be and just loved to be held and played with. She is such a sweetheart! Nine years later, we have three incredible kids!

Fondue Dessert at the Melting Pot



At the spa

Happy New Year

Happy New Year!!! I can't believe that it is 2010! I thought for sure we would all be in flying cars by now...

2009 was a good year filled with a lot of fun times and some great opportunities for learning and growing too. We did a lot as a family-- hiking, camping, fun trips, get togethers with friends, and just had fun with our cute little kids. It was good, but I am ready for the New Year! We sat down with the kids one night and made resolutions. It was pretty funny because they thought of their own. Elle said she wants to learn to play the piano, get better at gymnastics, eat less candy, and not be scared at night. (She has a really hard time getting to sleep. Hopefully, it is just a phase because we have tried everything!) Easton said he wants to eat his dinner better (without being asked 10 times), do well in school and not get things up high. (I thought it was pretty funny he thought of that.) Jayne really wants to learn to crawl and walk this year! (Here's to hoping!)

The other night I was putting Easton to bed and talking with him. I told him how much fun I had doing Legos with him and he said that we could do it the next day too. Then he said, "But mom, no dishes, ok. Remember when you wake up in the morning, no dishes." It was a priority check for me. My kids are not going to care if the house was always perfect when they are grown but they will remember if we played with them. They are growing up too fast! I told Don the other day that Easton probably won't have his cute little chubby cheeks and chubby fingers for much longer. He is growing up and turning into a little boy. Elle has already told us that she no longer likes Disney Princesses. She says she is too old for that. I helped her clean out most of her crowns and wands. Too weird! At least Jayne is staying little longer. So...

Don and I both have New Years resolutions to play more with the kids and have more outings with them individually. We call them Daddy-kid and Mommy-kid dates. I also want to spend less time taking care of the house and more time actually "playing" with the kids. We want to enjoy this time with them before they are so busy with school and other activities.


A few pics from New Years in St. George...

We spent New Years with Don's family in St. George. We were all able to fit into one condo, which was so nice. We were with Don & Diane, Tami & Glenn and their family, and Lei & Devin and their family.

Lindsay and Jayne

Lots of games--Rook and Scrabble are always favorites! (Diane, Tami, Jeremy, Glenn)

Elle and Easton loved being with cousins and had so much fun playing at the park, swimming and playing games (Travis, Trevor, Easton, Blake, Spencer, Elle)

Tami, Lei, Diane and I all tied fleece blankets for our kids

Elle helped tie all of them. She loved it and showed us the best way to do it because she had just done it in school.

Easton loved the pool. It was so warm!

Natalie used to always trick her dad, Jay, (Don's brother) into sweeping the floor for her by asking him just how to do it properly. It is a fun memory of her dad. In this picture, Don was "tricking" Natalie into sweeping for him.

Whenever we go to St.George, we go to Thomas Judd's candy store and get some fun old fashioned treats. The kids loved it!

Jayne with Gpa holding tight to her sucker

My cute niece, Natalie

Heather and Todd come to visit

My sister, Heather, came into town with her family and stayed with us for a few days. We had so much fun! My kids loved being with their cousins and played hard all day long. Todd, Heather, Don and I had fun too--talking, staying up way too late playing Mario Bros. on the Wii, and we even got away one night for dinner and a movie. (Thanks to great babysitters who took on 6 kids under the age of 6).

Mason, Elle, Memphis and Easton making funny faces

Playing Disney DVD Bingo

Elle and Mason out in the snow

Easton and Memphis making cookies



Mason and Elle wanted to see if they could jump up and down for 10 minutes. They actually did it!

Scary knights at a masquerade ball?

Heather and I got away for a few hours for some lunch and shopping. It was so fun to be with my sister!

Jayne with Uncle Todd

Another First--The Tooth Fairy!

Elle lost her first tooth! She was so excited! She was so anxious for it to come out because most of her friends had already lost a few. She even let Don try to pull it out with pliers a few times but it wasn't quite ready. Finally, the day after Christmas, she was eating an apple and it came out in the apple. Another first...

I love her new grin!

Christmas!!!

We had a really fun Christmas! Tami and Glenn's family came over to spend Christmas Eve with us. We had a delicious dinner, let the kids act out the nativity, read Grandma Diane's Christmas book , and played a lot of games!!! Elle and Easton love their cousins and had so much fun. It was a small gathering, compared to what we are used to because a lot of Don's family went to Phoenix this year, but we still had a great time!

Christmas Eve dinner

Easton loved wrestling and playing football with Nate

Lindsay helped Elle learn some cheerleading moves

Elle and Easton were so excited to be Joseph and Mary and insisted that Nate and Lindsay were shepherds (Even though they had crowns on)

Don read in Luke

I read Diane's book she wrote, "I Believe in Santa Claus"

The kids got to open up new pajamas before bed. Easton was so excited his had dinosaurs! Jayne was just exhausted at this point but she still looks so cute!

Elle had the cutest idea to make a note for Santa and wrote it all on her own

We had so much fun playing games until 2am after the little kids went to bed. Our cute niece, Natalie, and her boyfriend, Trent came over later in the night and played with us too. We played Taboo, Apples to Apples, Pass the Pigs, Rook, and the Wii. So fun! Cute Elle had the hardest time falling asleep because she was so excited for Christmas. She was still awake at 1am and ran downstairs to tell us that Easton had his head stuck under our bed. I have no idea how he got his head under our bed while he was asleep but it was pretty funny!

Christmas morning came early! Elle was so excited to see that she got a camera from Santa.

Easton got a dinosaur that growls

Jayne loved it!

Jayne's connecting toys from Santa

We got Elle and Easton pet African frogs. Elle named hers "Aramina" from 'Barbie and the Three Musketeers' and Easton named his "Megatron," of course. I don't know what it is about the bad guys lately.

Elle got Easton a dinosaur fossil kit. They love each other and were so excited to give each other the gifts they picked out.

Easton got Elle a butterfly paint kit

Elle made Don a book about the things they do together

Elle made me a book too called, "Me and Mom." It was so cute!

Easton colored a picture of me

Easton gave Don a candy cane he painted

Elle and Easton both got Legos from Gma and Gpa Adamson

New Hulk shirt

Elle's paint set

Every little boy needs cowboy boots! Now Easton says that he needs a cowboy hat and his own rope

Elle and Jayne in their new dresses

Jayne loves to clap!

We had such a fun Christmas Day. After opening gifts, we went and saw the new "Alvin and the Chipmunks" movie.