Hope you have a good day

Cynjyn says HI to everyone in blogging land!!

She actually wanted me to take a picture of her first attempt at curling her new haircut. We thought it turned out pretty cute!! Have a great day all!

Talon is no longer a teen!

Well, Talon is an official adult. He will never see his teen years again (thank goodness!!) He is already lamenting being "old".

For instance: Tiffany wanted to make sure he was surprised for his bday, so she threw him a friends dinner TWO WEEKS AGO.

Then, I didn't know what to get him, so I said I'd buy him a lift ticket sometime this winter so he could go snowboarding. So, TWO WEEKENDS AGO, he took me up on the offer and went to Brian Head.

Which brings us to today. He woke up and we all said HB to him. Then, he had to go to the DMV and wait in LINE to renew his drivers license. When he got home, he, Tiff and I played Zooloretto (Cynjyn didn't have school because of Parent teacher conference). While we were playing, she brought him his present: A card with...

...coupons for her to "go away" from him if he's annoying her. That made him sad because he loves her and doesn't want her to go away. He asked her why he couldn't get coupons for free hugs!! But just then, she started spanking him 20 times for his bday spanks, so he used a coupon and told her to "go away"!

Then, Tanner came home and he had to help us take out all 105 blankets, and put a sticker tag on them and then load them into boxes and take them up to the retirement center,

Where Tanner presented them to the director and a resident (they are going to be handed out at their Christmas party).

Then, we rushed home, took Tanner to ballroom dance class, made a quick dinner (burritos) and ate them standing around the kitchen because Taz had his first band concert that he had to be at by 5:15. He did such a good job for only playing his instrument for three months. He has such an awesome band teacher who works wonders with these beginners!! Then we dropped the kids off at home and Garry and I ran to get out interview with the Stake presidency to renew our temple recommends. So, that was his "birthday". Welcome to adulthood Talon...isn't it fun!!

December Happenings

I got the inside of the house decorated Thanksgiving weekend. Garry, however, didn't do the yard until around the 8th. We were getting worried that he wasn't going to come through, but he, Taz and Cynjyn went on the roof and got it done in about 2 hours. Taz was a big help and granted, everything isn't up, but it's presentable.

Then we had a shortened pixie week, only having to do Wed.-Fri. Here are Taz and Cynjyn happily making root beer reindeer.

Tanner was very excited as he got a great honor in school last week. He got student of the month. He got this nice certificate and a cool shirt. This is what they read over the whole school about him: Tanner Goon has shown excellence in citizenship in his Freshmen House of the Courageous skyhawks. Ms. Sena says Tanner is an exceptional student in Biology Honors. He always strives to do his best. He is a pleasure to have in class and gets along great with his peers. In English 1 Honors, Ms. Parks is always sure she can count on Tanner to answer questions, read with confidence, write an organized essay, and maintain calm no matter how hard the task is before him. As a Geometry Honors student, Ms. DiNenna says Tanner is excellent! He understands the concepts and is not afraid to explain them to others that may still need help. Tanner truly is a Courageous SkyHawk.

He tells me everyday that in Geometry, he has a group of people that just hang around his desk and ask for help, the teacher doesn't even need to go to his side of the room because she knows Tanner is helping that side. In English the first thing that Ms. Parks said to him was, "Wow! You are very organized Tanner! The teachers say that I am the most organized teacher, but I think that you are more organized then me!!!" His binder is always very small and organized(besides his Spanish binder) and he informs me that his desk drawer is very organized. We are proud of him for receiving this honor as there are about 1000 kids in the freshman class and they only pick one boy and one girl each month!!

It's been a busy week

First off, I took Tanner, Taz and Cynjyn into Krispy Kreme one night earlier in the week because you got a free donut for every A on your report card. Between the three of them we came home with 16 original glazed donuts! (No pictures though:() In our primary presidency meeting, we made 96 ornaments for the kids for Christmas.

This is a close up of the finished product.

We also made 30 teacher gifts. A pair of gloves stuffed with candy and a fun short story about a man who gives a poor woman his gloves.

Close-up of finished product.

Attended Cynjyn's awards assembly where she got A-B honor rolls (All A's except a B in math!)

Then, Cynjyn wanted a haircut for her bday, so I took her Friday after school for that.

Friday was also our ward Christmas party. Tanner danced a group dance with other teens in the ward. They did a swing to Rockin around the Christmas Tree. (I'll post a video blog eventually!!) Here he is with his partner, Cora Hopkins.

Cynjyn also got her bday dress from Grandma on Friday...She LOVED it!!

Today, we took 5 of her friends to the Adventuredome for her bday party. We got there by 10:00 am, left at 2:00, stopped at Wendy's for late lunch and had everyone home by 4. These are pictures of the event.

Now, Garry and I are off to his company Christmas dinner. What a week.

My baby turns 9!

Before you label me a bad mother, I didn't post yesterday because our monitor was broken!! We had to drag the super old one out of the garage and so I couldn't see anything until Garry did that and it was late at night when that happened.

Anyway, yesterday was Cynjyn's birthday. She had a little gift bag delivered to her at school, but reminded me that she was at the "older" school now and didn't need me to bring in treats. After school, she opened her presents. The stash before the opening began.

During.

She got this big makeup kit from Taz. Tanner drew her name for Christmas and got her a combined bday/Cmas present because it was kind of spendy, so Cynjyn is opting to open it at Chrismtas instead of her bday.

She got 4 outfits from us and so she promptly wanted to model them for all to see.

After opening presents, we went to Olive Garden for her birthday dinner. We came home and had cake. I'd gotten her an ice cream cake and we all enjoyed our own personal ice cream cone from the top which is about all we could eat because we were so full from dinner. She got phone calls from her grandma, cousin and aunts and so she deemed it a great birthday day!!

Christmas Recital

I had my Christmas recital last night. I have a great bunch of students. It was hard on them because it was the Monday after a long Thanksgiving break. Plus I had originally scheduled it for the 14th of December, but had to move it up two weeks. They almost all came through and practiced and polished and sounded so good!! Love that Christmas music. I was trying to download the videos for my mom and sisters, but they were taking too long, so I gave up. I'll work on that later! I'm off to breakfast at Sunrise Cafe with a few friends!

Day 26 November Gratitudes

I am grateful today is Thanksgiving. I love the relaxation of it and the tradition of basically doing the same things every year. The boys were up and at the football field for the ward's turkey bowl by 9:00am.

Talon ordered himself new cleats and gloves just for the event.

Talon, Tiffany, Garry and I played Zooloreto and Ticket to Ride.

Cynjyn jumped rope.

Tanner practiced.

Taz brought down a lot of Lego's and played all afternoon.

Cynjyn set the table with the good china.




The kids gobbled the skin!!

And we all posed for our annual picture around the dinner table. I am grateful for tradition and good food and good fun. Happy Thanksgiving everyone.