Grandma Dori turns 80!

It's not every day your Grandma turns 80. After our night in Ogden we went to celebrate my Grandma turning 80 years old. Grandma Dori is a lot of fun, very crazy and eccentric, but we love her. Yes, that is money she is throwing!

Ogden!

In December Doug had a business trip to.....Ogden Utah. I found it funny that he was only an hour and a half (less when I drive) away from us. We dropped him off on Sunday night and decided to hang out for a while. We had dinner and watched a movie, then I drove home with the kids.
We came back and stayed with him on Friday night before going home. We went out to dinner and then back to the hotel where we swam and had a great night.
Being a Diamond member, Doug got upgraded to a Suite with a Jacuzzi in the room. The kids had a ball with it Friday night and I enjoyed it in the morning. Perhaps the most memorable part of this little overnight adventure was the fact that the kids slept in the closet! That's right, the closet. Being a lovely suite, there was a whole room for us and a different room for the kids, but there was also a walk in closet that Faith, Gavin, and Brayden decided would make a good fort. While they enjoyed their fort, Landon had the whole bed to himself in the kids room. HA! He did flips until he fell asleep!

2 months old!

School Christmas Parties

I have always loved helping out at my kid's school. However, with two little ones and having to work I don't have a whole lot of time to be there helping. I do try to make sure I can go on any field trips they have and I love to attend and help with their parties. This year Gavin's teacher changed his party date so I could go see him make a fantastic grahm cracker house and still got to help Faith's class the next day. I have never been asked to help at Brayden's parties, but I always like to pop in and say hi to him and see how it's going! It's fun seeing them with their friend's at school, spending extra time with them and getting to know their teachers.

Candy Houses

One of my favorite Christmas time traditions is the making of candy houses. I love that Brayden, Gavin, and Faith come up with their own ideas and make their own houses. They have so much fun making them and showing them off. I love to see how proud they are of their creations, and each one has all sorts of extra features to explain. Gavin made kit kat stairs up to his little deck and Faith loves her gumdrop shingles. Brayden made a diving board on his roof and canons out of kisses to protect his house. I love them all! Obviously I still love making a house myself! I don't think I will ever grow out of it!

My Little Nephew

On December 9th 2010 I became an Aunt....again!
He looks just like his sister and brother, especially his brother Ryken! My kids were so excited to go and see him in the hospital. It was fun to be there seeing them go through what we just experienced a couple months earlier. I was sad that they had some of the same complications we had with Griffin, and an extra one, but they had a beautiful baby boy at the end of the day! They hadn't picked a name when we saw him, but they had a few options. All the way home my kids talked about how they hoped that Steve and Clerissa would pick the name Zachary (I admit,I liked that one best too.) His name was decided just before they left the hospital! Zachary Steven Lewis is my beautiful nephew. It is so fun that Griffin has a buddy just 2 months younger than him. They are going to love growing up together!

Griffin's Blessing

Griffin Michael Ward was blessed on December 5, 2010! It was a beautiful day! I am so very grateful for the priesthood. It is such an amazing blessing. It was absolutely wonderful to see my brother Jeff in the circle that day! I know the priesthood is the power of God and I am glad to see him respecting that and living worthy of that sacred responsibility. I am so grateful for the Holy Ghost and the blessing it is in my life. I know the Holy Ghost is real!
That day made me thankful once again to live in Utah with all my family and Doug's family, which is my family too! We were surrounded by people we love and that was wonderful! Thank you to my family for always being there, I love you all!