Last night we went with Grandma Blick and Uncle Jason to ride the Heber Creeper, which at Christmas time turns into the Polar Express! The kids all wore their jammies and we sat sipping hot cocoa and eating cookies while waiting to see Santa. Just before he arrived, we read the story "The Polar Express" and the kids drew pictures with their fingers on the steamy windows. Santa finally came and handed out sleigh bells to all of the children. The elves told jokes and we all sang Christmas carols. The look on Gavin's face when he first spied Santa was magic. Thank you Grandma and Grandpa for this memorable experience! We love you!

I took this video of Baden three years ago. I thought he was so grown up at the time, but now as I watch it I am overwhelmed at how fast time goes by. The last few days I've had the Charles Dickens quote on my mind "I will honor Christmas in my heart, and try to keep it all the year. I will live in the Past, the Present, and the Future. The Spirits of all Three shall strive within me. I will not shut out the lessons that they teach." Thank you Baden for being my first, for being patient with me while I learn how to be your mom, and for teaching me to live and love with enthusiasm. I love you!

Avery has learned to stand and crawl in the same week! If this seems strange to you, remember that she has been scooting around up until now! Nothing makes the boys giggle like their little sister crawling like a normal baby! I promised my mom that I would keep Avery from walking until her return from Africa (so she won't miss the big moment), but it will be a close call. Avery wants to walk - hurry home mom!

Last night Jeremy and our boys went to a Utah Jazz signing party! Coach Sloan and Carlos Boozer were nice enough to take some pictures with the kids!  They came home with two hats and a basketball filled with signatures!

A Big Congratulations to my brother-in-law Joel for passing the BAR exam!
(not that anyone was surprised!)

~ And congrats to you too April, it's a team effort! ~

Family Business

(a family home evening tradition)

- Baden is excited for his first SEP conference on Monday

- Gavin LOVES to play at Owen's house

-Avery got a new tooth (her 3rd) and crawls on her hands and knees. (it's a big deal)

-Jeremy and Chrissy were given new church callings on Sunday. Jer is the Young Men's President, and I am the 1st counselor in primary. This is my first time in primary since I was 11!

High: Halloween

Low: Saying goodbye to previous callings.  

Owl Cookies

My nanny Melanie Taught us how to make these cute cookies when I was a kid.  I love passing this tradition on to my kids. 

1 c. brown sugar packed

3/4 c. butter softened

1 tsp. vanilla

1 egg

2 1/4 cups flour

2 tsp. baking powder

1/2 tsp. salt

1 1/2 oz. unsweetened baking chocolate, melted

1/2 tsp. baking soda

chocolate chips

cashews

In a large bowl, beat brown sugar and butter with a mixer until light and fluffy. Beat in vanilla and egg until blended. Beat in flour, baking powder, and salt until well blended. Place 1 c. of dough in small bowl and blend in melted chocolate and baking soda.

On plastic wrap, press half of light dough to form 10x4 in strip. Shape half of chocolate mixture into 10 in. roll. Mold sides of light dough around chocolate and wrap in plastic wrap. Repeat with remaining dough. Put in fridge for 1 hour.

Heat oven to 350. cut dough into 1/4 in. slices. Put two slices together and pinch corners to make the face. Stick on chocolate chips and cashew for eyes and beak. 

Bake 10 min. until edges are golden brown.  

Happy Halloween! 

We had a great time at all of the Halloween parties this year (the more opportunities to wear our costumes the better)! The Boys chose their costumes based on the weapons that came with them - obviously. Baden chose to be an army soldier (which came with guns and a knife and an assortment of gadgets). Gavin chose to be Prince Caspian because it came with a sword that turned out to be taller than him. Avery was a lion, and a very cute one, as long as she had a lollipop in her mouth! Poor Jeremy, who hates dressing up, let me pick his costume this year. We were pirates, and Jer was a REALLY good sport! Love you Jer! 

My Grandma invited us to a halloween party at her care facility, which was so fun. I love my grandma! She lost her sight a few years ago and needs a lot of assistance for everything. She was also a good sport at the party, and came out in her wheelchair to enjoy the party.  I watched her sit in her wheelchair with a big smile on her face while

 she enjoyed the sound of the children's laughter. I can't imagine I would be as patient given her circumstances, and I love her dearly. My cousin Bethany and my Aunt Debbie also were there. Aren't families great!   

Happy Birthday Grandpa Lund!

We Love you!

Friends

We had a perfect Halloween this year. The sky was cloudy and gloomy all day, and a few hours before Trick-or-treat we had a light rainstorm which brought out the smell of the fallen leaves. You can see in the picture of Katherine and me, that as the night got darker the sky turned positively spooky. We had such a great time at trunk-or-treat, visiting with great friends and admiring each others costumes.  Isn't baby Amy the perfect picture of Halloween?

My Dad is so awesome! He wrote a song about his experience in Africa and sang it for the Nu Skin Convention last Saturday! It was beautiful, and very moving.  This is not something I ever thought I would see my dad do. He was so brave, and it was well worth it. 

Family Business

(a family home evening tradition)

- Baden gave a talk on service in primary yesterday! (he did great!)

-Gavin gave a prayer in primary yesterday! (actually I gave the prayer... but Gavin stood there!)

-Jer & Chrissy met the Goo Goo Dolls (it was better than expected)

-Avery stood up all by herself yesterday for the first time!

High: Watching Dad sing the Africa Song at the Nu Skin Convention

Low: Putting Avery's baby clothes into storage. (I miss those days!)

The Goo Goo Dolls came to the Nu Skin convention last weekend.  It was a great show! We got to meet them after!  

    Jason's Dutch Oven Dinner Night!

We had a full UEA weekend this year. The weather is absolutely gorgeous and I don't remember a fall with more vibrant colors or mild temperatures. I took the kids to Barnyard Boo out at Thanksgiving Point on Thursday.  I had never been before, and we had a great time.  Early Friday morning we took Gavin down to the hospital to have his second set of tubes put in his ears and his adenoids taken out. He seems to take after me in the "don't let the doctor touch me" department. But we had a great anesthesiologist who treated him like gold and made the whole experience much, much easier than last time.  I'm writing a letter to the hospital to sing his praise. Gavin has been a champ during recovery.  We had hoped that losing the adenoids would alleviate his snoring, but last night when I checked on him he was as loud as ever, I could hear him down the hall - poor kid. We spent the rest of the day at Cornbelly's which has been a really fun Halloween tradition for our family. A highlight for us this year was getting to crack open a geode and launching pumpkins out of a canon. We also found that Avery goes nuts over slides.  The boys are getting braver every year when it comes to "The Beast" (a dragon-like monster that you walk through similar to a haunted house) but they still don't love it like I do. Halloween is my #2 most favorite holiday - second only to Christmas.  Saturday night, Grandma & Grandpa Blick came over because Jason cooked a dutch oven dinner for us that was AMAZING! Thanks Jason. Sunday we spent with my dad's side of the family. It was a good old fashioned Lund family Sunday. It was a great UEA - and now it's back to school, work and laundry. 

I went with Gavin's preschool class on a field trip to the fire station, which we were both really excited about! He got to climb through a fire truck, wear firefighter clothes and spray the hose. Too bad my flash stopped working and my pictures are blurry - grr.  

Pumpkin Bars

4 eggs

1 - 2/3 c. sugar

1 c. oil

1 16oz. can pumpkin

2 c. flour

2 tsp. baking powder

2 tsp. cinnamon

1 tsp. salt

Frosting

1 3oz. cream cheese, softened

1/2 c. butter softened

1 tsp. vanilla

2 c. powdered sugar

Beat eggs, sugar oil and pumpkin till fluffy. stir in dry ingredients. 

Bake on 15x10x1 baking pan at 350 degrees for 25 min. cool and frost.

Frosting: cream together cream cheese and butter.

 Add vanilla and sugar in small amounts, beat well. 

Mashed Potatoes

6 cups cubed redskin potatoes

3 heaping TBS horseradish

3/4 cup butter softened

1 1/2 tsp. salt, and to taste

1 1/2 cups shredded Gouda cheese. 

Boil potatoes until very soft - Drain.  

Add butter, salt and whip until butter melts. 

Whip in remaining ingredients. 

Serves about 6. 

Avery turned one last month! She is a joy for our whole family. 

It's so fun to make a girlie cake!

How about a little help

Kelsey gave Avery some funny baby high heels!

Jeremy was the soccer coach for my boy's team this fall. It was a lot of fun, and we had a great team with fun kids. These are some clips of my boys:

When Baden plays soccer he pretends to be Anakin Skywalker and he's flying in a starship. If you watch, you can tell.

Gavin is 4. We have found with our kids that at age 4, soccer is all about exposure : )

Seriously, this is how she moves around!

Last week we went to N.Y. with our friends for a business trip (meaning that the guys work while the girls play). It was my first trip since 9/11 and I felt very patriotic as I walked around the city. We also saw Wicked, which was awesome. I love New York.

Last weekend we went to Moab, Utah where Jeremy, Jason and John rode in a 100 mile bike race. They had great times, no injuries and a lot of fun!! Meanwhile, Jennifer and I worked really hard relaxing by the pool with the kids. That night we spent time at Grandma Blick's place in Blanding, Utah. We love her!

The end of an era

Baden started kindergarten today.  He's going to Rock Canyon Elementary - the same school I attended.  The smell of the school as we entered the doors brought back many memories.  Baden has been very excited for this day.  He is mostly looking forward to the library where he was able to spy a few snake books the other day.   

I admit I thought it would be horrible when Baden left me to go to Kindergarten, yet as the day drew near, his excitement rubbed off on me.  Baden will absolutely love Kindergarten! I didn't even cry too much on the way home.

This was our first real attempt at a family vacation.  We packed up my parents RV and left for a week at Yellowstone. It was perfect, at least as far as I'm concerned.  The boys were disappointed with the wildlife - even though we saw deer, elk, four bears and buffalo in abundance - because  all they wanted to see was a rattlesnake and a black widow spider.  Nice!  

I have to make note of this picture because it makes me so happy!  My kids are the type that will never give a natural smile in a picture.  They are always looking off to the side or closing their eyes or making a goofy face...it drives me crazy!  But we recently went to the zoo where I was able to get this pic of Gavin.  This is the happy boy I know!

I love watching how girlie Avery's nature is.  The other day I sat her down in a room with toys all over the floor.  The toys, of course, are all either boyish or gender neutral items like star-wars figures, balls, blocks, musical instruments and stuffed animals.  We own one doll that I bought for her last Christmas (because I couldn't resist) knowing that it would be ages before she would ever play with it.  The second she saw the doll she went straight for it, picked her up and hugged her!  I couldn't believe that she even knew what to do with a doll - I never showed her!  The only time the doll was played with before was when the boys were swinging it by the head!  I love that she, at 11 months old, already has a nurturing nature.  Needless to say she and her dolly have been inseparable ever since.

Happy Fourth!

Luke joined our family on July 1st (Gavin's Birthday) I'm sure you can guess that he is named after Star Wars!  He is a Puggle (half pug half beagle) and he's a whole lot of fun.  When we introduced him to the kids they screamed "don't let him touch me!" - Not really the reaction we expected, but they love him more every day.  Avery likes to laugh at him from a distance, but when they get close to each other they both can be a little rough.  Her first word aside from "momma" and "dadda" was "dog".