January happenings

 Brennan started Sunbeams!  Brennan loves getting to go to Primary with Aiden.  And we've been told by multiple people how well-behaved and reverent he is!  He is often hyper and loud at home so we were happy with that report :) And Aiden is now in CTR 5.  

He said his favorite part of the lesson was when he became a "king."

 At the beginning of the month, Nate had his annual awards banquet for work up at the Grand America.  His job can be mentally and emotionally challenging with the ups and downs of it all but he is doing great and was given some awards that night from his production last year.  I'm so proud of him and grateful he works hard to I can stay home with the kids.

 We were able to go on a few other dates during the month too.  We went out with the Kunzlers one night which is always fun.  They know how to keep us laughing.  And we trade off babysitting with Aaron & Samantha now too so we were able to go on a few more dates than normal.  With three kids, I feel like date nights are even more important now so Nate and I can have some quality time together. Below Nate is eating his favorite thing ever - a cookie dough shake from JCWs.  We compromised on one of our dates - he chose where we ate (JCWs) and I got to choose the activity (and I chose shopping - haha!) He was a good sport about that one :)

Our kids look forward to our babysitting swaps too cause they get to play with their cute cousins.

 We also had some fun playdates.  We hung out with Angie and her kids one day and hung out with Crissi and her girls another day.  I'm so glad we still hang out with our friends from our old Orem ward! 

 Aiden got to bring "Buddy Bear" home from his kindergarten class and boy was he excited! Aiden made sure we did lots of fun stuff so he could write all about his weekend with Buddy Bear. We made sugar cookies, the boys played with their cousins, and we went out to Chili's one night with my parents.

 Nate went skiing one day while Jared and his two oldest boys were in town.  They went to Snowbird and met up with Rich (who works there) and they had a great time.

 For my dad's birthday this year, we "kidnapped" him and took him out for ice cream at Cold Stone.  The boys thought it was the coolest thing ever to put a pillow case over grandpa's head and surprise him.  Except Aiden had already told my dad a few days before that we were taking him out for ice cream so I don't think he was too surprised.  But it was still fun to hang out with my parents!

 My dad gave Callie some of his ice cream and she sure liked it!  It was so funny to see her smacking her lips and sticking out her tongue for more.  She has a sweet tooth already!

 

That same night we went to a BYU basketball game with my dad.  It was Callie's first BYU game and we are already brainwashing her into liking the cougars :)  The kid's attention spans didn't last forever so we got lots of "drinks" and roamed around but we enjoyed ourselves still.

My sis-in-law Danae introduced me to Jane.com and I have become a little "headband happy" buying LOTS of headbands and bows for Callie.  She already has a ton so I don't know why I keep buying them.  Help me! :)  I organized them the other day and lets just say she could wear a different headband everyday for two months and still have more to spare. I guess that's what happens when I finally get a girl after two boys! 

The Johnny Jump-up has been my life saver for this girl lately too.  She still doesn't crawl but she wants to move around so this thing keeps her entertained.  We usually keep it in the pantry door so she can watch me while I'm in the kitchen. The boys love jumping with her too and getting her wound up. They are troopers to help keep Callie happy while I make dinner each night.

These kids LOVE their bath time each night.  Poor Callie is always being splashed but she doesn't seem to mind at all. She actually loves watching her big brothers play.  And it kills three birds with one stone bathing them all together :)