Baptism

We had some road bumps and trials in trying to prepare for Kasidee's baptism. Luckily I have a wonderful friend in the Primary presidency who helped me figure everything out. It was definently a learning experience for me and Derek. But when all was said and done Kasidee had a great experience and that's all that matters. Kasidee had her baptism interview with the Bishop and he said, "this girl knows her stuff." As a family we really prepared ourselves to really understand why we should be baptized. He asked her why she wanted to be baptized. And Kasidee replied, "Because I want to be a member of our church and have the Holy Ghost help me." I was worried she was going to say, "Because my friends/cousins are." She really is growing up.
Kasidee was baptized with her best friend, her cousin Bailee. She was very happy to share that day with her. Kasidee smiled from ear to ear on her baptism day. I just love her so much!

Kasi and Bailee


Kasidee's cute friends congratulating her


Ella going to town on the all you can eat buffet

A brand new year, a brand new start.

I was reading an article in the Ensign about goal setting. I can't remember which of the Seventy wrote it, but- He said we should always be goal setting and always trying to progress ourselves. Not to wait for the New Year, and that is why he is where he is (in the Seventy) and I am where I am. I do appreciate his advice and will try harder to make goals throughout the year. He also said to make goals you can actually accomplish! Ideal right?! So don't put on your list *become filthy rich, put *I'm going to save $ amount per week, per month, whatever.
So for FHE the other night we all set goals, individual ones and also as a family.

Kasidee-
*Have a better attitude
*Move to level M in reading

Dillon-
*Try to not throw fits ("try" is the keyword)
*Be better at putting my toys away

Brittany-
*Keep my cool with the kids
*Serve better as a leader in YW (read scripture's 5 min. a day, say prayers, smile.)
*SAVE my money
*Excersize. (not the "kill myself" excersize. the "I feel good" excersize)

Derek-
*Still working on his list

Family-
*Read the Book of Mormon
*Be nice!!

Elves at the Village

We went on an elf scavenger hunt- Kasi and Dill had fun seeing all the cute scenes. I printed off a list and we had to find certain elves, and then got a treat at Sweet Aftons. I love spending time with my kids:)

Gingerbread Houses

We had a blast putting together our gingerbread house. Derek was being a bit of a perfectionist-he had to come to terms with a 3 yr old and a 7 yr old putting it together. Later we watched a Paula Deen christmas show - her gingerbread house was awesome. Derek is making some plans to renovate next years house.

Temple Lights

We had such a fun night with my family last night. It was SO COLD- but we still wanted to take the kids to see temple square lights. We are never disappointed in the light display and nativity scene, and it has become our family tradition to make time to go up there. But seriously, it was cold.



Grandma and Kas



The whole gang



My cute kids

Toys For Tots

Our good friends had such a great idea- we usually bring a gift to our party and play a game- but good ole' soft hearted Mitch said we should use that money and buy toys for children less fortunate. So we did. We decided to go out to eat, see Santa, and have our children learn about giving instead of receiving. Things didn't go as planned. Santa had left by the time we got there. My kids were actually relieved but poor Morgan was not okay with it. It was still a fun night, we rode the carousel instead:)

Rockin' around the Christmas Tree

Kasidee started the holiday season off on Dec. 6th with a dance recital. Me and Dill had such a fun time cheering her on. I think Kasidee was made for the stage (especially with all this drama she has:) ).

Christmas Photo Shoot

Angie had taken the kids pictures for christmas/birthday's and here are a few of my favorites.







Thanks Ang, you are SO talented!

The Lion House

I remember going to a birthday party (I think Taryn's or Annie's) at the Lion House when I was younger. But it wasn't a tradition in my family. But, along with many other things I've aquired with Derek's side, going to the Lion House when you turn eight is one of them. They actually invite all the grandma's and aunt's though. So I had to tweek the tradition a bit because the whole party would have been a family reunion with all the aunt's and grandma's we have. It was nice, a bit overpriced for what you actually get, but Kasidee enjoyed herself and that's all that matters (right?). All 11 of the girls were very well behaved, Kasidee is such a cute friend, she had such a hard time picking who she wanted to invite- but when a couple of 5th and 6th graders appeared on her list, well-lets just say I did the final draft.

I feel like we have celebrated Kasidee's birthday 10 times this week! Dillon was SO funny, he LOVED everything Kasidee recieved. When my mom gave Kasidee her gift he kept yelling "A CUPCAKE MAKER?!! YOU GOTTA BE KIDDING ME!!! A CUPCAKE MAKER!!" That boy cracks me up.

Kasidee found the gumball in her peice of cake- which means 1 year of good luck.

As most of you know Brooke is creative. She made this pillow for Marley to sleep on- it has her initials- Marley Cupcake Kuehne- it was a hit:) for Kas and the pup.

Thankful

We had a great Thanksgiving day! At Derek's moms the kids all said one thing that they were thankful for- Kasidee said the TV. It was a little embarassing, but at least she's honest. So I just wanted to post a few things that I am thankful for. It's been an emotional week for me-Cade's birthday was on Friday and of course it brings back such wonderful and very sad memories. I said to Dillon "Did you know that Cade would be 3 today?!!" And he said "Mom, I'm 3!!!" And we laughed at the fact that I have two 3 year olds, and also cried at the fact that only one is here. My sister in law had her baby on Monday and I really struggled with that. I am of course so happy for her, I just was having a pity party for me! Poor Derek has gotten an earful from me this week! He is so patient and loving. He might not run out and buy me flowers but doing a sinkful of dishes is exactly the remedy I need!
I am thankful for-
*Derek
*Kasi and Dill
*My friends (also comfort food :) )
*My Savior
*A puppy that's sleeps all night
*And, like Kasidee, I am thankful for TV :)
*My family
*My best friend, My Mom (who had also gotten an earful from me this week and every other day:) )

Eight is REALLY Great!

Kasidee's birthday is today! And we finally gave in -Kasidee is a pet owner.
Marley Cupcake Kuehne

This puppy is a cutie. So far NO accidents. (It might help that I take her out every 1/2 hour)

Me and Derek were very excited to give Kasidee this gift. She is such a good girl. We feel very blessed that she is part of our family. We love to see her happy and this puppy makes her very happy. I won't show the entire video, we started out with her finding her gifts around the house-she recieved a book "Bad Dog Marley", a puppy toy, and a feeding bowl. (Dill gave her a Sharpay barbie) So she pretty much had figured it out by the time Derek brought Marley in.

I still am in shock that we did it.

It's not fair!

Dillon is having the younger child syndrome. Kasidee is a little free bird and wants to play as soon as she gets home from school. So of course Dillon wants to play too. But if I'm working or if Ella is sleeping (his usual bad timing) I say no. And I get the "it's not fair" crap. My kids are having a hard time understanding that we don't call people and say "Can you play?"-"At YOUR house?" Believe me, this kid is not missing out. He usually gets to play 5 out of the 7 days. Just not 24/7. Here are some fun pictures when we had his best buddy, Luke, over. Dillon said he wanted to do something REALLY fun- so this is what we came up with- Fruit kabobs for a snack, making a car for a craft, and a cardboard sword to run around and play with. Ella joined in on the fun until they went outside but she kept a close eye on them still. It's so fun to watch my kids grow and develop their mostly cute personalities, and then watch them interact with other kids. These boys make me laugh. Whenever we say it's time to go home they both break out into tears. I'm glad they are buddies.

233rd Place

This past weekend my 2 friends and I ran in the Snow Canyon, St.George 1/2 marathon. The weather was so nice that while I ran my face got fried! I was SO nervous to run- but after taking 10 potty breaks before the race, I did it! My goal was 2 hours and 15 min. and I ran it in 2 hrs and 14 min. Taking 233rd place. I'm not sure I would have met my goal if my dad and Brooke hadn't met me at mile 11. Thanks so much mom, dad, Kev, Brooke and Ella for coming to cheer me on, it really meant a lot! My main goal was to keep in front of this 75 year old guy. And luckily I barely passed him at the finish:) My friend Teena ran like a mad woman and finished in 17th place. We didn't take our kids so I told my friend, Suzie, that our possibilities were endless- so we stayed in bed all day after the race until late Sunday morning. WE LOVED IT! Thanks for being such an inspiration to me Suzie and helping me accomplish something I wouldn't have done on my own! Now on to the full marathon.

Halloween-finally over!

Did Halloween last a week for anyone else? I am SO done with this particular holiday. Thursday was Kasidee's Halloween parade, usually we get quite a group out to cheer her on, I don't blame anyone because it started at 9:00 am. But one of Kasidee's biggest fans came- MY MOM. She's a gem. I love to people watch, and there were some goodies on Halloween- the freaks and the hookers make their debut.(Thanks to Kasidee's grandma Kuehne for making her costume nice and modest). There was a lady dressed up as a polygamist- Can we do that?
Anyways, on Friday night the gang came over for some cheap entertainment. My kids are pretty awesome when it comes to trick-or-treating. We walked down the street and Dillon said he had enough candy and Kasidee wanted to go home and pass the candy out.

Here was our cheap entertainment-
Everyone trying on Kasidee's wig.







And Dillon jumping out of a box a thousand times.

Octoberfest and Pumpkin Carving

This last Sunday was our family's annual Octoberfest! My mom is so creative and cute! We celebrate Octoberfest to enjoy being outside with the fall leaves for one last time, we have a very yummy dinner in the backyard. My kids love it! This year it was nice and warm. And when it started to get chilly my dad started a fire for the kids.



Monday we went to our friends house and had a little party. It's so hard to go and see everyone on Halloween, so we dressed up the kids and showed 'em off to each other. Katherine was a great hostess and our kids just love being together. I don't think me and Derek have ever dressed up for Halloween so it was fun to give it a try, even if nobody knew who we were:) And the pumpkins looked so good!







(See if you can guess who we were:) )

Fall; Greatest Season of them ALL!

This is my favoritre time of year! I love that when you get up you dress for winter and by the afternoon you've redressed for summer:) Me and my mom loaded up the kids and hit Little Cottonwood Canyon. It was so worth it when just in the car Dillon was yelling; "This is so FREAKING AWESOME!!" We pulled off to the first trailhead (luckily it was paved) started hiking and picking fall leaves. The colors were so pretty! If you haven't already, you too should go and enjoy some fall foilage:) When we came home we made our own fall trees. I love days like these:)

Double the Trouble, Double the Fun

I watched my neice and nephew twins, Sadie and Sawyer, Sat. night. I have to say- I have a new found respect for their mom:) When she dropped them off they were screaming (they hate their car seat) and they were hungry so I asked Dillon to hold them while I made bottles. Here's a picture of Dill plugging his ears. I fed them and Dill took a picture of me. After they ate they were happy and we cooed and smiled at each other. Then I put one to sleep then the other, played a few games with Dill, and 30 min. later they were awake. It is alot of work. I didn't do much else that's for sure. My mom came and she said that I could handle twins. I thought for a minute that I could! Then remembered it had only been 3 hrs! Amber my sis in-law is a great mom and does a way better job than I could. I'll love them for 3 hrs any day and then send them back to her:)

Zions Bank and The Utah Jazz

The Bishop in our ward is a "Big Wig" at Zions. He was over the construction of the Jazz training center. So the YW and YM had an "in" to go and take a tour of the facility. It is the newest and nicest training center in all of the NBA. Of course the Jazz were out of town so there were no big appearences. But still very cool to sniff the sweat rags of, hopefully, Matt Harpring:) Here are some pictures- (I swear I was wearing a shirt under the jersey!)



Me and Derek in front of his fav players locker. Those Jazz boys are very, very messy! It was crazy in there- IPOD's all over, size 20 shoes all over. Expensive messy stuff.



Us giving a great press conference.

Love those Crafty Homemakers

Kasidee has wanted to play the piano for as long as I can remember! She loved pounding on my moms piano and as she watched others play, wanted to be as musical. One problem- I didn't have a piano. Of course my mom did offer me her piano a while back. At the time I didn't have room for it so said no. Where is the piano now you ask- oh, at Brookes! No I'm not bitter at all. You snooze you loose. So I've been looking and thinking I was going to spend hundreds. But -Oh lucky day! I found one for $50 bucks! Gotta love KSL classifieds. If you can look past the crazy heart stencil, it's a lovely little piano. And I'm sure in it's day (20 years ago) that sweet little crafty paint job was oh-so-hip. My silly hubby put his foot in his mouth when the lady we bought it from was explaining that the lady she bought it from had painted it and Derek said, "I have a feeling that's the first thing to go." He said she seemed a little sad by that. Oops. My Kasidee thinks it so pretty! But she also likes to wear her clothes two days in a row so I won't be taking style tips from her!

Finding Joy in the Journey

I loved all the conference talks this past conference weekend. I found conference packets online and printed them off for the kids so that they could keep busy and also try to listen. Growing up my mom always made an effort to try and get us naughty kids to hold still and listen to our Prophet. She was so creative -usually treats were involved- so I carried on that tradition. I made a list of words to listen for and every time someone said it they could take a treat out of the bucket. Dillon was cracking me and Derek up, he'd say, "I just heard revelation, is that a word on my list?" or "I just heard virtue, that's a word right mom?" Even though no-those word were not on the list (the words were love, Jesus, prophet- easy, simple words) Dill got a treat just for listening and because he said those words so cute:)
This conference was exactly what I needed to hear. I felt very at ease and also very loved by my father in heaven. I've always loved President Monson. His humorous stories and his love for this gospel has always inspired me to do better and be better. He motivates me! He talked about how things will change. Change is sure to come. And how we should find joy in the journey. That one day all the laundry will be gone, there won't be hand smudges around the house. But to also not sit and be sad about those things when they are gone! Don't let the time just go by you. Be a do'er! Create memories, it's never to late. So my goal is to let the toys lay on the floor longer, and not say to my kids "I'll play with you as soon as I'm done cleaning this." My family is greatest thing I have going for me and I need to cherish that as much as I can!