AAAAAAAAAHHHHHHHHHHHH!!!!!!!!!

Its been 20 days since I last posted!!!!!!!!!! December is always crazy for us. This year has been even more so. With my concerts (3 a week) and Tay's play plus all the school stuff, church stuff and sick kids (gotta love the snow...) we have stayed very busy.

So it really shouldn't even be time for Christmas. I wasn't ready for Thanksgiving and now you are telling me Christmas is in 3 days!!! It feels like it should be T-day. This year has just blown past so fast!

I FINALLY got all my Christmas decorat -ions up 2 days ago!!! I started when I put the house lights up by myself just after Thanks -giving. I put on quite the show for my neigh -bors. There is this part on the roof that is big enough for a cat to crawl on and somehow I had to get in there to hang the lights cuz I didn't have anyone to hold a ladder for me. It was quite comical. I thought for sure one of the times I was going to fall face first off the roof but I didn't and the house looks so pretty....

We got a good deal on our real tree. We always get a real tree. It is the fullest noble I have ever seen in my life. You can hardly tell its a noble. It looks so pretty.

I will give highlights over the last couple weeks...

For those that don't know I am in a semi-professional choir (we are non-profit hence the semi part) We perform all over the valley at Christmas time. This year I was given a solo. It was so fun to do that this year. Last night we sang in the Assembly Hall on Temple Sq. That was a dream come true. After the concert I had complete strangers showering me with compliments. My director was so pleased with my performance he complimented me 3 times. It was so exciting!

Taylor started her play but I will do a separate post on that later tonite or tomorrow. I will be videoing her tonite. She is doing well and LOVES every minute of it.


















Katya had her Christmas concert on Wednesday. All the 4th graders played the recorders and sang. They did such a good job. There was alot less squeaking then I thought there would be.


Now we have Christmas to look forward to! I think we will go to my parents Christmas eve or if we can convince them to come to our house... yah right. Christmas Day we will be spending alone until the afternoon. Joe's family will be coming for dinner. Then we will have a few days to recover and get ready for a bunch people coming to stay with us for New years. My mom and brothers and maybe Chelsie are coming from Oregon, Danita's sister Casey, maybe Danita, will come with her, Holly(my sister) and her family will come down from Idaho. We are planning a big New Years party this year. New Years Around the World. I am so excited!!! In the middle of all of this I am going to try to redo my downstairs half bath. Well see.... THEN this coming Sunday I am singing in sacrament. Joe will be my accompanist and then the following Sunday we are speaking. I am actually excited for that. So we have a very busy month.

Katya and Taylor's Piano Recital

Both girls did very well. Here are a few pics and videos of them playing.

Winter Wonderland

Well we were told that there would be snow...... Looks like they were right!




























The kids in their snow gear. The neighbor boy Jordan and his friend helping to
clear our driveway.


















(L)Brynn buried in the snow from the drive way
(Above) The neighbor Ryan pulling Brynn in a sled all over the circle and the dogs following the whole way.





















Pretty snow angels! Chewie LOVES the snow!! He goes nuts in it!!



Building a snow man.

The neighbor girls Sydney and Ruby came to help.

Thanksgiving

We had a very nice relaxed Thanksgiving. We went to my parents house here in Utah. We arrived at around 11:30am and we didn't leave til 11pm. We enjoyed just being together all day. We realized it was the first holiday we were all together in 4 yrs. So that made the day even better!







My brother Steven cooked the best turkey I think I have ever eaten in my life!!! He soaked it in a brine over night (not sure what went in that)
To cook it he seared it to lock in the juices then roasted it in a roaster. When it was done he popped it in the oven to get the skin crispy again. It was fantastic. The rest of the dishes were just as good.





We talked for awhile then cleaned up. We played games and ate too many desserts. We looked at the ads for the next morning and decided where we were going and what we would be getting. We had a really nice day.

The next morning I had planned to go shopping at 4 am but since we didn't get home til just before midnight I decided not to. I went out around 8 and got a few things I had intended on getting and missed some as well.... Oh well what do you do? I met up with Mom and Janelle at Khols. We had a good time. I got some nice Christmas dishes and boots for Brynn.

The weekend came and Joe's sister Jen and her girlfriend Michelle came to visit from California. We all went to dinner for his dad's b-day and to see Jen. Sunday we had a turkey dinner at Joe's parent's. On Monday we met Jen and Michelle, Joe's cousin Darren and his wife Stacey and Joe's mom up in Park City. We got there just after noon. At around 3ish Joe took Brynn and his mom home. Darren and Stacey went home as well. I stayed with Ry Ry. We left Park City at 7pm!!! We had a blast shopping though. Then we went to the Gateway Mall. Met up with Joe's other sister Jackie and her daughter Samantha and Darren& Stacey again. We did some more shopping and then went to dinner. After that we went to go see the lights at Temple Square. We got there just as they turned them off.... It was sad....

Ry was the best through the whole thing even if he did puke at the Java Cow.... (he drank his hot choc too fast)

Fall Fun

My visiting teachers Annie and Lisa came over today. Annie and her boys stayed after to play for a bit. Ryan and Nicholas are good friends in nursery.












We have a BIG pile of leaves in our yard that the kids rake up and then play in just to rake them back up. Nick, his little brother Nathan and Ry played and played.

Big trouble for Ry Ry

Sundays I go to choir rehearsal. I usually get home pretty late. This sunday was no different. I expected to come home to a quiet house. Relax, get a snack and go to bed.

Yah right.....

Joe answered the door (I got a ride) and looked very frustrated. When I asked about it he said "come see for yourself." He proceeded to go up the stairs. I removed my heels and followed. When we arrived in Brynn and Ryan's room Joe advised me not to come in with bear feet. Thats when I saw glass EVERYWHERE.



Ryan had been purposefully throwing things at his light to see IF it would break. Dash finally broke the light......


His punishment? Well I have to go get a new light fixture.... I told Ryan that his punishment will be when I go to IKEA to get a new light he will not be coming with me. You would have thought I told him his dog was dead! He is not happy about his punishment. I say GOOD!

Tay's play rehearsal

For those who wont get to come see Taylor perform I wanted you to at least get to see her in action. So here are some pictures from her rehearsal.We will post her lines on video when we go to the actual show.

I have been getting alot of people asking where and what ect... SO here is the skinny.

The show is A Christmas Carol 2. It is a comedy version of a Christmas Carol with a bit of a twist on the plot. Its coming along very nicely and looks like it will be a great show!

The theater is The Off Broadway Theater in Salt Lake. On main between 2nd and 3rd S.


Tickets are
Adults = $16
Students/Seniors/Military = $12
Children (12 & under) = $8
Mondays are 1/2 price!


If you ask for the Taylor Eames discount you get $2 off and Taylor gets credit on her pay!
So if you are in town COME AND SEE HER!



The show begins the day after Thanksgiving but Taylor does NOT start her run until the 17th of Dec.
She will run Every Monday Friday and Saturday night til the end on the 29th.






This is Eric the director, writer and owner. He was trying to get the kids to be louder and laugh more and not get distracted by other things that could be going on. He is great with them and loves what he does.