Visiting in St.George

In the Fall, I started talking about how I would like to go out to St.George, Utah to visit my cousin Shannon, and other family members there. Sam knew I would probably talk about it and not ever get around to going, so he bought me airline giftcards for Christmas! I went out for 4 1/2 days and had a great time. It was nice to see everyone again. It really makes me miss living out West around family. Thanks to Sam for the ticket, and for taking a few days off work so I could go. Being 7 months pregnant, this was my last chance to travel.

Marci, Shannon, and I at lunch in Las Vegas. We spent the day shopping and visiting before Marci had to go to work and Shannon and I headed to her house in St.George.




There were four of us cousins that were within a year of each other and spent every reunion hanging out and growing close. We were just missing Lisa, who had delivered her fourth baby just a week before.

On Sunday evening, Shannon had all the cousins who live in the area come over for dinner, along with her parents, and sister Aubree with her husband Justin. It was the closest thing to a reunion I've been to in a few years. In this picture, from left to right - Jessi, Marci, Shannon, Aubree, Susan, Tami, and me.

On my last day I was set to leave at noon, so Shannon and I went to the Temple that morning. I love going to Temples I haven't been to and was glad we made the time.

Happy 2010

Happy New Year! I can't believe we are headed into another new year. Time sure flies, and it seems to go fast as the kids get older. For New Years Eve this year we went out a friend's house (Jeff and Lori Hartzfeld.) We ate, played games, visited, and had a great time! It was a fun way to celebrate the coming of a new decade. Here's to hoping this year is the best!

Play Time

When we got back from Christmas vacation in Texas, there was snow and ice all over the ground in Bartlesville and we were stuck inside. Thank goodness the new toys held the kids' attention for a while. They got lots of new toys and loved everything. Here are a few shots of them playing with their Christmas things.

Merry Christmas!

We had a great Christmas. Me and the kids were in Texas for a week and Sam joined us for 4 days (he had to stay and work a few extra days.) Christmas day we spend with my family. We opened presents and the kids spent the rest of the day playing. Then we had a nice dinner and went to the movies in the evening. I love the holidays! It's always sad when Christmas passes for another year.
Sydnee and dad playing with the blocks cousins Bryden and Brynlee sent.

This was the year for electronics. Santa brought Shaye a stereo for her room. She loves to sing and dance! He also brought Band Hero for the whole family and several wii games.

Sydnee got a talking baby doll and a stroller from Santa. The doll was so cute, and they have had many conversations together!





Sam wanted a guitar. He is now in guitar lessons and really enjoying it. He's just beginning, but he's sure he'll have groupies in no time!

Christmas Eve

Each Christmas Eve we spend the day celebrating with Sam's family. We started at his mom's house this year with breakfast and presents from here. Here are the kids on their first round of gifts.



Poor Sydnee was so exhausted she fell asleep on the floor watching a movie - always with monkey!


Sam, his dad, and Jaxson shooting a 22. For Christmas Jaxson got a NERF style ball gun from Poppa he had a lot of fun shooting.


Sydnee loved this deer. It's one Sam's dad shot on a hunt. She loves animals, and this poor deer was no exception.

These are two of Sydnee's three great grandparents. Sam's grandpa, Harold Springer, and his grandma, Billie Barnett.

Oh Christmas Tree

We got Christmas going as soon as we could this year, putting up the tree as soon as Thanksgiving dinner was finished. The kids were excited, and truthfully... so were we! We bought a new 9 foot tree this year that we love. It looked great, and we had fun decorating it with mom and dad after Thanksgiving.

Party Time!

Shaye had been asking for a Christmas party for a few days since Sam and I had so many to go to this year. We tried to get one together for her and Jaxson on Saturday. I think it turned out great, and they had fun. We made donut snowmen, played named that Christmas song, decorated cookies, and even did a Secret Santa exchange.


The YMCA staff party was at our house this year. It was fun to host everyone... we had about 20. We always do a a dinner, and this year we had an ornament exchange. I have really enjoyed being the aerobic director and an instructor at the Y the last 4 years. I am going to continue to teach some, but really plan on cutting down in the new year with baby #4 on the way. I appreciate all the great friends I have made and worked with there!

Winter Concert

Jaxson's Christmas concert was this week. He is always such a loud and happy singer! He knows all the words and loves to do it. He wasn't much for the actions of these songs though. He had such a serious face the whole time singing as loud as he could. At one point he got off tempo and we could hear him all the way in the audience speeding the other kids up. LOL! He did great... he even had a small speaking part to introduce Jingle Bells.

Thanksgiving 2009

This was our first year to host Thanksgiving. Mom and dad came to it wasn't too big of a crowd for us to try things out on! We had a great dinner, and a good visit for a few days. We did some shopping, saw some local sights, and some went to a basketball game in Tulsa. We were happy to have family here for the holiday!

Girls Dallas Weekend '09

This was our second annual girls weekend in Dallas. The last two years we have gone down the weekend before Thanksgiving to see the Twilight movies and enjoy a weekend out! There were 15 in our group this year and we had a blast! We decided to join the madness and go to the midnight premiere of New Moon. So, of course we had to have t-shirts! New Moon was much better than Twilight, and we were grateful for the improvements. The rest of the weekend consisted of too much eating and plenty of shopping!