GingerBread Houses with Brian

So, my cousin Brian or Uncle BJ at our house is now a trucker. He works 3-6 weeks straight so when he does get time off it is around a week off. His time is precious and this visit he made plans for specific activities. Not only did ne bring us some homemade Cheeseballs to eat. He also wanted to do an activity with the kids. So, be bought the makings for gingerbread houses. AND to make it even more fun, he individually made one with Gideon, Blake and Hanna. He set up shop in his room to make the gingerbread creations. So, when they were all done all the adults had to guess who made what. I must admit I didn't have much faith in Brians gingerbread making abilities...let alone his creativity (sorry Brian), BUT I was  very impressed with the results. Hannah made hers look like Grandma Smiths house, Blake made our house and Gideon made Grandpa Lainharts house. They were so personalized and constructed so well. The kids got to eat them for a treat on FHE. Brian also bought a real Gingerbread kit for janel to make. The other ones were made with Graham Crackers!

 Here is Blake's concoction of our house here in Idaho with the HUGE pine tree up front, driveway and big grass area.

 Here is Hannah's creation of Grandma Smith's house. The huge pine trees in the back yard. The big wood pile in the back and the straws along the corners of the house for gutters.

 Gideon's creation of Grandpa Lainhart's house. My favorite part is the horses in the pen on the right.

 3 proud little builders!

Here is Janel's Gingerbready house. It is cute, but not as creative as the kids since all since they were all premade pieces.

Also, on Brian's agenda was playing Hand Knee and Foot, Piarates dice and an adult night out to diner and bowling. All I had to do was find a babysitter. We ate at a local Mexican restaurant which was really good. Janel and I ordered Shirley Temples in memory of good ol Macayo's in Vegas. Janel kept trying to speak spanish to the waiter....which wasn't very good, but hey she tried. Bowling was a little but if a bummer because we could only play one round due to a special event that started at 9. It was Lainhart's Vs. Smiths. Kyle and I lost by 10 crappy points Brian picked up in phase 10. So we had to buy drinks......the drinks we didn't have time to order since we had to leave.....SO, we bought ice cream at Sundae's. We ordered this huge 9 scoop Sundae to share! Then we played some more hand Knee and Foot and The "Smith's" womped on us again. Oh, well...we may have lost all day, but at least I had a warm body to sleep with that night to lessen the blow! LOL

 The Victorious Smith Team!

Sledding at Grampa's and Thanksgiving!

We have lots of snow this year for Thanksgiving. It took Brian 6 hours to drive here from Clearfield , Utah (It takes me 2 1/2 hours usually Non-Snow). We are really thankful he got the time off to be with us for the Holiday! We almost didn't make it to grandpa's in Wyoming because the pass kept getting closed, but we made it safe and sound! DeLand (Grandpa) made a great sledding hill by adding a 7 foot of snow to the top of the slope. It was SOOOO cold. It was -7 to -14 degrees that day! Eli's family came over to join us for sledding before they left for Utah!

 Cami on a snowmobile sled for kids.

 There's the giant hill Grandpa made! So much fun!

 Jared and Luke at the top!

 Analee and Grandpa!

 Gideon" Mom, I'm cold". Duh you didn't have your hood on. Like the snow on the eyelashes!

 Blake and Cami getting a ride!

 Jared and Kyle trying to get enough speed to beat the record longest sled ride.

 Janel and I

 Gideon and Eli in the Back!

 I know really dark, but it is me getting on with Kyle!

 Here we go!

 Kyle trying to surf down the hill. Yes, He biffs it!

 Janel and Brian!

Janel and Brian again!

There were 27 people at our family Thanksgiving diner. We all ate at Jerry's house. Fun fun. Lots of food (of course) and good time talking. My mom sent me an email with an idea for name tags with turkeys made out of oreos. So all the kids (Mine, Janels and Keri's) made one for everyone attending. The kids had a great time and I think we will make them next year! Janel and I did our clogging routine for the family after dinner!

The turkey name tags we made!

Our little family of Turkey's

Cami's turkey bow made by Keri!

Thanksgiving Diner!

We were so happy Grandpa came and sat with us!

Brian, Janel and her kids and I left that night to head back to Idaho Falls. Brian wanted to do some Black Friday shopping! We went out about 9:30AM and were done by about 2:30PM. It was fun and not too crazy. Definitely not shopping in Vegas crazy! The kids and Kyle stayed a few more days at grandpa's. One of the diners at grandpa's while I gone was grilled Cheese Sandwiches with Tomato soup. Blake was whining because he is sick of eating soup! ( we eat soup once a week) So, clever Kyle knows Blake loves Ketcup on EVERYTHING. So he told Blake the soup was made with Ketcup. Blake's head pops up and takes a bite then replies "This is Good Ketcup soup!" Love it!  

Clogging and Snow!!!!

Janel and I had our clogging performance at the Festival of Trees on Thursday night. It was held at the Shiloh Inn. Janel and I were actually excited to perform. The week before Janel video taped our dance routine at class for us to practice. We PRACTICED and practiced and practiced. I think Kyle was tired of our practicing. We practiced up stair in the toy room since it had a wood floor. Janel has been clogging only a 3 weeks and me 2 months. We had fun wearing fun matching shirts and such.

Janel and I are in the front row. I am the third girl to come in and Janel is the 5th girl to come in on the front row. Enjoy!!!!

Kyle attempted to shoot an Elk again and didn't get one. He has until the 30th to shoot one before the season ends. Please PRAY he gets one so this never ending hunting trip can be OVER!!! I sometimes think he does it on purpose just so he can have an excuse to leave me and camp.

I attempted to be creative with the kids and made homemade bird food. I got a recipe online and tried it out with my turkey shaped pan. It got burnt in the oven and really didn't stay together. It sucked really, but the kids all had fun. They all got a different ingredient and we sat on the kitchen floor and they all added it to a mixing bowl. We are just going to put the concoction in a bird feeder and hang it from the huge pine tree in the front yard. To add to the kid entertainment....Gideon has been dying to play hide n go seek. So, we obliged him and played the other night. Now mind you we play with most the lights off. So, when it was my turn to seek Kyle acts like Spiderman and is at the top of our closet. He got all mad about it though because Blake gave his position away! I managed to take a picture. It is funny to see the funny places the kids hide. I have great memories of playing Hide N Go Seek around the house or Ghost in the Graveyard around the Block. Fun Fun!

Bird will eat Bird!

We ended up making this Bird House to put the bird Food in beacuse the turkey kept falling apart!

Kyle's hiding spot!

We have had snow the past 4 days and man is it snowing. We have at least a foot of snow and this morning I went out back and saw the HUGE snow drifts up the door and stairs. YUCK! Jared/Keri and their family are here visiting. We love them coming over and staying. It is a little chaotic with 9 KIDS running around screaming at various times of the day. We took the kids to a park by our house that has a bunch of hills in it. The did some sledding....actually all of if took turns. Even Kyle, Janel and I. I like laying on my belly with one of the mats and letting one of the kids ride on my back down. Cami  and Anna really like to do that. Blake and Colton  liked riding on the sled. Poor Hannah didn't really like much of anything...she was just too cold! Luke and Gideon loved using the mats and were up and down in no problem. They didn't want to go, but we still had to cook diner and the other kids were cold. It was too windy to stay long, but the kids had a good time. hot chocolate when they got home!

Gideon and Kyle Shoveling Snow

 

Kyle

Gideon 

Pics from sledding at  the park! Blake too cold to lift his head for the picture.

Janel and Blake riding on the sled! 

There they go! 

Poor cold Hannah! 

Analee down on one of the mats!

There goes Gideon!

Gideon posing for me after sliding down on one of the mats! 

Kyle toting Luke and Colton up the hill.

Analee frozen, but still gives me a great smile!

Janel, Hannah and Colton when we first got there! Hannah has a Kitty mask and Colton a Spiderman mask!

Cami has a Minnie Mouse mask on...Thank you Aunt Janel!

Funny Week!

OK, I really have to keep up on this blog twice a week because a whole week at our house is too much for one post. OK, lets start with the really funny!. So, Kyle heard about a company (don't read this part Breighan) that pays cash for Squirrel tails because they are really good to use in making Flies for fishing. Of course anyone that knows me well, know I LOVE squirrels. So of course I told Kyle not to even think about hunting squirrels just for their tails. We also say a funny ad in his hunting magazine where this guy was pulled off the road and had clippers in his hand and was gearing up to clip the tail off this road kill squirrel. So, the other day the kids said there was a dead squirrel across the street in the road. You could tell it had not been dead long and was not flat. Kyle goes running across the street and grabs it....takes it to the garage and clips it's tail off. He hung the tail on the truck of his antenna to dry. He plans to use it to make flies. So as Gideon is watching his dad with this squirrel he says" Dad are we going to eat it for dinner?" No we didn't. Janel and I were laughing hysterically as we watched Kyle in action and I managed to get a few pics. Oh, the other funny thing was that 2 people from church happed to notice Kyle running into the street to get the squirel and were talking about it Sunday.

 Those of you that don't know Kyle very well.....he wishes he could aspire to be a Mountain Man. I will NEVER be a mountain woman, so that dream will only be granted to him in the life after. He was hunting again last week with no success unfortunately. I am to the point I wish he just got his dang Elk so he couldn't leave me to hunt anymore till next year. It snowed last week and stay around about 5 days. It is almost all gone today. So he was hunting in the snow for 3 days. It was cut short a day because he got cold. Hmm maybe because his idea of camping in the snow is to find a tree and sleep under it with NO tent. Here is his little shelter to sleep under and a pic of one of the waterfalls he saw while tracking elk.

 Kyle and I celebrated our 9th Anniversary. We had the great opportunity to celebrate with Kyle's parents of 31 years, by doing a session at the Temple and eating lunch together. It was so fun. I should have gotten a picture, but didn't. We went out for Sushi to celebrate as well. Unfortunately we are in Idaho Falls and I knew there was a good chance the food would be crap. Well, everyone that worked at the restaurant was white so there is the first sign this place sucks(were talking sushi people) and we ordered 2 rolls and then decided to leave. Anyone that eats sushi know it must have sucked to only order 2 rolls. We could have made better sushi at home. Vegas really spoiled us when it comes to good food and a VARIETY of great food. We went to an ice ream shop afterwards and shared this HUGE 9 scoop sundae. Of course there were tons of leftovers for the kids to eat when we got home. Man, when I think of us being married 9 years I think....what did we do the whole time.....so much of it runs together. We have 3 beautiful children together and Adrianne who I adore. We have had multiple ups and downs like all couples, but I am so happy we have had all our experiences together to grow. Can't wait to see what the next 9 years will bring!

So, since Janel and her kids moved in we have tried to spend some "quality" time with the kids instead of the highlight of the day being going to the grocery store. We have ventured off to the park, played in the snow, crafts and playing games. We had a great time playing Cooties the other night.

 Janel and I were in a local Craft Fair selling my Soylicious Candles. I am the only rep in the area and maybe the entire State. We had a great response from the customers even though no one had ever heard of us. We did great on our sales and had a really fun time laughing with new clients and some of the vendors near us. I look forward to doing more shows with Janel, even though she randomly clogs, sings out loud and uses her theatrical voice when we are suppose to be ATTRACTING customers to our booth. LOL Here sis my Website if anyone is interested in checking it out. www.soylicious.com/shauna