Fiesta!

We were invited back up to Logan for the Christmas party for the center that Tyler's Eagle project went to. We were excited and a little nervous :) I don't speak Spanish. I SO wish that I did. Mike can stutter through a bit (but of course when he mixes it with Czech it's not so helpful) BUT we did just fine! The food was yummy, the people were SO nice, and the atmosphere was awesome. We got to watch as EACH family visited with Santa and received Christmas for their whole family! They the tables were cleared and the DANCING STARTED!!! It was a GREAT party! The whole night was an almost overwhelming experience actually. So many people who work SO HARD to provide a better life for their children. People who would give everything for their children. AND Angels who spend their lives running a program that will help and support these people. I was inspired and felt such a strong desire to help. Next year I hope to be able to help again. Felice Natividad!

Preschool Nativity Fun!

I LOVE the preschool Christmas Nativity program. It's one of my favorite things we do all year. This year was no exception! Nick was a shepherd this year. He was darling and he was excited.....and we only had one melt down:) We have a smaller group this year so I had recruited Lucas to help out. THEN we had a little boy not come so I recruited Isaac :) It was awesome! I sure love my kids!!

Staten Family Christmas Party

This year for the Staten family Christmas Party we met at Tom and Mary Lou's hotel and ate pizza, opened presents and went swimming! The kids were so excited to swim! It's been a while and they are all little water rats! It's just to bad that mike was in charge of pictures :)

WHO?

This year the Christmas play at the Elementary was The Grinch. Matt LOVES to act. He's good at it. He was a darling little Who in Whoville! Mike and I went to the play at the school this morning because of a work party tonight, and it was GREAT! Thankfully we have great friends that helped to get him to the play tonight (thanks Kami!) and thanks Oveson's for coming to watch him!

Science Fair!

One of the "fun" things of 7th grade is the science fair projects. Tyler decided that he wanted to do something about soccer. As he thought about it he decided that he wanted to figure out what the best amount of air pressure was for a soccer ball. We went up to the park and started out with totally flat balls. Tyler decided to check for distance and accuracy. He kicked 14 balls and measured distance and then kicked them again toward the net and tracked accuracy. He repeated the process with 14 full but no pressure balls, 14 balls at recommended pressure and then 14 balls at double the recommended pressure. Then we came home and Mike taught him how to put it all into a spread sheet and how to get the info he needed. It was of course quite the process but in the end Tyler found that the recommended pressure was the best for distance and accuracy. THEN we all had fun putting it together! Tyler was nervous, but he ended up getting an A+!! Way to go Tyler!! Now he gets to go on to district!

Gingerbread!

I love watching my kids and Mike make gingerbread houses. I'm not a builder. I'm a decorator. :)
This year Nick had to build his little graham cracker house for preschool at home and then take it there to decorate. Nick had fun building it with his daddy and Mike had fun the next day hearing about the reaction his chimney got:) Nick had fun decorating it at preschool and was devastated when Missy ate it! Grrrrr. Dumb dog.

SO, the next day I ran to the store and bought a gingerbread house kit. Today the rest of the boys had fun helping Mike build and decorate it, and I had fun taking pictures. I love my family:)

P.S. Ty and Matt were at a Christmas Concert with friends.....we didn't just ban them from the fun:)

Santa :)

Tonight at the ward Christmas party the kids all got to sit on Santa's lap! They were all so excited and all so cute. They all gave him BIG hugs and told him what they wanted. It didn't all end so perfectly for Nick though. As he was getting down his tummy was scratched (badly) by Santa's belt. He was SO UPSET! He went on and on about how Santa's belt had hurt him. I hope we get over all of this before Christmas:)