Colton Turns 7

Wow it has been forever... time to play catch up..  Feb 13 Colton turned 7.  He is such a character.  He loves the UTES if you can't tell.  We are not a sports following family but his friends and family surrounding us are all utah fans so he has become one by default.  We celebrated his birthday with his family around.  The next weekend we celebrated again with his friends at Get Air... Mom forgot the camera so no fun pics of that trip.  I have a few pics of his friends afterwards at our home enjoying the cupcakes.

We love our Colton ; He has the most contagious laugh it comes from deep in his belly and those around him just can't help but laugh along.  He loves to Sing and is singing all the time mostly primary songs.  He Loves to be surrounded by his friends and still loves to be with his dad!
He is committed to his beliefs he lives in a black and white world of his own and there is not much room for gray.  He isn't afraid to stand up for what he believes. He has had more encounters with kids that are not LDS and finds himself in positions to stand for what he believes he is a confident and strong spirit. Small things like in the bathroom at school a boy asked him how old he was he said 7 then  the boy said " huh, I'm 8, without missing a beat colton says oh did you get baptized and the kid says no I'm not mormon.  Colton came home and said mom I don't know why I asked him that I just did and I didn't know what to say... I told him it's awesome and okay he said that and that next time just say Oh that's okay, I am ...

He is very LOUD and we tell him constantly to be quiet and his response is Sorry Im a Passey :)  He is proud of who he is and his heritage.

I could go on and on about this AWESOME kid but to safe my fingers I will just say we are so thankful he is part of our family ;)

Preston's 9th birthday

 

 

Preston's birthday kind of snuck up on me this year.  His birthday is Dec. 10 which is actually tomarrow Monday.  I was thinking I had another week so when it was last Sunday the 2nd I realized his Friend party would be that Saturday the 8th oh my.. So I posted on facebook for ideas and help from my dear friends for ideas what to do with 10 little 9 year old boys. I got some great ideas thanks to everyone. 

WE live in a basement apartment and the thought of 10 nine year old boys in our small home gave me bit of a panic attack.  Preston had asked if we could have his party at Get Air in Kaysville at first I said no cause I thought it was going to be to expensive bu after I looked in to it and the money I would have to spend to put together a party at home for 10 boys it actually was close to the same amount. 
I am so thankful we went there. The boys had a blast, even little sister Karleigh.  We had cupcakes and icecream and presents in a birthday room there and dropped the boys off on our way home.  It was weird not to be home.  We have always done the party's at home with the pinata and games but as the kids get older it's getting a bit to much.  Preston loved it and had fun.  That's all that really matters to the mom anyways right?



Tree Cutting

 

 

Every Year we head up the weekend after Thanksgiving to get a tree with our dear friends the Squires and the Nichols. 

This year we didn't get out until Dec.1st.  There was hardly any snow.  In years past we havn't been able to go to far up the uintas without having to have snowmobiles or  four wheel drive. This year was so weird to not be treching through knee deep snow. 

Preston is our Tree Finder ( not to colton's liking)  he has a knack for finding the perfect one.  Maybe it's the artistic eye he has. 

The last 2 years he has found our tree and again nailed us a perfect one this year.  He is so proud when he finds that tree.   He wanted to cut down a little one for his bedroom and I forgot to tell Chad to buy 2 passes so we promised him one for next year . 

It really has become a fun tradition.  

Confessions...

What better way to start of the season of giving then to Bake Sugar Cookies.  I have to admit I LOVE Sugar Cookies but I HATE Cleaning up after baking them.

Karleigh loves Baking.  She always is asking to make cookies, bread, well anything. 

I am NOT a baker.  Nor am I one who enjoys cooking it causes me a small anxiety attack every day at 3pm when I hear the words in my head "what are we going to have for dinner." I would rather clean bathrooms all day then have to cook dinner or lunch or breakfast.  I realize that when I signed up for motherhood that I was going to have to overcome this "small" fear of mine.  When Chad and I got married I worked so I ate out for lunch then his mom insisted on us eating dinner at her house.  So see I never had to learn to cook.  After about a couple of years after we had been married I thought I really needed to start learning some basics cause heck I was going to have kids some day and then what? Was I going to say hey kids your hungry? Let's go over to Nanas.  Yeah that sounded so wrong and so not "normal" .  So I started to dappel a little I could make the easy stuff.  Lasagna, spaghetti, anything from a box.  Frozen Stouffers That solved much of my dilema.

Needless to say we ate at Nana's ALOT almost everyday.  About 6 years ago it stopped I "grew" up and started to feed my own family.  It has been one rollercoaster ride.  I don't think I will ever be the great cook or baker like so many pintrest pinners and facebook friends, neighbors, and family around me but I am learning more about myself while on this ride. 

THis ride of self discovery has not been fun.  It has not been enjoyable but one thing is for sure it has been at time laughable!

I am thankful for my mother in law that doesn't laugh when I call her with questions such as "how long to boil a egg? How do you make baked potatoes? What is a scallop? " the list could go on and on. But to save myself from more self embarassment I will stop there.

 

There is one thing I CAN bake though and that is Sugar Cookies.  I have the best recipe it is my mom's "secret" recipe and it is the only thing I make perfect!!! So here is the start of a great Christmas Cookies season

Lessons learned from fishing :)

Over Thanksgiving Break we spent 3 days out on the Pontoon boat Fishing.  It was so much fun.

We have found Colton's True love to say the least. 

We had been out for about 5 hrs. When it was getting dark and cold and I said it was time to head back and Colton said "No not yet... one more" After 3 more we really needed to head back Colton was still not ready he would have slept out there on the lake if we let him. 

 

Grandpa Wynn is the SAME way.  Can never get enough.  Grandpa Wynn was retelling Colton's dedication to his Dad Great Grandpa Passey G.Grandpa passey just laughed and said "hmm sounds like some one else at his age. " 

I just love when I see characteristics of my own parents played out in my kids.  It really helps me connect to each child in their own way in a very special way. 

Colton reminds me so much of my dad anyways  He has my dad's hands, little stature and dedication to the truth.  Everything to Colton is Black and White.  He is strong in what he believes and doesn't waiver. Much like his Grandpa.  What a amazing quality to have. 

 

Karleigh liked fishing as long as we were catching fish when we would hit a dead area she would be bored and want to leave.  As I noticed this I realized what kind of lesson can be learned by fishing.  One great lesson is Patience..

With Patience comes great rewards at time.  Also life can sometimes be exciting, very eventful, but then comes the quiet time to reflect and just relax.  Sometimes the time to just quietly reflect and relax can feel "boring" Or it can feel like a much needed vacation.

That has caused me to think about how I use my time and am I thankful for the quiet vacations or am I quick to fill them with something else.  Over the past few years I feel that I am trying to hard to fill up all my time.  I feel guilty if I have a hour or two to myself that when those times come I am rushing through it to get back to "life"  how silly is that? 

So this new year coming up I am going to SLOW down be thankful to my Father in Heaven for the small 1 hour breaks I may receive throughout the day and enjoy them, be grateful for them. 

A glimpse into our life with Karleigh

This is Karleigh just being Karleigh :)

She was told to go get her jammies on she came out wearing this I couldn't resist snapping a photo.  Enjoy:)

Halloween night

 

 

 

Here is Halloween night.  Kambria was a butterfly this night when on Saturday she was a kitty I originally had her being a kitty and i found the cute ears and all but then she tried on the butterfly over at her Nana's and was so cute in that as well. She would run around saying" fly fly "so I dressed her up as a kitty on Saturday and SHE wanted to be the butterfly on Halloween.

 

The day before Halloween Kambria got so sick and was still very sick I was going to just stay home and hand out candy with her but as everyone was getting ready to leave she started crying "tri tree" and I couldn't let her miss out so we put her in the stroller and decided to let her go to a couple of houses.  It was sooo warm.  No jackets were needed.  I don't remember ever having such warm Halloween you would have thought we were on a tropical island or somewhere.  It was nice since Kambria was sick.  After a few houses Colton was done and wanted to go home so Chad took him home.  ( he does not get that from his mom) .  Karleigh on the other hand does take after her mom and is a die hard trick or treater.  I headed out with her and Kambria, and after a few houses I would ask Kami if she wanted to go home or keep trick or treating she would time after time say "tri tree"  I think my girls take after their mom.  Karleigh would keep saying "a couple more houses mom then I want to go home" I would say "alright when ever you want to stop" and sure enough after the houses she would say "well couple more than go home" I just would laugh and say " what ever you want " hehe. 

Chad's uncle Ryan has been teasing Colton about his dad being a secret black ninja.  With Chad's job he travels a lot and Ryan tells Colton it is just a cover for his "REAL" job a ninja.  So for Halloween Chad showed up in a black ninja costume I had told them that their dad had to go help someone in the ward and that his friend "Blain" was coming to take them trick or treating until dad got done and then he would catch up.  Colton didn't want to go with "Blain" he just wanted to wait for his dad.  When Chad showed up in his Ninja costume Colton was REALLY not going with him he would just wait for his dad.  As Chad tried to persuade him to come colton was really nervous and trying to not cry.  He was a bit scared of him at first.  Finally Chad showed his face and it even took Colton a few seconds to realize it was Chad. We were all laughing.  Colton didn't like it that much and was a bit mad about being tricked.  I guess it wasn't such great idea.  Preston and Karleigh thought it was great though.