2008 Reads

2008 was a great year for reading!!! I found more time this year to read then I ever have before. I also have tried to read the monthly book with my ward book club (even though I have never been able to actually make it to the book club meeting). By reading with the book club, I have read several really good books that I would NEVER in a million years choose for myself! I also joined GoodReads, where I found several books recommended by my friends. I read a total of 29 books this year - a record for me (unless you count the Babysitters Club books I used to devour as a tween)! My favorite book I read this year was The Host by Stephenie Meyer. Reading has been such an enjoyable outlet for me this year!

Inspired mostly by my friend and supermom, Lisa, I started reading chapter books to Andrew and Logan at bedtime. I was nervous at first that the boys wouldn't pay attention or be very interested in books with few (if any) pictures, but I was pleasantly surprised! Sometimes I have to remind Logan to lay down and listen, and I'm not sure if he gets anything out if it yet, but I think he'll grow into it! Andrew really seems to love it and often begs for, "One more chapter, PLEASE!!!" Reading aloud at night has really become a special time for me, to share some of my old favorite books with the boys and discover some new ones together too! I'm exited to include Hannah in the ritual in the future and read some more girly books like Anne of Green Gables, and the Little House on the Prarie books. I hope they will let me read to them for many years; I think it would be so cool to read the Harry Potter and Narnia series together, and when they're much older, maybe even Lord of the Rings and some of the Classics. Do you think they will still want to read with me when they're in high school?

Chapter Books We've Read Together in 2008:

Charlie and the Chocolate Factory by Roald Dahl
The Wonderful Wizard of Oz by L. Frank Baum
James and the Giant Peach by Roald Dahl
Mr. Popper's Penguins by Richard Atwater
Charlotte's Web by E.B. White
My Father's Dragon (Trilogy) by Ruth Stiles Gannett
Stuart Little by E.B. White
The Mouse and The Motorcycle by Beverly Cleary
Runaway Ralph by Beverly Cleary
Ralph S. Mouse by Beverly Cleary
Charlie and the Great Glass Elevator by Roald Dahl
Dinosaurs Before Dark (Magic Tree House #1) by Mary Pope Osborne
The Iron Giant by Ted Hughes - this was Andrew's very favorite book of the year!

Christmas Back in Ohio

It was so wonderful to get to spend most of the Christmas season with our family in Utah! We made so many great memories that we will never forget. Eventually, Bryan had to get back to work, so he flew back to Ohio on the 21st, and then the kids and I headed back on the 24th.

Since it was Christmas Eve, and I didn't do any decorating before I left for Utah, I really wasn't planning on any Christmas decorations. I thought maybe I'd get out the nativity set and the stockings, but definitely not the Christmas tree!
It was such a wonderful Christmas gift to come home to a clean, fully decked-out house! It was beautiful and thoughtful. I was so touched that I just stood in the living room and cried! Thanks so much, Babe!

Bryan also surprised me with a print of our new family portrait to go above the mantel. I love it, Babe! Thanks!

Before bed, we read the Christmas story as a family...

...and left cookies and milk for Santa and reindeer food out on the lawn! (Notice there is NO snow! That means we'll have another blizzard for Easter.)

Santa came!!!

Logan got his "big red truck"...

...and Andrew got a huge tool set!

Andrew noticed right away that there was no Wii in the stacks of presents, but he was a good sport about it. When all the presents were opened, we found an envelope with a letter from Santa. It said that Andrew and Logan had been SO good this year that Santa left them a special present in the entertainment center. I bet you can guess what it was...

We had a really great Christmas! Thanks so much to the family members who planned so many fun activities for us and spoiled us rotten!
I feel especially grateful this Christmas season for family! Nothing brings me as much joy as my family!

Christmas Fun With the Andersons

Our Christmas time with Bryan's family was short, but action-packed! We headed first to Bryan's hometown, Delta. There we stayed a night and then enjoyed a day outdoors tubing and four-wheeling at the sand...er...snow dunes. We built a campfire to keep warm and roast hotdogs and marshmallows for lunch. Andrew was very good on the four-wheelers and was able to ride them all by himself! Logan also had a great time. While taking him for a ride, I asked him if he liked four-wheelers. He shouted, "They're the BEST!!!"

Aunt Chris and Logan being pulled on a tube by...

...Daddy on a four-wheeler!

Andrew and Aunt Deb

Andrew, Bryan, Grandma (Nancy) Anderson, and Grandpa (Carl) Anderson
Hannah and Grandma

From the cold and snow, we headed to the sunny, blue skies in St. George. We all enjoyed a dip in the heated pool and the hot tub, but only the bravest of souls (Andrew and Logan) dared to venture into the icy cold kiddie pool! Thanks so much for the great condo, Uncle Kelly!

Logan and Grandpa Anderson

Logan taking a flying leap to Aunt Chris

Chris, Paiton, Grandma, Andrew, Logan, and Grandpa

Hannah loved splashing in the pool!

We even took a little day trip down to Las Vegas and found some good (and some kooky) deals at the Swap Meet. Back at the condo, we had a fun homemade "Cafe Rio" dinner and even our old friends Kevin and Laura and their kids were able to stop by. Aunt Chris ended the night with a Christmas pinata for the kids before we had to jump in the car and head North to take Bryan to the airport.

Look at this handsome fella!

Thank you, Andersons, for a wonderful time! We will miss you!

Mr. and Mrs. Okey

Danielle Marie and Spencer Kyle Okey

December 16th 2008

Salt Lake Temple

My youngest sister Danielle was married in the Salt Lake Temple a week before Christmas. The ceremony was so beautiful and extra special to me because all of my brothers and sisters and their spouses were able to be in the temple together for the first time.

After a delicious luncheon at the Lion House in Salt Lake, the reception was held in my parents' house in South Weber. All three of us sisters had our wedding receptions at my parents' house and my Mom and Dad have worked very hard to make each one unique and special! Dani's reception was beautiful with lighted trees and pinecones, green flowers, and accents in chocolate brown, lime green, and flamingo pink.

Mr. and Mrs. Okey cutting the cake at the reception.

My Mom worked her cake magic once again! How gorgeous is this?! I don't know how late she stayed up the night before the wedding, but I went to bed around 4:00 AM and she was just starting the little green dots! Wow! It turned out amazing, Mom! My Dad, dancing with his little girl!

We had to tease my Dad a bit this time because at both my reception and Jenny's reception, my Dad walked away and left us alone on the dance floor after the Daddy-Daughter dance (we even have it immortalized in our wedding videos). This time we said he'd better lead her to her new husband after the dance, or he'd never hear the end of it! He knew all eyes were on him at the end of the song, so he faked us out by turning away momentarily and then turning back to lead her to Spencer. We all gasped aloud and then busted up laughing! What a great trick! We love you, Dad!

Summer and Emily and cousins Hannah and Emma

Daddy and Hannah, looking sharp in their wedding attire.

Andrew loved the refreshments at the reception: hot chocolate and chocolate doughnuts! YUM!

It really was the perfect day! We are so thrilled for you Dani! Congratulations! We love you already, Spencer! Welcome to this crazy family!

We Wish You a Merry Christmas

Make a Smilebox postcard

Sweet Baby Body

Hannah is growing up so fast! During the last three weeks here in Utah, she has started clapping her hands, waving, and occasionally standing (briefly) on her own. She also has loved toddling around Nana's house assisted by the little walker that used to be Andrew's. It won't be long before she's walking on her own and then running, so her sweet chubby baby body probably won't be around much longer. My friend put it best when she said, "This is the only time in a girl's life when a pot belly and thunder thighs are the cutest thing ever!"

Last weekend, at a swap meet in Las Vegas with Bryan's family, I saw the most adorable little pink boots for Hannah. They were soft and fur-lined with cute little flowers on them. I was so excited! I found Hannah's size and slipped them on her foot (not an easy task, because she has thick feet that she clenches in a ball whenever I try to put shoes on her!) They fit perfectly on her foot, but there was no way I could get the zipper up around her cute chunky ankles (cankles!) I even tried the next size up, hoping that I would have better luck with the zipper, but to no avail! The owner of the shoe booth watching us smiled and laughed, "Ahh, GORDITA!"

I love that sweet baby body!

Fun with Cousins

Sadly, our Utah trip is quickly coming to a close. We have had so much fun spending time with family and old friends that we haven't seen in a long time.

The last time I remember our kids playing with their cousins, Jaden, Ashlyn, and Cadence, was at Logan's first birthday in 2006 before we moved to Ohio. When I saw them again this time, I was so amazed at how much they have grown! Our kids are very similar in ages, so they really had a blast together! We were able to spend a morning together at the Treehouse Museum in Ogden, then breakfast and church together on Sunday, and enjoyed their company at Danielle and Spencer's wedding reception too. Before we left, we also stopped at The Pie for yummy pizza and visited Uncle Kelly's family together.

Firefighters Ashlyn, Logan, and Andrew at the Treehouse Museum

Andrew and Jaden building an archway

Jaden showing his piano skills to Uncle David/BryanAshlyn and Andrew dancing at the reception

It was so good to see you, Russ, Angela, Jaden, Ashlyn, and Cadence! Thanks for all the fun!

Thompson Family Portraits

Since we had the whole Thompson family together for the first time in almost three years (and since the last Thompson family photo was missing a new spouse and three grandkids), we took the opportunity to have some new photos taken.

Portraits by PointeDigital photography.

Festival of Trees

The Festival of Trees is one of my favorite Utah Christmas traditions! I was so excited to get to go last week! This was my very favorite tree this year. It was a life-size Grinch dressed as Santa with the decorated tree and toys and gifts stuffed in his sack. SO cute and creative!
We took a break and enjoyed delicious warm cinnamon rolls and cinnamon sugar scones. You could smell them almost immediately when you walked in the doors; how could we resist?! Silly Andrew chose popcorn instead.

When Logan sat down and looked at his scone and popcorn he announced, "Now that's what I call a MEAL!"

I Should Have Known Better...

...than to trust Logan in the back seat with a full box of Kleenex!

Leavin' On a Jet Plane

I had been physically SICK about this day for about a week, just dreading how awful traveling alone with three young children on an airplane would be! I imagined that by then end of the flight, every fellow passenger would seriously hate me! That is, if I didn't loose one of the kids in the airport before we even made it to the plane! (I purposely dressed them in the brightest colors they had, just in case I had to look for them in a crowd.)We made it through check-in and security relatively quickly, and got to the terminal in plenty of time. Andrew and Logan loved watching our plane prepare for our flight and asked lots of questions (most of which I didn't know the answers to). They couldn't wait to get on the plane!

This was the boys' second airplane trip, but the last one was over two years ago, so they didn't remember it very well. They were very good and stayed busy most of the time watching The Clone Wars DVD, and coloring with their ColorWonder markers. Hannah took about a 30-minute nap at the very beginning, and then was pretty good until the last hour when she got a little restless and squirmy. Luckily, I had plenty of snacks to keep her from having a total meltdown.

Overall, it wasn't nearly as bad as I imagined it! I don't think we made a single enemy on the plane. We are so happy to be here in Utah with all our family! Now I don't have to worry about the flight home for three more weeks...

My First Ponytail

Christmas Lights at Shaker Square

Saturday night, we visited Shaker Square to see the Christmas lights and Santa Claus.

Paiton loves her cousin, Andrew. It was so fun to have Deb and Paiton stay at our house with us this weekend.

The kids were so excited to see Santa. Logan asked Santa for a "big red truck." Hannah pulled Santa's beard (yep, it was real). When it was Andrew's turn, he pulled out a handwritten list (front and back!) that he read to Santa. That sure made Mrs. Claus laugh. The thing he wants the most on his list is a Wii.

This was our only Ohio Christmas activity this year because tomorrow, the kids and I are

GOING TO UTAH!!!

We get to spend three weeks with our families for my sister's wedding and Holiday festivities! We are so excited! Sadly, Bryan can't join us until December 11th. (Wish me luck on the plane! Eek!) We'll miss you babe!