The Christmas Letter

Dear Friends and Family

We hope the holiday season finds everyone happy, healthy, and ready for Santa to visit. Our family loves this time of year, the spirit in the air is strong this year as our kids get older and understand the meaning of the season more.

Haley is now 6 going on 16. She is all girl with a tom boy twist. She just finished playing soccer for the year and her team was undefeated. I’m afraid Haley got the competitive edge from her parents and LOVES to win! She also played T-ball last spring and loved every minute of it. Having her Dad as a coach helps to make it that much better. First grade is a breeze for her and she amazes me everyday with what she is learning. She loves to read and do math. When she’s not doing sports or school she has many friends to play with and 3 little brothers to keep busy. Haley is a HUGE help and I rely on her more than I should.

Hunter will be 5 in January and I can’t believe it! He goes to pre-school 3 days a week and can’t wait for Kindergarten to start. He is bored if Haley isn’t home because I think she’s one of his best friends. Hunt’s favorite thing to do is play the Wii and GI Joe. He played T-ball last spring as well and got to be on Haley’s team (Red Sox of course). It was so great to watch them play together, I’m afraid it will be the only time they’re on the same team.

Harmon is 2 and boy is he good at it. There were many times this year I didn’t think I would survive his terrible 2’s. As the year went on he’s gotten better and better and he is such a funny little guy. He loves to perform for everyone and keeps us laughing. He loves his brothers and sister and tries really hard to keep up with the older kids and does most of the time. It’s hard to believe he’ll start pre-school this year!

Hayden is working his way to the 18 month mark. He is a good little guy and easily entertained. I’m afraid he knows he’s the baby and gets jealous when Mom holds anyone else. He is loved by his older siblings and his favorite time of day is when they go to bed and everyone fights over who he’ll kiss goodnight first. He is all boy and loves cars, balls, and being outside.

Michael and I just celebrated 9 years together and it’s hard to believe it’s been that long! Our joy in life is spending time with together and with the kids. It doesn’t matter what we’re doing as long as we’re together! We’re enjoying teaching in Primary and will be sad to loose our class at the end of the year (It’s a REALLY good one). We are all very excited for Christmas this year and hope everyone has a happy holiday season. It’s our prayer that the true Christmas spirit finds its way to your home!
Merry Christmas!

Love

Michael, Alleen, and Kids

My new Hobby

I've discovered a new hobby that I really enjoy!  Photography.  I have a nice camera that I've been experimenting with so I can learn all the great features it has.  Last weekend I took pictures of 2 families.  One was the Cottams--Susie has been my visiting teacher for years now and they are such a sweet family!  The other was my neighbors Kurt and Robyn--the BEST neighbors we could ask for!  She's my walking buddy and a great friend to chat with as kids ride bikes!  I had a blast with both families and have 2 more families booked next week because of it.  I'm hoping Santa will bring me some editing software so I can get better :)  Any other photographers out there please send your constructive criticism my way.  I really would like to learn more!

The Tree Hunt

I'm  glad to say we survived Thanksgiving this year.  It was COLD.  Thanksgiving morning in Panguitch it was 21 below!!  Us wimpy desert rats are NOT used to temps that low!  It made for a fun trip of staying inside, playing uno, and lots of yummy food.  Dinner was pure perfection down to the rolls.  Fortunately my Mom accidentally quadrupled the batch and the entire family was glad she did!  It was just my parents, brother David and his family on Thanksgiving Day.  Marc, Cameron, and families joined us on Friday night for our annual Tree Hunt.  Saturday was perfect weather for playing in the snow and cutting down the tree.  We headed up by Tropic Reservoir and found a great hill to sled and lots of big beautiful trees.  It is the highlight of our trip each year!  I love being up in the mountains with the kids and just having fun!

Amazing!  Everyone's smiling ;)



Daddy's Boy

Cheese--he thought it was fun to say

Marc, Hollie, Paisley, and Bryson

Cameron, Jessica, and Parker

Grandpa and Grandma Henrie

Here's a few miscellaneous pictures of our crew.  Grandpa in the truck with the little ones of course and Jessica pulling all the kids on the sled--what a good sport!

Pretty in Pink!

Now if we can just get the tree decorated we'll be all set :)   Happy Holidays everyone!

"The" Ranch

This is a special place that holds a lot of really great memories!  It doesn't look like much or smell like much for that matter, but one step in the door and you'll fall in love with it!  It's had a lot of improvements over the years (ones that I'm thankful for---bathroom), yet the memories of tromping out to the outhouse at night and scaring yourself to death was kinda fun :)  These pictures were taken by my cute cousin Becky's brother.  He has an amazing talent!  Thanks for sharing Becky!

"The" Parents

Here's some photos of 2 of my FAVORITE people.  My Mom and Dad.  They are an amazing couple and such great examples to me!

Parker

I did a practice photo shoot with my new little nephew Parker last week.  I have a lot to learn about photography, but he's the cutest little guy so it's not to hard to take a good pic.  He was wide eyed the entire time.  Cameron and Jessica are loving parenthood and they are naturals at it.  I could probably learn a thing or two from them :)  It's hard to believe that my baby brother has a BABY!

The "Backyard"

 When we visit Panguitch my kids are in PURE heaven! Just outside the backyard there are so many things to discover and lots for Mom to take pictures of as well :)  

The perfect lighting for those baby blues!



Trees to climb



Cute Cousins to play with





Barns to explore



Fun knobs to turn

Amazing Grandparents to play with

Apples to find (Yuck)



One Simple swing that is "the" place to be.  Notice Aunt Alice's white hair poking over the fence.  It's always nice to visit with family next door to :)



Fences to climb

Woodpiles

Don't forget the weeds to crunch (and grasshoppers to find).  I love watching them explore and discover new things.  I'm jealous we don't have more of a yard to do that here, but that's part of living in the city :)

Happy Halloween!!!

We just returned from a long weekend in Panguitch.  It was fun to spend Halloween up there playing with cousins, eating candy, and just playing constantly!  I will say it was a little colder than I like, but it was still fun and the kids didn't mind one bit!

Here's our crew of Trick or Treaters.  It was fun to have all the cousins together!
Harmon, Lincoln, Mallory, Tabby, DJ, Haley, and Hunter



We quickly posed for a family pic before the sugar high kicked in.



What does Captain America do in his downtime?  Kicks back with the remote just like everyone else :)




Isn't she the cutest witch you've ever seen!

Watch out for those webs.  They're on the prowl for candy!

Day 12--Why Blogger?

day 12- How you found out about blogger and why you have one

I really don't remember.  I know that a lot of my friends had blogs and I loved looking at theirs so I thought I'd give it a shot.  I have really enjoyed it and find it's a good way of letting friends and family that we don't see much know what we're doing.  I have a dream of printing it into a book and using it as my scrapbook/journal of sorts.

Day 11

Day 11- another picture of you and your friends Still don't have one :(

Day 10

Day 10- songs you listen to when you are happy, sad, bored, hyped, mad
Man if you would have asked me this back in high school, I could have given you a list a mile long.  Music seemed so important back then.  I couldn't function without listening to something if I was getting ready, doing homework, or just hanging out.  Now I guess my interests have changed.   I usually only listen to music in the car now, but occasionally I'll turn something on while I'm putting on my make up.  I usually pick music that gets me up and moving.  I do like to listen to church music especially on Sunday's to try and set the right mood for the day.  I'm also trying to get my kids to learn more of the primary songs so it helps to have it playing in the background as they bathe and get ready for bed.
The main time I listen to music is when I'm working out, and my tastes vary depending on my mood.  If I'm in a bad mood and mad I choose more of the hard rock selections like Def Leopard.  If I'm happy I like some Neil Diamond (weird I know).  When I'm sad I usually try to pep up my step with something that makes me move and want to dance.  Wish I could be more specific, but really if you knew all the music I had on my Ipod, I would be embarrassed!

Trunk or Treat

We just had our annual Trunk or Treat at the church.  They did it a little early and I was so bummed because Michael wasn't going to be able to make it, but we lucked out and it was his short night so he came with us then headed it work.  The kids had a blast and got so much candy that I don't think we'll need to go Trick or Treating :)  I stayed at the car this year and handed out the candy and Michael took the kids around.  There were some great creative costumes and that's the funnest part is just seeing how cute all the kids look!  (Hayden was the cutest Captain America, but no pictures.  I guess you'll have to wait for Halloween :)

Harmon the Spiderman, Ethan the skelaton, Samo the bat, and Hunter the Army guy.  Best buddies!



Our Witchy Witch Haley





I was shocked Harm left the mask on all night.  Actually I don't think we could have gotten him away from it.  He loved being dressed up!  Hunter was in full Army mode the entire night!



The camo face was Hunt's favorite part.  I loved it to until I had to scrub the bathtub clean the next day :)

Day 9

Day 9-- something you're proud of in the past few days
Hmmmm . . . I havn't done to much this week.  I guess I'm proud of the fact that I've kept this 30 days thing going.  I've also cooked dinner everynight this week.  I admit I've been tempted to be lazy and go out almost every day!  I'm so lazy by the end of the day.  I do admit that this week I've been very proud of my kiddos.  I had a really bad day the other day and they seemed to sense it and have really been helping out.  It's easy to be proud of them because they are such great kids!  I'm kinda proud of the pictures I took of Haley to--I'm really wanting to practice my photography skills and Haley makes it easy by being so dang CUTE!

Day 8--Goals

Day 8- short term goals for this month and why
*Workout at least 3-4 days a week for obvious reasons
*Make a Budget and stick to it--I'm horrible about spending!
*Spend more time Playing with my kids--I need to put down the vacuum and play a game instead! They are growing up so fast and I'm sure soon they won't want to hang out with me anymore : (
*Cook more--eat out LESS!
*Go on a date with my cute hubby--we need to make more time for each other!
*Call an old friend and catch up--why? I love hearing from those good people who have influenced me and made me who I am!

Picture Day for Haley

 It was picture day at school for Haley, so here is our pre-shot pics before school.  We had to practice smiling with out teeth :)  This cute girl has lost one of her front teeth and the other one is sideways waiting to come out.  We laugh everytime she smiles.  She is adorable regardless of being toothless and LOVE her to pieces!!!!