We hope you had a...

MERRY CHRISTMAS!!



We are going to have a really busy week, but next week we'll update with all our Christmas adventures! Happy Holidays everyone!

{e11even}

I can hardly believe it! We have an 11 year old! December 22, 1997... around 6:20am... Eryn made her way into the world. I had a really long (30-ish hour) labor. We lived in Orem at the time, and we headed to American Fork just after noon on the 21st... they told us to go home. It turned out to be quite a long day. We even went to our Chesnut family Christmas party and Grandma Chesnut's house, and my cute sisters timed me between contractions with a stop watch. Looking back, it's actually kinda funny. Jared went to work that night (he worked graveyard shift) and I decided to just stay at my parents home and wait things out. Just after midnight (or something like that) I called Jared and told him to come back home. At the hospital, they said I wasn't really progressing much, but to walk around the hospital for a while. About an hour later they admitted me and gave me a wonderful epidural, but Eryn's heart-rate didn't want to stay up when I contracted, so after a few hours and trying some tricks, we headed into an emergency C-section. She weighed in at a tiny 5lbs 14 oz, and was 19 1/2 inches long. We found out that the cord was around her neck, which was being compressed during contractions, causing her heart rate to drop. We were just glad she was here and healthy (even if she was tiny). We were home by Christmas Eve, and even hung out at my parents' house on Christmas Day. She was the best Christmas gift!! Eleven years later, we are so proud of the girl that she is growing up to be. She is a little book worm... reading ALL THE TIME. She plays the piano quite well (which will be nice to hear again once her cast is off), she loves to sing, and is becoming a wonderful babysitter! She does very well in school, and is just a joy to be around. Happy Birthday Eryn!! Saturday night, we had some of her friends over for a "Late Night Party" since we don't do sleep-overs. Eryn loved it and the girls all had a great time. Monday, on her REAL birthday, it snowed literally ALL DAY!!! But she had a great birthday anyway. We are so glad she is a part of our family!

Oops... the video works now!

Sorry everyone who tried to watch the video of Eryn ice skating. For some reason it was coming up private (it didn't on my computer, obviously, so I didn't know) but I believe it is fixed now! I was trying out YouTube... but I'm not sure if I want the entire world to be able to search for ice skating falls and find Eryn, so I went with the good ol' Blogger video upload, and it worked better. Enjoy. It's below in the previous post. :) If by some crazy chance it still doesn't work, please comment and tell me and I'll try something different. Thanks!!

The Ice Skating Accident

Finally... here is the long anticipated (hee hee) video of Eryn's ice skating accident. She was doing so great - all the girls were. They caught on so quickly. They didn't stay by the wall for long. After only one lap, they were skating like a bunch of pros! There were a few falls, but nothing major... that is until about 20 minutes before the skating session was supposed to end. Then it happened. The fateful accident which caused a broken wrist! She has had her cast on for 2 weeks now with 1-2 weeks left. She is getting a little bit tired of it. She says it itches (but you can't stick anything down inside to scratch, due to infection risk). Showering is a pain, since we have to put plastic bags over the cast... and I have to help her wash her hair. Fun times!

Salt Lake at Christmastime - I LOVE IT!

One of my favorite things to do at Christmastime, is go up to Salt Lake. It's just a neat place to be at this time of year. Last Monday,(Dec. 8) we headed up in the snowy stormy weather to enjoy Eryn's choir concert at the Joseph Smith Memorial Building, and then we stayed for the lights at Temple Square. When we got home, we finally decorated our Christmas tree. We had a great time. Watch the slideshow below to see pictures of our fun Christmas adventure!



Hopefully in a couple of days I'll post Eryn's video from when she feel on the ice and broke her arm. I know there are some people who wanted to see it. It's definitely not for the faint of heart... I just gotta get that girl pinned down long enough to take a picture of her in her cast to put in that post too! Check back soon.

Happy Birthday Kaitlyn!

Nine years ago, on December 6, 1999, I headed to Albertson's to pick up some milk for Jared and Eryn (who was almost 2) - knowing that I was going to be induced in just a couple of hours. As I was waiting in line to pay, I realized that I was already in labor! Kaitlyn wasn't due to come until the 10th, but Dr. Melendez decided we should induce. I had some interesting and rare antibodies that could be a threat. I laughed when we got to the hospital and the nurse asked me "Oh. Did you know you are having contractions?" Of course I said "Yes!" Well, just a few hours later, we were blessed with a beautiful baby girl with huge eyes, long eyelashes, and the sweetest personality! She just looked all around as I held her. She is the only one of my kids that I got to hold right after giving birth. I couldn't stop staring at her! A couple of days later we were given a little scare when the pediatrician noticed a murmur when he listened to her heart. We found out, after a trip to UVRMC in Provo, that she had a small hole between her ventricles. We were a little nervous, but she has never had a problem with it. What a blessing! She has been a source of laughter and joy in our family. She has turned out to be such a sweet, loving, funny, helpful, beautiful young lady. She has beautiful handwriting and does so well in school. She makes us laugh everyday! We are so grateful to have her as part of our family. It's hard to believe how fast 9 years go by! She is getting so grown up.
Well, she had a really fun birthday. It was fun to finally have it on a Saturday. Eryn, Kaitlyn and I took a few friends ice skating in Provo. The girls had a great time (once they finally got the right size skates) and caught on very quickly. I had forgotten how sore your ankles get!! They really need to find a better way to make those dang ice skate boots! Eryn did take quite the tumble right at the end. It was a nasty fall, and she ended up breaking her wrist! (Stay tuned for pictures and video of that!) Jared and the boys stayed home and decorated the house and made her requested dessert (Brownie Delight).

Happy Birthday Kaitlyn - WE LOVE YOU!!

Go Flash!!

We were given some tickets to go to the Flash Basketball game. We decided it would be a great Family Home Evening activity. The kids were super excited. The Flash is one of the NBA D-league (development league) teams. They work with the Utah Jazz and the Boston Celtics. We were lucky to be there on a night where they were giving away T-shirts (huge ones, though) and the kids thought it was a blast. We brought our "other" camera... it didn't do so well in that lighting, but oh well. The flash made the pictures CrAzY, so we went flash-free, which made for some grainy pictures, but it's still fun to have those memories. We had fun. The kids love watching Flash the Fox, the mascot, as he does crazy stunts and funny things throughout the game. It's fun watching the kids even more than the game - dancing to the music, laughing at the Fox, and watching the great Basketball action.

Give Thanks

I LOVE Thanksgiving. The food, fun, family, the beginning of the holidays. Bryson came home from school the other day dressed like a pilgrim, and carrying a feathered headband. It totally reminded me of elementary school. I LOVED dressing up like a pilgrim... we'd push all our desks together to make one really long table, and then we'd get to eat our special Thanksgiving lunch in our classroom all dressed up. I always thought it was so fun. We would have Thanksgiving dinner with the Grace family at my Grandpa's church building. I remember sitting around the table, smelling the yummy turkey and mashed potatoes and gravy... and my Grandpa would have us one by one say something we were thankful for. It's a great excuse to really think about the things we are thankful for... and I am really thankful for a LOT! Here are just a few of the blessings I feel grateful for:

Jared - I'm so thankful to have him as my hubby. He is truly my best friend. He works so hard and takes such good care of us. He can always make me laugh, even on my WORST day. He is the BEST.

Eryn - I'm thankful to have such a great daughter. She is getting so grown up... which should make me sad... but she is also becoming a great friend. It's fun to talk to her and hang out with her.

Kaitlyn - I'm thankful to have such a helpful kid! She is so thoughtful and always does things without being asked... oh and she's hilarious!

Bryson - I love 5-yr-olds. They are so funny. He asked me last night "Mom... can we hang out together tomorrow?" I love that he likes to play games with me and read to me. He is such a sweetie!

Hayden - I'm so thankful for this little buddy who keeps me company when everyone else is gone to school. I'm glad he wants me to play trains and cars with him. He is a total boy, and I LOVE it!

I'm so thankful to live in this great country, in our nice little town, in our house, in our ward... we are so blessed in so many ways. Great friends... family nearby... the list could just go on and on. I hope everyone takes the time to think about what they are truly grateful for. Happy Thanksgiving.

And for your viewing pleasure... our little pilgrim/indian.

Oh, and don't mind the Harry Potter-style scar on his forehead. This is totally normal for this extremely active kid. He is a tree and fence climbing, wrestling, frequently injured kid for sure!

Childrens Museum

Anyone who now has or has had a three year old knows first hand that the "terrible twos" are a picnic compared to three! It's the best and the worst. Suddenly their ears no longer function, yet they say and do the cutest things... they love to make messes - huge, demolition-style messes... they don't like to clean up their own messes, but give them a vacuum and they'll clean, or give them a wooden spoon and they'll help you cook. They are exasperating, exhausting, and yet so much fun. I love my 3-yr-old so much. Sometimes it just takes a bit of make-believe to realize how much they just want to be like us. We headed up to the Children's Museum in Salt Lake with my friend and her 3-yr-old, who happens to be Hayden's FAVORITE girl. Hayden had the best time working construction, cooking in a little kitchen, driving and filling a jeep with gas, delivering mail, shopping, and of course... flying a helicopter. It was so fun to watch them play and realize that they are just trying to learn... even the mess-making is learning to them. So even though 3-yr-olds are kinda hard... it's worth it to hear them laugh, watch them play, and see them learn. The hugs and kisses they give are pretty nice too.

Happy Birthday Jared!

We just celebrated Jared's birthday. I won't tell you how old he turned this year... let's just say he aint 21 anymore. Hey, you are only as old as you act, right? And if that's the case, he's about 17. He even gets mistaken for a student when he subs at the High School on Fridays. He is such a great dad to our kids. They are so lucky to have a dad who loves to be at all their events (he's even the coach most of the time) and who just loves to spend every minute he can with them. I just have to honor him a little bit. You are only the star of the day once a year. He is definitely a star in our family. It's so amazing being married to my BEST FRIEND! He is truly the best. We love him so much. Happy Birthday to the best lookin', best cookin', hardest workin', most hilarious, crazy and fun to be around guy that I know! We love you Jared!

Click on these little pictures... they look much better a bit bigger

A little funny story about this picture. Right before we lit the candles, Jared and Brad decided to change the filter in the fridge. Well, they thought it would only take a second, so I went ahead and lit the candles. Well, it ended up causing a small flood - water everywhere. It was actually pretty funny... after mopping up a little water, we re-lit the candles and sang "Happy Birthday" but you can still see Brad in the background putting the filter in. HEHE! Also, if you look closely, you will still see the tag attached to the cool new BYU sweatshirt from Jo and Corey. It was fun to have everybody (well, almost everybody) there. We missed everyone that wasn't. Jared appreciated all the phone calls from everyone who lives too far away to come for dessert, and for the thoughtfulness of those who did come. We love you guys!

Birthday Adventures

Well, everyone likes to start their birthday off with a "bang" right? Actually, let me back up a little bit. Here's how I woke up on my birthday.



My awesome hubby did this the night before, while I was snoozing away in bed! This was a great way to wake up...




However, this is what happened a little bit later that morning:



Uh... yeah. I got in a bit of a fender bender on the way home from dropping the girls off at school. I wish I could say that it wasn't my fault, but that wouldn't be true! I slammed into the back of a nice, newish Camaro. When I pulled over and got out of our minivan, I looked at that nice Camaro's bumper and noticed that it really didn't look bad - a little scratched, maybe. Mine couldn't look bad, right? Then I turned around to see ours. Ouch! Trust me - I'll never take my eyes off the road for even a second ever ever again! The bad: My boys were in the back seat, and I was still in my pajamas - not ready for the day, my purse was at home with my driver's license... The good: Atleast I had on a hat, nobody got hurt, and we have insurance. It's not fun to start your birthday with a wreck and a ticket. Nope - not fun at all. The rest of my day was devoted to calling the insurance, getting an estimate, and passing on the bad news of our adventure to everyone who called to wish me a happy birthday! Atleast it could only get better, right? It did!



Jared made dinner (pork roast, potatoes and gravy, and Birthday Brownies!) And we just hung out together as a family. My mom and dad and two of my sisters and their families dropped in,
too!

Spooky Kids

Okay... get ready for a LOT of pictures. We had a GREAT Halloween this year. Our kids had fun trying to come up with what they'd be this year. We had a few ideas that we ended up having to scrap, because we decided that they may be just a little uncomfortable! E, K and B all came up with things that ended up being really easy! Eryn as a zombie cheerleader was a piece of cake! (Other than having to dig through a few boxes to find one of my old cheer skirts!) Kaitlyn as a mime was easy - just had to find a beret and paint her face. Bryson's was easy - we found a GREAT jacket at Walmart, and then just cut out some bones from stick-on felt for the black sweats. Hayden's was the hard one. Where do you find a Percy the train costume? No where! So a box, two cans of green spray paint, covering back over Hayden's black paint job from when I wasn't looking, lots of gluing and a couple of re-arranged straps later and there ya go! And when he said he didn't want to wear it, Mommy wasn't too happy. He was told that he would wear it or he would not trick-or-treat. He wore it... and loved it (all except when he was falling down - yeah... not so easy to wear apparently). Everyone ended up with more candy than any kid should be allowed to consume, and we had FUN! Plus we went to Grandma Cheryl and PapaBob's house for Mummy Dogs, pulled pork sandwiches and Frankenstein pudding (thanks to Aunt Jo) AND we watched "Thriller" - yep, that good ol' Michael Jackson song that I've loved since third grade! My kids LOVED it, but they thought it was kinda funny. (which was probably just a cover-up for being scared HEHE).Actually, Bryson woke up the next morning wanting to watch it again! Here are a few pics (A few? Yeah right!) Enjoy!


Eryn - Zombie Cheerleader!

Kaitlyn - Mime


Bryson - Skeleton


Hayden - Percy the Train


And here are a bunch more pictures of the kids in their costumes, and a little bit about our day!

Carving Pumpkins

Well, the kids got some cute little pumpkins this year to carve. Hayden picked out his and the girls' pumpkins at Pumpkinland when he was on his fieldtrip, and Bryson picked out his own at Hee Haws Farm while he was on HIS fieldtrip! The girls designed and carved their own pumpkins this year. They are just so grown up! Bryson drew a picture of what he wanted for me to carve. Hayden just wanted a face - he didn't care what it looked like, so his was easy! They all had the most fun carving pumpkins. The boys even named theirs... Bryson's was named Jack (with a last name of A-Lantern - that's a direct quote!) And Hayden's was named Mr. Punkin! Watch in the next couple of days for the "costume pictures."

Pumpkinland!

Hayden's preschool class went to Pumpkinland on Tuesday. Hayden had been counting the days until we could go. He could hardly wait! We got to ride with Jana and her boys, and Hayden thought that was pretty fun. We had a good time (even though we lost Justice for a minute, and 3-yr-olds sometimes don't have functioning ears). At the end, they got to pick out pumpkins. They had a blast! (Not sure about us Moms though - I think we were worn out after chasing them around!)

Second Miler

Well, Jared may be a little upset when he sees that I posted this (he doesn't like to toot his own horn, so I'll do it for him). Jared was given a scouting award this past Thursday - the Second Miler Award. It is given by the District to scouting leaders who go the extra mile. I just have to say... our boys are so lucky to have someone like Jared as their dad. Someone who is so excited about scouting and so willing to help these young men do their best and get all their merit badges. Coming from a family with NO boys... I didn't really understand how neat the scouting program really is. It's a great thing for boys. Jared's dad was such a great example of scouting at it's best, and Jared is following right in his footsteps. He can't wait for our boys to get into scouts. I'm so proud of him for all that he does. He really cares about the boys in our ward and neighborhood, and they all love him. (And so do we!)

B the V.I.P.

Bryson's Kindergarten teacher does this cute thing called V.I.P. Each week, someone's name is drawn to be the V.I.P. for the next week. Bryson was the first one! We had to make a poster talking about his family, things he likes, and other things about him. We put some pictures on it, and Bryson wrote all the words. It was so cute. (I kept waiting for him to bring it home so I could take a picture of him with it for the blog, but it still hasn't come home yet.) He was so cute about it. He took his poster in to school just beaming! He couldn't wait until Friday (when parents and siblings can come and talk about their V.I.P.). The night before, he was showering and told Jared "Dad, I need to wash my armpits really good, because tomorrow is a big day!" We just thought it was so cute - he'll probably be really mad someday when he realizes that I told everyone! But I had to write it SOMEWHERE so that I would never forget! The girls get out of school early on Fridays, so Kaitlyn came with Hayden and me to tell Bryson's class all about him. The class sang a cute little song called "I'm a V.I.P. in my family." Then we passed out little prizes for the class. And Bryson got to draw the name out for the next V.I.P. He is definitely a V.I.P. in our family!

Contest...

Hey guys! I entered a portrait I took of KK in a photo contest. It had to be a portrait, and this is one of my faves of her. Off to the right of our blog is a little picture... if you click it, you can vote!!! Vote please! (And leave a comment to let me know if it worked - if it let you vote, so I know if the little link is working). You just click the picture and it will take you to a bigger version with a little VOTE button underneath it. THANKS!!! Love ya'll! You MIGHT have to join... if you do have to and don't want to, that's ok, but if you have time and don't mind joining and voting, it would be great!

"C" is for... Community Helpers!

Hayden's preschool class went on a really fun field trip yesterday. They have been talking about Community Helpers for the letter "C" so we went to the Fire Station and the Post Office (apparently the Police Station couldn't let them come, or something). Hayden has been asking everyday "is it my field trip today?" so FINALLY the day had come! Our first stop was the Fire Station. They learned about fire safety and what to do if your house is on fire. Hayden remembered what they said, because this morning he told me "if your house is on fire, you have to go outside!" Good job Hayden! They got to see the equipment and the trucks (they even got to go inside the truck, but Hayden was so fast that the picture I tried to take just didn't work!) Bryson was super lucky and got to come, too, because he doesn't go to school until afternoon, and the field trip was in the morning. The Firemen gave all the kids Fire Chief hats, which they LOVED! Next we walked through the block to the post office. The kids all got to mail a letter to themselves, and then go into the back of the post office to see where the letters go and how the post office works. They thought it was pretty cool! After a snack, we headed back home.

Snow Way!!!

Wow - what a crazy end to a crazy week! I had heard the forecasts, but secretly hoped they were mistaken. I LOVE fall, and I'm so not ready for cold, winter, white weather, but what do I see when I wake up this morning? Yep - SNOW!! I could hear Hayden in the living room looking out the window saying "It's Prismas!" (His exact pronunciation) and wondering when the Polar Express was coming.

It was a really busy week for us, anyway. Seems like we had something going on every single day. On Tuesday the kids all had dentist appointments. B, Eryn and K are all pros, but this was Hayden's first time. He was super cute. He held so still and did everything they asked him to do. He talked to them very politely and answered their questions. He was the model of a perfect child... did he have them fooled or what?! Just kidding. We love Hayd - he keeps us rolling on the floor. Three year olds are tough (just ask my sisters and anyone else who's ever had one) but just at the right moments, they are ANGELS! He makes us smile. Check out these smiles! I forgot to take my camera to the dentist office (DOH!) but managed to get them to pose with their new toothbrushes when we got home. And all the kids were cavity free!

Also this last week: Eryn participated in the Sleepy Hollow show in AF again, and Bryson was the VIP in his Kindergarten class (I'll post about that later)

Forgot to add...

Oops... I got looking at our pictures, and realized that I didn't even post these of all four kids together. So here they are! This is the end of the family pictures. I promise I'll get on to other things now. Oh, and obviously we got real creative in the posing. They were tired of pictures. We were glad to just get a couple of all 4 of them together. It's a rare thing!

Kids' Pictures

I'm kinda biased, but we definitely have the best kids in the world. The only problem is... they are just growing up too darn fast! It's crazy how fast time flies! Here are the pictures we did of the kids when we went to Midway (two times!) They were so good to stand and pose just how we asked them to. It's so fun to be their parents... they make us smile! (And laugh a lot!)

I know... the post said pictures of the kids. But hey, we still act like kids. That counts, right?

Family Pictures

We went up to Midway (two weeks in a row) to try and get some family pictures done. The first Friday was really cloudy... not such great lighting... we got a few keepers, but we wanted more, so we tried the next Friday. We thought we had left in PLENTY of time to get there and still have great light, but since our spot was right near the mountain, the sun was already down - needless to say, we were a little disappointed, but we did get a few keepers again. I don't think we will attempt a third time, even though they say that the third time is the charm! Our kids have had it with pictures! Thought we'd share a little bit of what we got... we did some individual ones of the kids too, and I'll post them next time. I need to put one of them as our header at the top of our blog... leave a comment and tell me which one you think I should use!? (Great excuse to make you leave a comment :D )