Merry Christmas to You

We hope everyone had a very Merry Christmas. We feel very blessed this year. On Christmas Eve we invited the missionaries over for our traditional pizza dinner. They read the birth of the Savior to us and we sang songs. Then we watched the polar express, and Mark read from the scriptures. Christmas morning we woke up to sunshine and warm weather (sorry friends from Utah, Iowa and Idaho, we know you got dumped on and it's cold), we miss the weather but not enough to come for a visit. You all are welcome to our house any time. Santa brought stockings and a few Wii toys and then we ate breakfast (bacon and eggs). Then we opened presents and since we were up at 4:30 Mark and I took a nap. My mom and Wayne flew in around lunch time and we spent the rest of the day with them. It's great to be together as a family this year. We hope the weather holds out in Utah for Mark's parents to come on Saturday. Wishing each of you happy holidays and a great New Year.

Happy Birthday Dylan

Today is Dylan's 12th birthday!! HAPPY BIRTHDAY BUD !! Where does time go. I refuse to believe that Mark and I are old enough to have an almost teenager. Dylan is going to be ordained a Deacon on Sunday. Dylan is a great boy and full of life. He is very happy most of the time. Every once in awhile we see the teenager attitude kick in but not too often. Mark can quickly put him in his place, but not for long. Dylan is getting very big and strong. Soon, I think, he will be able to take his dad down. He loves to spend time with his dad, play video games, and hang out with friends. We love you very much and are very proud of the choices you are making.

Nativities around the World

On Saturday night our stake hosted a nativities around the world. Each classroom was decorated as a different theme with tons of different nativities. It was amazing and very beautiful. I have never seen so many different nativities. If I can't go to Forgotten Carols in Logan, this is a great way to be reminded of the true meaning of this special season. My kids got to dress up and pretend they were Mary and Joseph and a wiseman. Dylan was a good sport and pretended he was ok with it, but he told me he hated dressing up later, but this was the girls' favorite part of the evening.

Mark and Dylan's Wrong Turn

Mark and Dylan went hiking last Saturday. We have some mountains in El Paso, small compared to Utah mountains but huge according to our Iowa friends. They planned on hiking across the top but they made a wrong turn and ran into a cliff. They had to hike down. Mark said Dylan was so scared he was shaking but they survived and are planning another trip tomorrow.

Our New Addition

We (the kids and I, not Mark) are excited to announce that we finally talked Mark into a puppy. He is a maltipoo (poodle, maltese mix). He should be a part of our family the first part of January. We are very excited, especially Kesley. She has wanted a dog for forever. He should be about 4-5 pounds full grown. If you have any suggestions for names let us know. We each have a favorite. Maybe he will end up with 5 names. Who knows.

All Finished

I am officially finished with my bachelor degree program from Utah State University. It has taken 8 years, 2 kids, 1 new baby, 2 year long deployments, a 5 month mobilization, and 4 moves. But I am done. Now on to my Master's program if we move to a city with a program and after Kylie goes to school full time.


WHAT A GREAT FEELING :)

Kesley turns 9

Our Keskes turned nine a few weeks ago. She had a great day!! We celebrated by going to Golden Corral for dinner, opening presents, going bowling with friends, and taking a few friends to the movie High School Musical.

We're not in Kansas anymore (or Iowa and Utah)

Dylan played football this year. Texas is known as a hardcore football state. I now understand why. Dylan has been playing 3 nights a week and games on Saturday since August. The last game was Wednesday night at 9:00 p.m. He got home at 11:30 p.m. and had school the next day. What were they thinking. He did a great job and had a lot of fun. He played center and back up guard.We are very proud of him.

Jumping on the Bandwagon

I love to read blogs from my friends and family all over the country and I thought this would be a fun way to let everyone know about our crazy life. I guess you could say I am "jumping on the blogging bandwagon". I'm just trying to figure this all out so there will be more to come.