Gingerbread Houses

We are making a list and checking it twice.  Every year we make a list with the kids of what kinds of things we want to do together as a family during the Christmas holidays.  Some activities are commercial and some spiritual.  One of our favorites is building and decorating gingerbread houses.

TA DA!! Our delicious masterpiece

BJ's many talents!!

I have to say that I am pretty sure I have one of the most amazing and talented husbands around.  There isn't anything that BJ can't do.  If there is something that he wants then there is no stopping him once he puts his mind to it.
Here are just a few of the many amazing things he can do. 

Building a trailor from scratch.  Welding and all!!

BJ is currently serving in the bishopric in our ward and is over the youth.  He wanted to find a way to get to know some of the youth better and have an opportunity to talk with them.  He decided to use wood from a crate that he had laying around from a shipment he got at work and make long boards.  He even made a press for it.  He then invited any of the young men that were interested in making one to come over.  The boys were able to design there own and build it entirely on there own.  Under BJ's supervision.  It was a huge hit with the youth, and we now have The Crate Board Co.

Mountain Biking with the guys. 

Cameron Roden (business partner), Kevin Neve (employee/cousin), Steve Savage (employee), BJ

Oops! I'm just glad he has that helmet on.

Can you guess what is another passion of his?  I'll give you a hint.  It always seems to be on his mind...

This is BJ and his dads boat "Uncle Herkemer".  BJ loves to fish

These are just a few of the many reasons why we love BJ.  His is an awesome, talented, fun dad & husband!

Temple Square Lights

Every year we plan to go to temple square to see the lights, and most of the time we never make it there. And now I remember why.  It's crowded and freezing.  However, it's beautiful.  We had a good time!

Halloween 2011

I love Halloween!  And so do our kids.  Which kid doesn't though, really?  One night BJ and I were out on a date and discussing whether or not we should dress up this year.  We went back and forth on different ideas, and then finally decided on this...

Mr and Mrs. Incredible!!

We are either incredibly awesome or incredibly stupid.  I haven't decided yet.

Just showing that I am elasta-girl!

Catherine leave for her mission...

So over the summer my sister decided to serve a mission.  How she came to this decision is kind of a neat story.  But its her's to share, so I will not.  She was called to serve in the Buenos Aires Argentina West mission.  She reported to the MTC on October 19, 2011 and is doing great! 
As I did with my brother, I was the one to drop her off at the MTC.  My parents gave her the choice of them driving her up or flying.  She chose flying, which meant my parents would not be coming up and I would be the one to drop her off.  She came to Utah 2 days before she was to report.  That was kind of awesome because she had to stay with me at all times, seeing as she was already set apart.  So I got to be her first companion.  At least that's what I say anyways.  Saying goodbye was so hard.  I didn't want to let her go.  As I drove away all the other missionaries were waving and saying hello.  I just wanted to yell, "stop saying hi to me! I don't like you right now".  Of course that's not really how I felt, I just didn't want to let my baby sister go.  Oh well, she is gone and is doing great and getting letters from her is the highlight of my week.

Bottling!

This summer I tried my hand at bottling a few new things that I've never done before.  And I must say it is a ton of work!  But I'm in love...I have really enjoyed the fruits (or should I say vegetables) of our labor.  This year I bottled, salsa, spaghettie sauce, grape juice and peruvian sauce.  I am so excited for our garden next year.  It's going to be ginormous so I can bottle away.  It feels so good to be self sufficiant.  BJ loves it too. He says, "It's like we are sticking it to the man!"  Ha ha.  It sort of does and that feels good.

Tang $.05

This is Hannah's best friend, Scarlet.  These two cute little stinkers have been friends since they were babies.  On this particular hot summer day they decided to have a tang sale.  It was fun to watch for a number of reasons.

1. They drank all of their profit...a few times
2. Someone would give them a dime and they would hand the customer a quarter as change. I don't know why they didn't get more customers.  It was really a win win situation for the customer. They would get paid to drink tang!
3. They spilled all of their profit....a few times.

Nevertheless, they are darling and I couldn't resist buying a cup or two or three....

Go Tigers! Go Blue Bears!

Soccer is a passion for BJ and I!  Our poor kids better love it too, because there is no escaping playing on a soccer team during the summer for them.  Brooklyn played on 'The Tigers'. BJ was her coach again.  And their team did awesome.  And Brooklyn was awesome too.  She is quite a good goalie (her father is so proud).

Hannah team was the Blue Bears.  Hannah is actually quite good, however she is not the most assertive.  She can run almost faster than anybody else.  However, she tends to take the scenic route to the ball.  She would run all the way around people, rather than straight for the ball....