Thankgiving 2009

This year for Thanksgiving, I hosted dinner at my house. Those in attendance were Ray & Audrey Smith (the in-laws), Wayne and Gaylene Keetch (My parents), Darlene Sorensen (Grandma in-law), Curtis and Nikki, Kenzi, Morgan and Sidney (Brother and Sister-in Law and nieces) as well as Justin, myself and Peyton. I started the Turkey at 9:30, and then put the ham in at 1:30. We were supposed to eat at 4:00. Curtis and Nikki drove in from Nucla Colorado and arrived here at 12:00. We all were excited to see them. Peyton was especially excited to see Kenzie. Those two have quite the connection and they love spending time with each other. All Peyton talked about for like 2 weeks straight is how she was going to go swimming with Kenzie and how she wanted to have a sleep over with her...Even though they didn't get a sleep over they enjoyed the time they had with each other. The twins are growing up so fast. It is hard to beleive that they are 16 months old. Seems like just yesterday they were newborns. Anyway the girls all are so cute and fun to be around.

Dinner went great. Turkey and Ham were delicious as well as the stuffing, potatoes and all the salads. Everyone pitched it to help cook and to clean up. It was just an awesome day. Mom and dad left around 6:30 to head back to Logan as they had to be to the Temple at 5:30 to work. Curtis, Nikki, and thier girls were staying at the La Quita Inn (mostly for the pool)... So we all went and took the kids swimming. Petyon and Kenzie Loved it. Morgan and Sidney enjoyed it too. We swam for over an hour and then headed home. Peyton bearly made it home, she fell asleep on the couch right after we got home.

Nikki talked me into going Black Friday Shopping with her... so I was up at 4:00 am. We met up at 4:30 and went to Toys-R-Us first and then hit Target. We go nearly everything we were looking for and were home by 6:30 before Justin had to go to work. I've never realy ever gone shopping on Black Friday so it was an experiance to say the least. We had a great time and I hate to say it but I actually had fun and may do it again.

After getting a few hours of sleep, Curtis and Nikki and the girls came back to the house to hang out. Dallas and Jaci (brother and sister-in-law), joined us and just hung out. It was just nice to enjoy each other's company. Curtis and Dallas actually offered to go to Salt Lake to pick up Chance for me so I could spend time with the ladies. I have some of the best sister -in-laws anyone could ask for. We spent the evening back over at the hotel swimming... This time we had Chance and Kelcee join us. Kelcee was only with us for a few hours but it was totally worth it. I love spending time with each one of them
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Family Pics

We had our family pictures taken again by Heath Roberts... he did an excellent job once again. I was really excited when I found out that we would get Cheyenne for the pics. We decided to dress in black with blue jeans. It all went so well, all the kids cooperated like they should and did a great job listening to Heath and Claire. I would totally recommend him to anyone. I just cannot believe the change in each one of the kids... it amazes me how much a year changes them. Cheyenne is growing into quite the young lady, Chance is a handsome young man and Kelcee is growing up so fast. Peyton is well she is 3 and I still love her!

Chance at Karate

Last night I took Chance to karate class and had the opportunity to sit and watch as it was Parents week. While the class was learning a new set of moves, the first move was made and Chance was the only one who Kiahed (meaning to let out a loud yell as you hit and object). Anyway out of a class of 35 Chance was the only one who did as he was supposed to do. Master turned and was like what the heck... Chance was the only one who Kiahed. He told the rest of the class to drop and give him 20 pushups. Chance stood at attention waiting for he class to be done. Way to go Chance, I was a very proud mom as I sat there watching. Chance is now a second level Blue belt and will soon be testing for his red belt. Keep up the good work, I love ya!

And the Crying began

So yesterday was Wednesday and we had Kelcee from 5:30 to 8:30. We always enjoy every minute and second we have with Kelcee... Well so does Peyton. Peyton totally loves her sister more than anything, she misses her terribly when she isn't with us. So last night when we were dropping her off, Peyton begins to cry saying... "I want my sister"! and Cries so more.... she didn't stop crying till we were 1/2 home and even then she was still really sad. She said that she wanted Kelcee to stay with us. We have tired to explain to her why but how do you explain to a 3 year old that her sister lives in another house with a different set of parents. The cutest thing is that every night Peyton says her prayers she always blesses Kelcee and Chey. She truly loves her siblings and would spend every minute with them if she could. We all miss Kelcee and Chey when they aren't with us. And Yes I even shed a few tears last night too... I truly feel blessed to have such great kids and a husband to go with them.

Our Latest Addition

On the 17th of July we welcomed a new addition to our family. Her name is Sammy and she is a West Highland Terrier (Westie)! She is a doll! I love having her! She loves to "torment" Keno by pouncing on him and biting at his heals as he runs... not to mention when he lays down she pounces on his tail and bites down. She has everyone in the house wrapped around her little paw. Peyton insists on carrying her EVERYWHERE! She even tells Justin and I that Sammy wants to go for a ride on the golf cart. Yes she is a hand full at times and Potty training really sucks but we are getting there and love having her around.

We spent the week after the 4th of July in Bear Lake camping and 4 wheeling. We had so much fun. We spend a day with my dad and nephew 4 wheeling up Green Canyon and it was amazing. The kids found some salamanders and tadpoles a one of the little ponds we found. We spent a day at the lake where Justin and I both got FRIED! I put Spf 50 on the kids but didn't put anything on Justin or I and we felt it the rest of the week. The nights were spent visiting with my parents and other family members. We had great time and look forward to spending Labor day weekend up there again! I love Bear Lake and love spending time there as well. It was also fun to spend time with Justin's parents and just be around our loved ones. Our kids loved the fact that we were camped close enough that they could jump on their bikes and ride to Grandma and Grandpa Keetch's. Chance loved helping Grandpa with the farming and Kelcee even got to help out a little bit too. Peyton had to be right in the middle of what ever the other two kids were doing. We loved it so much that we already made reservations to go back up next year at the same time.

4Wheeling at Hardware Ranch

For the Memorial day weekend we (Justin, Jerri Lynn and Peyton) decided to take the 4 wheelers and go with Justin's parents Ray and Audrey and the Hahn Family (Rusty, Kelly, Samantha, Justin, Caleb, & Trevor) and head up to Hardware Ranch in Cache County. We left the house around 7:30 so we could stop and place some flowers on Ray's Brother Wayne's grave in Brigham City. We met up with the Hahn family around 8:30 and arrived at Hardware Ranch around 9:30. When we got there we unloaded the 4 wheelers and got the coolers and food packed on the 4 wheelers. Peyton was so excited we had taken her Thursday to pick our her own helmet and she was excited to get it on and go riding. We had 7 4-wheelers all together... Justin had Peyton with him since he could ride easier than I could with her on. I tried to take her but her helmet kept hitting me in the chin and it wasn't feeling very well. We headed up the trail and stopped a few times to drinks and snacks. On the way we encountered several other people... One in particular had a close encounter with Justin and Peyton... needless to say he had a few choice words yelled at him by Justin and then by Rusty who saw it all take place. I just shook my hand at him. It was quite scary to witness it and not be able to do anything. Also along the way we had to drive through a lot and I mean a LOT of water. It was a lot of fun! I ended up soaked from my knees down. We stopped for lunch and took some pictures and just enjoyed each other's company. We decided to head down the trail and as we came over the mountain I saw "A SEA OF BLUE"! I knew that we had gone all the way to Bear Lake. We continued down the road and actually ended up in Meadowville just Norh of Laketown. When we got to Meadowville I found that Peyton had fallen asleep in Justin's arms. Yes she fell asleep... not once but 3 times along he way home. We found no gas stations there so we turned around and headed back. We found another trail that was supposed to lead back to Hardware Ranch... as we headed up the trail we came across a lot of snow drifts yes I said snow drifts. I actually got stuck a few times. We ended up having to turn back because there was too much snow to get through and we kept getting stuck. When we turned back, Justin and Peyton hit a large mud puddle and Peyton got soaked! On the way back to Hardware Ranch Justin and Peyton lead the way so that they didn't get all the dust.... all of the sudden Justin stopped his 4 wheeler and started yelling stay to the right side of the road stay to the right.... I was right behind him trying to figure out what he was talking about... as I drove by I saw the BIGGEST RATTLE SNAKE I had ever seen... it had to be 4 feet long and about 2 inches around. I nearly died.... Justin explained that he saw it sliding across the road and knew he was going to have to go by it so he raised his left leg and moved Peyton as far to the right as possible when he heard something hit the side of the 4 wheelers... Yes the snake struck at him and hit the 4 wheeler instead. Lucky for him he had moved away from the snake. So if you are keeping count... Justin and Peyton and 2 near misses. We made it back to Hardware Ranch around 4:30, loaded the wheelers and headed home. Ray and Audrey stopped at Maddox and picked up dinner for the 5 of us and met us at the house. It was a long day but totally worth it. I loved hanging out with Kelly and Rusty and thier family! I hope we can do it again soon!
Ray say HI!!!

Audrey looks like she had done this once or twice... LOL!

Peyton had just eaten some Chocolate Pudding.... and she got more on her face than in her mouth...
Daddy and Peyton getting ready for lunch....

The whole group!!! Pulling funn faces....

The Hahn family!

Rusty stopp throwing things at me....

Justin and Peyton after they hit the mud puddle...

Close up of Peyton after the puddle!!!

Chance's Big Day

On May 3rd, Chance was Ordained to the office of a Deacon in the Aaronic Priestood in the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter Day Saints... This was a very special day for Chance and was shared with many of his family members. Grandma & Grandpa Keetch, Uncle Dallas & Aunt Jaci, Uncle Allen & Aunt Alexx, Uncle Rob & Aunt Nicole, Grandma & Grandpa Smith, Great Grandma Sorensen and Justin & Peyton and I. Chance was Ordained by his Uncle Dallas. It was an awesome day! I am very proud of Chance and his decision to become a Deacon! Love you buddy!
Chance and his Grandparents!
Chance and his Uncle Dallas

Chance's Big 12...

Chance turned 12 on Saturday the 2nd of May... so I decided to let him have a "boy/girl" party... We had he party on Friday night. Everyone showed up at 5:30 pm and the girls had to leave at 10:30. The boys spent the night and I took them home at 10:30 the next day. We had a lot of fun and the kids were all well behaved. They played outside for the first part of the party and then watched a movie... then Justin and I gave Chance his "present" he got Guitar Hero World Tour.... you should have heard the cheers! The kids played guitar hero till it was time to go to bed for us older folks... So after the girls left we let the boys play till 11:00! They watched another movie and went to bed. They were up at 7:00 am and just watched TV... then at 8:00 they started playing Guitar Hero World Tour till it was time to eat Breakfast... yes I made them pancakes and sausage for breakfast... After I took them home Chance and I played guitar hero till it was time to clean up. We had great day!

Peyton Even got involved in the playing of Guitar Hero.....
Everyone Say HI!!!!

Chance showes his stuff on the drums!
Chance Sings his song....
Jordan and Patrick show how it is done!

Easter 2009

Easter this year was Awesome. To start the weekend off with we took the kids to an Easter Egg hunt in Bountiful. Let me start by saying that I have never been to an Easter Egg hunt other than family ones.... so to my surprise there were Hundreds of people there. I have never seen so many kids and adults in my life. There Were Easter Eggs everywhere... and in less than 3 min all the eggs were picked up and there was nothing left. As soon as the whistle blew the kids were off.. it looked like a large vacuum just picking up the eggs on the ground. Then came the Adult 18+ group... OMH!!! People the are just Eggs... There were adults tripping over each other and pushing and shoving.... Wow but the prizes were great... we didn't get any but it was still a lot of fun. The Easter Bunny was there however none of my children would get close enough to take their pictures. I tried and tried to talk them into going but they were all either too afraid or "too old". We did have a great time and plan on attending next year... Next time we wil bring foot ball pad and and helmet. Jk... it was a lot of fun. Afterwards we went to lunch with our friends and neighbor's the Blacks. My children spend a lot of time with thier children and vice versa. After lunch we took Jordon and MaKayla to Toys R Us with us and then spend the evening with them as well. We are so glad they moved into the Cul-de-Sac.

Later that night we colored 18 eggs and the kids just loved this. We had MaKayla and Jordon with us too and they had just as much fun as Chance, Kelcee, and Peyton. Actually the Big kid Justin had more fun than all of them put together. He was quite stingy with the Eggs... He wanted to color the eggs... I explianed that he needed to Share.... He finaly gave in and let the other kids have some fun. We had a great time. After the eggs were colored we got together and talked about what Easter really ment... We went over the Easter Story and why we celebrate Easter. Chance and Kelcee enjoyed it but Peyton well she was more interested in the book I was reading from.

Sunday morning... Chance and Kelcee woke up at 7:30 and came in and woke up Justin and I. Then they went in an woke up Peyton. At that point Peyton was still sleepy but when they told her that the Easter Bunny had been there...she perked right up. She was excited to find the Scooter that he left and Chance was excited about his game and Kelcee was excited about her game too. Then they started to hunt Eggs... now the Easter Bunny left us with 106 eggs to find and it was the last 3 that we couldn't find. Much to our suprise the last eggs were found in Peyton's kitchen in the refrigerator and in the microwave.... Chance was the one to find the last 3. Go Chance! After Church we went to Grandma Smith's house for dinner and for an Easter Egg hunt. It was a lot of fun. We had a great time, all the family was there and it was just nice to have the family together and to enjoy each other's company. The kids each got a special egg with thier names on it and in it was a coupon for a special gift... however in exchange for the gift the kids had to tell grandma what Easter and the Attonment of Christ ment to each of them. I thought that was a pretty amazing idea to keep the kids remembering what Easter really means. We really had a great Day and Weekend.


this is the Final product from the coloring of the Eggs...


Kelcee's Loot


Chance's Loot....

Peyton's Loot and she didn't want to get off the scooter either....
Peyton was trying to help Uncle Rob and Maddy....

Kyla's First Easter

Smith Grandkids...

Peyton's New Dress

So I was out shopping the other day and found this really cute dress and it came with a smaller one for a doll or a "bunny rabbit" So for church she wore her dress and had to take the rabbit with us too...They were so cute I had to take a picture of them... This is one of my favorite pictures of Peyton!!! She loves to say "Cheese" when you take her picture!

Braids Braids Braids

So while I was in Bear Lake I decided to braid my Sister in law's hair into small braids... well while I was doing this Kelcee decided that she wanted to have the same thing done to her hair. Well I hadn't brought enough elastics to do both heads of hair so my mom and I had to run to Montpelier and get some new elastics. I started on Jaci's hair just after Breakfast and about 1 hour 1/2 later I put the last elastic on. After Kelcee had helped with the chores and the men had gone to Preisthood meeting I started on her hair. Kelcee's hair only took 45 min since her hair is a little thinner and not as long as Jaci's. After Priesthood meeting Dallas and Jaci came over and we all played card games and had a great time. I had to get a picture of my two "work of arts" together. Kelcee just took her hair out of the braids tonight (Wednesday) and now she looks like she crimped her hair with a really small crimper. She loved having her braids in and wasn't really happy about taking them out. I am sure that Jaci took her's out on Sunday as she had to teach a bunch of 7th graders on Monday in school. It was a lot fo fun but my hands started to cramp up after about the first 10 braids. At least they look cute right??? It was a lot of work!

Feeding the Baby Calf

This last weekend we made the trip to Bear Lake for Conference Weekend. When I had called my dad and mom to tell them we were coming my dad got really excited because he couldn't wait to share his new responsibility with the kids. They had a calf born and then a few weeks later her mommy got sick and they had to "put her down". So this left this new baby calf motherless so my mom and dad "adopted her" and have to feed her a bottle of milk 2 times a day. They have named the baby calf Annabell. She knows when it is feeding time by the sound of a Whistle... that is right when they blow a whistle she comes running up to the fence cuz she knows it is time for a warm bottle of milk. So Saturday morning came and Grandpa got the 3 kids (Chance, Kelcee, and Peyton) up and dressed to go out side. (mind you there was about an inch of snow on the ground that had fallen in the middle of the night). Anyway, Grandpa made the bottle and then took the kids outside.. of couse I followed with my camera and was still in my jammies.... The other kids were in thier coats and boots and were ready for winter weather. As we walked out on the back porch Chance blew the whistle once and here she came running.... it was so cute. She knew exactly what to do and the kids Loved it. As I said before we had to feed her 2 times a day, once in the morning and once at night. All 3 times we got to feed her the kids would take turns holding the bottle. Kelcee had to have a little help as Annabell kept hitting the bottle and pushing it out of her hands so Chance helped hold it for her. Peyton didn't really want anything to do with her because she is scared of cows... she likes to look a them but then that is it... if they start getting within 5 feet of her she freaks out. Peyton just stayed with her Grandpa cuz she knew he would keep her safe. All my kids love to go to Bear Lake and spend time with Grandma and Grandpa. There is always a new adventure around the corner. Chance, Kelcee and Peyton all helped feed the cows that evening... Petyon of course wouldn't leave her daddy's arms cuz the cows were too close. She is the same way with Horses... Of couse Kelcee is not as much. She walks right up to any size of horse and shows no fear. She loves the animals and love to be apart of the farm. Chance well he loves the tractors that feed the cows and the trucks that haul the horses around... that is what he likes on the farm. I like going up there because it is away from all the stress of the city... even though it snowed the whole time we were there by afternoon the snow was all melted and the grass was showing through... then it would start snowing again and we would have a fresh blanket of snow for the morning feeding. It was a great time and a new experaince for the kids that they will never forget.

The 4 tag....

1. Go to where you store your digital photos & open the 4th folder. 2. Post the 4th picture in that folder. 3. Explain the picture 4. Tag 4 people

We had gone out to one of our favorite Chinese restaurants and at the end of the meal they bring you a plate full of orange slices. Peyton was just over a year old and picked up one of the orange slices and started eating it. Her faces were so funny I had to take a picture of them.

Tag: 1. Erin
2. D'Neil
3. Aimee
4. Mindy