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
.

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!!!