Christmas Fun!

COOKIES

One of the best things to do at Christmas time is decorate sugar cookies!

Kendra showed us how to put on LOTS of frosting.






Look at all those sprinkles!

Kendra brought me this cookie. "I made you a cookie, mamma," she says as she hands it to me. "I just ate some of it first."

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GENEROSITY
Kent and I thought it would be good to try to teach Camryn and Kendra about giving at Christmas time. For family home evening, we read a story about one family that helped out another family in need. The kids in the story said that they would be willing to get fewer presents in order to give to this family. After this story, Kent asked Camryn if she would be willing to give one of her presents to another child that would not get a present otherwise. Camryn looked at her wrapped presents and, with fear in her eyes, shook her head no. He didn't give up. He tried to explain that these children would not get any toys and compared that to our girls and all their toys. Camryn still said no. All of the sudden, Kendra bursts out crying. We ask her what's wrong. "I don't want to give away my presents," she sobs.

So this is going to be hard one to teach.

We try a different approach to giving. "Would you be willing to use the money in your piggy bank to buy someone a present, someone that wouldn't get a present otherwise?" Kent asks. The girls enthusiastically agree. In their piggy banks are quarters, dimes, nickels, and pennies, about 2 to 3 dollars each. They earn it by doing extra chores to help us out. They happily empty their piggy banks before we head to the store. They both pick out a Barbie (we had to lead them away from all the $35 toys they kept trying to pick). Each paid individually and proudly handed all their money to the cashier (I made up the difference, after they gave all they had).

Here are our girls, proudly showing the toys they bought for someone else that might have otherwise gone without.

We are very proud of them.

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ANNIE

Remember this cute little puppy at 4 weeks old?

Look at her now! Annie is now 13 weeks old. She is getting BIG!!

Puppies are a lot of work. If you think you want one, make sure you know what you're getting yourself into. Cleaning up puppy accidents is not fun, especially when you are pregnant. All puppies like chewing. Besides the kids toys that are left out, she loves chewing on wood. She has chewed many of the girls pencils. She also tries to chew our baseboards. Still, she is a sweet girl and we love her.

Here are a couple in-between pictures.

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We want to wish EVERYONE a

MERRY CHRISTMAS!!!!

Thankful

Especially this time of year, I like to reflect on the things I am thankful for.

• I am thankful for my family, my parents and brothers and sisters. They are amazing. Their love and prayers and support have helped me so much over the past few years. I love that we have a close family, that we love to be around each other so much and get to do so many fun things together. I am thankful for the example they have been to me and the way they have loved me through it all.
• I am thankful for the gospel and a loving Father in Heaven. I am so grateful for the healing power of the atonement.
• I am thankful for my children, Camryn and Kendra. They are so special to me. Words cannot describe how much they mean to me. I am grateful we are going to be having another sweet little girl this spring. I have some of the sweetest spirits in my home. I am so thankful to be their mother.
• I am thankful for my husband, Kent. He is more than perfect for me. He loves me and accepts me with all my strengths and weaknesses. He works so hard, is so disciplined and dedicated. He is an amazing father. He does so much for us. I think I will always feel indebted to him, like I could never do enough to show him how I appreciate and love him. I love him more than I can express.

These are the most important things to me in my life. Because of these things, I feel so blessed--rich beyond measure.

I asked Camryn what she is thankful for. This was her reply (in her words as close as I could type):

• I'm thankful for my toys
• I'm thankful for the dogs, Annie, Tobi, and Bailey
• I'm thankful for my house
• I'm thankful for my mommy
• I'm thankful for my daddy
• I'm thankful for my sister
• I'm thankful that mommy's pregnant. I'm thankful for Corinne.
• I'm thankful for everything

Here is Kendra's reply:

• I'm thankful for Annie, and my sissy, and Tobi, and Bailey, and Corinne, and my mamma, and the computer, and daddy, and my toys.

More Television and SWEET tooth!

Yesterday as I was playing with Camryn she said, "Daddy, we should get mommy a smooth away for her birthday." I didn't quite catch the "smooth away." So I asked her to repeat it. She said it is something that removes hair and makes her skin soft. Let's just say Camryn LOVES commercials. We're in trouble when she gets older. I'm thinking a commercial ban is definitely in order.



Anyone who's spent any time with Kendra knows that she has one killer sweet tooth. Well, the other day she was playing on the brick fireplace hearth when she fell and hit her leg on the edge. She immediately started her hysteric breathless crying. I picked her up and tried to calm her down but nothing was working. So..... I thought: CANDY! I said...."Do you need some candy to make it feel better?" She said "uh hu." In her saddest voice. So i gave her some candy which seemed to do the trick. About twenty minutes later she came to me with those puppy dog eyes, grabbed her leg and said, "Daddy, it still hurts... I think i need another candy." It was sooo cute that i gave her the candy. She definitely has me figured out.

Our Girl is Here!!!

She is 4 lbs 3 oz and 13 inches long

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Our girl puppy, that is.

Meet Annie. She is our new Goldendoodle puppy. A goldendoodle is a cross between a golden retriever and a poodle. The benefit from the poodle side is that she won't shed.

She is the sweetest puppy! We love her to death!

We went to meet her when she was 4 weeks old. We all loved her from the start.

Kent and I know how to do it. We are working on being outnumbered by our kids, but that is not enough. We are now outnumbered by our dogs too.

Baby Name

People often ask, "Do you have any names yet?" After going though a few different names, and liking one for a little while, then another, we think we have finally found a name we all really like.

Corinne Elise

She'll probably go by Cori for short.

We still have four months to go, but we think this one will stick.

A Halloween for Witches!

On Friday, I got to go with the girls to their school Halloween party.

Here is Kendra acting motherly again. This little girl didn't have her cow head on. Kendra thought she needed to help her with that.

I asked Kendra to give me a witch smile.

All the kids go out and wave to the passing traffic. It was SO WINDY! The girls had to hold their hats. I think they had fun, despite the wind.

The kids had pizza and spider cookies.

It was a fun school party. I was glad I was able to go.

That night, while I was at work, Kent took the kids to a Trunk-or-Treat. I was told that it was really cold, but I think they had a good time.

On Halloween day, Jeff got to take them Trick-or-Treating. We got the girls back at about 8:00pm. There were still Trick-or-Treaters coming to our door. I think Camryn got more of a kick out of passing out candy then anything else. I told her to hold the bowl and tell them "take two please," or just put two pieces of candy in each bag.

She got SO EXCITED! The first time there was a knock on the door, she ran to the door leaving the candy on the table. She said, "take two please" (with no candy) then ran around the corner to get the candy and came back and put two in each bag.

I hope everyone had a Wonderful Halloween!

Carving Pumpkins

We carved our pumpkins last night. This year, we let the girls choose their own pumpkins and pick their own eyes, mouth, nose, and stuff.

Starting from the left: The little one we made for our baby girl. The middle one is Kendra's,which I helped her carve. She picked flaming eyes and wanted to put a little bow on the side of the head. The big one is Camryn's; Daddy helped her carve hers.

Granddaughters

My parents are some of the best grandparents EVER!

Here my mom is reading Where the Wild Things Are to my two girls.

They LOVE their grandparents.

Here are all their granddaughters
that love them so much:

First came my Camryn

Next came my Kendra

Then came Nicole's Kaydence.

Next to arrive will be Nicole's little girl that is due in December (sorry no picture).

And then comes the 5th granddaughter

Our baby GIRL!!!

Due in March.

This is an all girls club. Not a single boy yet.

My parents must be doing something right. Look at all those beautiful girls!

Kendra--at the age of 3

Kendra turned 3 years old last month. This post is all about Kendra, at the age of 3.

I asked her these questions:

What is your favorite breakfast? Macaroni

You mean your favorite food is macaroni? Yes, macaroni mamma. Can we have some macaroni today?

What is your favorite color? Umm.....hmmm......pink, mamma, pink and blue.

What is your favorite thing to do? Play

What do you like to play? With my puppies (two small plastic dogs that are her favorite toy of the week).

Kendra loves her "sissy." A few weeks ago we were getting ready to go to "school" (daycare). She said she didn't want to go. I told her that her friends would be there. She said, "I don't want to go play with my friends, I want to stay home and play with my sissy."

She loves to swim.

She loves sweets.

She loves to roller skate, or ride her bike, or got to the park, or do just about anything outside.

She has a great imagination. This is a video from earlier this summer. I love her facial expressions.

I also asked her, "What do you want to be when you grow up?" She said, "A mommy." She is very motherly. She loves baby dolls. She also loves taking care of little ones younger than her, like her cousin, Kaydence. She is such a sweetheart.

I love her smile and her sweet spirit. She is my girl, and I love that.

On her birthday, she got to pick what we had for lunch. She wanted to go to "Old McDonalds had a farm" (that's what she calls it).

She also got to open a present.

She got a Scootaloo with a remote control scooter.

We all love you Kendra, and we are so happy that you are ours.

Dora and Diego Birthday Party Adventure!

I am finally getting to posting about the birthday party. It hasn't quite been a month.

Camping with Grandma and Grandpa

The day before the party, Grandma and Grandpa Petersen came to take Camryn and Kendra camping! They have been asking to go camping with Grandma and Grandpa for awhile now. Dane and Mickell came too, but instead of going camping, they stayed to help Kent and me get ready for the party.

While we four stayed home, my parents, along with Camryn and Kendra, headed to the South Hills. Here are some pictures they shared from their camping trip.

I didn't send any swimsuits and there was water. Where there is water, these girls must swim.

The girls had a great time! Thanks so much Grandma and Grandpa Petersen!

They came back just in time to get ready for the party.

Our Dora and Diego Adventure Party

We started by coloring until most of the kids arrived. Then we all went out back to see the birthday cakes. When we got out back, Swiper the Fox was there! He came and swiped the birthday cakes and hid them at his secret hiding place! We had to find the cakes!
For each child there was a backpack (like Dora's) or a rescue pack (like Diego's). Inside was a map, some binoculars, and other things we used later.

First on the map was the rainbow path.There was a big hole in most of the posters. The kids had to find the missing shapes that were spread out on the grass and find their places.

Once the kids had fixed the rainbow path, they were ready to walk down it.

At the end of the path was this picture of boots. He was missing a boot, but the kids each had one in their backpack.

Next on the map was crocodile lake. We got a message that there were baby ducks in the lake that needed to be rescued before the crocodiles got them.

After all of the baby ducks were safe, we were off to find the tunnel to Swiper's hiding place.

But in front of the entrance was a sleeping bear! I told the kids to look in their backpacks for something to wake the bear. They found their maracas.

They woke the bear, who sleepily moved out of the way. But the tunnel was dark. What could they use to see in the dark? In their backpacks were little mini flashlights.

They came out of the tunnel inside the tent (Swiper's hiding place) and found the cakes.

Presents

After cake and ice cream, we let the kids loose to play.

Thanks to everyone that came.

Helpers

Mickell and Dane worked HARD. We couldn't have done it without you two! We still owe you one.

My man. He helped from start to finish. He helped me plan it out, get ready, set up, and everything.

Happy Birthday Girls! We love you!