IT'S GOING TO BE A WHITE CHRISTMAS !!

We are in Farmington having a great time!!! Yesterday it started snowing....just a little, but enough to play in it. I had to go out to Walmart and buy some snow gear for the kids, so they wouldn't freeze. Last night we had a great time and went to the Fantasy of Lights. We sat in a horse and buggy and drove around looking at a bunch of lights lit up throughout a park. It had stopped snowing by this time, so it was perfect. Not to cold, but cold enough to bundle up and enjoy the lights. The kids were a little bummed the snow stopped, but when we got home Rick took the kids up to the golf course to have a snowball fight and build a snowman. Cody made the biggest snowball of everyone! Grandma and Grandpa even came out into the cold. Chase got grandma good with a snowball! The kids didn't even notice it was freezing....they could have stayed out there all night.
LOOK WHAT WE WOKE UP TO THIS MORNING!!!!!!

We are off to the hills to go sledding!!!!!

Christmas Hussle and Bussle!!!

Yesterday was a fun and busy day for the Petersons!!! Cody got to stay at school "until dark" as he put it. He along with 8 other kiddos were picked to have a "private" party with the kindergarten teachers. They had pizza, popcorn, watched a movie, and the most fun was breaking the rules and getting to go into the teachers lounge!!! Paige went to a birthday party with a neighbor girl. They went to Girly Girl. It is a cute place where they do your hair, you can dress up, and just be a girl. I think Paige will have glitter in her hair for the next couple of months.One of the events of the evening was attending Chase's pack meeting. He has only been in scouts a little over a month and at his pack meeting he and his buddy received their "bobcat." He had to memorize a few things and Rick and I talked to him about safety situations..... It was cool to see him up there at the beginning of his scouting journey! I am really looking forward to all of the fun things he will get to do and our family will get to do to help Chase one day receive the ultimate goal of "Eagle Scout!"
Jordan had her holiday concert at school for choir. She is in the chamber choir and the group of kids that sing with her did great! They sounded so beautiful. It was pretty neat that they were able to wear really pretty black dresses, so they all looked the same. Jordan has really enjoyed choir and plans to continue with it throughout high school. At the end of the night we had a mini Christmas with my parents and my cousin Davey and his wife Kristi. Paige has been so excited about playing her christmas songs on the piano. She has only been taking piano for a few months and is doing so great! She picks up the songs so fast and plays beautifully! She played Jingle Bells and The First Noel for us. The kids then opened presents from Grandma and Grandpa. Finally, was the event of the night......
let me explain this a bit.... My dad is a HUGE Utah fan! Growing up he "tried" to brainwash us in attending Utah. (it didn't work) My cousin Davey is a HUGE BYU fan. I think everything he owns is blue. Well, when Utah and BYU played a few weeks ago, both Davey and my Dad were so confident in their teams they made a bet that whoever lost had to dress up in a cheer outfit and sing the other teams fight song. Well, BYU lost which meant Davey had to pay up! This was the funniest thing I have seen. I did video it, but couldn't get it to work on my blog. (I will keep trying). So here are the pictures of Davey completely humiliated! My dad had a huge smile on his face!!! He was in heaven. Davey says, "wait until next year."

Its Beginning to Look a lot like Christmas!

COLD WEATHER:

It has been especially cold for the past few days and super WINDY! In fact the kids didn't have school yesterday because of ice on the roads.... HOORAY FOR A DAY OFF!!!! It has been unusually cold! WE ARE LOVING IT! Don't laugh for those of you in really icy and snowy areas, but this is what we do for fun with the little ice we do have!
The kids made a "homemade" sled with a box and pulled each other on the ice strips they could find. It was freezing outside, but they didn't care and played outside on the ice for over an hour. I could only handle being out there long enough to take pictures and completely "biff" it on the sidewalk. (don't worry I'm okay!)

PLAYING IN THE LEAVES!:

A few weeks ago the kids decided to rake up some leaves. Eventhough the two trees we have in our yard are dead and have NO leaves on them, we have managed to somehow acquire everyone else's leaves from the neighborhood. The boys were so excited to rake them up and jump in them. I think this occupied them for almost an hour!! They would rake, then jump, then rake, then jump!!! They were so sad to have to bag them up - they actually saved the bags in the garage so they could dump them out and play in them again!! How cute is that??? Don't you just love the simple joys that make your kids happy!

You Never Know What the Day will Bring!

So yesterday Rick called just after 8:00 am....that seemed a little strange, but what was even worse was he started off the conversation with, "so I was driving into work this morning....." right then I knew something happened. Well, he and his buddy were driving to work and they were in the HOV lane. Rick was driving and saw a car pulled over, but didn't know why that car was pulled over. Suddenly he heard a loud noise. Well - the guy pulled over had just hit one of the "arms" or "levers" that usually would be down if the HOV lane was closed. AND Rick hit it too....when Rick drives to work it is dark, so I guess since someone had already hit the "arm" it knocked it into a weird position where there were no reflectors or anything..... no way to see it. The HOV lane wasn't closed and none of the other "arms" were down. So we are thinking it was faulty....
ANYWAY....these are the results of what happened.....



It could have been so much worse! After I had time to really think about it.....It really makes you think that you never know what the day will bring. I am so grateful Rick and his friend were okay. Last night when I went to bed I thanked Heavenly Father for my husband! That he works so hard for us, and that he is healthy. For my children...that they are healthy and happy, and for life in general. I don't know what I would do without my family!

Getting Ready For Christmas!

I have gotten a little behind on blogging.....December is just crazy! I feel like it is already over because of so much to do in so little time! So here goes a little catching up!!! A favorite time at our house is decorating the Christmas tree. "BEFORE!""AFTER"

Every year the kids get a new ornament, so they love putting "their" ornaments on the tree. We also hide a pickle every year. The first child to find it gets a present. This year I hid it especially good!!!! The kids looked and looked and asked for clues....each day I gave them a new clue...FINALLY after I pretty much gave them the exact area it was in - Jordan found it. She was super excited because this is the first year she found it FIRST!!! (usually she is the last one to find it!) The prize this year was the movie "ELF."

SPENDING TIME WITH MOM AND DAD:

We went to mom and dads a to have some fun "christmas" time with them! I LOVE that they live so close. Mom had bought a cute little foam village for the kids to make. That kept them busy for a good part of the night...I can't believe how much they got into it...each one of them putting it together so carefully!Once they were all finished they put together their little village! Isn't it cute!
Dad also got the hot tub all ready for the kids. This is their favorite thing to do at grandma and grandpa's house when it is cold outside.Grandpa had the fire going for them also! None of the kids actually jumped all the way into the pool, but they did put their feet in it....CRAZY! Mom and I made hot chocolate for the kids when they got out of the hot tub. The other highlight of the night was watching "Emmet Otter's Jug-Band Christmas"!!!! Do any of you remember that??? Okay, so maybe it was only a highlight for me, but as a kid we used to watch this every year! After watching it - it didn't quite seem like I had remembered, but it was still great!

Thanksgiving

Well, it seems like forever since I have blogged!!!! A lot has been going on! Chase had his birthday and had a fun party. We took the kids and some of Chase's friends bowling. WOW! It had been a long time since we went bowling! It was a ton of fun! Chase really wanted and needed a new bike for his birthday....so here it is! He is pretty excited...the side of his bike says "chaos" and it doesn't have foot breaks, and the coolest part is that his front tire turns a full 360!!! Chase also asked if he could have his scriptures early (instead of waiting for his baptism. So we took care of that last week!)Chase is such a great kid! We are so happy to have him in our family!Most of you know that twilight came out last weekend....well, Jordan was SO excited to see the movie. A girlfriend and her worked hard making their t-shirts to wear to the movie...she loved it! Eventhough I didn't read the book, I went to see the movie with some girlfriends. Thanks Shaunna for keeping me clued in on what was going on!!! I loved the movie, and have now commited to reading the series!!!I broke the rules and decided to put up all of my Christmas stuff early....so I had the house decorated for Christmas before Thanksgiving. (I didn't have the tree up, so I didn't break all the rules!) It just seems like Christmas is coming too fast!!! We were so lucky to have Ricks parents come and stay with us for a week! We had such a fun time and were so happy to have them here! The kids got to go swimming at lifetime with grandpa (he even went down the waterslide), we did some shopping, and played lots of games!!!! Thanksgiving was super yummy.....thanks to Marlene's rolls!!! We kept with the tradition and made gumdrop turkeys. Cody got a little crazy with his, and I think Chase ate half the bag of gumdrops. This year was my first time to make yams and apples....let me just say...YUMMY!!!! I will definately be making them again! My cousin and his wife, Davey and Kristi came for Thanksgiving too!!! It was a great day!Friday night was pretty chilly outside, so Chase had an awesome idea of having a fire in the backyard. Rick started the chimnea and we had some hot chocolate! What could be better? Tonight was Dickens of a Christmas in downtown McKinney....I love it!!! It was nice and cool, and the square looked so pretty! They had Christmas lights, people singing, and awesome booths with food and activities for the kids. The first thing we did when we got there was take a ride down the sledding hill....what??? snow in texas??? Well, we make our own snow! Jordan, Chase, Cody, and I all took a turn going down the hill... We walked around and looked at some shops, Paige and Chase rode some ponies. That was not such a great deal....the kids stood in line and when they got up the lady said, $5.00. We thought well, okay - then she said $5.00 each! What?? I guess we know better for next time! That was the most expensive thing of the whole night!We had hot chocolate and they had a cute little train that gave rides around the square. The kids also got to decorate their own cookies. Of course Paige made hers into a cute snowman. Being extra careful to make it look nice. Chase took a little less time, and here is what Cody came up with!!!! We love walking around downtown....it is so fun and really puts us into the Christmas mood!!!! Hope everyone had a nice holiday!

Happy Birthday CHASE!!!!

My little guy is 8 years old and I can't believe it!!!! I remember the day he was born so well. Chase was born at 9:46 in the morning. I was actually scheduled to be induced on the 15th, but my water broke the morning of the 14th. Chase had a little bit of trouble coming into this world. He wasn't breathing very well when he was born. About 6 nurses were working on him when my doctor went over to check things out and finally little Chase decided he would quit scaring all of us and start breathing. From that moment on, Chase has been perfect!Chase was my biggest baby at 7 pounds 6 ounces. He had the cutest and chubbiest legs I have ever seen. Chase was always full of smiles when he was little and loved to get into everything. He was my first experience with boys....wow! He was different than my little girls. He was born making car noises and constantly had to have a ball or bat in his hand. (that still holds true today!)Besides hitting or throwing balls, Chase loved playing with his tools. Anytime Rick was fixing anything, Chase was right there with his goggles and tools! It was so cute to see him following his dad around all the time! Chase is growing up to be such an awesome kid! I couldn't ask for a better son! He is kind, smart, a hard worker, and very caring. Chase is very obedient and listens to his mom and dad. (Hopefully this will always hold true! :-)

Chase, I can't believe you are already 8. You have been such a joy to have in our family. Our family wouldn't be the same without you! I know you are excited about getting baptized. Your dad and I are so proud of you. I love you buddy! I hope you have a great birthday. Turning 8 is awesome!

New York continued!!!!

So here is the rest of what we did in New York!!!!
Day 2:
Day 2 in New York was so much fun! Rick had to work most of the day, so I spent the majority of the day with another wife that was there. Her name is Blanca and she was so much fun to hang out with. After breakfast the guys went one way and we went the other....straight to the subway!! First stop...CHINATOWN! We needed to do some shopping! My friends told me about how people would come up to you and whisper..."handbag, chanel, coach." They want you to go with them in a back room to see their "designer" purses. Since I was with someone I figured I would go...The first store we were in the lady opened a secret door in the back of the store. I would have never guessed it was there. It was a small room with great purses, but I decided to hold out and see what others had. So as we were walking another guy asked us if we wanted to see some purses....we said okay...we followed him down the street. He opened the door and took us up three flights of stairs. (Very steep I might add!) Then through a door into a big open room and finally into another door. He had a ton of purses!!!! Let me say....I definately wouldn't recommend following complete strangers into strange places in other circumstances! :-) Luckily I was worned this would happen, otherwise I would have been completely freaked out! Chinatown was great! We continued walking through Little Italy, Soho, Noho, and got onto the Subway to "BLOOMINGDALES!" Soho was a fun area....lots of shops and also where NYU is. I also saw something crazy! A "city style" Home Depot. It was crazy! Just right there on the street as if it were a clothing store. Bloomingdales was fun, and for a moment I got to pretend I could actually afford anything I wanted in the store! By this time it was past lunch time, so we headed to a restaurant both our friends had told us about.....SERENDIPITY3. Okay - this place was SO cute and fun!!!! I would definately recommend this place! It was tiny.....if you blinked you would pass it, but just the environment was fun...they are known for their dessert, but their food was good too...for lunch I had a sandwich and "double dare chocolate mousse!"" YUMMMMMMMMM!!!!!! It was the best I've ever had!!!! After lunch - my friend went to see Letterman, so I just toured around myself. I had the best time!!!!! I went to Times Square, Rockefeller Center, Macy's, Madison Square Garden, saw the Empire State Building, and walked pretty much that whole area of the city! Rockefeller Center was cool...I saw the ice skating rink and where they tape the Today Show.We finally took the Subway back to the hotel to meet up with the hubbies!!! I had to take Rick to Serendipity for dinner, so we headed back that way! Again, our food was so good, and we tried "frozen hot chocolate". YUM! It tasted like a cocoa shake... The weather was getting pretty cold, so what better than cuddling up together while taking a carriage ride! Yup!!!! We did the carriage ride through part of Central Park! Fun, Awesome, Romantic!!! Our driver was so nice and let us know about all the info that goes on at Central Park. Then since Rick hadn't seen Times Square yet, we headed there. While walking there we passed The Plaza, Trump Towers, FAO Schwartz, Radio City, ice skating rink at Rockefeller Center, and pretty much everything!!!! Times Square is a place like no other!!! By this time it was getting really late so we decided we should probably head back to the hotel. Once we were in the subway we had to figure out a special "late night" route, since not all the trains were running. When we got to our stop we walked up to the street and the rain was POURING!!!! We started our "scary" walk and got drenched. I'm not sure if I would recommend walking late at night in the scary streets of Brooklyn! I feel myself getting all tense everytime we start walking from the subway to our hotel - in the dark! I totally feel like an expert Subway rider and tourist!!!!! WAIT!!!!! We got tickets to the David Letterman Show!!!!! Before we left I applied online for tickets. The way it works is they call you on the phone and if you answer a trivia question correctly they will give you tickets. Of course I put all of Ricks information down, since I don't know everything about the David Letterman Show. I wasn't sure if they would call, but while I was talking to Rick on the phone he said, "let me call you back, the Letterman show is calling me." They asked him what type of store does Rupert (David Lettermans friend) own? And he knew the answer!!!!! It is a deli store called Hello Deli! I never would have known that!
Day 3: It rained all day!!! I decided what better thing to do on a rainy day then to go to a museum. I spent a good part of the day at the Metropolitan Museum of Art. (also known as the Met!) This was so great! I haven't been much of an art fan, and honestly if it wasn't raining, I don't know that I would have gone. BUT, I'm so glad I did. Now I understand why Paige loves art so much! I can't wait to see more with Paige at local art museums. The Met was awesome and I have learned to really appreciate art! That night it stopped raining, so Rick and I headed out to the city. I really wanted to see a show, so we saw - "spamalot" It was very good, and Clay Aiken did a fabulous job. I have decided I really could see any show and LOVE it.
Day 3: Rick and I decided to head to the World Trade Center site and do a tour. Wow - that is amazing and heartwrenching. I was listening to the audio tour and couldn't help but get teary eyed. I definately recommend this!!! It was awesome. I hope we get to go back when they are finished building all the memorials. Rick had one request for lunch...that was to eat at the Hello Deli....so before letterman we went in and talked with Rupert and had awesome sandwiches! That was fun to get a picture with him....then off to Letterman! Awesome!!! We got seats front and center.....just being there was cool...it was the day Alec Baldwin was on.

The first day we were there - New York seemed a little scary and overwhelming....but now - WE LOVE IT!!!!!!! Rick- thank you so much for taking me with you and spending time with me....you are truely the best and didn't complain about all the pictures, sites, shows, and crazy things I wanted to do! I love you so much and can't wait until one day when we can go back! I love you!