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!