Fiona's bday pics

I know that Fiona's birthday is still a few weeks away, but I thought I better get these done while I'm thinking about it instead of waiting till a few weeks after like I did with Wesley. Why procrastinate? She's going to be 2 February 22. wow, 2 on 2/22. that's a lot of twos. okay enough babble, here's the pics

wesley's bday pics

i finally got out and got wesley's bday pics. i thought they turned out fun. he loved being by the tracks.

bambiraptor

so friday night i decided we needed to take a trip to the dinosaur museum. the one at thanksgiving point. i LOVE dinosaurs. i always wanted to make my own jurassic park, but i wouldn't get eaten. austin and i have this joke between us. he calls me a compy which is basically just a poisonous chicken. if i were to be a dinosaur, i'd choose to be a raptor. very clever, very deadly. but austin says i'm just too cute to be a raptor so i'm a compy. well, at the museum we ran across a bambiraptor. yes, a bambi raptor. when austin found it i thought he was just joking, but they had the skeleton labeled as bambiraptor "robber of bambi" (whatever that means). it's about the size of a turkey. i guess i'd rather be called a bambiraptor than a compy but that's just me.
we had a great time at the museum. the boys and fiona loved the dinosaurs and the the hands on exhibits. we even got a special treat and ran into my cousin and her family.
of course the tool display was one of the favorites, the boys were very impressed with all the shovels and saws





fiona was just a light weight. the whole family equaled about a fifth of a t-rex
this is wesley, ian and my cousin's boy, ty.
this is fiona and my cousin's cutie, isabelle. they are only 6 months apart. they look so similar, they could be sisters. what cuties!

quiet time fun

quiet time is my time. it's my time to sit at the computer, crochet, read, or just waste time. it's usually the only time that i have one on one with lydia as well. so here are the results of one of those moments when we decided to play with the camera. austin said that it looked like lydia was just putting up with me and my silliness, but she was having fun too.

Belly Dancing

If you knew me about 10 years ago, you may have known about my involvement with belly dancing. Especially, if you were introduced to me by my brother-in-law Ben who always said, "this is Kelly, the belly dancer." Well, after my mission I never did go back to classes and lost contact with the girls that I used to dance with. I've had the costumes sitting in boxes downstairs gathering dust and making great nesting material for mice (I had to throw out the whole box). And I just kept thinking 'it would be fun to do this again'. Well, today I did it. I signed up with the belly dancing community class. It starts in just a few weeks and I am so excited. It is so much fun and really great excercise. I totally reccomend it to anyone. Don't expect any performances; I don't think I could bring myself to do that for an audience anymore. But at least now Ben can introduce me as Kelly, the belly dancer again.

Wesley's party

On the 3rd we had a little party for Wesley with a few friends. We sled in our back yard and made edible snowmen out of powdered doughnuts. It was a lot of fun and a successful birthday party. The day was absolutely perfect and the weather was beautiful. It snowed the night before (Wesley knew it snowed just for him)and the trees and mountains were wondrous covered in glittery snow. It was great to be outside playing in it.

I ran across this today as I was browsing through some of my favorite blogs. I don't know all the details, but feel that it is something I as well as others need to know more about. If this new law is going to affect artisans, crafters and small businesses as it seems I am against it as one who likes to create and share ideas with others. Most of the things I make are inspired by the ideas of others. Please look into this and give the support they need to keep this law from negatively affecting handmade wonders. Thank you

Wesley James Carter

Our little man just turned 5. He's taught me a lot about myself, things that I am grateful for and things that I definately want to change. He was added to our family in an unique and special way, and we know that it all played together perfectly because he was meant for us. Here's a few pics from the past 5 years.
HAPPY 5TH BIRTHDAY, WE LOVE YOU WES

our christmas

Ian got a pirate kit book and this is his Pirate Face




We've had a great Christmas. We tried to keep gifts and traditions simpler and it really seemed to help us enjoy the time together as a family more. Tuesday we went to Temple Square. We got there pretty early in the evening so there were fewer people and we only stayed for about half an hour or so. It was just right and we left before the kids got too cold or cranky. We then went to the Training Table restaurant and introduced the children to their new favorite food: cheese fries. Wesley and Fiona were in absolute heaven!
Christmas Eve we got the great news that Austin's parents would be able to make it back from Portland after all. They had been caught there in the snow storm that hit over the weekend. All flights had been canceled and we thought we wouldn't be seeing them until the Sunday after Christmas. But Jon's determination and Nadene's patience found them home to celebrate with us. So we went first to Grandma Davis' home for dinner and visiting with the Davis cousins. Then we went to Grandpa and Grandma Dee Nee's to reenact the nativity with Mark and Amberlee's family. Unfortunately, I left my camera in the car and the wind was so strong and cold I decided not to go back out to fetch it. I'm hoping Amberlee or Alli will take pity on me and send me copies of their pics (hint, hint).
Christmas morning came at 8am (I'm sure we're getting close to not being able to sleep in on Christmas morning any more; this is probably one of our last years.) The children had a great time and absolutely LOVED their gifts. Wesley got a garbage truck, Ian a rescue helicopter, Fiona a baby and stroller of her own, and Lydia got a lullaby glowworm (I know she had know idea, but I felt horrible not getting her something.) They also each got a book, candy, and other fun things from us and family.
We had brunch that morning at Tina's house. She is an excellent cook and everything was so yummy. I took my camera in that time, but never took a picture. I just totally dropped the photo-op ball on that one.
We've enjoyed the snow and have spent a lot of time playing games and having fun with the kids.
We hope that all of you have had a wonderful Christmas as well. We are looking forward to celebrating the New Year and Wesley's birthday in the days to come. It seems like this time of year the fun just never ends.

hair cut

i just got the best haircut. i just love it(good job amberlee, you're amazing.) it's really similar to a cut that i had the year before we got wesley and it's so easy and fun.
this is the pic i took into her for reference