POLAR EXPRESS

Wednesday, December 16, 2009

We got to go on the Polar Express this past weekend. Can you say MAGICAL? Oh my! My girls were on cloud 9 as we sat on a train that was slowly making its way to the North Pole, drinking hot chocolate, and listening to the story of The Polar Express being read to us. The excitement of seeing the North Pole was almost more than they could stand! Then Santa came and got on the train! Their eyes were sparkling as he handed them their beautiful bell. Then the train headed toward the hotel as we sang Christmas songs the whole way back. It was a night to remember! They got to be their with all of their Winterton cousins(minus Dakota, next year!) and their Nana & Papa. Nana had made the girls matching p.j.'s and bought the boys their matching p.j.'s. They were feeling pretty special! It was so much fun to watch their excitement!The next day we found a sled park and played all day in the snow. Surprisingly, no one was seriously hurt! We had a few close calls though.

Noah would not put gloves on! I do know one thing, I would HATE to live where it snows! It was fun to VISIT. I don't know if I could endure the cold. It's amazing how we can drive three hours away and have drastically different weather!

Goodman Family Reunion

Sunday, November 8, 2009

Saturday we headed up to Thatcher for a family reunion. One of my aunts have a huge ranch where it was held. The weather was a little hotter than expected but the fun was still as fun as we expected. Our girls went up the night before with Annie and Riley and spent their FIRST night ever in a tent. Yes, we have deprived children. Thanks Annie & Riley!

Saturday was filled with games, clay pigeon shooting contests(which Matt came in 3rd, if you know my family there are some hunters, so very impressive), quad rides, and lots of good food!

Noah fell asleep by the end of this ride.

Paige & Shea even shot the gun with Matt's help. Paige now wants a gun for Christmas, what have we started?! Noah spent most of his day playing in the dirt, true boy!

Thanks Aunt Dianne for all of your work and bringing our family together. It's days like those that make me so grateful for family and for my heritage. We are so blessed to have so much family on BOTH sides that we get to build relationships with. Isn't that one reason why we are here?!

Happy Halloween...

Thursday, November 5, 2009

Well... except for Noah. He hated being in his costume which was so sad for me, he was such a cute pirate! He didn't care about trick-or-treating either. Maybe next year! Paige was a cute Southern Bell, Shea was not just a bunny, but a Super Bunny! ???I'm not sure what sparked that? We went to our ward's Halloween festival that evening and then the girls hit the pavement with Matt for some trick-or-treating.

Matt and I went to a Halloween party the night before. He went as Captain Hook (a cute one, I must add) and I went as Tinkerbell. Matt won the best costume. I think it was the eyeliner, which he did look good in, haha. It was a fun time. We survived the weekend!

We Survived Fall Break...

Thursday, October 22, 2009

Thank goodness for Mexico! The second week of Fall Break we went to Rocky Point with the Post family... and didn't want to come home. We spent time napping, playing games (Paige was addicted to Uno!), reading, getting kissed by the sun, and eating lots of tortillas! It is one of our favorite places to vacation. It can't get much better! (Deaton family needs to try Mexico again!) (Winterton family needs to not be so scared!)Haha

Beautiful Day!

BONO!!!

U2 Stage, it was enormous!

Cheesy title, I know. Starting the blog up again with pictures from the U2 concert. Amazing! That's the best word I can come up with. Matt sang along with EVERY song. U2 is his favorite band. Ienjoyed watching him as much as watching them play.... well, not quite as much. Black Eyed Pees opened for them. Traffic was a mess so we missed most of them but were so good of what we got to see. What a fun night! AAHHH!

Happy Memorial Day!

Sunday, May 24, 2009

Matt and I got to spend 5 days in Washington D.C. sight seeing, touring, attending his brother Christian and his wife Sara's graduation, and going to their sealing. The sealing and graduation is what brought us there and I am forever grateful for the opportunity that we had to go. It was an amazing sealing and the temple is gorgeous!

As we approach Memorial Day my heart is full of gratitude and love for those who have gone before us and sacrificed so much for our country and for our freedoms we enjoy. I have a deeper appreciation to the people that have given and still do give EVERYTHING for me. I learned and relearned so much on our trip. All of the Memorial's have a special spirit there that you feel. It was amazing! The amount of people that have died in war is unbelieveable and so sad. I am grateful that we have a day to celebrate them. I love my country despite all the evil around us. It is truly an amazing country.

Arlington Cemetary

Washington Monument In front of the Capitol Building

We finally got around to celebrating Noah's 2 year birthday. He turned 2 on May 21st, we celebrated on the 23rd(good thing he doesn't know). I guess I need to stop treating him like a baby. It has gone by so fast and I'm not ready to have a toddler! He may just keep getting babied a little longer, if Matt lets me. We had a fun celebration. We swam, barbequed, and had cake, typical birthday for the summer. The Price's, Nana & Papa Deaton, and the Haviland's came for the party. We had fun and Noah loved the new sports balls he got along with a baseball tee. We love you Noah!

First Pet

Sunday, May 3, 2009

I thought as a child that it was weird that some people didn't have dogs, horses, cows, or goats. I didn't realize that I was the different one. I feel a little sad sometimes that my kids have not had the experience of loving an animal, playing with one, having the responsibilities of caring for one, or losing one. All of these experiences have helped me become who I am today. If it was totally up to me we may have a small farm on our little half acre. Instead we have a pool. I can't complain, I do love that pool. We also have Nana & Papa Winterton's animals to go and play with. I am constantly pulling Noah out of horse pens because he wants to ride! He loves Check too.

Well after much begging from Shea, our biggest animal lover, we all decided on getting a goldfish. They are thrilled!!! Her name is Goldie, and she is a girl because they named her a girl name. Noah enjoys looking at it and tapping on the bowl. We will see how long this cute fish lasts. I'm not looking forward to cleaning a fish bowl, I would rather shovel horse manure. Oh well, my kids have a pet!

Tuesday, April 28, 2009

I was told we are a little overdue on updating our blog. I agree! I could make a nice list of things I am overdue on ... but I won't. This month has been an eventful one. Starting at the top...

1. Quilt retreat. So fun to see everyone. It snowed all day Saturday. Amazing! I don't think I have ever gotten to see snow falling until everything outside was white. So pretty.

2. Easter. What a special time of year, to celebrate the greatest gift we have ever been given. I love my Savior. There is no doubt I need his atoning sacrifice daily!


I am not sure how a bunny and eggs got put into this holiday but the kids do love it. With having both our families here we get to have EXTRA celebrations. We first went to Nana & Papa Winterton's for festivities on Friday. Then on Saturday we went to Nana & Papa Deaton's. Noah was a HUGE fan of coloring the eggs. I am kicking myself of not capturing the after math of a water fight between Matt and ALL the kids. Everybody was soaking wet. Sunday afternoon we went to Winterton's and had an awesome Easter feast.

3. Paige turned 7! She is the SWEETEST 7 year old I know. She is so responsible, fun, and determined. She is just so good. She got to celebrate three times (extra celebrations). The day of her birthday she requested breakfast in bed (SO CUTE). She was thrilled with hot chocolate, doughnuts, and grapes.

We celebrated that night with the Winterton side. She wanted crapes for dinner, awesome for me!

Her sweet cousins, Trai and Peyton, and Aunt Annie brought her balloons at school. After about 1 minute they ended up in a tree. Thanks to the janitor they were saved!

On Saturday she had a party with her friends at the bowling alley. They had a great time.

Sunday she celebrated with the Deaton side.

I told her birthday week is over. But really it wasn't. Monday she got to go shopping with her gift cards and money she got. Lucky girl!

O.K. so trying to blog a month's worth of stuff is a pain and way to long. I will do better!

Viva la Vida

Saturday, March 21, 2009

We survived Mexico! With strong disapproval from my mother we took our kids to Kino Bay, Mexico with the Webster family. We weren't worried at all about going and never felt an ounce scared while we were there. We had a great time relaxing and enjoying the lazy days. We asked Paige what her favorite thing was about the vacation and she said,"everything!" I agree! Thanks Webster's!

Las Chicas Locas

Thursday, March 5, 2009

We did it again! Las Chicas Locas, "The Crazy Ladies", ran the Ragnar Relay again this year. The race this year went from Prescott to Mesa, a total of 202.1 miles. The team this year included Darcy, Moe, Pat, Angie, Amy, and Jennifer in van 1. Van 2 was Me, Carrie, Stephanie, Amber, Erin, and Tashina. We got 2nd out of our division and 8th out of all the women teams. Awesome job ladies! The total miles for my runs ended up being 19.6 miles. Even though my legs were sore, it was worth worth all of the fun we had on the race and training together!

Before During
After

Horsin' Around

Sunday, February 22, 2009

We took advantage of not having school on Presidents Day going on a horse back ride at San Tan Mountain. We borrowed a couple of horses from my parents, drove to the mountain which is only 10 minutes from us, and set off. It was so much fun. The weather was great and it was so therapeutic (for me anyway). We enjoyed the scenery and Matt taught the girls some things about the outdoors, which got them a little scared, as they then kept their eyes out for rattlesnakes. Poor Noah didn't get to come along, he loves to ride, and yes, Matt has become a pretty good rider!
Matt and the girls enjoying a little picnic.

Happy Birthday Matt!

Sunday, February 15, 2009

Matt turned 32 on February 13th. We usually combine his birthday with Valentines because we can't afford two nights out in a row and it's crazy Valentines night so it works out really well for us. I surprised him with an over night stay at a resort in Phoenix. It was so nice, we wanted a few more nights but were happy with the one we got. We went shopping the next day, Matt got to pick out what he wanted. I tried to let him do all the shopping but had to purchase a few things I couldn't resist. We went home and had a little celebration with our kids. It was great. I love having a day to celebrate Matt. He is such a great father and husband. He is my world. I feel lucky to still have a crush on him and he still makes my heart skip a beat. I love you Matt.

Gardening

The girls were so excited to help Matt plant our first garden of the year. We planted peas, cilantro, tomatoes,and lettuce that we have already enjoyed.



Noah helped by staying out of the way and playing golf.