Merry Christmas!

What a wonderful time the Christmas season was this year! For some reason James and I were on the ball and had everything bought and mostly wrapped before December 1st! Good thing too because for most of the month we were sick! Colds and flu have been passing from kid to kid to mom to dad and all around again. Just today Avery seemed to be getting better, but Miles was starting to cough as I tucked him into bed. Even with all the bugs we managed to have a great season. I had a goal for each Monday in December to focus on Christ, his birth and teachings. The first Monday we told the story of Christ's birth and did a living nativity. It was the first time we have done that, a friend of mine said her family does it every year and I just loved the idea. Savanna was Mary, Miles was Joseph, and Avery was one of the Three Kings, giving a golden cup for her gift. The next day Miles said that it was the best family home evening ever!

 

My family, the Bogus's had a Christmas dinner at my Uncle Tom and Aunt Brooke's house in Salt Lake. It was really nice to spend time with my extended family and see all my cousins. The kids were really good and had fun with my cousins kid's. Heidi, Emily and I took the traditional holiday picture. Back when were were four and five years old we had this picture taken of us at my grandmas house, it was either Thanksgiving or Christmas, I'm not sure, but every time we have gotten together during the holidays as adults, my Aunt has tried to recreate the picture. This year we tried making the same faces as in the original.

2005, extremely pregnant with Savanna!

2010, Emily pregnant with Lainey, she is a much cuter pregnant lady!

2012, no pregnant ladies!

This year we also continued the new tradition we started last year of decorating sugar cookies with Grandma to give to Santa. Grandpa also came this year to help. We had so much fun! The kids, especially Savanna, were so creative in their decorating. Avery was so cute, she would spend so much time spreading the icing, putting on the sprinkles and chocolate chips, then she licked it all off and started on another one!

On Christmas Eve day my mom and brother came over and we gave them their presents and the kids got presents from them too. That night we stayed home (another new tradition that I am loving!) and had a big feast. I seriously made so much food, not sure why, there's only five of us! We set everything up buffet style in the family room and ate while we watched A Christmas Story. My favorite movie! Christmas morning came very early at our house and James had put something special in the kid's stockings. They each got a part to build a mysterious project in the basement. After they opened their stockings we went downstairs to build it.

The project ended up being a platform for the kids to set up their Defiant 4x4 track on! James discovered his new favorite toy this year and everyone has been having fun setting up new tracks and playing with it together. After building the platform we went back upstairs and opened presents. The kids are at such a fun age, every time they opened something they screamed "It's what I always wanted!" so cute! Around noon we went to James' parents house for another round of presents and Christmas dinner. The kids had fun playing with their cousins and running around eating candy. We came home and put the kids to bed at 6:45. They were beyond exhausted, and so were James and I. We were excited to have some alone time to relax and watch TV, but James fell asleep half was through one episode of Bored to Death, so we just went to bed.

This year Christmas time seemed to fly by, the day after I kept thinking of all the things I had wanted to do with the kids and just didn't have time for. I was letting myself get a little sad and let down, but then a I remembered all the fun we did have and I know my kids are building good memories of their childhood Christmases. I am so grateful to be a mom and to have a wonderful husband who makes our life possible. I am also grateful for my Savior and being able to spend this time of year with the one's I love most! 

Giving Thanks for Family

This year for Thanksgiving the whole Bayless clan was together. Andy and Melissa came up from Blanding, Heather came up from Mesa, and Jordan, Amanda, and their boys came all the way from PA. It was decided that we should take advantage of all of us being in one state at the same time and get family pictures taken. Andy and Melissa arranged everything and presented the pictures to us for our Christmas present! So nice! It has been about a year and half since we had our family pictures so it was nice to update, and the last time we had pictures with the entire family Savanna was a just a baby! There have been two weddings and lots more babies born since then so it was definitely time for a new one.

The whole family!

My loves.

Cousins!

We spent the week of Thanksgiving spending time together. Monday night we had a family dinner at Taco Amigo then went up to Cabela's to shop and let the kids run around and see the animals. Tuesday we went to The Living Planet Aquarium. Miles loved it! He just kept running laps around the place. Miles and his cousin Ben became really good friends and explored the aquarium together. On Wednesday Jordan and Amanda and their boys, Sam, Ben, and Grant, came over to play at our house. The cousins all got along great and played for a long time. My kids really fell in love with little Grant. He is the cutest little kid and Savanna, Miles and Avery loved making him laugh. The morning of Thanksgiving James took his brothers and oldest nephew, Jonathan to Little Moab. They drove the Jeep around and went shooting. They had so much fun that they were a little late getting back for dinner. James called me on his way back and said he was sorry they were late but that they had had such a great brotherly bonding time. They all came back with stories of adventure and lots of pictures. I was so glad that they got to have that time together.

 We had Thanksgiving dinner at James's parents house and spent the day there, playing games, eating, and socializing. The kids had an especially good time. They were all excited to be together. When it was time to go home we had to say good bye to Jordan and Amanda because they were going back home the next day. Miles was beside himself. He loves Ben so much and could not help shedding a few tears (he was also extremely exhausted). Ben kept it together though, he told Miles that he had to go home because he had to go to school and clean his room. He told him he will probably come back when he finishes sixth grade, funny kid. We all had such a great time that week. It was really nice to see family and spend time together. I am grateful to have married into such a great family, they all feel like brothers and sisters to me and I am so glad my kids get to grow up with cousins to play with. This Thanksgiving I am thankful for family!

Halloween!

Just a quick post to document this years Halloween! The kids went really easy on me this year and chose costumes that were easy peasy. Savanna the Witch: tights, hat, and her purple dress her Nana made her for Uncle Josh's wedding. Miles the Pirate: hat, sword, cut up fluffy pants, old church shirt, vest and belt from DI. Avery the Princess: crown, wand, and princess dress-up we already had. We made homemade root beer and went trick-or-treating. It was super fun! Also, why can I never get a picture where all three are smiling and not making strange faces?

I Heart Moab!

This year for fall break we packed up the kiddos and headed to Moab! James found a good deal on a used Jeep Wagoneer that was modified for rock crawling. He spent a lot of time working on the engine, putting a backseat in, and making it super cool and safe and everything! I don't really know anything about engines and whatnot, but he did a good job. We loaded it on the trailer and made our way south. We had a BLAST! We camped for three nights, the kids were in heaven. They all did so good, they slept just great in the tent, they ran around the campground, climbed rocks and got very dirty. We camped in the Sandflats Recreation Area but spent most of our time out on the trails. We did two trails, Fin's n Things, which actually starts right next to our campsite, and 7 Mile Rim which starts north of Arches. The last time James and I were in Moab we bought a book that tells you all about all the off-roading trails in the area. Both of the trails we did were rated difficult so I was a little bit nervous but the Jeep did amazing! Every time we would come to what I thought would be too difficult, the Jeep just hopped right over it. Both trails were so beautiful. Fins n Things is mostly all on slick rock and passes a very cool rock formation that looks like a dinosaur. 7 Mile Rim climbs to the top of the cliffs, then winds back down over slick rock, then ended up at Tusher Tunnel, a hundred foot long, narrow tunnel through the rocks. Each day we packed the Jeep with lunch and stopped to have a picnic on the trails. The kids loved it! Miles and Savanna were having so much fun the whole time. Avery had a hard time the first day, she kept telling James to slow down and I had to sit with her and hold her hands, but the second day she was laughing and kept telling James to go faster! It was awesome! Fins n Things was the first trail we did so we weren't quite sure what the Jeep could handle. We came to a really steep slick rock hill that some other Jeeps were taking their time on. We decided that the kids and I would get out and hike to the bottom and James would take the Jeep down. We got out and started heading down, I told the kids to stay by me and we would find the easiest way down. Savanna ran ahead and said "Here mom, we can just slid down on our butts!" Then she just sat down and slid all the way to the bottom! It freaked me out but she was totally fine! Miles and Avery followed right after her. After James drove the Jeep down (which was easy) the kids climbed up and slid down a few more times. The second day on 7 Mile Rim, we stopped near the top to eat lunch. Miles was running around and found a little wedge in the rocks and climbed in there for "shade". James noticed a metal box hiding back there and pulled it out and opened it. Inside were some random objects and a note book. The notebook said it had been left there in 2006 and if you found it you were supposed to write the date you were there, take something from the box, and leave something. So we wrote a note, took the GI Joe action figure and left...a tampon. We didn't have much to spare. I though it was so cool that we found it, it was really hidden away and you had to be in just the right spot to find it.
We had an amazing trip, saw some amazing things, and got to spend a lot of family time together away from it all! I love Moab and we all really loved Jeepin'. Can't wait to go back!

The steep hill the kids and I slid down

Eating lunch on the trail

Miles loved riding up front with James

Pretty girls!

Savanna and Avery sitting on the rocks that James just climbed in the Jeep

Sliding down slick rock became the favorite thing for the kids to do

View from 7 Mile Rim

P.S. In my last post I wrote about how James and I met in Mr. B's photography class. When we were in Moab we ran into Mr. B at the grocery store, he was also there enjoying his fall break, small world! 

J and C Forever!

This year James and I celebrated our 10 year anniversary. I am so lucky to have been married to my bestie for a decade. James and I met in January of 2000. It was the first day of the new semester of our senior year in high school. I walked into Mr. B's photography class and there he was. Sitting in the back row, tall, dark, and handsome in his (fake) leather jacket. "Who is this boy?" I thought. He was sitting with a boy that I kinda sorta knew, so the wheels in my head started to turn, setting up a plan to meet him. I pursued him the only way I knew how, by acting like a ridiculous teenage girl. Finding out where his locker was and making sure to walk by it 10 times a day, leaving anonymous notes on his car, that kind of thing. We became friends and started dating just before graduation. My first boyfriend ever came in just under the wire, we were high school sweethearts. We fell in love very quickly and knew we wanted to get married someday, but were in no rush. We dated for two and half years before we got married. During that time we went through so much together. We grew up, transitioned from teenagers to adults. Ideas we were so sure of when we were young started to change as we matured and faced the future. We started making plans of buying houses, having kids, and James having his own business. The biggest change came when I joined the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter Day Saints. James was a member but hadn't been active in a while, we decided we needed the strength, purpose, and blessings the church gives in order to have a strong marriage and family. On October 4th, 2002, we were married! It was an awesome day. Everything went off without a hitch, the ceremony, lunch, and reception all went so smoothly and we had so many family members and friends who celebrated with us. We had a really fun honeymoon in Bear River, coming home just a little early to start setting up house before we had to go back to work. A year later we were sealed in the Salt Lake City temple. The next nine years we spent buying houses, having kids, and James starting and successfully running his own business. We have gone through a lot over these 10 years, ups and downs, but I can honestly say that now we are stronger than ever. He is my best friend, the person I want to spend all my time with. The best times are when James, Savanna, Miles, Avery and I are all together and laughing. Like I said, I am a lucky girl. We celebrated our anniversary by having what has come to be know as a "stay at home date". After the kids were asleep we ate our La Casita take-out and watched The Walking Dead. Well, technically, we watched The Office while we ate then turned on The Walking Dead because it's hard to enjoy your enchilada's while zombies are being taken down in front of you. Best night ever!

First Day of School

It has been way too long since I have updated the blog! I am going to attempt to catch up! First big event: School Starts! If you read this blog you know all about my issues with sending my babies off to school. This is mostly about me losing them. I am a full time mom and when someone else is doing the parenting for several hours of the day, it is well, weird. With that said, I did much better with sending them off this year. Savanna had a really great kindergarten experience, and so did I. I loved her teacher and really loved being able to be involved. I also really loved how school added structure and schedule to our day so this year was not so sad for me. Savanna loves school and was very excited to start first grade. First grade come with new changes: she is at school all day, not just half a day, and she eats lunch at school. I lean more towards packing her a lunch. I think the school does their best with lunch but every time Savanna eats school lunch it's chicken nuggets, whats up with that? I enjoy packing her lunch with healthy things I know she will eat. I also really like mornings before school, even though it can be hectic. She had afternoon kindergarten so we would sleep in and waste the morning away before I had to take her to school. I like the whole family getting up early and eating breakfast together, it's been a good thing for our family. So far she has done really well in school, she is on reading level J and the books she brings home are really long! She is making friends and overcoming her shyness a little I think.
Another change this year: Miles started pre-school! He goes to Achiever Preschool, the same one Savanna went to. He loves it! He is so far ahead of where Savanna was when she started so I was kind of worried that he would be bored, but I think for him preschool will be more about learning to follow the rules and socialize with other kids. I hope it will help him to be more independent too, cleaning up on his own, doing his pants up by himself after he goes potty, that kind of thing. He can do these thing, he just won't, stinker. Changes are happening everyday now that my kids are getting older, new things come along and I am learning as I go. I am glad that my kids like school, hopefully we can keep that going for awhile!

Take a Little Trip

Last week the kids and I went on an adventure. My sister-in-law Melissa needed a ride home to Blanding so we took her and made a little trip out of it. It's about a four and half hour drive which stretched in to about a 6+ hour trip with the stops it take when you have 3 little kids with you. I was a little bit nervous about such a long drive but it turned out great! The kids were extremely well behaved which makes me excited for future vacations with them. On the way down and on the way home we stopped in Moab. I just have to say that Moab is my absolute favorite place in the whole world. I can't explain it really but I have such a love for that place. As soon as you drive into the red cliffs I get so excited. I kept telling the kids "Look at the red rocks! Aren't they amazing? Don't you think this is the coolest thing ever? 'Cause I do!" They were probably sick of me pointing out rocks but I just love it. I spent a lot of time there as a kid, my family would go down there for fall break and stay at the Big Bend campground along the river. The campground has this great beach area and I took my kids to play there. My kids were swimming in the river and playing in the sand and I was getting very sentimental about the fact that my kids were playing in the same beautiful spot as my brother and I did when we were kids. James and I have also stayed there together, we took a trip for my birthday one year. We had a Land Rover then and we spent so much time exploring all the off road trails. We hiked at Fisher Towers and in Arches National Park. When we got back from that trip we discovered that we had a tiny Savanna growing in my belly. Now that I took the kids there we can't wait to go back with Daddy! We stayed for two nights in Blanding. We went to Bluff Fort where some Bayless ancestors lived and settled the area. The kids liked seeing all the cabins, including the Hanson Bayles (another S was added on later) cabin that my in-laws helped build and decorate. Inside there are pictures of our ancestors and Miles said that Hanson Bayles looked like James. There is also a quilt inside that James' mom made, it was neat to be able to share those things with my kids. We spent the rest of the day at the swimming pool and having a BBQ at Andy and Melissa's house. The next morning we went to the dinosaur museum then the kids and I drove home. We stopped in Moab for lunch and shopped a bit in all the gift shops and Main ST. The kids slept from Moab to Price where we stopped to potty and stretch our legs. We had to stop again in Helper because Avery threw-up all over the place. It was great, but I just cleaned her up then we made it the rest of the way home. It was a nice little trip and I am very excited to go back down south sometime soon. Did I mention I LOVE IT?!