Microsoft Christmas Party

Microsoft always hosts a holiday event and the kids really enjoy it. They had a train ride, cookie decorating and a random snow globe that they could play in!

Ethan's Christmas Program

Ethan had a Christmas program at his preschool. He had a speaking part and spoke really loud and clear! Then they sang songs. The seating isn't great so I didn't get very good pictures but here he is.

Mustache

Matt often doesn't shave and has a goatee but one day I came home from being out to this:

Let's just say attractive!

Ward Christmas Party

Our ward has a reputation for amazing Christmas Parties with amazing decorations! This year I participated in putting it all together and it did not disappoint! The pictures don't really do it justice but the entire ceiling was covered with black plastic to make it look like night and the rest of the walls were covered with tents. We had a Back to Bethlehem theme. We all came dressed in clothing of the time (aka bathrobes and scarves) and bought our food from the town.

Basketball

Cole is playing basketball this season and Matt is coaching. I have to say this is my favorite sport yet. It is indoors and with Matt coaching he gets him to and from all the practices! Cole also likes it and usually scores each game. Here is some of his team.

Field Trips

As part of Cole's school they go on a field trip a month. As part of my responsibility as a parent I have to volunteer on a committee. I was told the field trip coordinator was a good one with small children but was really led astray! I have to plan, coordinate and go on most field trips! Fortunately, I have a good partner and after the first two month whirl wind things have calmed down a bit!

The first field trip was to Jubilee Farms Pumpkin patch.

Cole's pumpkin.

Cole's class and teacher Mrs. O'Malley.

Cole got stung by a bee!

Halloween

In preparation for Halloween Matt carved pumpkins with the boys. Cole had a few ghosts and Ethan wanted a bird.

The kids were all excited to trick or treat the apartments. Lots of homes in a small space but after a few flights of stairs and no one home we moved the party to a neighborhood of houses! We had dinner and trick or treated with our friends the Seamons.

We sold our house!

It finally happened! We have been talking about and trying to sell our house for months and we finally did! If you recall we had an offer six months ago but the deal died because the appraisal came in low. We then put it up for sale by owner and someone told us they were going to bring us an offer. She ended up not bringing it in and we felt like we were losing the season of selling. Matt called a realtor, he came the next morning, it was listed the next day and we had an offer 9 hours later!  We then got a back up as well.

We felt like it was finally going to happen. The inspection came back saying that we needed a new roof which we thought would be the case and they asked us for $7,000. We were already paying cash just to pay off our mortgage due to the decline in home prices and felt like we were at our max. We told them no and felt like they were going to walk. They didn't and the appraisal came in at the selling price. It is a little frustrating that an appraisal can come in $20,000 higher a mere six months later....

We had decided we were just going to rent a home for a few years but in the end felt like maybe we could give the buying thing one more try! (We have only lost money on homes...) So we moved to an apartment. It is a little bit of an upgrade because it actually has TWO bathrooms and it is even bigger than our house. Ethan loves it because it has a pool and he doesn't ever want to move.  Our lease is until May so we will see what happens.

Thanks to the many, many folks who helped pack, move furniture, took loads to the storage unit, put together furniture, unpacked boxes, made beds, cleaned fed us and gave us moral support. We are almost unpacked and getting settled and are excited to see where this next adventure takes us!

Happy Angry Birdsday!

Cole turned 7 and Ethan turned 5. We celebrated Angy Bird style this year. Matt made a life size sling shot and I took care of the decorations and cake. It was a lot of work, but loads of fun.

 

 Cole got Ninjago Cole's tread assault.

 Ethan got Lasha's motorbike.

 They got a few new DS games that they wanted to test out.

 They requested a cake so a cake they got!

 Thanks to pinterest the templates were free!

 The eats.

 Everyone needs a little pig juice to drink!

 The sling shot and Angry Bird game!

 I painted balls for the kids to launch and then take home!

 Cole loved it!

 Ethan liked a little help.

 The two birthday boys!

1st Grade

Cole started 1st grade this year! He started at a new school in a magnet program called Explorer. You have to apply to be in the program and then they draw names in a lottery. Cole's name was the first one picked. The program has a lot of parental involvement so it seems like they are able to do more hands on learning and even go on special field trips. Cole loves to experiment with what he is learning so we felt like it would be a good program for him. The teachers are all excellent and that I'm sure will be helpful as well.

Cole's report for the first day is that he loved having two recesses, he went to music class and decorated his class box. He has two boys in his class from his spring soccer group so that is fun to have people he knows. I sent him with a lunch that came back except for the crackers inside! He tried buying lunch on the second day and that went over a lot better.

Neighbors

For the last year we have had great neighbors! Lizzie and Olivia were great playmates to Cole and Ethan. However, they moved last week and we are very sad about it. The kids would race out as soon as they saw them everyday!

Here they are on the tramp with a few other friends!