Kyson MacGyver

When I was young there was a television show called MacGyver about this guy who could get himself out of any predicament.  I'm sure he could have built a bomb out of duct tape, a paperclip, a bullet, and a twist tie.  Kyson is not familiar with this show, but he looked like he was trying to gear up for a very important mission.  Kris took some pictures of him getting ready for his task.  Kyson's tools did not include paper clips and twist ties, instead, he had Kodi's necklaces, a cackling skeleton, a clip-on necktie, a balloon pump, and a thing that lights up when you hit a button.  I think he's prepared for pretty much anything with that list.  At least he's very creative and clever - hopefully it will serve him well in life.

Double Trouble

Josh and Baily are turning 16 this year.  Baily turned 16 on January 9, and Josh will be on Feb 22.  It's an exciting year for them, but terrifying for drivers everywhere.  Because they're getting older and each are mature enough to not need the attention of their own birthday party, Jen decided to simply things this year and combine them.  It was perfect.

Both Josh and Baily got their own cake.  Baily's was John Deere tractors and Josh's was basketball.  So fitting for each of them.  It's a good thing they didn't have trouble blowing out their candles, they only had two each.  We had to keep our children at bay because they never want to miss an opportunity to blow out candles.  Teenage birthday parties are different from child parties because usually you just hand out some cards with cash or gift cards in them.  Great for the teenagers, and the gift giver as well.  We tried to keep the attention on the teenagers, but we kept chatting - it's so great to get together.

 Well, I guess the next time we'll all get together for a birthday party will be when Kyson turns 5.  It'll come faster than I want.

Visiting Cousins

Kris has a many cousins on his mom's side, and most of them we see once a year or so.  There is one cousin, however, that lives in Nevada and doesn't make it to the reunions very often.  He came to Utah for a visit and at the last minute, Carol tried to get a get-together together, and Rusty and Amy were nice enough to host it.

When we got to Rusty and Amy's and Andy walked in, I must admit, he looked pretty good.  He's lost weight and looks healthier than before.  His sister, Camille, along with her husband and son came and the entire evening was made up of catching up, laughing and playing.  Andy had never met Kodi, and hadn't seen Kyson since he was a baby.

Kyson loved the visit.  Unfortunately, it wasn't because of Andy, it was because of his cousins.  Any chance he has to play with his cousins is a dream come true for him.  Even Grandma Bodily was a good sport and was arm wrestling the kids.  That didn't last too long when Kodi started jumping on her.  Kodi's good example led to other kids climbing and jumping on Grandma and before you knew it, Grandma had had enough.  I can't say I blame her - I would heave got up too.

The evening was a success and it was nice to get together.

Coloring - A Lost Art

I have forgotten how fun and relaxing coloring is.  The other day, I decided to color with my kids.  Kodi was nice enough to let me have a picture from her coloring pad, and Kyson shared all of his coloring supplies and the three of us sat at the coffee table and colored for hours.  It was funny how I enjoyed choosing which color I'd make the princesses' dresses or the carriage that was pulling them.  It made me feel like a designer having complete control over what the product would look like.  It was weird.

I continued to color for a short time, even without the kids, to feed this new exhilaration addiction.  Fortunately, I was able to beat the habit after only 3 pictures.  Kyson on the other hand takes such pride in his pictures that he has to hang them up for all to see.  We've told him that he will have to take down his collection each week unless it's in his toy room or bedroom.  He didn't like it, but he's getting better.  So, we have new wallpaper put up each week.  If only he could beat the habit as quickly as I did.

Decorating Eggs

 For Family Home Evening, we had decided to talk about prayer.  I realize that prayer and eggs probably have nothing in common, but most people do know about prayer rocks.  You put a rock by your bed or under your pillow so you'll hit it when you go to bed and it will remind you to say your prayers.  Kris had a fabulous idea to go to the craft store and buy some wooden eggs, since nice, big rocks are hard to find and I didn't feel like pulling out paints with our little ones.

The evening was a success.  We talked about why we pray and how we do it and then our culminating activity was to color our prayer eggs.  Kodi kept hogging all the markers and taking the lids off all of them.  Then she'd get really mad when you tried to take them away.  She also got some markers on her hands and because they're washable, they come off on anything you touch.  She kept touching her face.  It was a lot of fun, and that night Kyson was so excited to say his prayers.  We'll see how long it works.

 

Ringing in the New Year Right

For quite a few years now, we've celebrated New Years with the Holts.  A year later, the Bartletts joined the festivities and this year, two more joined the group: the Kous and Parents.  When the Parents showed up I got a little nervous and thought I'd need to be on my best behavior because he is in the bishopric, but it turns out he's a really nice, down-to-earth kinda guy and I didn't have to pretend to be an outstanding citizen.

This year's puzzle was one that we received as a Christmas gift from Kris's half-brother, Ben.  It was a map of the area.  At first I thought the puzzle would be impossible, but once we got started it wasn't so bad.  It was outdated though.  Most of Herriman wasn't even on the map, but it was still fun to look at the area.

As usual, we had many munchies and I made myself sick eating chips and salsa, fondue, and meatballs.  I didn't really partake of the chocolate fountain this year, but it's always a hit with the kids. The Holts also have a large basement where the kids were able to play together, so the adults could have a little peace and quiet.  I absolutely love going there for New Years.  Since I've been married, I don't think there has been a placed that we lived where we feel so comfortable.  The friends in the area are unique and I'm so glad I get to spend another year with them.

Happy New Year - 

I can't believe it's 2012!