Ski Utah Day...

Nate went skiing for the first time! He went with his class at school, and needless to say, he loved it!! He wants to go back!!

Me, I was a nervous mom! Anybody who knows me knows that I'm not the "nervous" or "over protective" type, but for some reason, I worried about this! I think it's because I've never been, so I really don't know what it's like, just that a lot of bones get broken while skiing!

Ok, seriously, I knew he was in good hands. They had lessons while they were there & i'm sure they just did the little slopes. No poles, just the kids & the teachers. I actually was so surprised when I picked up the skiis from the rental place because they were so tiny!! So cute. Wish I could have been there to take pictures of the action, but I did get a couple when I dropped him off at school.

Celebrating Lauren's Birthday...

So the girls have come to love one of my old time favorite restaurants... Italian Village! We love those pizza benders, and it's affordable to take 3 kids!! So this year for Lauren's birthday we went to Italian Village with Grandpa & Grandma J & Denise's family.

This year for birthdays, Charley is going to take each of the girls on a daddy-daughter "date". So we gave Lauren a playbill to Hale Theater (She loves acting/drama/plays) and told her to choose a play she wanted to see. Then Charley will take her on a day that it's playing that she will be with us. We've always given them gift cards in the past (they love to shop) but we thought this might be a way that C can spend some one on one time with each of them.

These are a couple pictures of Lauren & Michele... they get along so well and have so much in common, it's kinda scary! Denise and I have known each other since I was in high school and have grown to be such good friends. I love that we can get together and our kids can hang out too.

And then one of all the girls... Holly, Maddy, Lauren & Michele...

These pictures are really bad because of the lighting in the restaurant, but I thought they were still so cute! Did I mention that I'm learning to be a mom of teenage GIRLS?

Rocket Derby...

This year's rocket derby was Nate's last year. Our ward doesn't have trophies, but rather they give participation awards for everyone that competes. It's actually better that way. The kids (or in our case the step-dad) work so hard on the rockets that they all leave with an award and not feel like their efforts were wasted.

Charley had to work over the derby, so these are the pictures I text him as a "play by play". He was so disapointed that he wouldn't be able to be there to see it in action. Well, as it turned out... Nate's Rocket smoked the first race. Then the hanger fell off and I had to super glue it. Well, as little as I know about these things, I glued to rubber band together.. and didn't find out until the second race when it didn't move off the start block...... So, after a little help from the scout leaders, we were back to smoke the 3rd and 4th races.. for an overall first place finish! Nice way to end his last derby.

Charley has built all three of his rockets. I was thinking back to Nate's first rocket derby. I was a single mom and knew (well, still know) nothing about scouts. When they dropped off the rocket "kit" I started to panic. I don't know what I was thinking the kit would consist of, but when I opened it, it was two rubber bands, a pin, a white plug thing, a propeller, three white triangle plastic things and two blocks of rectangle wood. ??? I had no idea what to do with it. Thankfully, Charley and I had just started dating, and he knew all about it! (Although he did laugh a little because I had never even seen a rocket derby!). Charley loves scouts, and he knows a lot more about it than I do!! I'm so greatful he is here and able to help Nate.. and also because it's something they can do together.

(I actually have to give credit though.. Nate's scout master called that year and asked if I would be needing help building the rocket so that Nate could participate.. This is when C and I were first dating and it wasn't really known yet... But I was so impressed with the willingness of the scout leaders!). What a great program!

My Sanity...

Yep, my sanity is scrapbooking. Once a month I go to a crop, with these friends (minus Janine who travels too much to scrap these days!). Although I don't do a lot of scrapbooking anymore, it's more like "paper crafting". I make cards, gift albums, notebooks, stuff like that. Maybe someday soon pictures will actually make it to pages again... but for now, I am just glad to get out with some friends and have a good time.

Jen works at Roberts. It's the perfect job for her. She is the one that hosts the crops... She doesn't get to scrap, but hey, she's gettin paid to be there, right? We've turned it into a potluck/scrap night.... And Yes, I'm goin again next week!

Sweet Sixteen...

Little Lauren turned sweet 16! It's hard to believe how much she has grown in just the short time I have know her. She's in high school, she's getting a learner's permit, she's starting dating, and she's looking for a job! WoW... so much for a young girl to take on, but she's going to achieve it all! She's such a great example to Holly and Nate, and the little time we spend with her, we have a great time together.

A few things about Lauren:

• She very social
• She loves black & purple
• She loves to write & draw
• She loves music & her ipod
• She loves forensic science
• She loves simple foods.. hotdogs, hamburgers

Here's a little tribute to the girl that changed Charley's life when she made him a father! She sure was a cute baby and has turned into such a beautiful young woman.

Baptism...

Happy Birthday Lauren..

We Love You!

2009 in Review...

We actually had a fairly busy year.. looking back! Here's just a brief rundown of some of the highlights.



January
In January we had a New Year's party at the Boyds. It was Fondue & Fun! the kids played on the WII, they guys watched videos, and the girls scrapbooked. Everyone was happy! We also had a superbowl party here at the house. Everyone had those goofy 3D glasses on for the commercials. I have the cutest picture of ALL the kids on the love sac, but of course, I can't find it!! So bugged!!



February
Charley turned 40! I had to rub it in a little by having a huge surprise party for him. Well, it turns out it wasn't a huge surprise, but it was still a lot of fun! We rented out a room at the fitness center, and we probably had 50 or more there! We had pizza, cake, and then everyone enjoyed the facility swimming, racquetball, the fun zone, etc.

March
Charley's sister Heather, her husband Craig & their three kids moved in! Their house sold so quickly they needed a place to stay FAST! We had so much fun with them living here. I was really able to get to know the them and kids. Turns out they would be here three months, and the time flew by! They are now happily living around the corner, close enough we still see them often! this is a picture of all the kids on Easter. So fun to see all the easter baskets lined up on the piano!!

April
Nate had his first piano recital! He had only been taking piano for a few weeks, and he did awesome! He played two songs, and he sure looks sharp in a suit!!

May
We had so many birthday parties and celebrations to go to. But, unfortunately we also received the news that Charley's work would be filing for bankruptcy and he would be losing his job. This was so stressful, and it's hard to keep in mind that there's a reason for it. It would be some leaps of faith and some long months as Charley looks for a new job.

June
On the upside, in June we celebrated our first anniversary... IN HAWAII!! Charley had some airline vouchers and we have a time share, so the trip was pretty much paid for. (Otherwise, we would never have been able to get there). 4 short days, but so much fun. This is by far my most favorite vacation.

July
Nate starts 4th grade! Can't believe how fast he's growing up!! Holly also started 6th grade.. her last year of elementary school! Since they are on year round, their summer is cut a little short. Lucky for Nate though, it's only three short weeks until he goes on his first off track!

August
This was kind of another "down" month. Charley gets in a car accident in the Honda. Just something to add more stress, but it turns out ok. We are able to get it fixed quick enough to take our two fun road trips planned for September! On a brighter note, Lauren started HIGH school!! Can't believe how grown up she is! She loves to be social, so she's going to love it.

September
There were a couple weeks with LOTS of miles packed in. We traveled to Montana with Charley's family for Labor day weekend. I got to meet Charley's brother James & his family for the first time, and they are so much fun! After that long road trip, we rested one day and turned around and drove to Disney! This was another SHORT but sweet trip that we kind of lucked into. We were able to spend time with Charley's parents which is always fun.

October
Nate really wanted to play baseball, so we signed him up over in Taylorsville. It was half way between us and his friend Christian that wanted to be on the same team. It was so much fun to team coach and our boys (plus one girl) did awesome! Way to go cardinals!!




November
November is kind of a blur! LOL. I did 3 boutiques in November which is crazy busy! I am just getting back into them, and forgotten how much WORK they are! I loved every minute of it though. It also helped bring in extra income for the kids' christmas. Who knows how we would have managed otherwise??




December
Last but not least, December! Charley had his first overnight Christmas with the girls since the divorce. We had all three kids here christmas morning, and it was so fun! Definately different with more than one child opening gifts... but so much more enjoyable! Who would have thought that all three kids would be "calling us from their cell phones" at 6:30 AM to get us out of bed to see what Santa brought!!

Well, that's the year in a nutshell! Looking forward to a busy & brighter 2010~

More Christmas

So, we told the kids they couldn't go downstairs until we all went down together. You'll never guess who the first one up was... YUP, 6:30 our phone rings.. it's Lauren!! When we walked out the door all three kids were sittin in the hall outside the door. I love that the kids still get excited.

Lauren got some jewelry & books from Santa. Holly got a dance bag and some jewelry from Santa. Both girls also got a camera, & all the accessories to go with them, beaded watches and itunes cards from us.

Nate got legos, bionicles, and a nerf gun from Santa. From us, rather than getting him a camera, he was so hard to shop for. He ended up with a gift card so he could go shopping.

I can't believe how FAST three kids can open presents!! So, since we were done in a sum total of 20 minutes, Charley and I went back to bed!!

After that it was headed out to grandma J's. Here's just a few fun pictures.

This is everyone that was there... Minus me (taking the picture) and my mom and dad who were washing the dishes! Everyone that know my parents know that dishes do NOT sit in the sink.. EVER! Even on Christmas.

And I don't even remember when the last time my sisters and I had our picture taken just the three of us. But I like this one.. even if I do look like a "midget" as Michelle would say...

Christmas Eve...

We were able to have all the kids overnight for Christmas eve. Actually, it was Charley's first overnight Christmas with the girls in several years. We picked them up around 2 on christmas eve and headed straight to my parent's family party. Every year (started on christmas eve, but since, the date has varied a little because of family schedules). The Jamison family party is the one time that my dad takes the entire family to a nice restaurant and pays for everything. He loves to do it and we all love to get together.

This year's party was at Mimi's. We missed Craig's family because his wife had surgery, but it was fun to get everyone together. Here's a picture of 10 of the 12 grandkids.


It took them so long to get in one place for the picture, that we told them to make a silly face too. This picture is so funny!

And a couple quick pictures of our family.

Aren't my parents the cutest?

Michelle's Family:

And Erin's Family:

Afterwards, everyone went to my parents for the traditional pajamas. We actually didn't go this year. Instead, we took the girls back to our place and made gingerbread houses. My parents gave us this kit for Thanksgiving. (They always give a christmas decor gift to the families at thanksgiving). Nate has been dying to put it together, but we told him he had to wait until the girls were here.

This kids got bored of the gingerbread house pretty early and started eating the candy. We also went and visited Heather's family and also went over to our friend Denise & Carlos's to visit and exchange gifts. It was fun for the girls to see their cousins and to visit with friends.