It's the most wonderful time of the year!

It's that wonderful time of the year where we run, run, run from one event to another!  We have been BUSY!!! Some of the things we've been up to lately...Brennan's Middle School Christmas Choir Concert.  Brennan is on the left 3rd row. One of the only 3 boys!

Brooke's 4th grade class had a field trip to the Pink Palace museum.  The kids had a worksheet to fill out. We spent most of the time filling the dumb worksheet out which didn't leave any time to actually enjoy the museum. But, I enjoyed being with her.  Here she is with two of her friends, Carson Rees and Sarah Emerson. We had a lot of fun going to lunch with them and all the rest of our crazy kids afterwards.

Here are the other kids that joined us that day, Carter Emerson, Regan and Ryleigh Rees. BOY was it a noisy car full!

Another day we went to see Brooke's choir sing on our cute little town square.  They were supposed to be music for the fair on the square. Unfortunately, it was a very cold and rainy day. It pretty much ended up being just the parents that showed up to watch. We were all wishing we could move the concert to the warm school instead. No such luck!  We got to enjoy all 10 Christmas songs in the freezing cold!

Regan's preschool had a little program for us where they sang cute Christmas songs.  Here Regan (far right) is with some of her classmates.  They were soooo cute!  I was sad knowing that this was the last preschool program I'd get to have one of my children in.  They are growing way too fast for me!

Here Regan is with her reindeer that she made for the program.

Jadyn had her Christmas class party. Isn't she so cute?

Brooke with her friend Alysse at her class Christmas party.

And of course, Regan had to have a picture taken with me! 

That's just some of the fun we've been up to lately!  Put on your running sneakers! At Christmas time you go, go, go!!!!

Rocky Top Tennessee

A couple of weeks ago we took the kids out of school for few days and rented a cabin in Pigeon Forge, TN right next to the Smoky Mountain National Forest.  This is the third time we've been there, and we loved every minute of it.

The first day we went miniature golfing, ate some good southern food for lunch, took a ski lift up a mountain and rode the slides down, and went to the Christmas shops. Then we went back to the cabin and made S'mores and played games. The kids and Jeff had fun in the jaccuzzi. (I hate them personally).

Here's Jeff and me at the top of mountain by the ski lift. So beautiful there. 

The next day we went to do some hiking in the national forest. It was perfect weather. A gorgeous day. 

We hiked on this trail for 1.5 miles up to a water fall where we ate some lunch.

I think the other hikers were jealous they didn't think about bringing lunch too. After the  hike, we drove to the highest point of the National Park and enjoyed a gorgeous scenery. 

As we were leaving the park, we saw this cute little guy up in the tree. No trip to the Smoky Mountains is complete with out seeing a black bear. 

That night we took the kids to a dinner comedy show with Christmas music. It was a lot of fun.  It was a perfect, beautiful, much needed vacation. 

This week we had a great Thanksgiving. Jeff's sister Holly and family came into town. We had a great time with them at the zoo, shopping and of course turkey day.  So blessed to have such a wonderful family.

Halloween and Race for the Cure

    

I cannot figure out this new formatting for the life of me. Sorry for the mess.  This Halloween was busy.  Halloween morning I got to participate in my 2nd Race for the Cure for breast cancer. Once again...an amazing experience. This is my team, Postively Pink, above.

I got to race with my friend Nicole Rees (left) who was an awesome run/walking partner and see my friend Mary Berry (right) as well as lots of other women I love to death.

The neighborhood that we run in is so amazing. A lot of the neighbors decorate their homes to participate and support.       

         

Here is an example of some of the homes that decorated. 

It is such an emotional and empowering experience to see so many people come out in support, see the survivors and see the names of those who didn't survive.  In all, Memphis had 16,000 participants in the race.  And of course, my thoughts were with my favorite survivors Elizabeth Cluff and Cheri Sharp who have been such an example of strength and courage to me.

Brooke and Jadyn dressed up as pirates. Regan was a cute witch. Brennan was the candy passer outer. We told him he was too old this year.  But, he did a great job.

The church put on a trunk or treat on the 30th. They had a chili cook-off and games and a costume parade. The kids had so much fun. Regan won a costume contest for her age group. They said she won for "Prettiest Purple Witch."  I thought that was so cute.

Regan's preschool also had a party.  Nothing cuter than a bunch of 4/5 year olds dressed up for Halloween. She loved it.  It was a great Halloween.

Regan Had a Birthday

Our baby, Regan Kylie, turned 5 on October 25th.

It's still hard for me to believe that 5 years have gone by since she was born.

Regan has never had a party with friends, so this year was definitely her year to have one. The day before her birthday, she had 9 of her closest friends at a party at Build A Bear Workshop. The girls had such a good time. I don't think they stopped smiling the whole time they were there. It was so cute. These are the girls that were in her playgroup and church. Her cousin Ruby made it as well. Look at all these cute girls! The next day was her actual birthday. It landed on a Sunday this year. It just so happened to be the Primary Program that day too. The girls did such a good job on their parts. Later, we had a birthday dinner. Grandma and Grandpa Danielson were able to join us.

Regan decided she wanted a princess party. She made EVERYONE wear tiaras.

Even Grandma and Grandpa! They were such good sports.

We are so grateful to have Regan in our home. She is such a smart and sweet girl and very easy going. We love her singing and dancing all around the house. She's even known to dance to all the primary songs in singing time every Sunday. She has been pure joy to all of us.

On a side note....the kids got their grades last week. They all did well. But Brennan had grades all in the 90s. I would say he got all As, but one of his grades was a 90. Here, a 90 is a B. I think it's crazy. So in my mind, he did get all As. We're so proud of him getting on the Honor Roll. He worked so hard. We knew he had it in him!

Fall Break

The kids had Fall break last Monday and Tuesday. We had some fun together. The weather was cold and rainy, but we managed to have fun anyway. On Monday I took the kids to Incredible Pizza. Here they are being goofy.

Tuesday we met Jeff for lunch and then came home to make caramel apples. I learned, I have no clue how to make caramel apples. I blame my sister in law Laurie for moving before teaching me! ha ha Here's Brennan with his. OH....and Brennan got contacts. Can you tell? :)

Brookie making her apple.

Here's the end result. They were so big, we all got very sick from eating them. Didn't even finish half of them and we were still sick. And the kids enjoying the hard work. The fall break wasn't long enough, but we enjoyed the time we had.

Soccer Fundraiser Lawn Fun

I am completely overhwhelmed with how far behind I am on here. My sweet Grandma keeps getting on me for not blogging. So I decided...don't try catching up all at once. Start from now. If I can catch up later I will. So, here it is Grandma. I love you and I'm glad you motivated me to get back on here. Thanks for reading it!

The elementary school had their annual fundraiser of having the kids walk around in circles and do an occasional dance. I don't get it personally. But, the kids have fun. I had fun watching. Jadyn's class were Busy Bees. Look how cute that face is. Brooke's class was Carpenter's Court. They had king and queen cloaks on. Super cute. Here's Regan, Brooke and me. Here's Brookie with her queen outfit and Regan's cute little smirk.

Brandon Smith in our ward put together a soccer team for the interfaith soccer league. It's a bunch of 4 and 5 year olds from both of the Collierville wards who play against other churches in the area. Regan isn't very aggressive, but she LOVES it.

The team isn't doing very well so far..but they sure are cute. That counts for something, doesn't it? Here's Regan with Cara Rees and Addisyn Stubbs. As you can see, Regan is a little short of stature compared to the other girls.

Look at Reggie's cute little face. Aww. Who cares if she hasn't scored a single goal!

Jadyn had fun posing for me when we were outside enjoying the gorgeous weather. Here's my beautiful 8 year old.

And another.

And another. That's all for now. Maybe I'll catch up on the summer later. We'll see! :)

May in a Nutshell

May was full of lots of end of the year stuff. Jadyn's class had a field trip to the Nature Center. I loved being able to go with them. Jadyn and I had some fun mommy/Jadyn time. Here she is with her friend Hannah. Cute girls. Just the two of us! My big 2nd grader in my sunglasses. After the field trip, I checked her out of school and took her to eat Mexican food. Just the two of us. She LOVED it. This is one girl that just thrives on one on one attention. We had a great time. I have to say, out of all my children, Jadyn is the most like me. She could eat Mexican food every day and never be sick of it. The other kids shy away from salsa. How can they have my blood in them? But not this girl! Yay Jadyn! It was a great day.

Brennan had his end of the year choir concert. It's 7th/8th grade combined. His sweet cousin, Kaisey Skipper, is also in the choir. I love that he can share this experience with her. They are also both in the honor choir.

I LOVE being able to see him sing in choir like we used to.