Monday Morning

You know when Monday morning starts out looking like this, it's going to be a great week.

We've got a soccer player!

Well... maybe.

Mari started indoor soccer last week. She was so excited to play (if you can't tell by the picture). We've been practicing and warning her that she might fall down. If any of you know Mari she is kind of a softy (is that a word?). Well it came to the night and we promised her if there were no tears we would get her ice cream afterwards (who cares that it was 10 degrees outside).

She walked right in there and played! I was so proud of her. I am one of those people that lets fear rule what I do. If I don't think I can do something, I won't even try. Just to see her go and do something that she hasn't ever done before, and not be nervous at all made me so happy.

The night was pretty hilarious though. Matt and I had the best time watching her try to figure it all out. Lets say she isn't the best soccer player at 4, but maybe someday she will be, and she is pretty dang cute. The whole game she kept making sure we were watching, while the ball would roll right on by. She even tried to be the goalie (I think 2 balls got past her), but she smiled the whole time.

Here she is with her victorious ice cream. She didn't shed one tear.

Way to go Mari!!

San Diego + Disneyland = a great Thanksgiving

So I'm feeling up to the impossible. I know I am totally lazy, but hey I got to it right.

Anyway Thanksgiving was great this year. We made it down to San Diego 1 hour before Thanksgiving and I was really thankful to be out of that car, and done with the 10 hour drive. I always love going to San Diego for Thanksgiving the weather is perfect, and I love to see all of the Konold family. They have a big dinner at the church every year.

We were pretty lazy the rest of the week. But with the weather so nice it was great to relax. The girls and Matt got into the pool. As you can see we weren't planning on swimming. I didn't pack swimsuits, but that didn't stop them. As for me I was nice and cozy watching, I was going nowhere near the 66 degree water.

The girls love this park with the sand, we spent the whole afternoon playing here.

They each found their own buddies.

After the weekend we headed to Disneyland. I think I was more excited than the girls. We spent 2 days (which was perfect, I don't think I could have walked one more step.)

The whole park was decorated for Christmas.

I'm not sure where she is getting these poses, but she was striking a pose every chance she got.

Lucy is in there I promise. She's just bawling under my arm(she wasn't a fan of Autotopia).

The first night we saw the Christmas Parade and heard the fireworks. There were so many clouds that night you couldn't see them, but they sounded great.

Then it snowed. The girls thought it was so neat that it was still warm and snowing.

Mari wasn't tall enough to ride the big rides, but that didn't stop us. Here is a pic of us putting on her "special shoes" Uggs with about 2 inches of socks. It worked every time, and she thought she was so big. Her favorites were Space Mountain and Matterhorn.

Yes, that is a sandwich about an inch away from Mari's boots and feet. I eat pretty much everything, everywhere to keep the nausea at bay.

Minnie was the last Character we saw before we left.

This is the only family pic we got out of the whole trip.

It was a great week!!!

Santa Claus is coming to town

Mari's preschool took a trip to see Santa today. She has been so excited for this. She had to make sure that her letter was ready and that I knew how to spell everything she wanted. Over the last couple of weeks that has been her biggest concern "are you sure you know how to spell that one mom"

She has been cracking me up asking for everything she sees, she finally narrowed it down to 3 things. She's been begging for the Easy Muffin Man Maker, which I finally figured out is an Easy Bake Oven. She has been telling my mom all about it, and my mom made a comment about eating the food. I thought Mari was going to explode, she didn't know that you actually make real food. She can't stop talking about it now.

Anyway Santa was a big hit. I thought it was cute that he actually opened the letter and read it out loud. Mari loved it. After she came up to me all excited and said "he was the real Santa with a real beard!!" I didn't get any pics of Lucy with Santa. She wasn't going anywhere near him, but she did wave from a safe distance.

If you get a chance go see Santa at the Mall, its free and there is never a line, and he's really cute!

I know

I know, I know, I suck a blogging. I've got a whole exciting trip to California and Disneyland to post about, but not the time. I've either been running crazy trying to get ready for Christmas or passed out on the couch being nauseous. So someday I know I'll get around to it, until then Happy Holidays!!

It's Out!!

We had our annual Hancock Halloween party last night.

It is always such a party when we all get together. I think it's the first year that all the family has been there together.

I feel bad I didn't get a group shot of everybody, but there were some great costumes.

Lucy was our little pirate.

Mari of course was a princess, and Sophie was a fairy princess.

The little buddies looked so cute together.

Beware this may scare you.

Could the lady in the middle really be my Dad?

I could not stop looking at him, it was a little weird.

Kari, my Dad and my Grandma as the biker/rocker crew.

Steph won again for the best costume.

If you missed it she won last year too, check it out here

This year she was one of Warren Jeffs wives.

That was only a sample of the costumes. We always try to keep our costumes a surprise, and die laughing when we see each other.

The night was a hit.

We always have way too many treats for the amount of people there. I'm still full from everything I ate.

It's so fun for all the cousins to all get together (17 in all). It can be a madhouse at times, but it's so worth it.

We had a little rave with the lights out and glow sticks everywhere. The kids thought that was the best part of the night. We ended the night with a round of big booty(Grandma Jeans favorite).

It also came out that Matt and I are expecting again. It's really early(5-6 weeks), but I had to tell everyone while we were all together.

I was an oven with a little bun baking away. As for Matt I think you can tell what he was.

Its been one busy October

Our busy month started off with Matt's last marathon of the year. We were thinking we would spend a nice warm relaxing (for me) weekend in St. George. Too bad it rained the whole weekend. Can you imagine running 26.2 miles in the rain! I don't even really want to think about it, it makes me tired. Matt did great though. He beat all his other times and got a 2:58.

This was the only time that we've made Matt a sign. Mari was really bummed that we didn't really get to use it. It was just too rainy and we didn't see Matt 'til after he passed the finish line. The girls were such good sports in the rain. They loved cheering on the runners.

A couple days later it was Mari's birthday. I can't believe she is 4. We had such a fun day. We had lunch with Grandma Karen at Heaps. Where Mari had to tell the waiter that when she went to bed last night she was 3, but when she woke up all the sudden she was 4!! She thinks she is so grown up now.

That night we went to Chuck E Cheese's. The girls had a blast and we didn't spend a penny. Mari got 20 free tokens for her birthday, and she thought it was the greatest.

Don't look too close at the cake, it's supposed to be Barbie Mariposa. I laugh every time making these cakes, but I do it every year. Whatever they want they get, and they're still young enough to think they are the greatest things. What I am going to do when they get older and don't want to be embarrassed by these hilarious cakes?

After her birthday Mari had her first ever field trip with her preschool.

They went to Cornbelly's, and I had to tag along. I can't pass it up when there is something fun to do.

We have been trying to fill up our days with outside activities before it gets too cold.

We took the girls miniature golfing one night.

And we have been hitting up the park as much as we can.

October is a busy birthday month for our family 3 of my 4 sisters birthdays are this month.

Happy Birthday

Heidi, Kari and Heather (from left to right)

That is our October so far.

The best part of October is still a week away, I can't wait for Halloween!!

Dominican Republic

Wow, I can't believe we have been back almost 2 1/2 weeks now.

Looking back at these pics makes me sad, I can't believe it's over.

I know there are a lot of pictures, just bear with me.

The resort we stayed at was really beautiful.

We pretty much spent everyday here. . .

and here. . .

We weren't lazy the whole time. We did get away one day to do some scuba diving.

The water wasn't very clear because of the hurricanes that went through, but it was still a dive. Better than diving in Utah.

We had a blast! After the dive we ate at a local waterfront restaurant that specialized in Cuban food. Hopefully the meat wasn't from this place. . .

Then we did a little of this. . .

. . . at the pool.

While getting getting eaten alive by mosquitoes.

At night we would have dinner with the whole group.

The food wasn't the best. I think we all got sick at least once while we were there, but I could have lived off the drinks alone (virgin of course.)

(Me with some of the wives on the trip.)

Then we'd watch some of the resort's great shows (by great shows I mean hilariously horrible shows that totally made us laugh.)

This one was the best.

We really had the best week. It was so nice to relax and not have a place to be, except together.