Christmas Cookies for Santa

And this is what happens when the adult leaves the uneven bosch alone on the counter.

Sneaky Preston

After we finished decorating the trees we hung candy canes on the one downstairs. After a while Preston disappeared and wouldn't tell anyone where he was when we were calling him. Five minutes later we found him hiding behind the couch....with a few real candy canes, a fake lollipop ornament, and a Candy Cane Reindeer ornament that I had made 20 years ago. Unfortunately he tried all of them and ended up eating the 20 year old candy cane! Mmm, Yum!

Decorating the Tree

Once again I have downloaded the pictures in the wrong order and cannot figure out how to rearrange them, but you get the general idea. We have a tree upstairs with matching ornaments and then another smaller tree downstairs with all the ornaments that we have gotten in our stockings. The kids thought it was quite fun to decorate two trees.

Aaron and Kari

As I mentioned in my snapfish pictures, Kari loved singing along with Aaron as he played the guitar. She wanted to sing a song from Annie, but Aaron didn't know the chords so he looked them up. Neither of them knew the words too well, but it was still cute to watch.

Thanksgiving in AZ

Once again we went to Mesa, AZ for Thanksgiving. Steven's Grandma and his aunt and uncles all live there. Four of his siblings and his dad were also able to come. Here are just a few pictures of our fun time. If you want to see all the pictures, just ask me for a link to my snapfish account.

While there we were also able to meet up with some friends from our IOwa days in dental school. Here we are with Serg and Lisa Montes and their six children: Tiana, Angel, Ammon, Alexa, Isaac, and Caleb.

This is Sedona, Az a very beautiful area between PHoenix and Flagstaff.

Somewhere in Sedona is this amazing bridge-like rock. I didn't actually see it because I took the kids home, but Steve and his siblings hiked to it.

On Thanksgiving day Grandma Swenson rented a bouncy house. Preston thought it was THE greatest thing ever. He was entertained for hours.

In Steve's Aunt Ann's backyard there are numerous toys for children. The kids couldn't believe that I didn't show them this yard until the 5th day we were there.

Steve and I tried out our skills with Guitar Hero. Needless to say, I stunk at it and gave up within 10 minutes. Aaron, on the other hand, was amazing and very fun to watch.

We all went to see the lights at the Mesa Temple. I loved that there were so many "willing" and able men to carry my kids around. Thanks guys, you were a great help.

Before we left we took one last family picture. We greatly enjoyed our stay and are so grateful for so many wonderful family. I missed my little family get together in Utah, but I was grateful for Steve's family putting up with us for so long.

Happy Halloween!!

This Princess picture of Kari was taken for our ward Halloween Party. The night of halloween she was dressed as Miss-Behavin' and wasn't looking quite as cute. We borrowed a curling iron and some of those little spongy curlers to put in her hair. She begs for curly hair every day...if she only knew! ANd since it was Halloween I let her load up on the make-up!


Preston tries daily to fly like Superman. For some reason though it hasn't worked out too well for him yet. Keep trying little buddy. Someday.

Once again Braden is Darth Vader. I know I shouldn't have to say what he is, but I do it for the benefit of my family members who have never seen Star Wars.

I really scored this year for Halloween. I spent ZILCH on costumes! Love it. And I didn't even have to beg or bribe.

Here the kids are just trick-or-treating at some random house. I just needed an action shot. I tried to get the actual treating but my camera is a little slow, so therefore it is not my fault. And by the time we got to the next house I had forgotten about 'capturing the moment'.

And this is what happens when little brothers try to steal big sister's candy. Sorry Preston hope your arm isn't broken.

Pumpkin Carving

As you can see, my pictures are a bit backwards. I'm still working on trying to figure out the layouts.

We didn't make it out to a Pumpkin Patch this year, (I know, lame) so we went for the best pumpkin left at the local grocery store. As you can see it is slightly slanted, which actually makes for a great angle of the face. Steve is our carver and the kids are the cleaner-outers. Preston thought the insides were pretty disgusting and wanted nothing to do with them. Braden insisted on picking out all the seeds so we can make toast them. It is now November 3rd and they are still sitting on my counter. Wow, I am m...o...t...i....v....a....t....e....d this year.

Our newest, and only, Marathoner!

At Windy Hills Elementary School the PTO decided to try and get the kids motivated and moving. Each child who wanted to participate tries to run, or walk in Braden's case, the equivalent of a marathon, which is 26.2 miles. Monday's and Wednesday's the kids could run from 7:30-8:00 am and every Tuesday and Thursday they could run for 30 minutes after school. Braden has worked very hard and has gotten up extra early many times this past month and a half.........So, I am pleased to say that Braden has completed his Marathon! Way to go.....So what if I had to bribe him with Sonic slushes, toys, and a special night eating out with the family. He did it, right?

Snow Day, Round 1

These pictures were taken on October 10! If I wanted snow in the beginning of October I would've moved back to North Dakota. As you can see the kids didn't seem to mind. Apparantly small children don't have "cold sensors" in their bodies.

FHE Treat

So last night for Family Home Evening it was Kari's turn to pick the treat. She decided that making candy suckers would be an awesome experience. Here's just a few pics of the fam enjoying her treat.

Superman?

When you think of Superman you probably picture someone who is tall, dark, handsome, and sporting a fabulous blue and red cape. Right? Well aparantly my little superman thinks

pink and purple are the new way to go. Very manly, wouldn't you say? Why does my little boy prefer PINK all the time. He rides the pink scooter instead of the Spider Man one and he picks the pink noodle and pink princess ball in swimming lessons. Should I be concerned?

the 'Neighs'

Last Christmas my dear mother spent hours making these cute fleece pajamas for all her grandchildren. Well it finally became cold enough to get them out again. The kids thought it was so funny to all be matchy-matchy that they insisted on some pictures. To make the photo shoot more fun we added a matching fleece blanket in the background. Can you find the kids in the pictures?

Superman!

Preston's newest "thing" is being Superman. He refers to himself as superman and will only obey if we call him Superman. Each and every time I get on the computer he requests to watch clips of the Superman movies on YouTube. He likes to watch Superman fly and unfortunately thinks he can also be Superman off of furniture and even slides. He's also getting quite good at humming the Superman theme song. Hmm, I wonder what he'll be for Halloween?

Working Mom?

So, today I spent all afternoon being Steven's dental assistant. Seeing as how I have absolutely no training in doing said task I was a bit nervous, as was my husband. It was quite enjoyable spending the afternoon with him and I even got to buy some new scrubs (please note photo above) because apparantly blue jeans are not acceptable. I was able to trim teeth models, play with the sterilizer, fill out forms, and pull peoples poor lips really far away from their natural location so that Steve could take pictures of their teeth. It was fun working alongside my hubby and seeing what he does all day. And, sad to say, it was slightly enjoyable being away from the kids for 5 hours. The only problem was, the babysitter thought that Braden and Kari were suppose to be picked up at 3:45, when actually it was 3:05. Oops. Poor little dears thought they were forgotten about and almost started walking home. Good thing Braden decided to check with the school office first.

One, Two, Three, Fly

It's Bouncy Pouncy Steven, That's Who

If you ever need a good leg workout, this one's for you. The key is to move the legs and nothing else.

The Newest Blogger

I have finally given in to my family and friends and started a blog. As you can plainly see I have not yet figured out all the details of beautiful blogging. It will definetely be a work in progress. I hope that I can become better at this and waste less and less of my time trying to figure it out. Thank you to Leesa for making fun of my original blog (which had nothing on it because I didn't know how) and then guiding me through the basic steps of blogging. Thank you to Sally for being so excited that I have finally caught up to the rest of my family. Thank you to Ronda for knowing even less about blogging than me. Thank you to Steven who works so hard so that I can use his money to pay for my interent so that I can blog. And finally thanks to my parents who so willingly gave me to Steve 9 years ago so that they would no longer have to pay for anything of mine. I wish you all a great day!

A not-so-toothy grin

Our cute little 7 year old Braden finally lost his first tooth. He was SO excited and proud of himself. I told him to put his tooth under his pillow for the toothfairy to find. The next morning he was thrilled with his money, but slightly disappointed that he had not caught the tooth fairy, though he tried hard to stay awake. A few weeks later when he lost his second tooth he once again put his tooth in his special "tooth box" and placed it under his pillow. To the "toothfairy's" dismay the little stinker had a death grip on the box. He apparantly was determined to catch the fairy. Luckily tooth fairy's are very quiet and sneaky and refuse to get caught.

Swensons Got Talent

This is the newest trick at our house: Who can climb the doorways the fastest and the highest. Braden was our official winner, but Kari was a quick second. I'm so proud of my children's accomplishments, especially when they can do such amazing things with a skirt on. Go Kari! What a lady!

The "Beach"

The kids always want to go to the beach. Unfortunately Nebraska is not known for its sandy white beaches. Luckily the kids have never been to a real beach so they don't actually know what they are missing. This "beach" is a man-made water hole that I can completely walk across. Real beach or not, the kids loved it and they even found some treasures, ie: tiny frogs (that's what is in Kari's hand.)

Buffalo County Fair

Here are a few pictures from the Buffalo County Fair: A rootin' tootin' good time. We splurged this year and let the kids actually go on rides. Don't worry though, the ice cream was free.

Free Ice Cream at the Fair

Preston was quite annoyed that his picture was not on the blog page. He saw Braden and Kari and said, "Where me ?" So this picture is for you, Preston!

First Day of School