Amos Turns 3

Amos turns 3 on December 1st but Mallory asked if they could celebrate it a day early so that we could all be a part of the fun, I was really happy with her thoughtfulness and so excited to be able to celebrate Amos's birthday with him.

He had no clue that his actual birthday was the next day we just celebrated like it was actually on this day.

 I love telling Amos to smile for a picture because his immediate reaction is to close his eyes, he is just the cutest little 3 year old!

My kids wanted to go to the Temple to do Baptisms with their Cousins so they went Saturday morning. Ben wasn't able to go because his recommend had expired and he forgot to renew it which was a bummer. After they did Baptisms they took a picture outside, Ryker took the picture because he didn't care to smile for the camera. He did get his shadow in the shot which is something I guess.

Isabelle, Avynlea, Kenedy, Alyssa, Rylee and Ryker's shadow

Avynlea had to cheer at a Basketball game that night and Isabelle was the only one who wanted to come with me. We had fun watching her cheer and it was fun to have Isabelle by my side throughout the game.

The game was running a little late and I knew my family at home was going to eat dinner without us. Mallory made a Tator-Tot Casserole for Amos's birthday dinner. I got a text towards the end of the game asking how much longer we were going to be and I gave an estimate then told them if they needed to go ahead with the cake that it was ok. Mallory replied that they would wait for us and I was so glad that they did. It was fun to get home and to watch and be a part of the celebration. Amos picked a delicious Costco cake and he was a happy Birthday boy!

top pic: Kenedy, Rylee, Ben, Elizabeth and Amos

bottom pic: Isabelle, Avynlea, Kenedy and Rylee

Happy Third Birthday Amos!

After the party we took a group picture and then it was time for the little ones to get to bed. Both Joshua and Emily's families left the next morning and it was sad to see them go. I had a really fun time and enjoyed being with everyone. Having those little boys here brought a different element to all of the fun and it was fabulous! What a great week!

back row: Kefford, Ryker, Matt

Middle row: Rylee, Elizabeth, Kenedy, Amos, Joshua, Emily, Avynlea, Ben, Isabelle

kneeling: Alyssa, Breana, Mallory, Fredrick

Scentsy Light Tunnel

Friday morning Kefford and went to Fred Myers to get some half price socks. While we were there I found some winter flannel sheets on sale for $15, all sizes! I was pretty excited about that deal! I bought some for mine and Kefford's bed because we needed some and I also bought Rylee some for her bed. About a week ago we sold Rylee's twin bed because we were given a queen bed that a friend was getting rid of. I have been wanting a bigger bed in that room since it doubles as the guest room and was pretty happy to get one for free. Rylee needed flannel sheets to fit her bigger bed and I was happy to buy her some cute winter themed ones. I also got her some matching pillow cases that say Merry Christmas on them. Rylee is all about the holidays and loves to decorate her room for Christmas. I knew she would love these pillow cases and since she keeps her room really clean and always makes her bed I decided to give them to her as a reward.

Emily met us at the Fred Meyers and when Kefford was done he left and Emily and I went to the Boise mall so she could hit up some of her favorite stores. We had a good time laughing and being together and shopping!

When we got back Rylee, Avynlea and I went with Joshua and his family over to the park. The boys needed to play outside for a bit and we were happy to accompany their family.

After dinner that evening we went over to Scentsy Commons to walk through and see the Light Tunnel. It is really pretty and a bit magical walking through the lights, my only wish is that they would make it longer. It ended much too quickly so we doubled back and went through one more time. It was a cold night so after she pictures we scurried on home.

Peterson Family 2019!

Elizabeth and Kefford

top: Emily, Elizabeth and Mallory

bottom: Avynlea, Alyssa, Isabelle, Kenedy and Rylee

We sure do love Amos and Fredrick, they are so cute and make everything more fun and exciting! Amos hugging the tree is quite possibly the cutest thing to have happened in a long time!

After we got back and Mallory put her boys to bed Emily, Isabelle, Avynlea and I accompanied her to Target. I needed to return an item and Mallory wanted to get some things for Amos's birthday. While we were there Isabelle and Avynlea treated Emily and I to a little "weird Clothing" fashion show.

And Avynlea had fun doing her own special little photo shoot acting like a kid

Thanksgiving

Wednesday Emily and her family along with Breana arrived about mid afternoon and then Joshua and his family came right around dinner time. Just like that it was a full house and I was loving it. We were so happy that Joshua could come with Mallory and his little boys. Amos and Fredrick definitely added a new level of fun to our Thanksgiving festivities. Rylee made a cute pinecone turkey at school and she wanted me to get supplies so she could make everyone one. I got the feathers and the googly eyes and then we found pinecones outside the theater, all set. 

When Isabelle arrived Rylee quickly enlisted her help in making the turkeys. Kenedy and Breana both made one each and I made one as well. The turkeys turned out super cute and it was a fun activity for the girls to do.

 Fredrick is such a cute little chubbers and watching him wander around like a little drunk was so entertaining. I have forgotten what it means to have a baby around and realized we had a lot of stuff within easy access that we didn't want him to get to. At one point he had disappeared and Mallory found him under our sink trying to eat a dishwasher soap pack. Luckily he was fine and we quickly cleaned out all the poisons and put them out of reach. 

Kefford loved hanging with Fredrick and was often seen playing with him and/or carrying him around.

 On Thanksgiving day we had appetizers at about 10:00 and then the feast was ready by 2:00

Alyssa, Isabelle, Rylee, Amos and Kenedy

Avynlea, Alyssa, Rylee and Isabelle

 Kefford and Kenedy did their tradition of the carving of the turkey and I was able to catch Kefford smiling at something funny on the TV which happened to be behind me so it looked like he was smiling for the camera. :)

 I bought big platter plates from Wal-Mart and it was very handy being able to fit so much food on one plate.

Amos was a crack up and entertaining for everyone. He loved playing with my hair, and in the top right picture he is teasing the girls with a hairball he found by waving it in their faces as they squealed. He thought that was hilarious! In the bottom middle picture he was sad about not going Black Friday shopping with the girls so Kefford gave him a ride on the dirt bike. 

 Emily, Isabelle, Breana, Mallory, Kenedy, Avynlea, Rylee and I all went out that night to Black Friday shop at Target,  Old Navy and Bath and Body Works. I had fun shopping with the girls and didn't go crazy on the buying but I did buy some things for Christmas that I found good deals on. While at Old Navy Avynlea noticed that it was all of our family at the check outs and so she took a couple pictures for me.

bottom pic: Me, Rylee, Breana, Kenedy and Mallory who had just finished

Frozen II and Ford vs Ferrari

Tuesday morning I watched Mikell's kids so she could go to the Temple. I went earlier at about 6:20 and I got to see Alison and Bob working their shift and I also saw Brit who had come in to do some inititories, it was a Peterson reunion! I love being in the Temple and I especially love when I get to see family in the Temple!

After Mikell picked up her kids Avynlea, Rylee and I went to the theater to see Frozen II. I made sure to get us the reclining seats and we had an enjoyable time watching the movie in comfort. Avynlea and I brought blankets to snuggle with and we all brought our own snacks. It was a good time, I really enjoyed the movie and the music was really great! I had fun being with my girls and am glad we were able to take the time to go.

Later that afternoon Kenedy and Alyssa came home from Rexburg for Thanksgiving break. Kefford took Kenedy and Ryker to the movies that night to see Ford vs Ferrari. Alyssa didn't want to go so they also invited Kenedy's friend Bri along. While at the theater they saw the Pollock family and Kenedy was able to chat a little bit with Tanner and his parents. They had a good time and really enjoyed the movie. Avynlea and Rylee went to Emmett to stay the night with Cousins so Alyssa and I hung out and played games, it was a good night.

Flu Shots

I scheduled my kids appointments to get their flu shots for over thanksgiving break. None of them were thrilled with the idea, understandably, but I promised them I would get them ice-cream cones after and that made it ok. 

Avynlea went first and everything was easy peasy. Ryker went second and he ended up getting three shots, his flu shot and then two other immunizations that he needed that I didn't know about. He was cool with it and took them like a champ. Rylee got hers last and she did fine as well. As we were checking out I was trying to schedule a couple of well child appointments for Ryker and Rylee when I heard Avynlea and Ryker laughing and pretending to be faint. I looked behind me and saw them telling Rylee to stop pretending so I looked at Rylee and saw that she was really pale and not focused on anything. I grabbed her arm and said "for real, are you OK?" she didn't respond and then her knees started to buckle and she dropped her book and sucker. I grabbed her around the waist and held on while saying loudly that she was passing out. A bunch of nurses came running and soon we were surrounded by help. They wanted me to lay her down on the floor so I had Ryker help me put her down. She had her eyes open but was pretty out of it and then I saw her refocus and could see that she was coming around. We had her suck a little on her sucker and then when she was able we sat her up against the wall. She slowly got some color back to her and we were able to leave. 

Things were getting a little boring so Rylee wanted to give us all a little excitement! 

After we left the office we went to Arctic Circle so I could buy them the ice cream they were promised. Rylee especially needed a good dose of ice cream to make up for all she went through. Who knew Flu Shots could be so rough?

Fun with Avynlea

Basketball season has started and I have really been enjoying the shift into indoor sports. Avynlea has been working hard on mastering her stunts and I was pleasantly surprised at this girls basketball game to see her do a partner stunt with Emma D. They both did a really good job and I am amazed at Emma's strength and Avynlea's trust! So much fun!

 At each game they have half the cheerleaders there cheering. At these first couple of games it has been Avynlea's stunt group cheering with Lainey's stunt group. At the first game they took turns doing their stunts in between quarters. But between the two games Lainey quit cheer and so at this second game it was Avynlea up doing all of the stunts. It was sad to see Lainey go but I was happy to see Avynlea be able to do so much more. She is my favorite cheerleader to watch!

On Saturday Avynlea came with me to run a bunch of errands. I didn't think it would be busy on the streets or in the stores because it isn't even December yet but, yikes, it was ridiculous how busy all the stores were and the traffic outside was not ok. No more Saturday shopping for me until the new year.

Avy and I stopped into the Market Street Albertsons and while we were finding the couple of things we went in for we had fun looking at all the cool foods. We found the biggest apples we have ever seen and I got Avynlea to pose with one for a picture. 

We were wanting to get the rest of our errands done so we didn't linger too much in the Albertsons  but the Market Street is definitely one to explore when you have time.

I found Kefford reading a book while he was eating his dinner and I liked the look of it. You can find the rest of us doing that, some way more then others, but never Kefford. So it made me happy to see him enjoying a book during dinner. He was busy doing yard work which is why he didn't eat when the rest of us did.

Sunday morning Rylee, Kefford and I were downstairs in front of the fire playing a game when we heard a throat clearing on the stairs. When we looked up we saw Avynlea had given herself a wacky hairdo. After I took a picture of her she asked me if she could do it in my hair. I was game and let her do her thing.

My hair was a little too long and it didn't turn out like Avynlea's, we couldn't get it to stand up straight and so I took a couple of different pictures trying to get myself to look as cute as Avynlea, I didn't have much success. After we took the pictures I took the scrunchies out of my hair. It was fun but it did not feel good.

Rylee gets Braces

Rylee has anxiously been waiting the day that she gets braces put on her teeth and on November 18 that day finally arrived. I think its cute and funny how all of my kids were so excited to get braces until they actually get them put on and the pain sets in. Poor Rylee has been in quite a bit of pain and hasn't been able to eat much. I brought her a milkshake then day she got her braces on and have been sending her to school with canned chicken noodle soup in a Hydroflask, defrosted berries (they are mushier) and raman noodles. She has been taking an Ibuprofen in the morning and I send her one in her lunch to take when that first one wears off. She has been handling it pretty good and the pain in her teeth has lessoned, now she is dealing with getting her cheeks used to the braces. They have been getting a little cut up and she has started using the wax. I keep reassuring her that it will get better and she won't have to be in pain the entire time she is in braces.

Rylee had the option for silver or a more white gold braces and she chose the gold. She also picked Burgandy for her bands and I told her that her mouth looked like it was decorated for the Holidays. 

Kelsey put her braces on and while he was helping someone else Kefford put her wire in and the bands. 

She looks so cute in her braces and I told her that she looks a year older. We decided that when she gets them taken off she will look younger again and we had a good laugh about that thought!

Cheerleaders Rake Meridian

I love Wal-mart shoes, they have cute shoes that are pretty cheap and it makes me happy. I bought these cute red shoes for $10 and I love them! I also love my buffalo print flannel!

Kim Hansen stopped by with  Brooke and a sodaliscious gift card for me for my birthday. She had Kate and Henry with her and I saw Kate in her glasses for the first time. Shel ooked so cute and I had her smile so I could take a picture and send it to Kenedy.

Saturday after Tumbling the cheerleaders participated in the Rake up Meridian Service Project. They do it every year and they rake the leaves of the home of people in need. They had two houses and the home owners were both elderly and very appreciative of all the help. 

In order to get the leaves squished down in the bags and to make more room they had Avynlea stand in it to crunch them down. 

The cheerleaders worked really hard and raked up enough leaves to fill about 14 bags, they did such a great job!

 Back row: Emma D, Maddie, Calleigh, Mariena, Brooke, Maryn, Lainey, Hannah, Alyssa, Hailey and Coach Nicole
Bottom Row: Tessa, Emma, Tierza, Alexia, Olivia, Delaney, Avynlea and Dreya

Later that evening Avynlea was cheering at the first JV girls basketball game. Natalie Hope is on the team so I got to sit with Lana which hasn't happened in a long time and which was a lot of fun. The game was against Rocky and Avynlea was able to see Shaeden which was fun for both of them. Two cute cheerleaders!

Disney Duos

Our Stake was hosting a must-stake and multi denomination stake dance with a Disney Duos theme. It was for 16 and up and it was a girl ask guy dance. Ryker's friend Chendel asked him to be her date and they looked really cute in their Mickey and Minnie shirts. 

Kefford was released from his Young Mens President calling with the new changes the church is implementing and was immediately called to be the First Counselor in the Stake Young  Mens Presidency. Because of his calling he felt obligated to help chaperone this Multi-Stake dance and me being his wife felt obligated to chaperone with him. Rylee was at a birthday party and needed to be picked up at 9:30 and since our only other available driver was at the dance also we couldn't stay and chaperone for very long, which I was fine with ;)

Kefford along with Rylee went and helped set up for the dance the morning of while I was with Avynlea at Tumbling and Raking up Meridian. They did a good job, it looked really cute and Rylee asked me to take a picture of the stage since that is the area she and Kefford worked on. 

Rylee's Orchestra Concert

Tuesday night was Rylee's first orchestra concert and Kefford and I both went to watch her perform. I liked that Rylee and I were both wearing black so I had the idea to take some stylized pictures. She sure is a cute girl and very quickly catching up to me in height. 

She did a really great job and the concert was over in about 30 minutes which is always my idea of a good time. I like them fast. It was fun to watch Rylee and I love how much she is improving. I really want her to continue on in High School so I made her a deal. I said I want her to do Volleyball in 8th grade but I wouldn't make her do it in High School if she stuck with the violin and orchestra. She seemed to think that was ok and for now agreed.

What a great kid she is!