Catan

 We received the game "Catan" for Christmas and it has been a big hit especially with the 3 oldest. 

It say's that it is for 10 or older but it has been easy for Hailey to learn how to play. 

Bristol also wants to play and is learning but it is harder since she is still struggling with reading. 

Spencer has played this game with the kids more than any other than I have seen. 

We are hoping to acquire the extension pack as it will accommodate all of us being able to play. 

I think that they would all really like playing "Ticket to Ride" as it has similar strategy and fun but we are yet to pull it out. Maybe soon!

Hair Cut

 Okay, so this has taken us months of talking to get Stetson to let me cut his hair. 

He has a friend that has his hair down past his shoulders and another one who is growing it out. 

Stetson thought he wanted to grow it out but got tired of it being in his face so this is the transformation.  Evelyn say's "he kind of looks hot now." I think he looks more respectable and I know it is easier to keep clean although he does have nice hair. 

Evelyn has voiced a desire to learn how to cut hair so I told her next time I cut Ezra's hair I would let her do it. He has the easiest hair to cut. 

I learned how to cut hair when I was just a little older than Evelyn on my fathers thick full hear of hair. 

I remember that the first hair cut took 3 hours. 

Valentines

 Valentines day was filled with gift giving. 

Hailey handed out pencils. 

Bristol made little gift bags with hearts, chocolates and a bounce ball. 

Evelyn also made gift bags with chocolates inside. 

They all had fun going to classes and handing out their handmade items.

Stetson was a typical teenager and didn't do anything. 

Ezra had a little party at his preschool on Monday prior to the holiday. 

Wednesdays are filled with driving around so after Hailey's piano lessons and picking up Stetson from his YLA classes we went to Dad's office and delivered chocolate bars to all of his employees and to Dad. 

Ezra really like learning in preschool how to cut out hearts and made heart valentines for all of us. 

There was a lot of school mixed in with all of our fun!!!

Kind Deeds

The peach arrangement is from Grandma Janet and Grandpa Weyerman who were a great help to us. Grandma Janet had quite the adventure getting us the flowers. I guess that they didn't want to stay in their vase as she drove them across town. It is amazing that they lasted as long as they did. 

They yellow roses were from my dear counselor and neighbor Kandice Mortenson who came over the night I returned from the hospital and helped me immediately. 

She helped Ezra and Silas clean up there room and fold laundry for me. 

All of my Wade sister's, except Andrea who sent me bath bombs, 

had this arrangement delivered to my home. 

They are so thoughtful and kind! 

Heyley also left this on my door step. 

The balloon was tied to the chocolate. I was very grateful for the taste treat. 

From Hayley Nielson acquired after Stake Conference

A combination of all flowers after some started to die. 

I was surprised at how many roses were in each arrangement. 

Some other views. Evelyn did a great job taking the pictures! 

All kids continued with school and were able to accomplish a good deal even though we had a major disruption to our lives. 

 

Life

Brother time and trying to fix a Nerf gun that Stetson took apart long ago. 

Ezra really wanted to fix it but we just couldn't figure it out. 

Silas was great at misplacing parts. 

Silly time!!!

How many people can you fit in a really small kids tent? 

Six-ish!!!

I was just hanging out with the boys when everyone came and joined us and then Hailey requested a picture. We tried, you can't really see Hailey and Silas didn't want any part but the whole family is there. 

School is still going well and we are doing well. 

There has been some sickness and there have been days that little energy was available but we continue to do our best each day. 

 

Winter Dance

Evelyn and Hailey went with me in the middle of a crazy snow storm to a family dance with the school that Evelyn attends on Wednesdays. There were only a few families there but the music was good and we had a great time. These girls are fun dancers. 

Dancing is a regular thing for us we love to have dance parties and I often use music to motivate us all to get a room clean or a job done. 

While we are doing school I will often put on instrumental music to keep our atmosphere clam and our minds working. I really feel that music is a great influencer. 

What kind of music do you listen to? 

How does it influence you? 

 

Hard Workers!!!!

 So theses kids are amazing! We were living in a construction zone for the holidays. We had our kitchen cement counter tops refinished with epoxy and the process was a doozey. Because the countertops were cement the first step was to level and sand down the counters. This may seem simple but is was very dirty and our entire house became filled with cement dust. Thankfully we have a kitchen in our basement and we put a barrier to try and lesson the amount of dust that came to the basement. We lived in the basement for about 10 days. Christmas Eve was spent cleaning. New Years Day was also spent cleaning. In total we spent approximately 55 man hours as a family dusting every surface and room in our home. Spring cleaning in December/January. These kids are amazing and they helped us out so much. 

HARD IS GOOD IF WE TRUST IN CHRIST!!!

We were able to work hard and play hard. We decided to reward the kids with a pizza dinner and Jamba's after. They were all stuffed and tired once we returned. I am grateful for theses amazing helpers! 

We work hard at our school too so the ability to work hard, 

I hope, will carry over into all of our efforts in life. 

New Years Eve

 We had a good night enjoying yummy food and family games. We all went outside at 8:45pm and banged pans and sang out "Happy New Year" so that the littles could go to bed at a good time. 

Everyone went to bed  at a good hour. Mom and Dad like that! Someday we will host games and fun for those who want to stay up late but for now we enjoy our littles and our sleep. 

One of my friends husbands told me that one year there daughter wanted to stay up until midnight and was pretty determined to do so, so they slipped away and moved the clocks forward, when she wasn't aware and then were able to get her to bed a few hours early. Genius!!!

We took a good break between Christmas and New Year but not much longer than the weeks of. 

The girls were able to get back to their work once the holidays were over. Bristol is still struggling with reading but we are trying. Consistence is a big part of our problem. 

Stetson is as regular as a teenage boy can be. He gets himself up regularly and I think gets to classes at the high school on time but only wants to do what he wants to do when he wants to do it!!!

Christmas

Wade family Christmas party was a blast. In this picture uncle Casey has a special treat for all of the cousins as he handed out envelopes that has 2 dollar bills enclosed for all. A special treat from the usually very quiet uncle. 

There was also the usual amazing collection of foods for everyone's varied pallets, gift giving, pickleball and basketball competition, card or board games and the special nativity play. 

It is always a great experience to get together as a family. 

                             

Christmas morning was so fun. We were opening gifts for a very long time. Grandma Janet made sure that each of the kids had a gift for everyone in the family. I made sure that they had many fun simple gifts from us.  Each of the kids did a good job of getting each other gifts. It was so nice not to have anything to do or anywhere to go. 

Having lots of fun for the holidays did not interrupt our dedication for education and getting school done. In fact we even went to an orchestra concert for Evelyn during the holidays and she preformed amazingly on the violin. These kids are pretty amazing and super smart!!!

A little Russian Ballerina

 Ballet has been a very rewarding activity for Evelyn. She has made lots of friends and loves everything about attending her classes. She has really excelled this year and learned a lot and we are only half way though the year. She says' that ballet is the best experience she has ever has. I think we may have found her sport. 

We all really enjoyed attending her concert and seeing all of her hard work. There will be a little break until the new year begins.  

The kids are all  being diligent about their studies and working hard. Today we actually sat together in the living room in front of the fire and read lots of books about animals and completed a word search about many different of animals. Hailey was hoping that would be all the school we did for the day but more was accomplish. 

 

A Special Birthday Boy!!!

Another year older and wiser too!

We love to be celebrated! 

After Hailey and Bristol went to classes on Wednesday we then, Ezra and Silas to The Jump Zone. They all had a blast and were excited to jump. We had very few other jumpers at the time we went and only one minor injury. School is tapering off with the holidays just around the corner classes ending and lessons ending for a time. The girls are still attending to writing, grammar and math but the excitement of Christmas drawing near is often distracting. Stetson is diligently attending his classes at Mountain Crest and his debate class all other classes are currently a battle! 

 

Kauai Hawaii

Most amazing trip of our lives!!!

Spencer and I went to Kawai for 8 days. Really it was 6 full days and 2 days of traveling.  We went all lots of hikes, saw many amazing beaches, boat ride along the coastline, zipline tour, surfing, boogie boarding, snorkeling, eating, touring, church and many other amazing adventures. 

All of the kids stayed at our house with Chayanne, one of our employees, and survived. They did some school, a lot of movie watching and some got sick. There was eating out at Yedi's a local Mexican restaurant, making treats and eating them, going to dance and classes, some cleaning and other basic life needs were met. Silas out baby had the hardest time!

We were all very grateful for the experience and to be reunited!!!

 

Games

 

We would love for these moments to happen everyday but there is still a lot of Barbie play, dress up and forts that are made by the younger kids, along with countless other creative play. 

Our oldest however rarely partakes of these play outlets. However when his sisters include him and want to play a card game or board game he is eager to be included. 

We have so many games that I think that we could do a game day once a week for an entire year and hopefully truly know how to play them all. 

There are many that we still don't even know how to play well. 

Stetson has finally figured out how to access his BYU Geometry class. 

It took so long mostly because I was needed to figure it out. 

The girls were so excited about a break for Thanksgiving that we got a lot of school attended to on Monday and Tuesday. Wednesday was dedicated to baking pies, cleaning house and preparing many yummy thanksgiving dishes. We had a great Thanksgiving with 22 in all being in our home! The remainder of the week will be preparing for the next amazing holiday.