Dancing Queen

This little beauty had her first dance recital last week. As many of you may be aware, Miss Katelee is extremely accident prone, whether it be falling at random or running into very visible walls/doors, etc. She has issues. We were encouraged by our pediatrician to enroll her in a dance class or something of the sort to assist in her coordination and she has LOVED it! My personal favorite portion of the evening was after her dance they invited all the girls in the classes to come up and bow and Santa came to visit. While most little gals were gathering around the big man, Katelee took the opportunity to find the front of the stage and jump and bounce and take her moment to shine. It was adorable. She has come a long way from just shaking her booty in the corner of the studio to learning all the steps, without too many tumbles! We may have a lot to worry about with this one as these last two weeks she has told me 1) "I am going to do something that will knock your sock off," and 2) that she is "not going to have a modest butt." Please excuse her if you see some unwanted skin, we are working on it!!

Santa Sighting

Last night, at our neighborhood party, we had an unexpected visitor! Our neighbors got together in our garage to have treats and gather gifts to donate to others, and the Jolly Old Elf Himself, Kris Kringle, came strolling up our driveway. I called to Grant and exclaimed that Santa was here...he looked up in the night sky and replied, "Mom, that's the moon." I told him to look down our driveway and he SCREAMED, "SANTA's Here! Santa's here!" He ran and told everyone he could. It was awesome. Katelee and Brenna each got a turn on his lap, as well as anyone else who wanted to. Brenna mostly just liked his jingle bell! He was so fun and a highlight of the night. It's fun to hear what the kids request...one just wanted a candy cane (easy! he had one there)...Katelee froze and asked for a lion! I told her that wild animals are not welcome in our home, but maybe Santa could find a toy lion for her. I also reminded her how much she loves princess things and Santa knows that! Gone are the days when Grant asks for toliet paper (to shred around the house for the garbage man to pick up!) More pricey gifts are now the request and I am sure he price tag goes up with age! He will be happy with anything Star Wars. But in this day of technology, I hear from most kids Ipods, Ipads, Ipod Touch, etc. We know it is a button pressing society and generation when I listen to Grant and Katelee play. When someone needs a break, whether for the restroom, or to retrieve a toy, someone declares, "Pause the Game!" The game can then be unpaused when all players are back in their spots! Maybe I could pause the day and get a nap once in a while!

Thankful!

I am grateful for so many things, and while the company was great in Kansas, I am mostly thankful to be HOME!! This innocent looking monster in-disguise
is crazy!! She screamed for over an hour on our flight over, nothing could soothe her. The looks of death I received from other passengers are sure to go down in my long-term memory in the "frightened for my life" file. There were a few kind fellow travelers. One told me as I stood up trying to jump out of the aircraft before it had come to a complete stop, "You did good, Mommy." It made me loose any composure I had struggled to maintain! The nights with little Brenna were spent half of the time in the car, as Dave drove her around and pacified her so the other hotel guests could rest, and she also gave us the opportunity to visit the local ER. She fell into the entertainment center at the hotel and hit an artery of some sort because the blood was gushing in pulses. She is fine and only needed a drop of glue, which I didn't feel comfortable administering myself. The only picture we took is the following at a LDS Church history site. I can't believe we didn't take any with Amy and Jason's family. Next time, I guess, hopefully that will be sooner than 5 years or so!
Best parts of the trip: spending time with family we never see, having our kids meet their cousins for the first time, listening to Grant and Katelee reciting "Charlie Bit My Finger" (from the Youtube video), British accents included, as we flew home, eating a delicious meal and having my pies turn out this year!, visiting Liberty Jail, and taking time to be truly grateful...amidst the chaos! You will be happy to learn that Brenna Catherine is now grounded and on restriction from any further air travel.

Football Fans

We have enjoyed going to the Utah football games this season. Dave took Katelee to one, Grant to a home game, he has gone a couple of times with friends, and I took my friend, Alisha to one. He and I are going to the BYU/Utah game at the end of the month, but last weekend Dave and Grant took a little excursion to Chicago and South Bend. They went to Medieval Times to see a dinner show full of knights and jousting and swords. From the talk that has gone on since, I think it just may have been one of the highlights of Grant's life thus far! I am guessing he is going for the rotted tooth/decay infested mouth of the Dark Ages with his discolored teeth here! The next day Dave took Grant to the Utah vs. Notre Dame football game. While the football game itself was less than desirable....they had a great time! Dave said the Notre Dame fans were so nice and welcoming and really friendly. (I think some people here-both of the blue and red associations could learn a thing or two from them!). While the boys were away, oh yes the girls did play!!! We had a girls night on Friday, which consisted of my mom, Shannon, Katelee, Brenna and I doing our toenails and playing games. I do not have an affection for Candyland, but Horton Hears a Who is a riot! The next day I planned a date with Katelee to go to a movie. She didn't want to go with just me. She kept asking and asking who else could go...I am not going to lie, she hurt my feelings...but she was quickly forgiven and we ventured out on the town. The boys got back just in time for church and we are off next week as a family to Kansas for Thanksgiving.

Goodbye Gluten

The results are back, the surgery over and it's official. Katelee has celiac disease. She is going gluten free. The diet will be a bummer at first (and at times later-birthday parties, school lunches, church snacks, etc) but we will adjust. I am so glad we found out what was wrong. She was in a lot of pain and it was so sad. Many people with celiac don't manifest the excruciating symptoms, but the damage is still being done to their insides and attributing to higher risks of other dangerous illnesses-cancer (lymphoma), thyroid disease, anemia, internal bleeding, malnutrition, etc. Anyway, we are working on not cross contaminating her food from ours. Here she is pre-surgery at Primary Children's: It's a disturbing sight seeing your child go under anesthesia and flopping around the table like a fish. But the grape scented gas worked, and she was off to sleep in no time. She woke up very unhappy but was back to her happy self by the end of the day. If anyone has super great bread/rolls/cakes/cookie recipes that are gluten free, please share! Also, here is Grant after his school play. He was obviously Benjamin Franklin. For some reason, he isn't wearing the pink barbie glasses I gave him to wear for his big speaking part. He looked dashing and spoke ever so eloquently!