HAPPY 4th BIRTHDAY COROM BENNETT!

Happy Birthday to our sweet Corom Bennett! I look at Corom everyday and wonder how I have been so blessed to have been given this child to raise. Corom has such a beauty about him. He is sweet, innocent and loving. He LOVES to snuggle, loves his family, likes preschool, but is still a bit wiggly, looks forward to sunbeams each week, wakes up extra early each morning to watch cartoons, loves his trains and anything with wheels, runs with springs in his toes, looks forward to playing with his friend Gavin everyday, but also enjoys playing with Noelle and Elijah. Corom has a grown up spirit and determination in a little body. He is a determined little boy, with growing opinions and understanding about the world around him. He is always game for trying new things and learning new information. Corom also enjoys art. He can spend hours coloring pictures, writing his name, cutting, painting, etc. I am so thankful for the time we have had with Corom in our home and look forward to watching him grow.

Corom turned 4 a few weeks ago and we had quite a celebration. We kicked off the festivities with cupcakes at preschool. The next day his Nana and Papa arrived for their annual birthday visit. We hung out and played, ate lots of yummy food (restaurants and at home), went to the movies and did birthday cake. On that Sunday, Nana and Papa attended church with us to hear Corom give his first talk in Primary. He did such a good job! That afternoon Corom discovered his hidden present, "Um, there is a green bike in the basement." After a little teasing about it belonging to someone else, Dan wheeled it up the stairs and let him play with it! Such a big bike for such a little guy! That's where training wheels come in to play. Corom was showered with gifts from relatives and was excited about his spiderman chocolate cake! We were lucky to have Nana and Papa for a whole week, as weather conditions kept them from making the drive home. Friday, the roads cleared enough for them to make their trek home. We had such a nice visit.

This past weekend, the Pierces came to continue the birthday festivities! Dan had to work Saturday, so we lounged around while the children played. Amazing how kids pick right up where they left off. We made the terrible mistake of taking them to our only city winter attraction. The one and only bounce house place in Twin Falls. It was nasty...dirty and crowded, but of course, the kids loved it! We followed the bouncing with Happy Meals and a movie night for the parents! A fun, fun weekend!

This week has been a quick one. We have all had colds and are seeing the ends of them now. Thank goodness. Hope you are all doing well. Thanks for checking in! Here are pictures in no particular order! ENJOY!
Can you say, "Little Dan?" "GO UTES!"


It's only 35 degrees outside! They were so excited about their new swimwear. They were dancing all around the house. Only 5 months to go!

This is how Elijah is all day, every day. He is always right by my side! Great company and funny too.

THE BOYS! Can't we just find Jeremy a job up here? Don't these boys look cute together?

The LADIES!

"Just think Taya, in 20 years we can date!"

Crazy kids!

This birthday boys loves his Papa!

Gina, Josh, Nana and Papa fed into our mustache fetish! For those of you who don't know, Elijah is obsessed with mustaches. He uses vegetables, pencils, etc. to make mustaches. These were classic!

HAPPY BIRTHDAY COROM! WE LOVE YOU!!!

Still Rolling

Hello blogging world! Sorry about the lack of posting. Life seems to be flying by faster than I can keep up with. Any time that would usually be spent on the internet (after kids go to bed) is spent on preschool lesson plans. Last night, for instance, I was up until 1:00 laminating superman shields and compiling packets on how children can develop good (super kid) habits. It is a lot of fun! The kids really enjoy our time together and I love that I can use my creative brain. 2012 has been good to us so far. Noelle is thriving in school and despite runny noses, we have been healthy. This last weekend we made the trek down to Salt Lake to spend a relaxing weekend with friends. On Saturday we took the kids to the Gateway Discovery Museum and later had a girls-night-out with with student apartment friends at the California Pizza Kitchen. (YUM!) Sunday we had a game night with some of the families. On Monday, Dan and I took the kids for a drive, went to Trolley Square, to lunch and to the temple. The kids really enjoyed temple square and the visitor's center. Such a peaceful family day. That night we went to Chucky Cheese with the Pierces. We ended up battling the stomach flu, but it didn't stop the kids for long. (Just made for some sleepless nights for the parents) The kids played and played and played. I have a bunch of photos and will post later. Hope you are all doing well. Thanks for not giving up on me...even though I am terrible about keeping in touch.

Christmas Magic!

How do I express our appreciation to all of those who helped make 2011 Christmas and New Year's events so precious? Where do I start? Three cheers to my family who endured the arduous journey across Nevada in the nearing 0 degree temps to spend 5 awesome days with us in our new Idahoan home! Kudos to my sister, Gina, for busting out wicked beanies with her thread and needles on the way (btw nice shot of the stockings!). The kids love their new headwear and I'll put out the word as to their origins. Thanks to Uncle Josh and Papa for the elvish help in the TKO room, I would've been sunk if I had to do that by myself. Special thanks to Nana for keeping the family Christmas breakfast tradition alive. Man, Christmas with kids is such a cool time of life! What better way to get them to behave than to bribe them with presents? If only that would work year round... We really had a great time this year. It started off with Noelle's party the week prior - princess motif, of course. Then her actual birthday was on the 24th. That afternoon we went to get her ears pierced! Dan, what were you thinking??? She looks very pretty with her new earrings, and took the piercing quite well, I think. On Christmas day we took the kids and Nana and Papa to Sacrament services, but allowed the kids to open their gifts prior to church. The boys thoroughly enjoyed the train table, and Noelle will move into her doll house next week, yes it is that big!















Unfortunately we didn't have a white Christmas this year, but let's consider it a blessing - Could you imagine Dad driving in snow on the way home??? We're glad the family made it home in one piece, and without killing each other :)
I shall ne'er forget New Year's eve! We went to our friends house out in the country (yes, more country than where we live) to enjoy an aerial fireworks show. How he is able to light off fireworks comparable to those on the 4th of July at big venues is beyond me. I'm bummed we didn't take any pictures of the event, but seriously, I think the camera's components would've froze. Oh, and thanks to Dave, the pyrotechnic, for the up close and personal finale - there was a foundation malfunction, and the firework went and blew up horizontally towards the crowd instead of vertically like all the other good little fireworks! Like I said I would ne'er forget the evening. The kids crammed and snuggled in the back of the Audi to keep warm, and then crashed on the way home.
Just as quick as the fireworks blew up, it seems like the holiday season is behind us. Let's keep the spirit of giving alive, and look to lend a helping hand. People need our help. Let that be our year long Christmas gift! Enjoy the photo montage:

Noelle's Birthday Party




Our 6 year old girl (going on 16!)



The kids are ready for Santa to come!!



Hey Santa, you better get those cookies before I do!



Traditional Christmas breakfast



Taylor Swift meet Fancy Nancy

Well, here goes...

Nothing like doing a 2 month post to try to get caught up on all of the things that have happened! As a family, we are doing well. We are coming off of a party week as we just had family visit from California. I have been soooo homesick and I am pretty sure it is worse than ever after seeing them off again. We had such a wonderful time and it is always hard to say goodbye for a six month period of time. Dan has been busy, busy working and I am teaching preschool two days a week. I also received a new calling to work with the 12-13 year old girls in church. I say these things keep me busy, but lets get real....my days are full of kids, cooking and cleaning! We have fun! The boys especially, are by my side the WHOLE day! Corom won't let me out of his site. If I am doing something, he is doing it too. I feel so grateful to have these precious years with my children, as exhausting as it might be! Noelle is loving kindergarten too. All in all, we are healthy and happy. I tried my best to put the pictures in order and will caption our months. Hope you are all doing well. I have missed my blog tremendously!

We had a student apartment reunion, that was spear-headed by our friends who were visiting from Australia. I love these women so much. They have all influenced my life and I get nostalgic thinking about our time together. We were missing a few beloved families due to distant moves! We also were able to stay with my aunt and uncle and visited with friends. A quick, but oh-so-worth-it trip!


Yup, these would be Halloween pictures! The pictures don't do the costumes justice. The kids looked adorable! We trick or treated with another family. The kids had a blast.



We did a field trip to the pumpkin patch with the preschool. The rule is "If you can carry it, you can have it!" IT WAS FREEZING, but we came back with pretty pumpkins!

Brenda and me with our little preschool class!

Noelle went to the pumpkin patch with her kindergarten class a week before us and it was a sunny, warm day! Such is weather in Idaho!

Noelle and her friend Kendall!

And THIS is Elijah in a nutshell. This kid is a crackup! And, he can sit and color for hours!

These kids attack Dan when he gets home from work

Our new kitchen! I was going to post pictures of the whole house, but decided that you will have to come see it to get the full tour! This is where I spend most of my day!

The exterior of our new home! Noelle says it looks like a barn. It is bold, I know, but we love it! We have to wait until the spring to landscape! TOO COLD!

We hosted a Thanksgiving Feast for our preschool families. We had a yummy dinner and the kids did a little performance. It was wonderful to have our family with us! This is Corom with his buddy Gavin!

This is typical, silly Noelle!

There's little ELijah coloring again!

Noelle's kindergarten did a feast as well and they dressed up like pilgrims and indians. Noelle wouldn't even look at me with her costume on, but she looked so cute!



Bounce-Housing with the cousins!!!!

These are just various pictures from Thanksgiving. My mom flew in on Monday, my sister Nikki and her family drove up on Tuesday and my Dad and brother Brandon drove up on Wednesday. We had a full house, with people sleeping all over the place. Dinner turned out wonderful, we visited and held baby Tessa, went to a bounce house place and to the movies! These times are priceless! The kids jumped right back in where they had left off and played and played!











On Saturday, we drove up to Sun Valley for a picnic in the snow. It was beautiful. We didn't stop and shop because we had the children with us, but the towns surrounding Sun Valley are charming! (Kind of like Park City!)