On Sunday after I got up from my nap Cade and Taylor came to tell me that Ashlynn had been saying bad words. I asked what word that was and the told me A_ _. I called Ashlynn into the room and explained to her that what she was saying was a bad word. I told her that was her freebie she now knew that it was bad to say and if I heard her say it again she would be in trouble. Later that night we are doing our scripture study and I'm reading and the word A _ _ is in the scripture. I read it and when I'm done Taylor says, "Mom, you just said the word you told Ashlynn not to say." So then we have a conversation about what the word means in the scriptures and that if it's in the scriptures it's okay to say, but if you are just saying it to call someone that or for fun it's not a good thing. I think that word is in the book of mormon an handful of times and of all the days for us to read it, was then, thought that was funny.

Classic photo, man we were young. Look how grumpy Cade looks, I think he still makes this face.

Same weekend, but look close, you will see many young faces

This is the weekend Rusty proposed to me. (July 1997) Wow look at us we are sure looking good, ahh the memories

Well let's see since I last wrote not too many funny or exciting things have happened. Christmas came and went and we were all sick. It started off with Brinkley and Rusty the Sunday before Christmas and then slowly went through all of us, except Taylor. I got sick early Christmas Eve morning and stayed in bed all day long. So we didn't get to do any of our traditions and that made it not feel like Christmas. The kids were pleased and happy with what Santa brought them and they spend the whole day playing and eating candy. I still wasn't 100% but found the energy to make sure we had a nice Christmas dinner. I sadly don't have any pictures, everything I took was video and can't figure out how to upload a video yet, it takes too long. The following Monday we went up to see the newest addition to the family. My little sister had her baby at the beginning of December and since we weren't able to make it up Christmas Eve as planned we went up then. He was adorable and Ashlynn loved to hold him. We were able to see the cousins too and I thought it's nice to live close again. The next week I tried to make up for the disappointed Christmas week with taking the kids to the swimming pool and the skating rink. I believe they had fun at both places for a little while. Taylor and Brinkley never once came out of the pool for a break, Cade and Ashlynn were done in about an hour into it.It snowed the week after Christmas and the kids had a great time in it, sadly no pictures. They were out there so long each time they would come in crying because their toes were cold, maybe they were out there a little too long. New Year's Eve was just another day for us. We tried to let the kids stay up but instead of watching their movie they ended up jumping on the bed, so off to bed they went. New Years Day we had a family over and had a great time with them. Ate, played ping pong, watched football and talked. Thankfully the kids are back in school and our routine is back on. Not many funny stories to tell but this one did happen and of course it has to do with little miss Ashlynn. She was taking a bath and all I hear is "Mom come here, Mom come here." I of course am worried so I go running in there and she says, "Look I did it, I shaved my legs." I had left my razor in their bathroom and she had shaved her legs. Thankfully no cuts, she had smooth, but patchy legs. I told her that was her free one, next time she did it she would be in big trouble. That girl. Anyway, that is all from this ol' house.

Well I don't write all time because most days it's the same old thing. Ground hog day over and over, not that I mind that, that's what I love. We have been slowly getting ready for Christmas. Last week was spent in the kids' classrooms helping the teachers and attending parties, thankfully it's all over. Some fun things that happened to us over the weekend is Taylor and Ashlynn had their first piano receital. They were both so nervous. I think Taylor handled her nerves better than Ashlynn. They both played great. I unfortunately forgot the camera at the "real" receital so I made them play it agagin for me at home. Ashlynn goofed once at the receital and Taylor had a little mistake but I don't think anyone noticed but me since I heard it non-stop all week. I love to play the piano, but when I had my receitals I could never get over my nerves and my fingers stilled fumbled. On Friday Cade had his last basketball practice for the season and they played the kids against the dads, it was fun to watch and Cade and Rusty said they had a fun time playing. Cade had his last game on Saturday and he did well. He had 2 baskets, and a few steals. The coach asked Rusty to help coach next season. It's a pretty good team, they won 4 games and lost 2. Cade gets better and better every game. At the first of the month we had a Family Home Evening and watched the first presidency message. After that wonderful thing we managed to ruin it by drawing names and Cade and Taylor complained about who they had to buy for and who was buying them a gift. I was shocked, little turds. So as their punishment and before they could participate in this they had to write a page paper on the "REAL" meaning of Christmas. It was fun to read their papers and they knew what the real meaning was. I was just surprised that they were acting that way, ahh kids. Thankfully they have been better and Cade without telling him too, went and bought all the girls a Christmas gift. He did great he even got them on sale. Anyway, that is all for know, I'm sure I'll have Christmas stories to tell soon.