Celebrating Dad's Birthday

 Serena always willing to help open presents.

Viewing for Grandpa Faye Dearden

During the viewing we had the children play in a side room.  Towards the end we put the kids in pjs (Serena pulling the cart.)

Fashion Show!

One of the kids favorite games is "Fashion Show." They dress up, come down and model and then want prizes. The first time that we did this Carter learned a valuable lesson. We had prizes for everyone, Ring Pops, but we started with saying that Julie won for best use of satin. Carter flipped out and started crying because he wanted to win. He had to cool down in his room and now when we give out prizes he has learned that you don't have to be announced first to still get an award.

Superman's belt is very beautiful!

Jackson as your neighborhood fireman!

Serena posing as a fairy princess!

Aleeya cheeses for the camera!

Aleeya helping Julie with her crown!

Imaginary Play!

I always think it is so funny when the kids pretend that they are dogs or tigers, snakes or giraffes or whatever is their current favorite animal.

I dress myself!

We started the day with clothing on correctly, but after using the bathroom Serena put her pants on in this stylish way!

Cute Hair!

I taught the preschool class today and Jamie styled the girls hair while they were playing with them. It is so cute!!

I have decided it is basically impossible to get a picture of the girls both looking at me! These darling dresses are passed down from a friend that has two girls. I love the hats, but they don't last long on their heads!

Sleeping??

Serena was in bed sleeping, amazing how she got these accessories in her hair!

Funny thing, she won't wear bows or barrettes during the day, but they sure are fun when you should be in bed!

Treehouse Museum

Playing at the Treehouse Museum again. Serena was with us, I just didn't get any pictures of her.

I am pretty sure this is not how they want the children to ride the bull.

Aleeya is watching the sheep move.

Carter was teaching school to Serena.

Yee-haw!

Future President?

Carter exploring other worlds.

Bowling with Aunt Staci

One of Carter's many loves is bowling. Aunt Staci had some free passes so we planned to go with her. The place she had passes for was packed so we tried several other lanes until we found an open lane.Carter got several strikes and doesn't need any help. We did all use bummers, since this bowling alley was so old you couldn't have them up and down for different players.

Carter picked out his own bowling outfit. I am so proud of his great fashion sense!

Serena, drinking water, this is all she did, she didn't want to bowl.

Aunt Staci and Aleeya, it was nice to have an extra set of hands to chase children.

Official score board: Carter (winner), Serena (Carter bowled all of her turns also), Staci and Taylor. Taylor really wanted to win and it was pretty funny when the final frames were done and Carter won!

Wedding Dress Shopping

Kim is getting married! They have set the date for April 10 at the Logan Temple. They went dress shopping in Ogden, so I joined them. Apparently, you can't take pictures of the dresses so I only ended up with pictures of the spectator crowd.

It was a fun day and Kim found "her" dress. The part I enjoyed the most is that Kody was really good at reading Kim's reactions and moods. I could tell that he really cared about her and knew her well.

Kody, Grandmama Hoppie with Aleeya, and me!

Kody, Mom, Aleeya, and Kody's mom-Patty

Murder Mystery in Layton

Some strange characters gathered at the Dearden "Manor" and a mysterious murder unfolded. Taylor had read that January 15 is the most depressing day of the year: credit card bills from the holidays, bad weather, no Holidays near, New Year's resolutions over etc. Anyway, that inspired an idea to do something fun. Jenni had this murder mystery game and so some characters were gathered and it was enlightening to see the theatrical side of people come out!

The Sheriff, not at law abiding as he looks! The amazing dancing bride, wife of the dearly departed.

Former girlfriend of the groom and still his confidant. Judge friend of the deceased.

Movie star and her agent. "He has a contract, right there" if you want to be in the movies!

Mother of the dead groom and DR. Jankins, psychiatrist and brother of the bride.
Not pictured: Kathy Airmet as the maid and the butler!

Chuck E. Cheese Day Two

Back to finish off the tokens.

Serena played air hockey with this little boy for at least 20 minutes. They just kept playing and I think that she thought it was good for the puck to go into her goal. She was pretty good at getting it into the other side also.

Chuck E. Cheese

Our Thursday field trip was Chuck E. Cheese. I had a coupon for tokens and we played for two hours and still had enough tokens to go again the next day.

Carter is great at the basketball game and the tickets just come pouring out! He also loves the bowling game.

Aleeya practicing her driving skills. They start so early!

Watching the mechanical Chuck E. Cheese, when he starts to sing they love to run over and watch. There is also a T.V. stage and Carter dances away and watches himself on the screen.