Christmas Eve, Dad went out to do some errands, then Em and I went to the grocery store. I spent a lot of time cooking, cleaning, and preparing for dinner. My parents, who returned home from Washington, D.C. the night before, came for dinner. I must say, I did a good job with ham, rolls, jello, vegetables, and yummy brownies with frosting. We opened gifts from my parents. Emily's favorite gift from them is a pretty doll she named Anna. James' favorite gift from them is a marble tower thing. My favorite thing from them is a DVD of family photos dating back to 1972. It is a collection of the "Growing Up Books" my mom made for my Grandma Williams, every year till 1998. James also loved the bucket of beach toys (in preparation for our trip to Cali in January) and even wore his swimsuit to bed.
Christmas morning, we slept till after 9am. James came in our room, then went and got Emily. Once the video camera was ready, we let them go see what Santa brought. Emily got a pink Razor scooter she asked for, and a Taylor Swift CD. In her stocking was a necklace, 9 pairs of earrings, and other items. James got his beloved and sought after Nerf Shotgun. He has been talking about it for weeks. He too got a new scooter, a blue one. In his stocking were some paints and paintbrushes, because he recently took a liking to "arting," or so he calls it.
From Nana, James got a cool set of remote control trick cars. He has already worn the batteries out. He also got some cute Star Warts T-shirts. Emily loved her little sewing/craft kit from Nana. She already decorated a shirt with fabric paint.
The kids have had fun on their scooters. It was dry weather on Christmas day, so they were able to be outside. Today it's been snowing so they have played inside.
We saw the Disney movie "Tangled." It was a cute movie and the kids loved it.
Today is Sunday, so we went to church. Kevin and I had a nap after church while the kids played downstairs. I have been organizing and creating a photo book of the year 2010. I have over 1,000 photos from the year that need to be put into a book and printed.
Kevin is taking the week off and I have time off as well, though I will be working a couple hours per day (there are days/weeks when I don't work a full 40 hours, so it's fine that I work during the break). We plan to sleep in, hang out, go to movies, etc.
Sunday, December 26, 2010
Sunday, December 19, 2010
December 19, 2010
I forgot the usernname and password. I need to get better at this!
Let's go back to Halloween. Halloween night, it was cold, rainy, and windy. We took the kids through the neighborhood and they got tons of candy. The kids were excited and had fun despite the cold and rain.
The kids both too ice skating lessons at the Olympic Oval. They both did a great job! They looked so cute in their skates, helmets, and gloves. They both were not afraid and though they fell many times, they got up and kept going. We had fun watching them. Rene gave us a one-year family skating pass as an early Christmas present and we've gone a few times as a family, or Kevin and the kids have gone without me. It's been fun.
Emily got her first report card of the year, and she got all 4's and a few 3's (4 is the best, 1 is the worst). In addition to her awesome marks, her teacher gave her all E's (Excellent) for behavior, getting along with others, citizenship, etc. We are proud of Emily. She has always been an intelligent girl and we are happy she continues to do well in school. Just as important as getting good grades is the fact that she is well behaved and good in class, that she interacts well with others, and that she applies herself. To celebrate her achievement, we went to the Rocky Mountain Chocolate Factory as a family and chose some special treats.
Winter hit with a vengeance the weekend before Thanksgiving. It snowed a lot--probably a foot or more. We get more snow on the west bench then the valley often does. It snowed 2 more times that week, leaving a ton of snow. It was also really cold--single-digit temperature cold!
For Thanksgiving, we enjoyed hosting and cooking at our house. My parents came, as did Craig, Taralyn, Suede, and Ellis (visiting from Kentucky). We had fun being together, preparing the food, and enjoying each others' company. Suede and Ellis are darling, and Craig and Taralyn are good parents.
The next day, the entire Sowby family gathered at my brother Mike's house. There are 29 people, as follows:
Steve & Laurie (Mom & Dad)
David & Shannon (Jarom, Spencer, Kate, Noah, Emma, Caleb, Emma, Ben, Sarah)
Mike & Tiffany (Megan, Luke, Ellie, Joshua, Drew)
Kristin & Kevin (Emily, James)
Rob & Christie
We had a family photo taken in the family room. It turned out as well as can be expected with that many people and children. We had fun visiting and playing. We watched a slide show of old slides my parents brought. It was a hoot!
That weekend, we enjoyed hanging out, eating leftovers, sleeping in, etc. Craig came one of those nights to "play" with Kevin in the studio. They recorded part of a song they just wrote there on the spot. Put two talented boys in a studio for a few hours, and that's what you get!
Speaking of music and the studio, we are all loving it. It has been a dream and a plan for a while, and we were able to put it together and get it done. It is a great, beautiful space for Kevin. Emily practices the piano in there and James has fun on the drums.
As December came, I became busier with work. As the high school counselor, I am responsible for assigning classes for each student (and there are 45o students). It takes time to look at their transcripts, see what they need, then manually enter 6 classes into the system. I am so glad though that I have a job which is flexible and allows me to work from home!
On December 3 I had a staff meeting then later that night, our staff Christmas party. Kevin came with me to the Castle in Layton. I accompanied on the piano as the group sang some Christmas carols.
The following week was busy with the Relief Society party, Ward party, James' preschool program, and Emily's piano recital. Emily played "Jolly Old St. Nicholas" and looked so pretty in her fancy skirt and sweater from Grandma.
James has been doing an online preschool program called Upstart. He is supposed to do it 15 minutes a day and sometimes resists, but does well. He also goes to Goodstart Preschool, run by Joey Brough. He's been going there since he was 3. This is his 3rd year.
We are ready for Christmas. Our kids have asked for simple things this year so Santa will have no problem getting them to them. They are good kids most of the time. Lately they have been fighting and arguing and hurting each other at times. This is normal sibling behavior, but it is not fun. Most of the time they get a long and have fun together, playing games they make up.
We are looking forward to our vacation to California in January!
Let's go back to Halloween. Halloween night, it was cold, rainy, and windy. We took the kids through the neighborhood and they got tons of candy. The kids were excited and had fun despite the cold and rain.
The kids both too ice skating lessons at the Olympic Oval. They both did a great job! They looked so cute in their skates, helmets, and gloves. They both were not afraid and though they fell many times, they got up and kept going. We had fun watching them. Rene gave us a one-year family skating pass as an early Christmas present and we've gone a few times as a family, or Kevin and the kids have gone without me. It's been fun.
Emily got her first report card of the year, and she got all 4's and a few 3's (4 is the best, 1 is the worst). In addition to her awesome marks, her teacher gave her all E's (Excellent) for behavior, getting along with others, citizenship, etc. We are proud of Emily. She has always been an intelligent girl and we are happy she continues to do well in school. Just as important as getting good grades is the fact that she is well behaved and good in class, that she interacts well with others, and that she applies herself. To celebrate her achievement, we went to the Rocky Mountain Chocolate Factory as a family and chose some special treats.
Winter hit with a vengeance the weekend before Thanksgiving. It snowed a lot--probably a foot or more. We get more snow on the west bench then the valley often does. It snowed 2 more times that week, leaving a ton of snow. It was also really cold--single-digit temperature cold!
For Thanksgiving, we enjoyed hosting and cooking at our house. My parents came, as did Craig, Taralyn, Suede, and Ellis (visiting from Kentucky). We had fun being together, preparing the food, and enjoying each others' company. Suede and Ellis are darling, and Craig and Taralyn are good parents.
The next day, the entire Sowby family gathered at my brother Mike's house. There are 29 people, as follows:
Steve & Laurie (Mom & Dad)
David & Shannon (Jarom, Spencer, Kate, Noah, Emma, Caleb, Emma, Ben, Sarah)
Mike & Tiffany (Megan, Luke, Ellie, Joshua, Drew)
Kristin & Kevin (Emily, James)
Rob & Christie
We had a family photo taken in the family room. It turned out as well as can be expected with that many people and children. We had fun visiting and playing. We watched a slide show of old slides my parents brought. It was a hoot!
That weekend, we enjoyed hanging out, eating leftovers, sleeping in, etc. Craig came one of those nights to "play" with Kevin in the studio. They recorded part of a song they just wrote there on the spot. Put two talented boys in a studio for a few hours, and that's what you get!
Speaking of music and the studio, we are all loving it. It has been a dream and a plan for a while, and we were able to put it together and get it done. It is a great, beautiful space for Kevin. Emily practices the piano in there and James has fun on the drums.
As December came, I became busier with work. As the high school counselor, I am responsible for assigning classes for each student (and there are 45o students). It takes time to look at their transcripts, see what they need, then manually enter 6 classes into the system. I am so glad though that I have a job which is flexible and allows me to work from home!
On December 3 I had a staff meeting then later that night, our staff Christmas party. Kevin came with me to the Castle in Layton. I accompanied on the piano as the group sang some Christmas carols.
The following week was busy with the Relief Society party, Ward party, James' preschool program, and Emily's piano recital. Emily played "Jolly Old St. Nicholas" and looked so pretty in her fancy skirt and sweater from Grandma.
James has been doing an online preschool program called Upstart. He is supposed to do it 15 minutes a day and sometimes resists, but does well. He also goes to Goodstart Preschool, run by Joey Brough. He's been going there since he was 3. This is his 3rd year.
We are ready for Christmas. Our kids have asked for simple things this year so Santa will have no problem getting them to them. They are good kids most of the time. Lately they have been fighting and arguing and hurting each other at times. This is normal sibling behavior, but it is not fun. Most of the time they get a long and have fun together, playing games they make up.
We are looking forward to our vacation to California in January!
Cool places we've been and cool places we've seen
San Diego in 02
Phoenix (several times to visit Nana and Papa in 02, 03, 04, 05, 06, 07, 08)
Disneyland in 03, 06, and 07
Alberta, Canada in July 08
Washington DC in October 09
DisneyWorld, Florida in November 09
Moab/Arches National Park in 09 and 10
Bryce Canyon, The Grand Canyon, Kolob Canyon, and Cedar Breaks in July 10
James has been to:
Phoenix (to visit Nana) in 05, 06, 07 and 08
Disneyland in Disneyland in 06 and 07
Washington DC in October 09
DisneyWorld. Florida in November 09
Moab/Arches National Park in 09 and 10
Bryce Canyon, The Grand Canyon, Kolob Canyon, and Cedar Breaks in July 10
Kristin has been to:
Canada 88 and 08
Israel 89
Belgium 89 and 95
Japan 93
China 93
Hong Kong 93
Germany 95
Austria 95
Italy 95 and 98
Switzerland 95
France 95
The Netherlands 95 and 05
England 95 and 05
Scotland 95
Chile 06
Mexico 94
Kevin has been to :
Germany twice as a child
What we do to make a living
Kristin graduated in 1998 from the University of Utah with a Bachelor of Science degree in Sociology and History. (That darn math class kept her from finishing sooner). She graduated that same year from Weber State with her teaching license and got a job at Woodland Hills School, an alternative high school. She then went to Bountiful Junior High from 1999-2000. In 2000 she moved to the University of Phoenix to work as an advisor and remained there until Emily was born in 2002. After that she taught at Mountain West College and Lifeline treatment center. In August 2007 she graduated from Utah State with a Master of Education (Secondary Education) degree and went to be the Student Services Coordinator at Stevens-Henager College. In June 0f 2008 she applied for K12/Utah Virtual Academy, and was able to quit other jobs to work full time from home for UTVA. The first year, she taught history. The second year, she was an advisor, and now entering the third year, she is the school counselor.
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