Christmas 2010...

Kind of sad that the most wonderful time of the year, has to come to an end. We have really enjoyed the 12 days of Christmas. We loved focusing on the "reason for the season", and having PLANNED days to spend together and with those we love. We start to realize 12 days is just NOT enough! What a great Christmas season we had. Looking forward to 2011.

2nd Annual 12 days of Christmas...

Logan had been talking about it since July....how he just couldn't wait until the 12 days of Christmas this year. Man, the pressure!! Hoping I didn't disappoint! We decided to make sure we had a little bit of "JOY" this season. Making sure we thought about

J- JESUS

O- OTHERS,

Y- YOURSELF

And I think we did just about that!

12th Day- We wrote our ward missionaries, Brandon and Jacob...missionaries in our family, and sweet little Maddi who was in the hospital ----Christmas and get well greetings. We made homemade cards, sent them money, and sent packages to those in the states.

11th Day- We "attempted" making gingerbread houses AGAIN! But, in the end only Ayden and mine were standing.

10th Day- We went and watched McKennah's choir concert at Layton High. It was quite the holiday concert combined with the Orchestra and Band. McKennah loves it and did awesome! We then came home and read the Elf on the Shelf.

9th Day- Darren's sister Beverly, and her daughters: Brooklyn and Maddi were in a pretty bad accident on Black Friday. The day after Thanksgiving. Bev, and Brooklyn came out rather unscathed (minor, bumps, and bruises) Maddi was in critical condition for about 3 days, she was in the ICU at Primary Children's for about a week. And is now in recovery. She is not near 100%, she is although now alert and has knowledge of about a 9 month old. We were able to take the kids up to visit Maddi. Stayed a good hour. Brought her up a stocking and donated to her fund. We love you, Maddi!! We will see you soon!

After that sombering visit, and refocusing on just how blessed we are...we made the 2 hr drive up to Heber City to ride the North Pole Express! Obviously a popular thing to do this time of year because I have attempted to do it the last 3 years, and every year it has been SOLD OUT! It was cute, the kid's even at their ages were so000 excited to go, Ayden was bouncing in his seat.

Mrs. Claus came by to hand out Santa's favorite cookie recipe. We sang Christmas carols, read the Night Before Christmas, and then the big guy himself - Santa Claus - came on board to visit and gave each child a toy. A little sad to see these kids grow up!

8th Day- McKennah had another recital...this time it was for piano. She is doing really well! We were supposed to come home, make cookies and carol to some of the elderly in our ward...but came back a little tooo late. Darn! Maybe next time.

7th Day- Was a family favorite. We went and took the kids out of school early and they were all wondering why. We finally told them....to go and do some service at the Food Bank! They were all sooooo excited! I love a family that likes to serve. But upon arriving at the Food Bank they said they already had 20 volunteers. Too many at that time, and were about to send a few home. Disappointed my kids were sad they couldn't help. So on the fly we stopped by the Deseret Industries to see if they could use some extra hands...and they did!

We color coded and sized racks, placed items, and cleaned out the out of seasons. The kid's said it was the best day so far, and can't wait to do it again!

6th Day- Was the Estoque Family Christmas and what a fun one it was!! We did a $5 gift exchange this year, played spoons to get the gifts, and then a dice game. I think it was a hit! We all came away pleased with about 3 gifts each. Played some Mah Jong, and ate good food.

5th Day- We had our Scott Family Christmas! And besides Jacob on his mission, and little Maddi in the hospital everyone was able to come. So happy, and so wonderful. How lucky we are to be surrounded by great family.

4th Day- Painting ornaments....we switched it up this year, and painted some stained glass ornaments, and glass bulbs. I loved the creativitiy, and besides the Utes, and Jazz bulbs. I think Darren might have won the creativity contest. (The Utes should always win!)

3rd Day- We shopped for friends and the family gift exchange. Juggling the 4 kids and making sure they are all surprised without the help of dad is always a challenge, but we managed! We came home, wrapped them to be the first gifts under the tree--then made the rounds to all of our friends and neighbors! We also watched the Las Vegas bowl game Boise State vs. Utah-- ok, ok...we lost again! 28-3. Wow...I can't wait until 2011. Pac 12 here we come!

2nd Day- We made a trip down to go see the Temple. It was the perfect foggy night. A lot of people, but the spirit so strong. Last year we had only gone to the Ogden Village. Never again. If we do any other lights, we will STILL also do Temple Square. We love it down there.

This is a display that is in the South Visitor's center of what the inside of the temple looks like.

1st Day - Christmas Eve - We started a tradition a few years back where we wrap all the kids gifts in their own wrapping paper. We don't put names on the presents and it has been fun for them to guess which ones are theirs. They get to find out on Christmas Eve when they open up their jammies if they were right, or wrong on their guesses....

They were ALL WRONG! MUUUHAAA HA HA! Here McKennah is holding Jaret's, Ayden is holding Logan's, Jaret is holding McKennah's and Logan is holding Ayden's.

The kid's also get to open their gift exchange from each other...the 1st few gifts of Christmas!

Happy Birthday my Bestest Friend Forever!!!

I do not get together with this girl often enough! My very dear and sweet friend Terra had her birthday in August, and the minute I heard the Judd's were coming in concert...I knew we HAD to go. Friends since 7th grade...Terra and I have been through sooo much. And whether it was on road trips to Vegas, or on the Pine View beach....the Judd's have been a part of us as well! We made it a night and ate at the Melting Pot. YUM! Then headed over the the Energy Solutions to Rock On! Hilarious.
I love you my friend, here's to many more to come, and less time in between.

Work Party...

We truly find ourselves blessed this Christmas season, just when we thought things could not get any better...we find these two employees. Brooklyn Hill and Jessica Hull. Best friends, and our best employees yet!!!

This year we went to Desert Star and saw the Bi Polar Express. Don't know if we were just in the mood, the company we were keeping or if it was just really, really, funny...but it was and we had a great time!

Notre Dame vs. Utah

Man I love the UTAH UTES! And would... (do)... fly around the country to support them. We did get slaughtered on the field a horrible 28-3 --but what a place to be and to visit. South Bend is a little bit of a ghost town, but the Notre Dame campus is a MUST SEE! Of course Robb and Brooke Kelly were in tow. My favorite travel pals! We were able to see Touchdown Jesus, the Grotto, the gold domed cathedral( which is the reason for their gold helmets)....and we even got to see their team come in for "mass" and prayer before the game. We loved it!

We came in a day early thinking we would experience "the TOWN" but to much of our disappointment there was nothing to see. It was actually quite sad. So we packed up for the day and made an hour and a half drive up to Chicago. Shopping, eating and the Blue Man Group.

How sweet it was!

My love....

How it all began 15 years ago, just me and my man.



Jada Love was attempting a new kind of photography called "Be. loved." They would read off a situation or scenario, then would try to capture your emotions while acting them out. For instance one was "you have died, and passed on...your kids are cleaning out the closet, and this is the picture you want them to remember how much you loved each other." Kind of wished they would've given us a "head's up." Caught us off guard a little bit, as much as they thought they knew us....they didn't know just how AWKWARD we could be. Darren and I were laughing the ENTIRE time. Never one's to be taken serious.


And much of the reason I adore him soooo much.



Sorry Jada Love, we know that was not what you had planned for. But, thanks for the pictures!

Biggest GAME DAY.... EVER!!!

#3 TCU was 9-0, #5 UTAH was 8-0 --for the first ever matchup of two non automatic qualifying teams.



The winner is almost nearly guaranteed a National Championship. This game is so big that it is said to be the biggest sporting event to happen in Utah. Next to the Olympics. ESPN's Game Day will be there, and so will ALL the representatives for all of the bowl games in the BCS Championship Series. Utah fans are invited to camp out for the game anywhere they could find a spot.... so they wouldn't have to miss out on any of the festivities. And we will celebrate with a Blackout Game. Where everyone will wear Black/Digital Camoflage. The Utes Players will all be given new uniforms. With names of Courage, Duty, Service, and Honor on the backs to support the Wounded Soldiers fund. And in honor of Veterans Day. The game will be televised on national television on two stations to showcase the game to 19 million MORE viewers. This will be the final "send off" game to Utah who leaves for the PAC 10 next year. This is their time to prove that they deserve to go, and belong there.







Now who wants to play?








Not you, Utah....not yet? OK, maybe next time.





Yes, what a sad day for the Scott's. Who truly bleed red through and through. I thought we had them this year for sure! TCU came out as the better team this year. They threw the smack down on us for 3 quarters straight! My utes were just not ready...not this time. We didn't score until the 4th quarter, and found out later that even that was questionable. They thought he had a knee down before he got to the endzone. Did I really need to know that?

Final score TCU 47-7.

But don't worry Utah....like I said before. We truly bleed red. In fact we'll be seeing you in Notre Dame this weekend.

Go UTES!!

We celebrated for 2 days straight! Couldn't talk the two older ones into skipping school but had no problem getting the twins to come with us. College Gameday hosts: Erin Andrews, Desmond Howard, Lee Corso, and Kirk Herbstreit-- who is all about business on the top and party on the bottom. (he is wearing shorts with his suit jacket.) We were right there, in the front row!

Game Day had a bunch of fun activities scattered throughout the campus. We got to kick field goals for free drinks and do a quarterback throw......it was pretty funny.....there was a group of probably 30 college kids all trying to do the quarterback throw. Everyone was missing left and right. Finally some kid made it and they said he had won the last T-shirt. Jaret and Ayden were waiting in line and these guys wouldn't give up. Finally the Game Day guy said let the little kid's have a turn. So, Jaret stepped up and he nailed it! On the first throw! The crowd went crazy! The guy goes "come here, I am going to find you a shirt!" So he dug through the truck and found Jaret a shirt. After Jaret handed the shirt over to me, he said "I want to do it again." And of course...the little kid... he did it again! First throw and he nails it! At this point the crowd says no way and starts to disperse because they were shown up by some little kid. And the Game Day guys are asking for his picture. Way to go, Jare! Ayden was feeling a little down, because he just wasn't making them...I said but that's what Jaret has practiced 2 yrs to do! Your job is to catch them! And he does! Ayden is an awesome catch. It also helped to see dad suck it up, too. Darren took about 15 throws to make it as well. Kim, on the other hand.......well-- she made it. It was ugly, but she made it in 4.

Teaching our kids that sluffing school is FUN!

Halloween...

Who's keeping score? Oh that's right......Logan is. Logan has been reminding me since July that McKennah was able to have a Halloween party last year, and that this year it was his turn. So we did a combined Halloween/early Birthday party for Logan the day before Halloween. And since we are tallying things up, last year's was such a success we did a repeat. We scored success #2. Photo scavenger hunt around the neighborhood, bobbing for skulls, scar tag, and watching Watcher in the Woods. His first ever boy/girl party under his belt! The kids were great! Lexi Daniels, Alyssa Barker, Eliza Bingham, Haylee Elmore, McKenna Parkinson, Jace Haney, Tyler Hobert, Josh Peterson, Cooper and Connor Kelly. So much fun!

Jaret made the perfect girl this year, Ayden was Zorro and Logan a great Elvis Presley. The past few years Darren and I have tried to adjust to our roles of staying put at home and passing out candy awaiting for them all to find their way back home. So this year we decided to entertain ourselves and pass out cotton candy! We made over 300 Lime, Strawberry and Blueberry. A little tight in the belt, but well worth the fun!

McKennah took off early to her Halloween party this year, and I wasn't able to get a picture of her in her witch costume. She was so pretty. So I am including some of my latest......so you can see just how pretty she is on your own.

Waterfall Canyon...

Perfect. The weather has been absolutely perfect. I do although think it is setting us up for the perfect storm this winter . And that's ok. I love fall's like this. We took advantage of this perfect day and took a 45 min. hike up Waterfall Canyon in Ogden, and had a great time! Vincent Giacolone came along and the sweetheart didn't complain once. Planning to come again in the spring to see just how big this waterfall can get.... with all the winter runoff .

We can't wait!

Black Island Farms...

GENIUS!! These people are genius! We have lived in Syracuse for 5 yrs now, and this was our first trip to Black Island Farms. Thank goodness for end of year football parties! We went with Jaret and Ayden's football team and what a great time we had! We went on a hayride to pick out pumpkins. There were about 4 giant slides, 2 teen mazes, a kid maze, a haunted maze, a haunted house. Corn shooting, paintballing, pig races...there was so much to do we didn't have the chance to do it all! Logan brought Tyler Craig, and McKennah's friend Dwayne Johnson came too. And good thing...how else would I have got all those pumpkins to the car. Thanks, Dwayne!

Love new traditions...glad we found one for Halloween!

There is a time and a season....

Awwww.....I am always so sad when football season comes to an end. Both Jaret and Ayden played this year and were #1 draft choices this year! They both work so hard, we were really proud of them. Jaret began the season as quarterback again, Ayden- a wide receiver. And just as they were mastering their "Red 655" -- Jaret cut his finger.

Jaret is always holding a football. I'm not sure how many times I have asked him to put the ball away --or something is going to break. Well, he lost control of his innocent toss up in the air. Tried to catch a broken glass and cut his finger.

Needing 10 stitches and 2 weeks off, Jaret was replaced and resumed his duties at Running Back. (An answer to mother's prayers.) The coaches they love...Coach Fonua, Coach Rusch, Coach Slab, and Coach Fullmer. This is the last year the boys can play with this team. It was fun, they learned alot - but we're movin' on up!

A first time for everything!

Logan and Darren were off to the Priesthood session of conference-- so I decided I would take the remaining brood to our first ever Demolition Derby. Even though we were not appropriately dressed, (so many people were wearing those really thin white tank tops.)

I do have to admit we were pretty entertained.

Little Entrepreneurs...

The kid's were off track for two weeks in October with nothing to do, so we thought we would break out the cotton candy maker, and set up shop on the corner-- just in time for school to get out. Julia Bingham and Chase White applied for the job, and were hired as well!

The kids made there own sign and set the price at $0.25. We spent all afternoon making the cotton candy (3 hrs.) and were only able to make a total of 20. So manned with homemade cookies, too....I dropped them off on the corner and told them they were not to come home until they were sold out. Well with $9.25 in their pocket and 1/2 hr. later they were back on my porch with nothing to do.......

Not bad for their 1st day of business.

Party! Whisperwood Ward (Desiree) Style...

One of my most talented and amazing friends Des, gets all of the hard callings in the ward. Relief Society Enrichment Leader AND Ward Activity Committee Chair. Wow! No, thank you and sooo grateful! She always plans such fun and successful things. We went to the Ward campout and had such a good time! I think we counted 24 families in attendance, -- quite the turnout! We played Minute to Win it, had Peach/Raspberry Cobbler and Ice Cream for dessert, roasted scones, starbursts, and smores by the fire, then woke up to breakfast with all the fixin's!

We are lucky to live in such a great area, with sooo many good people.


Thank you, Des! We were glad we went up -- our ONLY camping trip of the season!

Wedding Singer...

One of my new fave's! Hale Centre Theatre never disappoints. I am constantly amazed with what they can do on that tiny little stage. Our kid's enjoyed it even though they may not have got all the 80's humor.

We did also take them to see Joseph and the Technicolor Dreamcoat put on by the Syracuse Arts Council at Syracuse High. And can I just say, "Wow". Quite the production from such a small little town.

Can't wait to see what's next!

24th of July Fun!

I can never tire of parades, so we took the kid's to their 4th parade of the year - the Ogden Pioneer Day Parade. It was fun walking 25th street and the Farmer's Market. After we went swimming at Grandma Scott's, then to finish it off with a REAL Salt Lake Game and Fireworks!

Lovin' me some family time!

I enjoy being a girl...

We love a good Girl's night out! We have followed Kara for almost 10 yrs, and to 5 salons. A good hairdresser is hard to find. We love our Kara, who has beautified all 6 of us at one time or another!

Hair.......Shopping.......Pedi's. Who doesn't love a good Girl's Day Out?

Stake Pioneer Trek

Darren and McKennah were the lucky one's chosen to go on our Stake Pioneer Trek this year, it was hard not to be jealous! I have always been inspired and grateful for our pioneer ancestors and the sacrifices that were made on our behalf. McKennah was excited to go, and Darren well....not so much....he had been on a previous trek before, when he was just 15.

Well not to be disappointed...Darren had an unbelieveable time, and talked about it week's on end. From the outside looking in, I must say, "I am thankful, for the experiences they had on trek. I am still reaping the benefits of appreciation for what they have, the desire to do good, and their renewed and strengthened testimonies of the gospel we love.


I missed my favorite female counterpart, and my husband's baby blue's. But what an amazing experience for the both of them --and to be able to do it together. I was proud of McKennah and her not complaining a bit. I knew it would be hard, but I knew she could do it. She has grown up this past summer and I firmly believe it was her experiences at trek and girls camp that have made her who she is today. How very grateful I am.


My wish is that she will always be this happy to see me....

T.R.E.K....

Darren and McKennah went on a Pioneer Trek with our stake this past week. For 4 days straight. I was excited to spend some time with the boys, since it was going to be Jaret and Ayden's last week of summer before they went back to school.

So after explaining what trek was to them...and taking them to the Prairie Schooner to eat in a covered wagon. I thought we would do a little T.R.E.K., of our own.
The first day T- we went to the Treehouse, they got to spend Ten dollars, and at the 3 geocaches we did for the day around Town --we left Teeth. (Geocaching is a fun little activity we got started in a couple of years ago where people around the world hide a treasure anywhere in the world, and find its GPS coordinates, posts them and anyone at anytime can find them- sign the log, take a prize, and leave a prize.)

The second day R- was eat at Red Lobster and Reminisce Day. We went to our kid's favorite park they haven't been to for a while, all of the geocaches we did Reminded me of one of the boys. Logan's took us to the Jazz's homecourt, Ayden's took us to the Hill Field Aerospace Museum, and Jaret's was titled "Lucky Tackle". We then came home and did a puzzle while we watched home movies.

The Third day E- was our Explore Day. We Explored Antelope Island and found all of its hidden geocaches. We Entertained Grandma Estoque and took her to see Toy Story. We browsed our boys favorite Hobby Store Endzone, where they all got to pick out a prize.

The Fourth and Final Day K- was Kid's Choice Day. A day where they could do whatever they wanted, which of course was to hang out with friends. Awaiting the arrival of dad and Kennah.

It was quite the fun filled week. Sure did make time go by faster thank goodness! This July is quite sad as someone is gone each week. With the arrival of Darren and Kennah, we sent off Logan to Scout camp on Monday...and next week Kennah is off again to Girls Camp. I am so thankful for uplifting, wholesome entertainment for these kids while they await the start of school, but sure do miss them when they are gone.