Thanksgiving Week!

The kids had a week off of school for Thanksgiving this year! We spent Thanksgiving day with the Temples. We had a yummy dinner, and played games.

Sawyer and Carson played video games :)!

Kassie

Here's all the cute kids! Caleb (Jeremiah and Kassie's nephew), Carson, Landon, Bailey, Grayson, and Sawyer.

Happy Thanksgiving!

That night Mark and I went to a couple stores to shop. Since when did Black Friday start on Thursday!?! We entered, and promptly excited WalMart. It was crazy even for my standards! We got a few really good deals at a less crazy store, then came home and shopped on line. That is more Mark's style. I, however, like to be part of the excitement! Bailey is a girl after my own heart, and she likes to be in the middle of the madness too! So, me and her went to a few stores on Friday. She wanted to stay out all day and go everywhere, but we were in the midst of a very important Harry Potter marathon, so we had to get back for that :)!

On Friday night, Mark and I went to dinner with Keith and Jenni, and then went to the White Christmas play at the Colonial Theater. It was really fun! On Saturday night we went to a surprise dinner to celebrate our good friend Brian being cancer free! So many fun times! The week went by WAY too fast! Now we are anxiously awaiting the Christmas break!

Baptisms

Since Bailey is 12 now, she can do baptisms at the Temple. She's been so excited about that! Our ward is scheduled to do baptisms in December, but Marlee will be on vacation during that time. We really wanted their first time to be together, so we went for our own early morning session. Sawyer brought Katie, and we met the Whiteheads there. Bailey loved it, and said that she wants to get up early and do them once a month. I love my kiddos, and I love their awesome friends!

Katie, Payton, Mason, Sawyer, Marlee, Bailey

The Standards

Mark and I took Bailey and Annie to the Standards concert. They are a group of 5 brothers from Twin Falls. They use very little (if any) music in most of their songs. They do everything by voice. They came to Falls Valley and did an assembly for the kids, with a drug free message. I was teaching that day, and I thought they were great. We decided the big concert would be fun...and it was! The group now lives in Nashville, and they are changing their name to Spencer's Own. They have a song out on country radio called Idaho Love. I hope we hear more of them in the future.

The girls waiting in line to get in.

The one in the middle front is our friend's brother in law. He was Bailey's favorite.

About half way through the concert, Bailey and Annie decided to hang out in front of the stage (instead of in our seats). They worked their way all the way to the front. They got lots of high fives from the group, and thought that was pretty cool!

We bought their Christmas CD, so after the concert, the girls got all five of them to sign it. It was a super fun night!

Ugly Sweater Party

SueAnn and Lesa organized an Ugly Sweater Party. It was hilarious! We all met at Hong Kong, had dinner, and modeled our fantastic sweaters!

Lesa and Becky's were two of my favorites!

Megan, Kinnie and SueAnn. SueAnn actually sewed a sheep to the back of hers!

Becky won this fabulous prize for having the ugliest sweater! She had my vote :)!

The whole group!

Festival of Trees

Bailey performed six songs at the Festival of Trees this year. This was the most songs she's ever performed at one time. It was nerve racking for her, but she did amazing! Mark played bass with her on some of the songs. They worked really hard on them, and did a great job! The songs they performed were:

Jingle Bell Rock
When Christmas Comes to Town
Rockin' Around the Christmas Tree
Where are you Christmas
Silent Night
Sweet Mary Cries

All ready to go!

Mark and Bailey

Sound check

Performing

Bailey and Marlee found time to see Santa after the performance :)!

I LOVE these two little munchkins!

Bonneville Cross Country

Sawyer had a great cross country season! He made some huge improvements this year, and dropped his times a lot!

The team kicked off the season with the Mud Run. The Bonneville team fights for last place, which they accomplished again this year. They also pulled off another year of being awarded the 'muddiest team.'

The Mud Run

The real season began with a challenging course in Pocatello. There were some big hills, and it was a wake up call to the ones who didn't practice much over the summer.
Pocatello Invite : 22:02

The next race was the Digger Invite. This is one of Sawyer's favorite courses. He ran a great race, and ended up with a career PR! The whole team did great!
Digger Invite: 20:10 (PR)

A prayer before the race at the Digger Invite.

Digger Invite

Next was the Tiger/Grizz. This is one of the biggest races in Idaho, and it's on a tough course.
Tiger/Grizz: 20:47

Tiger/Grizz

The meet at Rigby Lake was AWESOME! It was fun to watch, because we could see the runners the whole time. Sawyer ran a perfect race. It ended up paying off, because he got his best time by a long ways!
Rigby: 19:16 (PR)

Rigby Lake

The varsity boys and girls took a special trip to Boise to run in the Bob Firman Invitational. Sawyer worked really hard to secure a spot, and was able to go. It was a HUGE meet. The boys weren't used to running with that many people. It was a really cool course (the same one as the state meet).
Bob Firman: 20:30

Finishing at Bob Firman.

The Madison Invite was not Sawyer's favorite. He was actually running a pretty good race until the last half mile. He got a side ache, and it slowed his down a lot. His time was okay, but he was disappointed, knowing it could have been a lot better. It's strange, because Sawyer and Bailey had their best two races on the same courses, and both of them struggled the most at the Madison meet.
Madison Invite: 20:23

American Falls was the best meet of the season! The whole team did AWESOME! Sawyer ran his best race ever! It was pouring rain and freezing, but he still pulled off a HUGE PR!
American Falls: 18:49 (PR)

Wet, cold, and happy at American Falls!

City/County is a fun meet, because they get to go against the other local teams that they don't always get to run with. Sawyer has never been a very gutsy runner. He's always pretty reserved, so he shocked us by going out in the front of the pack at this meet. It was fun for us to see a little more aggressive side of him.
City/County: 20:10

City/County

City/County

Districts was the last race of the season for the boys team. Tyler was the only one who qualified for the State Meet. He ran an AWESOME race! Sawyer ran a good race too. He knocked 18 seconds off of his time from this same course from earlier in the season.
Districts: 20:29

Great finish to a great season Sawyer!

Sawyer lettered for his third year in a row!

Bailey got her certificate from RMMS!

I'm so proud of both of them! Cross Country is a hard sport. They were both very dedicated, and added a lot to their teams. Good job Sawyer and Bailey! I can't wait until next year!

The AMAZING Birthday Race!

Happy 12th Birthday Bailey!

Bailey and her best friend, Marlee, have their birthdays one day apart. We surprised them this year with a "together" birthday bash! We sent them on THE AMAZING BIRTHDAY RACE! At 12:30 on Friday, each girl got a clue doorbell ditched to their house.

The first clue said:
You're turning twelve, and Marlee is too!
Go to Hitt Road, she's waiting to PARTY with you!

The girls had no idea what was going on! They both showed up at Hitt Road with the same clues. They had to search around until they found the next clue.

Clue 2 said:
At twelve years old, it's all about STYLE!
We thought new shirts might make you smile!

It's not that easy, you need the right store.
Bailey loves hers 'cause they write her name on the door.

Marlee, on your turn you might like to know,
Your store smells good and keeps the lights down low.

Bailey went to Maurice's and picked out a really cute red sweater. Marlee went to Hollister to pick out her top.

Here's her name on the dressing room door in Maurice's.

We had the workers give them them clue number 3 when we were checking out of Hollister.

Clue 3 said:
Your shirts are great, but think how they'd be,
If you found the perfect accessory!
There's a store at the mall with just the right thing,
to give your new outfit a little more BLING!

They went to Claire's, and they both picked out bracelets to go with their new shirts. The cashier at Claire's gave them their next clue.

Clue 4 said:
Bailey likes them SALTY, Marlee likes them SWEET!
Guess where you're going for your refueling TREAT?

This took them to Pretzel Time. That's their favorite treat place at the mall.

Clue 5 said:
After that shopping, you need to relax.
How 'bout a facial and an eyebrow wax?
But where, oh where would the perfect place be?
We were thinking a certain academy!

This took them to Austin Kade Academy!

This was Bailey's first time ever getting her eyebrows done. Then they had facials! They LOVED them! The girls doing them were so great! At one point, Bailey even dozed off! As much as they wanted it to, nothing can last forever!

Clue 6 said:
Wake up girls! The relaxing is done!
But your next adventure will be TONS OF FUN!
our next stop will knock off your socks.
How do you feel about climbing up rocks?
It could be scary 'cause you'll be so high,
But you're BRAVE and you're BOLD, so let's reach for the sky!

This clue sent them rock climbing at the climbing gym! Bailey would get frustrated, but she never gave up. Both girls made it to the top of all the walls they climbed. Now Bailey is dying to go back!

Marlee climbed the walls so fast!

Bailey at the very top!

Clue 7 said:
After that climbing, I bet you want dinner!
Hold on to your britches, 'cause we picked a WINNER!
The place is named after one of the states.
you'll love it so much you'll both clean your plates.

We thought this one would be easy for them, but it took them awhile to figure out that dinner was at Texas Roadhouse. After we ate, the workers gathered around and sang happy birthday to them. They brought over cowboy hats for the girls to wear, and Marlee even had to climb up on a saddle! Marlee thought it was great, and Bailey was horrified! So funny! We had them convinced that the hunt ended with dinner. But, on the way out, the hostess handed them clue number 8!

Clue 8 said:
Now that dinner is done, and your tummies are full,
it's time to head out, and learn something cool.
Jenni's your teacher, and MAKE-UP'S the game.
Pay close attention, or you're gonna look lame.

We met my friend, Jenni Hughes, for a make-up class. We gave them each a bag of make-up, and Jenni taught them how to put it on. Her mom also made really cute make-up bags for each girl, with their initials on the front. Bailey has been so excited to turn twelve so she could finally wear make-up, so this was one of the highlights of her day!

Jenni helping Bailey do her eyes.

Here's the finished works of art! I think they look beautiful, and WAY TO OLD!

When they were done with the make-up class, Jenni gave them their final clue. I wish I would have been filming, because it got quite a reaction!

Clue 9 said:
Turning TWELVE is a big stepping stone.
Aren't you glad you didn't spend it alone?
There's one more thing, and it's out of sight!
Just wait 'til you see where you're SPENDING THE NIGHT!

There was a hotel key in the envelope with the clue, and they were freaking out! Jumping up and down, squealing and screaming!
Mark had checked us in during the day, so all their stuff was already waiting in the room when we got there. They were so excited!

Here they are at the Hilton Garden Inn on the river.
It didn't take them long until they were in their swimsuits and down at the pool!

Marlee

Bailey

I love this picture! They are in the hot tub with the Temple behind them.
They swam until the pool closed, and then headed back up to the room. Mark had delivered a little surprise, and there was Cold Stone ice cream waiting in the room for them. Then they watched a movie and zonked out before it was even over. The first thing they did the next morning, was put their suits back on, and head back to the pool. They swam until they were pruned, and we had to check out. We ended their little adventure with breakfast at Smitty's. They had so much fun celebrating their birthdays together!

When we got them home, they had another surprise waiting for them. The Beehives had come over and decorated their rooms! It was so cute!

The front of Bailey's door said:
We are so excited for you to be in Beehives! We are seeing spots!

When she went in, her whole room was decorated! There were streamers, balloons, little messages, hugs & kisses, and spots everywhere! So cute! What a fun welcome into Young Womens!

Happy Birthday Bailey Rae! We love you a TON!