Temple Square

Every year we mean to take our kids to see the lights at Temple Square and we never seem to make it due to weather problems or other plans. This year even though we were really tired, we decided to not care and take our kids. Dallin hadn't ever taken a ride on the train so we thought that might be fun for everyone.
The kids brought their DS's so that the train wouldn't be too boring once the initial excitement wore off. I had to laugh when I downloaded the pictures and saw that we were all on our electronic devices during the ride.

Such a beautiful little girl. I love those kissable lips.
My little ham. I think he had a little bit of fun here getting his picture taken.
The trip there weren't pretty quickly with nothing exciting to speak of. We hoped on light rail when we got to downtown and rode that to Temple Square. It was pretty cold so we spent more time in the Joseph Smith Memorial building looking out then walking around. The kids had never been up there either so that was fun for them. When we got back to the station, we thought the train would be leaving with in a few minutes. Unfortunately the police had been called on a family in the first car, something about them not treating their children appropriately. The train stayed in the station for an hour and a half. I didn't understand why they didn't remove the two parties involved from the train so that the rest of the people could get home. Kalea crashed before the train even left Salt Lake. The kids were extra tired by the time we got home at 11:45.

Atkinson Christmas Party

Every year we have a Christmas party with Dallin's family at his brother Curtis's house. We always have yummy food to eat and we exchange gifts. We draw names among the children and the adults. Dalek received skates from Vinny.
Kalea received clothes from Ethan.

Kiani received clothes from Alex.
Here are some random shots from the party. Top left is me, bottom left is cute Grace and her mom Alicia (Dallin's nephew Topher's wife.), middle is Ethan, and right is Aubrey, Kiani and Dalek.
We always have such a good time playing games and eating way too much food.

Christmas 2009

For Christmas Eve, we give the traditional gift of new pajamas to our kids and Kiani got new slippers because hers had fallen apart. It certainly isn't their favorite present. In some years past we had given them a stuffed animal too so it wasn't such a let down to open just pajamas but we decided this year to cut costs and that is one of the things we cut.
This is them Christmas morning in their new pajamas. They didn't wake up until 8:30 (lucky us) and they were very patient waiting for us to get everything ready for them to come downstairs. We like them to walk down the stairs together. Good thing we only have three kids or they wouldn't all fit. hahaha.
The first thing they get to do is find their stocking and discover what is in it. They were all very happy about the movies they received from Santa and the candy and goodies. Then we eat breakfast so that they don't just eat junk all morning. (Although our breakfast is Carameled Apple French Toast, so I am not sure that is any better.) Then when everyone has eaten enough we finish opening presents. We let them take their time since there is no where we have to be.

Kalea got a new ride on toy from Santa. A little funny that the pictures of her are with Dalek's bike and Dalek is on Kalea's bike.

Dalek got a rip-rider 360 bike. He really wanted to take it outside and try it but with the snow he had to just try it out indoors. Unfortunately he dented our new fridge with it.Kiani got an iPod from Santa. She was so happy to have something to put her music on.

Dallin got a Belgian Waffle maker from me and the kids and I received a nice foam mattress topper. I am sure the kids were spoiled yet again even though we did try really hard to cut down this year.
Dallin's parents came by and we invited them to dinner. Our friends, the Christensen's called to ask if we would like to go sledding. We thought that sounded like a great activity and led them to a hill that we had just recently discovered. I brought the small camera but unfortunately it's battery needed charged. After a few hours of hard exercise, we went back to a very good meal. It was a good Christmas at the Atkinson house.

Christmas at This is the Place

My neighbors always take their kids to This is the Place Monument for Christmas. Kiani has gone with them every year since kindergarten. This year we decided that we would like to take our family and meet them there. Unfortunately, Dallin didn't get off early enough for us to explore the village with the Christensens but we did get to see them at Brigham Youngs house and take a few pictures. The kids really loved the time that we got to spend there.
We saw Father Christmas when we got there and the reindeerbehind the house. We didn't get a chance to eat before we got there so we went to the restuarant and had some chilli and sandwiches. The kids played the piano and explored the old hotel. When we got out of the restuarant the rest of the village was closed so we didn't get to do the crafts and dancing. We will definitely come back again next year and get there much earlier.

Decorating the Christmas Tree

This is one of my favorite things all year. I love watching the excitement of the kids as they choose the ornaments they want to put on the tree. I love how when they are smaller they clump the ornaments all in one spot and that the older ones move them to a better spot. Of course they always fight over who gets to put the star on. This year we let Dalek do it. We try to to make sure they take turns. Some years we set up my Christmas Village and the train under the tree but we decided it would be too stressful with Kalea. I wanted Christmas to be a good experience for everyone and if they were always getting in trouble because they were playing with the village then it wouldn't be fun.

Tree house and Ogden Village Field Trip

I absolutely love going on field trips with my kids. They are so excited to have Dallin or I along and it is so much fun to see them experience new things. At the end of November, Dalek and his class were privileged to be able to be able to go on a field trip to the Tree house Museum in Ogden and then to visit the square with the Ogden Christmas Village. I went on this same field trip with Kiani and really enjoyed it although with her we froze. It was warmer this time.
At the tree house, they listened to a story and learned about different holiday and traditions from around the world. Then they participated in a skit. Dalek was so excited to be able to have a part in it. They did the play, the bakers dozen. Some of the kids really got into their parts. It was a ton of fun to watch.
After the play they were able to have free time. My group of kids took off in all different directions as soon as they heard we could go play. I was able to find and round up all of them but Dalek really quickly. I was so worried about him because none of the other parents or teachers could find him either. We finally found him upstairs. What a relief for all of us.
We ate lunch at the park. It was warm enough that we were able to eat outside. Then we walked around the Christmas Village. Business owners make different little buildings with a Christmas scene inside that represents their business or something from the history of the area. The kids enjoyed looking in all the windows. It was a great day.

Halloween 2009

This year for Halloween, my kids really had a good time dressing up. Kalea was a ballerina mouse. Dalek was a Jedi Knight. Kiani was Pippi Longstocking. They dressed up three days in a row. School was out on Friday so they did their parade and Halloween parties on Thursday. We died Kiani's hair red with a temporary dye on Wednesday night. I didn't have a memory card when I got to school to take pictures of the parade. That is a very common thing for me, either that or the battery is dead. Friday they dressed up again and we went trick or treating at Dallin's work. We were the last set of kids through that day so they dumped all of their candy in my kids buckets. They had so much candy that they could barely carry them to the car.Don't know why we only have pictures of Kalea from Dallin's office. Weird.
Saturday was Halloween and we carved pumpkins and then went trick or treating. Their favorite spot to go is the Harry Potter house. It is such a great place. They decorate their back yard like Hogwarts and the rest of the magical world. Kiani was sorted into Gryffendor, Dalek and Kalea were Slytherin. They weren't too happy about that. Dalek was saying that he didn't want to be in Slytherin and Professor Snape overheard and reprimanded him, jokingly of course. They have butterbeer, hot chocolate, and donuts. They have a joke shop and a candy shop. They also have a fortune teller. We hope they keep doing this for many years to come. They also love going to our neighbors, the Bells and the Monsens. At the Bells, they always dress up as witches and do something special. This year they recruited a few of our other neighbors to dress up as witches and we wandered through their backyard participating in different activities like getting our fortune red and answering questions about different famous spiders, etc. At the Monsens house they have donuts, hot chocolate, and a scary Halloween movie on in their garage. Halloween is a very fun holiday for us. Dallin and I usually try to dress up. He dressed up but I was a slacker this year and went as a soccer mom. Hahaha. Kiani spent the first hour trick or treating with her friends Cami and Kylie Christensen. Then we met her at the Harry Potter house to finish our trick or treating. We ended the night at Aunt Kristen's house. She always has yummy food and a movie going on outside. It is a great way to end the evening.

Kalea's first ballet class

I was signing Kiani and Dalek up for Jazz and Hip Hop at a great dance studio in Bountiful when I noticed they had a Mommy and Me Ballet class. I thought that might be fun to do with Kalea especially since she loves to dance. This is here first day of ballet. She ended up moving to a 4 yr. old ballet class because she was a little too advanced for the rest of the kids in the class. The teacher felt like she would do well in her own class and she was right. Kalea was so well behaved and she kept up pretty well with the rest of the kids. Maybe nobody told her that she was a year and a halg younger then the rest of the kids. hahaha.

Kalea and her teacher Miss Becky

Dalek and Soccer

Dalek didn't like soccer the last season that he played. He spent more of his time picking the grass then kicking the ball but he decided he wanted to play again this fall so I signed him up. He played in the Farmington Flash league. They didn't have enough kids sign up so they put all of the 1st through 3rd grade boys together. It didn't end up being very good for the first grade boys since they were so much smaller then the third grade boys. Dalek still had fun playing most of the time. He didn't like playing defender but loved playing the other positions. He made friends on the team and decided he really wanted to play more soccer when the season ended.

Remote Control Airplanes

Last September, we went to Cache Valley to visit Grandpa and Grandma Atkinson. Grandpa suggested that we come with them to see the remote control airplane show. We thought that sounded like a fun family activity so away we went.We were able to see the planes up close and personal. It was amazing to hear how much the people spend on their planes. It is a very expensive hobby especially since they can crash so easily.
The kids really enjoyed seeing all of the different kind of airplanes and were shocked by how big some of them were. Our favorites were the really big ones and the snoopy dog house airplane. It was pretty warm that day so we didn't stick around for all of the show.