Kamryn's a Winner

Every year Paul's work hosts a safety calendar contest and any relative of a Layton employee can enter.  Our older kids have entered when they were under 12 and now Jared and Kamryn have entered drawings the last 2 years.  Last year neither one of them were picked.

This year they put a lot of effort into their drawings and Kamryn even started over on hers to make it better.  Well, this year Kamryn got 2nd place in the contest.  They have 1st, 2nd and 3rd place and then 9 more honorable mention to make up the calendar for the next year.  It was pretty exciting that Kamryn did so well.

The director of safety and his assistant came to our house last week to present Kamryn with her prizes. She got her own Layton hard hat and safety glasses, the boring presents.  And then they gave her an iPod shuffle, a $10 gift card to Toys R Us, and a big, soft stuffed dog. She was pretty excited with all of this.  At first she seemed to like the stuffed dog the most but now that the shuffle's full of music she listens to it all the time.

Paul and I were worried with how Jared would handle it and if he'd feel really bad not winning.  But he was a great sport and was happy and excited for Kamryn.  And of course she's been sharing everything with him.

Chris and Kamryn with her prizes

Jared's Thankful Web

Jared's thankful web that he did at computer lab last week.

1st Snowman of the Season

Jared and Kamryn didn't have school today and were so excited to go out and play in the snow.  Kamryn actually went out first thing this morning, before breakfast even.  She tromped around the yard and even did some shoveling and cleaned off the truck.

After a fun playdate with their friends they made a big plan for the rest of the afternoon.  They were going to:

• have a snowball fight
• build a snowman
• come in for hot chocolate and nachos
• go back out for sledding
• then play video games, watch a movie, and go to bed

Things didn't quite go as they planned but they've had a great time.  They built a snowman all by themselves for the first time and did an awesome job.

I just LOVE this picture - it makes me smile :)

Happy Halloween

Kamryn as a gypsy

Jared and Kamryn had fun doing a little acting
in their costumes

The Hulk stopping the car from going off the cliff

Jared with his scary pumpkin that he carved all by himself

working on their pumpkins

Kamryn also carved her pumpkin all by herself

Taylor even got in on the act and said it was the very first time he'd carved a pumpkin

Kamryn at school on halloween after the parade

Jared in his class after the Halloween parade

 

Kamryn and Jared at Paul's work for trick or treating

Great shot of the kids with their dad

Jared and Kamryn had a super fun Halloween.  They hauled in a huge amount of candy.  This year I offered to buy their candy from them and Kamryn sold me hers but Jared kept all of his, just the opposite of what I thought would happen.

Thoughts on my Birthday

Look at these cute cards my family made me for my birthday:

If you're curious, the blanks to be filled in on Kamryn's card were:
1. book, The Happiness Project, 2. spaghetti scooper 3. ghost earrings
4. iTunes card 5. cute red jacket

Its hard to read Taylor's card but this is what he wrote:
"Dear Mom, I love you so much for all that you do.
I like spending time with you.
You're an amazing cook.
J'adore ma mere."

from my sweet husband 

I had a great birthday - week long celebration really.  On my actual birthday I subbed in kindergarten.  Then in the evening Brooke took the bus home from the U and we all went out to dinner at La Cocina.  It was a great evening out and we all had such a great time together.  After dinner we came home and I opened presents and we had had some cake (which I made).
On Wednesday, my friend Erica organized a wonderful lunch with several good friends.  It was so fun to go to Zupas and have yummy food and visit and laugh.
On Thursday, most of my siblings met at my parents for lunch.  We all had a good time together and decided we need to do that more often.
I received very nice gifts from my family and friends and felt very loved.  It was fun to get all the happy birthday messages on facebook.  I truly felt surrounded by good friends.
The only downside to my birthday was turning 45 which put me into a new age bracket - you know when you fill out surveys and they have you mark the age group you're in - before I was in the 35 - 44 group, now I'm in the 45-54 group and that just makes me feel old.  I guess I'll concentrate more on what people tell me and be happy when people are shocked that I'm old enough to have a missionary out.  I do know that most of the time I don't feel too old and actually feel like I'm in the best physical shape I've been in, in a long, long time.  I'm also very happy with my life right now.