Christmas Vacation!

Our original plans: L.A. and San Diego for post Christmas. Ride roller coasters, walk piers and ride boats, stay in hotels and go swimming. We got San Diego Cards which are super great deals for doing a lot of activities for one low price. We were sooo excited.! Then, California was under water, flash flooding and dangerous. With California declaring a state of emergency, we decided to get our money back and change routes. We stayed in Idaho an extra few days and attended the temple, went bowling with the family (sorry, no pics), and got sick (especially courtney). So we stayed low and got better to make the most of the rest of the week.

Here's our post Christmas Vaca:

Salt Lake City and Park City, UTAH

They are all out of order but here was our trip:

We stayed at the Shilo Inn, PERFECTLY placed in the SLC downtown area. There was a New Years Eve Snowboarding/skiing show and concert just across the street from our hotel...and 2 yummy restuarnts. It was perfect.

Taelin, Courtney and Evan; Man they love her!

Trying to get a pic before we left...but she was bashful (taelin is NOT good at goodbyes)

Ice Skating in Park City: Taelin kept yelling: "I'm skating, I'm skating!" As her feet were anything but on the ice. Good thing Courtney rocks at skating.

Kelton got really good. He fell a few times and said it really hurt, but we were proud of him for getting back up and skating some more. He is super excited to find a rink around here so that he can go skating again soon.

Kyle letting Chase do some "tricks". He'd do one foot and was so proud of himself.

TEMPLE SQUARE:

Us at the Conference Center. It was decorated for a Christmas program...but it was fun (we did get the quick version of the tour). We especially loved all of the art work.

Temple Square. We wandered around and found the nativity. It was breaktaking with all the lights on the fountain floating. It was freezing...but the kids warmed up at the visitors center and conference center...I think Evan slept the whole time.

I think I'm going to make an album of these two. Taelin is always at her side...and when Courtney uses the bathroom, taelin is asking/looking for her within seconds. :)

They have this really cool model of the temple and all the rooms, just like a doll house in the new Visitors Center. It was neat to see all the upper rooms and show the kids. They kept calling it a castle.

The girls went to the outlet malls a few days and realized we're making it an annual trip, the sales were CRAZY; ate out at some yummy places, and the kids did great; the boys found an amazing arcade and chose to spend their time there; we went swimming and jake got a hugely bloody nose from Chase; listened to the "concert" of some guys dressed like KISS; saw scantly clade girls walking on New Years Eve; lost Kelton in the hall to sleep walking @ 10:30 pm; went to a tubing hill down in Park City where it was seriously FREEZING or below many degrees; Got TONS of videos of being silly; Didn't get lost once (thanks to droid); and altho there were stressful moments...we really had a lovely time. We've decided we travel best when we take our time. With 4 little kids we can't rush things anymore. We're learning to enjoy the moments. We are striving to let go of our perfectionist ideas and enjoy the silly moments with them, before they are gone. Thanks Kyle and Court for being our extra hands. We love you!

Christmas Morning 2010 -

What special moments we've had this year. I love this one of my little Evan, with sleep still in his eyes, and sitting so quietly....ready for the fun. After our morning at home, with Oma and Opa on the computer....and playing with some of our toys...we headed North. To the Jansen Kids, Love Santa.

This is what my mom got rylin and Taelin...taelin wore it for days straight. she got pretty good at shaking those hips! :)

What a good lookin' man. I love this guy. Admist all the chaios the day brings, he stayed chill, opened/put together presents, changed diapers and kept sane. We had a yummy soup bar (we all brought crock pots) and had yummy bread bowls. What a great relax day!

Christmas Eve 2010

I have decided, that since we have a big enough little family, we should try to really get going on these family traditions. This was the first EVER Christmas Eve spent at our house since Jacob and I have been married. That day, I knew there were some things that I wanted to do at the house, 1)play in the snow/build a snowman (which turned into a snow fight) 2) open gifts from eachother 4)bake something yummy. I REALLY wanted to make donuts...but that will have to begin next year. We went to my mom's house in Rexburg and played some fun Minute to Win It games...SO funny! and altho we kept it NON-competitive (anyone who knows a Choffin knows we are competitive)...it was so fun! definitely a repeat!

We came home, got the house all ready for Santa, and the kids even set out their favorite (no egg or milk) cookies. Next year, we are definitely making donuts for him...the kids were so excited to do that...good thing they roll with it. They all signed the letter and were very excited. It was nice to have Christmas Eve be a good night of sleep too.

So here's to some new traditions, some old traditions and one great Chrsitmas Eve.

Early December

Chase has become the smootherer lately...but this was cute. Chase wasn't really asleep, and we can't do this with Evan anymore, since he's so wiggly, but thought I would snap a quick one with an ideal moment like this. Maybe I'll remember my children young like this instead of the busyness that I feel! :)

daddy got a new phone...so they've been playing angry birds all the time.

love you sweets.

Ok. So I'm REALLY behind here...but this is early December and the kids just hanging out. We went to Rexburg a few times and hung out with our cousins, attended all of our activities and kept pretty darn busy. I do admit that I have gotten used to Kelton being at school all day, so the break was nice, but a little tiresome trying to keep everyone busy and playing nicely. I do miss him being home eachday tho. Its bitter sweet. Maybe I'll just keep him home on his sweet days. :)

Between shopping the sales and getting our Needy Families done for Christmas, I was really super glad that we did a "mommy store" for the kids getting each other gifts. It saved a TON of time and requests while walking down all the isles. I admist, I didn't take a ton of photos...we saved that for our vacation time! :)

Christmas Card 2010

MERRY CHRISTMAS 2010!!!



LOVE,
the jansen's
Kelton (6), Chase (4), Taelin (2), Evan (4 months)

Happy December!

the kids on the 19th of dec...christmas dress and all. evan was sleeping. still getting used to taking a "kids pic" with him! :)

So, its been a while since I have gotten on blogger, and my oh my did I have a sour attitude last post! I don't remember being as annoyed and rude as it came across...so I apologize for my awnriness and thanks to Erika for the sweet words.

We can only run as fast as we are able right?! Even tho, sometimes I wish I could fly. But then I am sure I would miss all these sweet moments "walking" with these little guys.

Life is so much better seen thru their eyes. I am learning, and I hope to learn more quickly in the future. I have learned that if I am having a bad day, immerse myself in them, and my day so quickly turns around. Kelton told me I was beautiful today and he loved my hair. How precious those words are to me, and how quickly I could have strugged him off when my "busy" errands were on my mind.

I'm thinking SIMPLICITY is going to be my 2011 challenge. I am always trying to go too big and over the top. I am grounded by those around me, reminding me that if you won't remember it in 100 years, its not worth it. So, sorry that Christmas letters didn't get out this year, I was wayyy too stressed about it. I figured I won't remember the year 2010 I forgot. I'm hoping at least! :)

So, here's to a stress free holiday! Remebering the real reason, our Lord and Savior and his life. I am blessed to be entrusted with this children to direct home to our Father in Heaven. I am so blessed. So blessed for peace, a home, my husband's job, 4 healthy children, loving family and some great friends. Simple, think Simple. That's my goal.

GINGERBREAD HOUSES (graham crackers and all...sooo yummy!)

my oh my how time has flown with this sweetie. he's a blessing. such a mellow jello that reminds me of all the good things in life.

Thanksgiving in Arizona!

I know I am always super behind these days. Oh well, for the two of you that read this, suck it up. That's my mood today, I really could care less. That's why I am sitting in my pj's and so glad that my children are all playing well together. When they come to me b/c one of them got hurt, I simply say I am sorry they are hurt, kiss it and off they go. I have nothing left, this headache is taking it all.

We drove down to Page, AZ. for Thanksgiving. It was an orginially 10 hour drive, on the way down we took an hour in Cedar City and got lost one hour (thankyou, or no thank you mapquest). But on the way down, Evan slept 10 hours!!!! (one being awake at mcdonalds) and on the way home to Idaho, he slept 8 1/2 out of the 10 hours! He was AMAZING and with the help of Mr. DVD player, and some new dvd's the kids all did great! We brought the little "potty seat" for Taelin, and that was a life saver in the middle of southern Utah. Wew!!!! The poor little boys had to bare it all in the wind! :)

We were there for just over a week (our stay was extended due to the flu, so other than that- it was an excellent trip!). We visited the Glen Canyon Dam, took a few small hikes, visited with Courtney's family who were also visiting, visited Kyle's soccer practice, went to a Page High School basketball game (its in our blood) and went to the Grand Canyon! It was a very fun week. We kept our tradition of turkey cookies, altho they were slightly different this year. We tried to keep it all dairy free. We let the kids watch supervised Avatar and Kelton was in LOVE.

Overall, we loved being there! We wished they lived closer...but are so happy for them to have good jobs! And we get a great reason to travel south into the warm...

Scariest Day of My Life

I "punched" my time card out at 7:00 pm. It was Thursday night, December 2nd, 2010. It was a long day with the kids (especially whinny). I took Evan who had just fallen asleep to watch some TV. Jake had the kids wrestling as I tip toed down the stairs, taking the littlest one so that Daddy wasn't doing it all by himself. I thought I was helping. A few minutes later, I am downstairs flipping channels and getting mixed loud commercials. I hear a thud from upstairs, then Jacob raise his voice, then muffled voices. I hear Kelton scream my name (figuring Daddy got to rough and he's complaining to me from the top of the stairs). I hear my name 3 times, I start to feel worried, I listen harder to see if the hollaring continues. Then I hear Chase crying at the top of the stairs and feel the distinct impression that I need to get upstairs now. Something is wrong. I quickly walk up the stairs and hear Chase crying, "I can't breathe either" and there's some vomit near the top. I look down to see him and Jacob yells, "It's not him! It's her!" He refers to our 2 year old, redish blonde hair hanging in her face, vomit and foam coming from her mouth. Jacob is shaking, he hands her to me, and I expect her to have some solidity to her feet. She's loose and as I look into her eyes, I immediately see her BLUE lips, ROLLING eyes and I tell Jacob to call 911. I grab her by the chin, swipe my hand thru her mouth, ask if he's performed the hymlic and turn her over to thrust my plam into her back. I give her three loud THUDs. She tenses, I feel her tighten, like she's in pain. I figure pain is better than the limp figure she was. I turn her back to her mouth and assist her in standing(ish). I stare at her lips, waiting for air to be inhaled...waiting...waiting. I kept thinking, "No, this isn't happening, No! Breathe!!!" She's crying, tearing streaming down her face, her eyes are vibrantly searching for something, something she can't find. Then she locks on my eyes and gets a slight bit of air, the same bit someone would get when crying so hard they can hardly breathe. But it was air! She was gaining rigidity in some of her limbs, enough to raise her arm to her mouth and vomit again.

Chase had come in front of me while I was holding and trying to help my dying child. He vomitted after seeing her loose her dinner. He was crying, Kelton was still by the stairs. My world had narrowed, but I didn't feel out of control. (Jacob hadn't dialed 911 since he was watching and all of this had happened in 10 seconds or less) I hollared that she was breathing...as more vomit covered the floor. Chase was finally done. After I asked Taelin if she was scared, chase replied (as he walked away), "I throw up when I'm so scared." Taelin, perked up quickly (20 seconds) after getting that vital sip of air, vomitting more then getting large gasps. She remained near me, as I stripped her clothes off she replied that she got carrots all over her clothes. It was icky. I asked if she was ok. She said yes, mommy. I asked if it hurt when Daddy put his finger down her throat, she said he didn't. She said she threw up by daddy, and then threw up by me. I can only determine she passed out. I held her for a little while, she hugged back undaunted, but caucious.

As Jacob and I began to clean up the mess (after he calmed down from shaking and a racing heart), she bounced around a little and the light returned to her eyes. After the kids went to bed, we checked on her more often to make sure she was still breathing, just in case. I crawled into bed with her later that night, held her a little longer, snuggled a little more and cried softly in her bed. My patience had really been struggling with her lately. Her whine, her nag, her bossiness. But for that moment, I just prayed to my Heavenly Father with fervrent pleadings to forgive the hardness of my heart, to forgive my selfishness. I felt ashamed that it had taken such a life and death moment to snap me into reality of my actions.

I felt that moments of life seem to be taken for granted. There really are only mere threads of time that matter from life to death. Life is fragile; I've heard people say. But when life and death moments take place before you, and you see how quickly the situation could have gone for worse, you see the fragile nature before your eyes, and feel it as a lump of your throat.

Halloween Catch up...yeah I know I know...

Kelton lost his first tooth. It literally hung around for months...but one morning he woke up, and asked me to pull it out. I held on, he stepped back, and out it came! He was so proud of himself. Halloween was fun. The kids got dressed up a couple of times, so this was the ward trunk or treat. Really fun and small enough that they got to go around all by themselves. Taelin was in love with that idea once she noticed that everyone giving out candy, she knew. We always get hit hard in this neighborhood...but it wasn't more than expected. I don't think my parents got a single trick or treater on Sunday tho- silly living here in Mormon-ville, how many holidays that impacts. We tried to keep a tradition of a family dinner-outing that Friday night (the 29th) but the kids wanted a sitter instead. So jake and I went out. Oh well. We tried. Evan is now 11 weeks old! I can't believe he'll be 3 months soon! He's smiling, cooing and laughed last week! We're down to keeping things simple and fun around here. Its a new pace and I'm really enjoying it.

Sorry this is so factual, I always read my fellow bloggers and see how creative they are. I simply wish I had the time. I figure an explaination is better than none, and even while I do this, I have kids needing attention. :) Lots of Love to you! ~Jansen's

All About Evan

Life has been all but about Evan lately. He's been drug to Gymnastics, Preschool dropoff/pick up, the store a million times and best of all, grandma's house. This last week we went to the dr. the stats are in for his 8 week appointment:
weight: 13 lbs 2 oz
height: 23 3/4 inches
head: 15 1/2 inches

But, when we get home and have some quiet time (does that happen in a house with 4 young children?) we all love to snuggle with this guy. The kids love to talk and now that he smiles, its especially fun to see who he will spit out his binkie for. He's a great sleeper (as long as it isn't in a room alone, or please turn on the tv so the sound will help him sleep), a great eater and above all, just straight up kissable! As I sit here and watch him sleep next to me, I can't help but thank my Heavenly Father for such an angelic baby.

Evan's blessing day

I am kicking myself because while Jacob's parents where here, I throughly enjoyed them and had some great conversation, but in the mean time, I got NO pictures of just them here!!! We got a picture of the blessing crew, but Jake's dad wasn't here...and I thought I would just try to get another one (cause my dad had to leave) but then never did! :( So, we'll have to photoshop Opa in one of these days! :)

We had a great week with family here! I really enjoyed everyone, thank you all for coming! The kids miss having everyone here! Taelin tried to fly home with Kyle and Courtney...she kept telling me that she would be right back, to not miss her, but that I could visit her and Courtney. :) In the end, she stayed. But each time they come and go, it gets harder. I guess they might just get her one of these days when my convincing skills dont do the job!

The Pumpkin Patch

This was our second annual trip to the U PICK pumpkin patch...it was super fun and the kids loved the train ride, picking sweet corn with Opa and Daddy, finding the perfect pumpkin (daddy took forever), doing the kid corn maze with Uncle Kyle, and I throughly enjoyed having Courtney catch all of it on camera so I could enjoy the experience and actually be hands on with my kids! Overall, it was a great day!

p.s. i tried to attach more pictures, but blogger is being stupid!

family picture

i always love the fall time for pictures! last year i didnt get one...but this year we headed out early and will actually take another since i realized we needed a vertical one for all our family's walls. the kids did great and the tripod did its magic! so glad my kids will smile at a tripod & camera!

Evan's Birth Announcement

bada bing bada boom....

So, we are trying to catch up here...been busy and adjusting to life with 4 busy kidlets. My grandparents came to visit and altho their stay was short, it was wonderful and the kids were GLUED to them the entire time! It was so fun to see Grpa play board games, grma color and the kids just "show off" for them. I miss them so much! We had a big family dinner here while they were here.

The newness of Evan has not worn off for Taelin. The boys love him, but she mauls Evan everytime she sees him. She wakes up, and asks for him. She walks downstairs and wonders what he's doing and asks every 5 minutes if she can go kiss him. She lays next to him and cooes to him for hours.