Happy Birthday Heather!

A post to my final McEntire sister-in-law...

Heather

wife of baby brother, Jake. :)

Heather and Jake started dating in high school

back in 2002.

I was living far away at the time,

so I never really got to know her.

But, I knew Jake was head over heals for this girl

and that they were headed for marriage.

Which is exactly what they did in 2005.
I lived a little closer by this time,
but not close enough to still really get to know her.

I did know, just from watching when I was around,
that she and Jake were amazing together.

They treat each other with such respect and love.
They are truly eachother's best friend
and she sets such a good example for all of us girls.

They love being together
hiking
wakeboarding
taking their dog for walks
playing games

Now that I've lived close by for the last 3 years,
I feel like I've finally gotten to know her.

And I consider her one of my best friends.
She is trustworthy,
down-to-earth,
fun,
loving,

beautiful,

talented,
sweet,
calming,
so easy to talk to

And she loves my kids!

In fact, she seems to love all kids.
As a 3rd grade teacher, she is changing lives.
She is the kind of teacher I would LOVE for my kids to have.

She is great with her "hands-on" projects.
She crochets blankets for all the new babies and is
teaching Colton how to here at Lake Powell.

She is truly a blessing to our family
and to Jake.

We love you,
Aunt Heather!

Musical Triangle Prodigies

The kids performed their annual Christmas Concert

Bryson with his Preschool class
Bryson playing the musical triangle.
I knew they had talent.
:) J/K Really!

Colton with his 1st grade class
(Yes, my boys are always front row--
Thanks Great-Grandma Wordeman)

Even Colton got to play the triangle...
must be in the genes.

Merry Christmas!

Thanksgiving Fun - Cousins

These 4 boys were inseparable

over Thankgiving

Ammon - 5 years 11 months old

Colton - 6 years 5 months old

Bryson - 4 years 8 months old

Henry - 5 years 8 months old

You can't get too much closer in age than that

They play SO well together--
no breaking up fights between these 4.

You can tell how silly they like to be


And then there are the next two...

Lincoln - 23 months old
Anna - 18 month old

They aren't quite the best of friends, yet...

Give it a couple years.

They'll like eachother eventually.

Thanksgiving Tradition - Clay Pigeon Shooting

The men (and boys and girl cousin Hannah)

carried out

the Thanksgiving tradition

of going clay pigeon shooting

Ethan proudly holding a very large gun
And shooting a very small gun
with cousin Hannah looking on
and Grandpa Joe coaching.

A first timer, cousin Joshua
posing with the gun

and now shooting.

Uncle John looks like a natural.

Uncle David launching, while John, Joseph & Ben

aiming for it.

Good looking brothers.

Until next year.

Thanksgiving Fun - Sun Valley Lodge Ice Rink

If you are visiting from California...

You have to go ice skating.

And there is no place better than

Sun Valley's outdoor ice rink.

Even 1st timer Henry had a great time!

Colton did AMAZING!

We had gone a few times last year,
so he caught on real quick.

It helped to have Alecia & Joshua

for some extra hands.

By the end of the evening,

Colton could skate all the way around

without help

and without falling down.

Thanks California cousins!

It was great fun.

We'll have to do it again next year.

Thanksgiving Fun - Craters of the Moon

A very foggy Saturday in the valley

turned out to be a beautiful sunny day at

Craters of the Moon National Monument

near Arco, ID

Cousin Henry from Bend, Oregon joined us

on our hiking expedition through the lava

Ben's brother David, wife Shelagh (Henry's parents)

And Ben's brother James & his two kids

Alecia and Joshua

joined us all the way from warm San Jose

Craters is a great place for the kids to run around

Ben and his brothers had camped here as kids

Group photo...

Anna's first hike in the snow

All the kids enjoying a performance from...

their Uncle James (aka Napoleon Dynamite)

He's always a lot of fun

and a surprisingly good dancer.

Moonwalk, anyone?

Just a Post

No pictures.

Nothing really to take pictures of when you are stuck inside

because of freezing weather and not enough snow to play in.

I just had to write down a couple of cute kids things.

Anna loves the word

"No."

She says it all the time to everything,

even if she means yes.

The other day, Bryson says to me,

"I think Anna has lost her Yes."

Yes, she has. I hope she finds it soon.

Another Bryson cutie...

I was unpicking a sewing project last night.

(Yes, when I sew, I end up doing a lot of unpicking)

I set the "seam ripper" down on the table.

Bryson says,

"Mom, you better put that away

because I might want to play with it."

I can see it now...

our couch cushions completely taken apart.

Our primary program was Sunday.

Bryson & Colton both had their

sweet speaking parts memorized.

Colton also had a little singing solo

(thanks to mommy being in charge of all the music)

He sang by himself the question parts of

'Did Jesus Really Live Again?'

The whole primary would then sing the answers.

Bryson sang

'I Am a Child of God'

with the other sunbeams.

The whole program turned out really great.

They always surprise me on the day of.

9 months of learning and practice

finally comes to an end...

just so we can start it all over again.

:)

Stay tuned for Petzinger Thankgsiving Pictures!

Happy Birthday Carly!

Carly is the last sister-in-law to join our family.

In contrast to Shae,

she hasn't been around the family very long...

just 11 months so far;

But, she has been in my brother's heart

for a lot longer than that
I'm so glad they are finally able to be together.

Carly is an amazing mom

to her beautiful little boy, Carstin,

And to Dave's 3 kids, AND

all the little neices and nephews she inherited

We are so happy to have her as part of our family.

She is sweet, down to earth, talented,

beautiful...

And she makes my brother SO HAPPY!

Love ya!

Happy Birthday!