Cousin Cuteness

I love how they are all snuggled in!
I love how Britton has his arms around Haley and Hayden is trying to not be in the picture.
Roar!
Just chillin'

Haley's Dance Class

Haley started a dance class yesterday. She's just taking a cheap, community class through UVU to see how she does. She is already way better than she was for her sport's class. She was a little shy to talk to the other girls, but she wasn't shy at all to actually do the class. She listened and followed directions perfectly. And she had so much fun. I think she's really going to enjoy it.

All Aboard The Haley Express!

I LOVE this!

No Spending in February

Okay, Jason and I decided that we are going to have a month of not spending ANY money. I am so excited. Usually, I try to make up weird fun little contests and goals for myself and my family, but I'm the only one trying to do them. So, I was surprised when Jason actually agreed on it and I think it's going to be even more fun and more successful that way.
So, here is the plan...
So, I already prepaid all our bills for next month. And I've been gradually buying all the groceries we'll need for the month. Saturday, I'll finish that off. And Saturday night, I'll be filling up my van with gas and making that last a whole month. So, we're not really spending NO money, but by purchasing all the necessities before the month and then NOT spending anything, it will cut out all the mindless, impulse spending that we do. Eating out is our biggest problem. We seem to always be able to justify it. And we make "treat runs" to the grocery store all the time and end up buying so much stuff that we don't need. I think we'll be able to go a month on one tank of gas. Most of the places we HAVE to go (school, church, etc.) are close enough to walk to. But, since it's winter, I rarely walk. So, it will make me think about it more and maybe I'll be homebound or walking by the middle of the month, we'll see. As far as entertainment goes, we have season tickets to the BYU basketball games and we have a pass to the Rec Center. Those are things that we really enjoy and gives us a way to get out.
Anyway, I'm really excited to see how this little experiment goes. I'm hoping that it makes us more creative by looking outside of the box to fulfill our needs. Also, I hope it breaks us of the habit of buying everything we want right when we want it. I've heard a lot of people say you should have a "30 day list" where you put something you want on a list for 3o days before you can buy it. Usually, after the 30 days, you don't even want it anymore. I think this is a great idea, but we've never been disciplined enough to do it. So, maybe this will help us start that. I think it will also help our kids. They are pretty used to saying, "can I get a new toy?" or "can we go to Wendy's?" and unfortunately, the answer is usually "yes". Also, I think it will help us invite people over to our house more instead of suggesting meeting for lunch or dinner or some other thing. Some of our favorite times are just playing games with our friends at home, but we rarely do that.
Well, I'll post throughout the month about how it's going and any challenges we encounter and things we learn. I can't wait for February!

Week in Review

*Monday
Monday I spent the day doing loads and loads of laundry. Seriously, how many clothes can 4 people have? In the evening, we hung out with the Tanner's. We just let the kids play which they were more than happy to do while the adults watched "Ghost Town." It was hilarious and we all laughed so hard. We miss them so much and are glad they are visiting from China.

*Tuesday
Tuesday night, Jason had racquetball league at the Rec center, so I took the kids swimming. My mom bought us a family pass for the rec center for Christmas and we are LOVING it. What a great gift. My kids love the pool and love playing basketball.

*Wednesday
I went to Standards Night for Young Women. It was really good and took me back, thinking about all my good friends from my stake growing up. I sure do miss them. I was so lucky to have such a great group of friends. And great leaders who planned fun things for us to do.

*Thursday
I had a church basketball game. Can I just tell you how much I love playing? It has been way too long since I played on a basketball team. I love it!

*Friday
I went with Jon, Mijoung, Chloie, and my mom (and my kids) to see Madagascar 2. I really liked it. I thought it was better than the first one. Haley was dancing around whenever there was music and she went up to the front of the theater during the credits and danced away.

*Saturday
We went up to the Tanner's all day on Saturday. Melanie invited a bunch of girls from high school for a play group. So, I got to see Julie, Maryann, Angela, Rachel, and all their kids. So much fun. I love that we can all get together and we can just talk and talk for hours. In the evening, I went out with Jason to the BYU basketball game. It's been a while since we've both been able to go, so it was really fun. I miss my husband. He's been so busy lately (which is really good), but we haven't had as much time together lately.

Haley just ran into the room crying.
She said, "Britton keeps saying that I'm the bad guy. But, I'm not. I'm good, like Jesus."

Saying Goodbye to 2008!

I know it's almost the end of January, but this new year kind of crept up on me and it's taken me several weeks to get back into my routine. Actually, I don't even think I'm there yet, but getting a bit better every day.

Anyway, 2008 was such a good year for me--probably one of my favorites. We were able to do lots of really fun things and there were a lot of changes in our lives. Here are some of the changes we experienced:
*Remodeling our basement
*Moving to Utah from China
*Me quitting work to be a stay at home mom
*Jason's parents moving into our basement
*New carpet, couches, piano, table, and bed
*Britton starting 1st grade
*Jason starting his own business

Now that I actually sit down and list the changes, I realize just how HUGE the year has been. We have had many changes that have dramatically changed our life. And we also had many experiences that I never want to forget.

Also, I was able to check off quite a few things on my "100 things to do before I die" list.
#43 Run in a 5k
#44 Bike the Provo River Trail
#56 Play on a volleyball team with Jason
#73 Run 300 miles in a year (I actually ran a lot more than that--Yeah!)
#75 Go to the Great Wall of China
#88 Ride an elephant
#90 Ride in a hot air balloon

So, goodbye 2008! And hello to 2009! Here's to another great year!

My Date with Britton

Last week, Britton and I went to the BYU basketball game together. When we dropped Haley off at my mom's, my mom gave Britton some money and told him to buy me dinner. He was so cute picking out food and handing over his money. He was so excited to get Dippin Dots, I think that's the only reason he really likes going to the games. He was so energetic the first half, jumping up and down, dancing around, and cheering "Go BYU!" Then the second half he just wanted to go to bed. It was hilarious to see the difference. I had so much fun just hanging out with him.

mmm, dippin dots.


what a cute face!


the game


self portrait


messy eater, just like me

Christmas

We spent Christmas Eve at my sister, Sheryl's house. They have a party every year and it's been a fun tradition for us. Her husband's family lived in our ward growing up so we all know them very well. It's fun to be able to get together with all of them and their kids at least once a year.

Britton, Me holding Jacob, My Mom holding Emily, Mark, Rick Carty

Britton's very favorite thing to do--hold Jacob

Me with Haley

Biz, Chloie, My Mom, Ethan


When we got home from the party, the kids opened up their new pajamas. I think these pictures are hilarious with Britton totally crying. He loved his pajamas, but he slipped off of the hearth and hurt himself right before the picture. And he's pretty dramatic, so he wouldn't stop crying.

Christmas Day was so much fun. We did all of our stuff at home and then went to my parent's house in the afternoon. The kids were completely spoiled even though they really didn't need any more toys. They were so happy. It was such a great holiday.

Kemp Family Christmas Party

I am so far behind on blogging that I won't be writing a whole lot but I wanted to post some pictures. We hosted the Kemp Family Christmas Party at our house this year. It was on Dec. 22. It was the first time in a long time that everyone has been together. All the kids are growing up so quickly. It's fun to see them all enjoying each other.
We watched Elf, ate good food, re-enacted the Christmas story, and had a mini talent show by a few of the grandkids. It was such a fun night. We really do need to see everyone more often.

***My apologies to everyone for the blurry pictures. I think my camera lens was dirty or else on the wrong setting or something. I shouldn't be trusted with a camera.


Landon, Jared, Jason, C.J., James, and Jasmine on the floor in front


Kris and Jason


Marcus, Brigham, John, Lydia, Payton, Leanne


Sydney, Jasmine, Landon, Jared, Jason, C.J. James, Shari, Jessica, Alex, and Chelsey


Corbin, Kim, Kris, Jason, and everyone from the previous picture


Corbin


Jason and Sydney


Britton and Hayden


Grandma Kemp and Landon


Grandpa Kemp

Jessica, Shari, Chelsey, Alex

My kiddos and me

Back to Blogging

I can now get back to blogging thanks to my great husband who fixed my computer. I am so grateful that he knows how to do all the things that he can do. He saves us so much money by being able to do things himself. He's the best!