Family Christmas Letter

School Days

My children cannot be this old already.


Katelynn is now a first grader, as if that was not enough for her father she has glasses now as well



It may be preschool but Abigail is not supposed to be this big. Proof you cannot stop time.

- From Jed

Family Picture August 2013

When I last wrote here I was but a learner, now I am a master

So I did it. I finished my Masters degree in 6 months

Several months later I walked to be awarded my Masters degree in education. I would officially like to thank the following people
- first my dear wife for dealing with the children solo
- my parents for encouraging me.
- my wgu mentor for his support.
- Dr. pepper for the energy boost
And finally. James Ewell for telling me there was no way to finish the requirements in 6 months. I guess I just admitted to succumbing to peer pressure. :)
- From Jed

Merry Christmas

It's been a while but we wish everyone a very merry Christmas. Katie and Abbie are riding bikes in the basement. Katie got a new bike and both got new helmets.


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Homemade water park

On Friday after sleeping most of the day, darn chrons, I decided to have a little fun with the girls. Since our lawn needed to be watered anyway, the auto timer had gone down to 5 min per zone, I would pull out the hose sprinkler and give my girls a water park.




Kateynn insisted that I take a photo of her going down the slide. It was a pretty good shot I thought.

And where Katie goes.....



Abbie follows.

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My father

Today is my fathers birthday, since it is a Sunday we went to the traditional birthday dinner together.



My father has always been someone I have loved and respected. Happy birthday to the man who I still believe can do anything.

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Batter UP!!!

As our summer begins our five year old Katelynn has begun to learn how to play softball. Among the first things she learned is not to call it baseball, it is softball she reminds us if we ever call it baseball.
Last time at practice they began to actually "play" a game. Carrie said it was very funny, I was doing the late shift at work. She is so cute playing though.




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Chilling with boppa

Last night at my parents house Jenna discovered two new
Places to hang out.




Place 1: on my parents bed, she seems to be very safe to me. (her grammie made her laugh at the moment I took this picture




Place 2: On top of my father, she hung out in this place for a very long time, especially considering she is a 4 month old.

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Flowers

Tonight as I start to put my girls to bed Katelynn tells me that there are too many flowers in her room. Funny thing. She put up half of them. Love kids so.


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Katelynn's Dance Recital.

Katelynn has been dancing for two years now and had a recital last Saturday. She was so very cute and did much better than last year. She know her dance completely during the practice but got a little distracted durning the performance.






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Its been a while

Our children are growing up quickly. Katie is now 5 and is ready to begin kindergarten.
Abigail has entered her terrible 3's and is now getting into EVERYTHING no matter what me or her mom says.
Jenna is cute and is noticeably growing into her cute cheeks. She is starting to baby talking all the time, louder then her two older sisters.


Carrie is being so cute with baby Jenna, she loves all of her children but is being so very cute with her baby girl.


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Christmas Letter

This year we are only sending out our letter digitally.

Visiting with Santa

The Saturday after Thanksgiving there is always a very short parade in Parowan with the highlight being Santa. Katie and Abbie both got to ride in the Fire Truck and throw candy then visit with Santa. For the first time ever Abigail was not afraid of Santa Claus and actually sat on his lap and asked for "a dolly with brown hair" to go with Katie's "doll with yellow hair and a pony with yellow hair."

Happy Halloween

We had a fun filled day. First getting the girls dressed, it took me about a half hour to do Abigail's hair- she doesn't hold still very well. Then we went and visited Grammie and Aunt Tia at their schools. We carved our pumpkin, which is named Pumpkin Lucy this year, grabbed a quick bite to eat and headed out to gather candy. We first went to the ward Trunk or Treat where I stayed with the car and the Patrick's took the girls around. I was surprised when Abbie came back with more candy than Kate. Apparently Katie was a little picky with her choices of candy. Afterward we drove around to a couple friend's and Richie's parents. We tried to Trick or Treat on our own block, but no one was home. After putting the tired girls to be we finished off the day with making the traditional Rice Krispy Treats.

Pumpkin Patch

We went with our friends to a pumpkin patch to pick out our pumpkin for this year. The one we planted in our garden got eaten before it could grow very big. The girls enjoyed the things they had set up for pictures more than they liked picking a pumpkin. It was a chilly day so we got to bundle up in our cute hats and scarves. Now we need to actually carve that pumpkin.

Deer Hunt

Carrie, Katie and Abbie were able to go with the Barton's up to the cabin for the opening of the Deer Hunt. After a couple of days at the cabin Katelynn decided that she liked it there, but still missed her house. The girl's favorite thing to do was swing, of course, and Grandma spent many hours out pushing them.

It's Official

We had our ultrasound today and were able to take a peek at our little one. After checking out so many things we found out that we are having a very healthy little GIRL. Katie and Abbie have been saying that we are having a little sister since we told them we were pregnant, and of course they are right. This also marks our 20th week, meaning we have made it to the half way point in the pregnancy. Now I guess Jed will buckle down and help me with a name and we better start getting things ready. The ultrasound tech said that according to the numbers our due date is closer to February 3rd, but I think I will stick with the due date of January 31st.

Swimming Lessons

So after we got back from a week in Lake Powell then we had out swimming lessons. Abigail and I took a Mommy and Me class and Katelynn took her very first class. They learned to put their face in the water and blow bubbles. Practiced floating on their back, moving their arms and legs and tried to look under water (that didn't happen for my girls). They both did not like going off of the slide or jumping off of the diving board, both had to be coaxed/helped off.

Lake Powell 2011

We went to Lake Powell with our Barton family and my Uncle Eric Staley's family the first week in August.