New blog

We have run out of picture storage on our current blog so if you want to follow our new blog go to www.samarendab.blogspot.com.

Happy New Year!

Fun Pictures

Here are a few fun pictures.  The kids all tackled Sam the other night and I took this picture with my phone.  Then there are a few blurry pictures from Nyah's tap class.  She LOVES going to tap and feels like such a big girl.  This day she kept sticking her tongue out the whole warm-up time.  Finally a fun hair do I did on Addie last Sunday.  She has so much hair but it is fun to do since Nyah and I don't have much.  

First Snow Storm

We had our first good snow storm last weekend and the kids spent hours playing outside.  2 years ago Sam made a snow fort with them and I told him that he has set the bar too high because if there is any snow they want to build a snow fort with him.  They know I can't do that so they don't even ask me.  They all had lots of fun.  Nyah lasted about an hour and then came in and took a bath and had hot chocolate.  I think Addie and Kasen would have stayed outside all day if they could.  

Happy Halloween 2012

We had a great but busy Halloween.  Sam got into the spirit of things and went to work as obviously, Charlie Brown.  Nyah and I went to the school to watch Kasen's Halloween parade and a short program in the morning.  He was a super cute Shark!  After that was done I ran Nyah to my parents so I could go help with Addie's Halloween class party.  I have had laryngitis all week and hardly had any voice.  So it was fun running a Halloween bingo station without being able to talk well but it turned out fine.  Since Kasen is in morning kindergarten they had their own parade but the whole school parade is in the afternoon and Addie told me she didn't want to stay for it which was fine with me to not sit with hoards of parents trying to catch a glimpse of Addie while keeping Kasen and Nyah happy and safe.  So I checked her out after the party when I picked up Kasen and we then picked up Nyah and drove to BYU and met Sam at work for lunch.  That night the kids went trick or treating with their cousins (thank you) so we didn't have to take them!  Addie was super cooperative about having her picture taken when I told her I needed a picture before she went trick or treating.  Amazing what a motivator candy is.  Happy Halloween!  Now on to Thanksgiving and Christmas!

Hansen Halloween Party

For the past several years my parents have had a big family Halloween party.  This year they decorated their garage because there were so many people coming.  We had great spooky food and lots of fun.  Thanks mom and dad for such a fun night!

Glasses

So both Adelyn and Kasen failed their school eye exams this year so I took them to the eye doctor.  Here they are sporting their cool sun glasses while their eyes were dilated.  Turns out they both need glasses.  Kasen has an astigmatism so he will need glasses then contacts and in his 20s could look at Lasik to correct it.  I guess the timing was pretty good because it happened to be during open enrollment for our health insurance.  We have always had coverage on an eye exam but no glasses/contacts etc. covered.  We decided to add an eye plan that will cover glasses given that he is 5 and we have at least 15 years to keep him in glasses or contacts.  Adelyn has a different issue.  The doctor said her right eye is not able to focus.  It is weaker than her left.  She needs glasses and we go back in December to see if her eye is getting stronger.  If not she will need to patch her good eye to force her bad eye to work.  The doctor said that by about age 10 she should be done and not need glasses anymore.  They were really excited to get them but Addie doesn't enjoy wearing them much.  I think it must feel a little strange to her eye.  Kasen loves his and actually is so good about wearing them.  He just kept pointing at things and laughing when we left the costco optical department because he could see them clearer.  He has been surprisingly careful with his glasses and just leaves them alone.  He is 5 though and was running at recess not 2 weeks after getting them and came home very sad with them all bent out of shape in the picture below.  Thankfully Costco was able to put them back in their correct shape and the lenses weren't broken so if was free.  Sam joked that we sure know how to make cute little nerds.  They both have inhalers and glasses and will probably need braces in a few years.  :-)

Finger knitting

My sister taught Addie how to finger knit and she decided to knit different colored lengths and create a picture for her reflections project.  I turned it in without getting a picture of it so I will have to get one after but it was really cool.  And I had this random picture of Nyah being cute.  

Driving home

We had 2 long days of driving for our trip to Colorado.  The kids were not very patient on the way there.  They kept asking if we were there yet and I had explained that we would be driving all day but they didn't really know what All Day meant.  On the drive back they did much better.  We took some pictures to pass the time and Kasen actually took the picture of me and entered it in the reflections contest at school titled.  "Picture of Mom"