I swear I didn't forget

I just didn't have pictures to post! And since no post is really that interesting without pictures...our camera disappeared at the beginning of summer and we just got another one so I need to go hunt down all the summer pics and then get caught up :) Until then here are some from tonight's primary talent show...each of the kids were supposed to perform or display a talent and the kids did GREAT!!! We were sooo proud of each of them :)


Mg loves to cook so for her talent she used jello to make a beach for the teddy bears :)

She made inner tubes out of gummy lifesavers for the teddy grahams and had gummy frogs and fish in there, too and made a paper umbrella...lots of (yummy) fun!

A. wanted to ride her scooter...I thought she would get nervous but she had a great time...the hardest part was getting her off at the end!!! She rode across and then turned around and came back!!! We weren't going to have her do anything but we recently had a family talent show and she rode her scooter. As we were leaving to go to the talent show tonight she heard where we were going and said "I ride scooter" several times very excitedly so we had a super cute late entry to tonight's talent show :)

E. recently got an American Girl Doll book showing you how to do doll hair just a few weeks ago and she became obsessed!!! She couldn't even braid and now she is quite expert at many different hair styles and is always doing doll hair or her sister's hair so for her talent she did several of her barbie's hair and brought them to display

She has been working sooo hard on them and planning which hair styles to do and did a GREAT job telling everyone about each different hair style she did (and their names!)

M. jumped with a regular rope which jumping in the double dutch ropes...pretty cool trick!!! Unforunately we started on the carpeted stage and that didn't work so well but once we got her down on the hard floor she did great!!

Yes, she is turning her own rope while in the double dutch ropes :)

And here are a few bonus photos to leave you with...this little girl has grown up soooo much!!!! She is talking up a storm (and it is SOOOOO cute!!!!!) and loves to be able to do more things like her sisters (like riding a scooter). She rode the scooter out to the car and then willingly posed for a few pictures...yes, that is her kitty getting a ride in the front :)

How cute is that :)

Hooray for a new post...I'm hoping many more will come soon!!!

Hill Air Force Base

We took our crew out to the Hill Air Force Base in Ogden where we were so excited to meet up with some California friends and go through the museum together!!! It was so great!!!! Here is Daddy with the "Jolley" plane...he is a descendant of the Jolley family so he thought that was great :)

Here we are with a Jolly Green Giant...my uncle was a pararescue during the Vietnam War and traveled on these...this is the baby version he was on a much larger version

Here are the two families together...it was SO great to see them!!!!!
(Please notice the ratio of girls to boys!!!) :)

This is Daddy's favorite airplane...we trudged in the snow to go take a picture with it :)

Thanks Thomas' for meeting up with us!!!!!

Daddy time

Saturday is a favorite day...it's time to play with Daddy!!! After we get out Saturday chores done the girls do various activities with Daddy...and a new favorite is Nerf gun time.

After playing tag for several weeks daddy decided it was time to teach them capture the flag...go girls!!

A long overdue update

I saw an old high school friend in the grocery store the other day...SO wonderful to see her!!! I mentioned that I loved her blog and that it has been great to keep up with her...and she reminded me that she would love to keep up on mine except I haven't been updating it. I vowed to update it. I won't mention how long ago that was, but it was awhile. Ooops. Anyways, I vow to be better.

The girls had a day off from school a few weeks ago and we decided to celebrate with a tea party for their dolls and animals. After their animals and dolls were properly dressed we moved onto the makeup party. The girls had oh so much fun putting way too much blue eyeshadow and other such stuff on. At times it was scary but they were in heaven. We haven't done this since we've moved out here so little A in particular enjoyed this experience, complete with nail polish which, thanks to proper training from Grandma, she knew should not only go on her fingers but also on her toes...


I love the casual position with her toes on the table :)


All ready for the party! After some great food and pink lemonade the girls (and their guests) were quite happy :)

Afterwards the girls put on a dance show for their guests and all proclaimed it to be a successful party and a great day off :)And lest you get concerned for the welfare of these girly girls on another recent day off (which daddy actually had off, too) we went with Grandma up to visit Cabela's, a sporting goods store my mom has wanted to take us to for quite some time and it finally worked out for us to all go. Why the urgent need to visit a sporting goods store on a day off you ask? That place is awesome! We had not been there so the girls really loved the huge animal display (real stuffed bears and deer and tons of other animals...it was awesome!). They fed huge fish, walked through an aquarium, played in tents, etc. Unfortunately I don't have many pictures, but Daddy's favorite part was the shooting gallery :) You would "shoot" the snake and it would move around, the bear would come out of a trash can, the sign would fall down, etc. It was fun and the girls were very impressed with his shooting skills. Then they each got a turn with Daddy and I'm not sure who had more fun...
All in all it was a great outing and we can't wait to go back :)

Randomness

These are some random pictures I found waiting to be put on the blog. Never mind that they were ready to be put up a few months ago, but that's okay.


Mg has been going to a preschool once a week offered here at the city rec center and she LOVES it! They do crafts, cooking and gymnastics and I'm really happy with it!
One week we were supposed to go on a fieldtrip to the farm that got rained out so instead the parents had to stick around for some lame gym time with the kids. It wasn't fun but Mg has made a good friend at her preschool and so we started to hang out in the gym together and our families have become good friends (yea!!). We like preschool! :)
E lost her two front teeth...I love this smile!!! Although we teased her endlessly she was able to get her two front teeth in before Christmas ensuring that she would get something else besides her two front teeth :)

A is loving being the youngest in the family! She loves being played with by everyone! She has such great sisters!!! Here she's getting a ride on a blanket :)

Which looked like so much fun they talked their "horse" into giving each of them rides :) (he's such a great Daddy!!! and a good sport, too!)

And since A had had her turn getting a ride she decided to continue the fun and give her kitty a ride! There were lots of happy children and stuffed animals that night (and a tired Daddy!)

And how am I doing? Just great, can't you see?This is what happens when the 9 year old gets ahold of a camera...enjoy!

Sledding!

The best of part of living in the snow! The kids love having a snow hill in Grandma's backyard!!

The first time down...fresh snow :)Why bother waiting for your turn just slide down the side!

M and E helping A down the hill

Look at that style!Building our first snowman (terrible snowman building snow but oh well!!)

Oh yea...yum!

Our snowman, excuse me, snowlady (check out the red necklace!)

And the best part...hot chocolate afterwards!!!

Merry Christmas!!!

Note: Not sure I love this background but it's time to go...we'll look into fixing this later!!!

I PROMISE now that the chaos of the last few months is over I will update my blog on a regular basis again!! :) For now...here's a Christmas letter for all of you...with more pictures to come later (after Christmas!!)

Merry Christmas!! (I’m actually getting these out before Christmas…miracles do happen J )

As expected this has been a big year of change for our family. Jon graduated in December of 2008 from UC Davis with a PhD in Cell and Developmental Biology and continued to work in his lab until June. During that time he was able to get his work published and was even a “feature article” in the journal J We were very happy and proud! We then moved to Pleasant Grove, Utah to live with Jon’s parents while we waited for his job to get worked out. Jon had been talking to Dr. Westenfelder at the University of Utah and although it took a little time to work out the research funding he was able to begin working in July in Dr. Westenfelder’s lab, Allocure. They just completed phase 1 of a clinical trial where they inject stem cells into a patient just after heart surgery to prevent kidney damage. Phase 1 had 16 patients and the patients did better than normal! Jon is so happy to be in this lab and doing the research he has dreamed about doing. Jon also enjoys his family history hobby (he has been making a family history website to share all the stories and photos he has found), and having fun with the family (tickle tag, guitar hero on the wii, and reading stories to cute little girls).

The kids knew that after Daddy had graduated we would be moving but they were thrilled to learn that we would be moving a few days after school got out to be close to their grandparents and cousins! We had a fantastic summer camping, having princess parties, going on outings and just being together!

Mary (9) started third grade this year and is enjoying her new school and loves her teacher, Mr. Alm. She loves science and continues to read everything in sight! Some of her favorites are the Puppy Place series, the Rainbow Magic series and she is enjoying some of my favorite books such as Anne of Green Gables. She has enjoyed the book club at school and enjoyed singing in a children’s choir that sang at a Christmas concert.

Emily (7) started second grade and was happy to make some new friends and really enjoys her teacher, Mrs. Hays. She has become a fantastic reader and is enjoying math. Emily really enjoys the Rainbow Magic series and the Big Apple Barn series. She loves to play to play Super Mario Brothers on the computer (and is hoping that Daddy will get the new Mario Brothers game for Christmas!!) Emily also likes the school book club and enjoyed singing in the children’s choir for Christmas.

Meagan is growing up so fast! She just turned 5 a few weeks ago and is looking forward to kindergarten in the fall. She really enjoys a going to a preschool once a week here that has gymnastics and cooking and crafts and another preschool once a week with her mommy and her cousin. She is starting to read and play with Amy a lot! She is still my cuddly little girl and I love having her around! She loves animals, especially cats and dogs and loves to be mommy’s big helper.

Amy is our high energy 2 year old J She is sooo much fun although you can’t take your eye off of her for a minute or she’ll be up climbing on something or running off for more fun! Her sisters have trained her to be the family dog and she loves it…she imitates EVERYTHING her big sisters do and she is so much fun to watch! She loves to be with other people! Amy loves animals and loves to dance and dress up and do anything her sisters are doing.

I’ve enjoyed working with my mom the last several months putting all of our family history stories and pictures into books. I have enjoyed it although some days it seems to go so slowly!! We have met so many “new” extended family members and it has been like Christmas every time we get mail or open an email with a new family history picture or story! I continue to enjoy my crafts although there never seems to be enough time! Jon and I teach music to the 3-12 year old children at church and we absolutely love it! We all continue to miss our friends and family in California but have enjoyed getting Christmas cards from many of you! We hope you have a wonderful year! Love, the Ahlstrom’s

Jon’s family history websites: http://ahlstrom.weebly.com http://petersonhistory.weebly.com