Stevie's New Words

Stevie had some funny new words yesterday...monkey, meatball, blocks, and tower. I really loved to hear her say meatball.

Christmas Morning

Oh my gosh! Santa did bring drums to Jake! He was so excited that he didn't even want to open any other presents until he had played on them for quite some time. Stevie really enjoyed them as well. Santa also brought camp chairs, books, music, and a few other toys. Stevie got a doll house from us. She's really not ready for a doll house, but she really loved to take everything out and then put everything back in. My big gift was new ski boots from Steve and Steve's big gift was an AvaLung backpack from me and Nannie.

After all the presents were open and breakfast over...the kids played for a long time with the Playdoh set from GranDaddy and GranJackie.

We went to Heber in the afternoon and got spoiled again by Grandma and Grandpa D. Then we spent some time at the Johnson house so we could learn how to play the Wii (did I spell that right?).

We said goodbye to Bob the Elf who went back to the North Pole. See you next year!

Santa Claus

On Christmas Eve we stopped by the McClelland's house to see Santa Claus. He came for a quick visit to see the kids before he had to get busy delivering presents. Jake was very excited and wanted to be near Santa and tell him what he wanted for Christmas - drums. Stevie was definitely interested, but she didn't want to get very close. When Santa Claus was leaving, she did follow him and say "Bye Santa." That is the first time we have heard her put two words together. Thanks Santa!

Jake's Christmas Song Concert

Jake loves to show off the songs he learned at preschool this year. Sorry everyone...we still can't get the video to work. Any ideas???

Christmas Party Weekend

Steve took off for a ski weekend with Kenn and Dave. Crested Butte offers free skiing for the first 3 weeks of December and Steve has a friend who lives close by. Can't beat free skiing and a free place to stay.

Meanwhile...the weekend was filled with a Lee Family Christmas Party as well as one for the Draper side. Both were held in church gymnasiums. The kids really loved to run around and play basketball with the older kids and the adults. Once again...the Draper boys and in-laws humored us all with a good round of karaoke. Grandma Lee even joined in. At the next party, the kids got to hit and break open a Santa Claus pinata and get presents from Grandma Helen.

Jake surprised me on Friday by singing Jingle Bells almost all the way through. He either learned it at preschool or from the Christmas music that I have been playing...because I know I didn't teach him. At the Lee party, he wasn't shy and sang Jingle Bells twice in the microphone. I think he was inspired by his cousins who sang and played instruments for us all.

Stevie keeps adding new words every day. This weekend she said "bus" "over" and "shark." Random words. She still hasn't really put two words together, but I know she is getting close. Stevie is also our little expert in finding Bob the Elf. If we lead them to the room where Bob can be found, it is only a matter of seconds before she screams "BOB!" We do love her spunky personality and we are trying to put all that energy into the right place :-)

Decorating for Christmas

The kids and I spent all day on Wednesday decorating for Christmas. It was a lot of fun because I was excited and they kids were too. Jake and Stevie both loved putting up the tree and helping me spread out the branches. Stevie was a big fan of the Santa hats too. We had to abandon our project when Jake kept plugging the lights in and out and when Stevie was sucking on the tree lights :-) Next time the lights will be a project when the kids are asleep...

Winter Wonderland

The big storm hit! We had a yard full of snow and the resorts got about 2-3 feet of snow over the past few days. They kids and I made a snowman with Jenna and Stella on Friday. They all abandoned the snowman when they accidentally stepped on the trampoline and realized how fun it was to jump on a trampoline full of snow.

Steve did his best to keep up with the shoveling. He did go up to The Canyons for the first time on Saturday, but only 2 runs were open for the loads of people who showed up to enjoy the new snow. Hopefully they will open more soon.

I had training at Deer Valley yesterday and we actually got to free ski with a trainer for about 2-3 hours. So I lucked out and got to ski in some powder. Jake went with me yesterday for his first ski lesson from Deer Valley. It didn't go so well. He went out with Cassidy around 9 a.m. and he just never warmed up. She was able to get him to put the skis on and slide around...but that was it. He did tell me last night that he really wants to go up the lift with Mom again and maybe Sam could ride up to if he comes to visit. He said "That is a really good idea Mom." I think so!

Elf on the Shelf

Thanks to Jackie...we now have a new Christmas tradition for our family. She gave us, the Waydas, and the McClendons an early Christmas present called "Elf on the Shelf," you may have seen or heard about it. It's a book about the secret behind how Santa knows how all the children in the world behave. The book comes with an elf that becomes magic once you read the book and give him a name. Jake really wanted to name him Max, but then changed his mind. He is now Bob the Elf. Bob sits somewhere in our house every day and watches and listens to how Jake and Stevie behave. He then flies back to Santa every night to report and then reappears in the morning in a different spot in the house. Love it...it's working!

Thanksgiving in Tennessee

We spent a wonderful week in Tennessee with the Hough side of the family. The Waydas (including Georgia the bulldog) came from Louisiana so it was great to have everyone there. Stephanie, bless her heart, usually hosts the Thanksgiving dinner and does it very well. We spent a lot of time just hanging out, letting the kids play, and watching football. Cory Nicole was the best babysitter ever and the boys let Jake play with them. Jake and Stevie Kate love their Nannie. Good times. It was nice to go the movie with Judy and Krissy, go shopping with Judy and GiGi, and go out on the town with Stephanie and Troy. We spent the last night there with GrandDaddy and GranJackie at their house. They always make a great dinner for us and time to chat.

The plane rides were not the best...but we made it. Jake does much better on the plane now at his age. But Stevie is pretty difficult. We ended up using Jake's seat to strap Stevie in and then Jake did okay with us holding him. Just to give you an idea...we had an angry woman next to us on the way to Tennessee who only rolled her eyes when we spoke to her. On the way back to Utah, Stevie really enjoyed throwing toys and half-eaten food items at other passengers and then occasionally screaming at the top of her lungs. At least she was happy.

Family Picture Time

It's that time of year...when Christmas cards need to be printed...and photos framed and given as gifts. We scheduled a family picture session at Wheeler Farms with our favorite photographers...Peekaboo Photos. The McClellands joined us and we were going to split the sitting fee. Unfortunately the photographers wrote down the wrong date and didn't show up. I tried to enjoy the rest of our time there, but I was still pretty frazzled. I know you all know how stressful family pictures can be :-) The right clothes, hair combed the right way, happy children and husband, etc. The day was beautiful though and the kids had so much fun playing together and enjoying Wheeler Farms.

The photographers said they would reschedule for 1/2 price so we had the date set for yesterday, December 1st up in Park City. Hard to believe...but they didn't show again. They thought December 1st was a Sunday :-( So no family pictures yet and probably none this year. It really shouldn't be that hard...you know?

Don't be surprised if you get a postcard this year with a stick-figure family that we drew ourselves.

New Things

The past few weeks have been filled with cold-season sickness. Jake got a bad cold with a fever, sore throat, and cough. The cough has been lingering for two weeks now. Stevie and I briefly got the same thing but with pink eye. Fortunately ours only lasted a day or so.

Stevie is really into saying "HI" right now. The grocery store and everywhere else we go is filled with her saying "HI" very loudly to everyone she sees. And she really keeps saying it until that person responds. Funny... She is saying more and more words every day and really tries to repeat things that we say.

Jake's imagination has picked up recently. He has been making things out of his toys and coming up with things like a "spaceship" made of a tennis ball and two tops to Stevie's bottles. He has also started to imagine different animals living in our house like lions, bears, snakes, etc.

Friday night Jake and Steve went to The Bee Movie on a boys night out. Jake loved it and talked about Barry the Bee for quite a while after he got home. Stevie and I had a girls night out at the mall. Beware...holiday season has begun and the mall was sooooooo crowded.

Last night was won our curling game 6-2 (yeah) and then had a great dinner with Cortney and Chris Wessman. Cortney and I were roommates at Ricks College and at BYU. It was really great to see them.

Have a wonderful Thanksgiving! We are headed to Tennessee and we are all excited to spend time with the family there.

Friday Play Date

The Bergs came over on Friday, as well as the Dustmans. Carsten and Jake played with trains most of the time. But eventually got tired of Stella, Stevie and Anneclaire (mostly Stella and Stevie) pulling everything apart. Jake gets so frustrated when the train track comes apart or he gets stuck. But mostly I should feel lucky because he truly enjoys playing with them and spends countless hours arranging and rearranging the trains. His favorites right now are Gordon and the two dairy cargo trains that Nannie brought on her last visit. Carsten seems to enjoy trains just as much.

The boys saw the trampoline in the backyard and decided to brave the cold and go play outside. The trampoline play moved to the sandbox and they had a great time. Anneclaire was content to ride the little bus. Stevie stayed busy in the sandbox after she investigated the entire yard for dog poop and proceeded to pick it up and show me every piece she found. I least she has stopped eating it...

Fish Tank at Wal-Mart

I don't know why I didn't think of it before...but I have been using the fish tank at Wal-Mart as an incentive for the kids to be good while I shop. Before I figured that out, I had several incidents like...Jake throwing stuff out of the cart at people, Stevie finding every way to climb out of the cart, etc. Now when we go to Wal-Mart I prep the kids as we are walking in that they can see the fish when we are done shopping if they are good. It has been working. Yeah!

Old Navy Accident

The kids and I went to Old Navy on Thursday morning to get a few things. While we were there, Stevie stayed in the stroller and Jake was walking with me. I heard Jake say "I need to go potty Mommy." I told him to hold on while I hung up the pants I was looking at. As I turned around to take him to the potty, I saw a very disturbing thing. Jake had his pants down and was shooting a large stream through the aisles. I screamed and ran to him and pulled his pants up. He started crying as I put him in the stroller and gave him a lecture about where he should pee next time. I was mortified and looked around to see if anyone saw the accident. A miracle...no one witnessed it. I was madly wiping up the mess when a worker at Old Navy saw me and said, "Don't worry about that, we'll clean that up. What is it, milk?" I told her what happened as I turned red and she said, "It's okay, we've all been there." Sweet woman.

I will take blame for this one because I have let him pee outside all the time and just tell him, "If you need to go, just pull your pants down and go." I think he got confused about whether he was inside or out. Jake apologized for most of the day...so I hope he has it figured out now.

Johnny & June

Steve and I went to a Rock 'n Roll Halloween party at the Evans house last night as Johnny & June. It's been a while since I dressed up for Halloween. I wore a wig and Steve shaved his beard. He even serenaded me with a few songs throughout the night. We also saw Blondie, Joey Ramone, Ricky Bobby and Mrs. Ricky Bobby, Twisted Sister, Jerry Garcia, Jim Morrison, Britney Spears, and more.

Draper Girls Get Together

I spent a fun night with my sisters, sisters-in-law, Taylor, Mom, and Grandma Lee at the Draper household in Heber. Brady and Casey also decided to party with us for a while. It was fun to catch up, share funny stories, good ideas and food. We had fun teasing Carrie and reading family blogs as well. Grandma also taught us how to make divinity. It will really be a miracle if I can follow her example and make it myself.

And did you know that our angel of a Mother used to sneak out of the house in high school? She said that Grandpa knew about it, but Grandma didn't.

Saturday morning we were able to help Grandma do a few things around her house. She said "Thanks" and "Some worked hard and some didn't." We can always count on her to say the funniest things and we all got a good laugh about that. We drove to Salt Lake and had a tasty lunch and shopping at Gardner Village. The fun ended at Taipan Trading when we braved a crowded store and found some treasures.

Amy says our next stop is the St. George Parade of Homes in February. Will be fun!

Halloween Day

By the time the actual day of Halloween came, I was ready to be done with Halloween. Too many pre-parties :-) We went to a carnival in Heber the night before with the Johnsons and Grandma D. The kids had a blast and I was very tired by the end of the night from running after them. We visted Grandma Lee and did trick or treating at her house a little early. Jake and Stevie ate cookies with Grandma before we left.

We did go trick or treating around the neighborhood at night with the McClellands. The night was considerably warmer than the usual Halloween nights and with the change in Daylight Savings...we were able to get by with a little sunlight. Jake was somewhat interested in the treat thing and Stevie was content to sit in the stroller. We ended the event with a stop at the Evans house and the Dustman house. Stevie and Jake both tried to sleep in a dog bed at one point...so I knew they were tired and ready to be done.

Jake woke up on Thursday morning with a fever and a horrible cough so that explains why he was not all that interested in running around getting treats. After a few days...he is feeling better.

Stevie's First Haircut

Unfortunately, I didn't get any pictures. But Stevie Kate had her first haircut yesterday. Katie Bollwinkel cut Jake's hair and Stevie's hair at her house last night. Jake got a little "surfer dude" cut and it looks great. When it was Stevie's turn, she gladly got up on the chair and sat still for about 2 minutes. Then the screaming, crying, and wiggling started. Katie did a great job of cutting quickly and getting the priority stragglers in the back.

Park City Moms Halloween Party

We went to our first Halloween party of the season on Friday evening, hosted by Park City Moms. Jake, aka Superman, and Stevie, aka The Sugar Plum Fairy, had fun and even left their costumes on the whole time. I really couldn't believe it...because Stevie was pretty upset when we put her costume on. She really wanted to be Superman. Side Note...all week they have been playing Superman and Batman and I think Stevie was disappointed that she had fairy wings instead of a cape flying behind her.

Anyway...the party went well and we got a final picture with Chase, Gracie, Sam, and Stella.

A Day at the Zoo

We went to the Hogle Zoo on Wednesday with the Berg family - Katrina, Carsten, and Anneclaire. The kids all watched "Finding Nemo" on the way there and on the way back while Katrina and I could have a conversation without too much interruption.

Jake was excited about seeing Mountain Lions, or "Big Cats" as he calls them. That was his favorite animal last time and he loved them this time around as well. The sign said "Cougar" and I'm not really sure if there is a difference. Anyway...Jake loved to see the two that were there.

We also saw monkeys, turkeys, peacocks, ducks, elephants, a rhinoceros, penguins, zebras, buffalo, and black bears. The boys loved to explore, so I think we only made it through about 1/3 of the zoo. I think Jake also really enjoyed watching the penguins perform and chasing peacocks with Carsten.

Stevie was pretty content to look at everything from the stroller. She had her poker face on again, but you could tell she loved the monkeys. Once we got near the zebras, she wanted out of the stroller and began the "Run as fast as possible away from Mom and see how far I can get" game. I love the smile on her face when she is playing this game...but she is seriously fast :-)

The adventure ended with a train ride. And on the way out we also played in the water. This was the highlight for Stevie. Carsten, Jake, and Stevie all had Nemo toys and they all went swimming in the little river. The clothes were soaked, but they loved it.

Winter Weekend Activities in October

Another weekend of snow...I think this is four in a row. We are starting off the winter with a bang and Steve couldn't be more excited.

The kids and I enjoyed playing outside in the snow while Steve went on his first ski run of the season. He and Todd went to Alta to hike up and do a run. They had a great time and Steve had a "permagrin" when he walked in the door. The pictures of the kids were mostly of the one worm that we found alive on the sidewalk. No grasshoppers today, but one alive worm made the walk very exciting.

This weekend we were introduced to the sport Curling by Todd & Andrea. Todd has been playing for several years and is really good. They invited us to come and try it out on Saturday. Curling is quite a bit harder than it looks and you have to really use your balance, flexibility, and groin muscles to play well. I can't say that I contributed to our Team Blackdog win, but Steve did. He must have done well enough...because Todd invited us to permanently stay on the team and play as many Saturday evenings as we can.

A few other highlights of the week:
* Jake has been deemed "very musical" by his preschool teacher Miss Sharie. They had Africa week at school and played drums and did dancing. She said Jake kept the beat really well and loved that part of the day. He gets this from Steve, who is constantly playing air drums and guitar, and scored 100% on the Draper karaoke contest (long story). During prayers last night, Jake wanted to give thanks for the snow. Yet another trait from Steve.

*Stevie went to the nursery at church last week for the first time. I didn't prepare her or anything because I wasn't really planning leaving her there until I actually got to church. She walked in with Jake and starting playing, so I decided to try it out. I kept peering in at her and she seemed happy, even eating snacks at the table and drinking out of regular paper cup. She did really well for about an hour and half until she pestered one little girl too much and the little one stepped on her hand. But not too bad for the first week.

Obsession with "Nemo"

For the last several months, Jake has been really enthralled with the movie "Finding Nemo." He asks to watch it often. Since we bought the minivan and the DVD player is a fun new feature, we have been watching the movie while driving. Now Stevie is also obsessed. She calls him "Meeo" and Jake calls him "Memo," close enough I guess :-) I am thankful that they are close enough in age to be interested in a lot of the same things right now. Very helpful recently...

Here are some pictures of them watching the movie this weekend and playing with some new bathtub toys that I bought at a yard sale. And thank you to the McClendon family (Sam) for the cute hat.

Minivan Mom

Believe it...we just bought our first minivan. I always thought that I would not go down that road...but Steve convinced me of how practical they are. My friends Caren and Brittoni also convinced me of that. It took us a while to find a used van with the specs that we wanted. Apparently the Toyota Sienna AWD models are very hard to find. But we lucked out yesterday and found one at a dealership in Provo. While we were there, 2 other families came in and wanted the van. So thank you to Steve and Grandma D for helping us get there on time. Jake jumped in it last night when we got home and went crazy. I think we will really enjoy the minivan. And I'm okay with saying I'm a Minivan Mom.

Scarecrow Festival

Friday we went on an outing to Thanksgiving Point to the Scarecrow Festival. Tracie & Taylor came with us and we met the Bergs, the Hansens, the McClellands, and the Coopers there. It was fairly quiet when we got there, and we were able to ride the train, play with bubbles, and do the Haunted House before it got too busy.

Jake loved the train (of course), along with Carsten and Jack. The next favorite was playing bubbles with Carsten. Carsten and Jake actually loves putting bubbles into the hair of Stevie and Anneclaire. Needless to say...their hair didn't move after that. The next favorite was going down the slide over and over again with Chase, Sam, and Hillary. We topped off the day for him with popcorn and the movie Cars on the drive home.

Stevie was content to walk around and explore everything. For some reason she had a "Dazed and Confused" look on her face most of the time. I think the crowds of people and stimulation of everything had her in a zone. Her favorite parts were the bubbles and the Toddler Town. Tracie took Taylor and Stevie in the "contained" area to play while Jake was running wild. Tracie said Stevie was not afraid and just roamed around playing with everything.

And one of my favorite things...the kids stayed awake in the car and took a wonderful nap when we got home :-)

Autumn Day

The last few days have been filled with great fall weather. We have spent quite a bit of time on walks around the block, playing at the park or in the backyard. I know that the weather won't be good for much longer, so we are trying to soak it in.

Stevie and Jake have both discovered grasshoppers and they love them. Luckily...we can find at least 10 or so on a walk around the block. Unfortunately...Stevie and Jake both killed one yesterday. Jake stepped on one and Stevie picked one up and squished it. We had the "Don't hurt Gods' creations," discussion, but I'm not really sure it had any sort of impact because they were back at it again with the ants. Stevie bursts into giggles when the grasshoppers hop away before she can get to them. Jake usually wants to say hello to them and ask "How are you doing?"

These pictures are from the backyard this morning. Zeke and Tippy love it when we play fetch with their favorite red frisbee. They also get food leftovers and there were many pretzels spilled onto the grass today.

Ephraim and Sunday Dinner in Heber

Quick decision making on Saturday morning let us go to Ephraim to see Carrie and watch her boyfriend Shane play football. It was a brave decision because the weather was cold and wet. There were 4 adults and 11 children. It was fun to see where Carrie lives and before we went home we played at the McDonalds playground in Ephraim. Thanks for hosting us Carrie. Good job Shane.

The other pictures are from Sunday dinner in Heber. As you can see, my Dad does not like to get his picture taken...and Makenzie does :-)

Alena June's Wedding

Congratulations Alena and Lincoln! I have always known that whoever marries Alena June Hicken is a very lucky man. It was fun to hang out with the Hicken family and Miranda, Maya, and Gavin too.

Winter is Coming

We have had several snow falls over the past 3 weeks or so. Winter is coming and Steve is very excited. I have noticed that he is watching the weather more carefully and checking the National Weather Service website as much as possible. It's coming honey, and so is your ski season. Yeah! Here are a few pictures from the mountains today.

Lesa Visits NYC

I was able to go to New York City for the 3rd Annual Wasatch Girls Trip. Thank you to Sara for hosting us and to Sara, Denett, Brittoni, Amber for the good times. Some highlights of the trip - Brittoni's first gambling experience, secret shopping rooms on Canal Street, lots of walking, lots of good food, Denett navigating the subway by herself, Sara's negotiations with pedicab drivers, making signs for the Today show, and Amber's dangerous navigating on one-way streets.

Nannie's Visit

Thank you Nannie! You helped Steve and the kids so much while I was out and about in New York City and I know we all loved having you here for a visit. And I even saw Nannie on the trampoline with both kids :-) We will get to spend time with the Hough side of the family in Tennessee over Thanksgiving. Looking forward to it!

Chocolate

This is after a long day with potty training (Jake) and toliet paper unrolling (Stevie). I said to Jake, "I need some chocolate." And he responded, "Me too." It really did help!

Labor Day BBQ

Another great barbeque at Grandma and Grandpa's house. Everyone enjoyed a pork chop dinner and a rough and tumble football game. Duff's leg seems to be healing nicely as evidenced by these pictures. We also can see that Grandma can throw a football, Stevie loves corn on the cob, and that Kace can keep up with the big boys. Looking forward to the next barbeque.

Let's Blog!

Hey Draper Clan-

This is my new idea of how to keep in touch with each other's lives. We all know how difficult it is to feel close and keep in contact with all 30+ of us. I'm going to try to use this frequently to journal and document our lives, as well as share it with others.

See if it works for you, or maybe you will have other ideas or things that work for you and your family that you can share. We can link all of our sites together.

Side Note (Dad...I need to figure out how to get birthday and anniversary reminders to you since that is important from myfamily.com. And it will be nice to get an email group list set up for you as well.)

Another Side Note: Run Fast Casey and Lindsay. You are amazing!

I love you all and feel very lucky to be part of such a wonderful family.