Our new addition!

The time has come for us to have a new addition to our family.  We broke down and bought a New (to us) Toyota Sienna (2006, if anyone wants to know)! It was definitely time!  We loved having our old van, but it was time to move on.  That van came at a time we really needed it and couldn't afford any more than that.  Lately it's been falling apart though.  The driver side window wouldn't roll down, the speedometer was hit and miss if it would actually work, it was super noisy and whenever you would accelerate (so, not that often...) it would sound like it was about to die, the engine leaks A LOT (we have the stains on our driveway to prove it), and every time you start it up a large stinky cloud would penetrate the air.  Anyways, like I said, it was time for something new.

We looked around for a couple weeks and knew what we were looking for.  We decided that we needed to go up to Salt Lake and look around because the type of Sienna we wanted was not found (or just didn't stay long) in Utah County.  We went up to a dealership first thing in the morning and they had 2 really nice Sienna's available.  It was a small dealership and they were trying to get rid of all their inventory before the end of the year (I guess so they could start over fresh in January and didn't have to carry anything over to the next year).  We test drove both and fell in love with ours.  It was way more than we wanted, it's basically fully loaded, but it was such a good deal that we felt we couldn't pass it up!  I am such a sucker for a great deal...  So, here's our new van!

 It has a built in DVD player (even with wireless headsets) which the kids are excited about.  John is excited about the sunroof.  I'm excited about the button that unlocks all the doors!  No more fiddling around with the key in the cold!

 I am so excited about the Captain's chairs!  I never thought I would like them, but our kids don't do well close to each other ("Mom, he's breathing my air!"... That sort of thing...) so it will be nice to have a little space between them.  :)

 This little gadget tells you the temperature, miles per gallon, how many more miles you can drive before you need to fill up & what direction you are driving.  There's also sliding door buttons & a trunk button :)

 It took us a while to figure out the heater.  It's pretty high tech.  There's a button for the drivers temp, the passengers temp, & the rear temp.  One cool thing we figured out last night was you can have the heater on, and it wont blow out the air till it's warmed up.  Then it just automatically turns on & blows when the air is hot!  We also love the seat heaters since it has leather seats.  We didn't want leather, but that's what the van has, so oh well.

When we bought this new van, we knew it was bigger than our other one.  I had my doubts if it would even fit in our garage.  Well, it does.  Barely.  I am sort of a nerd so I measured how much "extra" room have around the van.  We basically have 6" total space between the front and back of the van and when you pull in we have about 2 1/2" on either side of the mirrors.  But, at least it fits!

 So, what kind of deal did we get?  $3,000 below NADA pricing, $4,000ish below KBB, & $2,000 below Edmunds (which is normally on the low end).  This really helps me to LOVE it even more!  I don't like having to spend so much money, and we really don't need all the cool gadgets, but we really needed a new van.  I'm glad that Johnathan will have a break from fixing the van for a while, hopefully a LONG while.

Gingerbread House

 We made a Gingerbread house the other day.  It was fun.  The kids really enjoyed decorating it. 

Now they're ready to eat it.

11 Wonderful Years!

Yesterday was our 11th Wedding Anniversary!  In some ways it seems weird to say we've been married that long because 11 years sounds like a long time and we're not that old, but in other ways it's gone by really fast.  One thing is for sure though.  It's been a wonderful 11 years together!  I think of all  that has happened and it makes me so happy!  Johnathan makes me happy :)   He is truly my best friend and the best husband I could ask for!

For our anniversary this year, we went up to Salt Lake to celebrate.  I bought a Temple Square Hospitality kit thing and we stayed at The Anniversary Inn & ate at The Roof Restaurant.  It was a fun-filled 24 hours!

 Our view from the Joseph Smith Memorial Building

(waiting for our Reservation at The Roof restaurant)

Dinner with a view

We LOVED dinner at The Roof!  Everything was super yummy!  I am not a huge meat person, but everything I tried I really liked.  It is a really expensive place to eat, but because we bought the 'Temple Square Hospitality' pack, we got a discount on the dinner and at Anniversary Inn.

At the Anniversary Inn, we chose the Mountain Hideaway room.  It was a fun theme.  My only complaint was the bed was not the most comfortable, but what else is new for a bed that's not yours.

 The bathroom was an outhouse design

 My favorite part was the tub in a cave!  I really need to get me one of these!

We also stopped by City Creek to see what all the fuss is about.  Neither Johnathan or I are "Mall People".  We very rarely walk through them & I don't think our kids even know what a Mall is.  This one was cool.  We loved the fountain show & the creek.  Johnathan loved the Apple Store & we both loved the Disney store.  We didn't spend any money either!

 

Thanks for 11 Wonderful and eventful years and many more to come!

12/12/12- Happy Dozens Day

 My cousin and I really enjoy numbers, so today is an exciting day for us.  It only happens a few times in a century, if you count 9/9/9, etc.  Let's have fun with it! 

These pictures sure do make me smile!  *Love these kids!*

Santa Claus is coming to the Fire Station!

Last night we joined with lots of Provo Firefighters and welcomed Santa to Fire Station 5.  The kids were excited!  It was a crazy madhouse, but it was fun.  One of the firefighters is a professional photographer and he took some amazing photos.  Have I mentioned how much I LOVE his job?!  Maybe because of our long wait to get this job, it just makes it even more appreciated. 

 Jacob is telling Santa that he wants a tablet.  We talked him down from an iPad, which was his first choice.  Seriously, the kid is 4!  It starts WAY too young!

 This is the very first year that Ashlyn has willingly sat on Santa's lap.  NO JOKE!  She is always scared every year and we usually have to bribe her talk her into it before she'll consider it.  She told Santa that she wants a remote control puppy (since we can't have any pets, she's resorted to a remote control kind)

 Jayden told Santa he wants Minecraft (a PC game).  When I look at this picture I think, Is that kid mine?!  He's getting so tall!  It wont be too many more years and he'll be taller than me!  AAAHHH!  Usually when people see our kids for the first time they comment on how much Jayden looks like his dad (both facial features & also tall and skinny).  Last night, someone commented on this and then they said that they were even standing the exact same way too.

What a bunch of cuties! 

Homework

I have just a couple funny stories from homework time today.

Tonight we were all gathered around the kitchen table doing homework together.  Ashlyn was writing her sentences for her spelling words and she put an exclamation at the end of the sentence.  This was her sentence:

Tomorrow we are going to a store that is called Costco!

I wanted to show her that that sentence isn't one that you would really yell to someone, so I demonstrated by yelling it (basically in her face, but not intentionally...).  I totally scared her and she screamed loud while the rest of us laughed at her reaction.  Then I looked over at Jacob who had his head down on the table.  I called his name and he looked up at me and he was crying.  Apparently I scared him too.  Enough to make him cry. 

Good job Jana, good job.  Mother of the year award goes to me.

Another funny story, sort of an inside joke at our house, stems from the movie 'Up'.  You know the dog that is friendly and he keeps getting distracted and randomly says "Squirrel!"  I use it at our house when someone is displaying symptoms of ADD.  So, back to tonight at homework time.  We are at the table again and Jacob (out of nowhere) pops his head up and says "Squirrel!"  Yep, I think you got it buddy.