Preschool Field Trip To The...

Do you know what the back of the post office looks like? Well I do! This week was my turn to teach and one of the subjects was 'service'. I racked my brain for ideas on how to teach the kids about that so on Tuesday we made little 'Service Coupons' for the kids to take home. They came up with thier own ideas on things they could do to help around their house. Some ideas were to help with laundry, empty the dishwasher, be nice to brothers and sisters, and my favorite-help make sandwiches.
I couldn't come up with much for our second day of preschool to reinforce the things we'd talked about, so I figured what better way to teach the kids about service than to show them some occupations of people who serve our community?
First we went to the post office where the kids got to pretend to be letters. The mail arrives and is unloaded from the back of the mailtruck by using an elevator lift-probably the kids' favorite part of the whole day was getting a ride on this!

They also got to meet a real mailman-our family actually went to church with Bob before we moved here 3 years ago...

The "letters" were taken from the elevator lifs on these big carts before they are sorted so they end up at their destinations. Every address in the city has their own little slot where the mail is sorted-there were over 6,000 slots in our local post office!

Then the mail is loaded back into the mail carrier's vehicles before they are delivered to our mailboxes!

Here is Postmaster Kevin explaining how the postal system works and that every letter needs a stamp, an address, and a postmark before it can be delivered.

This is a machine that is a smaller version of the ones used today. It counts the letters while cancelling out the stamp that was used. The kids tried and tried to count as fast as the machine, but they proved how machines deffinitley make our lives easier!

We also learned that mail carriers can be asked to carry up to 70 pounds in their bag-just like the one Kade is wearing in the first picture. Our mailman delivers all the mail here in town and the postmaster said he walks about 10 miles every day bringing us our letters. We are grateful for our mailman-especially out there in this cold weather!

Next we walked over to the Emergency Medical Services building to learn a little about what EMT's do and to see the ambulances.

The kids got to go inside while Miss Joanna showed them where everything is kept that helps the EMT's save people's lives.



One of the moms was such a good sport to volunteer to get strapped down and show the kids how a neck brace works-it was so cute when her little girl leaned over and kissed her mommy's forehead!

Each of the kids got a chance to sit in the drivers seat and Miss Joanna demonstrated the lights and the loud sirens for us.

Hopefully we never need an EMT, but we sure are thankful that they are there, serving our community!

Prayers to Santa

Ethan: "Mom, I know what I'm getting for Christmas."
Mom: "Oh, really? What?"
Ethan: "Chick Hicks, Mr.King, and Ice Age."
Mom: "How do you know that's what you're getting?"
Ethan: "I told Santa."
Mom: "But you haven't seen Santa..."
Ethan:"Well, I talked to him. You know, like in a prayer but to Santa."

I guess we'll see if Santa heard him!

~Chocolate Kisses~

The boys and I just finished making oatmeal chocolate chip cookies. This includes the boys licking the beaters and devouring as many chocolate chips as possible without mom catching them and giving Owen plenty of 'chocolate kisses'.

Hersheys, eat your heart out.

{Ethan's Indian costume he made in preschool}
This year we spent Thanksgiving in Declo with Jeff's family. The boys were in heaven playing with cousins all weekend, I did a little after-Thanksgiving shopping, Jeff got to watch football, and we stayed up until 3:30 Saturday morning playing cards-we are still trying to catch up on our sleep!
Saturday afternoon we came home and had another yummy Thanksgiving dinner with my family before going to see New Moon-much better than the first one, thought they could've done better on the soundtrack.
Now on to Christmas!

Check Up

Owen was 4 months old on Sunday-holy smokes! He weighs a healty 15.63 pounds and is 25.5 inches tall. He is becoming more and more vocal every day and his brothers just love telling me what Owen is saying. He hasn't quite figured out how to roll over but he's been working hard at getting it down. His favorite past times include chewing on his fingers while drooling all over, snuggling, eating, and carrying on conversations with any object that will listen.

Kamden also had a check up today and came in weighing 38.2 pounds. He recently hit a growth spirt and is 39.75 inches tall. He got 2 shots today and was a real trooper, he only cried a little over the "pokey". But when Owen had to get his shots next, Kamden became very protective of his little brother and said "Oh, my baby!"
We are very greatful to have 3 happy and healthy boys!

6 Years...

6 years ago my family and I drove to Logan, Utah where the next morning, Friday November 21st, I would become Mrs. Jeffrey Stoker. There wasn't a snowflake in sight when we pulled into town the night before the wedding but the next morning the ground was covered and it was still coming down. I'd spent part of the night in the hotel bathroom, sick to my stomach and vomiting, a severe case of nerves. But my nerves were forgotten as soon as we pulled up to the temple and I saw Jeff.

"Nice dress," was the first thing he said to me as he took my hand and we greeted the photographer. Our wedding pictures are a little deceiving because we hadn't actually been married yet-they were taken before the ceremony. I hadn't planned on the frigid Logan weather-I was in a short-sleeved gown and open-toed shoes. But, thankfully, I had the love of my husband-to-be to keep me warm. (Awww...) Plus, the fact that we were leaving in the morning on a Carribean cruise didn't hurt either, and thoughts of the tropical sun also kept the biting cold away.

The ceremony was beautiful as we were married and sealed as husband and wife for eternity. We were told to always hold hands and I don't forget to give Jeff a hard time when he goes too long without remembering to do what he was told.

So there we were, newlyweds. Did we have any idea what we were getting ourselves into? Absolutley not. Would I change the past 6 years? Not for the world.

Kamden Turns 3 & Family Pictures

Here are some pictures of Kamden's dinosaur cake in all its glory...it took me forever to make the dang thing, the frosting was getting crumbs in it, and the head kept falling off so he ended up with a sqaure face and no neck...oh well-when Kamden saw it he said "That's beautiful!" and it was all worth it! We affectionatley named him 'Gary' before we devoured him...he was the most delicious dinosaur I've ever eaten!





Today we had our family pictures taken for the first time in over 2 years! A friend of mine helped us out with them and so did my mom...it's deffinatley harder to be in front of the camera when you'd much rather be behind it! But they turned out great and I'm excited to have some pictures of all of us together!

HaPpY BiRthDaY KaMDeN!

KaMdeN LoVeS:
*mUD
*TRucKs
*mOviEs
*CaNdy
*dAnCinG (or "Shakin'It")
*fOoD-especially chicken nuggets
*RuNniNg FrEe
*AniMaLs
*BaThS & bEinG iN thE waTeR
*rEAdinG BoOkS
*hoLdinG HiS baBy bROtheR
*jUMpinG oN ThE bED
*RiNg-aROunD-tHE-rOSie
*BeiNG ouTsiDE

kAMdeN saYs:
"ShAkE iT!"
"i wANt tO kiSs hiM!" (about Owen)
"I WanT To HolD HiM!" (also about Owen)
"LeT mE seE Him!" (again, about Owen)
"thAt's BeAutiFul!"
"RuFf, rUFf." (when he's a dog)
"mE loVe You, moM."
*I have no idea where this came from, but this morning when he was opening his birthday gift he said "OH, whAt A dAY!"

Kamden Is:
*ENERGETIC!!!
*rAmBuncTiouS
*siLLy
*CuRioUs
*buSy
*LoVinG
*sMArT
*WiLd & CrAzY
*sWeET

*EveRytHinG a LitTle BoY sHouLD bE!

I feel pretty, oh so pretty...

I guess after being called a girl twice last week Kamden set out to prove those people right...
He walks better in those heels than I do!

But he still looked awfully handsome for church today!

HaPpY BiRthDaY

to my amazing hubby!

A Sad Day...

I know, I know. Your heart is probably breaking just like mine did when I saw all those curls on the floor. And for that I apologize...but it had to be done. You see, my little boy is all grown up. He will be THREE next week. Besides-he was CALLED A GIRL TWICE in the last four days and I vowed that if that EVER happened, it would be time to cut it. But it'll grow back!