Tyler had his first dentist appointment since he is now 3.  It did not go well.  These glasses are probably the only part of the appointment he enjoyed.  Perhaps we can find a pediatric dentist in Arizona and see if that helps.  Then again, what 3-year-old enjoys the dentist?

Sydney recently promoted to Orange Belt 2nd.  This is likely the end of the road for her as far as promotion for quite some time because she is only 8.  That's okay, though, because she has decided that when we move to Arizona, she would like to try something else.  I'm really proud to see how hard she has worked in karate.

January 1 kicked of potty training of my youngest child.  I have waited a long time for this.  I actually tried with him once already.  I was ready to quit after the first week of seemingly no progress, but Tyler didn't want to quit.  About three days later, he started to get it.  However, it is nearly the end of February, and only in the past week would I confidently say that he is potty trained.  He wasn't really sure about it before we started, but I told him that there are no diapers in Arizona.  He totally believes me.  This picture is of him sitting on his potty seat watching TV.  He always insisted on having a blanket because he insisted his legs were cold.

 On January 25, Tyler turned 3.  The poor little guy was recovering from bronchitis, so it was hard to made him happy that day.  We went to dinner at Burger King in the BX, his second favorite place after the Burger King with the playground out in Warrensburg.

He perked up a bit for presents.

 Not my most fantastic birthday cake, but it was exactly what he wanted.  He is a Mickey Mouse fanatic.

When he turned 3, he informed me that he wasn't Baby Bear anymore.  I have called him that nearly his whole life.  I asked what I should call him.  He said, "I you Honey Bear!"  Yes, sweet guy, you are.

Christmas was a lot of fun at our house this year.  Although "overboard" would also be an appropriate term. We did all of our fun Christmas traditions, but this year we also made edible reindeer out chocolate covered donuts, pretzel twists, and M&Ms.  It was a fun family night treat, and Tyler really did enjoy more than it appears.

 Santa brought everyone what they wanted.  Including the Power Wheels that Ben has always wanted.  Too bad he doesn't fit in it any more.

We decided to do Thanksgiving by ourselves this year.  We had a brand new set of china that used to belong to Ben's grandmother, and we were excited to get to use it for the first time.  It was such a wonderful quiet holiday enjoy our little family.

The day after Thanksgiving we left for Nauvoo.  The kids had a great time learning about was it was like to live as a member of the church in the 1840s.  It was so quiet, we were usually the only ones at each demonstration.  We learned how to make rope, bricks, horseshoes, and prairie diamonds and got to take each one home with us.

We went on a carriage ride, which was very cold, but we heard some interesting stories about early members of the church.  Well, most of us did.  This was how the boys spent the ride.

This is the wheel maker's shop.

This is in Carthage Jail, in the room where Joseph and Hyrum Smith were killed.

On December 4th, Zack had his preschool Christmas program.  The pictures aren't great because we are sitting at the very back of the church.

December 20 was the first day of Christmas break for the girls, and also the first snow of the season.  They were so excited to get out there.

They had a "campout" in the family room the night before so they all still had their sleeping bags out.  After playing until they were too cold to go on, the came in and cuddled up in their sleeping bags and watched a movie.

Ben has this week off of work, and we are really looking forward to spending a wonderful Christmas holiday.  I am so grateful for the birth of my Savior, and especially for His death and resurrection.  I pray that we will all remember Him and try to live more like Him every day.

One of our favorite Halloween traditions is making spiders out of Ding Dongs.  With the recent news from Hostess, we might have to be more creative next year.  Here are pictures of everyone's creations.

And, being the awesome parent that I am, carved pumpkins, even though I hate it.  Each of the kids designed their own.

We tried a new tradition this year.  Worm sandwiches and monster mouths for dinner.  The kids LOVED it. We even tried out the monster mouths on ourselves.

Ready for trick or treating!  Yes, I did buy their costumes this year.  I'm not proud of that.  Maybe next year.