Christmas Day 2008!!

We certainly had a white Christmas at our home! We woke up to nearly a foot of new snow. Once we left our little corner of the valley, it wasn't too snowy. I'm glad we had such a great snowstorm for Christmas!!!

Family Christmas Party 12/14/08

Debbie hosted our family Christmas party again this year, on her birthday no less. Grandpa Ken insisted on taking a family photo, so here it is..the whole Heinhold Crew!

Ryan's 10th Birthday!!

Ryan turned 10 on December 11th. He was so excited for his birthday! He took his friends to see the movie, Madagascar 2. Happy Birthday Ryan...double digits, finally!

Happy 18th Anniversary!!!

December 1, 2008, was our 18th anniversary!! We saw each other for a minute and that was it! We'll have to celebrate another day, but it has been a fun 18 years, and here is to an eternity more!!!

The Magic of Christmas....

This is my most favorite time of the year! Putting up the decorations is a huge amount of work, but so worth it!!! I love the feeling at Christmastime. I love being able to spend more time thinking about our Savior and all that He has done for us. Truly I am blessed and I am so very grateful for all that I have. I love the little quote on the card that is in front of my Nativity, it says, "The magic of Christmas is not in the presents, but in His Presence." I hope for each of us to have a wonderful holiday season!!!

Decorating the house for Christmas!!!

Thanksgiving Weekend!!!

Our family spent Thanksgiving this year in Las Vegas, Nevada. Ryan's team participated in the NYFC (National Youth Football Championships). I always thought people who did sports over Thanksgiving were nuts, but we did it this year. We actually had a great time and it was a lot of fun. Ben had to work into Thursday morning, so we sent Ryan with another family on Wednesday. We left for Vegas on Thanksgiving morning at about 4:00 a.m. We drove straight there and went to Ryan's first game against Arizona at 11:00 a.m. Both teams he played against had 10 and 11 year olds on their teams (the star of the Arizona team is almost 12)! That would be one and two levels above what they play here in Utah! Ryan's team is made up of 8 and 9 year olds. There was no way that these little ones could compete against such experienced players, but they still had fun! Friday they played a team against California and were better matched but still lost. It was a blast hanging out with the other "football families" and going with them to M "n" M World and walking the fun places on the strip. The kids really wanted to ride the roller coaster at New York New York. It was seriously the most intense roller coaster I've ever been on! I can't believe Ryan dared go because I was kind of nervous. The ride to the top seemed to take forever!!! Anyway, it was a fun weekend, but not very "Christmassy" at all.

National Youth Football Championship Games in Las Vegas!!!

Jake's 13!!!

Mom gets a "Thank You" kiss!!

Jake has been asking for a cell phone for about 3 years now! He finally got one for his birthday this year! He has really proven himself responsible in everything he does. This past quarter he got a 3.8 grade point and received the Diamondback of the Month Award. We are so proud of him and were so excited to reward him with his biggest wish! Happy 13th Birthday Jake, we love you!!

Jake's 13th Birthday Party!!!

For Jake's birthday, we took the family and some of Jake's friends to go see the new James Bond movie. Afterwards, they came back to our house and played football in the backyard. It was a really fun day (and it ended great with the Utes big win over BYU...GO UTES!)!

Jake with his friends! Left to Right: Daxon Roundy, Daniel Osornio, Bryce Woodhead, Andre Herrera, Jake, Jordan Syme

Josh...an amazing musician!!!

Josh is never far from his guitar! He is really good at the electric guitar and acoustic guitar. It is fun to listen to him and he composes the coolest songs! He is also learning the stand up bass in his orchestra class at school!

8 Things About Me

I was tagged by my cousin, De, to do this, so here it goes:

8 things I am looking forward to:
*The Holidays...LOVE THEM
* A trip to Napa Valley with my sisters next May
* Football being over so we have free time again
* Decorating the house and putting up the Christmas tree
* Going snowmobiling
* Going to Thanksgiving Point and riding a wagon around the Christmas lights
* Having a cup of hot chocolate
* My sister-in-law and brother having their baby boy next March

8 things on my wish list:
* Lose 15 pounds
* Memorize Praeludium on the piano by Mendelssohn
* Learn how to make rum balls
* Gas prices stay low
* We stay healthy this winter
* To read a good book
* To be a better friend
* To live each day to the fullest

8 TV shows I like to watch:
* Saturday Night Live
* King of Queens
* Trading Spouses
* Man vs. Wild
* The Soup
That's about it since I don't have much time for tv...

8 Things that happened yesterday:
* Made dinner for the Sister Missionaries
* Picked up Ryan from football practice
* Went to the grocery store
* Cleaned the entire house
* Wrote on my facebook page
* Made Smores brownies
* Played the piano
* Looked at the beautiful morning sky

4 People I am Tagging:
Andra
Abby
Susan
Allyson

The "Goings On"

So, I really like to add pictures with my posts but I'm having a little trouble transferring some recent pics to my computer, so here is the scoop and I'll add the pictures later. Friday night was a fun evening. Josh and his friend, Trey, had auditioned for and were chosen to be the opening act for Trace Bundy. Trace is from Colorado and is the most amazing guitarist I have ever seen. Anyway, Josh and Trey performed three songs. Two of them Trey wrote and one was a cover song. Trey played acoustic guitar and the two of them sang. It was awesome!!! They sounded so great!!! Then Trace performed...he is amazing! My parents just got back from Branson and said Trace was much better than the act they watched there, who of course was excellent. Go to youtube.com and type in Trace Bundy 5 Capos or since it's almost Christmas, type in Carol of the Bells instead of 5 Capos. These are songs he played Friday evening and you just have to watch his fingers. Wow!
The rest of our life is still football...Ryan won't be done until after Thanksgiving... and getting ready for the holidays. I've actually been able to get quite a bit of my Christmas shopping done. Jake is enjoying having his evenings free since football is over with for him, but that will end in a couple of weeks when basketball starts.
Bring on the holidays!!! The most wonderful time of the year!!!!

Some recent pictures of our family.....

These are some pictures our friend, Andra Stoker took of us. The top picture is Josh, then Jake, then Ryan and then of course, the whole fam!

Practicing in the snow!

This is a terrible picture from my camera on my phone, but you can kind of see the snow and where the coaches had to shovel the snow for the kids to practice. This was Wednesday night and it was 32 degrees. Ryan has to keep practicing for his tournament in Las Vegas. CRAZY!!!

Beautiful Fall!

Ben took these pictures. I love the one of the clouds coming over Kennecott. This other picture is one of our Trinity Pear trees. The colors are just so beautiful right now.

Ryan and Jake and Halloween Dinner 2008

Grandma Lynne's Halloween Party 10-25-08

JAKE: DIAMONDBACK OF THE MONTH!!!

We are so proud of Jake!!! This week we received a letter in the mail that Jake had been chosen as Diamondback of the month (he goes to Fort Herriman Middle School and they are the Diamondbacks). We were invited to a breakfast on Thursday morning. It was so neat. The principal, counselors and teachers were there. There were also 11 other students who had been chosen (they choose 2 boys and 2 girls from every grade). The principal explained that being chosen is very prestigious because the process for being chosen is extremely rigorous. He said that every month the teachers each choose 4 boys and 4 girls from each grade that they think exemplify the "Rattle Characteristics/Traits" R: Respects Self and Others-A: Always in the Right Place-T: Totally Prepared-T:Takes Responsibility-L: Lives to Learn-E: Exhibits Character. He explained that they then take the students with the most votes and send out a list of them to the teachers and they vote on who they think should win. Then it comes down to the top 4 boys and 4 girls in each grade and there is one final vote. The 2 boys and 2 girls with the highest number of votes are chosen. I have to admit I was one proud mom!!! One of the counselors came up to Jake and me and quietly said, "You know, to ever receive this award is quite the honor, but it is most impressive in the first quarter of 7th grade because that means your son has made quite the impression on his teachers." She then went on to explain, " You see, we usually see the same names over and over again for this award of our very best students and once they are chosen they can't be picked again. For Jake to be picked at the beginning, with such fierce competition, is the greatest honor!" Then Jake's art teacher came up to me and said, "I have to tell you, your son is such a joy to have in my class. He is one of the nicest boys I have taught in all my years and he is just such a great kid. If I weren't done with my child-rearing years (she's probably mid 50s) I'd snatch him up and take him home with me." We ate our breakfast as the kids were called up one by one to receive their plaques and shake hands with everyone. Then they were also presented with a folder with letters from their teachers to them. I want to share some comments that were made about Jake by some of his teachers.
Ms. Van Heiden (math): "I can always count on you to do the right things at the right time."
Mrs. Strang (art): "He thinks before he speaks and is self-disciplined, always accountable for his actions. He is kind to others and has a really good sense of who he is and how he fits in."
Mrs. Anderson (english): "Your bright smile and witty sense of humor really make my day. You are a hard worker and a great example to all of us of what it means to, Live-to-Learn."
Mrs. Nielsen (history): "Jake, I think that you are a very exemplary student and you show your classmates how to behave in class. You are what I like to call a "quiet leader" and you have a strong influence on your peers."
It was such a great day for Jake and his parents are very proud of him!!!