Sledding in Stansbury!

Aunt Raelene and Kimbel - HOLD ON!

Makenna - checking out the 

snow...

Madison and Braden trying out the new sled

 (compliments of Grandma D.)

Thank goodness for soft weeds at the bottom of the crazy hill!!!

FUN TIMES!

Some Duffin Cousins!

    WE LOVE DUFFINS!   I know, I know we ARE duffins -- and love it!  Our cousins Jessica, Jayson, Kendall, Kaitlyn, Londan and Lydia, and Eric &  Heidi came from Smithfield on December 26 and stayed until the 27th.  It was a party!  Grandma and Raelene were here, too and Sharalyn and Matthew also joined us.  There was lots of food and laughter and fun (even some rousing Wackee Six!)  We miss you already!
  

Merry Christmas!

Rockin' Christmas Eve

How lucky are we to have Grandma Duffin for Christmas?!?

I love Christmas!

Did I mention Christmas rocked?

I LOVE this video put to Amy Grant's "Breath of Heaven" ~ Enjoy.

watch the Nativity

Utah Drivers?!?!

Okay - first car crash OF MY LIFE!!  Crazy snowstorm barrels through Utah - we get caught in it - being super careful.  Come to a stop and WHAM!!  a crazy  car plows into us from behind. Smashed up my car - but we are all good.  A little shaken - but good.  Braden thinks he's gonna have nightmares, Raelene was calm and cool under pressure and Kelly's mom was super supportive through the THREE HOUR ordeal.  I am happy to be home and want to say THANK YOU to Jared for braving the weather and rescuing us out on I-80.  We even made the news... here is a little link for you to enjoy.  The policeman (Chris Simmons) was WAY COOL and the smashed up car is the one that hit us and I swear my car looks WORSE than it does from the ksl shot... oh well, my head FEELS worse than the Yukon LOOKS!!

our crazy day on ksl.com

Snow Angels?!?

Holiday Cheer!

My aunt Karen sent this to me and it is TOO cute.  Merry Christmas.

http://www.glenn.tapley.us/MC.swf

Why, Mom?

Sweet little Kimbel....      Last night we went as a family to the Forgotten Carols, in SLC.  Amazing.  Inspiring.  Beautiful.  Wow.  I saw the show once about 20 years ago -- and I still LOVE it.  Anyway, the girls were really impressed (Braden, not so much).  

We were walking out after it was over, Kimbel and I holding hands...  She looks up with those killer blue eyes, "Mom, those songs were beautiful.  Why were they forgotten?" 

Oh, how I love that girl and all the innocence that comes with her!!

Salt Lake Children's Choir

Makenna sang her little heart out on Saturday and Sunday evenings at the Cathedral of the Madeleine in Salt Lake City.  She auditioned for the Salt Lake Children's Choir back in August and has been practicing since September for her "debut" performance.  The choir truly sounded like angels... it was beautiful.  I will post pictures of them soon...  but here is a shot of the cathedral.

Tooele Christmas Parade

We love that we can bake at the Tooele fourth of July parade and shiver at the Christmas parade!  Yup, the Duffins love a parade!!  And Madison got to ride on the CJH Honor Society float -- you go ms. smarty pants!! :) 

ho, ho, ho.

Temple Square at Christmastime!

I got to take some of the Beehives to Temple Square to see the lights and the nativity scenes (and cute YM..)

It was a beautiful winter night ~ the sights and sounds of Christmas definitely got me feeling the holiday spirit.  

Loved it.

Tree Time!

Off we headed to the tree farm ... in search of the perfect 

Utah Christmas tree!

To Braden's delight - the tree farm was a

 REAL farm with horses, cows, dogs and a BIG haystack!  

Nothing like a good climb to the top of a haystack... 

(my little country boy!)

The kids were LOTS of help decorating and singing and redecorating and laughing and being silly and redecorating and yup... tons of fun!

Ah... the shining moment ...  ya gotta love Christmas.

Happy Turkey Day!

We hope your Thanksgiving is GREAT!  We are excited to be headed to Grandma's house in Idaho.  We love you all and we are SO thankful to have each of you be a part of our lives (near or far).  We are very blessed.  

Jazz 100, Bulls 101

Last night we had tickets to the Jazz game and we were so excited!  

Well, some of us were excited -- at game time a certain, unnamed four-year old decided he was NOT going.  

I know, I know "who is the boss?"  you ask.  Well, this tired mom weighed the option of a temper tantrum in front of thousands of people vs. an early bedtime.  Guess you all know who DIDN'T go to the game.

So, Kelly and the girls headed to Salt Lake and had  a GREAT time!  Kimbel loved Bear and "the big balloon" that spilled confetti all over some unsuspecting guy - and she ALMOST caught a t-shirt!

Madison reported "there were no cute guys." And Makenna said - and I quote, "It was a well-played game."

They loved the excitement of the close game and were disappointed when the Bulls put in a basket at the very last second to win the game by one point.  They had a fabulous time... maybe next time I will go too!!

New blog?

I know,  I know... change is hard!!  I have gone back and forth with this blog thing and i love and will miss elements of my iWeb page ~ but I am SUCH a follower!!! Seems blogger will be so much easier to interact and stay updated on all of YOUR blogs...

Can you feel my pressure?  So, here I am ~ back to the blog I started FIRST in JULY.  I guess change is hard... but good, too?

Twilight, baby...

Need I say more?  I fulfilled my duty as Mom and took Madison and her friends, Chelsea and Ginny to see the movie, Twilight, last night.  Mad & I loved the book and her friends - who haven't read the books - now can't wait to start!  I know - the ONLY two teenagers in Utah who haven't been bitten!!  It was a crazy (an hour long line) and fun time for all of us!!  Thanks, chicas...

Reflections by Makenna

Kenna participated in the RISE program at school and had her Sunset creation on display.  Fun.  We went to see it and as we walked in they called her name and she accepted her award.  Whew... it's all about timing.

curly Q

Madison was feeling the itch to curl someone's hair - besides her own.  Kimbel actually obliged and did her homework while Madison worked.  Quality sister time.

Hello, Utah!

Moving day was July 1st and here we are!!

Yup, goodbye beach... hello mountains!

Twin Falls Temple Open House

We were excited to be able to join the whole Duffin clan in Twin Falls for the temple open house.  It is absolutely beautiful and it was extra special to tour through with Grandma and all our Duffin cousins  (there are 17 cousins - including us!)