Lots of snow

This was Monday before Christmas. Emily begged me to go play outside in the snow and make a snowman. Our snowman is a little scary, the snow wouldn't stick together. But we had fun trying, even if it was cold. Emily and I came in and Jake stayed in the back yard forever. I kept hollering out the door to see if he was okay. I don't know how he does it.

This was the next day. We were under almost 3 feet of snow. It was almost too deep for the snow blower and too deep to make a snowman. The kids enjoyed playing while Devo and I tried to dig ourselves out. They love to get blasted by the snow blower and blast Dad with snow balls while he's working. Devo even threw Maddie into the middle of the front yard and she actually looked like she was swimming trying to get out of the snow. We don't remember seeing so much snow at once since we've been here.

Temple Square Lights

Last week for FHE we went to visit my mom (who is serving a mission at the Family History Center) and see the Christmas lights on temple square. We have never been because Devon and I hate the cold weather. Luckily it was quite warm and the kids enjoyed all the lights, Nativity scenes, and a little Christmas spirit. It was fun to spend time with Grandma and see where she spends her days.

Disneyland

We got to use our "give a day get a day" tickets in September. It was a quick trip but lots of fun. We got to spend the afternoon with cousins at the movies and dinner before we headed to the hotel near disneyland. We had adjoining rooms with Jill's family and the kids thought it was awesome. Aunt Terri joined us in the morning to hang with us for the day. We made her go on all the rides with the kids. It was a fun trip which the kids really enjoyed. Devo and I decided we are not fond of amusement park rides. By the end of the day our head and stomach were spent.

The Ferris Wheel was fun, after the first swing we knew what to expect, and Jake liked it. Emmy was so excited for all the princesses to sign her cast and when we saw Minny they wouldn't let her sign it. Bummer, I guess that's how they sell the autograph books. In a way it was good because then we didn't have to wait in any more long lines. We didn't see one princess anyways.

Some of our favorite rides. First ride was dumbo. It wasn't too crowded so the line was doable. We had to take a ride on the teacups in honor of Pops. It ended up being Jake's favorite ride, I think because there was never a line. We went on it several times. We made Aunt Terri go with the kids the last time because we were sick. Thunder Mountain was Tommy's favorite and the line was short there too so we went on it 3 or 4 times too.

This is the adults having fun while the kids played on the tree house. Jill gave us all gum to entertain us while we waited in line. (Hubba Bubba the good kind.) We, the girls, were trying to blow bubbles at the same time and it was harder than it looked. We couldn't hold the bubble long enough for each of to have one at the same time. It took us like 10 minutes to finally get it. The boys just laughed at us, as well as onlookers. The boys showed us that it was so easy and accomplished it on the first try.

More favorite rides. Sam loved the carousel. Jake loved the jungle cruise and was practically driving the boat. He informed us that "the animals were all fake" after the ride. Emily's favorite ride was the Mattahorn.

Too many tomatoes

We (Devon) finally had success in planting a garden. Devon got a little carried away with the tomato plants when he got 10. By the end the pumpkins and tomatoes were overpowering everything else. The kids absolutely loved the garden. They would go out every day and inspect it and make us come out and check on it's progress. They loved picking all the ripe and some not so ripe produce. The pumpkins were by far their favorite and they picked which one was theirs and watched it grow. We ended up with several cantaloupe, 5 pumpkins, no boysenberries?, and way too many tomatoes. We had a lot of tomato sandwiches and I canned 4 batches of salsa. It was fun to see the kids and Devon so excited.

Peterson Tradition Continues

This spring we attempted to grow wonderberries in hopes of continuing the Peterson tradition. We just couldn't get them past the alfalfa sprout stage before they would die. So on the second attempt with the same outcome, Devo decided to just plant them in the garden. They looked like they were dead and then a couple weeks later, wow! plants were growing. Devo took great pride in watching and taking care of the plants. He couldn't wait for the first good frost so he could pick them and make a pie. We had just enough to make one pie. As Devon says wonderberry pie is just part of being Peterson and identifies it with family.

Now, me not being peterson by blood, I'm not very fond of wonderberry pie. I kept warning my family it is not anything like boysenberry pie (which is a LaDue Tradition). Emily tried it a couple times but is with mom on the taste. Britney actually said it wasn't as bad and she had expected and she actually ate a whole piece! Hopefully next year we will have lots of pies to share with family and friends.

Halloween Fun

My cute little hula girl at the school Halloween parade and at a dance performance on Sat. She looked like a pro as she shook her hips. Go Girl!

My cute little skeleton. Jake couldn't wear his mask to school so we painted his face. It is hard for him to sit still but he loved the end result.

We spent the day carving pumpkins (which came from our garden). Emily was a pro and Jake tried hard not to cut his fingers off.

It was a nice day until it was time for trick or treating. The rain and wind came and the hula girl came back needing a jacket and some boots. Dad got to sport his batman costume around the neighborhood this year and the kids loved having him take them trick or treating. The kids love handing out candy. They set up their little station outside the front door and handed out so much candy we ran out of candy by 8:00.

Praying Mantis Meal

Not for the faint at heart! This was one of the coolest things of our summer. Our friend Katie showed Jake how to make a habitat for this little grasshopper they caught which he thought was awesome. He usually just puts it in a container and it dies. The next day we found another big grasshopper and a praying mantis. He put them both in the container and the praying mantis quickly attacked the little grasshopper, ripped it's head off and starting eating it. It was truly amazing to watch! Jake loved it!