A Peres Tradition...Apparently

Joshua finds a tree he loves. "Cute tree!" he says.

Aunt Anne. Ain't she purty?

Cousins Kristina, Rebecca, and Elizabeth

Scott says "Mom! Can I please take it home? I'll take good care of it." Hey, better than a dog, I say.

Cousin Elizabeth and the "cute" trees.

Every year, rain or shine, Steve's family gets together in Placerville, CA for their annual Christmas tree hunt/picnic. They go to a tree farm, hike through the hills, find the perfect tree, and some staff person comes and cuts it down. They wrap it up all nice and pretty for you and off you go. Everyone brings food to share, a football to toss, and a big appetite. I think I like this tradition.

Cousin Rebecca warms up her shivering little doggy.

Ah, cute.

Uncle Rick

Aunt Anne and Cousin Kristina

Aunt Teresa and Aunt Anne (Steve's sisters)

Scott, Noah, and Joshua

Phyllis and Grandpa Peres

Deck The Halls

Noah

Scott

Joshua

Scott

Scott

The Sunday after Thanksgiving we decorated for Christmas. We decided this year that since everything is boxed up and ready to move again soon we didn't want to get everything out, so just the bare minimum got put out. The kids did almost all of the work. Steve supervised from the couch--with his eyes closed. They were almost more into taking pictures of each other taking pictures than putting ornaments up.

Happy Very Belated Thanksgiving!

Yummy dinner!

The "kid" table. Joshua, Noah, Deron's niece (I'm terrible, can't remember her name) and Scott.

Steve

Deron, Teresa (Steve's sister), Phyllis, and George (Steve's dad)

Deron, Teresa, George, Deron's mom, Don (Deron's brother), Don's wife. I'm terrible with names!

Okay, I'm a little behind. I'm going to do my best to catch up. So this year we actually stayed home for Thanksgiving, a rarity. We hosted this year. We had part of Steve's family over including our brother-in-law Deron's family. It was great. Not too traumatic. The weather actually cooperated so we could have some people sit outside. I'd actually do it again.

It's pie time!

Scott

Noah

Joshua

SOLD!!!!

You got it. We are so grateful that we sold our house this week. We kept the fact that it was under contract quiet because we didn't want to jinx ourselves. We feel very blessed considering the state of the economy. We also feel sad to no longer own that beautiful home and yard, but are happy here in Folsom.

Now That's Love

Two weekends in a row Steve came home from work in the middle of the night with candy he found hanging out in the ER waiting for a home. He very quietly laid it out on the floor or the counter in a most creative way to tell me he loved me. I woke up to a most wonderful surprise. CHOCOLATE? That's true love.

Happy Halloween!

We had a great Halloween this year. The boys really scored this year. A week ago our ward had a trunk-or-treat and Halloween party. The boys got loads of candy and Joshua got primed for the real deal. He discovered that saying Trick-or-Treat to people gets great results. Then, of course, they went trick-or-treating last night around the neighborhood and scored even more candy. Scott and Noah were both Jedi again this year and Joshua was Superman who stole a light saber from another Jedi. He insisted on having his own light saber. How do you say no to a 3-year old? Scott had a rough time with that one and insisted that Superman did NOT carry a light saber.After we got home from trick-or-treating we relaxed on the couch watching Scooby Doo's Creepiest Capers and ate way too much candy. It was so cute to watch Joshua. He kept asking me if he could have a piece of candy. I would say "yes" and his eyes would get really big and he'd just grin the whole time he ate that piece of candy. He'd ask again and I would let him eat another. He was in heaven. How often do you get to eat as much candy as you can possibly eat and not even get in trouble?

Boys Will Be Boys

I had to post this little experience because I know many of you have little boys or even crude little girls (like I was) and will appreciate this story. We were in the bishop's office this week getting our new callings for our new ward. The bishop asked me to play the piano for the Primary, only he didn't use that word exactly. He asked if I would be the Primary pianist. Suddenly I hear little snickers and giggles next to me. Then, the bishop said the word again, and the boys continue their giggling a little louder this time, only now the 1st counselor has joined in. The bishop gets this puzzled look on his face as if he can't figure out what is so funny. I informed him that the boys weren't familiar with that particular term and that it sounded a whole lot like another term that the boys are absolutely fascinated with. He clued in quickly and said "Excuse me. We'd like to call you to be the piano player." I just about died of embarrassment.

Joshua's First Real Bike Ride

We decided it was high time that Joshua stop riding in the bike trailer all the time and start learning to really ride his little bike with the training wheels. The older boys are loving riding on all the bike trails with us here so it's time that Joshua does too. He and Noah took a spin around the street in front of our house before we headed out to the trail. He loved it!

Man Tag

1. The rules are posted at the beginning

2. Each person answers questions about their sweetheart

3. At the end of the post, the person then tags four people and posts their names; then goes to their blog and leaves them a comment, letting them know they've been tagged.

What's your husband's name? Steve
How long have you been married? 11 years
How long did you date? 2 months, got engaged, married 2 months later (total of 4)
How old is he? nearing 39
Who eats more sweets? Not sure. Depends on what's at the hospital that day that tempts him. At home he makes me yummy treats because he knows I will eat them, but shouldn't. SABOTAGE!
Who said I love you first? He did
Who is taller? Steve
Who can sing the best? Steve chooses not to sing at all. I sing lousy, but better than he does I guess.
Who is smarter? We are both smart. Let's be fair. No really, I am amazed at how smart he is. He knows everything! He's got me beat.
Who does the laundry? I did until he joined us here in Folsom and turned over a new leaf. He does laundry a lot more now.
Who pays the bills? I do
Who sleeps on the right side of the bed? Steve
Who mows the lawn? Either of us
Who cooks dinner? I do if Steve isn't home. Otherwise, Steve does and he is great at it.
Who drives? I do, except on Sunday to and from church.
Who is the first to admit they're wrong? Depends. More often it's me, but sometimes it's him.
Who kissed who first? he kissed me
Who asked who out first? He asked me
Who wears the pants? I do when he's not home and he does when he is.

Now I tag: anyone reading my blog!

The Faith Of A Child

The kids were taking out the trash one evening last week. Scott took his little Lego Star Wars Anakin guy with him. Well, Anakin's hair fell into the grass. This is a tiny brown piece that blends in very well to the ground. It was dark outside. Scott came in very upset and asked me to help him find Anakin's hair. We combed the area with flashlights, but to no avail. Then Scott said "Mom, maybe we should pray to Heavenly Father and ask him to help us find Anakin's hair." I told him it was a great idea. We knelt down right there in the grass and Scott offered the most sweet, sincere prayer asking Him to help us find the Lego piece. Scott stood up and said "Mom, I just have a lot of faith that Heavenly Father will help us find it. I just know it." I prayed silently that this would really come true because I wanted the boys to see how prayer and faith can work in their lives. We combed the area again with the flashlights. After a few minutes I started to tell the boys we might have to look in the morning when it was light outside. Just as I said that I stepped right on Anakin's hair. Hallelujah! What a great testimony builder for all of us.

Happy 7th Birthday Scott!

On October 6th Scott turned 7 years old! We headed up to Apple Hill on Saturday, the 4th, for apple fritters, apple donuts, chocolate caramel apples, fudge, cotton candy, apple juice, and apple butter. Unfortunately it was raining cats and dogs so we couldn't do any of the fun activities like corn mazes and apple picking and tire swings and fishing ponds. This is why we have no pictures. It was a complete downpour and we were SOAKED!

Scott requested a Transformers birthday. For those of you not up on the details, this is the sign for the Autobots. I made it with fruit rollups. We try.

Joshua and Phyllis

Daddy, Noah, and Grandpa Peres

Uncle Deron and Aunt Teresa

We had the big party Sunday night, the 5th, so Grandpa Peres, Phyllis, Uncle Deron, and Aunt Teresa could celebrate with us. We enjoyed a fantastic spaghetti dinner made by Daddy, opened presents, and pigged out on cake and ice cream. Scott does everything with great enthusiasm as you can see by the pictures. We love you Scott!



The next morning we let Scott open the rest of his presents, including his new birthday pillowcase made by Grandma Turner, and sent him off to school. He was NOT HAPPY about having to leave all of his new toys and going to school on his BIRTHDAY. It's a tough life.

Steve Finally Moves In

I just wanted to happily announce that Steve finally joined us at 12:15 a.m. Friday, October, 3rd. We are so happy to have him here and feel complete again. Now if we could just sell our house in Kanab...

Still Counting...

It's now been 39 days without our Daddy. We miss him and pray he'll join us soon...

More Rock Climbing Adventures

Scott saw our blog and was bent out of shape that there was no picture of him climbing the rock wall--this is something we usually do when he is at school. So, here we have Scott Peres, rock climber extraordinare! It's fun to see all 3 of them climb at the same time. What little studs we have!

Scott Earns Big Bucks For His School

On Friday, September 19th, Scott's school held a Jog-A-Thon to earn money for field trips and computer lab stuff, etc. Each kid had people pledge money and then they ran for 20 minutes. The Kindergarteners and 1st graders had smaller laps than the other kids. Scott was rarin' to go and did great. He ran 17 laps and earned $81 for his school. Way to go, Scott!
Incidentally, living here in California has been a multiculturally eye opening experience for the kids. Coming from Kanab, Utah they hadn't met too many kids from other cultures. Here, our kids seem to be a minority, as you can see from the pictures. It's been great; we've had lots of geography lessons and discussions about other cultures. Pretty cool. Scott's best friends at school are twins Rishagish and Viganish, and Javier.

Noah and Joshua cheer Scott on from their perch on the playground. Go Scott!

What kid doesn't like a post-run popsicle? Good job Scott!