Jeff and Sheryl Family: 2009

Homemade Ice Cream for Christmas!

We went to Idaho for Christmas and got spoiled by Jeff's family! We had a great time there! Jeff's dad made really yummy homemade ice cream for the kids! Trevor couldn't stop eating to look up for the picture. The kids really enjoyed being involved in making their own ice cream! Thank you Grandma and Papa!

Merry Christmas!

For Christmas we had lot of fun and got really spoiled at Jeff's parents in Idaho. The kids got to open their PJ gift on Christmas Eve and then see all thier cousins for Christmas day. It was great! Thank you all for all the wonderful gifts and time together!

Kara adores spending time with her "girl cousins" her age whenever we are in Idaho. All three girls love Hannah Montana. They put on a concert for us making the couch a stage. They sang with spoons as microphones and had a blast! Way to go girls! What a show!

Kara and Trevor on Christmas Eve opening their PJ's. Below is the traditional family picture of the kids in their new Pajamas for Christmas.

After Christmas Party!

On the day after Christmas we left our kids with Jeff's parents and went on a mini group date with Jeff's siblings and their spouses. Because we live in Utah we don't get to hand out with them much so we really looked forward to our group date with them. We played at Terri and Dusty's house on the Wii. It was really fun! Thank you Mark and Stacey and Terri and Dusty for a really fun time!

On the night of the 26th we all went to Chuck-E-Cheese for an after Christmas birthday party for Masen (one of Kara and Trevor's cousins). All the cousins on Jeff's side of the family were there. It was so much fun! They held the party early so we could be a part of it. We are so glad we could be there and not miss out on all the fun!

Trevor and Sam driving a monster truck at Chuck-E-Chesses. Cousin boys having fun!

Kara and Dani at Chuck-E-Cheeses.

Kara, Masen and Taylor at Chuck-E-Chesses having fun!

Joseph, Sam, Masen holding Carlie, ChuckECheese, Dani, Kara, Taylor, and Sheryl holding a very grumpy Trevor who had had enough and didn't want to be a part of a picture.

Visiting Grandma & Papa

On the way home from Christmas (on Dec. 27th) we stopped in Bountiful, Utah to visit Jeff's Grandma and Grandpa. We sure love them! We had fun visiting with them while the kids played with their toys. Even though the kids only get to see them 4 or 5 times a year, they feel very comfortable in their home. Our kids are very stranger shy, and the picture of them sitting on the couch with Great-Grandma and Papa would have NEVER happened if they didn't feel totally comfortable with them. They are amazing people and we were so glad we could spend some time with them!

Happy 3rd Birthday TREVOR!

Trevor turned 3 yrs old on December 19th! Congrats Trevor! We love you!

For His Birthday Trevor asked for a Spiderman party. He said he wanted a "blue spiderman cake that's chocolate". Well, that's exactly what he got. He was very excited to get "boy stuff!" for his birthday which is all he asked for when you asked him what he wanted. Thank you all who came and sent him darling gifts!

Also for his birthday he wanted to go to his favorite place...Jumpin' Jacks. So Daddy took him and a buddy of his there during the day. We had his party that night at our house. He had a fun day!

Mom and Grandma made the cake per his request. He was a happy boy!

Festival of Trees

On Dec. 2nd we traveled to Salt Lake to go to the Festival of Trees with my parents. Sheryl danced with her clogging group there too. (This picture is just of me with a few of my teammates. There are about 19 of us on the team.)

Trevor and Kara with Grandma enjoying the Festival of Trees!

Kara's Trip to the Hospital

On Saturday night, November 21st, Kara split her chin open sliding across the kitchen floor. She was trying to have some fun and got a brand new life experience instead. She took her pillow, put on her mittens (for increased sliding action...the girl was thinkin'), ran full speed and

hurled herself at the kitchen floor. The only thing to stop her momentum was her chin. Realizing how serious it was (we could see the inside of her chin pretty good), we took her to the after hours clinic. She fought them so much when they were trying to clean it (I don't blame her...it hurt!) that they told us we would need to go the emergency room at the hospital so they could put her out to put the stitiches in. So that's what we did. They gave her a shot to put her to sleep, then gave her seven stitiches. Before she was fully coherant they brought her to me (being pregnant and Trevor being young neither of us were allowed to even sit in the waiting room at the hospital due to the Swine Flu). She threw up moments after getting in the car. We all arrived home about midnight totally exhausted. This parenting thing isnt' for whimps!

Kara's First Recital

Kara had her first dance recital on Nov. 14th 2009. She is taking a Ballet class with her friend Cambry (hugging Kara in the picture). She did so great! She knew the steps so well! She was front and center of the group leading those around her with what to do! (Sheryl had the big grin and was pretty proud of her little dancer!) Way to go Kara!

Halloween

For Halloween Kara was witch with purple hair and Trevor was, of course, Spiderman with Muscles! Tradition has it that Jeff has to come up with some way to scare some people to death so he did. He sat under a table for a few hours and grabbed innocent trick-or-treater hands when they tried to take a candy. He got some good screams. Ahh boy. Traditions.

Wicked Girls Weekend!

In mid-September Sheryl got the trip of a lifetime! Time away from the kids to spend with her mom and sisters up in WA! I flew to Seattle with my Mom and met up with my sisters and their families. It was wonderful to be back "HOME" where I was raised and visit my old stomping ground! While there we all went to see the Broadway play WICKED! It was my first broadway play and I loved it! I got some fabulous bonding time while shopping and eating out with my sisters! Jeff stayed home with the kids all weekend for some Daddy bonding time while I enjoyed my weekend get-away! I hope we can do this every year!

Also while in Washington I got to go see some of my old schools! We visited my Elementary school, my middle school and my High School! All in Everett, WA! I hadn't been there in years so there had been a lot of changes! But is was good to be back to my childhood home! I also got to see my dearest friend Kristin! I loved spending a day with her in Edmunds! We went on a fairy ride and did some fun shopping! (Utahns don't get to go on Fairy rides so I was really excited to do this!) We also found a yummy crepe cafe and enjoyed lunch there! Thank you Kristin for a really fun day together! I can't wait until we can do it again!

Kara's First Day of Dance class!

Kara's first day of Preschool was also her first day of dance class! (We had a lot of firsts in one day!) She is going to a studio called "Central Utah Stars" and is learning ballet and jazz. She is in the class with another little girl that she is close friends with and she loves it! She makes her mommy so proud!

Kara's First Day of Preschool!

Here is Kara on her first day of preschool! Our next door neighbor is her preschool teacher and she has a whole classroom set up in her house! So Kara can easily walk to school! She loves it and is doing GREAT! One of the goals of the preschool was to have all the kids be able to write their name by the end of the year. Kara could write her name long before her first day of school! We are so proud of her! (already an academic nerd like her parents...ahhh)

Our Trip to Idaho!

At the end of August we took another trip back to Idaho! (Can you believe it, twice in one month!) This was so much fun for the kids! They got to spend some time with their cousin's on Jeff's side which they love! Constant play time from Sun-up to Sun-down! We got some good family and cousin pictures while we were there too!

Kara with Cousin Dani hangin' in a tree!

Kara and Trevor on a kid sized porch swing at Grandma and Granpa's house in Idaho.

The cousins! They love being together...but getting them all to look in the same direction at the same time AND SMILE is quite a chore!

Happy 7yrs to US!

Jeff and I celebrated our 7 year wedding anniversary on August 10th! With two kids out of diapers we figured this was our year to celebrate with a night at Anniversary Inn! This was the first time since Kara was born that we every spent the night away from the kids! We had such a great time! We went out to an elegant dinner and then to our room which came with a jetted tub and chocolate covered strawberries! It was so relaxing! A big Thank you to our good friends Kisha and Warren for keeping the kids overnight so we could celebrate!

August Family Reunion Fun

Sheryl O., Ashlee, Sheryl, Colleen, Julie and Patti doing a "girls" dance to the song "Any Man of Mine" on the last day of the Stout Family Reunion! We we awesome ladies!

Kara with cousin Sheryl O. on a Ski-doo! Kara was laughing all the way saying "Go Faster!"

Jeff, Chris, Randy and our Trevor having fun at the beach! Payette Lake, Idaho.

August Family Reunion

In August we had our 2nd Stout Family Reunion in McCall, ID! Despite the rain we had a lot of fun! We even got out on the boat and ski-doos when the rain slowed! On the last day we had a Family Variety Show and Kara and Trevor rocked the house! We are so proud of them!

Pioneer Day Parade!

We celebrated the 24th of July (Pioneer Day in Utah) a little early with a neighborhood Pioneer Day parade! With help from our kind neighbor, we made our kids' wagon look like a covered wagon and attached it to the back of Kara's bike. She pedaled along actually pulling Trevor who was riding in the covered wagon waving his Flag! We just went a few blocks around the neighborhoood but it was hot, and by the end we realized none of us would have made good pioneers! We couldn't even make it a few blocks without begging for A/C and popsicles! We are so weak!

Vote for Sheryl!

In the Month of July the Mayor of Spanish Fork called me and encouraged me to run for City Council. He said that our city needed a woman's voice at the coucil table and thought I was the woman for the job. I was shocked to say the least. I seriously considered this option...and thought of all the ways I could help improve the city. While I deliberated on the matter some of my dearest chums decided it would be funny to jump the gun and put up signs around the neighborhood saying "VOTE FOR SHERYL!" or "SHERYL FOR CITY COUNCIL!". I about got in a car accident when I drove past one. I slammed on my breaks, and quickly took the sign down! I was very grateful and flattered for the many votes of confidence from my friends in the neighborhood and on facebook. It was the response from friends that made me actually consider doing it! But after researching the time constraints placed on a council member, I realized that this was not the time in my life to do the best at this job. But, it has now opened the window of the possiblity in the future which thing I never had supposed! Hee!

Many people wanted to know how I got to know the Mayor. Well, I met him at Jeff's Utah Genius Award Banquet back in May, and we talked for about 40minutes about the issues inside Spanish Fork Government. I casually gave him my opinions and ideas and he asked for my phone number and said he was going to call me when it was time to put my name on the ballet for city council. I didn't take that seriously at all...until he called.

4th of July Fun!

We went to Idaho for the weekend to spend the 4th of July with Jeff's side of the family! We had lots of fun taking the kids to the waterpark, parade, carnival and cherry picking! We even had a camp out with the cousins in Grandma and Grandpa's backyard! Thanks to all of you for a fun weekend!!

After the morning parade on July 4th we had fun with the cousins at their town's 4th of July Carnival. It was so nice to spend this Holiday with them!