Preference 2013

This month is Preference - a girl's choice formal dance.

This is how Talbie asked her date...

She bought a combination lock and made a list

of different combinations.  Which ever combo opened the lock - that's

who was asking him.  I thought it was so clever!

Alex answered her back by having her pulled out of class

by her chemistry teacher - who said that someone had found her chemistry book

in the hallway - and it was vandalized and she was going to have to pay for it.

She was so mad!  When she opened it up - the pages had been cut out and 

there was his answer inside :)

They had such a fun night and had such fun group of kids!

Here are some of the pictures...

 Gretta, Sarah, and Talbie heading to pick up their dates!

Bronson's Driving Permit

Bronson has been 15 for over 2 months but he hasn't pushed me to

go with him to get his driving permit.

The pressure was on though when his cousin, Brock

turned 15 on December 31st!

We went down on January 2nd and got his permit!

He's my first child to pass the first time we went.

With Maddie and Talbie - it took a couple of trips :)

Merry Christmas 2013

We had a magical Christmas!

A week or so before Christmas, Santa always makes an appearance

at the Heal's house.  This year Dave wasn't sure if he would have his

new eye made and if not, it would be a dead give away that he was playing Santa.

We recruited my brother, Dustin this year and he did a great job!

 It snowed a lot during our Christmas break and Emmie and Bronson had

a great time making snowmen in the front yard :)

 Christmas Eve tradition is that the kids open their Christmas pj's

and then try and try to keep themselves occupied until it's time to go to grandma

and grandpa's for the party!  

This year they got new games with their pj's

(Bronson didn't have his on yet ;)

 

 Dave and his girls at my mom and dad's.

 You can see the new iMac Dave gave me for Christmas :)

Maddie got a new bike, helmet, and some clothes

 Bronson asked for a giant white board and a new rifle (I think it's a 10/22)

 Emmie wanted a bean bag and microscope.  Dave found this industrial

one at one of the school sales :)

Talbie got a new lap top for college :)

 Even though my kids are old - they STILL get us up at the crack of dawn!

 Talbie's loot...

 Emmie's...

 Bronson...

I missed Maddie's picture this year :(

She had a good Christmas and we also gave her some
kitchen things like bowls, plates, cups, and utensils from IKEA
because I think a marriage is in her future this summer!
(You can see Logan in our Christmas pictures :)

I gave Dave a new TV (that I got during the Black Friday
sales - and that he found 3 weeks before Christmas!)
He also got a new razor, garments, and tools!

The Nutcracker

This year, we also made a trip to Salt Lake to see

The Nutcracker performed by Ballet West at the Capital Theatre in Salt Lake.

Before we went to the show, we stopped at Decades -  a fun

vintage clothing store

 My girls usually find treasures here.  

Maddie probably has 20 pairs of cowboy boots from this store.

I think it's because they are so little.  All their shoes are either size 4 or 5 and

that's what this store carries.

 We had so much fun!  I used to LOVE watching my girls perform in the Nutcracker every year.

This brought back a lot of great memories for us!

Christmas Parties

I'm trying to get caught up on the blog...

We had a fun Christmas, filled with a lot of different parties.

The beginning of December we had the Knowles Family Christmas Party!

Sandy, Lynn, and Grandma

 

We had a lot of fun!  This year we all brought one item to put in a gift basket

and by the end, we had a large basket to deliver to someone of our choice.  I loved this idea!

 Here's our group!  We only had a few missing :)

The next day was the "Loveless Girls Christmas Party."

We started this party about 16 years ago, after my Grandma Loveless died.

She LOVED to have parties!

She died in December so the girls in our family get together

and have a party, in her honor.

 This year my cousin, Leslie hosted at her house in Salem.

She made fake flower corsages for everyone (my grandma loved fake flowers:)

 My mom and her 2 sisters

 Maddie, Talbie, me, my mom, Brittany

 Leslie did such a fantastic job hosting!  She even made everyone a copy

of the Phil Donahoe show that my grandma was on when they all went on 

a trip to New York, just before she died.  

He was in the audience asking questions when my grandma 

took the mic and gave him an ear full :)

Last, but not least - here is a picture of our "girl's night"

Christmas party.

We have been getting together for over 15 years.  Most of us have known

each other for over 20 years.  

We used to get together every month but over the past few years, it's just

been at Christmas.