Our Christmas letter via the world-wide web...

Season's Greetings!

When I think of Christmas letters, I can't help but think of an episode I once saw of “Everybody Loves Raymond” where the nosy mother-in-law grossly over-exaggerates her family's lives to make them sound considerably more exciting than they are. If you haven't seen that episode, you need to; it's hilarious. Anyways I thought it would be fun to write a Christmas letter this year to share our year's favorite highlights with our friends and family since we haven't had the opportunity to catch up with many of you for a few months. I'll do my best not to pad it with too many exaggerations....

Shae probably had the most exciting year out of all of us! Shae has been an absolute delightful addition to our family! From headstands to walking, to solid foods and whole milk we can hardly believe she turned one year old last week! Girlfriend hardly touched her cake, too. Shae mimics everyone and almost always has a smile on her sweet face. Her first phrases were “Hi-ya!” and “Oh no!” As of late, she likes to grunt like a monkey and blow raspberries for laughs. She is a bright child with lots of love for everyone. We can't wait to see more of her personality emerge in 2009!

Jaakson turned 3 this year and continues to keep us on our toes! We have so much fun watching him learn and grow. He cracks us up on a daily basis with his funny commentaries and has a strong sense of self (to put it mildly). Jaakson loves having a little sister and can hardly wait for her to wake up in the mornings so he can play with her. We're preparing him (and ourselves) for his graduation from nursery to Sunbeams after the new year. We think he'll love it but are wondering whether his teachers will “love it,” too.

Klint has probably had the busiest year in our family. He attended UVU all year for a total of 29 completed credits. Klint's favorite class was Philosophy due to the enlightening reading material he was provided. How he managed to go to school full-time and be the yard foreman for Burton Lumber full-time and NOT have a meltdown, I don't know. But I was impressed. Klint somehow fit our co-ed softball games in once a week, too. His nickname on the team was “Van Dam” because he was pretty, dang flexible out on first base! In June, Klint had his first flight lesson on his 30th birthday. Klint said Davinci expressed it best when he said, “Once you have flown, you will walk the earth with your eyes turned skywards, for there you have been, and there you long to return.” In July, Klint and I put his long hair into dreadlocks. He was known as “the guy with dreadlocks” and “Bro. Marley” in our ward (lots of nicknames this year, huh?). Just a week ago, Klint cut his dread buddies off due to their high-maintenance demands. He kept one dreadlock as a momento. R.I.P.

As for me, I laid off the reality TV this year and found more productive things to do with my time. I lost over 20 pounds thanks to Turbo Jam and 24 Hour Fitness. Five pounds found their way back but I'll work them off after the new year....right? After 6 years of anticipation, I finally organized a co-ed softball team. As an added bonus, I finally got to play alongside Klint. (We first met on the softball field). Recipezaar.com helped me graduate from novice cook to a moderately good cook. (Now that explains the 5 pounds). In July we moved to a bigger, nicer apartment and are thoroughly enjoying the extra space! I'm also enjoying working part-time at both David Douglas and Great Clips salons. It's been a good experience at both to further build my speed and experience as well as my clientele and portfolio. Most recently, I was called as a second counselor in Relief Society and am so excited to serve in enrichment! I have a lot of ideas and am learning so much from the other sisters in my ward.

After writing this letter, we've realized how grateful we are for so many reasons. We are grateful for the knowledge that we are all children of God and that He loves us all so much. We are grateful for our health, our jobs, our everyday blessings, and a free country to live in. We are grateful for you, our friends and family. Thank you for your examples, love, and service.
We hope you all have a very Merry Christmas and a Happy New Year!

Much Love to All of You!

Kylene, Klint, Jaakson, & Shae

Everybody Loves Raymond: Season's Greeting

"Once there was a snowman, snowman, snowman..."

It finally snowed enough to make a snowman! The kids and I had so much fun this afternoon sledding thru our yard and making snow angels and a snowman! Shae loved eating the snow, too. I can't believe Christmas is only 9 days away! I love this time of year!





Later that night....we went to our ward's Christmas party and Jaakson sat on Santa's lap for the first time ever! It was so cute! Jaakson jumped onto his lap and gave him a big hug! Then he proceeded to tell Santa what he wanted for Christmas, "Speed Racer!" Jaakson was so darn cute cuz he was so excited and adamant about it! Hahaaaaaaaaa! I love my kids.




Shae tried out Santa's lap and started to get a little squeamish until he broke out the candy....

Happy Birthday, Shae!

Surprise!

I went by Klint's work today to say "hi" and was suprised to see Klint was de-dreaded! Klint LOVES surprising me by cutting all his hair off. It was hard for him but he felt it was time to say "good bye." :(

R.I.P. Dreadies.... we'll miss you.




I've honestly always thought Klint was hot no matter what hair style he's had. Here's the different styles Klint's tried out in the past....

Called me obsessed....

I came across the Vanity Fair December 2008 issue with a spread of pics of the "Twilight" cast and had to share. I thought it was fun to see what they look like w/o all the bad vampire makeup and horrible clothes...Who says these people are ugly?!



Here's the link for the rest of them, Vanity Fair "Twilight" photo shoot.

O Christmas Tree!

This is how our decorating of the tree went this year...

*Notice Jaakson's naked blur running around....



Klint does such a good job every year! I'm so grateful he puts up with my O.C.D. Christmas decorating. I wonder if he notices I rearrange the ornaments every year so they are evenly distributed? Does anyone else do that or just me?

*If you like the Christmas music on my blog, you'll LOVE the Christmas tunes at this link, kidschristmastunes2004. Hahaaaaaa! I love my family.

A poignant 3-year old's words....

This morning I was suprised to find Jaakson had emptied an entire gallon of Kikoman soy sauce from the fridge ALL over our kitchen floor......and Shae was sitting in the middle of it all. I was REALLY upset, to say the least and yelled, "GO SIT IN THE TIME-OUT CHAIR, NOW!" I was furious. I was sick of cleaning up what feels like 20+ messes a day! (That kid really tests my patience on a daily basis). So, Jaakson is wailing in time-out and Shae is tottering around in a soggy, soy sauce-saturated diaper. Lovely start of the day, right? After all is mopped up and I'm finishing in the kitchen, Jaakson comes out of time-out and in a very uncharacterstic small voice says, "I just a little kid, Mommy." It absolutely melts my heart. I give him a hug and smile. Thanks for reminding me, Jaakson.

Cute babies...

I just never get sick of cute pictures of my kids so here's another one. Shae and my friend, Kim's, litte boy Brooks....they're buddies now. ;)

I LOVED IT!

I loved the movie "Twilight!" I'm able to say this because I've come to realize over the years that books will ALWAYS be better than the movies. I think the movie really catches the essence of "Twilight" and I think the actor and actresses were great! I was pleasantly suprised. And I think the lead actor and actress for Edward and Bella had great chemistry! 8 out of 10 for me! I can't wait to see the movies that follow!

Harrrrrrry!

*I'm not gonna lie, I was a little more excited to see this than "Twilight" and was kind of annoyed when they pushed HP to next summer. Oh well, less than 24 hours!

Found some old pics I had to share.....hahaaaa!

Thanks Oprah! Free 20-page 8x8 photo book!

I didn't believe it but I was watching Peter's Clutter Crew on the Oprah show today and they said that all viewers for the next 48 hours can go to snapfish.com, upload your pictures, and get a free 20-page 8x8 photobook! They have adorable layouts, borders, fonts, and etc! Best of all, they do the work for you! All you have to do is upload your pictures and enter in the text you want, if you want any! I can't wait to get mine! I get so overwhelmed trying to scrapbook. I already put in my order and only had to pay for shipping which was $7! Definetely worth it. Check it out @ www.oprah.com and click on the link that says "Get your free gift from snapfish.com!"

Thank you to our Veterans....

These pictures are from our visit to Washington D.C. in April 2006. We spent a lot of our time visiting the memorials that honor our many veterans. I hope everyone gets a chance to visit Washington D.C. in their lifetime. I love our country because I love the people in it. Especially those who have lost their lives or their loved ones to preserve our freedom. Thank you.

Bathtub mohawks.