Mattson Christmas Party Monday, December 22

We had a lot of fun traveling up to Utah County to visit our families. We stayed with Thanes brother Rusty again (they have to be getting sick of us by now!). Drama after Drama happens with our families, so I am happy to be back in my cocoon here in Saint George. My own family party was on Monday with my brothers and sisters and cousins. It's always a hilarious time spent with them! They are all clowns.



Amara played baby Jesus in the puppet Nativity. She was so proud.

Walkin' in a Winter Wonderland...And other stuff.

This is what we woke up to this morning. Remember, we live in Saint George? Weird. The schools are closed today, my friends and I were laughing about it (I grew up in South Dakota where only a huge blizzard would close the schools, and one of my friends is from Canada. Nuf Said.) My kids are really excited though. I had to start preschool at 11 today because the driveway and parking lot to the preschool is pure ice, and I don't want anyone falling or crashing into each other!! Anyway, here is a picture of our Christmas Tree, just in case you wanted to know.
Here are my kids with no shoes, coats, or gloves, playing in the snow. I'm the best mom ever!




I had to get a picture of snow on our palm trees.
On Tuesday it was Amara's school program. She did such a great job. She is the one with the pink Santa hat on.

On Monday it was our Christmas Choir Concert. The kids did great. I was worried, of course, but they remembered all the words, and the audience seemed entertained. The lights automatically turn off at 7 at the school, so while one of the girls was singing her solo, the lights turned off. Everyone opened up their cell phones and waved them back and forth like they were at a concert! It was so funny. I told them she probably felt like Hannah Montana. Tait played the xylophone for one of the songs too.

It's Snowing!

It's snowing in Saint George ! Sinjin is so excited, he thinks this means Santa is coming today! Sinjin said the funniest thing in church yesterday. He is in to money right now, and he finds it all over the place. He took the empty gum case out of the church bag and was using it as his "wallet". He asked Thane for some money to put in it, and when Thane said he didn't have any, Sinjin said "Why, Mommy doesn't let you have any money?" It was all Thane could do to not burst! He was laughing so hard he was crying and turning bright red!

Ward Pary and Tiernan's Program

Our ward Christmas breakfast was on the 13th. We got up early and went to the first part of Tait's basketball game, they lost by 2 in overtime, so they did a great job. Afterward we went over to the breakfast. It was just a simple activity, eating, the primary singing, and Santa. It was perfect. We had a lot of fun, and Sinjin wasn't scared of Santa at all. He walked right up to him and got his candy cane!




Tiernan's 2nd grade Christmas Program was on December 11th. She had fun singing songs and helping out up front for the poem her class recited. She loves school and we are so proud of her.

Amara's Math Award

Amara received the Math Excellence award for her whole class on December 4th. It say's: "This certificate is awarded to Amara Belnap for being so good in math. Amara sits quietly and participates in our math lessons. She works hard on her math papers and does them very well."
Her name was announced over the intercom in school, and Tait and Tiernan were proud to hear her name!

Basketball and Birthdays!

Tait is having such a fun time playing basketball. He is the best guard, and he's always the one that throws the ball out to the players when it goes out of bounds. (can you tell I don't know all the terms for basketball?!!) This is his first time playing on a team and he is doing a great job. He got lucky because their coach is the coach for the High School, so they are learning a lot!
HAPPY BIRTHDAY THANE! All he wanted was a new harness for his paraglider, so that's all he got (they're expensive!) He had fun flying that morning with his friends in Cedar City, and later on that night, we went out to dinner and a movie. The next day we pigged out on cheesecake and blueberries. It was a lot of fun.
My friends and I went out to lunch for our friend Melanie's birthday on Saturday also. We went to "25 & Main". They have the BEST cupcakes ever!!! I am not a big fan of cake, but I am going to visit there often! It was a surprise for her, and it was a lot of fun.

Thanksgiving Weekend Fun!

Over the Thanksgiving weekend we went to the Dinosaur tracks out by Sand Mountain. They are real foot prints from dinosaurs that lived here a long time ago. There used to be a huge lake that took up most of Utah, and Saint George was at the edge of it I guess. The dinosaurs would come and drink from the lake, and leave their footprints and tail marks in the soft soil. Then sand would wash into the prints and eventually turn to stone. Here are pictures of the kids by the biggest footprint we could find, and while we were there, we took some family pictures too. It was really cool!

The Walters

Aren't we creative?:)

Tait

Amara

Tiernan

Sinjin

Thane and Annette

After the tracks we decided to go shooting. The kids had fun playing in the car with their earplugs in and talking on the walkie talkie to eachother.

Here is Amara shooting with Daddy
And Sinjin with daddy's help
Jared
Amara
Can you see the casing flying out of the gun?
Tait with a 22
Just a fun shot of skeet

Thinking, Thankfully!

I have so much to be thankful for. First of all, my faith. I am so grateful for parents that opened the door and their hearts to the Missionaries in South Dakota. My parents are converts, and they know what it’s like to live without the true gospel. Thank you mom and dad for bringing me up the best way you could.

Thane. How can I express my truly deep gratitude for you? You have saved me from myself. You have helped me learn to like myself. You have given me confidence in relationships. You have lifted me up when I needed a nudge, and you have always been the strong one. You have helped my testimony grow, and taught me so much about the gospel. You have been a true example of service and selflessness to me and our children, and nothing can ever replace your example. I love you.

My children. You have taught me a lot about myself. I am so thankful to Heavenly Father for trusting me with your sweet, special spirits. He has held you in reserve for your father and me, and I pray every day that I can be the best mother for you. You are so much fun to be around, and I learn something new about each one of you every day. You are all so unique. I can see the love you have for each other. I love you Tait, Tiernan, Amara, and Sinjin!

My family! What else can I say! They are truly the best family in the world. I love my 4 sisters and my 3 brothers, my in laws, and my cousins, nieces and nephews! Without our families, life would be boring! Right?

My friends. I am a hard person to be a friend to, I think! I am always busy, and I feel like I don’t do enough for my friends. Yet, they stand beside me and help me with everything. I love going for walks with my neighbors and friends. I love exercising in the morning with Jill and Jana. If it weren’t for you girls, I would never exercise. Thanks friends for the cups of sugar, cans of corn, and sticks of butter you have helped me out with!

I am thankful for challenges. Without them I would stay in my own little world and never look outside myself for knowledge or growth.


Our friends, the Walters, came down from Herriman to spend Thanksgiving with us. We have been friends for a long time! Thane and Jared have been friends since they were kids and Christine and I have been friends since Jared and her started dating. It turned out that her parents went to High School with my brother in law, Steve! It's a small world. The Walter's are more like family, than friends. We are very comfortable around each other and we always have a blast!


Here is our sweet potato casserole and turkey fresh out of the oven!

Thane loves Turkey Day! And what would Thanksgiving be without cheese wiz!?

We decided one night for Family Home Evening that we would cut strips of paper and keep them in a bowl on the counter for people to write the things they were thankful for on each strip. We continued the writing for all of November. On Thanksgiving night we read all of the strips and linked them together to make a chain. It was fun to read what the kids wrote. It's always so simple for them. Tait was the grand prize winner! He wrote A LOT of them!I had photoshoots on Thanksgiving Day, Friday and Saturday! Then I had fun taking the Walter's family pictures on Saturday and pictures of our new nephew, Daxter, on Sunday. April (Thane's sister) and her husband were down here visiting his family. She just had her baby on the 16th of November! She is like me, we can't stay still for too long!

Needless to say, I will be really busy this week editing! Sinjin is sick too! Poor Sinjin!

Tait!

Tait has been hard at work entering almost everything the school puts on.

He was in the storytelling festival a few weeks ago and he did so great. He loves books and loves to tell stories, and he has an amazing voice that everyone can hear, so he is great at it. He won in his genre, so he gets to go on to the District Competition.

He also entered the Reflections contest for art and entered a sculpture of a 5 legged one eyed monster. It was really cool, and he received an honorable mention medal.

Way to go Tait, we are so proud of you!

Ella and Sinjin in the Sandbox

Ella and Sinjin were having fun in the sandbox the other day, I just had to take pictures! Ella had on an apron with a big pocket which she and Sinjin filled up with sand. They were having fun seeing how full it could get.