Happy 4th Birthday Sydney!!

When Justin and I got married I vowed to myself that we would NEVER have a baby around Christmas. Well, guess what happened?....
The year Sydney was born we got the BEST Christmas present we could ever receive!
Since then, we have tried to separate her Birthday from Christmas. We make sure to have everything wrapped in her FAVORITE color(this year it's pink), and not Christmas wrapping. We try to have a separate party and not have it in combination with any another holiday party.
We have tried to give Sydney her own special day!!
This year she really understood what her birthday was. When I snuck away to wrap presents, her Birthday Radar went crazy and she wanted to be right there. She cried the whole time at my locked door. I finally let her in so she could help with the bows. She was a little stinker but, she's my stinker so I can say that.
Here are a few pictures from Sydney's party. Enjoy!

Sydney sneaking some ice cream before everyone got there.

The Barbie cake Grandma Beep Beep made for Sydney. She insists on making or buying all the kid's birthday cakes.

Sydney trying to figure out how to open a gift box.

Cute! PJ's from Grandma BeepBeep!

Barbies from Aunt Liz and the girls.

The stink-eye she gave mom when she opened her present from Mom and Dad. She's not totally into baby-dolls and she thought the high chair, baby seat, and swing had a doll with it....but it didn't. It was all for her new Monkey and Panda.

A doll Shaleene slaved over for Sydney. I felt bad at first because we just said that Sydney didn't like dolls. Sydney loved it though! The cutest doll ever.

I think the reason Sydney doesn't like dolls is because her brothers have teased her with the dolls she does have. They like to throw her toys around and "torture them" and she has gotten into it a little.

Sydney blowing out her candles!

Happy Birthday Sydney! We hope you had a great Birthday. WE LOVE YOU!!

Oh, what fun...Christmas 2009

This one's for Blake- My little cowboy!

Deck the Halls...

Decorating for Christmas was always a challenge in our old house.
It was soo little and it was hard to find a place for the tree, let alone everything else.
Most of our decorations we never got out because we had no where to put them.
We even stopped buying decorations for inside the house because of our space issues.
This year has been so fun!
We even have room for two trees.
We still don't have a ton of decorations but, what we do have can be put out.
I am really looking forward to "after Christmas" sells on decorations.
Here are a few pictures of the kids, trees, and our decorations.

My little decorating helpers. Kaden, Sydney, and Blake.


The tree in the TV room. This is the tree Justin and I bought for our 1st Christmas. This tree took Justin almost two hours to get all the lights on. I would have just ripped them all off and started over.


Tyler's version of helping to decorate. I think we are close to the teen years. Yippee!


I went to see The Nutcracker by The Ballet West, and these are the ornaments I brought home for the kids.


The outside lights.


It looks way better with snow.


Justin trying to find where all the lights where put.


Ty and Blake having a snowball fight. They where actually being quite strategic.


My handsome Ty.


Blakie my tender heart.


Kaden wanted to be out but, he didn't want to play or put on a coat. I made him sit on the swing and I eventually brought out blankets.

Sydney eating the snow. Kinda gross but, we all did it.

My little Angel making a snow angel.

Scrambling for snow balls.

Kaden LOVES the Andrew Sisters Christmas CD and fell asleep listening to it.

The Ogden Lights

When I was little we would go to Ogden to see the displays and lights.
It was something I always looked forward to.
I'm still a child at heart and still love to go to the lights in Ogden.

And many of the displays have little elves and stuff from when I was a kid.
It didn't seem like Christmas unless we went see them.
So here are pictures of our visit this year.
I made sure I checked the batteries in my camera before we left,

and they seemed to be in working order.
But the second we got out in the cold and took a few pictures it started flashing at me.

This is our substitute picture of Blake with Santa.

The camera went dead before I could get the picture.

Here's Ty with Santa. He was so bundled that Santa had to peel away layers to see his face. I think this year may be the last that he sits on Santa's lap. He felt a little too old to be talking to Santa.

Syd with Santa. Don't they both look so happy? I think Sydney was nervous.

Kaden with Santa.
I think he was more interested in the Candy Canes.

The real reason we came to the lights....To drop a few boys off at the jail.

I just think my kids are the cutest. Here they are in front of one of the displays.

Some of the lights as it started to snow.

I love the western Santas.

Our traditional salute with the Christmas Soldiers

A Light Unto All: A Christmas Gift

We hope everyone has a wonderful Christmas!
We have been so blessed this year! And most of our blessings have come
through family and friends. We would be totally ungrateful if we didn't say
THANK YOU for your love and friendship.
We hope you have a meaningful Christmas and a new year filled with
Family, good friends, and love!
Merry Christmas, Love the Bettridge's

Halloween 2009

Halloween Pumpkins

We love Day Farm!
Every year we like to go and pick pumpkins at Day Farms.
The kids take a few minutes searching the pile for their perfect pumpkin.
And every year the kids have a different idea about what their perfect pumpkin is.
We also like to see how much the pumpkins weigh all together
and see if they outweigh the kids.
This year the pumpkins all together weighed 188 1/2 pounds.
The nice guy let all the kids get on the scale
and they weighed 216 1/2 pounds.
Back in the day the pumpkins use to weigh more than the kids.
Not anymore!

When life get's rough.....

I've decided to start some thing new.
Every once in a while I want to post something spiritually uplifting.
Things have been a little stressful and I've felt a little emotionally drained so I found this video.
It reminds me that, when life gets hard and we feel that trials are always on our back step, it's trials that make us stronger.
I am so thankful for the sacrifices that the early pioneers made so I can enjoy the blessings I have today.

She cut her hair!!

As you can tell Sydney is now sporting a new hair cut. Not my choice!

I was sitting at work when Justin called me.

He said, "The inevitable has happened!"

A million things went through my head,

I was waiting for him to tell me one of the cars died,

or the furnace or water heater bit the dust.

Then he said, "Sydney cut her hair."

I was relieved and nervous all at the same time.

And of course the first question out of my mouth was,

"How bad is it?"

Come to find out, Dad let her have the scissors to cut out a Barbie picture, or something.

While he was sitting right there with her she started cutting off her little ringlets.

He didn't even figure it out until she ran out of the room, trying to hide what she had done, and was being too quiet in her room.

The first thing she said, because she knew she was in trouble was,

"I hate you Daddy, don't tell Mom!!"

When I got home from school I assessed the situation and tried to fix her hair without totally butchering it.

Her new hair cut is cute (a little Mullet-ish) but, not totally how I like her hair.

It could have been worse though!!

Halloween Decorations and Kids

In between Conference sessions this weekend we put up our Halloween decorations.

I have been collecting stuff for the last 10 years and am used to putting it up myself but, Justin has really gotten into it the last couple of years.

The kids had a ton of fun pretending that the huge spider was going to eat them because they where stuck in it's web

The house is kind-of a beacon in the night. I'm sure the neighbors love all the lights.

Justin has a few more tricks up his sleeve for Halloween. I just hope it doesn't scare kids away!

First day of school

This year was a fun 1st day of school. Not only was it the 1st day of kindergarten for Kaden but, it was also my 1st day of work at school.

Tyler started 4th grade this year and was able to pick his teacher. The funny thing is he probably picked the most strict 4th grade teacher in the school. He has also really been into reading and made his reading goal before the middle of the term. Tyler also loves to hang out with mom at morning recess and be the "assistant duty".

Blake started 2nd grade and is still up at Hill Field Elementary. He's the lucky one who gets to ride the bus to school. They pick him up and drop him off right in front of the house. This year he is really working hard and is willing to try everything even if he has no idea how to do it. A major improvement for Blake.

Kaden started Kindergarten and is loving his independance. He is adjusting very well to all day kindergarten and eating like a big kid in the lunch room . He also loves to get a kiss from mom everytime recess is over. I LOVE MY JOB!

Sydney was a little dissapointed that she didn't get to go to school this year. But she gets to spend time with dad while everyone is at school.

And I started my new job at Wasatch. I spend my day helping at recess, in the library, and in the office. It is a perfect job because I get to spent time with Ty and Kaden then I'm home in time for Justin to go to work. Then I get to spend time with Sydney. It will be even better when Sydney starts school, because Justin can go back to a normal daytime schedule. **Hint*Hint**