Getting Ready ...

To say this Christmas season has come with nothing but delight and joy would be untrue. Those of you who know me know I LOVE Christmas. I love pretty much everything about it. However, this year was precluded with those I love deeply hurting or stressed or in situations I want to change but unfortunately have no control over. It has affected me more than I expected with moments of extreme sadness or most frustrating for me helplessness. I'm a fixer.

With that in mind it has taken extra effort this year to jump whole-heartidly into the Christmas spirit. Instead of the entire time being wonderful in general, I have really tried to focus on the moments. You know the moments. The ones where you realize people are being kinder to each other. Where you realize, again, the man you married is the one. The ones you realize you're healthy and your kids are healthy and warm with full bellies. The ones where you know the present you got for someone is PERFECT and it will make them happy. The ones where you have time to ponder the star over Christ's manger and you realize that you, too are in orbit for a purpose even if it isn't always obvious what it is.

I still can't listen to "I'll be home for Christmas" without getting emotional, but I've realized that sometimes the moments are what make the seasons possible. I hope you are able to find the hope in the moments. I hope Christmas is filled with magic and possibilities and love!

At the Christmas parade. You know you're in a small town when your daughter helps decorate the fire truck AND you know at least 10 people in the parade.

Decorating the tree includes putting the star on top...

and looking for presents underneath. There are no decorations on the bottom 1/3 of the tree - I'll bet you can guess why!

Santa at the Ward Christmas dinner. You can tell by her face how excited she was to see him!
The kids in their Christmas outfits for church. They're not really happy since this is probably the 20th picture I took. Let's just say Carter is super fast and does not like his picture taken.
This is my favorite picture of the season. Truly sums up the wonder of Christmas for all ages.

Merry Christmas!

Thankful times

There are many things I am thankful for but being with family is top of my list. Not to mention good food. And a snow day. Or not catching H1N1 while we were there. Or having Dad's 60th birthday party. But mostly being with family. Did I mention pie?

I only had my camera out two days so here is a brief glimpse of our awesome Thanksgiving holiday. We got to see Greg after his mission of two years (believe it or not he's even better than he was before. Watch out girls.) The Powell's were together for the first time in a LONG time (2 Christmas' ago?) and for the last time in at least a year. It went by fast but it was fabulous!

Again, there are many things I am thankful for...

33rd birthday spent in a Fire Truck

That's right. I had my 33rd birthday and it was pretty darn good. Dee took the day off and we went to breakfast and did some Christmas shopping. It was fun to be on a date with out kids for the morning.

I'm sure there's an age where I'm not supposed to admit how old I am but I'm also sure I haven't hit it yet. So far I'm liking it so I might as well live it proud! I've never felt so old as the year I was 29 and the Young Women in my class at church (13 year olds) said, "WOW Sister Treadway! I would NEVER have guessed you were THAT OLD!!!" I told them thanks and they weren't really helping AT ALL.

Back to the fire truck...
My best friend's husband is a fireman and we all went to dinner but he had to work. After dinner we went to the firehouse so we could have cake together and he let us go down the slide (faster than poles I guess?) and sit in the truck and turn on the lights. I guess turning 33 can be just as much fun as turning 5. It's all about perspective! :]

Farewell Brandon

My nephew Brandon is going on a mission for the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter Day Saints. He was called to the Philippines which is near and dear to my heart since my brother also served there. I am so proud of Brandon: the funny boy he was, the hysterical teenager he is and the man he is becoming. I have loved watching him progress. He has made good choices both easy and hard ones. He has great examples in his family and friends and I am proud to watch my kids watch him as an example. The road isn't going to be easy for him the next two years but I know he will be watched over and I know he is loved. We love you Brandon!


Brandon and Dee at the Sacramento temple.


The Treadway gang after his farewell talk at church.


Did I mention he's handsome? :]


And this is my beautiful niece Tressie. I loved the picture so I thought I'd post it. (Miss you girl!)

He smells like peanut butter for some weird reason...

Disclaimer. For those of you who don't have kids or even those of you that do, but not like Carter, I want you to know I do honestly watch him. In fact I watch him very close. Usually if I can't hear him he's up to something. During this peanut butter time I was in the bathroom cleaning up the mess he had left after playing in the toilet two minutes before this. (The good news is his hands were scrubbed and his clothes changed before the peanut butter.) It isn't that I don't keep an eye on my kids, it's that he is fast. Very fast. Just keep that all in mind before you pass judgement on me...

And today dog water.

Rolling fun

Ode to Halloween

The end result is way too much candy for a family of 6. How did we get here you ask?


Well first we decorated pumpkins.



Then put on some costumes (McKenna the fortune teller, Ellie the ballerina)


(Tyler a Marine, Carter was Yoda)


What we won't do for candy! And as always, May the Force Be With You...

Pumpkin Patch

One of the best things about being a domestic diva is you get to go on field trips with your kids. One of the perks for making all those lunches in my opinion. This last week I got to go with Ellie's kindergarten class to the pumpkin patch.

We started on the playground...


Moved to the petting zoo with pigs, baby goats, calves and a really fast turkey. Yes, the mom next to Ellie looks concerned because the baby goat thinks her hair is hay. She however, thought it was hilarious.


Then picked the perfect pumpkin to take home. Ellie loves "little things" and picked the smallest one she could.


Mad dash through the hay maze...


Self portrait on the train.


I wonder where our next field trip will be!

Because he's one...

I know I still haven't done Bert and Amber's wedding, but that is going to take a little time. Until then I thought I'd show some pictures of Carter because he is very very very one!


Making goofy faces and noise ALL THE TIME!


He's learned how to get the cereal out of the pantry, dump it until it all falls out then sits on the floor and eats it. Does that say 4th child or what?


I left his yogurt too close to the edge of the table while I took care of something else for just a minute...Notice the big bloop on the floor? He walked in that all over the floor. The dog was happy. Me? Not so much.



Loves the dishwasher. Notice the book in there? Also loves books. Clean ones, wa ha.


But how can you not love that face?!

Back to school and the craziness that comes with it.

Life in our mighty taxi-cab-mini-van has resumed. I still haven't caught up to date on all our fun things but to keep in order, I thought I'd post first day of school pictures since I haven't done that yet.

Ellie started Kindergarten and LOVES it. The school stuff is easy for her so far and she thinks it is a party everyday with friends. My little social girl can't remember people's names but she calls them things like, "Tickle girl" and "Boy on the swings" and "My best buddy at the triangle table". She was proposed to on the second day of school by a boy who either IS a hunter or is named Hunter. The details are a little fuzzy.


Tyler is a cool 3rd grader (the oldest in the school 4th moves up to Middle School). He's right back into the swing of things and keeps an eye out for Ellie (which makes his mom SO proud). He's liking school but not really liking the early mornings or the homework routine. However, he did join the Cross Country team and is excited about that. He grew a ton over the summer and eats like he may never have another meal.


Now this picture of McKenna takes my breath away. It was one of those moments where I saw it and realized just how much she's grown! Since McKenna was 5 my friend Debbie has said "She was an adult in a little girls body." It's true she has always been responsible and mature for her age (eldest child syndrome) but suddenly she is LOOKING the part. My baby is growing up too fast!

All of our extra-curricular activities are in full swing too. Soccer started for the girls (Ty is baseball through and through). Ellie is on the Mighty Monkeys and loves it. She is fast and has scored 3 goals so far which is always followed by a dance around the field. Dee is coaching her team this time which is funny because she always calls him coach instead of Papa.



McKenna is in the oldest and toughest division she has ever been in so far. It is awesome to watch her play because she not only gets it but is great at it. She loves to play and has an awesome coach who has helped her skills develop a lot this year. She is also in a drama group at school who will be putting on a play in February.

With soccer, drama, cross country, scouts and all the other things we have going on I am thankful for active kids, an awesome husband, a dependable car (with air conditioning!) and most of all the chance to watch it all and enjoy it.

And then... Tetons

Ok, so I meant to do this post a while ago because even more has happened since then. However, sick baby, travels and just stinking tired hasn't let me catch up. I'll try this week. But first let me finish our trip to the Tetons. To back up, after the family reunion we had decided to take a trip up to the Tetons and Yellowstone because we were so close.

We left in the rain and set up camp. Marybeth left even earlier and found us a great campsite. Dad was clever enough to bring a big tarp thingie and we all huddled inside while he did lots of cooking :]. Dad is the best to go camping with, I always feel so spoiled when he's there! He even made us crepes which is a family delight.


The next day it cleared up and we hiked up to some falls around a lake (sorry guys, I can't remember which ones anybody want to chime in?) and took the ferry back. Super fun and incredibly beautiful.

Dee took us to the lodge he use to work at and this picture is actually the spot where he met John Denver. (I know you've heard THAT story! If not make sure you ask him.)


We swam in Jackson Lake one afternoon and the background view were the Tetons. Absolutely breath-taking!




The next day we took down camp, said goodbye to Marybeth and Milo and headed out to Yellowstone. My camera was dead by this time and I didn't bring the charger because I'm cool like that so you just need to use your imagination.
We stopped at Moose Falls where Dee and the kids swam. We camped in Yellowstone and between the two parks we saw three herds of elk, coyote, deer, antelope, two bears and a buffalo. We saw Old Faithful shoot off and some hot pots with the most amazing colors. It was a fantastic time and I am so glad we included it in our trip!

First the reunion...

There was a Powell reunion at the end of July in Idaho. It was at this awesomely huge lodge/cabin. I got to see Aunts, Uncles and cousins I haven't seen for years. We went to a lake, hiked around, told stories and ate a lot - but my favorite part was when my uncle pulled out Grandpa's guitar and he and dad played the old favorites.




The kids had a great time with Milo (the dog) and the cousins kids










It was great to get together with so much family. There were some missing - James and his family were the most missed but all the cousins who couldn't make it was a bummer too. We love our family!