Ho Ho Ho!

The girls' visit with Santa:




Kara can now write not only her own name, but also Mom, Dad and Amy.

Brenda bought $105.04 worth of groceries for $32.13 last week.

Amy is in a music appreciation class this rotation and has become fascinated by stories about composers. The last time we took her to the public library, she chose a book about Beethoven, and this time, she picked out one about Mozart.

Joy had 2 Christmas parties at work last week!


And a special treat for you all:

Merry Christmas from the Petersons!

Wa Gwan?

Relaxing and having a good time
in a 2-person hammock

Photographic evidence that Joy actually does
eat fruit from time to time

Joy's favorite part of our Jamaica trip was riding a horse in the ocean.

Brenda's favorite part was the cool ocean breeze, followed closely by riding a horse in the ocean!

Amy and Kara missed Mom and Dad a little bit, but mostly they had fun playing with friends and hanging out with Aunt Jo. They got to make a gingerbread house, eat their favorite foods (mac & cheese, pancakes, pizza, hot dogs, quesadillas) and go Christmas shopping.


QOSROIT: What are your Thanksgiving plans?


Happy Turkey Day!
Love,
The Petersons

Once Upon a Time...

Kara as Sleeping Beauty

Amy as a purple fairy

Amy was so excited about her birthday last week that she had a hard time sleeping. One night as we walked by the girls' room, we heard her telling Aurora (the cat who likes to sleep in her bed) all about what it was going to be like.

Kara gave herself quite a shiner last weekend. She was doing a somersault on the couch and fell off, hitting the coffee table with her left eye. Has she learned her lesson? Of course not. She's right back to practicing her gymnastics moves on the furniture.

Brenda is so glad the election is over and is ready to move into the next 4 years supporting the leaders of the city, state and country.

Joy was on call for helping newspaper clients with emergencies on Election night, but his phone didn't ring even once.


QOSROIT: What stupid/amusing injuries have you sustained in your lifetime?


Interesting stuff:

-Another stupid criminal


Love,
The Petersons

Just a Day, Just an Ordinary Day

Tazzie didn't tree that cat, but
she is perfectly happy to take the credit

Kara in the leaves

Kara has gotten to wear her Halloween costume to preschool all week, and she is loving it.

Amy is asking for everything under the sun for her birthday.

Brenda is feeling very good about how the ward choir is doing with the Hallelujah Chorus, even after only one rehearsal. Hallelujah!

Joy carved pumpkins with the girls last night, 2 cats and one BYU logo.


QOSROIT: How are you/your kids dressing up for Halloween?


Happy Halloween!

Love,
The Petersons

Party with the Petersons

It didn't take long for Kara to find
her perfect pumpkin this year.

Best...coupon...EVER!

Brenda is really excited that she found free sheet music for the Hallelujah Chorus. Now the ward choir can start working on it this very week, and it won't cost a cent.

Amy got her first term report card. She is meeting or exceeding expectations in almost everything, and her citizenship and work habits scores are stellar.

Kara's gymnastics teacher says she is learning so fast and making amazing progress.

Joy booked the excursions for our Jamaica trip. Tuesday we will be going horseback riding, including a swim on the beach. Thursday we scheduled a canopy tour, which involves a zip line!


QOSROIT: What was your strongest subject in school?


Love,
The Petersons

As If By Magic...

Aunt Jo, the court magician, entertaining
at Kara's royal celebration

Kara wearing her new bike gear

Amy bore her testimony for the first time in sacrament meeting this week. She was really pleased with herself afterward.

Brenda is about 85% done with the girls' Halloween costumes. Just sewing Kara's skirt and crown and figuring out a way to attach Amy's fairy wings to the rest of her costume.

Kara can write her name. We'd seen her write A's and K's before, but we have no idea where she learned to write R's.

Joy is disappointed that BYU got destroyed this week in both football and women's volleyball.


QOSROIT: What are you most looking forward to in the coming week?


Love,
The Petersons

Overactive Imaginations

Kara has been taking pictures all over the place
since she got a camera for her birthday.
This is one of her better ones. Not too bad for 1 MP.

Kara loves books.

Joy ordered an iPod Touch for Brenda. Her Axim is pretty much on its last legs (Dell is evil), and the iPod Touch is just plain cool.

Chef Amy's latest culinary masterpiece was a bagel and fruit snack sandwich.

In her prayers, Kara asked Heavenly Father to help all her teeth to fall out so she can get big girl teeth.


Interesting stuff:

-From KSL news: "'Liar,' 'erratic' and 'palling around with terrorists' are perhaps some fighting words you would hear on a school yard playground." What school did they go to??


QOSROIT: Do you feel prepared for Election Day?


Love,
The Petersons

Happy, Happy Birthday, Kara Dear!

The day she was born

1st birthday

2nd birthday

3rd birthday


4th birthday!

Kara is four years old!

Amy is trying to decide what kind of birthday party she wants. We've got it down to a Halloween costume party, a friends scrapbook party or something else.

Brenda is looking forward to the cooler weather we're supposed to get this weekend - and General Conference!

Joy went out to a bar for drinks with some guys from work last night. He had Sprite.


QOSROIT: What was your most memorable birthday?


Interesting stuff:

-Ran across this quote this week: "Most of the change we think we see in life is due to truths being in and out of favor." --Robert Frost


Love,
The Petersons

It's Official

The crew with Brenda's good friend Jared

BYU, 44 Wyoming, 0

Amy taught family home evening for the very first time. Her lesson used D&C 88:124 and was about how we should not spend too much time playing video games.

Kara would not eat her potatoes at dinner, so Mom told her to "hold your nose and shovel it in," which she did. She came to the conclusion that it tastes better that way.

Brenda is not narcoleptic, nor is she pathologically sleepy. Back to the drawing board.

Joy's body has had a rough week. It started with a cold over the weekend, then pain in his shoulder, and now one of his index fingers is hurting. We're thinking it must be a work-related injury.


QOSROIT: Do you like video/computer games? What is your favorite?


Love,
The Petersons

In Your Dreams

Very cool kite made to look like
a scuba diver being chased by sharks

The girls creating tile art

When we talked about people we love in preschool, the first person Keaten thought of was Kara. She didn't really know what to say to that.

Amy has learned a little bit of cheerleading as part of one of her sports electives: "Blue and white, Eagles let's fight!"

Brenda has her second sleep study this week, this one called a multiple sleep latency test (MSLT - have to have a cool abbreviation for it). She will be hooked up to all sorts of wires overnight and then the next day for 5 naps, each 2 hours apart. If she (1) can fall asleep within a few minutes each time, and (2) enters REM sleep within an hour during at least 2 of the naps, the doctor will diagnose her with narcolepsy.

Joy's latest new toy is a center channel speaker. Now we just need rear speakers for our complete surround sound system.


QOSROIT: What did you dream about last night?


Love,
The Petersons

Learning and Growing

From last week's kite festival:

Joy on his Segway ride

A kite flown from a jet-ski

In preschool this week Kara learned a little about "rep-tables," such as snakes and alligators.

Amy and her friends tried to figure out why the chicken crossed the road. Their conclusion: the farm was on the other side.

Brenda went to the "health fair" at Joy's work this week and was relieved to find out that her total cholesterol is well under the recommended 200 mg/dL.

Joy took Amy out for a Daddy/daughter date. They went to Mimi's Cafe for dessert, and neither one of them could finish what they ordered.


Interesting stuff:

-Someone's picture of our wind farm at sunset


QOSROIT: What is your favorite restaurant, anywhere in the world?


Love,
The Petersons

The School Year is in Full Swing

The girls in front of "the biggest
man-made waterfall in the world"

One of Joy's gorgeous shots
from Thanksgiving Gardens

Kara went to preschool for the very first time on Tuesday.

Brenda taught preschool for the very first time on Wednesday. We are doing a co-op with 2 neighbors.

Amy started her electives at school this week. Tuesday was an "A day," so she had choir and piano class. Wednesday was "B day," and she got to have a gymnastics class.

Joy got to ride a Segway at the city kite festival this weekend as part of their "Go Green Expo."


QOSROIT: Have you done anything recently for the very first time?


Love,
The Petersons

Flower Girls

Kara rolling down the big hill at Thanksgiving Gardens

Mom and the girls at the Secret Garden fountain

Kara decided we should sing the monkey & alligator song while we waited at the doctor's office. When we got down to "1 little monkey sitting in the tree," she wanted to do something different. So instead of her index finger, she was "teasing Mr. Alligator" with her middle finger.

Brenda just about fell over laughing, but she recovered enough to tell Kara that we don't use that finger all by itself.

Amy gave a Primary talk all by herself on Sunday. She decided what she wanted to say and what pictures she wanted to use and didn't need Mom or Dad to help her at the podium.

Joy is excited that DirecTV finally worked something out so that we have access to the Mountain sports network and can watch all of the BYU games on TV this year. The issue has been a thorn in the sides of Mountain West Conference fans since the Mountain got exclusive rights to broadcast games two years ago.


QOSROIT: What made you laugh hardest recently?


Love,
The Petersons

Back to the Grind

Goofy sisters

Amy on her first day of school

Amy started 2nd grade Monday. Her two best friends from last year are in her class, and her teacher is really nice, so she was actually excited to go. Once Sinead walked into the classroom, Amy didn't need Mom anymore.

Brenda is excited that Amy has started school again. Sort of. It will be nice not to have the girls at each other's throats all day long, but it is hard not to be involved in that part of her life.

Kara bore her testimony to the kitties, using their scratching post for a microphone: "I'd like to bear my testimony with you guys. I know this church is true. I know Heavenly Father wants me to do the right things....and the name of Jesus Christ, amen."

Joy survived Canada. The family is excited to have him home finally! He took 3 days off to recover this week and then was back to work Thursday.


QOSROIT: What teacher(s) made a difference in your life?


Love,
The Petersons

Unfortunately, Joy Took the Camera With Him to Canada

So you'll have to settle for some pictures of the cats:

Rora in her element

Taz using the "cat hous" the girls made

The girls watched The Wizard of Oz for the first time ever this week. Amy has been singing the songs ever since.

Much to Mom's surprise, Kara has figured out how to type her own name on the computer all by herself.

Brenda has had the stomach flu for the last few days. Life's rough when Mom is sick.

Joy has made great progress on his work in Canada. He hasn't had to work into the wee hours of the morning, and he actually had the weekend off!


QOSROIT: What is your "element"?

Love,
The Petersons

Feast for the Eyes (and ears)

The girls with their glow jewelry after dark

Watching the scary part in a movie

Joy is in Montreal this week for a new work project. They needed to send him far away so people couldn't keep asking him for help all day long. Now he can actually get some of his work done.

Brenda is going to the BYU Choral Academy this week. She is hoping to learn some things that will help her feel more competent as a ward choir director.

Kara and Amy are bouncing from neighbor to neighbor this week while Mom and Dad are gone. Unfortunately, even that doesn't meant that the house stays clean.


QOSROIT: What are you doing to improve yourself or the world around you this week?


Love,
The Petersons

Joy's Had a Birthday, Shout Hooray!

Amy must have been dreaming about being Supergirl.

Joy with his brand new GPS

Joy survived his birthday. It was painful for him, but by the end of our rendition of "Happy Birthday" we all managed to choose a single key to sing in.

Amy to Kara while the two of them were playing a pretend princess game: "Seriously, I don't have any powers, and I don't want to be anyone's wife!"

According to Kara, Jesus had twelve "apossibles."

Brenda is having a hard time finding school uniforms for Amy, and school starts in 2 1/2 weeks. Walmart doesn't have anything yet, and two stores that advertised uniforms also had nothing. Grr.


Interesting stuff:

Korean photographer brings children's art to life


QOSROIT: Do you have any electronic items that you would not be able to live without?


Love,
The Petersons

This is the Right Place!

The girls at the balloon festival on July 4

Amy was so proud of her "first trophy ever"
for participation in tee ball

Amy and Kara made sure to save the last of the Sunny D for Mom. Makes a mother's heart melt!

Joy says he is excited for his birthday, because his age will be palindromic again. Brenda wonders how excited he's going to be when he turns 101.


Interesting stuff:

-Can you imagine the looks on their faces?

-The poor girl!


QOSROIT: Do you have any Mormon or other American pioneer ancestry?


Love,
The Petersons

The Inner Workings of the Peterson Mind

Kara drew a picture of Dad
and then told him it has 2 belly buttons
because "Mommy's fell off a long time ago."

Amy's very first musical composition

Amy to Dad while he was grilling dinner: "Dad, you're a good cook - as good as Mommy, but you don't burn yourself as much."

When it was time for the dinner prayer, Joy told the girls to "close your arms and fold your mouths."

Brenda dreamed that there was a power line running over our street, and there were dozens of fat kitties and pregnant bunnies sitting on it. Yes, the rabbits were pregnant, but the cats were just fat. *(No, CJ, the bunnies were not in her hair. Sh! Don't tell her!)*

Kara enjoyed reading in New Testament Stories about the signs of the Second "From-ing."


QOSROIT: What did you dream about last night?


Love,
The Petersons

Oh, Where, Oh, Where Has Our Little Girl Gone?

Kara tattooed herself the day before
we had family pictures taken

Amy's missing teeth

Amy had her very first visit from the Tooth Fairy. She had her shark teeth pulled, so she just has the 2 permanent ones that were coming in behind. The dentist gave her the baby teeth in a tiny treasure box, which she put under her pillow. The Tooth Fairy took the tooth, but left the treasure box as well as a note, 2 quarters and some gum (sugar free, of course!).

Kara managed to get a hold of a pair of scissors last weekend and cut her hair on one side. At first Mom thought she had just slept on that side and smashed it down. Imagine her surprise and chagrin when she tried to put her little girl's hair in a ponytail!

Brenda was released as nursery music leader a couple months ago, but they hadn't called anyone to replace her until this week. She has mixed feelings about leaving that calling: it will mean less stress on Sundays (and less clutter in the house, for that matter), but those little ones are so sweet and loving and fun, and their smiles just brighten the world!

Joy spent the weekend fixing a real estate client's computer. There were several problems, but the one that was hardest to deal with was a spyware program that was disguised as anti-virus software. One nasty effect was a screen saver that made it look like Windows was rebooting!


Interesting stuff:

Think this belongs in "Stupid News"?


QOSROIT: How old were you when your parents told you about who Santa, the Easter Bunny and the Tooth Fairy really are?


Love,
The Petersons

The girls on the swing ride at Orem Summerfest

Amy helping take care of the garden

Amy learned how to make pancakes this week. She burned her knuckle on the edge of the pan, so she's a little hesitant to do it again without help, but other than that she could.

Kara has pretty much mastered all the swimming skills they teach in the Parent & Me class. She can kick her legs, blow bubbles (when she wants to), float on her back (with support) and push backward off the side of the pool. The only things she won't do are going all the way under the water and jumping in from the side.

Brenda is relieved that the Youth Arts Festival and swimming lessons are over now. It will be nice to have the mornings back. It is time to put the house back together after 2 weeks of neglect.

Joy made reservations last week for our 10 year anniversary trip to Jamaica.


QOSROIT: As a spectator or a participant, what is your favorite art form?


Interesting stuff:
-Make the pipe cleaner man dance


Love,
The Petersons

The Wind & The Pillows

This is where we found Kara sleeping
one night last week.

Happy Father's Day!

For Father's Day Joy got some Calvin and Hobbes books, yummy chocolate truffles, and plenty of love from his girls.

Some of the windmills at the mouth of the canyon have been turning in the last couple of weeks, and the girls are pretty excited about it. On the way home from Amy's tee ball game last week, Kara asked if we could go see the "pinwheels."

Amy has been sick this week - congested and sniffling. Darn those summer colds!!

Brenda has been running around like a crazy woman taking the girls to Youth Arts classes and swimming lessons while still trying to keep up with laundry, dishes and grocery shopping. She has been somewhat unsuccessful. Only one more week, though.


QOSROIT: What funny words do the kids in your life say?


Love,
The Petersons