Christmas Morning.

And so Christmas came.  Everyone is bright eyed and bushy tailed.

The kiddos got lots of fun stuff, incliding these cute hats with beards that a good friend of mine made.  Aren't they cute?! 

What? No more pictures of Christmas?  No.  We played and watched movies and ate and stayed in our jammies all day long.  It was a good day and we enjoyed every moment of it. 

Merry Christmas!!



Preparing For Christmas

Christmas is coming.  Can you feel it?

Ok, seriously, it happened almost a month ago. 

But I have to catch up remember?

And can you believe I'm actually blogging?!?!

We went to Abbie and Poppy's for our annual Abbie's Christmas Cookie Party. 

Isaac had fun.  He even wore an apron!

I really don't know what's going on here with Sam.  I assume he's crying about the horrors of cookie mutilation in the world. 

And Ruthie Made 8 beautiful cookies.  Then, as we were leaving, she couldn't find her plate of beautiful cookies.  We threw some icing on a few and threw 'em on a plate and tried to call it good.  Then, as we arrived home, Aunt Emilie texted to say she had Ruthie's cookies. Grrr.  Ruthie was nice and said she hoped Emilie enjoyed them!

Sam is in his school choir this year.  Hurray!  The choir gave a Christmas concert.  Sam sang his heart out.  He later informed me that he doesn't really sing.  He just moves his mouth.  But I think the shape of his mouth as it matched all the other mouths in his area proves he was singing.  He's refuses to take choir in junior high.  I did try!

And Christmas Eve was spent with Abbie and Poppy.  Ruthie was an angel with some cousins in the annual Nativity story.

We also had a ward Christmas party.  We did a pie contest and had so many pies, people were talking about still being full of pie at church the next day.  Daniel and I were able to attend the sealing of a very dear couple in our ward.  Sheryl asked me to be her escort and I was happy to do it.  What a beautiful day it was, too.  Ice and snow on all the trees and everything just blanketed.  It was beautiful.  We had our family Christmas party with Daniel's family on the same day and I have no recollection of it.  Except that we got there late and left early. Darn it.

Christmas is next!!

Can't wait.

Just In Case...

This is a just in case post.  Just in case you were wondering.  So, with that in mind, I thought I'd update us.  You know, just in case you wanted to know.  We are back to school, work, life and health.  Back on Christmas Eve we went to Abbie and Poppy's for festivities.  The kids all got jammies from Abbie and Poppy.  Here are all the cousins.  Ruthie is holding David.  He looks like an elf and Daniel and I had a ton o' fun playing with him. 

For the Nativity this year, Ruthie played Mary.  That's Zac playing Joseph, just in case you wondered.  That baby is our cousin James who was born in July but not due til October.  He wanted to get here fast!  He's so tiny and so fun to hold.

Christmas morning brought gifts from Santa, AKA mom and dad.  Yep.  They all know and they aren't ashamed.  Ruthie had a swell Christmas.  She is newly into Legos and now has a sweet collection. 

Sammy loved his Lego set and used the whole day to put it together.  He also loved his new jammy bottoms and the blanket.

Isaac got the gift of his dreams.  A Lego Technic car.  I don't have any more of a title than that.  He built it, drove it around and uses other Technic pieces to do other things with it. 

Just in case you wanted to know, this is what the Christmas day table looked like. 

See that picture in the back?  It's called "Behold He Cometh" and my dad gave that to Daniel and me.  It's for our living room.  Yep!  I'll have a real honest to goodness living room soon.  See that snake in the front?  Sam set that up and uses it as a character from one of his many monster movies.  I don't know his name, but he's out quite a bit. 

And just in case you were wondering, here is the basement bathroom.  Daniel put the floor tile in and is now working on the wall tile.  Why wall tile you ask?  If you have boys, well, you already know why.  If you don't have boys, well, your walls are safe, and you probably don't have tile on your bathroom walls.  And as for the painting, just in case you wondered, I have come to a complete stand still.  I painted with one color and then did the extra bedroom so we can clear out the storage unit.  It's not done and I just haven't gotten back down to finish it.  I'm tired.  I also lost the hurry up about it because the family party is over and done.  I suppose if I want carpet I'd better get back to painting!  But not today.

For new year's eve, we stayed up late, I threw up and everyone slept until 9:30 the next morning. 

Since Wednesday we have been back to regular life and such.  And there you have it, just in case you wanted to know.

We Need A Little Christmas...

Merry Christmas from our Family to Yours.

(This is Godzilla Claus AKA Santa Zilla, bringing Christmas Joy and Love to all.)

Are You Jolly Or What?

Are you having a jolly week? I sure hope so. Considering tomorrow is the end of the world. But then again, maybe it won't end. So I hope your week is jolly so you can keep going after tomorrow with the jolliness. Or something.

 

I know it's been a tough week and it's kept me from blogging.  I don't want to move into funny and stuff too soon, but I also don't want to be sad.  Here is where I am...  We live in perilous times.  No laws or confiscations or medications or anything else will stop bad guys from doing bad things.  Or from getting guns.  Satan has got a hold on the hearts of the children of men and he will not let go or even loosen his grasp until Christ comes. I hope you are praying, as we are, that He will come soon.

 

On to the happy.  Because happy is good.  Happy is Joy.

Last week our cub scouts went to the Veteran's home in Ogden to pass out ornaments.  It was so fun to watch our cute cubs and their sibling go into the residents' rooms and give them an ornament.  Or 15.  I took pictures as they passed them out then took a picture of the group.  Sam wouldn't stand with the group so I snagged this one.  

Sam wrote this special piece in school.  I love the last line.

**********

AAAAGGGHHHHHH!!! Isaac just texted me from school and said his science fair project is going on to the district!!!!!   AAAAAAGHHHHHHHHH!!!!!!!!

*******

We got our tree up last Saturday night.  Sunday was the family party and since it was a Christmas party, I figured it would be nice to have a tree up.  Plus, it's Christmas next week.  Notice there are only like 2 decorations on it.  Those are Ruthie and Sam's ornaments they just made in school and gave to me this week.  The lights are part of the tree.  Luckily. And there are really presents under it too, much to our kids' delight!

And here is the play room minus the toys and games and clock and other such things.  Also minus the chairs and tables for people to eat dinner Sunday.  The basement, for which I have NO pictures, mostly because I don't go down there since Sunday because it was a disaster and there were games destroyed and toys EVERYWHERE!, is awesome.  Well, messy.  But still awesome.  And it was a big hit.  It was so hot and crowded in my house that it was a relief that it wasn't more crowded and hot because most of the children and teenagers were downstairs.

So now I'm ready for Christmas and am so grateful to celebrate with our home full of safety, peace, love, completeness and JOY.

On to more Jolliness!

One More Christmas Post.

It's a bloggy day.

This is a tradition that began in 2002. Isaac was 2 and Samuel was 9 months old. I had gotten a plain red Christmas tree skirt. And I had some bottles of paint. Mwaaa haa haa. So I put their cute little paws in the paint and then onto the skirt. I had originally written it all with permanent marker, but you can't read it anymore. So I re-did the names and years with lavender paint.
These are all 3 kiddos' prints in 2005, Ruthie's first Christmas.
And here we are today. 2011. I think I can get a few more years of hand prints on it yet.
It's fun to look at it under the tree every year with their cute little hand prints. And it's fun to see how much they've grown.
You probably noticed a big question mark around 2007. I had just been called as the Primary president and Daniel had just been called as the Ward Clerk. I spent that week after Christmas praying and calling a presidency. So, um, like some carols, the hand prints were forgotten that year.

Oh Yeah.. I Almost Forgot.

I just realized that there are some Christmas moments I haven't blogged. First, though, you know I must do a goat picture. This is a game that Mama Cass and Vegeta get into a lot. They both jump up on the tramp and butt each other. It's quite entertaining to watch.
Okay. Back to Christmas. We went to see Santa (aka Grandpa) on Christmas Eve afternoon. Ruthie was the first to sit on his lap.
Sam likes to wear his hat. And if you look closely, you can see he's wearing his gloves too. Silly Sam.
And Isaac brought up the rear. Santa gives each of the kids a sack filled with candy, and an orange and some tic tacs. Fun!
And here are the kids with Grandma. Isn't she beautiful?!
That night at Abbie and Poppy's Christmas Eve gala, many of the kids participated in the annual Nativity. Poppy reads it and each of the girls takes a turn to be Mary. Ruthie was an angel this year. And my boys? Well, they decided to participate as audience this year.
After the Nativity we played a gift game. Everyone brings a 3-5$ wrapped gift and I read a story that has lots of "left" and "right"s in it. We then pass the gifts to the left or right until the story ends. Then we open the gifts. And the kids get to open their gifts from Abbie and Poppy. They each get a pair of jammies. This year Abbie made the jammy bottoms. Aren't they cute?!
And Ruthie...
Abbie and Poppy gave each family a family picture puzzle. We've done ours 2 times now!
Since the trend is forgetting things, I forgot about the gift from Grandma and Grandpa. They gave each family one of these Awesome Possum Blossom waffle makers. You can make 2 big German waffles at the same time. We've been eating a LOT of waffles!
Merry Christmas. Next..... The New Year!

And Then It Was Christmas. 2011.

It began Sunday morning with breakfast. Then Sacrament Meeting. Mom and Ruthie sang in the choir so we left a bit early. Wonderful talks and beautiful music. A snappy 10 year old Zach played O Holy Night on the piano. Holy Night Batman. Could'a ended there.

We came home, got our jammies back on, let Santa come and got on with it. This is the before...
And...the after...
The best part of Christmas morning was when the kids saw their journals. When I was a kid my parents would give us each a journal and write a special note inside. I love that. I wasn't the greatest journal keeper, but I still love those personal notes from my mom and dad. So this year I got each of the kids a "real" journal and wrote a special note. Then stopped in the middle of the mayhem. And then they read their notes...
And read their notes...

And got embarrased because mom started taking pictures while they read their notes...
And the award for funniest gift goes to mom for this gem....
We hope you had a wonderful Christmas!

Some Christmas Stuff.

I thought I'd share a couple of pre-Christmas fun we've been having.

Every year my mom, Abbie, does a Christmas Cookie Party for the kids. The past couple of years she's been sending the cookie stuff home with each family to do when we can. We did ours a couple of weeks ago. Here they are...
Look at the frosting on his mouth. I love it!
Prettiest smile winner. See Daniel on the couch behind her? He was sick! Sick I tell ya!
Very much concentrated on the work at hand.
Thanks Abbie for a fun tradition.

We got to have Grandma and Grandpa over for Sunday dinner last Sunday. After we ate Grandpa got out Pick Up Sticks to play. Ruthie and Sam sat the longest and played over and over and did very well. Even for older kids, this is a great small motor skill game.
Thanks Grandma and Grandpa!

Last night we all got on the Front Runner and went to Salt Lake.
We told the kids they could take the DSs to keep them busy on the train. Prettiest smile winner again. And don't be bummed that there isn't a picture of me. I'm right there in the window.
We had dinner and then went FAST over to Temple Square. We walked in one entrance gate and each of the kids did the ooooh and aaaaah like I instructed them.
Then we high tailed it out another gate and ran to the Trax line and got to the Front Runner, which was already jammed packed, and stood in a little corner. We had loads of fun, even though we were rushed.

Tonight we get to go see a live Nativity. Tomorrow? Ohhh, tomorrow we get to go to see Santa at Grandma and Grandpa's house. Then we get to go to Abbie and Poppy's for dinner and gifts.

Merry Christmas Eve Eve!

A Christmas Review.

Christmas 2010.

What a wonderful Christmas!

But first, I want to say a word about this guy. My guy. On our cruise back in June we made a deal. We would forgo the whale watching excursion in exchange for a diamond for me. We never found a good diamond on the cruise. Then when we got home I got rear ended and we needed all available funds to purchase a new vehicle. So the diamond was fast becoming an abandoned idea.

Christmas morning, after realizing a week before that a prong had busted on my wedding ring, I got my diamond. I haven't gotten a picture of it yet because my laptop went the way of the dino. So I just wasn't going to blog it. Now it's getting sized. I should have it back tomorrow and will show it off then. So the diamond deal was realized. For months Daniel had been talking to my sister in law who works for Ari Diamonds about a ring. And now I have it. Well, tomorrow I'll have it. Then my wedding ring can get fixed!

And no, I'm not blogging on the family computer. Yesterday while out getting ingredients for salad for last night's family party, we looked at laptops. And wouldn't you know it?! Sale! So I now have a laptop again. It's nice. It's gray. It was drastically inexpensive!

Daniel...I love you! Thank you for being mine!

Now on to the Christmas review....

Last Wednesday the kids had a sing along. Let's just say that we brought the camera, but weren't positioned to get great pictures of the kiddos. So I'll try to point them out to you.

Ruthie is in the purple shirt, which you can't really see, over to the left a bit.

The first graders sang Santa Clause Is Coming To Town. A Capella. They were awesome!

Isaac and the 5th graders sang...something. None of us can remember. Isaac can't remember. We're on vacation!

Isaac is in the middle off to the left. All the yellow shirts around him are the 5th and 6th grade choir.
Sam and the third graders sang Jingle Bell Rock. And boy did they rock! Even his teacher, who I LOVE!! was dancing while leading them! Do you see their faces? That's not just for the song. That's their love for their incredible teacher. She isn't allowed to retire until after she gets Ruthie in third grade in 2 years!

That evening we took the Front Runner to Salt Lake to have dinner and see the lights at Temple Square. Here is Daniel and 2 kiddos as we wait for the train!

And the third kiddo. It was cold!

We had lots of fun and are glad we only do it once a year!

The following evening we got a visit from Santa slash Grandpa. That's what the kids call him.

Here is Sam telling what he wants in Santa slash Grandpa's ear.

Then Isaac got a turn. He was very serious as he told Santa slash Grandpa what he wanted.

Ruthie was next. She was just happy to sit on his lap!

After their visit we went to a local home to see a live Nativity. Every year we forget. This year I put in on the calendar. It was so great. It was freezing and the straw we sat on was damp from the rain the night before, but the story and the music and the feeling....mmmmm....just perfect!

Then we came home and had hot cocoa and read Luke 2.

Christmas Eve was spent at Abbie and Poppy's house. We had dinner and then the kids did the nativity.

As we waited for the kids to get dressed, Uncle Adam, who is a new daddy to baby Reed, did his rendition of The Circle Of Life.

All the cute kids who participated in the Nativity. Poppy narrates. The oldest kids help dress the younger kids and Isaac took pictures.

Baby Reed was baby Jesus, but was taken off stage when Mary almost dropped him on his newborn crown while trying to pick up the binkie.

And then came Christmas.

While the kids were dreaming of sugar plumbs dancing in their heads, we set up.

The quilts that actually got to be Christmas quilts!

In each stocking we got Lagoon Season Passports. We will have a stupendous summer!

In the morning, we waited for everyone to wake up.

Then did Baby Formation.

That's the kids way of saying they go in birth order. Baby Formation. Works for me.

Can we please go now???

The bustle of Christmas morning.

We got movies and Wii games.

Isaac went to put a memory card in the Wii system and came back.

Daniel found a new remote in his stocking and asked the kids what it could be for?

The obvious answer was that it went to the TV in my bedroom.

.........

Then it clicked!

We upgraded our 12 year old TV with a broken on/off button and lines running through the picture.

We feel kinda fancy now!

And an important part of Christmas...

Family

Jesus

Health

Joy

and...

Chocolate

We hope you all had a wonderful Christmas.

And soon, a fantastic new year!