Jammies for Christmas Eve

What would Christmas eve be for our family with out matching jammies!!! We even went to target that day and the kids picked out their own slippers. Kaitlyn- pink , little girls - fluffy princess (shocker), Derick and Brett - camo. Derick thought that him and Brett matching was pretty cool!!!

Christmas Eve festivities

Since we didn't have family coming for Christmas we decided to invite a couple families over for dinner on Christmas Eve. We had dinner, which the kids loved the fancy glasses and we even caught the little girls "clanking" them and seeing cheers. We played the "left, right" present game. Read the nativity with all the kids taking part, and then just hung out and played blokus. The kids loved watching the "santa tracker" and seeing where santa was all night long. What a great night!!!

First Broken Bone

Well it finally happened. After 5 kids, almost 12 years we have our first broken bone. The kids were playing superman and Olivia fell wrong and broke it. We all felt so sorry for her and ooh'd and ahhh'd. She is loving the attention and all the gifts, suckers, hello kitty necklace, princess pillow to rest her arm on and more. Whenever she is asked to help out or clean up she raises her arm and says in the saddest little voice,"I would but I broke my wrist." She gets a cast on Monday and she wants it to be pink and purple. We'll just have to see what they can do.

FHE

We had Family Home Evening with our friends the other night and watched a movie and hung out. The most fun was watching Brett and their little girl interact with each other. It was so cute and we are secretly planning an arranged marriage.



Can't you just see this cute picture in the slide show at their wedding!!

Piano Recital

I had my piano recital this last weekend and it was great. My students did so well and I'm so proud of them. It is so rewarding to see kids accomplish things that they didn't think they could. When I gave the recital music to them, some freaked out and said it was too hard. But I told them we'd work through it and sure enough they did. Then you hear them play it so wonderfully and it just makes me smile!!!

FHE Gingerbread village

We had our friends over for FHE and we made a gingerbread village and had hot cocoa. I've wanted a hot cocoa maker forever and finally I got one. I LOVE IT!!! IT keeps it the right temp and it is so frothy and yummy!!!

Here comes Santa Claus

Don't you just love Santa pictures. Especially the one below where Brett is hysterical!!! We had our ward Christmas party this last weekend and here are a few pic's. I especially love Olivia's. We've been talking about santa's elves watching and seeing if she is being naughty or nice. Well I think she was a little nervous because she is cuddled up on his lap looking just as sweet as can be. I swear I can read her thoughts, "surely if I act super cute and sweet he'll think I've been good."

Trimming the tree

My kids love to pull out the decorations, esp. the ornaments. They all think that each one is theirs from when they were a baby. This year I'm going to mark the backs so they all know whose is whose. Derick was obsessed with the lights and wanted lights on everything. He even started putting some up in his room until I kabooshed that.

Picking out the Christmas tree

We love our fake trees and have had one for almost 10 years. Well this year we decided to get a real tree. We went to a local tree farm that is adorable. Christmas light everywhere, a big bonfire to stay warm, hot cocoa for a quarter, all that stuff. The kids thought it was so cool that we could pick our tree. So we chose one put it on the van and away we went. When we got home Derick cut off some of the lower branches. As we set it up it smelt so good and looked beautiful, then I turned and saw all the needles everywhere. This totally bugs me but James reassured me that our heavy duty car vacuum would pick them up which they did. So far so good, I love the real tree. . . I just hope I say the same after Christmas!!

Thanksgiving break

For Thanksgiving we went to Grand Junction Colorado to play with my sister and her family. On the way we stopped off in Salt Lake City for a quick stay and refresher with James' brother David and his family. In Grand Junction we had so much fun playing, shopping and just being together. On the way home we got stuck in some bad weather and had to stay overnight in Reno. All and all it was a great week.





The girls were all about the outfits and accessories. I'm hoping my girls grow out of this because it drives me a little nuts.

James and James watched so much football that week. Here they are taking a break (must not be a game on) playing yahtzee with Kaitlyn.


This was at David's house in Utah. They put Brett in this Lego wagon with blankets and they pulled him all around. He even went to sleep one time.



I love this picture. It is so adorable!!!

Mom and Dad's visit

The first part of November my parents came to visit us from Colorado. They were here a little over a week and even got to see Kaitlyn play some soccer. The last time they saw us was over a year ago when Brett was just born. The kids had alot of fun with them.




Grandma and the girls


It was beautiful weather the first few days and the ice cream truck came by. It's my mom and dad's tradition whenever they hear it to buy some treats for the kids.

Soccer

Ok I'll play catch up of the last month. First of all Kailtyn's soccer team made the playoffs and then finished in second place. This was her first year playing and she had so much fun. She even scored 2 goals!!!