What To Expect....

I wish that somewhere in this pregnancy Bible the author would have mentioned that it is a possibility for a child to finger paint with their own 'poop'! That way when I walked into my toilet room, I may have been prepared for what I saw. Then again, I don't know what could ever prepare you for that type of 'shall-I-say.....art'. I will spare you a picture....but believe me, it was NOT a pretty sight! Oh, the joys of motherhood!

We Wish You A Merry Christmas...

As Christmas Day comes to a close, our family hopes that you all had a VERY Merry Christmas!! It's all of you that help to make this season so special. But most of all we are thankful for our Savior, Jesus Christ who was born this day. I just wanted to share what KJ said in his prayers tonight.

He said, "Heavenly Father, can you please tell Jesus Happy Birthday for me? And tell Him that I love Him very much. And also, tell Santa that I'm so proud of him for all the stuff he brought us. I must have been a really good boy this year!" Only from the mouths of babes! At least he did remember the 'reason' for all the celebrating, as it tends to get lost from time to time during the hustle of this busy season.

We hope your Christmas was full of hidden treasures.....

(Olivia sure found some!)

And lots of fun surprises.....

We hope you weren't a 'scrooge' this year.....

That you had lots of silliness & laughter.....

Very little fighting....

Most of all, we hope your day was shared with those you love most....

Here are some snapshots of some 'magic' that we had this Christmas! Christmas is so magical in the eyes of children and I'm glad we are lucky enough to be able to experience it!

We had our traditional Christmas Eve Dinner and Program at my mom's house. KJ and I played a duet on the piano, Jack sang a song, and Olivia did her ballet routine with her cousin! Santa even showed up with a gift for each child! After we got home, we opened our Christmas PJ's and the kids settled down in hopes that St. Nicholas soon would be there!

Our Christmas morning!

Merry Christmas to all....and to all a good night!

Eat, Eat, Eat...

We had our annual family Christmas Progressive Dinner last night! Now that we live here, I can actually participate in it! Our family gets together for dinner almost every Sunday, but this time was extra fun because we got to go to 3 homes, enjoy each other's Christmas Decorations and listen to lots of Christmas Music!

1st stop was appetizers at my house.

My sister Brittany and her new fiance!! She got engaged last week! We can't wait for the wedding!

2nd stop was salad at Troy and Katie's-

Last stop was a Soup Bar at my Nana's house-

She had bread bowls and 6 pots of soup to choose from....yummm!

After all our eating, Troy and Katie wanted to see who's belly was bigger! I think Troy won and he's not 7 months pregnant!

My other little sister Nicole and her boyfriend. I have a feeling we may have a couple of weddings this year!

And of course, I had to get a shot of the Fab 4 (plus one little sister). These girls are all the same age and are inseparable! They have so much fun together!

It was nice to be able to enjoy each other's company until late last night without worrying about getting home early for school this morning! I love it when there is NO SCHOOL! We actually got to sleep in until 9:00 this morning....a Christmas miracle! Now I just need to get all my Christmas wrapped up...literally, I have a lot of wrapping to do! Tis' the season to be busy, busy!

My Baby Girl turns 3....

Happy 3rd Birthday to our little cutie pie!!!

It's a funny thing when one certain day can be full of so much happiness, yet is filled with a tinge of sadness at the same time. My little princess turned 3 years old today. My 'baby' really isn't such a 'baby' anymore, but she will always be our 'baby girl'! Everyone always warned me that this was just part of motherhood and to enjoy every moment because it just flies by, and they were right, it is certainly flying by. I just wish there was a slow motion button that could be pushed (except on those days when her headstrong personality gets the best of her!)

Olivia has been a very easy kid. She plays well with everyone (except sometimes with her brother Jack), she enjoys creating 'art', she's working on potty training, she can melt your heart with her smile, she loves her brothers and loves to give them lots of hugs at night before bed, she's a super cute little ballerina, she can't wait to be in preschool, she loves all things girly, she loves to help in the kitchen, she loves princess movies, LOVES the bathtub, she can't wait to be a Sunbeam, she loves to swim, loves to play with all her cousins, and loves to TALK!

The most important thing that she does is bring lots and lots of happiness to our family! We LOVE our baby Olivia! Happy Birthday my sweet little O!

This is the best moment in the world, when you get to see your perfect little angel for the first time! I wish I could bottle that emotion!

Olivia's 'Birth Day'! We couldn't wait for her to join our family!

Olivia's 1st Birthday!

Olivia's 2nd Birthday!

She went on a special birthday date with my parents, applied some beautiful make-up, made homemade pizza, had cupcakes, and opened presents. It was a great day and Barbie Princess aka Olivia was a happy girl!

Click on collages to view larger

My Nutcracker Date

Mother-Daughter date day!

I got to take Olivia and a few of her friends from her ballet class to The Nutcracker today! She loved it, and it was a fun 'date'! I love this time of year! (but I still can't get over those tights that the men have to wear!) he he he!

The car ride with all the cute girls!

Before the show!

After the show we found Miss Amber, Olivia's ballet teacher, and snapped a photo of her and some of her students!

santa squared....

The kids and I are exhausted after today. This morning we went to Lowe's to make some wooden gingerbread houses. They loved it so much that we decided to go attempt another wood project at Home Depot, they made little wagons. Gotta love the free projects! They are so proud of their new creations, it is so cute! Then we went to a Holiday Craft Fair to check out my friend's booth. Her stuff is absolutely adorable, I can't believe how crafty some people are....I was not blessed with that talent! Click here to check out her craftiness! The kids were so happy that Santa happened to be there (and they were handed lots of cookies and candy canes). Then we stopped by my mom's house, we came home and gave the boy's their haircuts, we stopped by the grocery store, and then we headed to our ward Christmas Party! Santa showed up there too! He must be magical to be so many places at the same time.

I worry that this may be the last year to have all the kids believe in the 'magic' of Santa Claus. I remember being 8 years old when I stopped believing. KJ has been very curious and has a ton of questions of how it's all possible. I hope his imagination and innocence lasts at least thru the next Christmas! Now that the kids are down for the night, I'm off to work on my Primary Christmas Singing time project.

Ho, Ho, Ho.....Merry Christmas to all!

my cup runneth over...

We had a fabulous Thanksgiving weekend full of company and fun! I love this holiday for many reasons but the most important being that it makes me ponder on all of the wonderful blessings that life has blessed me with! I think this past week I have even been thankful for the things that aren't so predictable.

I am thankful for homework because it means that my child is getting a good education. I am thankful for dishes because it means we were able to eat a meal as a family. I am thankful for laundry because it means that we have an abundance of clothes to keep us warm. I am thankful for water spots in the shower because it means we have clean, warm, running water. I am thankful for the burnt out lightbulb in our chandelier because I don't know how we'd survive without electricity. I am thankful for a crowded refrigerator and pantry because it means we wont go hungry. I am thankful for toys all over the floor because it means my kids had a fun day of playing together. I am thankful that my car needs gas because it means that we have reliable transportation to get us where we need to go.

But most of all I am thankful for my beautiful family and the tight bond that we have. I am thankful that we are healthy. I am thankful for my husband's job and that he is such a hard worker. I am thankful for my extended family that lives all over the world from California, to Japan, to Illinois, to Australia and spotted all the way in between. I am thankful for the gospel of Jesus Christ. I am thankful that I get to teach the primary children music every week. I am thankful for their innocence and purity. I am definitely thankful for my own kids and for the fact that they alone have taught me more about love and life than I would have ever learned in any classroom at any school. I am thankful that I get to be their mom. I love the LOVE that we share as a family.

I hope we can continue the gratitude we feel this time of year throughout the upcoming year! Happy (belated) Thanksgiving to you all!

We spent the day at my Nana's house and we had family in town from Utah and Coeurd'Alene. It was great to spend the day together; cooking, laughing, chatting, and plotting our Black Friday shopping plans!

The next night we had a super slumber party for all the 6 and 7 year old cousins! My cousin Steven turns 6 on Wednesday but his mom is going in for another round of Chemotherapy, so we decided it was a perfect time to get the cousins together for an impromptu party! We played lots of fun games, watched some movies and it turned out to be a late night and an early morning. I'm still trying to recover from my lack of sleep from the weekend, 8 kids hyped up on sugar....I should have known better! Happy Birthday cute Steven! We love you!

My Great-Grandma (who passed away this year) has a huge butte right in her back yard and it has been something we have hiked up since I was little. A tradition of sorts! We all trekked up the butte to work off a few of those T-Day calories! The best part about this hike is that on the other side of the butte there is a thing called 'Devil's slide' which is a steep gravel slide that you slide down! I love spending time in the beautiful outdoors! We were telling KJ that this was Pops' backyard as a kid and he looked at me and said, "ugh....that's no fair."

(click on any collage to view larger)

I love him....

(he's not much of a picture person, but I did snap this in the car today on our way home from lunch!)

A BIG Happy Birthday to the 'man' of the house! We had a great weekend even though my weekend birthday plans for him had to be changed at the last minute. We were originally supposed to be going to Salt Lake for a concert, but it was rescheduled until February....so, we just 'winged it' but still had a full and busy weekend.

Brief summary: 'Blind Side' movie, foot rubs, dinner, Duck game (exciting win!), dessert, bacon and oatmeal, PF Changs lunch, Christmas shopping, candles, presents and lots of 'Dan and I' time, thanks to my sister and my parents for all their BBSitting!

We just want Dan to know how much we truly appreciate him and all the things he continually does for our family to make sure we are taken care of, happy, and loved! He's an amazing husband and father and we are grateful that he is ours forever! We just love him more and more everyday! Happy Birthday Dan!

Saturdays...

Last night when I was putting Keaton to bed he said,

"Saturday is my favorite day of the week."

After I asked him why he said,

"Because on Sunday, Monday, Tuesday, Wednesday, Thursday and Friday I have to get up so early and on Saturday I get to sleep in and finish my dreams!"

So, this morning I asked him if he got to finish his dream and he had a big grin and said, "YES!"

How cute is he?!

Sweet Dreams!