Christmas: Part I

We decided to do a small part of our Christmas early this year because because Christmas is promising to be a chaotic, albeit great, day. Blake thought we should do our mini-celebration closer to Christmas, but I needed all the time that Sunday afternoons provide us.

We started off with our traditional Christmas morning cinnamon rolls. I have been looking forward to them pretty much since last Christmas. And they did not disappoint! But this year, we had them for dinner. Along with eggs, vegetables, and lots and lots of oranges.

Then we opened a few of the presents that were under the tree.

I think I confessed to breaking the tree last year doing yoga. We meant to get a new one, but then with the puppy and the new house we decided to wait.

I must admit, I've been regretting that decision. It's just not the same without it. Thank goodness we have this little baby tree made by my mom. Thanks, Mom!

Then we opened our Christmas present made by Kayli in preschool. I love the expressions on both of their faces here. Love them!

Then Kayli opened an ornament from Grandma and Grandpa.

Actually, we got a few ornaments from my parents and from Blake's grandparents. I love the annual ornaments! It's just a fun tradition.

This year the kids picked out presents to give each other, so we let them open them last night as well.

In case you haven't heard, this little boy loves firetrucks

As in, he obsesses over them. Can't get enough of them. His sister knows him well.

And I couldn't get a decent photo of her showing her gift from Bryce, but it was a fun set of ponies complete with all sorts of fun things to put in their manes and tails.

Shopping for a gift for Kayli with Bryce was quite the undertaking. First he didnt' like anything. Then he wanted to get her anything that was gigantic and super-expensive. And then he wanted to pick out something fun and boyish for himself. When that was rejected, he decided to get her something fun and boyish. When I kept insisting that we pick out a present for Kayli that Kayli would really like, he became solely concerned about how and when he was going to get a present. Why couldn't we just pick out a present for him instead?

Somehow, by some miracle, he saw these ponies and decided they would make a nice gift for his sister. Then he went home and told her that he was giving her ponies.

Moral: Shopping for Christmas presents with a 2-year old is not as great of an idea as it seems like it is.

And I got a watch. Or rather, I got my watch back. With the new battery it's been needing for nearly a year.

And an empty roll of toilet paper.

Then came the gifts that I've been most excited about. And put the most time, money, and effort into. And maybe a little blood, sweat, and tears. Mostly, tears.

Kayli, the Bountiful Temple (where Blake and I were married and sealed for time and all eternity), and a picture of the Savior with a little girl who bears an uncanny resemblance to Kayli.

The same thing here, but for Bryce. Again, I was able to find a picture with a little boy who looks so much like Bryce.

This was another one of my craft ideas that evolved quite a bit over several months. I couldn't have done it without the advice and wonderful ideas from my Aunt Karen. I'm so glad I talked to her about it because I am so happy with the final product.

The idea was to give them something to remind them who they are, that our family is eternal thanks to Jesus Christ and the blessings of the temple, and that they can return to live with Jesus Christ and Heavenly Father some day.

The kids were pleased with them, but of course, quickly returned to their toys. Which is fine. These frames were designed to last much longer than their interest in ponies and fire trucks.

But I'm glad to see how much they love their gifts from each other.

It almost makes me regret all the other things they'll be getting tomorrow.

After we were all done, Kayli and I were talking about how much she loves her new ponies and then she said, "But I liked it better before we opened the presents. That was more fun."

Don't misunderstand, she wasn't sad at all to be playing with her new toys. But I was pleased to hear that she appreciated the anticipation part of it all, too. I think I was a lot older before I could enjoy the waiting as much, or more than the opening. That's why we often forget that she really is just a little girl.

We re-enacted The Nativity Monday night, but I'll post on that later.

I hope you all have a wonderful Christmas Eve and Christmas Day!

Our Little Kayli Girl

Sorry to leave you with that odd post for so long. I just lost all desire for blogging.

I'd like to say "I'm back", but I'm still not really feeling it.

However, Kayli had a couple big days and I'd be a really bad mom if I didn't share. And just a warning--everything is out of order, and I don't care.

So, I'll just tell it to you as the pictures pop up.

Tuesday her preschool class did a "show" for the parents.
This was after I finally yelled her name and asked her to smile at me.

She was looking at the teacher like this the rest of the time.

She kind of towers over the other kids in her class. Yesterday I heard one of her friends asked her why Bryce is a little-size, I'm a middle-size, and she's a large. My mamma bear in me got a little defensive, but she just answered matter-of-factly (and a little proudly) that he's right, she's taller. I hope she always feels that confident about it. It helps that she idolizes her daddy and she knows that's where she gets her height from.

Actually, preschool has been really good in developing her confidence and leadership skills. Her teachers said she's always helping the other kids understand how to do the various tasks. She loves helping out and being in charge like that.

It was a cute little performance and fun to get a glimpse of what they do every day. Unfortunately, they had planned to practice hard all of last week. And school was cancelled all week because of the insane snow storm we had.

So, the kids were a little unfamiliar with what they were performing. Miss Gizella did a great job though.

After we made little mouse ornament crafts and the kids ate cookies and punch. Good times.

Saturday was Kayli's first violin recital.

This is interesting because we just picked up her real violin last Monday (before the snow storm) and then her following lesson was cancelled (thanks to the snow storm).

Fortunately, she wasn't planning on playing a piece just yet. I didn't even think they'd put her in the recital, but her sweet instructor came up with a plan anyway.

"My name is Kayli and I'll be doing a bow hold and then singing "Up Like a Rocket"."

The one on the left is "Up Like a Rocket" with her awesome instructor. You might need to turn your volume up. This is one of her exercises we practice every day. Bryce can even sing it. The audience burst into laughter after her funny little bow at the end. But at her lesson yesterday, her instructor said that she's the one everyone keeps talking about and saying that she was their favorite. I'm not bragging or anything.

I'm just saying, I have the cutest kids, most talented kiddos.

The video on the right is her class singing "Jingle Bells". You might not have figured that out if I didn't tell you. Prepare to be amazed.

We love our Kayli girl!

When Your Hunting Buddy is Gone...

You want to give him a fitting good-bye.

You have shared many hours, beautiful sunrises and sunsets and a lot of great stories together. Losing your buddy is hard, and there hasn't been a good way to say farewell until now.

At The Departing Shot, we package a portion of your dog's ashes into shotgun shells so that you can conduct a Memorial Salute to your dog, shooting those ashes out over the fields you traveled together. Each time you visit your old hunting grounds, you will know your dog lives on in those fields. It's a great way to say good-bye.

The Departing Shot--A Final Salute to Our Dogs

Yeah.

That's a real ad.

Call me insensitive and disrespectful, but it just gets funnier and funnier. What a bizarre idea! Granted, I am about as far from a hunter as you can get. So, I'm sure I just don't understand. But honestly? Bullets from your dogs ashes? What kind of weird people think of these thing?!

Just thought I'd share.

There is Snow In My Mailbox

How does that happen?!

At least it's so cold, the snow didn't melt all over the mail we didn't collect for a couple days. I've never seen a storm like this. Ever!

But I'm getting ahead of myself. Before the weather got really crazy, I let the kids go out and play in the snow. They took the sled and had a blast slipping and sliding and pulling each other all over the hill in the backyard.

And Zima apparently ate the rope for the sled

The pink nodule at the back of Bryce's neck is a scarf. It's the only other small scarf we have.

They play so well together so much of the time, I really can't believe it.

Sometimes it almost seems a little too easy...

Wee!

That night we had went to a good bye party for some of our friends. We're so sad to see them go! We've known since we moved here that they'd be moving this month, so we tried to not get too attached, but they are just too likeable!

Blake and The Guys

Some of the kiddos.

We're really going to miss you guys! Good luck!

While we were at the party a gentle snow began.

By morning we were snowed in. And the snow just kept falling. We thought it was bad, but Wednesday morning was even worse. No one went anywhere.

Partially because the plows didn't come for two whole days. In New England, the plows were out as soon as the snow began falling and they just kept plowing.

We were pretty bugged, but I guess it's because of all the wind and drifting. And because we're sort of out in the sticks.

But still!

The funny thing is, our driveway was completely cleared thanks to the snow. We still couldn't go anywhere because the road right in front of our house was so bad.

Zima has taken to the snow like some sort of sled dog. She loves it. It's fun to watch her try to run around because she sinks in to her chest with every leap, but she just keeps trying. She's having a great time finding all of her toys out in the snow.

She's that little black blob up in the corner of the yard, by the way.

Not only did the wind blow snow into our mailbox, but into all of our screens, too. Bizarre!

You can sort of get an idea of the drifting here. That's our grass down at the bottom, and then you can see how high the snow is across the street. And that's our mailbox mostly buried by the drifting and then the plows.

This was turned when I set to upload it here! I'm not sure why blogger insists on turning it back.

But here is my finished wreath.

I'll take a picture of it on my door when I get the courage to go outside.

And a new wreath hanger.

It looks better in person because the pine cones more shimmery than they look here. So, you'll have to come visit if you really want to see it.

For Lins, and anyone else who wants to do a similar wreath:

First, I started with inspiration from Parents magazine of a wreath spray painted white, with brightly colored painted acorns glued all around it.

So, I bought a basic twiggy wreath (not sure what they're really called, but it came with dead leaves intertwined and everything) from Hobby Lobby.

I also purchased the cardinals there. I'm not sure what brand, or anything but they came as a pair.

Then I bought a bag of fall potpourri on clearance, thinking I'd use the pine cones from it. Instead, I just used the random little reddish-orange balls from it. I have no idea what they are, or if you can find them not in potpourri.

Then I bought the gold flower and some fake holly berry sprigs at Michael's.

Then I bought glitter glue at Target.

Then I went back to Michael's to get our family picture and decided to peruse the bins full of decorative odds and ends. I'm not sure what they're called, but they're just the sort of things you'd use for a project like this. I picked up several items, and returned all but the clusters of pine cones with pine branches. They were already painted a glittery gold and red.

To put it all together, first I cut the holly berries into little sprigs. I put a healthy amount of hot glue on the end of each and jammed it into the side of the wreath, sticking out at a slant. I did that all the way around.

Next I took the gold flower off its stem and glued the leaves onto the wreath, then the flower on top of them.

Then I cut the stems off of the pine cone clusters. I don't have wire cutters and these were too thick for my scissors, so I cut through the green plastic on the stem and then pulled the wire and remaining stem out of the top part. This will probably only make sense if you're looking at an exact replica of these pine cone things. If you do it any other way (unless you have wire cutters), you'll disassemble the whole thing and it will be much harder to stick on your wreath. You can call me if you actually do this because I'm sure this doesn't make sense.

Then I glued the pine cone bunches around the wreath, sticking the remaining stem down into the wreath to secure it, wherever I thought looked good.

Then I glued the random reddish-orange potpourri balls.

Then I agonized over how to place the cardinals on the wreath in a way that would look natural when it was hanging on a door. A wreath looks very different lying down on a table than it does hanging upright. At least if you're putting little birds on it. Finally, I just stuck them where they are and called it good.

And then I pulled off the massive amounts of hot glue strands I'd accumulated all over my project during the gluing process.

And proudly showed it off to Blake, who gave it the praise I was hoping for.

I may go back and get another cardinal. I would place him at the bottom near the flower, facing backwards, so his pretty tail sticks out over the wreath.

Thanks again for all your help!

It doesn't look a thing like the original wreath I had in mind, but I love it! And I'm really proud of it. And I can't wait to hang it on my door!

Almost As Good As Macy's

We went to a parade this weekend.

I love trying to take photos of my family. Mostly because they are are so cooperative.
See what I mean?

We got there a little late, but Mighty Mouse is always a good way to kick things off

Bryce was pretty stoked about this Hot Wheels balloon--and consented to look directly at the camera. Too bad I was holding both him and the camera.

And if she would have looked at me sooner, you could tell that is Rudolph on that float over there

Maybe that's why she didn't want to look at the camera. The poor thing fell off of some sort of bouncy ride-on ball at the gym, flat onto her face. If you were here, she'd tell you about the "big hole" in her mouth and then lift her lip to show you.

Be sad you aren't here because it's pretty.

We love Elmo--and tongues!

This is the real reason we came. Who can miss an opportunity to see Spider Man? The kids were so excited. Which is funny because they've never even seen a Spider Man cartoon or movie.

I love kids.

Then came Iron Man

And of course, you can't do super heroes without including Captain America

What does Captain America even do?

More photo enthusiasm

And the Coke bear

Kayli handing a postal worker their letters for Santa--Woohoo!

Who was following right after

Pretty exciting morning!

So, we followed it up with a wild party that evening with the kids from our Primary class at church.

Unfortunately, after looking forward to this for months (we may or may not have been using it as a bribe for good behavior), only two of them were able to make it.

Or the others were maybe frightened away by my children

One of our kids just had a birthday, so we stuck candles in my crockpot cake and celebrated.

We also played Whonoo, What's Up, Doc?, and Twister. And ate a ton of pizza.

It was actually a lot of fun. We just wished more of them could have made it.

We've been having a pretty mild winter. Not too cold and no snow.

Until Sunday.

This was just a light foreshadowing of what was to come

Can you see Bryce's face behind that snowflake?

Blake bought the kids these shovels and they love using them. So, they shoveled off the deck for us. Of course, it was completely covered again before we went to bed.

I really don't think that bothered them one bit.

Now, it's been snowing since about 8 PM last night. It's hard to tell how deep it is because of all the drifting. In one spot in our backyard, we can see the grass and then right next to it, a drift over a foot deep.

The kids are loving it. They went occupied themselves for a very long time sledding down the little hill in our backyard yesterday afternoon and are making big plans for doing the same today. Except with Daddy, because he's working from home today. On account of the "blizzard-like road conditions" predicted for today. Sweet.

Anyway, I have more to post including pics of the kids' sledding adventures and another social gathering last night, so I'm going to sign off for now and upload some more photos.

I hope you're all staying warm!

Wreath Update Update

Bryce took this little gem a couple months ago right as Kayli was waking up. I love sleepy faces.

And Blake pointed out that it sounded like I was debating doing what you all wanted for my wreath and what I want for it. I would hate for anyone to be walking around with that on their conscience, so I'd like to clarify.

It's a completely internal debate between how I think I should do my wreath and how I think I should do my wreath.

I may have a split personality.

But it's nothing you need to feel responsible for.

I think I just need to stick that stuff on there and put it on the other side of my front door and let go.

Holiday Prep

First, a wreath update--

I think I've finally found a layout I'm happy with. I've changed it quite a bit. Well, sort of. I go back and forth trying to determine if I sold out (I bought more stuff instead of creating it all myself) and also if it's really okay the way I have it set up (not even, but not your typical "unevenness" either). But I'm thinking I like it the way it is and it's my wreath (even though it wouldn't be without a ton of inspiration from you, I'm selfish like that), so I might just go ahead and do it the way I want (based on all of your suggestions, of course).

My goal is to have it hanging on the door by Saturday. A tricky feat considering that Blake stole my wreath hanger for another purpose. That means I have to go shopping and buy a new one. I hate shopping.

Anyway, if/when I finish it, I'll take a pic and let you all see. Thank you so much for the advice! It helped a ton. I'll definitely be using your creative juices again in the future.

And now, since I'm sure you've all been feeling incomplete since reading yesterday's post, here's the day I skipped:
The kids had a great time "helping" Grandma decorate the cupcakes

It was pretty serious business

It takes a lot of concentration

To create these

The one in the bottom right corner was a practice for what the rest of the cupcakes were for. We made them into cute turkey place card holders--my m-i-law's idea.

I've never hosted a Thanksgiving dinner and therefore, never really cooked one. It intimidates me almost as much as the prospect of ever being called as Primary Chorister.

Pardon me while I shudder at the thought.

Anyway, I couldn't believe how much my mother-in-law got done the day before. I thought there wouldn't be much left to worry about the next day.

I thought wrong. She put so much work and effort into it--and it certainly paid off. It was all so tasty and yummy, and beautifully arranged to boot. And I appreciated that she let me help a little, although sometimes I know it can be more of a pain telling a helpful person what to do, rather than just doing it yourself.

But my mother-in-law is too gracious to ever tell me that. I really couldn't have done better in the in-law department. Thanks for being such a fabulous family, all y'all!

Happy Bird Day!

My friend Gunta wished me that and it took me an unfortunately long time to figure out what she meant. But once I got it, I thought it was really cute!

If you didn't get it the first time, don't feel bad. You're in good company.

We headed out at about 4:45 PM Tuesday afternoon and arrived at Blake's parents' around 5:30 AM. We did lose an hour with the time zone change, but it was a beastly long trip!

We brought Zima with us and she did pretty well and even seemed to entertain the kids a bit (although, I'm not sure she enjoyed that part as much). She decided to abstain from eating, drinking, and "using the facilities" the entire drive. Which would have been a blessing, had she let us in on her plan.

Instead, we stopped several times (including in the middle of a very dark, snowy, freezing, windy, no-man's land somewhere in Wyoming--poor Blake!) to give her the opportunity.

And Kayli didn't appreciate the fact that Zima kept trying to sit in her lap. Who knew the center spot could be so coveted? The funniest moment of the drive was when the kids had finally both fallen asleep and then I sensed a presence next to my face. I turned and there was Zima! Sitting in a sleeping Kayli's lap!!

A warning if you ever meet our dog--if you turn your face toward her, she immediately assumes that you are desperate for lots and lots of doggy kisses all over your face. And she has incredible response time.

This is great if you are into doggy kisses and such. I'm not. But that doesn't stop me from having a hearty laugh whenever she gets Blake.

How did we find entertainment before taking our dog on a road trip?!

Anyway, if that intro seemed long, just imagine a 14-hour drive through a few of America's most boring and desolate states.

But we made it. And caught a couple of hours of sleep before getting up for the day.

Blake's day only lasted another 1 1/2 hours. Then he went back to bed for 5.

But, since he did the majority of the driving, we'll cut him some slack.

And here is where I would tell you about the day before Thanksgiving. But I just noticed that I never uploaded the photos for that day. So, we're going to get wild and skip a day.

And march directly into Thanksgiving!

We started the day off with eating. What else is there to do on such a day?

Bryce was pretty intense in his cinnamon roll enjoyment
Kayli is mature enough to enjoy her breakfast and her cousins

You might have noticed that the tables don't look like your typical kitchen table.
They aren't. They're bowling alley tables.

I still remember the first Thanksgiving I knew Blake. I was heading up to spend the weekend with my brother and his wife. Blake couldn't stop talking about how excited he was to go bowling. I'm pretty sure I didn't believe him at first.

Bowling alleys are open on Thanksgiving? Seriously?!

They are. And this one opens up specially for his family. We're talking about massive extended family here.

When we first moved to the East, my mom asked me about Blake's holiday traditions, so we could try to continue them, since he couldn't be with his family during that time. She's always so thoughtful like that.

She grew up in a bowling family, so I think that may have been her favorite tradition of his to adopt. She found a bowling alley near their house that opens on Thanksgivings and we bowled every year.

We had a lot of fun doing it, but I realized this year that it really wasn't the same thing. Our East Coast bowling alley didn't open until late afternoon and then only a few others patronized the joint.

Blake's extended family fills the whole alley. It's the far out kind of extended family, so he didn't even know a lot of the people there.

But that didn't stop us from having a blast.

They had a lane set up just for the kids with the ramp and bumper pads

I wish you could see the face behind that hair. She had the biggest grin and was in the act of jumping up and down with glee over pushing her ball down the ramp and watching it slowly roll down to the pins to knock several down.

I should have bowled on that lane.

This freaked me out because I was positive he was going to drop it. It must have been the lightest weight ball ever.

His ball rolled even slower than Kayli's. But it knocked down some pins. And honestly, I don't think he even cared. He was just having a blast playing with the balls and other kids.

Would you believe Forrest Gump came to bowl there too?

Okay, it's really Blake. But can you believe that stance? It works pretty well most of the time, though. He was all set to take home the trophy this year (I can't believe I forgot to get a picture. It's an actual trophy made by my brother-in-law with a bowling pin on top. Pure awesomeness). He had a great start and then just sort of lost it.

I thought about singing "Getcha Head in the Game" from High School Musical, but I was afraid it might inspire the whole alley to dance--and that's just not safe with so many bowling balls, so I held back.

Meanwhile, his little bro Chris came out of nowhere, like a dark horse. He started off slow, but then pulled out 4 strikes in a row! And some other great bowls.

Blake had a better time on round 2 with a 189, but Chris's 212 from the first round was too much to beat. So, he's the lucky owner of the Bowling Pin Trophy this year.

There go my decoration plans for our mantle.

I finally got my first spare on the second to last frame. And then my first strike on the last frame. You'd never guess that I also got my share of gutter balls.

I've never claimed to be a consistent person.

Just in case you've been wondering if I'm balding--I'm not.

And you can see some of the chaos on that half of the alley.

And some more.

It was so fun to see everyone and catch up, but I don't mind the quiet bowling either.

The kids definitely preferred having so many other kids to bowl with though. I couldn't believe how much they enjoyed themselves. But a few times I had to run over and stop Bryce from throwing a ball down someone else's lane.

We came home and made dinner. My mother-in-law graciously allowed me to make the cranberry sauce, so I could continue that tradition I began last year.

Just a little note for anyone tempted to do so--just because the recipe says one bag will only serve 4 people and 20 people will be there, you don't have to double it.

It serves a lot more than four. Even if one those people love love LOVES your cranberry sauce as much as Blake does.

That's all I'm going to say.

During dinner my mother-in-law asked everyone to share something they were thankful for. I was pretty happy about that because that's another tradition we began in the East that I love. I really appreciated the things that were shared, more than I can explain here.

And then it was Bryce's turn. He's not a man of few words, but his answer was concise and to the point, "Tongues!"--followed by sticking his out.

You don't have to guess at how proud we were of such a display of profundity.

Everyone helped with the clean up, including my little man

Isn't he the cutest?

Blake's brothers don't let much get in the way of their post-dinner nap. Including story time.

It amazes me how often I find Kayli reading stories to other kids.

And at the rate her lessons are going, she should be able to read for real before too long.

Blake's grandma always does some BINGO after dinner with fun prizes for everyone.

Is it possible to be bad at BINGO? Because I'm the last to win every year. (Some people call that losing--not me).

Blake and I got up early Friday morning and got some good deals for Black Friday. Mostly Christmas stuff for the kids, but we did get ourselves some sweet deals on Philips Sonicare Toothbrushes.

We haven't had time to open them up yet, but we are so excited for the cleanest teeth EVER!

We took some family photos that afternoon. If you want to have a clue how those went, ask Bryce to show you his "firetruck smile". What a fun child to have around.


That evening we celebrated Cindy's birthday since it would be coming up soon and we were all together then. We had some yummy fondue--cheese, then beef broth, then chocolate with all sorts of things to dip in each of them. Delicious!

And the kids helped Grandma decorate the tree

That's how Kayli poses while saying "cheese!" Fortunately, she saw this picture and asked why her face was like that. And I think we may have made progress in getting her to actually look at the camera.

She really wanted a picture of her holding the ornament we made when she was 2, but I could not convince her to hold still, so you'll just have to trust that's really her.

Meanwhile, Bryce painstakingly hung as many ornaments as humanly possible on one branch

Carefully placing each one. You can guess how heavily decorate the bottom of this tree was.

Saturday my in-laws invited Blake and I to attend the BYU vs University of Utah football game.

Actually, we weren't planning on coming out for Thanksgiving, but then a couple months ago, my father-in-law mentioned these tickets to Blake. And suddenly, we were planning a trip.

It was so fun to be back at the stadium. I love the mountains behind us. I miss them!

It was the 25th anniversary of the Miracle Bowl, so they broke out some special jerseys with the old BYU Blue. It brought back some unexpected memories of watching football with my grandpa way back in the day. He was one of the biggest Cougar fans ever. And I found myself blinking back tears. I miss him.

But there's no crying in football, so I had my moment and then got busy yelling and cheering.

We had a rocky start, but then a good play set the momentum and we got off to a good lead (20-6, I'm pretty sure). And then it was the end of the fourth quarter and they tied it at 20-20, sending us into an intense overtime.

But the Cougars pulled it out and we won with a sort of random touch down. I think the final score was 26-23.

And then madness hit.

We couldn't believe how many people ran down to the field

But they just kept pouring down

Thanks for a super fun evening!!!!

And a special special thanks to my brother-in-law Chris and his cute friend Rachel for watching the kids for us so we could attend. He even fed them dinner, changed diapers, and put them to bed. Amazing!!!

And then it was time to head home early Sunday morning. Another long drive. But we survived it and may even consider doing it again sometime.

Thanks to all of Blake's family for great times, fun games, and delicious food!