Fun in the Snow

Two days after Christmas we had some snow that actually stuck to the ground. We probably ended up with 2-3 inches on the ground at our house, which is a pretty good snowfall for around here. It was enough for the kids to play in and use their new snow gloves. They had a snowball fight and built a big snowman with Jim and the neighbor kids. They had a lot of fun and actually stayed outside for quite awhile in it. When they finally came in we had lots of wet coats, clothes, and puddles on the laundry room floor.

Christmas Day

We had a fun Christmas Day. The kids, of course, wanted to get up early. We told then they couldn't get up until 6:30am, which they thought was terrible. Everybody was excited to see what Santa brought. Tyler's main gift was a digital camera. Shannon got a Nintendo DS. Evan got a new big wheel type of bike and a leap pad. Lauren got a dollhouse and a leap pad. Whitney got some little bongo drums. After playing with the Santa toys for awhile and looking through their stockings they were ready to move on to the wrapped presents. It took a while to go through those, since we open them one at a time. They got some nice things that will hopefully keep them occupied during the rest of their vacation. We spent the rest of the day just having a lazy day. We spent the whole day at home. Kirk's Dad came over for a couple of hours and ate lunch with us. We played games, took naps (well just Kirk, me and Whitney) and ate lots of junk. It is unbelievable to me how much trash Christmas generates. We created way more trash then we could put in our garbage can. We sent home a bag full of wrapping paper with Kirk's Dad to put in his garbage and then the day after Christmas, Kirk took a load of cardboard to the recycling place.

We even ended up having a little bit of snow for Christmas, which got the kids all excited. Unfortunately it wasn't enough to amount to anything. There was just a dusting on the ground, but it looked pretty falling and was lots nicer than the pouring down rain, which we usually have.

Here are some more photos from our Christmas morning. The kids made out pretty well. They all seemed to enjoy their Christmas gifts and we had a good day together.

Evan on his new bike that makes lots of noise and even has blinkers. Shannon with her new rose colored Nintendo DS.

Whitney chewing on her new hairbows. Lauren excited about her new snow mitten and hat.

Slideshow of Christmas photos

I made a slideshow of photos from Christmas morning. Just click on the link below to view.


http://www.onetruemedia.com/shared?p=4972559a57fb7ceb1cc7e6&skin_id=601&utm_source=otm&utm_medium=text_url

Christmas Eve

We had a fun day Christmas Eve. The kids always think that the day goes by slowly on Christmas Eve. We spent the day cleaning the house and getting ready for company. In the early afternoon I went visiting teaching for awhile. After I got home we got ready to make pizza. Lauren helped me make the pizza. She had one pizza that she put most of the toppings on by herself. She is very independent and didn't want much assistance. Then about 5:30 all the fun began. The Phelon's came over and our neighbors Jim and Kelli came over. We ate pizza, salad and drank pop and enjoyed each others company. There was a lot of chaos with 10 kids in the house (3 of them were babies). The kids spent a lot of time playing the Wii. After having desert we had a little program. Shannon read a couple of stories. Brandon was going to read one but he got too shy with the extra people there, so Stephanie read his for him. Then we did the nativity puppet show and talked about the true meaning of Christmas and why we give presents on Christmas. Last of all came the present opening. Each of the kids opened one present. Stephanie's kids opened up new pajamas to wear that night. We just let our kids pick which present they want to open. Shannon opened one from Jim & Kelli and it was a pink Yankees hat. Tyler opened his from Pete & Stephanie. It was a Blazers basketball hoop that hangs over the door. Evan opened a noisy truck from Tyler and Lauren opened some Pet Shops from Tyler. Whitney also opened a present from Tyler. Hers was a Winnie the Pooh magic washcloth. All in all we had a great evening and a great start to our Christmas.

We took a lot of photos of the puppet nativity and also the present opening. I put together a collage of some of those photos. Just click on the collage and the photos will appear larger so you can see them better.

Shannon's Choir Concert

Last Thursday evening was Shannon's Christmas Choir Concert. We weren't sure if she was going to be able to participate in it because she was sick on Wednesday and Thursday. She stayed home from school both days, but by Thursday afternoon she was feeling better. So we went ahead and had her go. It was a nice concert they sang quite a few songs. For some reason Shannon never smiles while she is singing in front of people. I don't know if it is because she is nervouse or what. She just looks very somber up there. She was all smiles afterwards, though. The concert was at a church of a different denomination that ours. Evan was full of questions about things there that are different than at our church. He wanted to know about the big cross hanging up behind the pulpit and then they had some little donation slips, envelopes, & little pencils in a holder 0n the back of the pew that he was curious about. So it was kind of funny to listen to all his observations and questions.

More Christmas Dress Pictures

Here are some photos of Lauren and Whitney in their Christmas dresses. It was hard to get a decent photo of Lauren. She was being a ham and trying too hard with her smile and kept lifting her head up too much and sticking her head out. This was the best I was able to get, but I think they are still cute photos.

Evan thought he needed a photo with Whitney too. This was the day that he was sick that is why he isn't wearing his church clothes and looks a little peaked in the photo. I couldn't get Whitney to look at me. She was just checking him out.

Whitney in her Christmas Dress

Last Sunday before church I took some cute photos of Whitney in her Christmas dress in front of the Christmas tree. We borrowed the dress from Shaylee. Lauren and Shannon's first Christmas dress was way to small for Whitney. They were only 2 months and 2 1/2 months old on their first Christmas. I didn't have a headband to match this dress, so I put a little pony tail on top of her head and put a clip in bow on. This was the first time she has worn her hair like this and she looked mighty cute. She still doesn't have a huge amount of hair, so it was a really tiny pony tail, but it worked. She still has way more hair than either Shannon or Lauren did at the same age, though.

An Unlucky House & Gingerbread Men

Well my hopefulness at my sickness not spreading wasn't to be. I thought for sure that we were in the clear once we reached last Saturday (the 15th) without anybody else getting sick and throwing up. Early Sunday morning (1:30am to be precise) Evan woke up whining and crying. I got up with him and couldn't figure out what was wrong with him so I put him back to bed. A few minutes later he started whining and crying again, so I told Kirk it was his turn to try to figure out what was wrong. He got him up and took him out to the couch and sat there with Evan on his lap. A few minutes later I hear him calling "Gina come help him". I go out there and Evan had thrown up all over himself and Kirk. It was a lovely mess. Thank goodness for leather couches and the mess just wiped off the couch very easily. He was up off and on for the rest of the night throwing up. Luckily we made it to the toilet with him all the rest of the times. Needless to say Kirk and I got very little sleep that night and Evan didn't go to church on Sunday. Tyler and I took turns staying home with him. A couple of days later Kirk came down with it and then Shannon. Lauren was sick for a day, but she never threw up, so I am not sure if she had it. Now Tyler will probably get it just in time for Christmas. Shannon missed the last two days of school before Christmas break, so she missed her school Christmas party.



Shannon has been wanting to make gingerbread men for Christmas. I'm not sure why, we have never made them before. At the store one day I saw a mix for them, so I bought that and we made gingerbread men. One day we mixed up the dough, rolled them out and cut them out. Then a couple of days later we frosted them. I put the frosting in ziploc bags and snipped off a corner. Then they just squeezed the frosting out onto the cookies. It was actually a lot less messy than using knives. The kids had fun doing them, but the cookies sure looked interesting when they were done. I don't think we will be able to give any of them away.

Santa Claus

Last Saturday was the ward Christmas party. Unfortunately right before the party I started feeling sick with some kind of flu/stomach virus. It was unbelievable how fast it hit me. I was feeling fine then all of a sudden I wasn't feeling well. I still went to the party because I had been looking forward to it and wanted to see the kids sit on Santa's lap. I just plopped myself down at the table and stayed their the whole time (except when the kids were visiting Santa). The kids were very excited to sit on Santa's lap. They were right at the beginning of the line. First up from our family was Evan, then Lauren, who was followed by Shannon and lastly Whitney and Tyler. I was surprised by Whitney. I thought she would scream when Tyler sat her on Santa's lap, but she didn't. She just kept turning around and looking at him and then she would turn and look forward again. I'm sure she was wondering who is this strange looking guy. After Santa's visit, there was a nice ham dinner (which I didn't eat any of). After the dinner they had a nice program that included a slideshow of families and ward events. It was fun to watch. After the party I headed home to collapse on the couch. I was mighty sick and it laid me flat for about two days. Needless to say Kirk had to skip his meetings on Sunday to take care of the kids. It was Tuesday before I started feeling normal again. Hopefully nobody else gets this. I hate dealing with puking kids and their messes.

One more quick story. I didn't go to church on Sunday since I was sick. Kirk stayed home in the morning and then took the kids to church. After church he had some appointments and things he needed to do, so he asked the Barnes if they would bring the kids home. He just assumed they brought their big Ford Excursion to church, but they had brought their little five passenger car. They squeezed our four older kids and their family of four into that little car. When the kids arrived home Lauren came into the house and said "I am never riding in that car again". I imagine it was mighty cramped, but it was very nice of them to bring them home. Luckily it isn't a very far drive.

Decorating the Christmas Tree

The kids always have fun decorating the Christmas tree. They have a hard time waiting for the lights to be put on so they can start decorating. I put the lights on and it took awhile because the tree is so tall and bushy and I like lots of lights. Lauren was very anxious to put ornaments on, so she kept hanging ornaments up while I was still putting the lights on. So I had to keep moving ornaments as I put lights on, which made it take even longer. Shannon was having a cow about Lauren putting the ornaments on early. I think she thought that there wouldn't be any left for her to put on. In the end the tree got decorated and there were plenty of ornaments for everybody. Our tree is very mismatched with lots of kid made ornaments. It is definitely not decorated very evenly with lots of ornaments together in some spots and other areas that are empty, but the kids love it. We only had one caualty of the evening. Evan stepped on a reallly small glass Christmas ball ornament with his bare foot. The ornament smashed to smitherings and cut Evan's foot. It wasn't a very big cut, but it sure bled a lot which freaked him out a little. He also got blood on the carpet, which took some work to remove. Below is a collage of some photos from the evening. If you click on the collage you can view the photos a little bigger.

Our Quest for the Perfect Tree

Our kids always look forward to the tradition of finding and cutting down a christmas tree. Last Friday we ventured off to our usual Christmas tree farm to find the perfect tree for our home this Christmas. We wandered around for quite awhile trying to decide which tree everyone liked best. We found many nice trees, but some were too tall, too short, too fat or to skinny. Many of them had strange looking tops, so we kept searching until we found one that we all agreed on. That took some doing, since there were many opinions.

The first picture above is of all the kids standing in front of our tree that we picked. First Evan tried his hand at cutting it down, then Shannon attempted it, followed by Lauren and lastly Tyler tried to cut it down. It took Kirk to actually cut it down. After cutting it down we hauled it home and later that evening we decorated it.

Below are some more photos from our tree cutting adventure. There are the last few photos of the tree being cut down and then a photo of us (minus Tyler) in front of the cut down tree. You can see the tree lying down behind us. Tyler took the last photo that is why it's not quite in focus. As you can see from the last photo Evan has hold of the saw. He insists on being "the keeper of the saw" and thinks he needs to carry it and take charge of it. That can be a little scary at times.