The Big Day!

Christmas Day finally came. The kids went right to bed after Christmas Eve at Tony and Natalie's home. Well, they fell asleep on the way home, so they were tranfered to bed.

Apparently, Ellie woke at 2:52 and woke MJ and Chloe. They went down to see if Santa had done his work for the night yet, and yes, he had come and gone!

They checked their stockings and found they couldn't tell what was in them...Santa figured out long ago to wrap everything so no little sneakers could peek before it was time! So, the girls went back to bed, after they made their beds to speed up the mornings process of course!

Ellie (ever the early bird) woke up again at 6, and tried to get Mom and Dad out of bed. Not gonna happen! (I know, can you believe they let us go back to sleep! I was pretty sure that they'd beg until I got up anyway...but) So, they came back at 6:30, and we were able to convince them to give us another 1/2 hour.

We finally rolled ourselves out of bed at 7 (hey, we had a few late nights, you know, being Santa's helpers and all). We teased them as we brushed our teeth. "We are starved, should we eat breakfast first?" or "How about we take a morning walk, it's such a beautiful day?" It really was a beautiful day! Sunny and warm. They would yell "NOOO" at each attempt to put them off any more.

Kids are so fun! What am I going to do when they are too old for this stuff!? We did have to force Porter out of bed. He would gladly have slept another hour or more. Anyway, the fun commenced!

Porter has been wanting that psp for a few years now. Santa finally heard his pleas. :)

Elle loves to do any sort of crafts.
MJ loves her husky webkins with the purple dress!
Ren kept pointing and repeating "That's my scooter, that's my scooter."

Pretty much all this kid got were cars and trucks and things that go!
Santa heard Mom's pleas to get Chloe her own makeup stash, so she could have hers back. She is wearing a cute shirt that she got from her Marsh cousin gift exchange. Very cute.
Rusty's parents came down to hear him speak on Sunday after Christmas. They are really wonderful. We love them so much and are so glad we got to spend some time with them over the holidays!

Merry Chris Chris! Wha you wan?

Ren walks around the house wearing his red Santa hat saying "Merry Chris Chris! Wha you wan?" I guess he learned that from sitting on Santa's lap!! The big kids keep trying to teach him to say Christmas instead of Chris Chris, and I keep telling them to stop. I love that he calls it that. It is adorable and makes me feel like Ren is a baby and not the big kid that he is becoming!! :) Anyway, he hasn't been able to get it properly yet. Yea! Christmas Eve was very fun this year. We spent the afternoon and evening at Tony and Natalie's home. Our Christmas program consisted of reading the Christmas story from the Bible, singing some carols and having Grandma and Grandpa Marsh sharing a few of their Christmas memories from the past. Each kid then opened up their cousin gift (the Marsh cousins do a gift exchange). They we all headed out to go see the LA Temple lights. It was a bit cold out, but you know, we are a bit thin blooded living here! The photos don't capture the lights at all. But they were beautiful and the night was perfect. We are so lucky to have Rusty's parents visiting Tony and Nat for Christmas so we can enjoy their company too!

a> Grandpa Marsh and Chloe...Doesn't Chloe look a lot like Joy right there!?
Grandma Marsh and Porter

Ellie, Ava and MJ prepare to open their gifts.

Ren and Alex are waiting patiently.

These kids were so cute, singing their little hearts out! We sang several carols including Jingle Bells and Silent Night.

Just the two of us...for a moment anyway.

At the temple lights the kids were running around and posing for my camera. Aren't they cute!

Chloe

Porter was so nice to the little kids that night. Sometimes he can be a real teenager and need his 'space' so it was refreshing to see him playing with the kids. Merry Christmas to Mom, right?

Tony, Natalie, Ava, Alex and Addie

Grandpa, Porter and Ren

I love this photo.

Who can resist this sweet Addie face, not I!

Merry Christmas!

Decorating the tree is always one of the most fun things we do to prepare for Christmas. Our tree was very colorful this year. Ren is old enough not to try to eat the pretty glass balls, so they all went on the tree. One of the kids favorite things is to gather all their own picture ornaments. I do one photo ornament of them every year to add to the decor. It is fun to see them look at each one and remark on how little or cute they were. I enjoy that too.

Cheese.

Ren was cracking me up! He is always game for a photo, but refused to smile for this one!

Work Party

Rusty put on a really fun party for all the people at work. I was on my way there, when I got a text from him saying that the surveyers showed up. This means that the state people have come to check up on him and the facility. We've been waiting on pins and needles for this to happen for several months now! It's ironic that they showed up on party day. Knowing that Rusty was going to show up really late, if at all, to the party, I killed some time at Costco before the party. I know some people he works with but no well, and I knew I'd be out of place there. But I finally couldn't put it off much longer. I spent about 2 1/2 hours there without him. I ended up having a fun time though. We ate dinner, and danced the night away. There were a few awkward moments and I was relieved when Rus showed up, but all in all, it was fun. The people Rusty works with said that was the best work party they'd ever been too.

Peace Out.

Chloe likes to make this 'peace out' pose for photos. She taught Ren how to do it!

Hah, hah!

Here comes Santa Claus!

Our ward Christmas brunch was fun. We ate yummy breakfast food, sang carols, visited and watched a nativity play by the kids. Then...Santa showed up. Things got a little crazy after that! :) You may notice that I didn't get a photo of Porter with Santa. He ran off when I mentioned that I wanted a photo of him. I couldn't find him until we were leaving, he was outside playing ball with some other boys. I was really disappointed!

Ellie speaks to Santa. She had such a hard time deciding what to ask Santa for. She felt she should really narrow down her list to one thing because there were so many kids who wanted to sit on his lap. (This was all her thinking, by the way, no guidance from mom or dad.) I finally told her that it really was ok to ask for two things because I got tired of her asking for me to tell her which to choose, the disney mix max plus mp3 player or the american girl doll! When I'd choose one for her she'd say no, not that one. Then I'd choose the other and she couldn't commit to that either!

MaryJane asked Santa for a Husky Webkins dog with clothes.

Chloe felt she might be a little too old to sit on the big guys lap. I convinced her to anyway...I really wanted a picture. :) I think she asked for an ipod.

After waiting and talking about sitting on Santa's lap, Ren just couldn't do it! He wanted to. He wanted that sucker! And we practiced what he wanted to ask for...a truck and a lollipop. (He came up with those requests.) He looks like he might cry even sitting on my lap, sitting on Santa's! I look a little silly, but that's the only photo we've got!
He got his reward...a tree sucker!

Chloe and her friend, Madison show off the ornaments that they made.

MJ and Elle were dressed as angels for the nativity program.
Ren is singing carols with this cute group. (Some of you will recognize Chase in the blue by Ren.) Ren is excited about something!

Julia and Chloe

I am Thankful!

Marshes + Blackburns + Petersens = A fun time!

Rebecca and Greg hosted us all for Thanksgiving this year. We met at their home for a long weekend of food, family and fun. Despite the verrrry long drive home (due to the holiday traffic and Porter's stomach flu) this trip was so wonderful. Only good memories will prevail!

Chloe and Cece eat their Thanksgiving feast.
Kid table #1 held Ren, Alejandro, Jesse, Blake, Drex, MaryJane and two other cute little girls (I can't remember their names - Rebecca's friends girls). We set them up (ok, Charlie and Rusty and Greg set the tables up) in the garage. And that seemed to work well...no kids food was spilled on the kitchen floor. Only adults food.
Kids table #2 held Liberty, Chloe, Cecilee, Porter, Quin and Ellie. As you can see they are all thoroughly enjoyed their meal. Especially the rolls...scroll down for more info on the rolls!
Libby, she reminds me so much of little Lizzy! :) She brings back fond memories.
Adult table #1, Rebecca, Liz, Charlie, and Rebecca's neighbors. Their names are not coming to the surface of my brain right now...they were really nice though. I think they were from Argentina and this was their first Thanksgiving ever. We ooohed and aaahed as they tried stuffing and deviled eggs and cranberry sauce for the first time!
Adult table #2 me, two more of Rebecca and Greg's friends - again the names I just can't get my brain to recall - and I sat and visited with them...embarrasing, and of course Greg, then Rusty is the one behind the camera.
These little monkeys are so cute!
Cece and Ellie sang and sang. They sang at Blake's baptism that was the Saturday of Thanksgiving weekend. They had some high standards for perfection, they could be found singing away at the piano as they preped for their performance. :)
Ren and Beau. Sweet stuff.
MaryJane and Ren eat some breakfast as they watch Greg slave away in the kitchen.
Greg is an awesome cook! Rebecca is so lucky! :) He made scrumptious stuffing and melt in your mouth rolls. I think that was one of the better Thanksgiving meals I've ever had!
All the girl cousins gather at Blake's baptism. Some of them are wearing a little make-up. Chloe got a bit more done up than usual, thanks to Liz and Rebecca's make up stashes. Cece even got a little to brighten her cheeks a bit.
Marshes, Blackburns and Petersens. A very good day...Blake's baptism.
Sisters...Elizabeth, Rachel and Rebecca. I am thankful for them.
Look at this handsome young man! (Whistle) He is growing up so fast. Blake and his proud dad, Greg.
We went to dinner after the baptism. MJ, Elle and Cece color and giggle, color some more and giggle.

I thought we might ought to include one photo of Rusty, he was our cameraman. Yes, he was there! I am thankful for him!