Merry Christmas!

I really love this time of the year. I love when people all over the world celebrate the birth of our Savior Jesus Christ. I love that even if people don't believe in Jesus, there is still a tradition of giving and togetherness. Although I missed having snow, we had a very nice Christmas together with our family and friends in Mississippi. 

Our Christmas Eve traditions involve opening up a new pair of pajamas, and going to a Christmas Eve party at Mike's grandparents in Bountiful and watching the Nativity. We weren't able to be with his family this year, but his parents still sent then kids new pajamas.

Christmas morning was as fun as opening gifts could be. Adam was our sugar monster and didn't care about his gifts as much as scarfing down as much candy as possible before we could tell him to stop. Sarah's Santa gift was a watch, Steven got more Star Wars Legos and Adam received some toy airplanes. 

Sarah loves the Nativity/Creche, and made a few to display around our home in addition to our Little People plastic one. She would play with them and reenact the birth of Jesus for us throughout the month. Here are some that she made. Our neighbor gave her a Nativity snow globe that she now gets to treasure as well. 

 This is one we started and didn't finish. (my fault)

One of my favorite parts of Christmas is sending and receiving Christmas cards. This year it was especially meaningful to feel connected to family and friends near and far. Thank you for being a part of our Christmas celebration. 

Happy Birthday Princess!

Sarah turned 7 on November 28th. SEVEN! That's almost 8, which is half of 16, which is only two years younger than 18. YIKES! (okay, I only partially freak out when my kids get older, I'm not completely crazy)

For Sarah's birthday she decided to have a sleepover with some of her friends. She loves the new Disney Brave movie, so that was the chosen theme. She knew exactly what she wanted for her party. We needed to have an archery contest, pin the tail on Angus and our friend/neighbor Yvonne that is from Scotland needed to come and teach the kids about Scotland. She would wear her Brave costume, we'd eat pizza, cake and stay up way too late. Lucky for all involved, that just about sums up her party.

Pin the tail on Angus

Archery contest 

Pizza

Presents

We've had a fun tradition while we've been here of doing the xbox kinect with Lillian and Malcolm during the kids parties.  

We used trick candles, and it was hilarious. She kept trying and trying to no avail. We ended up getting a cup of water to put them in.

Most of the kids that attended

The girls decided to put marker on each others faces as make up. Good thing it was washable. 

The next morning it was time to clean up. I took care of most of the house, but we told Sarah to clean up her own room. It wasn't even very dirty. She said she was too tired and burst into tears, so Mike thought of a better idea. They would take a nap. He's the best dad in the world. 

Having Sarah as a daughter is such a blessing. She's helpful around the house, a great big sister, sweet, kind, loving, smart, funny and most importantly, ours. :) Happy Birthday Princess!

Some things about Sarah:
- She is in first grade and her teacher is Amy Youngblood and her assistant is Miss Judy.
- She loves horses and has been taking lessons.
- She loves to read and her favorite series are the Rainbow Fairies, Junie B. Jones, Magic Treehouse and A to Z mysteries.
- She has been learning to play the piano but has been w/o a teacher for a couple months. (I've been a poor substitute since I don't play myself)
- She likes to draw and has her own art blog. www.princesssarahsart.blogspot.com
- She is a great big sister.

(I'll add to the list with her dad later)

Christmas Pre-game

Here are some of the activities we did before Christmas:

Mike and I attended the Student Squadron Christmas party. The dress was either semi-formal or ugly sweater. I took the rare opportunity to dress up and Mike opted for an ugly sweater. (Mailed to him quickly from his brother Andy)

The base had a childrens Christmas party we attended. They had games, treats and the highlight was when Santa taxied in on a T-1.

Sarah "fell asleep" under the Christmas tree. And yes, Adam is wearing a leotard with tutu. 

We made ginger bread houses. I'm sure you tell which child was in charge of each house. 

Matt, a friend from Mike's class brought the kids gifts. He read their minds, because the boys got super hero stuff and Sarah got a Barbie set. 

Goodbye hair!

Steven finally decided to cut his hair. We were letting him grow it out for as long as he'd like, but he wanted a short style for a while. He was initially going to grow it out as long as Baljeet from Phineas and Ferb in the Excaliferb episode. (you'll have to watch it to understand)

This is the mohawk mullet look

And the new missionary hairstyle. Much easier. :)

Happy Thanksgiving

I really wish I was up to speed on my blogging, because I have so many things to be Thankful for and I should have listed them when I was thinking of this post around Thanksgiving. (and not tired at 10:30 PM. This seems to be a new habit for me. I'm guessing it's a mom thing)

1. I'm thankful for my husband. I know most wives feel this way, but I have the greatest husband in the world. I am thankful every single day that I get to be his wife. I'm grateful for his work ethic, integrity, kindness and love. I'm a lucky lady.
2. I'm thankful for my children. I love all three of them more than I can express. They are so unique and special in their own ways. I'm thankful for Sarah's sweet temper, Steven's love of life and smiles and Adam's sense of humor and desire to be my one and only baby.
3. I'm thankful for my parents. I have wonderful parents. They are great examples to me, great in-laws to my husband and fantastic grandparents to my children.
4. I am thankful for my in-laws. (seriously, I am) They are loving, giving, great grandparents and they did a wonderful job raising my husband. I married into a great family.
5. I'm thankful for friends. I have the best friends. I'm not always the best at staying in contact, but grateful for friends that I know are there for me.
6. I'm thankful for our little adventure in Mississippi. It has its challenges, but we've met wonderful people down here and are grateful for this opportunity. Mike is tired most of the time and tested physically, emotionally and physically, but he's fulfilling his dream. I'm tired, miss family and friends, but have made a lot of new friends and really like the south. (except for the bugs. And the humidity. And the lack of a Target. ;) )
7. I'm thankful for my Savior and His gospel. I keep writing and deleting, because my words feel inadequate. I'm grateful for Him and the many gifts He has given me.

The list could go on and on and be more detailed, but these are some of the main things I'm thankful for. It's good to list them sometimes because it helps me to remember all that I have. I don't want to seem boastful, and my life isn't perfect, I'm just incredibly grateful for it. Every day is a gift and even though I have my good days and bad days, I'm thankful to just have days. Days with my family. Days on this earth.

We were lucky to have my parents visit for the week of Thanksgiving. I should have snapped a ton of pictures, but didn't.

On Thanksgiving morning my dad and I ran a 10k on base. My dad has been outrunning me for years, so it was nice to be able to do an actual race and keep up with him.

I only managed to take a couple more pictures. My mom and I took the two older kids shopping and left grandpa to watch Adam while he napped. Adam didn't feel like napping, so he wore out grandpa until he finally passed out.

These are the only other pictures I have. I know, I totally stink at capturing the memories.

Thank you to all of my family and friends that have made 2012 a wonderful year.