Life in Ruins

Today, in an emotional outburst of super-size proportions, I told Kade that he ruins everything. (I know, I've got that mom-of-the-year award in the bag.) He insisted that he didn't and Hailey said, "Well, you ruined my life."

Coyotes Game

Tonight we took the two oldest kids to see the Coyotes play. They were so excited. When we got to the hockey arena, K was just beside himself. He had a permanent smile on his face. H was excited to be there, too, but she took a little bit to warm up.

We cheered and had a lot of fun. There was a young couple in front of us and they thought K was great. They even explained what a hat trick was to him. Then, as we were getting ready to leave, the man in front of us handed me $50 to go buy the kids t-shirts at the team shop! It was very unexpected and the kids were thrilled.

Cadillac Oxen

Last night we went to see the lights at the temple. The kids loved seeing all the lights. We made our way around to the manger (by following the star like the Wise Men). After that we saw the shepherds watching their flocks. H commented that she saw a "Cadillac" in the stable. I thought I heard her wrong, but then she said it again.

In the car on the way home I asked her about it and she said that it says "Cadillac oxen first welcomed Him there" in the song The Nativity. We had a good laugh because it actually says "cattle and oxen".

Spaghetti Night

We love spaghetti at our house. These pictures were taken last week, but could just have easily been taken today.

Christmas 2009

Well, we had a good Christmas.

Last night we read the Christmas Story from Luke and we also read a book about the First Christmas in the Book of Mormon. We put our cookies, carrots and apples out. We spread our reindeer food on the driveway and we checked the Santa tracker one last time before going to bed. The kids went to bed amazingly well. They might have even all been asleep before 7:30!

Sometime in the middle of the night Santa came.

At 5:00 am I woke up and couldn't go back to sleep. I tossed and turned for another hour before waking N up (I know, I am a nice wife for letting him sleep that extra hour). After some last minute prep we woke the kids up. Technically, H was already up--she didn't know it was morning! I'm pretty sure M was up, as well. K, on the other hand, was still out cold. We woke him up and got R out of bed and went downstairs to see what Santa brought.

H was first. She got this.

Yep, Santa brought H her very first pet. A fish she has named Spirit (after the horse). She has already commented that taking care of a fish is a lot of responsibility, but I think she is up for the challenge.

K was next. He got this.

A Cars slot car race track. He likes it, but he has a little trouble getting the cars to stay on the track. His dad likes it, too.

M and R are next. M got the football on the ground behind him and R got the hippo toy-thingie that M is playing with.

I forgot to mention that Santa's Elves visited our house on Christmas Eve and left us pajamas. H got Hello Kitty, K got Lego Star Wars, M got dinosaurs and R got purple with hearts. Though you'd never know it looking at this picture. She wet her bed and had to change out of them.

Later in the day Grandma and Grandpa W came over for a visit and to see all the spoils. Then we got ready and took some chips and salsa to the fire station down the street. After that it was on to Christmas dinner at Grandma and Grandpa E's house.

We all had a great Christmas and can't wait to do it again next year. Well, maybe just a little.

(Oh, in case you were wondering, N got a TiVo from Santa and I got a toothbrush and a laundry sorter.)

Stomp Rockets

(K trying it out)

(H jumping from the playground equipment onto the air pumping thing--dad's idea)

(M's turn. Actually, he would stomp on it anytime someone stepped away from it. So, if K stepped away to get a good jump M would stomp on it.)

(N giving it a whirl)

(R watching the other kids have fun)

For Christmas, my parents got K a stomp rocket. The kids have been sending various toys over the backyard fences lately so I was a little leery of letting them do the rockets in the backyard. Today, since N was off work this morning we went to the park and tried it out. I didn't have anything to worry about. It goes high, but not wide.




H loves the video of M and likes it when I put it on a loop so it just keeps playing over and over again.

H on the Monkey Bars

Christmas Cookies

So, I've been baking. I though it would be nice if N could take some cookies to work for the people he supervises. I made gingersnaps, spritz and sugar cookies. I was going to make chocolate chip also, but N said he thought we had enough cookies already.

Last night N, H, K and I stayed up and frosted 77 sugar cookies. Then we packed up half of the cookies to go to work.

(These are some of the beauties that didn't make the cut for work. That green mass of sugar in the bottom left corner is the snowflake that H decorated just for me. I can't wait to sink my teeth into it.)

(These are the cookies that we packaged up all ready for N to take to work that are still sitting on the counter...yep, he forgot to take them!)

R Turns One!

R turned one today. She has been such a good little girl (hopefully that doesn't change). We are so happy to have her in our family.

Grandma and Grandpa E came out today to bring R her birthday presents.

Then we had lunch and cupcakes.


Hey R, whaddya think of those cupcakes?

Family Christmas Party

(K with Bumblebee)

(H with Littlest Pet Shop)

(M with Blocks)

(R with clothes and a book)

We had such a good time with everyone. The kids loved their presents.