New Years Eve!!!

What a fun night!

We got to go hang out with our adoptive Idaho family...The Young's.

We had some yummy dinner...fun games...LOTS of kids...and a lot of noise!

This was a house full of girls!!!

Let me see if I have it right...13 kids...

3 boys...

10 girls!

How fun is that!?!

We really are so lucky to have been taken in by the Young family.

They really are our family!

Swimmin' at the Y

Dad had a fun day planned out for us today.

First thing was going to the Y for some swimming.

The kids were all going very STIR crazy the last couple days.

We needed some recreational activity!

And swimming was the perfect thing!



Elsie was very excited to go...but once we got there...she was pretty nervous with all the noise and the people and the splashing.
But she ended up having a really good time.
Porter was a nut...as usual.
It is gonna be fun teaching hi to swim this next summer.
He has no fear...that is how Cassi was, and she is a great little swimmer!



The girls had a lot of fun going down the slide and jumping off the diving board.

Madi is a fish!!!

We just need to work on the nose plugging thing.

Cassi, a.k.a. THE NO FEAR CHILD....jumped off the high dive.

She loved it and now wants to join the dive team!

****************

Then he took us to Texas Roadhouse for dinner tonight.

Who would have thought you would have a 40 min wait at 5:00 on a Thursday night...crazy

But so yummy!

Thanks Dad for the fun day!

Cass.

It has been so much fun to watch Cassi learn and grow in her guitar playing.

It really amazes me how well she is doing.

I mean, I knew she was very musically inclined and had good hand eye coordination...

But she is really WOW-ing us!

She is a natural.

Now if she would just STOP writing on her hands...

Love ya, Cass.

Bell

Madi is a pretty good kid.

She puts up with a lot from the little kids.

By little kids, I mean Elsie and Porter.

Cause she still doesn't put up with much from Cassi.

Believe it or not, this is a giant hug from Porter.

Ouch, right?

She just laughed.

Madi has been a pretty big help today.

We have been doing chores around the house and trying to figure out how to make things run smooth around this place.

There has been some fighting from her and Cass...which I wish would STOP!!!!

But I don't think I am that lucky.

But if I can have Madi and I on the same team, things work out a lot better.

Or Cassi and I on the same team.

To them, usually, I am the meanest person in the world!!!!

So if I can stay away from that, I think I am doing pretty good.

One thing I really want to work on, is giving Madi more one-on-one time.

I haven't been able to do that quite yet...it is kinda hard to do with 3 other little ones.

But I think she and I need to work on how we work together before she hits puberty and I have no chance at all!

I love her.

I love that she is my first born and she is so smart and beautiful.

She is such a great help in so many ways.

I am so thankful for her.

I guess I just need to let her know that more often.

To the movies!

We had a fun outing today.

We went to the movie theatre to watch the movie "Tangled".

I can't even remember the last time we made it to the movies as a family.

It was a lot of fun to get out and see something on the big screen.

They were all pretty entertained.

And there weren't many in the theatre, so Port was okay walking around in our isle.

But actually, the movie kept him entertained too.

Elsie was a lot of fun to watch it with.

She had a couple laughs that rang through the theatre.

Most of them had to do with the horse in the movie.

But that girl just knows how to let loose and enjoy life!

This is a horribly terrible picture, taken in the dark with my cell phone.
But you gotta have pictures for the memories!

We couldn't find a Tangled display...but they liked this one, so we went with it.

It was a lot of fun.

*******

Later today we had out FHE.

Cassi picked it, and it was the topic "A house of order."

Just what we need right now!

So while they are out of school, we are gonna really get into their chore charts and really work on working together.

Standing to eat.

The main reason I keep a blog is so that I can remember all the cute little things my kids did when they were little.

I have such a bad memory now, I can only imagine how bad it will get as I get older.

This is how Porter eats.

Standing on his chair.

But we don't make him sit down very often, because he is actually much cleaner when he eats this way.

Plus, look how cute he is.

And, believe it or not, he was dressed about 2 min. before I took this picture.

But he spilled punch down the front, so off it went.

The kid is quite a crack-up too with his goofy faces and crazy sense of humor.

He sure is a fun one to have around!

Merry Christmas 2010!!!

Christmas Day!

What a great day.

So much fun and excitement...

Very little fighting, and lots of love.

So much fun, that I didn't even take many pictures...I was enjoying the moment.

But I am sure happy I got this one on 'film'!!!

Can't you just feel her excitement?

I don't think we will ever have a dull moment at Christmas time with Elsie Rose.

She LOVES everything and is so grateful for all she has.

Santa brought her a new baby doll.

One with big brown eyes just like Elsie.

This is a shot of her seeing it for the first time.

And she has not put that baby down for even a minute today.

I sure wish we could all enjoy the simple things in life like Elsie does.

She really brought so much happiness to our day.

This is right before I let them come down the stairs.

They were dying to peak around the corner...
It is so much fun to see their faces and all the excitement they feel.
We spent the rest of the day playing games...learning how new gadgets work...and getting stuff ready for our very yummy ham Christmas dinner.
I am Thankful for our little family and for the chance to celebrate such a beautiful day with them.
Merry Christmas!

New Traditions...

We had a really fun night tonight.

We didn't have a whole lot to do today except get ready for tonight.

The Young girls came over at 4:30...

Both Drew and Brent are working...so Heather and I thought it would be a lot of fun for us to get together and do something fun for Christmas Eve.

We started out with a yummy dinner...breakfast.

French toast...made from Heathers home made bread.

Bacon, eggs, fresh oranges...the works.

The kids loved it and they all ate pretty good.

The next activity on the agenda was our own little play of the nativity.

I love the idea of having children act out the nativity...but 4 kids (two fully co-operating) just isn't enough.

But you add 4 more kids and it is pretty perfect.

It wasn't quite an Oscar worthy performance, but I really enjoyed it and I loved the idea of really bringing the story to life for the kids.

The little ones...Porter and Hallie...didn't want much to do with the whole thing.

And Elsie didn't want to dress up...but she would participate as long as it was along side Aubree.

After that we did some cleaning up...and then made ourselves some chocolate covered pretzels.

Well, we actually made them for Santa.

I have tons of pictures to share...but that will have to be posted later.

I gotta get myself to bed before the big guy in red shows up.
I think we all had a fun time and I hope it becomes a great tradition for us all.

Christmas eve's EVE...

Daddy works tomorrow...

So we did all our Christmas Eve traditions tonight.

It was kinda a crazy day...which ended in kinda a crazy...but fun...night!

Dad made yummy ribs for dinner!

YUM!

After that we read some Christmas stories while our ginger bread cooked in the oven.

Then we spent some time decorating out Gingerbread train.

We make a train every year...and I LOVE it!

I have yet to master my gingerbread recipe!

I think next year I will cook it, then cut it out!

This year, I cut it out, cooked it, then had to cut it out again, cause it all grew into each other!

Oh well...it turned out pretty cute, I think.

Madi and I made the Engine...Porter and Dad made the first car...Cassi made the second car....and Elsie and Madi made the last car.

I just love this tradition...even though I am a crazy woman when it comes to making the gingerbread!!!!

Oh well.

The kids had fun!

Then they got to open their present...jammies of course.

Elsie LOVES jammies...and spends most of her days in various jammies...I don't blame her, they are comfy!...anyway...she was SO excited to get new ones!

So, we let them open their jammies and then one more present.

I got my big present tonight.

I am so excited!!!!

Brent got me a BEAUTIFUL lap top!

It will be so great when I can sit and edit pictures and sit right there by him in stead of being in a whole other room!

ALSO....our home computer is on the fritz...working great at times, and others, I am not sure if we will lose EVERYTHING on there!

So I am very thankful and grateful for such a great gift...

I love you baby...and I hope you like the gift I got you...

In trouble...

A bad thing happened today.

The boy learned that he can open the fridge doors.

This is not good!

Next thing you know, he will learn how to open the door knobs!!!!

What am I gonna do then???

We were upstairs cleaning the girls rooms, and Port kept going downstairs and coming up with a Popsicle.

I thought maybe one of the girls followed him and helped him.

A little later I was down doing laundry, I heard the little footsteps....the freezer door open...and I peeked around the corner to find Porter digging around the freezer for another Popsicle!

Little turkey!

Anyway, I tied it up.

He didn't like that.

Neither did Elsie, who taught this great trick to the boy in the first place!

He kept giving me that look like "Please Mommy, you know you can't say no to me!"

Needless to say, they ate the rest of our Popsicles today.

Oh well, right.

After I tied it, and after he gave me that look, he tried to reach the tie on his own...up on his way tippy toes.

After that didn't work, he called his trusty partner in crime, Elsie, over and tried to get her to take it off.

She reached in, and pulled it down, but couldn't untie it.

So the tie works.

But do you know how many times I had to get into the fridge after I tied it?

It sure was a pain...

I guess I have to decide which one is the bigger pain, right?

We love the Wii

We had an early start to the day with Elsie waking up at 4:30.

But she did end up going back to sleep once the others were all up.

And we are trying to endure our days with the terrible twos.

Porter is really having a hard time.

He was grumpy all morning until I put him down for his nap.

That helped his mood a little bit.

But the girls spent most of the morning playing various Wii games.

Most of the time they were up off the couch swinging, and hitting, and running, and jumping...

They were pretty worn out.

Finally I made the shower and get dressed and they were ready for some calm-ness with Mario cart.

I cannot stay out of last place for the life of me...but these guys were doing really good.

Anyway, they don't play it a ton, and I got to get a lot of my stuff done without them noticing what I was working on, so it worked out pretty well.

Staying busy...

There just isn't enough time in the day this time of year!

I got up this morning and picked up a few more things at the store, along with food for Christmas dinner...YUM!

At home we worked on some gifts for friends, and continued to make messes.

After dinner tonight, Brent took the girls out to do some Mom Christmas shopping done and they must have had a really good time cause they were pretty wired when they got home.

We finished opening and hanging up the Christmas cards we got in the mail today, and now we are starting a Christmas movie.

Still lots to do, but at least we are having fun doing the things we are getting done!

Sunday

We had a nice morning...all the kids slept really well, and slept in.

I actually got 9 hours of sleep!!!

NINE!!!

Except Port sleeping later than usual meant that he wasn't gonna get a nap in before church....which isn't a good thing.

We had a nice relaxing morning, and got ready for church.

I should have taken a picture of the girls.

I think they looked so cute.

Again...I did some dorky things in order to make them match.

I found a really cute dress for Elsie at my FAV kids thrift store.

It is cream and brown.

I found two other dresses that were to big girls sizes with cute bottom parts, but the tops were made of that dumb velvet stuff...I DO NOT like that stuff!

Plus, it was a black top.

That wasn't gonna work.

So I bought some brown fabric, cut the tops off, and made them into a cute skirt with a big fat waistband and a big bow in back.

I paired it with their cream sweater from last year...I want to find a nice cardigan for them...but I could not find one ANYWHERE!!!

So they all matched beautifully.

And then there was Porter.

I found some really cool corduroy pants that fit him good, but they were black.

Sooo, I dyed them...

See...dorky.

But they look so nice paired with his brown checkered shirt, (that was also dyed)....and his cream sweater.

So they all have matching outfits, with the total being under $20...so maybe $5 a piece...not bad for a Christmas outfit.

I will take pictures when I find the cardigans I want.

ANYWAY.....

Later tonight we went with Cassi to her Baptism preview.

Her baptism is still a year a away, but it was fun for her to see what is to come.

And here is a shot of Elsie's new haircut.

It ended up a bit shorter than I wanted, but it is cute anyway.

I still can't believe she let her cut her hair!

Elsie had another rough day...you can just see her eyes and how red they are.

She must not have slept well last night...and she was really tight this morning.

We all went to church, but Brent ended up taking Elsie and Porter home cause they were both is pretty bad shape!

So we made it through another day...

Everyone is tucked nicely in their bed...dreaming of Christmas...and I still have a lot to do...

And I am still not stressing.

But maybe getting close to it.

LAST Saturday before CHRISTMAS!!!!

The day started out with some newly fallen snow...

So as soon as Dad got home this morning, the boys went out to do their job.

Porter can actually be quite helpful sometimes...it just doesn't last very long!

Then we set out to deliver all our bread and jam to our VT/HT...I made little loaves of bread with a note that said "Have a GRAPE Christmas" along with a jar of Grape jelly that I made this last summer...so cheesy, but it was fun.

Then we all did a lot of laundry...washing, sorting, folding and putting away.

I am thinking I might like the idea of having the kids fold their own clothes...

Then us girls went and got hair cuts, or is it hair's cut, Drew?.

Cassi and I just got trims...Cassi really wants short hair, and I am sure it would be darling, but I just love her hair long...she might be able to talk me into another time...we will see!

Madi's needed some major leveling out.

She wants to grow it out...but still had the a-line cut...so it looked kinda funny.

So that got cleaned up, and is looking nice and healthy now.

But the biggest change of all was with Elsie.

I wasn't sure if she would let her cut her hair.

But she was so good, and so excited!

I don't have a picture...but I will take one tomorrow for sure!

It is a cute little bob/a-line cut.

And she loves it...(and can't wait to show Sister Roll at primary tomorrow!)

When we came home we got more cleaning done...

And tonight Brent and I had a DATE NIGHT!

Finally!

It has been a long time, it seems, since we have gone out!

We went out with the Young's, and their neighbors.

We went to Tepanyaki, which was really yummy, then went bowling.

We don;t need to talk about how bowling went.

So it was a great day...too bad I am nowhere near being ready for Christmas!

Oh well, I am not stressing.

And the parties continue!

Man...a whole day of party-ing can really wear a person out!

It all started with Madi's party at 9:05...with the cue idea to give them donuts and Hot chocolate to start the day.

Elsie was so excited to go see Madi at school, and she even had a bonus of seeing one of her (Elsie's) teachers, Miss Meredith!

So that was great!

Port stayed in the stroller most of the time...he was a pretty good boy.

Things didn't go as well at Cassi's party.

Hers was later in the day, I got there at 2:15 for set-up.

Porter was good, sitting in his stroller eating a candy cane.

Elsie stayed along side Cassi while they decorated Snowman cupcakes.

Then we had a fun little craft where we made button snowflakes...they turned out really cute.

The bad part came when Porter bit the nose of another little boy.

I don;t know what happened...Porter was buckled up in his stroller, so he couldn't have been bugging anyone...

But this little boy, probably about one, must have gotten too close to Porter.

Porter kept pulling on his own shirt, saying that the boy pulled on him...but I can't believe he bit his nose!

Poor little guy had big old tooth marks on his nose and it took forever to stop bleeding!

What do you do when that happens????

The Mom understood, we have all been there, right?

I still feel SO BAD!!!

The only solace that I have was that Porter was buckled in, I was doing what I could to keep him out of trouble.

So from now on, I think I will leave him behind...(with a sitter of course!)

*********************

In between parties, I made the cutest little Baby doll bassinet for Elsie's Christmas.

It was so easy, and so cute...

Here is the link, http://twelvecraftstillchristmas.blogspot.com/2010/08/doll-bassinet-tutorial-part-1.html (there are two parts)

And I decided to not put the bonnet part on.

I thought it would be easier for Elsie to get the doll in and out without it...(plus it was easier to make without it)

I also made some doll diapers and made a doll quilt top...

I am pretty excited for Christmas!

Christmas party season!

Today Elsie had her Christmas party at school.

She is always so excited for us to show up at school.

We played Candy land and decorated gingerbread houses...

I am not sure why every time I think to myself, 'I am sure Porter will be good.'

Ha!

No, he wasn't bad...but he is hard to hold onto in a room full of great toys just waiting for him to pull out!

He had fun eating frosting and candy, then washing his hands, then eating more frosting and candy and washing his hands again...

He keeps me busy, we will just keep it at that.

I just LOVE Elsie's preschool and everyone who is involved with making her life the best it can be.

I need to document more on her progress.

Elsie has come a long way with her speech.

She is getting easier and easier to understand, and I am pretty sure it is because she is speaking more clearly, and not just that I am learning what sounds like what.

If that makes sense.

She continues to brighten every ones day....and we sure love her for that!

******************************

And some other fun news today....

My brother is getting married!!!

He proposed to Katie late last night and I am so excited for the two of them!

They make a great couple!

(I can't wait to take their pictures!)

Elsie LOVES her Emmy!

The kids got a fun surprise in the mail today...a big Christmas card from Emmy...

Not just one for all, they each got their very own beautiful Christmas card.

They were so excited!

Em included a few little goodies inside...and in Elsie's, she found this....

She was so excited...

Emily called me later today and she told me that it was in a Spiderman silly band pack, his hands out to cast a web...

But how perfect is that...a little I LOVE YOU sign...just for Elsie!

Love it!

See, I told you she loved it...

But I know she loves it the most because it is from Emmy!

She LOVES her Emmy!

(The lighting was really bugging me with these pictures...so I changed it to something totally different!)

Light are UP!

I wasn't sure if we would do lights this year...

But I think driving around last night, seeing the excitement on Elsie's face...I think that is what made Brent want to put them up...

Oh, and Elsie sure loves them.

Port wasn't totally sure about being on the roof...but he loved being up there as long as Dad was close by.
And Cassi, Cassi loves it up there...not sure if that is good or not.
She is good and careful...but still NO FEAR!
************
I have been working with a restoration company, where I take before photos for them, of the fire wreckage, and then I take after photos once they have restored it.
Well, I got to go out today and do pictures of the fire Brent was on the other night...
That was pretty fun for him to go back and check things out.
He had fun telling me what they did, where, and how it all went down.
Pretty fun.

Our little helpers.

After dinner we had a few chores to do before we had FHE for the night.

And that is when I noticed my big kids helping my little ones, at the same time.

Madi was folding dish towel s and I asked Elsie to help her...for fun...and Elsie was so gung-ho happy to do it...and Madi helped her out with the folding.

It was so very sweet!

(And don't you think Madi looks so pretty?)

And Cassi was unloading the dishwasher and she asked Porter to help her out...

He would take the silverware out of the dishwasher and hand it to Cassi to put it away.

Then she would lift him up to grab the stacks of dishes to be put away.

I loved it.

********************

We had a fun Family Home Evening.

We decided to do a 12 days for a family that lives by us.

Total secret...so that is all I am saying!

But the kids are really excited about it!

After we dropped it off, we decided to go look at lights in the neighborhood, and we found an AWESOME one!!!

If you know where the Locsha Falls neighborhood is, it is the corner of Cedar Grove and Moose Creek....there were 6 houses, SIX, synchronized to music on a radio station!

It was so much fun!

What a great idea!

Can you imagine what an entire neighborhood would look like all synchronized???

Anyway, if you live in these parts, it is worth checking out!

Good times...

I'm really starting to feel it now!

tired.

We had a nice day.

Nice day at church...nice dinner after church.

We went to the Stake Christmas music program and that was beautiful.

But I am just so tired.

Brent is too...maybe we can get to bed early....maybe!

And because I hate to post without a picture...here are my sweet kiddos.

I took this the day I took Ports birthday pictures. (It was for a special secret...for a special someone!)

Lights and sugar!

Wow...it has been a pretty busy day!

The big girls got to go to Aubree's birthday party at Bounce...and they seemed to have SO MUCH FUN!!!!

The Young's had them for the bulk of the day!

Thanks guys...they had a blast!!!

Then the girls played some more with the Terry girls when they got home.

Then Jenni and I (the husband-less) decided to take the kids out and look at Christmas lights...and get some doughnuts.

It was a pretty fun time...we found a fun house with oodles of lights set to music...we stopped by on our way to Krispy Kreme and we stopped again on the way home.

The kiddos were happy with the night.

Here are some fun picts form the poorly lit Krispy Kreme.

This is my favorite...have you ever seen a more excited little girl???

Elsie also loved the lights.

You didn't hear a peep from her all night and her eyes were as wide as saucers!

Getting herself a tan in the orange light.


Sweet Madi, loving' life.

(Don't mind any of their hair-do's...like I said...it was a busy day, and they had a lot of fun!)

Teddy Bear parade

This morning I packed up the little ones and heading to the school to watch Cassi's 1st grade teddy bear parade.
A pretty cute idea, that the kids really had fun with.

Cassi was excited to see us there.

All the kids had such big smiles on their faces.

They walked up and down the halls, and all the other classes came out to watch too.

So Madi got to see Cassi too.

I have to say, it was much more exciting then the way real parades are going now a days!

In fact, Elsie had the time of her life....waving and pointing and saying HI...

She was loving it!

Porter, as you can kinda see in the stroller...was bored.

The meaning of Christmas

I was lucky enough to go to my Relief Society dinner tonight.

I have an amazing ward with amazing ladies.

I love to be around each of them.

Tonight was a Christmas dinner with beautiful musical numbers and wonderful words of Christmas.

Again, just what I needed to hear.

We talked about receiving Christ for Christmas.

God gave us the gift of his SON.

But a gift is not a gift unless we receive it.....like a present left unopened under the tree.

We talked about simplifying our lives so we can let him in.

The best memories of Christmas aren't about what we got...but about what we felt.

And the spirit that we feel when we remember the greatest gift of all, the Atonement.

I have had my mind on Simplifying this year, so I can actually enjoy this time of year.

And I have been doing a pretty good job.
But what I was missing, is the very core of Christmas.

We haven't even talked about the birth of Christ yet.

Of course I would have gotten to it before Christmas, but why not start now?

I don't even have a Nativity!!!!!

Can you believe that?

Every year for the last 10 years I have been looking for the perfect Nativity...so I have gone 10 years without a Nativity.

Actually, we have a little people nativity set, but that isn't quite the same.

Anyway, so I need to find myself a decent, non expensive nativity so my family can have that daily CHRISTmas reminder.

It was a beautiful night, and just what I needed.

Staying warm...

Thanks to a great suggestion given by one of our friends (thanks Jessica) we went and got Elsie an electric blanket.

It is a good way to keep Elsie's body and muscles good and warm all night long!

And she sure does love it.

I put it under her, on her mattress.

I could have gotten a mattress cover, but I thought this would work well, being so versatile.

She can use it under or on top of her.

I am excited to see how it will work for her!

Well, I learned something today.

Something that I should already know.

My boys HATE shopping.

Brent, Porter and I left for shopping as soon as the kids were off to school.

I had a lot of things on my list to get done.

And a lot got done.

But I did have two unhappy boys.
Oh well, we are almost all done...they can deal with it, right!

******************

I think that laundry should be on hold through the Holiday Season.

I started laundry today and I could not believe that there was so much!

AHHHH!

That is getting done too, and I am still having fun with the season, even though there are a lot of things I need to get done that ARE NOT related to the season...

But I am not stressing out!

*******************

At least we have pretty good helpers around here.

Most of the time.

Madi shoveled all the snow from the Trampoline today...ya, it should have been done last week, but it is done now, so that is good.

Christmas Countdown!!!

We had a fun family home evening tonight.

Well, we got some things done that needed to get done.

That is always good.

And in the end, the girls wanted to make a paper chain Christmas countdown for their bedrooms.

They turned out cute...but makes me a little nervous!

My goal for having everything ready by the first week of Christmas....HA!!!

Not gonna happen!

Oh well, I am still not too stressed....

Rough Day.

We all have our bad days.

But I always feel so bad when Elsie has a bad day.

The way she feels seems to be very weather related.

When it is cold her muscles seem to get really tight and stiff and makes it hard for her to walk.

So she falls a lot but she is a good sport, and just gets up and keeps on going.

So today was one of those days.

She seemed to sleep really well last night, and slept in till a good time this morning.

She was pretty stiff this morning, and she fell down a lot, but she was still happy.

We got all ready and went to church (minus Dad, he is working).

She fell a few times and even scratched her arm bad enough that I had to take her out of sacrament...with Porter following behind me, with his way-too-short pants that I was hoping no one would notice..ha!

Everyone was looking.

Anyway, she calmed down and was really excited about going to primary.

She loves Sister Roll!

But we noticed a rip in her dress.

I tried to fix it with paper clips.

Took her to class, and it didn't hold, and she got upset so I had to go get her.

Then I thought about using the stapler!

We went to the library, borrowed the stapler, and ran to the bathroom to fix her dress.

It worked great...(until it comes time for me to try and take out all those staples!!!)

She went back to class and all was going good and a little while later someone came to get me cause she was having a melt down.

Poor girl.

She was just so exhausted!

It takes so much of her energy to get herself around with she is so stiff!

I took her and rocked her and she fell asleep.

So I got to enjoy Relief Society, and that was great!

Like always, it was just what I needed to hear.

I really enjoyed the lesson, even with my arms and butt falling asleep!

We got home and things were good.

She still fell a lot...but she recovers from that okay.

Then she smashed her fingers trying to move a stool/potty closer to the sink so she could wash her hands.

I heard this blood curdling scream from the bathroom and I couldn't think what in the world it could be!

I ran in there and Elsie had her fingers stuck in the hinge part of the stool/potty.

She was so sad.

We got her calmed down and all ready for bed.

She was VERY ready to go to bed.

Poor girl.

I wish I could make things easier for her!

And look at her...happy as can be.

She is the light of our life.

She has such a pure little heart and she makes us a better family, just by being the sweet spirit that she is!

I hope that she sleeps good tonight and I can give her legs a good massage in the morning and give her a good start to the day.

Santa Clause is HERE!!!

Today has been a fun packed FULL day!!!

My sister was coming to visit from Idaho Falls.

They are heading to Nampa for her husbands side of the family, a baby blessing.

Well, I am happy that she stopped by on her way through!

It was so great to see her and her family.

The kids all played really well.

(Until Porter got tired and started pinching and biting!)

We made pizzas for lunch...each kid got to make their own.

It was really fun, and surprisingly not as chaotic as one might think...I am taking 8 kids here...(9 if you count Sean Sr...ha ha ha...just teasing!)

Thanks Sara for stopping by we really enjoyed your visit!

Cute cousins:

Madi, Russell, SJ, Brad, Samantha, Elsie and Cassi (Porter was taking a much needed nap!)

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Then we got to go to the ward party tonight...and guess who showed up???

SANTA!!!

Before the party Elsie was so excited about Santa...then he came, she was not so excited anymore.

After ALL the kids in the ward went through...which was a VERY long time...

I convinced the little ones to go near Santa if they were clinging to me...

So we did it, and got a picture.

Oh the memories.

(Brent was working tonight...so he didn't get to see Santa)

Can you see the concern on Elsie's face???

She actually had a blast tonight cause she spent most of the night with Sister Roll, her primary teacher...who she just LOVES!!!!!

I am so Thankful for Sister Roll and the love that she has for Elsie.

And actually, Santa is Sister Roll's hubby. 

He made a great Santa!
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On a Santa note....we lost a believer this year.
Madi has been suspicious for the last couple years, but finally asked.
She is excited to be on the other side of it now...but it is still sad to see them loose that magic.

Christmas Program

Today was the 1st and 2nd grade music performance.

Cassi loves to sing and was very excited about this concert.

I went and left Brent home with the two little ones...cause last time, when we went to Madi's concert...things didn't turn out so good with them.

Cassi looked beautiful and sang her heart out.

I just love her little voice.

And I promise I did her hair cute today.

All curly and pretty.

I am not sure why I take the time...she comes home like a little rag-a-muffin!

Oh well, she is still cute.

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I started on my big project that I am doing for the kids for Christmas...it isn't gonna be hard, but just a little time consuming...especially doing 4 of them.

I can't say anymore, cause the kids like to look at the blog...

So you'll have to wait until Christmas!

 I also found a great deal.

I had already gotten something for all the kids, but found it today for half the price....

So I bought them, and will take the others back next week sometime!

Isn't that great!

Again, I can't say what it is...but I am super happy about it!

Just hangin' out.

 Isn't this so sweet?

The little ones wanted to go up stairs and watch Toy Story 3 together.

I wasn't sure if leaving them alone upstairs would be a good idea...Porter can make some pretty big messes, and Elsie can talk him into doing stuff he shouldn't be doing.

But n I went up they were just sitting here all cute watching the show.

This must have been at an intense part of the movie...they look so serious and focused!!!

Oh they are just so cute!

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So I am becoming less and less stressed...

Christmas stuff is ALMOST done!

I am going to be able to enjoy the season...YAY!

I am trying to hurry up with all my editing too...so people can have their pictures in time to do Christmas cards!

Which, by the way, I ordered mine today...another check mark on the list!

Oh and, today the tree fell on Elsie!

Porter and her were playing and he kinda pushed her into it and she grabbed it for balance, well, I saw it tipping and tried to make it to her...

It didn't fully fall on her, but it sure scared those two little ones to death!

One of the legs broke, so Brent had to fix that back up, but we think that we will be shopping for a after Christmas sale Tree this year.

Ours has seen better days!

What do you do on a snow day?

The morning started with a 5 a.m. call from the school district.

But I was confused...the recording was in Spanish.

I had no idea what was going on...(you know how it feels to be woken up by a ringing phone that early, right?)

After I hung up, Brent asked who that was, and I said the school district, cause that is what the caller ID said...but then I told him it was in Spanish...weird.

So as I was telling him about it, my brain started to kick in and I assumed it was for the school being closed due to the snow.

But crazy....and everyone I have talked to got that Spanish phone call...

So first things first...

The drive-way needs to be cleared.

Brent has always taken the kids out to help with that, and they are great little helpers.

Then they had some friends over and spent a good couple hours playing in the snow building forts and making a crazy mess of the beautiful snow in our front yard!

Then they came in and played more...it was nice for them to be busy with friends, cause if it was just the two of them, meaning Madi and Cassi, there would have been trouble!

Then after LOTS of laundry and chores, we were able to get the Christmas stuff down and put up our Christmas tree.

It isn't finished...I will take a picture when it is done...

We put it up, put on lights and I let the kids hang up all those home-made kid ornaments that they make at school and such and we love, and just can't be thrown away....

Then we got them into bed and now I will go put on the finishing touches...

Cassi got to put the Star on top this year....always a great honor.

So it was a crazy day...I got NOTHING on my list done...but I did get some stuff done that needed to be done, so that is good.

I wonder if they will have school tomorrow???

Lots to do...and lots got done...

No picture today...

I know, boring.

We had a busy day.

Before we left on vacation, or dishwasher went out.

Kinda a bummer.

But we didn't have to deal with it until now.

Yes, I know, a lot of people deal with living with no dishwashers...but I think that has mostly to do with kitchen room.

We did our own dishes for a couple days, and I actually find it relaxing...but way too time consuming.

So we set out this morning, trying to figure out how to fix it...and then figuring it is worth the money to just go buy a new one.

We saw lots of different kinds, and lots of different prices...but finally found the one we wanted...that was in stock!

We loaded up the dishwasher, then did our grocery shopping.

When we got home, Brent starting hooking up the new dishwasher...found out he needed another part, so he headed back to the store.

But it worked out, cause we loaded up our old dishwasher and RC Willey took it for us.

I spent a lot of my time editing pictures...I have so many to do, and I just want to get them all done so I can focus on Christmas...

Then this evening, after homework was done, we went through all the kids toys and weeded out all the stuff to take to DI.

The rooms are much cleaner and it always feels good to go through stuff...and the kids are happy to give their stuff to other little kids out there.

I also went through all of Elsie's clothes to pass don to my sister, Sara's, little girl Samantha.

They are coming to visit for a really short time on Saturday, but I am happy to get to see her.

So we got a lot done today...it would have been nicer to not have to buy a new dishwasher...but it sure is pretty, and quiet!

So I guess I got my Christmas a little early this year.

Technically I should say the girls got their present early, since they are the ones who do it most of the time.

And the craziness starts!!!

This is a terrible picture...but it represents what I am feeling right now!

Running around like a chicken with it's head cut off!

This is what I didn't want to do...I didn't want to stress out.

But somehow it is creeping in anyway!

There is so much to do and so little time.

But I am trying VERY hard not to let it all make me crazy!

Home at last...

Well, it was another LONG, snowy trip...

But we made it home safe, and that is what counts.

It was pretty bad the whole way, and the pass from the Utah state line and Burley was closed, so we had to go up through Pocatello, adding more time...but at least we got home.

We saw about 5 cars by the side of the road, and at that point the semi in front of us started to jack-knife...luckily he got back in control, because his back end was headed towards those people on the side of the road!

That would have been BAD!!!