Family...It's Great!!

Here are some pictures of what's been going on these last weeks. Plenty of game playing (even Papa got in on it!), visiting and presents. Like Charlotte said, with the three little boys (Logan, Ryan and Bremen), it's like having triplets! Makes shopping easy - 3 of everything!! We had a fun time and were happy to have our Idaho, Canada, and Slovak families with us. Now, if those Utah folks wouldn't have been so stubborn...oh well, another year maybe. We did miss Patrick and Heather a lot.

Lexi loved clapping to the "Shout" singing Santa Claus!!



Do you smell trouble when the boys are whispering in the hall??













No, your eyes are not deceiving you. Logan found the Easter egg coloring kits and he just couldn't understand why we couldn't color eggs. And, upon thinking about it, I, too didn't understand why we couldn't color eggs - so we did! And, when we were done, we put them in a plastic pumpkin to hide and collect them! We are an all-inclusive holiday family!











Santa was not disappointed when he stopped at our house - there were beautifully decorated cookies waiting for him!!

The temple lights - words can't describe them. And, my camera cannot capture them. If anyone has better pictures, let us know so we can look at yours!!

HAPPY ANNIVERSARY!!

Happy Anniversary to Patrick and Heather! This is the first year they aren't in Arizona "celebrating" with family. Hope they can manage to get through it this year without us!!

Here's to a wonderful couple who are truly good for each other. May they have many more years to inspire each other and love each other!!

Gingerbread Houses

Mess makin' merriment at Teresa's house!!


CAITLIN working diligently on her gingerbread house. (See, she DID, TOO, do some of the work!)


BREMEN


RYAN
LOGAN




Stuart was really happy when it was all done!

Papa's packing it all up to bring home!










And what do you do with them? Have them with your breakfast the next morning - what else! Next year we'll save some argument and decorate the houses with oatmeal and cereal!

An Assumption is Being Made

Jamie did a Christmas tag game and tagged "Laura." OK. She has a friend Laura (not just a MIL Laura), so is it me she wants to tag or the other Laura? Hmmm...well, rather than wait for a response I'll go ahead and play.


1. Egg Nog or Hot Chocolate? Hot chocolate.

2. Do you wrap presents or not? Wrap, 98% of the time.

3. Colored Lights or White? Colored on the tree, white icicles on the house. (We almost had a change to the outside this year. Dave wanted to do LED lights (he's been wanting to to this for a while). So, I relented and he made this elaborate system of white LED lights that are set in gray plastic pipe and all you have to do is hang the pipes by hooks on the eaves and PRESTO - instant house decoration! He spent a lot of time on this and he finally got them up. As I stood in the street and looked at the house as he's standing there smiling and proud, all I could say was "It looks like a low-rider house." Seriously, you've seen those cars that have the rope lights at the bottom of the car going down the street. That's what our house reminded me of. A couple of days later Cathi and I left for a while and when we got home, Dave had taken all the LED lights off and put the icicle lights back up!)

4. Do you hang mistletoe? No - I like to kiss my husband the other 11 months of the year, too.

5. When do you decorate? Right after Thanksgiving. UNdecoration begins whenever Logan and Bremen show up.

6. Favorite holiday dish? Breakfast burritos!!

7. Favorite memory as a child? My kindergarten year we moved from Illinois to Wisconsin right at Christmas time. Our furniture, and decorations, didn't make it to our new house for Christmas. We decorated a tree with construction paper rings and decorations and popcorn strings. It was the weirdest Christmas ever, but the most memorable.

8. When & how did you learn about Santa? I think I was 8 when I informed of his actual identity - school children can be so cruel!

9. Do you open a gift on Christmas Eve? No, I have patience.

10. How do you decorate your tree? With decorations that are fun for kids to look at and with ornaments given to us by family and friends. Some of my favorites are ornaments that have all 6 kids' pictures in them, one Patrick made in 1st grade (1988), our "Carly" square, and the one's Patrick and Heather made for us.

11. Snow...love it or dread it? Love it - just helicopter me to a lodge with a roaring fire and helicopter me out.

12. Can you ice skate? No, is it required for the everafter?

13. Do you remember your favorite gift? Not really. Sorry if that offends anyone, but the gifts really aren't what it's about, so....

14. What is the most important part of the holidays? Watching all the grandkids open their gifts, being with family and exchanging cards with people you don't normally see or talk to the rest of the year, but have a fond "Christmas relationship" with.

15. Favorite holiday dessert? Definitely sugar cookies (insert this answer for any holiday - Easter, 4th of July, Halloween, etc.)

16. Favorite tradition? Breakfast with the family.


As someone else did, I will not mention any names. Anyone wanting to play - go for it!! MERRY CHRISTMAS!!

All I Want for Christmas...

Seems this time of year we all get crazy with Christmas decorating, shopping, etc. I usually do (and have had my share of moments already this year), but this year I want to focus on family and friends. With the out-of-state/country grandchildren coming in this weekend, I've attempted to get as many of the "have-to's" out of the way so I can enjoy spending time with them. But that doesn't mean I haven't already had some fun! Here are some of the things I've been doing lately --




Spending one day a week with Jack has been on my agenda for the last couple of weeks. Isn't he a handsome little guy? He has such a sweet disposition. (His Aunt Charlotte talks of his ability to regurgitate on her on a regular basis - he doesn't do that to me!) :)






I've had the opportunity to spend some fun time with Kailee and Caitlin these last couple of weeks. (Caitlin is not in the pictures - she refused to let me take her picture. I honored her request, as I, too, do not like the camera!) One afternoon we painted ornaments for their friends. Last Saturday evening I had the chance to play a lot of games with them and even taught them how to play Bananagrams. (Dave thinks I'm crazy over that game and groaned when he saw I was teaching them how to play!)









Our annual Cookie Party was great fun. We bring six dozen cookies and go home with six dozen of assorted cookies. All kinds of good cookies came to the party - pretty poinsetta cookies, wonderful meringue date cookies, turtle cookies, brownie cookies, sugar cookies, mint pillow cookies - you just had to be there! The best part of the party is getting a chance to visit with friends, some that we don't see very often. It's becoming a day we look forward to every year, more for the friendship than for the cookies!


So, I've already started on my mission to have this season be more about friends and family and less about the commercial aspects associated with Christmas. Wish me luck on continuing my quest!!