Christmas

This year, Christmas was with my side of the family. Celebrations started early with the arrival of John and Ju on the 22nd and went late with the departure of my Dad and Paula on the 28th. The entire week was filled with traditions, fun and love. It was a good Christmas.

Since my kids are getting older, it made it easier and more fun to really get into the holiday this time around.

Mesa Temple Lights (for the 2nd time this year and proof for Joe!)


Christmas Eve at Jess'

Cookie Decorating

The best part of cookie decorating

Nativity Scene

The cast:

Mary: Jess

Joseph: Ben

Baby Jesus: Trent

Angel: Me

Wise Men: Matt and Wade

Shepherd: Seth

Sheep: Ju

Sheep: John

Cow: Logan

Christmas Day!

Seth got a "Lightening McQueen"

Wade got his anticipated "Nintendo DS"!

Logan in his superhero cape
Nothing beats celebrating the holidays. I love the feeling of being DONE with everything after months of preparation! I also love doing nothing but hanging out with those you love. I am thankful for a wonderful and loving family.

Traditions

A couple of weeks ago, my Relief Society had an Enrichment about family traditions. Each woman in my ward shared one of her family tradition's. It was so much fun to hear what some of my neighbors and friends do each year at Christmas time. It also made me reflect on some of my own traditions.

The following is a list of what we do each year. Some are small and simple, but all are fun and meaningful to us.

Pajamas
Who doesn't do pajamas on Christmas Eve? It is a tradition of many, including us. This year, however, I got my boys non-Christmas designed pajamas so they aren't wearing reindeer's in July anymore.

Chocolate Caramel Pretzels
A favorite to all lucky enough to eat! Matt's sisters taught me the fine-art of pretzel making and have made me very popular with my ward come neighbor gift-giving time!

Temple Lights

We are lucky enough to live close to a Temple that also decorates its grounds at Christmas time. There is nothing like visiting the Temple at such a special time of year and to be able to take our kids makes it even better!

(This is a pic from last year, we have already gone this year but didn't take any pictures with the lights in the background)

Ornaments

This tradition was adopted from the Bryner's (Jess' in-laws.) Each year, each family member gets to buy a new ornament. I let them pick WHATEVER one they want (which is hard for someone who likes everything to match!) I write their name and the year on the back of the ornament and it goes on the tree. When each one of my children gets married, he will get to have all of his ornaments for his own tree (let me tell you, there have already been some "special" choices for ornaments that I will be glad to get rid of!)

Food

Christmas Eve turkey, Christmas day quiche, Great Aunt Beth's red salad and hot chocolate are all a must!

Christmas Cards

I LOVE getting the mail in December! Seeing all the different pictures and hearing how my friends and family are doing. So fun!

Cookies for Santa

We bake and frost sugar cookies for Santa each year. Wade LOVES it when he wakes up to see an empty cookie plate on Christmas morning!
(Last year's masterpiece!)

Christmas Lights

The lights go up on our house every year. This year we even sprung for giant Frosty. It has been Matt's dream to decorate our house "Griswald style" from "National Lampoon's Christmas Vacation." Each year we get a little closer to this goal :).

Nativity Scene

Each year we do something that brings the true meaning of Christmas to our celebration. We have watched DVD's, read from the Bible and this year, we plan to act out the Nativity Scene for the first time in our family!

Service

Matt and I feel it is important to teach our children to serve others. We also think it is important for them to know and see that there are other kids out there who don't have a lot and need our help. This year we were able to help a baby girl and her family who has cancer. There is not another feeling that matches the feeling of serving someone. It has been an amazing tradition for our family.

Creating Christmas memories has been such a wonderful opportunity. It is such a fun time of year and I look forward to a lifetime more of new and old traditions with my sweet, little family.

7 months

Oh, he continues to grow and change so much each day. We love our little, Trent, so very much!

At 7 months he:

*weighs 17lbs 7oz

*sits up

*claps his hands

*babbles

*spits by pressing his lips together (not fun when food is in his mouth)

and...

Makes us laugh and feel blessed everyday!

Christmas in Disneyland

Since we have become regulars at Disneyland :), we thought we would check it out at Christmastime and we were not disappointed. Of course, they go all out in decor and celebration--it was so neat! The weather was nice and it wasn't too crowded so we were able to have some great family time at the "happiest place on Earth."

Mickey decorated in Christmas lights (he is sparkling, but it is kinda hard to see)




At the foot of the gigantic Christmas tree (the largest tree I have ever seen, but I have never been to New York...)

Standing in line for "Finding Nemo." If you have been to Disneyland, you know this line is ALWAYS super long. We hit it early and only had to wait 35 minutes. The sad thing was that the ride is totally OVER-RATED! The kids were even bored. On the bright side, we will not wait in that line again!

Trent spends a lot of his Disneyland time strapped to me in his Moby Wrap!



Waiting for the awesome Christmas parade--we LOVED it!

You know you are a mom when "Small World" is your favorite ride :). I really did love it! They had everything Christmas including the outside--loved it.
Keeping our Arizona blood warm...

Some of the other fun Christmas things were a candle holding choir walking up and down Main Street at night, it "snowed", the castle decorated in Christmas lights and icicles, characters dressed in winter clothes and the Main Street decor. I highly recommend Disneyland at Christmas.

Happy Birthday Dad

My dad turned 55 today. He still seems 30 years old to me :). Here is a list of 55 fun facts and things we love about him:

1. He LOVES his grandchildren

2. He is a very good conversationalist

3. My dad knows more about history than anyone else I know

4. He voted for Obama

5. He is fiercely loyal to those he loves

6. He has a hard time sitting still (this is who I got it from)

7. He has the best memory

8. He hates to throw things away

9. He loves to take my kids to "Peter Diper"

10. He is/ was a good skier

11. He makes a good meatloaf

12. He graduated from Utah State--Go Aggies!

13. He LOVES living in Salt Lake

14. He goes to the temple often

15. He was just ordained a High Priest

16. He loves not being out numbered anymore!

17. He is a good handyman and can find a way to fix anything

18. His Christmas lights have been hanging on his house for 10 years :)

19. He was a rebellious child (and adult :)!)

20. He loves his cats

21. He loves his wife

22. He always has to have the house freezing

23. He lives in the house he bought before I was born

24. He reads his scriptures

25. He likes "the Doors" and "Steely Dan"

26. He graduated college early

27. He has friends who live all over the world

28. Some days he wakes up and hops on an airplane for work and makes it back home that night

29. He doesn't have behaviors anymore :)

30. He loves his parents

31. He acts just like his dad

32. He is a solid rock you can always count on

33. He likes to take my boys for walks

34. He loves his son-in-laws

35. He (kinda) wishes one of us would have a girl

36. He is very supportive

37. He would do anything for me

38. He loves the gospel

39. He loves his bishop

40. He loves his neighbors

41. He always gave me a wonderful life

42. He used to have a garden filled with yummy fruits and veggies

43. He didn't yell at me when I ran over the "Dead End" sign

44. He let me go to 3 different colleges

45. He has always been there for me

46. My best childhood memories are because of my dad

47. He loved the Jazz with me

48. He loved my mom

49. He loves my sisters

50. He tries hard everyday

51. He never gave up

52. He is the best dad in the world

53. He is one of my heroes

54. I love him with all my heart

55. HAPPY BIRTHDAY!

Thanksgiving

This year Thanksgiving was with Matt's family. Most of the time we find ourselves in Utah when we are celebrating a holiday with his side, but this year we got to play host and it was A LOT of fun!

For those of you who know the size of my house, you know we can comfortably fit our family--as in the 5 of us--with one guest room to spare. Well we found out that we can fit a lot more then the five and still survive! Everyone stayed here! Yes, everyone.

It, actually, turned out just great. We were happy that no one had to stay at a hotel therefore eliminating our late night chats and guitar hero fests! It was a packed house, but like I said, lots of fun. All of us were in sheer Heaven having family and, especially, COUSINS galore!

Matt's sister, Mar, was in charge of Thankgiving dinner which took a TON of pressure away from me. Each woman and Gary were assigned their dishes and, I have to say, it was one of the BEST tasting meals I have EVER had.

Besides eating (hee, hee),

we went to see the lighting ceremony at the Mesa Temple,

saw "Bolt" and various other movies, went shopping--even to "black Friday!", got pedicures, and, of course, lots and lots of Guitar Hero!

I am so thankful to have married into such a loving and wonderful family. They have always made me feel like one of their own and I love them so much for it. The week went by so fast I hardly realized that there were 16 people staying at my house :). Love you all...

Well Checks

All three of my boys' well checks fell one day apart from each other. Wade's 5 year, Seth's 3 year and Trent's 6 month. I know I have said this a hundred times now, but they are getting SOOOOOO big! It is making me too sad :(.

I must say, though, that I LOVE well checks! I love to see how they have grown and where they fall on the growth charts. This time was also extra nice because neither Wade nor Seth had to get shots. You should have seen Wade's face when they told him he wasn't going to get any shots--he was thrilled! Baby Trent had to get shots, but thankfully he is still too little to worry about it before or after the visit.

Here are their stats:

Wade
Weight: 39.06 lbs (38%)
Height: 44inches (73%)


Seth
Weight: 30.13 lbs (33%)
Height: 38inches (65%)

Trent

Weight: 16.6 lbs (33%)

Height: 27.25inches (76%)

**Has 2 TEETH now!!**

Do we see a trend here? Isn't it crazy how all three of their weights are in the 30's percentile while their height is in the 70's percentile (except for Seth, who is close though...) Another interesting thing is Seth's measurements are almost EXACTLY what Wade's were when Wade was 3.

Since Trent has been born I have had SO many people tell me that my boys are "cookie cutters" of each other. I agree, I can barley tell their baby pictures apart. If it weren't for Seth's different hair style, it would be REALLY hard to tell them apart. It is fun! I love them all so much and am so thankful for their health and strength.

Wade's birthday party

What do you get when you take six 4 and 5 year olds to see a movie (without their parents in tow?) You might be thinking you would get a disaster, but we, actually, had a GREAT time! I know, pretty ambitious, huh?

A few weeks before Wade's birthday I began to think about what we could do to celebrate and checked out some ideas online and with some of my friends. The general consensus Matt and I came to was this: birthday parties are WAY TOO EXPENSIVE! I looked at so many options and most of them were around $200 dollars--are you kidding me? In my opinion, that is outrageous for a birthday party. Not to mention, that was the CHEAPEST price at some of these places and only included 8 kids or so.

I did a "home party" last year and decided that was the LAST time I would do that. It was too much work and I still spent a significant amount of money--too much to make it worth it to do it again :). Plus I was left with a messy house :(.

After talking it over with Matt, we decided to take Wade and 5 of his friends to see "Madagascar 2." Between the two of us, all the kids fit nicely and safely into our vehicles and we were off. Between ticket purchases, one large popcorn to share (free refills) and candy (that I snuck into the theater in a big bag--okay, I know I am cheap) the entire party was about $70 dollars!

The kids LOVED the movie and after we went back to our house for cake and presents, which made it a nice little break for the parents of the invited guests. All in all, I HIGHLY recommend a movie party! So fun and so cheap! Wade's friends are STILL talking about how cool it was that they got to see a movie without their own parents!

P.S. I have also decided to implement the b-day party "every other year" rule so next year is a party with the fam! :)

5

FIVE?! Can my sweet, baby boy really be 5 years old? It sounds SO old. Time is flying and I can, so, remember every detail of the day Wade came to this earth--so small and innocent. Last year I did a post on Wade's birthday that explained how important he has been to my life since the day he was born. Since he is the oldest, I guess he will always be the one I look to to "test" the waters, the one I count on to be "the big brother" and the one who will always (hopefully) "be a good example."
He is a great kid--the best if you ask me :), so here is a list (keeping with my numbers theme) about my little Waders:

5 things Wade loves
1. the Wii
2. Soccer
3. Disneyland
4. the monkeybars at school
5. playing with Seth, Matt or his friends

5 things Wade doesn't like
1. crust on bread
2. sauce on pasta
3. when his Wii time is up
4. getting second place (he will make a competition out of anything from finishing dinner the quickest to racing to the tub!)
5. the Tower of Terror (now that he is old enough to realize how scary that ride really is :)!)

5 reasons Wade is special
(If you ever tell Wade he is special, his face lights up and gets a look that is priceless--Matt and I love it)
1. He is such a good boy at school and church (sits still, listens and is respectful--now we just have to get him to do that at home :)!)
2. He is a great, little athlete
3. He loves his friends and treats them well
4. He is good to his brothers (Seth is his best friend!) and loves to help
5. He loves spending time with his family over anyone else

Happy birthday Wade! Thank you for making me a mom and giving me the greatest joys and some of the hardest experiences in my life. Words could never express how truly special you are to me. I love you!

Fall Fun

As my dad would put it, "I'm SOOOOO BUUUSSSYYYY!" When he says this, he is making fun of me and waves his arms around and walks in circles imitating the way I act when I feel like I have a lot going on. I am in the core of my BUSY time of year. I know the rest of you are busy too...don't get me wrong, I know.

Here is my EXTRA long post on what we have been so BUSY doing the past couple of weeks:

Elementary Fall Festival

Wade's school puts on an annual fall festival. The kids had more then a good time--they LOVED it! They would have been happy there all night! They jumped in bounce house, went on the "race car" slide (which Seth asks about daily: "Mom, did the race car slide fall down? When is it going to come back up?"), went through the pumpkin patch and lots more.

We almost got through the night tantrum free, but Sethie always finds a way to get upset :):

Family Pictures

We have the most AMAZING photographer this year! We had our pics taken and here is a sample. We will be making some changes, but I am so excited thus far!

Trunk or Treat

Our ward puts on an annual trunk or treat. The kids had a blast trick-or-treating, playing games and running around the church parking lot with all their friends. This was the trick-or-treating style I remember--hundreds of kids and crazy fun! Our car won for the "most creative" thanks to a little help from our friends and I won 2nd place in the chili contest :). We had the best time!

(well most of the time, Seth had another meltdown on the way home--are we developing a trend?--hopefully not.) Well, technically, this event fell on his actual b-day so, I guess, it's his party and he can cry if he wants too, right?

Seth's birthday party

Seth invited 8 of his little friends to our family fave--Peter Piper. Nothing beats an all out junk food and present tornado with tokens and flashing lights added in to make a birthday party perfect! It was a blast and the best part was, I didn't have to clean up a thing :)!

(No crying at this one :)!)

Halloween

Just our luck, Wade woke up Halloween morning a puked. I know, no big surprise, it seems like my kids puke if you look at them crossed eyed, but he was sad to miss his school stuff. He spent the day on the couch.

We also had lots of plans for trick-or-treating, but decided to forego those. The kids didn't mind. Wade felt up to trick-or-treating a little bit so they took a quick walk around our little neighborhood and still managed to get A LOT of candy. They were happy and in bed before 8 which makes me happy:).

End of season

Wade finished another successful soccer season. Like I mentioned a few posts ago, this has been the best season yet. The field was better, the kids were better, and the parents were even a lot more competitive this season. It felt like it was the first season that counts (and I am happy to report an undefeated season!) I would probably be embarrassed to see a vidoe of how loud I was cheering when Wade or his team members scored goals--I can't even imagine what it will be like in 10 years when they are in high school :).

Although we have had a few meltdowns and setbacks, it has been a fun fall season. Fall is our favorite time of year and this time around was no exception!