Parker in the Snow

Christmas

Christmas! It came and went so fast. I promised myself that I was going to get everything done early so that I could sit back and enjoy the last week of Christmas. I didn't really get everything done, but I did head off to Las Vegas to visit with some family a few days before Christmas and it allowed for a forced break in the Christmas rush. I spent time with my parents, three of my sisters, my older brother & a foreign exchange student from Norway that lived with us when I was in jr. high. Ciera came along with me and we had a marvelous time. It was so fun to relax for a few days before coming home to the last few days of the Christmas crunch.

Christmas was wonderful. We spent Christmas Eve with some of our favorite people!! After dinner and reenacting Christ's birth we came home and got the cookies and milk ready, tracked Santa, got our Christmas pjs and then headed off to bed. Christmas morning was fun. Everyone got the thing they wanted most. Good job Santa! I can hardly wait until next year!!

Cael turns 4!

Cael turned 4 on Dec. 21. We celebrated his birthday on the 17th because I was going to be in Vegas on the 21st. While at a store on the 17th I mentioned to the checkout lady that it was his birthday. She asked him how old he was. Cael answered that he will be turning 4. She said, "No, you are four today because it is your birthday." I then had to explain the whole situation to the checkout lady who looked at me with eyes that said, "Who goes out of town over their son's birthday?" I smiled at her with a smile that says ME and then off we went as she wished Cael a happy early birthday. Aside from all the confusion, I think Cael actually enjoyed having two birthdays.
For his birthday he got the new Geo Trax Airport. He played with it all morning. Chase came home from school and played with it all afternoon. It is a really fun toy.

Visit with Santa

Cael's preschool had a Christmas party where Santa was invited. Cael loved telling Santa his Christmas list which included Better Batter Baseball and a Leapster.
Parker, on the other hand, was a different story. Luckily he got a candy cane out of it!

Thanksgiving Catch up

Before I can post anything current I must once again play catch up.
We went to Las Vegas for Thanksgiving and had a great time. Four out of seven of my siblings were there with their families and so we had lots of fun and lots of people. The food, as always, was delicious! One crazy tradition that we have during Thanksgiving is to make lots of pies. We always have at least 20 pies and this year was no different. There are always the traditional apple, pecan and pumpkin pie, but then there are chocolate, butterscotch, lemon, banana cream, yogurt, and on and on. This year we had some interesting entries by my brother and Travis. My brother created a peanut butter/candy bar pie. It was interestingly rich. And Travis entered a spin on a pecan pie. He put a store bought pecan pie into the blender and then added a bunch of other ingredients. It too was rich, but surprisingly yummy. Anyway, after eating pie after every meal our car was definitely riding a little lower on the road home. :)


We went up to Mt. Charleston the day
after Thanksgiving to get a little energy out and to enjoy the great Vegas weather. We had a picnic lunch and then spent the rest of the afternoon climbing on rocks and hiking the trails. The kids had a great time and I have to say that it felt great to actually get some exercise in.








These pictures are of my kids and some of their cousins.





My fabulous sister in law got all the fixings ready for gingerbread houses. I have actually never seen such an amazing spread of candy.
We made the houses out of graham crackers and then the kids tried to pile as much candy as possible on them. They all turned out extremely creative. The real trick came in trying to transport them back home. They all survived really well except for the one that was sitting next to Cael's seat. Unbeknownst to us he was snacking most of the trip home!