Daddy's Night

Last night while Jeff was watching the Jazz game I was trying to fold laundry in my room so I asked him to keep the girls occupied so I could get it done. He told CC and Baylee to get the spray bottle and his brush and they could play with his hair. Well I don't think he will ask them to do that again because before he knew it they had put every hair clip they could find all over his head. Doesn't he look pretty. The girls called me upstairs to see how pretty daddy looked. So for paybacks to him for always forgetting my birthday I decided to embarrass him and post his picture on my blog. Sorry honey (lol) Love you tons. Thank you for keeping the girls out of my way so I could get some stuff done!!!

Hanging Out

Last night was so much fun!!! My brother invited us over after church for dinner and games. We got to there house at about 3:30 and we played Guitar Hero World Tour with them. It was so much fun. I actually got pretty good at the drums by the time we were done. Then us adults had to give it up for the kids so my brother and his wife pulled out this game called Carcasonne When me and Jeff saw it we were like no way are we going to play this stupid game.!!!! We started to play at 7 :15 and after one game we were hooked!! We played game after game until 11:45 last night. Jon thought he would be funny and teach Jeff how to screw me out of my land and my castle's well paybacks are a B big brother we are going to buy this game and practice until I am as sneaky and coniving as you are!!! Rematch is coming soon so BEWARE!!!!

Christmas

Christmas was a blast!!!! We spent Christmas Eve with Jeff's family.. We had soup bowl night and just hung out and opened presents. The kids all had a lot of fun playing with their cousin's.. On Christmas day we got up at 8:00 when the kids finally woke up and we spent the morning playing with their presents.. Then at 11:45 we started our drive to my mom's house in Riverton. All was well till we hit 9800 south and had to kick it in 4 wheel drive. We almost got ourselves stuck trying to help an elderly man and his wife who was stuck in the deep snow. By the time we made it in to my parents neighborhood on 11925 south the snow was up to our knees when we got there. It took forever for all of my brother's and sister's to get there!! We finally were able to eat and at 3:00 when we started to open presents the power went out. So we had to pull out the lanterns and flashlights and do everything in the dark.. We left to go to my grandmas at 6:00 and it was so funny me and my dad were asked to cook a pizza dip and spinach artichoke dip for my grandma's and her house is older and when we went to use her gas oven, in order to keep the door shut we had to use a mop and wedge it up with the table to hold the door shut, We had a good laugh about that. Not only was it interesting cooking but we seemed to be bad luck and brought the storm to her house with us. It was snowing so bad when we had to head home. Thank goodness I drove with my dad in his truck we were able to get home without sliding all over the place. Thanks dad.... I really didn't want to drive in that by myself with my 3 oldest. I feel safer with you driving in that bad weather than trusting myself.

We still had a fun Christmas and because of the storm we were able to pull out the wheelers and sled around the neighborhod for 2 days with friends and neighbors. The kids had a ball and so did all of us!!!

Ginger Bread Night

Last night was soo much fun!!! My mom decided to do a family soup night and after dinner we as families had to each decorate a Gingerbread House. All of us and our kids had to help even the little ones. All of the kids had so much fun!!! I even think the adults had more fun then the kids. We never as kids got to do this around Christmas time so all of my brothers and sisters really enjoyed doing it.

Here is a picture of our family in the process of decorating our house. We decided to make ours into a log cabin so the boys would put pretzels on the sides while Jeff glued the house together. The girls were decorating trees with candy while they did that part. I think Baylee and Ciarra ate more candy then they actually decorated. Every time you looked at them they were popping candy in their mouths.

This is our finished project. We used Marshmellow popcorn for the grass and the trees. Gumdrops for the flower beds beneath the trees and gummi worms for our curbing. In the back of the house is a pond with fish swimming in it, and to the side of ou r house is a couple of buck's and doe's grazing in the grass. And of course mounted on the front of the house is our Buck head. And all the red hots on the house is Jeff's Christmas lighting. I think he had more fun then the kids did for sure. He is the one that got all creative making deer bodies.

Here is a few of the other houses that were made. Two of my siblings left before we could get a picture of theirs so here are the ones that we got so far.

This is my brother Ryan and Ami's and their daughter Kenlee's House.

This is my sister Stacy's kids she had to work so she couldn't make it but Trina, Rick, Skyler and Walker decorated it on their own. Great Job guys!!!

This is my brother Jon and Jami's and their 3 kids Jordan, Jessika, and Jakob did this one. As you can see he had to have a huge pond and stream just like his backyard at home. Jeff made them deer also to go along with their house.

And last but not least this is my mom and dad's house they only had themselves to decorate and when we left at 9:30 last night dad was still decorating it so when I go on Christmas I will get a picture of their masterpiece. My brother Jason, and Sister Jill left before I could get a picture of theirs but theirs turned out really cute also. We decided that we need this to be a tradition for now on!!!

Weekend Happening's

This Saturday was sooo busy!!! Andrew got the opportunity for scouts to go to the Salvation Army and help them box up Christmas presents for those in need. He didn't want to go all week he kept complaining but he went any way. He left at 8:30 and didn't get home until 1:30. He had so much fun. He said he got to shop for the kid's and pack up their stuff in the wharehouse. He said it was a really good experience to do service for others. I am so proud of him and the changes he is making each day. As he is getting older we butt heads alot my little baby boy who always loved to cuddle and hang out with me is growing up and he is fine with it but I think deep down I'm not! We have always been really close and he tells me everything and now that he is in Jr High I feel like he will slip away from me and not like me any more. To me he will always be my little blue eyed boy. We also this weekend got to go to the VA Hospital and have Christmas lunch with my Grandpa Crawford who has had Ahlsteimers for years and even though he doesn't talk to us anymore or recognize us you still feel those little glimpses he gives you like he knows you from somewhere but can't place it. He was so cute with Ciarra we took him back to his room and she leaned in to kiss his cheek and told him Merry Christmas and he put his lips in the air and started making kissing noises. So she kissed him on the lips. It was soo cute. I haven't seen him do that in a long time. He also would not let go of my hand he wanted my watch and was not going to give me my hand back until he got it. I even got a smile and a kiss out of him also. It was the funnest experience I have had with him up there in the last 5 years. I wish Andrew would have came with us though he was so tired from the Salvation Army that he wanted to stay home by himself. We were able to get a family picture with Grandpa and Grandma cause who knows how much longer he will be here. I guess I will have to just photo shop him in. With Jeff's grandma dying it's the little things that I miss. I wish I would have gotten one last picture of my kids with her.

Reflections Contest

The school had a Reflections contest for the Arts and everyone in the school could enter. There was 167 entries out of the whole school. Caldwell Banker came and judged all of the entries. There was 8 different categories. Baylee entered the visual arts category and she painted a picture of what makes her say "WOW" was the theme. She painted a pictures of a snow man on canvas with snowflakes falling around it cause that's what makes her say WOW is the snow. She is only 5 and in Kindergarten and she was one of the 3 that one for the visual arts category. We were so suprised. And so was she. I thought if any of my 3 kids won that it would have been Lexi's painting cause of the detail and hard work she put into hers. Baylee's only took her an hour to paint, where Lexi took 3 hours. But we are so proud of all 3 of our kid's who entered . There is always next year Brayden and Lexi.

This is a picture of Baylee

and Grandma Donio. She came to see Baylee get her award.

Sorry mom I guess you have to travel 3 times to the school this week in between your working hours. See ya tomorrow for Brayden's concert and I just found out for Walker's program. That's what you get for having sooo many grandkids.!!!! Ha Ha. Thanks mom love you Baylee loved having you there.

Ciarra had to get her picture with Baylee also with her medal. She just likes the attention also. The assembly was so much fun I am the PTA secretary and we got to throw balls and do drawings for prizes during the assembly. It was a ton of fun. Those kids who entered got their name in a drawing and got to come up and pick out of over 50 prizes were drawn and we threw out over 60 balls during the assembly. Also all the kids who entered the contest got a free entrance ticket to Jumping Jacks (which is a place with a ton of bounce houses inside to play on) and a Clark Planatarium free entrance into a light show. We are so excited cause now we have 2 things we can do during their long 2 week Christmas vacation. I am going to go crazy having them home for that long.

Festival of Trees

Yesterday we got the opportunity to help deliver 6 of the trees that were sold at the Festival of Trees. Jeff and I, my brother Jon and his wife Jami, Charri and Evan Jensen and Jessica and Stafford Combs went yesterday and delivered the trees that Charri had on her list. It was so much fun. 1 of the trees that we delivered was very sad! The family that we took it to had lost their baby in a tragic accident. We all had tears in our eyes as we set up the tree cause everything in that room reminded you of that baby. They had pictures of him all over the place and a beautiful saying on a piece of tile that said " Because someone we love is in heaven, we feel heaven is in our home." It was so touching. Our last delivery was one that made the day all worth it to us! The tree that we delivered had 17 boxes including the tree to deliver. The family knew that they were chosen from a company to receive a tree but they had no idea what it looked like and what came with it. When we got to their house they had a small tree in the corner which was leaning up against the wall cause the stand was broke. When we started walking in with the all the boxes and stuff that came with the tree she cried the whole time. Then her husband came in the room and even he was in tears. This tree was amazing it was atleast 9 ft tall and had a huge beautiful clock on a stand, a bunch of cute christmasey wood decorations. A couple of huge plaques with different sayings and pictures on them. A beautiful trunk that could be used for a coffee table, and then another piece of furniture with a door and 2 drawers. Then it had a porcelin set with a street lamp and people standing around it caroling (each piece was at least 2 ft tall) You could feel such a spirit in their apartment. As we were trying to unload everything and put it somewhere there was so much stuff and not a lot of room so Jessica and I started to decorate in their kitchen on top of their cabinents. It looked beautiful when we were done. We were even able to sneak some of the stuff out of the boxes so the kids didn't see it so they could use the games and puzzles for christmas gifts for their children. The company that bought the tree sure picked the right one for this family and had to of know their interest well cause when we were unloading everything there was at least 8 or 9 boxes of puzzles in decorative tins. When we walked in their house they had 2 tables set up with puzzles that they were working on. Jami even put helped them with a few pieces on one of their puzzles while we were waiting for the men to cut the bottom of the tree down so it would fit in their house. When we left the mom and dad hugged each of us and told us thank you and their was tears flowing from everyone. It was such an awesome experience. I can't wait until next year so we can do it again. Thank you to everyone who donated to the Festival this year. We love Primary Children's Hospital they took such good care of our little Ciarra for 2 weeks and we will always support them.

Tribute To Grandma Great

Yesterday we spent the day honoring one of the most loving and caring ladies I have been privelaged to know. Jeff's grandma passed away the day after Thanksgiving and her funeral was held yesterday. At 91 she was in a lot of pain for the past couple of years and even though it was hard to have her leave us I know she is now free from all the pain and loving life being reunited with her hubby. The funeral was beautiful and everyone did a wonderful job with their talks. All of us grandkids and the great grandkids sang 3 songs at her funeral. It was so hard to get through all 3 songs. You could definately feel her spirit through the whole thing. We love you tons grandma and are so greatful to have you in our lives. It was so fun to have the whole family together. Jeff's sister Jill and her family came from California and we spent the whole day with them. The kids loved playing with their cousins and can't wait to see them again. We love you Jill and Kelby and kids and miss you all the time. Ciarra cried on the way home cause she can't see her friend any more so we might have to purchase a web camera so they can still see each other until we can make it out there next year.

Jeff's Christmas Hobby!!!

My husband is worse than a little kid at Christmas time. So here is Jeff's hobby for the holidays.

My Neighbor told me I should post pictures of Jeff's hobby at Christmas Time on my blog so

here is some pictures of Jeff's favorite holiday and

how crazy he gets doing it. We have decorated our house with lights for the past 10 years that we lived here and each year he adds something new. Even when we lived in our duplex apartment he still had our whole side decked out in lights. I guess it keeps the kid in all of us alive. Our kids get so excited every year when November comes and he starts putting up his lights. It takes a long time on to put all of them up but it is totally worth it to see the excitement all of our kids get when this time of year comes. The pictures aren't that great cause my Camera sucks so hopefully we can get some better pics and post them. Better yet drive by and see for yourself. Jeff is in charge of decorating the outside and I am the inside with the exception of his Christmas

Village. I am not allowed to do that only he is. Around Christmas time we take the padding off of our window seats and display our village there.

We buy a new piece every year since we have been married to add to this also. The kids love it. It gives the house such a peaceful feel with the fiber optic lights and the waterfalls that play to the music on one of the houses. I couldn't get the whole thing in one picture so here is two shots of that. I still missed some of it with only the two shots.

As for the rest of the house I get free reign. I will

post pictures the rest of the house to the side of my bolg post. We wait all year just for this time of year. The thing that excites our family the most about Christmas is the decorating, seeing the lights, and listening to Christmas Music. This year our family has done 4 service projects to help those in need. The kids all loved participating in the food drive for Colby's Eagle project they were trying to take everything out of my pantry to help with that. Then we painted kids wood blocks for the Shriner's Hospital. My sister in law had to paint 400 blocks. So we as a family craft night at my moms painted abc's and dice and all different things on the blocks so that the children up there could enjoy them for Christmas. Lexi loved helping do that. Andrew, Jeff and I also were able to help tie quilts for Primary Children's Hospital for Chase's Eagle project. Our ward for relief society enrichment combined with the ym and yw were able to tie 36 quilts in 2 1/2 hours that night. And this Sunday Me and Jeff are so excited cause we get to go with Charri and Evan Jensen and my brother and his wife to deliver the Tree's that people bought from the festival of Tree's this year. Jeff went last year and he said it was the coolest experience he has had. So I am so excited to get to go this year since I got a sub for my primary class. This time of year even though we don't have a lot of money this year to buy the kids what they want. I still feel so blessed already. As long as we have love, family and friends what more do you need. And I am so glad my kids are understanding that early in their lives. I am so blessed to have such great kids they have already told us they don't care what they get this year even if it is a little rinky dink toy.