Christmas 2007

Wow... I can't believe how fast the week has gone by!! It has been such a fun and action packed week! Now, finally time to breathe! Christmas was great! Santa made a visit to our house! And there was lots of fun with family and friends and way too much food as usual! I have captured a few of the highlights as well as pictures of the house decorations. I love the cozy feel the decorations add to the house. I will miss them when they are gone in a couple of days.
We want to express our love for our family. We are so grateful for the opportunity we had to spend time with or talk on the phone with each of them this Christmas season. I am also glad that the mantle of cooking Christmas dinner has been passed to me. I love having everyone over and cooking for them! And Kevin & I enjoy having everyone to our home. We hope that Christmas was wonderful for all and wish each of you a very Happy New Year!

My cute little elves helped deliver all of the neighbor gifts this year!
Thanks guys!

The freezing temperatures didn't bother them a bit!

This is Tate hiding behind the Christmas tree one morning eating 3 candy canes!
Not an uncommon occurrence however!

While we're talking about the Tater man..... long story short... he was awake first one morning...... obviously thought the house needed more decorations..... got a hold of the new
36 roll Costco pkg.... and went to town!

My Mom and Dad are so much fun!
They always show up with a couple new games to try!
When they are around it is always a constant game tournament!

I think that Rachel is the most competitive of everyone!
She's a crazy girl!

More gaming!!

Check out Mitchell concentrating with his tongue!

Yeah, not sure what I was trying to do here...
But there you go...

I should have got some of this on video tape. Here's Rachel..."Um Gram... yeah... no go fish!"

Rachel dressed me and my mom up in dress ups one night.... complete with tutu's on our heads!
She was laughing so hard taking the pictures that they are all blurry... but you get the jest!

This is my Dad dealing the cards in his lucky bicycling hat!
Looking good Dad!

We had Christmas Eve dinner with just our little family.

Rachel was so proud that she helped set the table.
Yes, I cooked two big meals in a row... one on Christmas Eve... (turkey, stuffing, broccoli) the other for 20 people on Christmas Day...(ham, cheese potatoes, salad, rolls) I don't have any pictures of that dinner..WHAT was I thinking???? At any rate... the way I figure it...I've earned a couple of Cafe Rio nights in January!!
(p.s. all five sparkling cider goblets made it through the dinner in one piece! great job kids!)

This wild rice stuffing recipe comes from Kevins side of the family!
I made it myself this year and was so proud that I had Rachel take a picture of me!

After dinner we made sugar cookies for Santa. Stars, Christmas trees, and snowman shaped! Thanks Lani for the fun cookie kit!

Treats all ready for Santa and the reindeer!

The kids in their new Christmas jammies!

The kids on Christmas morning! 7:45.... not bad!
Look at the plate behind them... looks like Santa and the reindeer enjoyed the treats!

Tate has played NON stop with the train table that Santa brought!
I'm hoping it will keep him from getting into trouble for a while!

This is becoming a tradition... I can't take down the kids art display without documenting it!

Once again.... great job guys! I truly love your projects. They are my favorite!

Ok, I know I've gone crazy with all the pictures on this entry... but I just have to include some of the house decorations before I take them down.

Merry Christmas 2007

Sunday December 23rd

Joseph Smith Dec 23, 1805 to June 27, 1844

We had a wonderful Sabbath day! The kids looked beautiful! What a true joy it is to be able to celebrate the birth of a loving Savior and to also honor the prophet Joseph Smith on his birthday! This evening Kevin and I were also able to attend the baptism of a friend in our neighborhood. I feel so incredibly grateful and humbled tonight as I reflect on my many blessings and the many opportunities that we are given to strengthen our testimonies each and every day! I am looking forward to the next couple of days and hope that we might carry with us the wonderful spirit that today has brought!

Ok, so the boys ties are a little long... they both wanted to wear "real" ties today. No 'clip on' or 'zipper ties'... so I surprised them this morning with these. I think they look so handsome. They will probably be able to wear them until they leave on missions! And Rachel looked darling today as well. I just love the Sunday before Christmas! The primary sang a song in the program. Tate went up on stage as well. It brought tears to my eyes to see my children singing about the birth of Our Savior!

I had to include this as well. Rachel drew this picture after we got home from church. She was in her room for quite a while and came out with this. I am going to frame it. What a beautiful testimony from a 5 year old girl. She explained everything in the picture. I especially love the words she wrote above. "Bathlaham" & "Mare hand Joseph" Thanks Rachel! You are an amazing child of our Heavenly Father!

~Our Sweet Angel~

Our Ward had such a wonderful Relief Society Enrichment Dinner! It was titled "Through Mary's Eyes" and was centered on our Savior's sweet Mother and her many wonderful strengths and attributes. It was such a beautiful night! As part of the program some of the little girls in the ward dressed in white and sang Away In A Manger. Rachel looked like an absolute angel! She did a wonderful job and was so proud to be singing in front of everyone. (We had about 80 people there) It brought tears to my eyes to see my cute little girl singing such a beautiful song about the birth of our dear Savior! Make sure you pause the Christmas Songs on the right before playing the clip. It is SO SWEET! Great Job Rachel! You and your friends were such DOLLS! ( Our cute cousin Jessica is on Rachel's right) Love you Jess!

4 Cute Elves!

Ok, seriously!! I am the luckiest woman in the entire world! Look at the cute elves I have at my house this year!! Check them out by clicking on the link below!

http://www.elfyourself.com/?id=1296154139


P.S.... THANKS JILL! This link was TOO funny!

SNOW FUN!

We had another awesome snowfall this weekend! Here are a few pictures of our family playing in the snow on Saturday! We had a blast!

Build A "Reindeer"

Kevin and I took the kids to Build A Bear on Saturday for an early Christmas surprise. They had been watching our movie Rudolph The Red Nosed Reindeer for a few days prior... so they were all very excited to build their own reindeer. Here are a few fun pictures of the day.

This is waiting in line to stuff the deer they chose.
Mitchell really was excited to be there even though he looks like a mad reindeer choker!


Tate loved stepping on the petal to control the "stuffing" machine!












He was really proud of his finished product!
His "new reindeer"

They took the "bathing" and brushing of their reindeer pretty seriously! Rachel is such a cute little "mom".

Meet "Strawberry Clarice"

Mitchell & his finished product.
Now he has him displayed on his dresser riding on a skateboard! (of course)

That reindeer building stuff can really wear a guy out!

We had a great afternoon with our cute kids! Build A Bear.... yeah... wish I would have thought of that place!!

~Let it snow~Let it snow~Let it snow~

Looks like WINTER has officially arrived! We awoke this morning to a winter wonderland and the kids could not be more excited! Wow! It's amazing how fast the Saturday chores can be completed!! The kids are bundled and have headed out to enjoy the snow... and Kevin has excitedly fired up the snowblower! Looks like we're in for a great winter Saturday!!