I have a confession to make

I love to sew. Both of my girls asked for 5 outfits for their build-a-bears for Christmas, so I knew I would be busy. Hens the need for this. Oh how I love my serger. It was my black Friday present and has already proven to be worth its weight in gold.

The week after Christmas the youth in our stake went on "the trek". Cory told me the day before he left that he would really like a time period shirt. So I borrowed a pattern from a friend and went to work. Don't look too closely because it's far from perfect, but it worked.

 His roll was to take all the boys on their mission while the girls had their own experience. He really enjoyed his time there. 

The star of my build-a-bear creations (that would be 10 total items for you addition challenged friends) was this wedding dress. I wish you could see the inside. It is fully lined with beautiful seams, thanks to my serger. It only took me two nights of sewing 'till 4:00 AM to get it done. I'm still working on speed people. The other items were as quick and easy as possible.

And for some reason I thought it would be a great idea to make 11 of these birthday kits for Christmas. I was frantically wrapping in the car upon delivery, but I finished them. The final two were done about a week late, but the recipients were good sports. They won't need them until September anyway. The place mats were a synch, but the banners took much longer than expected. 

I give a lot of credit to Cory for tackling a good chunk of the lettering for me. And he did so with little complaint. I did promise not to take on such a time consuming project next year. Or maybe I'll just start sooner. Ethan is so excited to be the first to use our kit. I love the special zebra birthday plates. They are so fun!

Now it's time to make lots of baby blankets. I have to make both genders since I don't know what I am having. Some special friend will be the lucky recipient of the eventual outcasts.

Christmas 2010

I believe we had one of our most enjoyable Christmas Eve's as a family this year. We stayed at home for the first time and had a nice candle light dinner with just ourselves. We enjoyed talking about all the fun things we did this year. The kids were surprisingly calm. Cory gave a special lesson that really added to the sweet spirit already in our home. It was wonderful. We then had the opportunity to do some elfing. It was a perfect night. Before bed the kids were allowed to open one present. It just happened to be the one that Averi has been wanting for many months. Pillow Pets...why are they so popular? 

 Christmas morning came with squeels of excitement. 

More Thomas toys for Matix

 Here are some of the more priceless reactions. The girls really wanted a new lamp. They were jumping for joy to open this.

 All the kids were excited to receive more play food. Such a simple thing.

 Like I said, it was another Thomas Christmas. Will it ever end? Am I having another boy?

Ethan's reactions are always good. I love to watch him.

 See the excitement. 

Both girls really wanted lockets for Christmas, so I made them some. They were a success.

 Okay, there I am in all of my 7 1/2 month pregnant glory. I really was there.

So what did Cory and I get for each other? Well...we were both really excited and thought we had the best gifts. We had both been really sneaky about it. Cory had even had his shipped to a neighbor. But as we saw the size, and shape of each other's gifts, we knew what we had done.  We bought each other the exact same thing. We printed out the Canadian time period of our blog in book form. No it's not a cheap gift and no it's not returnable. So now we have two copies. But oh how I love it. I was on the verge of tears. I love that Cory thought of that. I love that he was so excited. He always comes up with some sentimental gift that makes me cry. I actually like his better than mine because he included the trip home. I didn't because he wasn't in it. But I am so happy to have it. These books will forever be a treasure in our home.

Ho Ho Ho...

Averi's Preschool Play

Can you guess which child is mine?

How about now? Isn't she cute?

 She was a great owl.

 And she seems to have the flair for the dramatics.

Lexi's Award

Lexi received a special award at school for her character. She seemed surprised that I would attend her flag ceremony to receive it. We are very proud of her.

 She had an ear to ear grin the entire time. Congratulations sweet heart. 

 Averi and Matix tagged along with me and wanted their picture taken as well. Of course I couldn't resist.

Legacy Traditional Christmas Concert 2010

Lexi is in the center of the top row.

 Ethan is in the center of the center row.

Mesa Temple lights 2010

 Grandma is always game.

 Sisterly love.

All Aboard...The Polar Express!!!

We had such a fun trip to the North Pole via the Grand Canyon Railroad.  Such a magical beginning to the Christmas season.

 While waiting to board, the kids enjoyed some fun activities. Of course the boys loved the train set.

 Lexi and Reece colored some stokcings.

 We were so blessed to have a lot of family along for the fun. I believe there were 24 family members with us. After some readjusting of the tickets, we were all able to sit together.

 This is us. The kids were really good. Matix completely was mesmerized. He just stared at everything and said very little.

My brother Danny and his family plus two cousins whose parents sent them a long with us.

Cory was trying to figure out which ticket belongs to which kid as we boarded. It was a tall task.

 The conductor was super fun as he came and punched all of our tickets. See what I mean about Matix being mesmerized? 

 Our waiters didn't dance, but they did serve us chocolate chip cookies.

 I love this shot below.

They also served us hot chocolate. Mmm... We all sang the song as they passed it out.

 It was pretty good, though not hot enough for me. They definitely erred on the safe side with the temperature. Isn't Averi cute?

Aunt Krissy is always fun to have along. She was the ring leader of fun. 

 I did get in trouble for standing on the seat to take this, but I'm glad I did. This is our entire group, except for the guy in the front left who is trying to duck out of the shot.

 Grandma (AKA "Mom" to me) with Shari's little Kash. 

 Averi is such a loving child. She loves to give kisses and Cory and I love the receive them.

Tyler, Heidi, and Jodee

We finally arrived at the North Pole after going through a special time warp tunnel. 

 Look, there is Santa with his bag of.

 These guys were literal dancing in the isle.

 Krissy, Braily, Cyllis, Allysa, and Averi

 Eventually, Santa boarded the train and had a special present for each of us, even the adults. Again, Matix is mesmerized.

 But so are all the other kids.

 Tara and her little Pace

Lexi and Reece with their bells from Santa. If you haven't noticed, we all wore matching pajamas. 

 Averi was super excited to receive her bell.

 Do you believe?

 One of my favorite pics. Matix was in heaven to be on a train and with Santa at the same time.

This was such a fun memory for us. I'm so glad that so many family members could go with us. I look forward to doing it again.