Photo Booth

My beautiful cousin got married last weekend at Peirpont Place. They had a photoboth for all the guests. It was a fun idea! We are dorks!

Christmas Eve

Our annual tradition of snow shoeing or sleigh riding was spoiled by mother nature. So we resorted to the movie theatre, to see "Alvin and the Chipmunks Chipwrecked." I bet you're all so jealous.

That afternoon Rachel and I made green salsa and cookies. She has a new found love for cooking. On Thursday my dishwasher broke. Happy freakin' Christmas. I have been washing dishes by hand. What a great time to break, when I am doing so much cooking/baking!

Christmas Eve we traveled up to my parents house. Can I say travel now that I live so far away? I think I can.

Cheers to one of my favorite days of the year.

I love that my parents have a fireplace in the dining room.

"Merry (hiccup) Christmas"

Rachel loved the red punch.

Every Christmas Eve the kids all pile into Luke's room to sleep. They went to sleep quite fast. And I think I beat all of them awake the next morning in anticipation.

I did not take one picture on Christmas Day. Just wanted to enjoy watching my children. The one moment I wished I had my camera was as we walked out of church. Our church is right across the street from the temple. In fact we park in the temple parking lot. It gave me a sweet feeling as I looked up on a clear, crisp, sunny day with the temple right in front of me, and the mountains in the background. At that moment I felt my Heavenly Father's love for me and my family. I loved that Christmas fell on a Sunday so that we could worship the one we celebrate on this special day.

excitement

"Merry Christmas Eve!"
Maggie said, as she walked into our room early this morning, wearing a Santa hat.

The kids then jumped onto the computer to track Santa,
on NORAD Santa.

I love hearing all the happiness and giggles coming out of the children today.

Happiness 31

Jesse & Kortney

My brother and sister in law watched our kids last weekend. They made these sweet little crafts with my kids. (You like my paint swatches behind the snowmen?)

*Hey Liz M, the color to the far right edge, is the color of my main room. For the dining room we are picking the one above the second snowman.

My kids had a wonderful time with their aunt and uncle, it was a huge distraction from the fact that our dog died the day before. Turns out I was more grateful that my kids got time with loved ones, than I was for my night away.

I came home to a clean house, happy children, cute crafts adorning my walls, and a peed on Christmas tree! Don't ask.

Christmas music

Lets face it-it has been hard to get in the Christmas spirit this year. To help things seem happier and more "Christmas-y" I turn on Christmas music all the time. This is my absolute favorite this year. No wonder his album is number one on the charts. Did you catch him on SNL this week. This skit was funny!

Christmas music does not get better than this song.



Be proud of me for venturing out of my Country genre for Christmas listening.

We have a sad house

Rachel: Mom, why is Peter crying?

Steve and I look at each other, hear the music from the video playing, and rush to find Peter sobbing while watching the video of Max.

Peter: Why did Max have to die?

Steve: Because he was so sick, and his body really hurt.

Peter: But why couldn't we just take him to the hospital?

Steve: We did take him to the hospital, but he was just too sick.

Peter: I miss Max, I wish he did not have to go live with Heavenly Father.

Salt to the wound. Steve and I feel so guilty that we could not afford to keep Max alive. We could not afford the finacial side or the physical/emotional toll it would take on us as well. How do you explain that to a child?

Steve made this video for Max. (Peter is watching it on Steve's laptop in the above picture) The kids all want to make their own scrapbook, and have a picture for their bedroom.

This is SO hard!

We have decided to put Max to sleep tonight.
It is inevitable, and why drag it out.

All the kids are at school right now and Rachel is sleeping.
I get to be alone with Max one last time.
He obliged, and took some pictures with me.
And purred every time I kissed him after the shot.

We are going to miss him so much,
and Steve and I feel so horribly guilty.

Love you Max!

Hard Decisions

Our time with Max is coming to an end.
Our family is devastated.
Add this to the tab of hard things happening to our family.

Happiness 30

Ski Day with my oldest kids.

The kids did great, and Luke has come leaps and bounds.

They called me a slow poke, but honestly I perfer not

to ski like a bat-out-of-hell, like Maggie does.

"I get 30 miles to the gallon on this hog!"

I think Luke maybe/kinda looks like Loyd Christmas in this shot,

but don't tell him I said so...

After a long day on the slopes,

we hit Kneaders in PC for some cocoa and sweets.

That is where the kids found out about how sick Max is,

and what may happen soon.

We were all sobbing, it was a sad sad sight.

4

Rachel turned 4 on Friday!

Princess and the Frog cake.

She wanted Grandpa to play the guitar when we sang Happy Birthday!

Grandma & Grandpa took her to Build-a-Bear.

She was so happy, and thrilled.

She made a Hello Kitty bear

and never let go all day.

Maggie's friend brought her new puppy over after school.

Rachel was in heaven holding her.

what is the luck?

This summer we went to Newport Beach, California. My brother went the exact week with his in-laws.

We then happened to go to Disneyland the same day. We were going to try and meet up to go on some rides together it just never worked out. We would talk occasionally on the phone about what rides we had been on. But we thought it was odd that we never even ran into each other.

Today, my brother was looking through his photos for a good Christmas card shot. He liked the one I have included, but was annoyed and frustrated that there was someone with a stroller in the background.

He looked closer. Noticed it was a double jogger. Then zoomed even closer when he realized it was Steve and the kids. Look how close we were and we did not even realize it. What is the luck that we ended up in one of their photos.

My brother Jesse, is the one in the stripped sweatshirt and hat.
His cute wife Kortney is next to him.

Look closer and Steve and the children are to the right of his sis-in-law.

simple acts bring a smile

I came home last week to find my husband decorating our front porch. I had shown him a picture from the Ballard Design catalog that I really liked. Steve bought the fresh pine and started work. It was a sweet surprise.

That is how things have been "rolling" as of late. I come up with a vision of how I would like our house to look, and Steve makes the magic happen. Magic on a budget, but magic still.

We are very happy with the progress we are making on the house. Even with the fireplace mishap. I want a white fireplace. My dad spent an entire day painting it with an oil based paint. He told me it was not going on very well. Steve thought maybe a second coat would make it look better. Nope. Worse. Steve bought a stripper and began the grunt work. At one point, he set down his tools, grabbed a coat and keys, and walked out the door. Came back a half hour later and started working again. He had gone to Lowes to price out a new fireplace. Too expensive. So back to work. Classic Steve!