Merry Christmas!!!

This week was full of Christmas fun, good food, family and friends.  Christmas eve was snowy and cold.  We ran a few last minute errands and then decided to go ice skating with Brett & Teresa and their kids.  Everyone had tons of fun!  The kids did great and were getting good, by the time we left.

After ice skating we went to G &G Shields house for Christmas Eve Celebrations.  We had a delicious turkey dinner, program, songs, and gift exchange between the kids.



The kids were all really crazy and hyper, so excited for Christmas Day!  Taylor and Danny played their ukeleles for everyone.  They are getting good, and sound great.




The kids opened some gifts from Grandma & Grandpa and then opened their cousin gifts.  It was a lot of fun!

After the party, we headed home to continue the fun.
The kids opened their gifts from "The Elves" which were new, cozy PJ's.  We tucked everyone in bed around 9pm, they were all worn out from the fun day.



Christmas morning came a little too early, the kids woke up at 6AM.  But we didn't start gifts until around 7:00.  Poor Lizzie was drug out of her bed and she had no idea what was happening.  Everyone was so excited, they were too anxious to wait for Danny to make the fire.  But we made them wait!

We opened gifts and then sat around in the mounds of paper, and boxes.  Lizzie was tired by 8am, so she ate breakfast and went back to bed. 

Lizzie got a doll, with highchair/carseat/accesories and some new clothes.

Isaac got his beloved bow & arrow.  He was SO excited about it! He also got some shoes, clothes and Legos.

Emily got a red ukelele, some clothes and an easy bake oven. She played her ukekele all day- and we made a couple batches of tiny cookies in her oven.  She was thrilled!

Taylor got a new bike, a cool circuit board set, shoes and clothes.
He was so happy to see his bike, it has gears and a device that tells how far and how fast you ride. 

Everyone was very happy with their gifts.  It was a magical time seeing the kids unwrap their presents and get so stoked about their toys etc.. 
Elizabeth didn't understand what was going on, but she loved getting new toys, and eating candy from her stocking.  She is at such a fun age!!!

We spent a nice, relaxing day at home. G & G Wall came to visit and we ate lunch with them.  Grandpa Wall helped Taylor build a radio from his ciruit board set, and it was really cool!
We basically stayed in our PJ's all day, it was so nice!

The next day it was snowy again, so we went bowling ( unfortnately I didn't take any pictures. )

Thursday it was still snowing and we decided to go sledding.  I took the kids to Sugarhouse park. The kids all loved sledding down the hill, even though it was freezing cold.

Taylor and Jeffrey were standing on their sleds and going over the big jump.  They landed it a few times, and thought it was so great.
It was a great way to wear out all the kids. 

That night we did a cousin sleepover. We had Jeffrey & Spencer sleep at our house and Emily went to Mary's house. 
We got pizza and watched a movie.  The boys all stayed up late and slept in a fort.
The next day Isaac and Spencer played Legos, magnets and ran around in the snow.
Taylor and Jeffrey played games, and made a snow fort.
 Emily and Mary went to "color me Mine " and painted cups.
It's so fun having cousins nearby to do these fun sleepovers!!

Later that night we went Springville to see aunt Jennifer and Kari and Paul and their kids.  Unfortunateyl I didn't take any pictures!.  After visiting there we went to the extended Shields Family Late Christmas party. 

It was a fun night, dinner, talent show and white elephant gifts exchange.  This party is a crazy one, and it goes really late. We left around 9:45 and we were the probably the first family to leave.  Here's everyone getting organzied for the talent show.

Becca sang "White Christmas" for our portion of the talent show, it was so cute!

Grandma Shields was loving every minute of this party, she is a lot of fun to be with!

Overall we had an amazing Christmas week celebrating the birth of our Savior.  We feel so grateful for all of our many blessings. 

 It was so nice to have the kids home from school all week, and get to relax and do fun activities. We have another week of school off, so this week will be another fun week.

Merry Christmas!!!

Elizabeth is such a funny girl.  She loves to climb on the counter and get treats out of the cupboard.  When I catch her doing this she says " I need a bite."
She is obsessed with "frosty the Snowman", her baby dolls and looking cute.  When she gets dressed in the morning, she says  " I cute!" And she usually is really cute!
I love this leopard coat on her she looks adorable!
This coat was Emily's and I am so happy it fits Lizzie perfect.

Isaac and Becca have been playing well lately.  They love to do crafts, and play games. 

Taylor's been working on his science project, here he is testing static electricity on this metal pie pan.
He is doing great in school and really likes his ELP teacher/class.

On saturday we went to Springville to see Adam & Katie.  We really miss seeing them more often!
They spoiled the kids with some fun Christmas gifts, and treats.
Lizzie was really nice to everyone which was a nice change from how Emily acted when she was a toddler.  Emily HATED men , all men- even Danny.  It made is really stressful to go to family parties etc..

Lizzie is a friend to everyone.  She's a social butterfly-
who loves attention!

We also went bowling-which was a lot of fun! Emily won, and she was thrilled with her score of 107.
Isaac looks so cute in his bowling shoes and new puppy hat.

Taylor tried this fun ropes course, he did great!

It was so great to see Adam & Katie!

The kids are counting the hours until Christmas!  This is going to be a wonderful week!
Merry Christmas! Tis the Season!!!



We have had a fun and busy week full of Christmas errands, activities and parties.
I took the kids to see Santa Claus on Friday after school.  Lizzie was terrrified of him, she wouldn't even go inside his cozy little house.  She screamed by herself in her stroller eating her sucker.  It's a mean thing to do, but it's so funny!



All the kids ( incuding out friend Kate) sat on his lap and visited with him.  Then we brought Lizzie inside for one picture. 
She was hysterical!
Isaac said he wanted a "real bow & arrow"
Emily said "an easy bake oven"
Taylor asked for "a dog" because he knows Santa
can't bring real pets!
It was a fun activity, and all the kids were happy except Lizzie. 

This weekend was cold and on Saturday we got some snow, so we took the kids sledding at a local park.  Everyone had a great time. Elizabeth loves to sled!  She was demanding a turn down the hill on every sled.  She also loves to eat snow. 
Taylor and Emily made a big jump and tried to stand on their sleds over the jump. 

Taylor had a school music performance this week.  His class played the recorder.  It sounded great, but I didn't
get many good pics.

The kids have all been well behaved, our Elfie really works wonders. They are counting down the days until Christmas break. Hopefully it will be snowy so they can ski, sled and play in the snow.
We love this time of year and are so excited for Christmas! 

December fun!



Elizabeth is really liking to ride her little balance bike lately.  She always wants to put her helmet on while riding, and it's so cute to see her walking/riding her bike.  She is growing up too fast!




On Monday night for Family Night we got our Christmas Tree and decorated it.  The kids were all excited to help, and they did all the decorating.  Lizzie keeps rearranging the ornaments that on her eye level, she's so helpful. 
It was a fun night, we just went to our neighborhood Harmons, got a gelato for dessert and bought our tree too! 
It really feels like December now that the house is decorated all festive.
 Our Elf on the Shelf "Elfie" is back and the kids are anxious to see where he is every morning.  Lizzie likes Elfie, but doesn't understand the part about not touching him.  If he is on her level, she just picks him up and plays with him like he is one of her dolls. 



Our neighborhood has a live Nativity.  It was a cold, rainy night but a fun event. 

We always have fun when the cousins come over to play.  Isaac and Rebecca love doing crafts when they play together. Last week they made snowflakes, stockings and snow globes.  They were busy being creative!
Lizzie's latest thing is to climb on the counter, and get into the cupboard full of snacks/treats.  She used to stand below the cupboard yelling "Treat, I want a bite"- now she just gets the stool, climbs on it and helps herself.  I caught her on the counter in sunglasses, and she cried because she knew she was caught. 

Last night was the Hawkins Family Christmas Party!!!
It was a fabulous night full of delicious food, Bingo, chimes, games, a photo booth, and songs.  Everyone had a great time and it was fun to see aunts, uncles & cousins. 

We missed everyone who lives away and couldn't come. 

They counted the posterity of Grandma & Grandpa Hawkins last night:
They have 8 children
41 grandchildren
81 Great Grandchildren (so far)
It's pretty amazing!



Here's some of the great grandchidren doing songs on the chimes.  It was loud-but the kids had fun playing their music.



Danny and Taylor played "Silent Night" on the ukeleles.  They are getting good at playing and really enjoy practicing together.

It was really great Christmas party!

On Sunday after church we went to a Senior Citizen facility with some of our friends and neighbors to sing some Christmas carols.  We sang songs, the kids played carols on their instruments and then we had some gifts to pass out to the residents.  It was nice to meet the people who live here. The kids were friendly and kind.

It's a great start to a busy, fun December full of Christmas parties and activities. 

I love this time of year!!!





Thanksgiving weekend

The Wednesday before Thanksgiving the kids had no school, so we took a group of friends to the zoo.  It was a great day; warm weather and not crowded.  Everyone had lots of fun! Especially because we left Lizzie home napping with Aunt Mono, so I had no stroller to push and no fits to deal with!  One year olds are so fun, but super high maintenance ( At least Lizzie is high maintenence).

Thanksgiving day we headed over to G & G Shields house for the big feast.  It was a nice dinner with delicious food, and great company.  Derek and Richard were both in SLC from our of town, and they bring a lot of fun to the group.
Great Grandma Shields was also there, so it was a real treat!
She loves to play games, as well as nap after dinner. 



I feel so blessed and grateful for all the blesssings in my life.  I have so much to be grateful for the list could go on forever but here are a few on the top of my list:
Being able to watch my children learn and grow.
Having a wonderful husband who works so hard to support us, and teaches our children the gospel.
My body is healthy and strong.
My kids are curious and interested in learning new things everyday.
A loving extended family on both sides of the family.

I love Thanksgiving! It is my favorite Holiday!



The Saturday after the holiday all the adults in town went to dinner to celebrate the November/December Brithdays!  We ate at Tempanyaki, and it was so yummy!  It was a fun night and the food was great.  We really missed Marc, Natalie, Brett & Teresa who were not here!
Happy Birthday to us!

Isaac and Lizzie just eating a donut one day for breakfast.
Isaac has been so nice and sweet to Elizabeth lately.  He is helpful, kind and helps her in any way he can.  It really is so cute and heart warming to see him treat his little sister so kind.
At preschool he told his teacher 
" I am most grateful for his little sister, Lizzie."
He has come a long way from when he would rage at anything and throw tantrums nonstop. I think I like four year olds.

Here's some random pictures from this week. 
Danny was gone all week for work and sent me flowers for my Birthday.  I turned 35 on Thursday and had fun day celebrating.  I fed the kids smoothies for breakfast, had a fun lunch with my friends, and then went to our ward Relief Society Christmas dinner that night.  I don't feel old, but 35 sounds old!

Danny got home tonight after being gone for 8 days. We really missed him and are so happy he's home! 



This week was Spirit Week at the school for Taylor and Emily.  They had "crazy hair day", "80"s day", "Pajama day" etc..  They had fun dressing up and having fun! 
Emily came up with her 80's outfit by herself.  She looked great!



For  "Crazy Hair Day" Taylor had 4 tiny ponytails and Emily had 9.  We all decided that Taylor looks a lot like Lizzie with his hair like this. 

Isaac made this Indian headband for his Thanksgiving Feast at Preschool.  He was all excited about the feast, and had fun learning about the pilgrims and Indians.

On Saturday we went to the new store Scheels to see what it was about.  It's a gignatic store, and with a huge ferris wheel inside.  We all had fun exploring the store, there's tons to see and do.  Lizzie liked trying on this racoon hat, she wanted to buy it.

We did a target shooting game, and everyone took a turn.

This life-size bear terrified Lizzie, she started crying and would not get near it. Scheels is a fun store, but too big to really shop in.

It was a good weekend! 

Snow!

Wow, we really had a snowy weekend! 
The snow started to fall on Friday morning, and it snowed all weekend.  Finally stopping and clearing out for good on Sunday.
The kids came home from school and played in the snow all Friday afternoon.  They went sledding, had snowball fights, snow angels; but mostly they worked on building snow forts. 
This project kept them busy for hours. 

After playing all day Friday I would think they would want a break, but they were all outside again at 8:00 AM Saturday morning!  Again they worked on their snowforts with their friends/neighbors.  It was a fun way to spend a snowy Saturday.  They all took a break to come inside around 11:30 and warm up with hot cocoa and a yummy brunch at our neighbor's house.  Then they started out again and played until late in the afternoon!

Taylor and his friends really have a good plan for building strong snowforts.  The only problem is the snow kept falling, so it would cover up their fort.

Lizzie didn't last so long in the snow.  She liked it, and had fun playing in it.  But she doesn't like to wear her gloves and her hands get freezing. She looked so cute walking around clumsily in the snow with her little boots and snowsuit on.  She even tried sledding and really had fun!

We measured the snow in our front yard and it was up to 17 inches high!  Perfect for building a huge snowman( not pictured). 

Between shoveling the sidewalks, making hot cocoa, and putting on all the snowpants, coats, hats, boots and gloves multiple times a day we had a busy weekend!

Isaac talked about the letter "P" last week at preschool. They made apple pies one day at school.  He was so proud of his little pie, and was nice to share some with his siblings. 
He is still trying to take multiple vitamins a day so he can grow up faster.  He really wants to be 16 so he can date his dream girl, Jesse. It's super cute when he talks about her, he gets all smily and happy! His first crush is on a girl ten years older then him! Ha Ha

I have to brag about my wonderfully talented husband. 
We needed a little end table in our family room, and Danny had just learned how to weld.  So he made this table and the lamp!  His welder is getting lots of use, and we are coming up with other projects for the future.
Thanks, Danny!!