December Fun

We love Christmas time so much!  There are so many fun things to do.  It is so fun to have activities to do every night.  One of our favorites was Christmas dancing, but I didn't get a picture of that.  We have treats and an activity most nights and I love it, but sometimes the girls get a bit out of control and start to demand a lot and it starts to stress me out a bit.  But we do love doing stuff.  I really want them to have great memories of Christmas.

 The girls got a special afternoon with Grandma.  She came up and spent the afternoon with them and made cookies and some ornaments and played games with her.  They loved it.  I loved it because I got to go and get my Christmas shopping mostly done.  It was really nice!

 Our ward has a breakfast for the kids and an adult dinner.  Both were great.  It was nice to get away with Kevin and have a nice dinner with some friends.  The three wise men came to the breakfast and then we got to go and get dressed up and take our picture with them. Although this was just two of them.  Russ wasn't really liking the headdress I had on and he was sad.

 It wouldn't be Christmas without frosting some sugar cookies.  I always make a lot because they are Kevy's favorite. And the girls love doing their own.

 Nellie always seems to make silly faces.

 The girls were having fun raking our leaves.  Our fall comes more in late November and December so there were lots to rake up.  It is nice still being able to go and play outside without freezing to death.

 Russ found this little golf cart and spent a good half hour dragging it around.  He loved it so much and has seemed to develop a love for golf.  He found one of the clubs and drags that with him all over the house all the time.  it is really cute and makes Kevy hopeful.

 Nellie was in her school performance of The Polar Express.  It was so cute.  She sang her heart out with the songs and she had one of the main reading parts too.  She did such an amazing job.  I was SO proud of her!

 Janie had her preschool performance and looked so pretty!  She was a cute little elf and did such a great job singing the songs.  The funny part was when Santa came and tried to shake all of the kids hands.  All the other kids were soo excited but when he came to Janie she refused and had the funniest look on her face like "uh no thanks, you kind of freak me out."  Afterward it took quite a bit of coaxing to get her to sit on Santa's lap. She only did it because Nellie wanted to get the candy cane and coloring book and made Jane go with her.

 She was like "hurry and take this picture so I can get down!"

 This year we saw this Gingerbread Train Kit and I decided it was a good change of pace.  I am glad I did because it was WAY easier to put together than the houses and much easier to frost too!  I hope they sell them again next year!

 The girls even got their own train piece to decorate too. We always love decorating stuff for Christmas!

Russ has become quite the climber and he wanted to join in on the train making. Such a silly monkey!

Decorations and Fires

This year since we went to Discovery Kingdom the day after Thanksgiving, we waited until the next day to decorate, which is one of the girls very favorite things to do.  Well that day Kevin planned on going and getting firewood for us.  We have a fireplace in this house and we LOVE having fires!  Well Nellie has turned out to be Kevin's little fire buddy.  It is really cute because if she thinks the fire is not up to par then she makes sure that Kevin knows and is taking care of it.  In fact one day they were upstairs watching a show and Kevin and I were down by the fire, and we heard a little voice from upstairs say "the fire isn't looking good.  You need to put more wood on the fire."     Nellie decided that she would rather go with Kevin and get firewood then to stay and decorate the house.  That is how much she loves fires. It was really cute to see her go with Kevin and be his buddy.  Russy is a bit of a fire guy himself. He loves the fires and we really have to keep our eye on that wild man.

 janie and Lizzy satyed and helped me decorate, in fact they did most of it themselves.  They had probably the most fun doing the village and Jane had to cram every single figurine onto it. We did however leave the tree for when Nellie and Kevin were back.

 Russ had a good time just relaxing and watching for the most part.  It is a bit crazy but he leaves the tree alone for the most part,  which is insane seeing how busy he is and how into everything he is.  But hey I will take it!

Look at these cute little people of mine!  They are such good, sweet kids!  Even if I feel on most days like I am going a bit crazy!

Thanksgiving and Holiday in the Park

We had a great Thanksgiving this year.  The food was great and it was really good to see Uncle Kimball who was visiting from London.  This is the only picture I got that day, Russ wasn't very happy about being pinned down.  Typical lately, he is SO busy and will not sit still for even a minute.

 The day after Thanksgiving, we decided to do something different than usual.  We have season passes for Discovery Kingdom, and they were doing a Season Pass holder appreciation day, so we decided to go down and have a fun day.  It was really fun too!

 This is what happens after one small candy cane.  He is so stinking cute!

 They had free cookies and hot chocolate for the season pass holders, so it was fun to go and have that, the cookies were really good but the hot cocoa was NOT!  The girls were not impressed.  I guess I have gotten them to used to having Stephens hot chocolate made with milk.  They said it tasted like brown hot water.  I love the way Janie is looking at her Dad in this picture!  So cute.

 There were lots of different things to do than usual, so that was really fun for the kids.  The park was really decorated for Christmas and the girls loved all the decor.

 I took Russ for his first ride on the carousel.  At first he wasn't very excited until it started moving and then he thought it was cool for a bit and then he was done and just wanted off.

 There were some Christmas Dancers who did a little show, that the girls really liked.  Lizzy turned to me during the performance and said "Isn't this so fun mom!"  I love her enthusiasm for everything.

 There even was a sledding hill with real snow, but the lines were way too long so the girls were okay with going and playing in the snow area.  It has been a few years since they have seen snow and they have sort of forgotten what it was like, so they were thrilled.  I am thrilled that they don't know what it is like.  I love not living in a snowy place.  Although there is a lot of snow pretty close by, we just need to take them to see it this winter.

Russy and Dad enjoying their popcorn.  Russ is really starting to get attached to Kevin,  it is really cute.

 This is Russ seeing the lights on the trees.  He was enthralled!  He couldn't stops saying "ooo, ooo"  over and over.  He still does it every time he sees even our lights on our tree.

We had a lot of fun going and if we stay here, we might have to make it a family tradition!  It sure beat trying to go Christmas shopping in all the crazy stores!

All About Lizzy-8 years

This is one of my favorite pictures of Lizzy.  She was so happy and proud to turn eight and get baptized.  I don't think I understood all about it the way that she did when I turned eight and was baptized.  She has set such a good example to me with her enthusiasm about the gospel.  She loves going to church so much.  And not just for the social aspect.  She loves to learn about Jesus and the gospel.  I love it!
Lizzy is such a special girl.  I knew from the first time I laid eyes on her that she was going to touch a lot of people with her light.  She is just so full of life and light.  It just radiates from her.
I was so very blessed to have her as my firstborn.  She is like my little sidekick and helper.  I can always count on her to help me with whatever I need.  A lot of the time she does more than her fair share of cleaning and picking up because she does such a good job and her sisters lack in that department.  She does get pretty bossy sometimes and I have to let her know that it isn't her job to discipline her siblings.
Lizzy is getting so grown up.  She has really gotten into music this last year. Every time we get in the car she tells me either to change the station or that she really likes this song and then she starts singing.  Its funny because if I want to listen to a song that I like that she doesn't she just acts like, :gosh mom I can't believe that you like this song!"  Her favorite artist is Taylor Swift and she gets so excited when she hears one of her songs on the radio.
I know I have mentioned it before, but Lizzy really has gotten into Harry Potter lately.  It is one of her favorite things and she wants a Harry Potter party and she wants Harry Potter stuff for Christmas. I think it is so funny that she loves it so much.
Another surprising thing about Lizzy is how much she loves basketball.  She asked for a basketball for her birthday and she takes it to school all the time and plays.  She told me that she played against some older boys and beat them. It doesn't surprise me,  Lizzy is the kind of kid that can do anything. She has a tremendous amount of self confidence and I really love that about her.  I never did, and I love that she doesn't struggle with poor feelings of self esteem.
Lizzy's favorite food is Hawaiian Haystack.  She gets so excited when I make it, but she is also the very best eater and eats everything and likes it.  She always knows how to make me feel good.  She always tells me "Mom it was AMAZING!"  So so sweet!
Lizzy really has developed a love for reading, which I love too.  She and I have started reading together, which was something I loved to do with my mom, so I am so glad that she likes to have me read chapter books to her.  The other girls are too young still to listen, but Lizzy and I have fun doing it.
I can't believe my Lizzy is 8!  I am so glad I was blessed with her sweet spirit to take care of.  I feel so lucky!  What an amazing girl she is and she brightens up our home so much!