Christmas Morning 2011...

Ahhh, Christmas morning :)

We were awoken at 4:45 on Christmas morning by a whole crowd of excited kids, who can tell this group to go back to bed??  I always take pictures of them all waiting on the stairs while we wait for Scott and Nancy to come over. Layton and Parker were less than excited for this picture if you cant tell :)

Layton, finding his stocking...

The present that he asked for was a remote control monster truck, red of course :)

Parker, finding his stocking...

One of Parker's most played with gifts has been the grabber from his stocking, Santa sure knows how to make these boys happy!

The gift Parker had been asking for, was this whac-a-mole game :)

Our little family, why cant these boys just take a nice picture for me!?!

Lance and I gave the boys this Ranger, they had been asking and asking and working hard to be good for it. It is for sure a hit, they love it, and it actually goes pretty fast (about 10 miles an hour) they are getting really good at driving and reversing it!

One of the things I gave Lance was and xbox with kinect, and lots of games to go with it. This is Layton and Isaac skiing.

and Parker and Katie dancing...

I never got a picture at my parents of all the presents together, so once we got home I piled them all up.

These are Parker's

and Layton's...

I feel so blessed to be able to give my family another great Christmas. I hope I never forget these times!

and lastly, a video of the boys getting their Ranger :)

Christmas Eve 2011...

Well I think it is just about time that I blogged Christmas :)

We spent Christmas Eve with my parents in Flowell this year, we started out with a wonderful Christmas/Birthday for Shelby dinner.

Then had the kids act out the Nativity for us. This is the first year that they have all participated willingly (well kind of... ahem Austin :)

We have always had the kids open whats under the tree on Christmas Eve, and then Santa presents in the morning. So the kids got all the presents sorted out...
(this is the best face I could get from Parker in all the excitment :)

Then we take turns and go around the room opening each gift.

Layton had been asking and asking for a dragon pillow pet, luckily Parker got him one :)

My dear parents got each of the boys a pocket knife. They were so excited, Parker couldn't look away from it for a picture!
I wasn't thrilled about it, but they have actually been really good with their knifes. So it has turned out alright.

Layton just so happened to give Parker a pillow pet too :) Who knew they would be so excited for them.

Then the kids all put on their new Christmas Jammies and headed up to bed, Shelby and Austin hadn't gone in the room yet in this picture. But 8 kids is quite a crowd, they really love it and I think that would have been so much fun as a kid to stay with my cousins on Christmas Eve! (Lance didn't stay there, he was just getting the movie going for them)

Another great and memory filled Christmas Eve with my family, I love these times with them. We missed you Suzie, Chris, Jack, Claire, and Max!!!

I'm sure Suize will be the only one instersted in watching these little videos (but go ahead and watch if you would like too), these are for you Suz!

one little word...

I have seen a lot of people doing "one little word" for the last few years. I always think about it, but this is the first year I am doing it for reals.

You choose one word that you want the define the upcoming year. More info about it here!

My word for the year is...

Pause!!!
To me it means,
Pause to play with my sweet boys
Pause to take time out for my husband
Pause to think before I speak
Pause to just enjoy life to the fullest

I can't wait for 2012, its going to be a wonderful year!!!

My new treeee!

When we first got married we lived in a really small house, so of course we got a really small tree that I bought and made a few ornaments for. We have had it for what seems like forever! This year with Lance working out of town for the last few months, I wanted to do something to treat myself and make me get into the holiday spirit.

So I decided it was time to get myself a nice tree! Yay! I am a little excited about it if you can't tell.

Oh, and I moved the little tree into the basement for the kids to have in their playroom, and theya re really excited about it. So it is a win win for all of us. :)

Gingerbread House Making...

The boys and I decorated their gingerbread houses last night. They worked really hard at them, Layton was dissapointed that he couldn't make his look like the one on the box. Im not sure I could have either though, it is hard!
In the end they were really excited about the final result. We had the fire going, Christmas music playing, and rolls baking in the oven. Then woke up this moring to more snow. We are feeling the Christmas spirt!



Rush Valley Christmas 2011

We usually have Christmas in Rush Valley on the 23rd and 24th. But it didn't work out that way this year, so we had it this last weekend. The whole family came out, and it was so great to see everyone!

Also, I forgot my good camera so these are all horrible phone pictures, but I guess some bad pictures are better than none at all :(... right?

Grandpa Dennis and Grandma Jerri, with all their grandkids ( 8 now, Wow!)

Parker, Tanner, and Layton ( I love all their "cheese" faces :)

Kim, Rio, and Karsyn (Karsyn's first Christmas!)

Devin and Sidney



Ashley and brand new baby Hadlee! This was the first I have met her and she is darling :)

Shannon, Cooper, Darrell, and Cash

Grandma Jerri and Grandpa Dennis

and then the present opening started...

Layton got a RED (his favorite color) scooter, which was perfect timing because his old one was recently run over by an unknown vehicle (ahem :)

Parker got a... umm, I guess its a bulldozer? But he loves it and you push a button and it goes forward and back and lifts the bucket up and down, and of course plays awesome music that I wish I could listen to all day :)

This is Cooper, Parker and Layton. I grew up having 4 girl cousins that were all really close to my same age, we were very best friends. It is so fun to have these 4 boys all so close together! (Well, I guess soon Cash will be right there with them, so maybe there are 5? Oh, and Tanner isn't in this picture)

Grandma and Grandpa gave all the kids pajamas (that they are all wearing them in the fist picture) some church clothes, and then each family got a wagon! They are so cute, and I have been wanting to get one forever. Good job Jerri :)

Lance's favorite part of Christmas is putting things together ;)

SUCCESS! It isn't quite finished in this picture, it has some wooden sides that are on it too. The kids just couldn't wait to take it for a little spin.



We had such a fun time with everyone. I wish we could have all stayed there for an extra day to spend more time together, but life gets in the way. Thanks so much Dennis and Jerri for making it such a nice day!