Thank you

To whoever it was that put the big red Christmas bow on my mailbox today. It's so cute and it made my day.

Stop Ada!

Ada and Sam were singing Jingle Bells and Sam made a mistake.  He loudly said, "Stop! I've got a problem!"

Today I'm grateful for my phone

I never thought I'd see my Smartphone as anything except a luxury. Looking at the past years worth of photos I'm glad that I had it when my camera was gone for months. I'm glad today that I can blog while cuddling with a grumpy baby.
Out the door, Ada and Sammy are playing a rough game on the tramp. Evelyn is sitting in the middle of it trying to put on Ada's shoes over her boots.... Completely unconcerned that she could get hurt at any second. They say they're playing a game called "achoo".  Pips is deciding that it might be okay to play on the floor... Maybe I'll get some dishes done.
Last night we went to my brother McKay's graduation from ITT. I'm so proud of him for all his hard work!  Then we went out to Texas Roadhouse to celebrate him and my sister Sharon's bday. Ada decided that she wanted to have Sharon a bday present, so she gave her a My Little Pony. It was so cute and sweet. I'm glad she's getting the idea of giving. Then we went to my parents to visit and play.

Sundays

Sunday a special day right?  As a family we decided not to shop, eat out, pay for things, play computer games, etc... but we've been having a harder time trying to figure out good things to do.  We play board games together, read together, Jer bakes with the kids, etc... but one favorite lately has been watching movies off the lds.org Friend website.  Their favorite is....

http://www.lds.org/friend/online-activities/videos/other?lang=eng#the-coat

They watch it over and over again.  Every time with a pure look of delight.  Ada even said, "Look!  This is the most sweetest part."  Thanks Brasher cousins for cluing us in to the existence of the Friend website.

Portraits

Kids portraits are a fun thing to do.  They are so full of fun and most of the time they are happy little people.  Other times, not so much.  In my opinion, my favorite kids portraits are ones that are done on the spur of the moment.  The kids get less anxious and less "picked on" by the adults.  A couple times a year I just pull out my camera and tell my kids that we're taking some pictures.  Sometimes it works, sometimes it doesn't... but I get their best smiles that way.  Here's my most recent one.  Not much by way of a portfolio piece (I didn't even do their hair or have them wear their shoes), but it sure shows how genuinely they enjoy each other and how often our photo sessions end in a wrestling match.

It started out as a way to show Sammy's cute new (second hand) suit.  It's his first full suit.  Very, very handsome.

Then Ada wanted to take some pictures.  So cute.

Then they wanted some pictures together.

Which turned into this....

and then this.... 

and then this....

That's how I got this.

Joke

We went to the Shops at the Riverwoods as a family the other day.  We saw Santa (no line!), went to the toy store, enjoyed the lights.... and listened to live music.  My favorite part, the banjo player told a joke during the lull between songs.

"What's the difference between an onion and a banjo?"
"No one cries when you cut up a banjo."

Yum

Check out this yummy Christmas cake here...

Frontrunner South line

Today was free ride day for the Frontrunner South line.  The new fast train that goes up all the way through SLC and into Ogden.  It officially opens on Monday, but if you brought a can a food today they would let you ride it for free.  We had the idea that it would be fun to do with the kids and see the Christmas lights at Temple Square.  It was fun.  While it was ultra busy and a little hard on the kids to be so crowded they told us that the train was their favorite part.  I love seeing the lights at Temple Square, to me it's always worth being out in the cold for that part.  We also got to have hot chocolate, free chick fil a sandwiches, a tour of the Disney Store, snow, and cuddling with my tired babies on the train trip home.  It was a busy, cold, fun day.

I think this one is my favorite.  I rarely have a picture with all my kiddos that we are all smiling and semi presentable.  Yes, it's in the corner of the train... but look! 

My mom had her birthday

Did you know that I have an amazing mother?  It doesn't matter what she goes through, she loves me and she's always happy and excited about life.  This year we didn't do a party for her because she had to go get a stint out on her birthday... but the day after... Mom, Janelle, Jer and I all went to the Messiah Sing-In at the Alpine Tabernacle.  LOVED IT!  We try to go every year but it's been harder to find one since the Provo Tabernacle burned down a couple of years ago.  This one was amazing.  While the Soprano was kind of old (she was starting to lose control over her vibrato), the Alto was spectacular as was the trumpet soloist.  And the whole time during his solo I kept thinking about my awesome cousin, Conrad, who played the same piece for us years ago at a Christmas party.  It was so fun, and Sharon watched our kids. (Our kids love being watched by their Aunts.  They always ask if they can "go play".)

"Hate"

Ada's conversation with the NAET Doctor:

-"Ada seems to be allergic to something inside her.  It looks like her Fallopian tubes."
- Ada's response:  "I HATE Fallopian tubes."

Jer thinks that we should make spaghetti for dinner and tell her that we're eating fallopian tubes. 

Cute buddies

I know I've posted about these cute buddies before.  It's just so fun to see how their relationship is developing as they get older.  Evelyn is so outspoken and Josh is so smiley that they do make a good team but I am afraid that Evelyn will scare Josh off one of these days.  Until then I will continue to watch them play.  Not ten minutes before I took these they were wrestling because they were playing with a ball.  Josh thought it was a fun time to tackle her and wrestle, Evelyn thought he was trying to take the ball so she kept getting mad at him for tackling her... he never even tried for the ball funny enough.  They eventually lost interest in the ball and climbed up to get drinks of water from the table.