Christmas Came (And went) Quick!!

   Well Santa came despite my protesting but he did have a trick or two up his sleeve.  Thankfully all the kids were good sports and were totally fine with waiting until after church to open the majority of their gifts.  They actually slept until after 7 a.m. which shocked me and then after they were finally all ready and we got the traditional photo of them lined up in the hallway youngest to oldest they went in and found....
   The tree and most of the gifts and stockings gone.  There was just a small pile of gifts and a note from Santa.  They did get to open the gifts they'd bought each other which kept them happy and occupied until we could get back from church.  It's a good thing church was only an hour though because I don't know if they could have held out much longer.

They're not sure what to think at this point.

Here's Mark reading the letter from Santa.

Then they started opening the gifts they bought each other.  Everyone was quite pleased with what they got and gave.

Here's Brock's fun gift that he destroyed at least three different times throughout the day.  Greg finally put it all in a sack and stuck it in the basement.

And here's our cute baby who was quick to find the marbles from Carter's toy and stick them in his mouth.

   Finally the big moment arrived and boy were they excited to see what mom, Dad and Santa had in store for them.  And don't worry, they didn't wear their pjs to church but changed back into them once church was over.

Oh yeah, a trampoline!  Mark is screaming hysterical.  (Seriously we had to tell him to be quiet, it was really obnoxious.)

Brock wasted no time finding a way up to the presents.  You can see in the background that Greg had to hurry and remove the tree before the kids bounced it off.

Grandma and Grandpa even came up for the fun and helped with the kids.  McClane was 100% satisfied with this one toy but for some reason Santa had one more for him.  He'll probably appreciate it some day.

I got a nice weight vest to add a little more challenge to my workouts from the kids.  It's a good thing I requested that or I might have taken offense to that kind of gift.  J/K

And don't worry, the kids got more then just gummy bears for Greg.

And here's just a few of our visitors that came later that day.  Josh and Camille and Jackie and Jovi.

  So that's about it for our Christmas.  It was a great day and we've had a pretty nice week.  I did spend a good day and a half making up collages of all my photos from the last year and sending them to be printed.  Remind me to never let that much time pass before getting photos printed.  That also cost a pretty penny but at least it's done.
   Now off to the New Year!!!  I hope you all have a great year and that this past year was a good one as well.

Christmas Cancelled?! Maybe

   Have you ever had a day when you're just one more mess or upset away from calling a "Time Out"!?  Monday was one of those days for me.  Really this whole month I feel like these kids are pushing the limit nearly non-stop and of course the first day home from school is always a bit harry but I, for some reason, forget this every time.
    I thought the day was going pretty well.  I had the boys up doing chores early and got out the door at a decent hour to do some shopping with Isaac along to help.  I even came home from my errands to find all was still well at home, then it started! 
    First it was Carter making a prank call to 911 and getting a call back from the dispatcher to make sure nothing was really wrong.  Luckily a police officer didn't actually show up at the door but I think he was on his way because he did do a drive-by.  You can imagine I had a chat with Carter and he was grounded for the remainder of the day.  So now I think it's safe to take a little moment to veg out in my room, which is what I would typically do on a normal day, but I should have known better with all these kids home, including a couple friends. 
     After a little while I decide McClane should be checked on but instead of being a diligent mother and doing it myself, I send the 14 year old girl to do the job and her idea of checking on the baby is yelling down the stairs to ask if he's down there.  I was aware he was down there but I'd asked specifically for her to check and make sure he wasn't in any trouble or hurt because I know how oblivious the boys can be with him.  So I finally get off my lazy behind to check for myself and boy was I in for a shock. 
     First I find my basement in utter upheaval.  The couch and chairs were turned upside down and the boys were just lying around watching tv and no one really knew where McClane was.  The nice neighbor boy was quick to jump up and help look but of course the damage was done, because there was McClane in the bathroom where he'd played in a toilet that hadn't been properly flushed after someone had gone not just one but two, and yeah, it was nasty!  So now I'm losing my cool.  Friends are sent home and furniture and "other" messes are cleaned up and I'm nearly done with these kids.  Then Mark comes home from playing at a friends and I send him out with some trash and Kayli decides to lock him out with the locks we've recently installed to keep Brock in the house and he gets mad and actually tries busting through the door and busts a piece of molding away from the wall around the door.  So now I'm really done and I'm not kidding, I would have taken down the Christmas tree and decorations right then if I'd thought it would have done any good but Greg stopped me and thankfully after Monday things improved and the rest of the week hasn't been nearly as bad.
    McClane did have a minor run-in with the treadmill which was sad but thankfully he didn't require medical attention but this is the result of his fall.

This was just shortly after it happened.  It's burned and scraped but thankfully he's tough and hasn't really complained much after the initial incident.

   Please don't judge me, I'm usually very vigilant about keeping him away from the treadmill but I was hoping with all the kids home they'd help keep him away and he wasn't actually trying to get on the treadmill like he normally does when I'm on it, he was just too close doing other things and fell.  Trust me, lesson learned and this won't happen again.

   And here's proof that even baby proofing the whole house doesn't always keep him out of trouble.
So that's a little of our week.  I could regale you with more but I've shared enough for now.  Now lets hope our Christmas Eve and Christmas day go as planned.  Merry Christmas!!
   

Can You Say White Trash!?

   It's official, our house is the "white trash" of the neighborhood.  It wasn't enough that we had some lights applied with a "flair" by the neighbors but someone thought it was necessary to add to the decor with this monstrosity.....

   The saddest part is this tree actually is fuller and bigger then our own artificial tree in our front room.  I guess if no one claims this after the holidays we'll maybe add it to our boxes of decorations for next year.
    And just so you know it has working lights that blink and don't blink.  It's really quite an addition to the front yard "display".  Thank you Anonymous donor we hope to pay you back some day!

Have a Merry Christmas ALL!!

Not a baby anymore!

    The time finally arrived for my baby to become a little boy.  Those fine wispy blond locks had to go.  They were tangled and getting food in them hourly and I saw no other option then to give him his first haircut!  Here's Baby Twain and then Big Boy Twain....

 Going,

 Going,

 Gone!

  

He's still pretty darn cute if you ask me and it's been nice not to have to look at the rats nest he usually has all over his head.

   We also had the neat experience of attending a Living Nativity this week.  Here in Alpine there's a family that started this tradition several years ago and we've never taken the opportunity to go but decided to give it a shot this year and it just might be our new tradition.  No doubt the spirit was felt as we got to walk into a room where a young couple stood over a live baby "Jesus".  It was really quite spectacular and despite the crowds of people it was well worth fighting the freezing cold weather to remember the true meaning of Christmas.  Here are just a couple shots of the kids petting the CAMELS.  I tried taking more photos but it was too dark.  It was so neat though, they had Roman soldiers roaming the trails and little stops along the way of the Wise Men sharing their experience, the shepherds, and several other cool Bethlehem scenes.  Anyone in the area should make the journey in the future if you can.  They only put it on for a few nights of the year and there's no charge but they do ask for donations that go towards the Huntsman Cancer Center and Operation Smile or something similar.  Anyway, here's the camels.

Super neat Christmas tradition and one I hope my kids won't forget and will want to attend again next year.  Hope you all had a fantastic week.

A Festivus for the rest of Us!

   Ok, so this post really doesn't have much to do with "Festivus" but it was a Festival of Trees.  We love going to this event every year and seeing all the original and fun Christmas trees and all for a good cause.  This year Mark had the chance to sing at the Festival with his school choir group.  Unfortunately it was in the middle of the day and none of us were able to attend but I'm sure the other parents there took photos that they'll share some day.  We decided to go last night as a family and we saw some pretty fun trees.  One of our neighbors had decorated and donated a tree for his Eagle Scout project and it was pretty impressive.  Here's a few of our/my favorite trees from last night.

These first two photos are of our neighbors scout tree.

His grandparents actually bought the tree so I'm thinking our neighbor might just get a few of these camping items as gifts.

You can't help but love a "Christmas Story" themed tree.  One day we will own this atrocious lamp!

Um, could there be any more snoopies?!

This one was right up my alley, a chocolate Christmas!!

Or maybe a Harley Christmas would be fun too.

A group shot after purchasing a little treat at the "Sweet Shop".

Kayli and her best friend Toni.

This was a Harry Potter tree that Kayli and Toni insisted on getting a photo of.

Then this morning Santa and Mrs. Claus came to City Hall and we made sure to be there for the big event and see them arrive in style.  Last year Kayli was sick so we didn't have a photo with all six kids and santa so this was our opportunity and I think we got a pretty cute photo.

Merry Christmas!!

Photos!

   So I had a little more trouble uploading photos than I was willing to put up with while visiting my family, so here's a few shots of our Thanksgiving celebration.  I figured I'd get this post out of the way to make room for our Festival of Trees visit tonight which will be sure to bring a few more photos that I can post tomorrow or Sunday.  I apologize for so many photos but this is only about 1/4 of what I actually had to choose from so forgive me.

McClane spent more time on Grandma's table then I can measure.  He loved the spinning centertable.

The kids fed the birds thanks to a generous man with some extra bread to share.

Here's cousin Lottie getting ready to "attack".  Not really she was usually pretty sweet to McClane.

We played a little kickball, dodge ball and soccer at the Stake Center with the Larson, Bowlby and Atkinson families  (Cousins).

Carter played pitcher for our team.

And could you ask for cuter cheerleaders!?  Here's Kari.

And here's Shae.

McClane was all over the gym and surprisingly never had any serious injuries or problems.

And Grandma enjoyed lots of love and kisses with Chub-of-Love Cole.

Brock was frequently exhausted.

Here's Jovi nearly ready for a big Thanksgiving Feast.

Uncle Tad playing with McClane before the big meal.

And here's the Turkey, courtesy of Grandma and Grandpa.

The "outcast" table, but really the coolest table.

Brock enjoying all the yummy food.

Here's some more baby for Grandma to love.  Shae is another Chub-of-Love.

This was a reoccuring event for these two during our week away from home and work.

He's even thinking of causing trouble while he's sleeping.

Then it was more family togetherness up at the Ranch where Uncle Brent treated everyone to carriage rides.

Brock thought it was all pretty awesome.

No doubt the older boys enjoyed riding the four-wheelers a little more then the carriage.  Here's Isaac after a fun ride.

This is Ann, my sisters, house.  It was a perfect place for all 31 of us to congregate throughout the week.

Then there were balloons, courtesy of Grandpa. Hands down McClane's favorite thing to play with.  Lottie did manage to share throughout the night.

Then more feeding the birds.  This time we had our own bread thanks to Greg's over zealous purchases in order to make home made stuffing.

Wild horses in the road on the trip home and then the Finale to our trip......

Christmas Lights put on by our, oh so wonderful, neighbors.  They had no idea what a favor they were doing us.  Now they get to look at the white-trash house all month long and Greg gets out of having to put up Christmas lights.

Got to love a good practical joke!!!

And that's about it folks.  A fun Thanksgiving holiday and one we won't forget for years to come.  Now on to CHRISTMAS!!!