Christmas 2012

It's always so amazing to me how quickly Christmas comes and goes. This year was just as quick.
I think the kids had a satisfactory Christmas. There's always a few bumps but over all I think everyone got what they had hoped for and did most of what they wanted to do.

Christmas Eve Pajamas.

Christmas morning line up!

Just what mark was hoping for, his own iPod shuffle.

Oh yeah, Iron Man mask.

New hat and mittens on the cutest 2 year old boy!

Blurry, I know, but she was pretty happy to find this among several shirts.

YES!  Isaac was so hoping for his own chess set.

Trail GPS for Greg, lets hope it's what he was hoping for.

Carter's dream of his own puffy coat now fulfilled.

Carter's home made calendar!

She did a lot of this when she opened her gifts.  I'm pretty sure she was happy with everything she got.

New clothes for McClane.  I don't think he's that excited about this gift.

New Socks, a Christmas gift tradition from a dear friend.

I think McClane was hoping for his own Iron Man mask but sharing his brothers is good enough.

Brock's cool shirt that he actually picked out himself while shopping with me one morning.

Oh baby, got to love Justin Bieber!

Carter had a small melt down when he thought he wasn't getting as many gifts to open as his siblings that's why his face looks a little sad here but this soon changes.

Isaac had a few overly excited moments!

McClane's pretty sure this talking garbage truck is the coolest thing ever.

Can you say, "Yeah for me, I got a new TV"?!

See Carter, nothing to worry about, you have plenty of gifts to open.  Here come the new shoes he wanted.

   We hope everyone else had a great Christmas now on to the New Year!

He's a Ham!

      About 12 or 13 years ago we had a cute little girl who loved attention.  I wish I had a video converter so I could show you video of Kayli "performing" for her family.  Well I may not have video of Kayli to show you but we have a new "performer" in our midst and he's just as cute and has an even bigger audience.  Introducing our little ham, McClane....

    I apologize that the video quality isn't that awesome but at least we got it thanks to handy phones that are always at the ready.
     As for the rest of our week it's been fine.  Christmas shopping is officially done and that includes gift exchange purchases.  School is out and all sing along programs and what not are behind us for another year.  It's hard to believe Christmas is just a few sleeps away!!  And bonus, the world didn't come to a screeching halt yesterday!

We finally MET!

   It only took about two weeks but we finally met our newest nephew and cousin this past week, Joshua Junior Kmetzsch.  He's a doll, a big chub of love doll that the kids were happy to hold and admire.

Kayli and Junior.

Mark and Junior.

Isaac and Junior.

   So the kids were pretty good while visiting their new cousin and Aunt and Uncle so on the way home from Payson we decided to stop at the Festival of Lights in Spanish Fork.
    

It was cold and windy outside but we just blasted the heat and covered up with blankets but kept the windows rolled down for a better view of all the fun lights.

   So then it was time for Brock's preschool program.  The kid was not happy about it and wasn't afraid to be stubborn an uncooperative.  He barely let himself be put up on stage and then refused to wear the costume his teacher had for him and then he proceeded to just sit there not singing a word or doing a single hand gesture or participating in any way.

 This is him with his teacher Mrs. Moberly on the top row still in his hoodie that he refused to take off.

 This was him the whole program, not smiling or singing.

 And this is a video of one of their songs which he didn't sing!

 

I don't know why it bugged me so much that he was acting so silly but whatever, I hope it's just a phase that he grows out of soon.

 

So that's a few of our activities this week.  Christmas shopping is nearly done, the snow is falling outside and keeping Greg busy at work and keeping the boys busy building snowmen and snowforts all morning in the front yard.

This and That

    First we babysat these little cuties.

Sydney and McClane are just 20 days apart and once again McClane learned that the girl is the boss.  This is another tiny girl who can rule the roost.

And this is baby Ainsley and Brock was completely enamored with her.  (I visit teach their mom, Shay, that's why I had the privilege of babysitting them for a bit.)


 

    Then a LOT, a LOT of people came to see baby Jesus here in Alpine this past weekend.

The line of cars was about 2 miles long and that's no exaggeration.  This was the last night.  I heard a rumor that more then 10,000 people came throughout the weekend.  It's all free they just ask for donations so I hope they made bank on their donations for cancer and Operation Smile.

    I was out running errands Monday night and was so confused at the line of cars at first and then it dawned on me that people were coming into town to attend the Live Nativity which we saw Friday night.  I was actually a little overwhelmed with emotion because I thought, this is exactly what the Christmas season is about, Baby Jesus, and everyone should be coming to worship their King.  Anyway, I just had to stop and take a photo of all these cars lining Main St. to remind myself of what really matters at Christmas time and all the time!
    This is McClane eating dinner.

Apparently it's easier to eat Ramen noodles with your hands according to this little guy.

     Then these three boys asked to have their photos taken, over and over so they could "see" the picture after I took it.  So now you get to see too.

    They are cute.

   Then Carter had 6 teeth pulled per the Orthodontist's request.  He was definitely nervous but he was a champ, the best patient the dentist had all day apparently.

This is Carter's version of a space man!

    He was great at the dentist but then cried and whined for at least two hours after leaving.  Having a numb mouth and blood oozing everywhere wasn't what he was prepared for but when he woke up this morning to $12 bucks from the toothfairy all pain and toture was quickly forgotten.  Now the torture starts for mom and dad while he begs to be taken to the store to spend said "12 dollars".  No one loves spending money more then CARTER!
     And that's our week!

I had a Birthday!!

   So I'm now officially 38 but you'd never guess it by looking at me, or at least that's what I like to tell myself.  This whole week has been pretty fun as we head into the Christmas festivities.  Here are several photos documenting our week of decorating, birthday celebrating and other fun stuff.

Picking out a live Christmas tree for the first time in 8 years.



Waiting for the tree to be delivered.

It's HERE!



This is a Norbel tree from Oregon and is soft and lovely and I love it!

Getting it set up in the tree stand.

Blurry but you get the idea.

Time to finally decorate.  (They had to wait until the next day due to a light delay the night before.)

They were having fun and making quick work of this job.

McClane was kind of helpful, but not really!

   So that was earlier this week.  Then we went to Festival of Tree's Thursday night but I didn't take a single photo.  Kayli did but I'm too impatient to upload her 900 plus photos so you'll just have to believe we went and it was fun but very crowded.  After looking at all the fun Christmas trees we decided the kids were behaved well enough to go to the new sporting goods store, Scheels, where they could check out the cool indoor Ferris Wheel.  Mark and Kayli were actually brave enough to go for a ride.



It' their turn!

There's no turning back now!

Watching their brother and sister from the second floor.



This is what the other boys were doing while waiting.
 

    While we were enjoying the Festival of Trees and hanging out at Scheels this "little" guy finally arrived.  Josh and Camille (Greg's brother and his wife.) have been patiently waiting for this guy to come and they finally just had to force him here via c-section.  I think he must have been stuck in his mom's tiny little body:-)


Our newest nephew!  He's actually not so little as he weighed in at 11 lbs. 8 oz and was 22 inches long.  We're looking forward to seeing him very soon and hopefully it won't be long before he's got a name.  Right now he's just "Tank"!

     Then it was my birthday and Greg took very good care of me.  He filled the house with 38 balloons, took me to lunch and even took care of the transportation for Brock to and from preschool while I was able to go on a walk/jog all by myself, a rare treat!



Balloons were everywhere.
 

   That evening we went to the Live Nativity, which is a very neat experience and a great way to top off my birthday.  This is the only photo I have to show for it, but no doubt the best part of the whole experience.

This is a real life couple and baby and the spirit felt in this room is undeniable.
 

   We then came back here for a little treat Greg whipped up for me and to enjoy some time visiting which I always love.

Could I be any happier!?  A serenade by the Kmetzsch's of "Happy Birthday" does this to me everytime.  (I'd say I look more terrified than anything!)

    So that's our week in a nutshell.  Sorry for a bit of overload on photos and stuff but this is how it goes sometimes.