Christmas and so much more/photo explosion!

     Christmas time is so much better with all the goodies. Thankfully I was all ready for Christmas a week or so before the big day so the week before Christmas I was able to relax and enjoy things like making sugar cookies. I also made home made caramel for the first time but didn't take any photos but it was yummy.

Fun sugar cookies and I love red hots on my frosted sugar cookies. 

They were in sugar heaven.

     Christmas Eve is always so much better when we get to attend our wards Christmas Eve program. This is a tradition I hope never ends. This year a few of my kids got to participate. Charlie was an angel, Brock was a wise man and McClane (Not photoed) was a shepherd.

     Last year our primary counselor started a new tradition. She invites anyone up to sing "Picture a Christmas" who has ever been a member of our wards primary. It's quite a sight to see all these older kids come up. Some our married & have primary kids of their own, so fun to see them all again.

    This year we 'broke' from tradition and opened our Christmas Eve gift before dinner at G & G Kmetzsch's instead of right before bed. It was kind of weird and a tiny bit sad to only have six kids but my budget didn't miss her. Ha ha!

Pajama pants for everyone!

     Christmas Eve was mostly cousin wrestling and kissing attacks from Aunt Kristin with some soup/chili, pepperoni rolls and ice cream cones thrown in the mix.

Carter says he hates being kissed by his aunts but secretly I think he loves it!

      Christmas Eve before bed I like to watch "Mr. Krueger's Christmas". A must see every year.

     A lot of people must have been praying for a white Christmas because Greg got to do a little snow plowing Christmas Eve and Christmas morning so it was another Christmas morning waiting for dad to get home so we could open presents. They're all pretty good sports about it.

      All the kids were happy with their gifts. We kept things pretty simple this year but no one seemed to really notice. They got one gift from mom & dad, a gift from a sibling via the name draw and Santa filled their stockings. Santa also helped fund our trip to Arizona along with the generous cash gift from both sets of grandparents. (Thanks grandmas and grandpas!)

I love when these two play so nicely together.

These two have been dying for snow so they could drive the four-wheelers in the slippery white 'stuff''.

These boys couldn't wait to start playing with their new toys.

Kayli and Tanner got us this cute sign.

Mark wearing his new Pit Viper safety glasses.

Candy and cash for the newlyweds.

Isaac got Charlie the Barbie and big teddy bear she'd been wishing for.

Soda, iPod cases and a new football for Carter from the newlyweds.

McClane was thrilled to gift a pillow and blanket to his big sister and new brother.

Carter knows what Isaac likes, Monsters and a new xbox controller/case.

Mark got McClane a fun hex bug toy.

Brock got Mark lots of cool stuff for his truck plus a little candy and soda.

Charlie got Brock the big teddy bear he was wishing for as well as a cool 'crashing' car.

      Now on to our Arizona adventure. First stop, a nearby cactus 'park', the Riparian Preserve.

A dream come true, a photo with a real life cactus!

These cousins are so happy to be together.

Ducks & dogs for the majority and skateboarding for the 'elite two'. (Mark & Carter)

Such a fun park!

Then there was an attempt to swim! Yeah, NO!! Freezing cold pool water!

Note to self, swimming in Arizona in December isn't what we expected! The weather was perfect, the unheated pool, epic fail! 

     Second day was a fun trip to the Phoenix Zoo.

Fun & seriously the weather could not be nicer!

     I have to say, the highlight of our trip (aside from seeing our family) would have to be our visit with our former Bishop and his wife, President & Sister Collins! There aren't enough words to describe how incredible these people are! I'm so glad we got to see them if only for a brief couple hours.

      Day three Mark convinced us to check out a nearby race car museum that also happened to be in the middle of some luxury car dealerships. Maserati anyone, or maybe a Ferrari? I'll take a Bentley, no, maybe a Lamborghini. Oh no, wait, a Rolls Royce and maybe a Jaguar for my mom. Super cool!

Isaac went with practicality!

End to day 3, dinner out!

We treated the kids to Costa Vida, yummy but the price tag was a reminder why we don't eat out very often, especially at places like this. ($88 for 8 meals and 8 sodas, we should have skipped the sodas!)

And this kid has fallen in love with Greg!

     So far our trip has been a success and Marie and Jeff have been very patient and accommodating. We're looking forward to our last few days in warm and sunny Arizona. What a great way to end 2017 and what a great start to 2018! Happy New Year in just 3 more sleeps!

Final countdown

     The video is a little long and there's a pause I'm not happy about but it's a pretty spectacular dancing lights house, my favorite around here for sure. The home owner definitely likes National Lampoon's Christmas Vacation movie because there's lines from the movie before each song.
      This week the elementary kids had their annual Christmas singing assembly. Charlie and Sarah loved watching it together and I finally got them both in their 'matching' coats. We sure love 'tiny' Sarah.

Sarah has to strengthen her eye for about two hours every day. She's got the cutest eyepatch ever.

We had a great view of McClane before he made his way up to the stage.

Unfortunately I didn't get near as good a photo of Brock, (Bottom center with his head turned.) But I at least have proof it happened and I was there.

     With Christmas just three sleeps away I'm happy to report I'm 100% ready! I've even been ambitious enough to do a little baking. Over the past few weeks I've made several patches of toffee, made my first attempt at home made caramels that actually turned out pretty good, made a small batch of gingerbread cookies and have sugar cookie dough chilling for a little more baking tomorrow. Why, you might ask? Because I felt like treats. I'm just glad I get to relax the last couple days before the big day. MERRY CHRISTMAS!!!

Some heavy lifting & candy houses

    We had a fun weekend. I got to attend my first ever weightlifting competition where I saw my son-in-law (That's still so weird to say!) do some very heavy lifting. He actually won best lifter, only five out of about 40 competitors earned this award. He'll tell you it wasn't his best performance but I was very impressed. He's STRONG!

Tanner a.k.a. Best Lifter! His dead lift was 585, which was the biggest number of the three categories; squat, bench press and dead lift. His total weight lifted, combined, was about 1500!

      Sunday we got together with most of Greg's family and made candy houses. It was a blast! It was also fun watching some old home movies of years past when we've attempted candy houses.

We also had some yummy soup and rolls.

Fun times.

I love stuff like this, especially when I don't have to do all the work!

These three decided a jam session was more fun then making candy houses.

    And now we're starting a new weekend, which is going to be a little quieter, especially for Greg who had a minor surgical procedure this afternoon. No need to worry, he's fine and it was planned and he's just going to need to rest and ice for the next couple days.

If this procedure is successful I can say with certainty, WE'RE DONE! No chance for Charlie to be a big sister! Ha ha I have a good husband.

     People, we're only 10 days out from the BIG DAY! It's a good thing I busted out most the shopping last week, now I just need a few minutes to get stuff organized and wrapped. The only shopping left is the kids shopping for each other. Merry Christmas!

Cute girl

     We got another pretty Christmas tree. Charlie and McClane were the official helpers.

I didn't get a photo of McClane actually helping but he was a great little decorator.

    Charlie has also been a great 'helper' with my new vacuum. This vacuum is so light and easy to maneuver that it's no longer a chore to vacuum!

     Greg requested a hair cut and he wanted to go shorter then his typical 2. I told him he'd regret it but it's his head. While cutting I decided he could use a mohawk, at least long enough for a photo. Unfortunately when a guy only has a few strands of hair on the top of his head it's hard to pull off the mohawk, ha ha.

Tough guy

Not as 'cool' as a mohawk is supposed to be.

     This girl falls asleep when and where she wants. At least it wasn't 5:30 P.M.

    And today Charlie had her preschool program. She got to say a line, "Be sure to stack up those building blocks."She said it very clearly and didn't hesitate. I tried getting video but it didn't turn out. She's fun.

She's in the middle of the second to top row in the top photo.

    So that's the highlights. Tomorrow I get to see my son-in-law do some 'heavy lifting' at a dead lift competition, which I'm kind of looking forward to. Greg is at another scout camp out with Carter so the rest of us are enjoying a simple evening at home.

Finale and Festivities!

     We finished up our Oregon trip with some fun activities. We took the kids to the local bowling alley but it was a bit busy so we opted for the attached arcade center and they all had a great time playing games and earning tickets for some fun, if not simple, prizes.

The younger boys blew through their $7 pretty quick, hence the sad face on Brock.

    The swimming at the Running Y resort, courtesy of Ann and David, was definitely the best finish to our visit. All of my kids are lovers of swimming/water activities and what could be better then swimming with your cousins!?

Such a fun time!

     Isaac's personal highlights from our trip were the opportunities his parents/dad gave him to drive. We heard no complaining from him nearly all week as long as he got a chance to drive, even if he didn't get to drive 'far'.

Two weeks with a learners permit have added a few white hairs to my head!

    Carter was just mildly excited to get back to school so he could receive these awesome Beats headphones that he won at school the week before our trip. Lucky!

He earned 'pawsitives', which got him in a drawing and his name was drawn for these headphones.

     And to finish off our week we/I celebrated my 43rd birthday! I got a nice gift from my friend and primary president, dinner at Chili's with my most favorite, White Queso spinach dip, YUM! (Oh yeah, Greg was at Chili's too, so two of my favorites. ha ha) Cheesecake for dessert and BEST OF ALL a new cordless Dyson vacuum!!!! Greg, Mark, Kayli and Tanner all generously chipped in and bought this vacuum that I've been dreaming of for quite awhile now. It may have come a day late but it's worth the wait!! Definitely a memorable birthday!

    People!! It's DECEMBER!!! I'm at a loss for how quick time is going lately. We came home from our Thanksgiving trip to a Christmas decorated home thanks to Kayli. We still have a tree to put up and decorate, which will be happening tonight. All the kids are excited and the count down to Christmas has officially begun. It's a good thing our Christmas is mostly about traveling this year because I'm nowhere near ready or prepared to do gift shopping. Time needs to slow down just a little!