A Very Merry Christmas

We had a wonderful Christmas. Trevor's parents and brother Brice were able to spend it with us. Unfortunately, I don't have a lot of pictures of the festivities. On Christmas Eve, Trevor, his dad, and his brothers Steve and Brice went pheasant hunting. It sounded like they had a great time.

Trevor, the kids, and I got to get together with my family and grandparents for some food and opening our Christmas Eve presents. Abby lost her second tooth at my parents house. She was pretty excited to have both Santa and the Tooth Fairy come in the same night!

Later we met back at our house for the rest of our Christmas Eve. We opened our p.j.'s. The boys all got shorts and socks.

The kids had a lot of fun playing with grandma and grandpa and Uncle Brice.

The kids slept in until after seven on Christmas morning. I think we all got what we wanted! Later that night Brent, Lindsay, and their girls joined us for Christmas Dinner. We pick a different country each year to plan our dinner around. This year was Sweden. I learned a lot and we all got to enjoy some Swedish recipes, cookies, candy, and different cheeses.

I also wanted to list a couple things I want to do again:

1. Do Christmas Shopping early. This relieved a lot of stress and I really did feel like I was able to spend more time with the kids doing projects, reading books, making treats during December. I also felt we were able to focus more on the real reason for Christmas. It was a lot of fun.
2. Simplify the gifts. We tried to focus on getting the kids one thing that we knew they would really like. The got plenty of stuff, but I don't feel like I need to totally organize what they have to make room for the new things. It took a lot of the pressure off me while I was shopping too. Plus the best part--they actually play with/use what they were given.
3. Even if you have the pattern, fabric, and the fabric cut out for those Christmas p.j.'s you wanted to sew, if they're not COMPLETELY done before Halloween, it is not going to happen for you....maybe for someone else...but for you-Not going to happen. Just save yourself some stress and just buy them!
4. Trevor should take some days off. It was completely lovely for both he and Abby to have five whole days of not having to be at work or school.

One Year Old

Bryant had a great, laid back, first birthday.

He started out the day opening presents. He got a truck and clothes.

The big moment! He was already pretty messy from his dinner, but he didn't dig into his cake like I thought he would.

For a fun comparison, his siblings at one year (or close in Brinly's case)...

Jordan--note his different approach to the cake. He still has a sweet tooth.

Brinly, around one year...not the neatest eater either.

Abby at one year.

Bryant is such a sweet addition to our family. Here are a few things about him:

• He is so responsive and loves to laugh and smile at the rest of us.
• He is the lightest sleeper of the kids. Nearly every day he is waken up from his nap by Brinly and Jordan's loudness.
• He's only slept through the night three times. The same three times that Jordan was sleeping somewhere other than their room.
• He is working on walking and is getting very close.
• He is a super snuggly baby.
• He FINALLY seems to be adjusting to cow's milk.
• He loves pushing trucks around.
• He loves bathtime and cries when he has to get out.
• My view of him for a lot of the day is this:

We are so glad he's in our family!

Happy Birthday Bryant!

Growing up

My baby turns one this week.


My biggest girl lost her first tooth this morning.

My kids are growing up.
I don't know whether to laugh or cry!

What we've been up to

Decorating for Christmas...
The kids have had fun playing with the nativity set.

Cleaning...

Is it ever done?!? Jordan and Brinly have been helping me.

Preaching...

Brinly put on a church dress, set up a box for a podium, and gave an excellent talk. It was filled with such expressions as, "My heart is so full today" and a touching story about "her dad". Plus a little fake crying. The kicker was during the middle when she said she's like to share what she needed to say with a song--and she sang. Who knew she was absorbing so much from church?

Christmas Party stuff...

I was asked to host a table for our ward's Christmas dinner. Apparently they did the same thing last year. I felt a little clueless, but it was fun to plan.

Besides that, we've been trying to stay warm. It's been a super cold week. Where are the 60 degree temperatures of two weeks ago?

A little update

We've been busy!! I have a million things to post about and am getting so behind. Anyway...
We had a great Thanksgiving. We stuck around here since Trevor only had Wednesday and Thursday off. We got a Christmas tree and enjoyed a great dinner. (The kids and I got to enjoy TWO dinners.) It was fun to see all the family who was visiting.

Abby, Brinly, and Jordan finished fall gymnastics. They had fun. The time was a little late for our family, so I'm a glad for a break from it.

We are very much in the middle of holiday planning and activities. I can't believe how fast our calender is filling up. I was able to get nearly all the Christmas shopping done before Thanksgiving, but it seems like there's always one more thing. It's fun to see the kids so excited about everything. I think the holidays are going to be really fun this year.