Snowday!

We woke up on Sunday to the most enjoyable phone call ever -- church was cancelled due to the snowstorm we didn't even realize we'd had during the night! Is it wrong that we were blissfully happy about this fact? Instead of finalizing lessons, sharing times, kid's talks and throwing everyone into showers and begging them to get dressed, we did ....nothing! How's that for a day of rest? I have to admit that it still took awhile for me to get used to. Growing up in Utah, I think I remember one Sunday when church was actually cancelled. The snowstorm had actually broken windows and the church building was becoming it's own winter wonderland. Otherwise, four feet of snow during the night just meant that all the men had to get up earlier than usual to shovel every one's driveways --no excuses, even if you weren't one of the lucky families who had friends with a snow blower on the block! Here, no one owns a snow blower, there are relatively few snow shovels, and the snowplows didn't even reach us until late in the evening. Hooray!

Treva's Visit

Last weekend we were lucky enough to get a quick visit from Aunt Treva! Treva is always such a trooper --- willing to just hang-out and do whatever boring things we already have planned. On several occasions, she's flown out to visit us just so she can help pack us up and clean our house for a move! I guess this weekend was probably a blast in comparison! It involved Trayson's basketball practice, some quick shopping in Boise (basically just Target) milkshakes, a wedding reception (we totally made her sit in the car with the kids) and dinner at Sizzler. We topped it all off with a rousing game of Phase 10. I swear that someday we are gonna make sure Treva has the time of her life with us. For now, it sure means a lot to us that she is willing to go to all the trouble of coming out here, just so that the kids can get to know their Aunt Treva!

Trayson's Baptism

Jody and I were so proud of Trayson on his baptism day! I don't remember being nearly as prepared to be baptised as he was. He was just so ready! I'm truly grateful for his strong testimony and the example that he sets for his younger brother and sister. And seriously, doesn't he just look so handsome in his new suit?

This was one of those days that usually brings out the OCD in me. I'd been planning all year on making it the perfect day for Trayson, the best treats, an awesome meal, a spotless house, all while entertaining the entire fam and bunches of friends ---then I had to go and get pneumonia. Thank goodness I have such a supportive (and may I add, also slightly OCD) family! Jody made sure the house was at least respectable before everyone showed up. My mom did all the grocery shopping, she and Hayley cooked up a storm, Hayley groomed my children to perfection, and Amy and the guys kept the whole pack of kids entertained and happy. Me, I just sat there. Thank you guys for helping my son have such a special day!

The upside of me being so sick, is that I had to let go a little. This resulted in us focusing mostly on the actual baptism instead of all the fanfare that comes with it. It was perfect. Most of the day was chaos, but the baptism was very sweet and spiritual. Jody made sure that there were plenty of tears to

accompany all that coughing (my entire family had bronchitis, so did most of our friends!) and the confirmation was really speciall. It's always so reassuring to me to look at the men in the circle and realize how many great examples my kids have. They are so lucky!

Christmas... finally!

I'm going to have to start this post with a serious "there are way too many pictures here, so it's ok with me if you just skim" disclaimer! The truth is, I'm realizing that I actually didn't get near enough pictures, but there are still so many that it was tough to choose.
Christmastime was crazy busy, so I'm going to give a pretty brief overview, just to get it all straight in my own head. The first stop on our whirlwind tour of Utah was the Wolfley family Christmas party in Layton. The weather wasn't great and it ended up taking us about 6 hours to get there, but it was worth it. Jarin was in charge and did a bang-up job!
The kids all loved their "cousin" gifts. Big smiles all around. The food was delicious and that's usually my favorite part (shocker, I know) but I think the best part this year was watching Brielle bond with her cousin Ryann. Ryann is about 4 months younger than Brielle and this is the first time they actually interacted with each other.

Who knew that an unattended case of apples could be so much fun?!We rushed to Logan the next morning for Great Gram's Christmas party, held at my mom's house this year. I somehow completely forgot to get out the camera that afternoon, but we did really enjoy getting to spend some time with my mom's side of the family. The food, of course, was awesome, but it was mostly nice to reconnect with relatives that we hardly ever see.

The next couple days were spent driving all over the place to see people, last minute Christmas shopping, and just trying to enjoy family as much as possible. I didn't get out the camera again until Christmas Eve, but apparently I used it a lot! That night we gobbled tons of food and played lots of Christmas-themed games with the kids. The definite hit of the night was decorating gingerbread houses. It became a competition, of course, but the it was so much fun to see how creative everyone got. Brielle got the most out of the evening ---- candy everywhere and no one paying any attention to what she was doing. If you close, you can see that her cheeks are just packed full and no one is even looking at her! Another favorite tradition is Christmas jammies from Grandma and Grandpa. Don't the kids look just adorable all decked out in their new snuggly pj's? They were all absolutely thrilled to get them!

We ended the evening with Grandpa reading the Christmas story from the scriptures. We must've really worn the kids out, because they sat so sweet and listened to the entire thing. It was the perfect way to end the night!

I couldn't help adding this picture of the tree on Christmas morning. Despite the ridiculous amount of presents, doesn't it just look like coziness perfected? Then, the chaos ensued and paper started flying everywhere. I got tons of pics, but here's a few favorites. I just adore this picture of Brielle totally making out with her new stick horse. Think she likes it?

And Kutter was completely thrilled with this remote control car that drives on walls and the ceiling (thanks, Santa!) In his words, "I've been wanting this my whole life!" What a goof!

This is one of those gifts that my boys probably figured they'd never get, since I am such a wuss, so it was a really fun surprise. They can't wait until the weather gets nicer so that they can drive all over our land!

That evening, we headed back to Ogden for more gifts with the Wolfley family (again, I forgot pictures!) We also spent a lot more time bouncing from house to house trying to see everyone. We got to go sledding with Yvette and Marcus, chill at Lance and Milisa's, watch movies at Grandma's, and visit with most everyone else. It was so great to have the time to see everyone. We ended the trip with one last night at Grandma Linda's, which we mostly spent at the ER with Brielle's double ear infection. Oh well. Overall, it was a great Christmas vacation!

Baby Steps

I know. It's been forever since I've posted, and it's not because we haven't had anything interesting going on. There's Christmas, Christmas, and more Christmas, New Years', a baptism, and TONS of family visits. The problem is that we've also been sick, like pneumonia sick, and it's seriously kicking my butt! I'm finally feeling a bit like tackling my real world responsibilities, but blogging is gonna have to take a back seat to cleaning house and actually paying attention to my children! Today, I cleaned the bathrooms and wrote this post. Tomorrow is kids' rooms and who knows? Baby steps.
Brielle started me off with this little baby post when I caught a quick video of her latest trick -- walking down the bottom step like a big girl. You'd think she'd done a back flip with all the attention she demanded for this little trick! She stood at the bottom step and just giggled while she did it over, and over, and over! If we ever all stopped laughing and clapping, she just stood there and yelled "Hey Guys!" until somebody stopped long enough to watch her. This went on forever!
So for anyone out there that actually read my blog, I promise to get the last two exciting weeks on here soon. In the meantime ...
... we're hanging in there!