Happy Birthday Grandpa John

Tonight we went to Texas Roadhouse with Grandpa John for his birthday. Isn't that sweet. He took us to dinner for his birthday. We had a great time. I had never been there before, and it was pretty yummy. John had to go and ask the waitress how many calories were in one roll...400! Dang, I had already had three:/ After dinner we were heading out and our little Ellie decided she wanted to play hide and seek. After frantically searching for her we found her hiding out in the mens bathroom. YIKES! She needs bells and whistles on her at all times. The good thing was that because of her missing we were in the restaurant when Santa came in. He was handing out candy canes with money taped to it. The kids loved that.

We headed back to our house to have cinnamon rolls for Grandpas cake. We ate and had a great time. Tara took some pics at dinner. I will have to steal them from her.

Happy Birthday Grandpa!

Dressed to impress

Every year the Sunday before Christmas means new clothes. This year I think my kids looked darling but I will have to admit I missed the matchy matchy sister outfits. Emma got a brand new dress and Ellie and Elsie wore hand me downs this year. They still look cute though.

I wasn't able to get pics before church so the hair is a little bit wild on some:)




I am not sure why Elsie didn't get a pic...oh wait, it was one hour past nap time and she was in NO MOOD to help out. We are just lucky she posed long enough for this. Notice she is looking away. She is looking at the cookie she was promised if she smiled. Love her!

Angels We Have Heard on High

On the Sunday before Christmas LDS meetings usually have a Christmas theme. My mom is the Choir leader in her ward. We have made it a tradition that we go to her meeting to see her choir perform. They are always amazing. This year was no exception. My mom has always had a way with music and it is neat to see her put her talent into something worth while.

This year in the program one of the songs was "Angels We Have Heard on High". The congregation was to sing along for this number. This is one of my most favorite songs to sing. It turns out it is also one of Ellie's most favorite songs as well. From the moment the song started Ellie was singing with gusto. She rang out this song. As her mother I thought she sounded like a angel myself, but also I worried that she might be bothering the congregation. I would let her belt out the chorus but kind of shhsh her for the rest. With her off key and tone deaf musical rendition I was moved to tears. Tears of laughter and tears of pride. When the song ended a lady in the audience tapped me on the shoulder and said "I just heard an Angel singing." Later that day many other members of the congregation went up to my parents and told them the same thing. That same lady that whispered that to me, pulled me aside after the meeting and started crying while telling me how that made her feel.

I think day after day I tend to forget just how blessed we are to have an angel in our home. Today reminded me of this and I am so grateful for that. Ellie sang that song with such love. She wanted the whole world to know that "The King is born." I love my little angel. I am so grateful that we get to have a slice of heaven in our home.

oUr viSit wiTh sAntA

We took our kids to Sugar House today to go and see Santa. We were hoping to see our "cousins" there but we were to late. It was still a lot of fun though. When we got there, there was two big horses "Jasper" and "Katie". They were there to watch over Santa while he was in Sugar House. The kids loved the horses, especially Elsie. It is always fun to see her around any animal. She just loves animals.


I will have to say that this that Santa is one of the sweetest men out there. He was so cute with the kids. He asked each of them what they wanted. He then told each of them he might bring them a surprise. He asked them to be nice to each other and gave them each a candy cane.

Elsie was so excited to go and see Santa.
She forgot I guess.

Santa asked JJ to tell him what a surprise is. JJ was at a loss for words. Yes I said JJ was at a loss for words. Santa explained that a surprise is when you get a gift you didn't ask for but you love it anyway. That is a surprise. If you don't love it then it isn't a surprise.

Emma was quick to tell Santa she wanted a Baby Alive. He asked her if she would be a good mommy to a dolly. She promised that she would take good care of her Baby Alive.

He was darling with Ellie and Ellie was smitten. She loved Santa. She was cute to just snuggle on up with him. He really thought she was a doll. He asked Ellie if she would take good care of her Barbies and love them. She said "Yes"

By far this is my favorite picture of a child. Nothing is better than a pic with Santa and you child is screaming for you. She was terrified. She did give him a high 5 when Daddy was holding her again.

If you want to go see Santa, he was so great. I would recommend that your kids see Santa in Sugar HOuse. We think he might just be the real Santa.

Ellie's Dance Recital

I was truly worried about Ellie at the dance recital. This year we opted out of dance to do preschool. It was a tough choice but we couldn't do both. Well I knew that Emma having a recital might be really hard on Ellie. I was right. She didn't understand why she wasn't performing. I tried to explain it to her. I just love this little lady. Once I told her that she wasn't dancing, but she got to watch and told her how neat that was she seemed a little better. She made sure each one of us clapped after each number. She would look all the way down the line and get her family to clap. So cute!

Well when we got home her wonderfully awesome big sister had the best idea. She had Ellie get in her dance outfit and they put on a performance for us. Ellie was in heaven. Not only did she get to dance but she also got to dance with her sister. They performed to Celine Dion's Christmas CD.

Ellie spinning

Ellie's solo

more solo!

mirroring eachother

Tada, the end!

Ellie actually did a wonderful job. She hasn't practiced all year and she looked better than so of the girls that have. I think dance is a way she can express herself without words. I am so proud of Emma. She really is a wonderful sister to Ellie. I love my little ladies. Of course Boo had to dance with them as well. JJ, Daddy, and I were the audience and loved every minute. Ellie still made sure we clapped when the song was over. Love that lady.

cHriStmAs dAnCe rEcitAl

This year Emma has been taking Jazz instead of Ballet. She liked it but didn't love it. She is more of a Ballet type girl. We got to go to her recital tonight. She did really well. Even more impressive was the fact that our girls have been practicing all year long to "Santa Clause is Coming to Town" and they danced to "Santa has a Brand New Bag". The music didn't work right so they had to improvise and dance to a whole different song. I was really impressed that they did it.


At the end of the recital she has all the girls come back on stage. The teacher forgot to have the Jazz girls come back out. She really was having a hard night. Poor girl does it all on her own. It really is a lot of work. Needless to say, she stopped the whole crowd from leaving to let our girls come out. I have been thinking about pulling Emma out, so this is kind of a awkward note to leave on. I hope Emma has fond memories of dance. I know I will.

Emma and her proud Daddy.

Papa and Mama with Miss Emma

Grandma and Grandpa with our little lady

Grandpa John with the star of the hour.
It was even his birthday. Lucky Grandpa got to see his granddaughter perform on his birthday.

Emma and Bailey

Emma did such a great job. It was a rough night for all. Our video camera didn't work so we will never get to watch this one again:(

tHe cOoKie pArTy

We had our annual Christmas Cookie Party today. When I was a little girl my Nana and Granddaddy would have a Cookie Party for all of us. Nana would make gingerbread houses out of Graham Crackers. We would all have our own bag of icing. There was candy galore on the table and always enough. My most favorite part was the tiny little Santa. I have such wonderful memories of the Cookie Party and I hope my kids will as well.

What was once 4 kids is now 8 kids decorating and having fun. It was a lot of fun for the kids and Mama and Papa picked out houses that were awesome. Mama spent the whole day getting the houses ready for us to come and just enjoy. I will have to say these houses rock compared to the ones we use to have. It was fun to see our kids be creative. This year we did it on a Thursday so Daddy wasn't able to come, and I missed him. I missed his body...oh I mean helpfulness;) I think next year I will have to insist on Jeron being there. He is a ton of help when my two littlest are so much work. Mama and Papa really outdid themselves. The kids loved every minute.

Papa and Boo

Austin and JJ

Abby and Emma

Mommy and Ellie hard at work. Mom decorating and Ellie eating.

JJ of course went all out. He even made a car. Look at that green tree. You should have seen his hands after. Very creative.

Emma did a lot of detail work on hers. Very cute! I love the roof. Her ginger bread cookie is a girl.

"Ellie" did an awesome job on her house.

Thank you so much Mama and Papa. It was so much fun. We love that you have carried this tradition on for our kids. JJ and Emma were so excited to bring their houses home for the Elves to see and maybe even use. Cross your fingers hopefully they like them.

I love to see the Temple...lights.

Jeron took today off work so as soon as the kids got home we headed down to Temple Square. No one told us that the lights don't come on until 6pm. OOPS! It actually worked out well. We went and saw the Statue of Christ first. I have never been there on a Monday night and it not be packed. Pays to go early. We talked to the sister missionaries. They loved our kids. They asked JJ what is his favorite part of Christmas and he said "the story of the baby Jesus." He isn't just trying to win points either. My kids love the toys but they love the Santa part but they truly love the Birth of Christ. This makes my heart happy.
Once the lights turned on we went out and braved the cold. And boy was it cold. We thought it might not be cold but we were wrong. A strong wind set in and it was cold. Did I mention it was cold.

Elsie LOVED it. This picture is how she looked most of the time.

JJ being to cool for pictures.

Emma is always willing to pose for my shots I want to take. Thank heaven for her.

The Temple pic with Mommy

I really love this pic. I wish that I could have has all of us in it. I wish we could have all been in pretty Christmas outfits. This works though. It is all my most favorite people in the whole wide world though. That makes it perfect.

Ellie was just as happy as Elsie. Her picture is not flattering at all. I decided not to post it. She was there though, not happy, and crying fun for all.

Our One and Only Friend Christmas Party

This has to be one of my most favorite new traditions. Since Jeron and I have been married we have gotten together with the Johns for Christmas. We have carried it one and this year was no exception. We had Cafe Rio and just hung out and talked. I love Jana and Graydon. They are wonderful friends to us.

We stayed way past Boo's bedtime and it started to show.

This was at midnight so we may not be as hot as we normally are. Okay Jana looks great and I can't pull of midnight anymore;)

Thanks for the cute gifts for our kiddos. We really did have a lot of fun . See ya here is 2010 mwahh!

We have some visitors!

Meet our new house guests as of today. We have had a some misbehaving children so they got some special visitors from the North Pole.

Mr. Glitterstocking

Mr. Frostman

These two just showed up at our house today. My kids came in the house with a note that had been left on the front porch saying that they are on the "Naughty List". The note was from Missy L. Toe the Secretary to Christopher Cringe. It told them the things that put them on the list. The letter told our family that Santa really likes children to have a chance to get off of the Naughty List so he sends Elves to inform the children of their issues, and give them some time to show they want to be on the "Nice List". My kids came in the house a little crestfallen but spirits picked up when they found the two Elves that had been sent to observe. These elves are tricky little guys. They move around but as soon as you look at them they turn into statues. JJ and Emma both swear they have seen them move. Elsie, claims to see them move all over. Ellie is not all that thrilled with them.

It has been nice to have Theodore and Thaddeus staying with us. If ever I have a problem I just have to tell them and my kids straighten right up. I think Emma is the most excited about our visitors. She has been talking my families ears off about them. She gets up first thing in the morning to find the new hiding spot. JJ was a little unsure until he saw with his own eyes the elf move. Elsie gets almost as excited as Emma to find them.

As of right now they have each received updates telling them that they are getting very close to getting on the "Nice List" I sure hope they can pull it off. The best part is at the end of the day they get a candy on their pillow. If you get a candy cane you have been good, if you get a lump of coal you have been bad. Lets just say only one lump of coal has been given so far. I am excited to see what the elves do next. If they would like they can clean my house while we sleep:)

Got Jam?

I couldn't resist posting this picture of Boo. It makes me laugh. She loves her toast with Jam. I have to wonder if she actually gets any jam. She is still too cute for words though. Also the way she says toast is the cutest thing ever. "Toasht"

Boo got a boo boo:(

Dinner time is one of the most hectic times in our home. I seriously think my kids develop some form of craziness. I have zero patience, and tolerance. I call this hour the witching hour. Tonight was no exception to the rule. Elsie usually spends most of this time in tears. So I basically just try to ignore her at this point. Well, I hear a thud and a cry that can't be ignored. I turn to find Elsie covered in blood and Ellie standing over her. Not a good sign.

It turns out that Ellie pushed Elsie off of the chair and on her way down she hit the table with her mouth. OUCH! Poor girl has a tough road ahead I believe. She split her lip open and the blood just gushed. It was all over me all over her and all over the table. Sometimes these blood baths make me panic. Of course I called my parents and they reassured me that she was fine and would not need stitches. After five minutes of dabbing the blood I was able to take the advice that they had given.

The best part is this is always right when I need to get the food out of the oven and Jeron walks in the door. I often wonder what he thinks when he walks in. Also it would be nice not to burn all my dinners.