Madeline is NINE!

On Saturday Madeline turned nine years old! I still can't believe that my teeny tiny baby girl is nine. Maddie has always been such a good help to me. She loves to make schedules and she sticks to them like glue! I usually don't have to ask her to do something twice. She is such a good girl!

This year for her birthday she wanted to go to Build-a-Bear and go out to lunch with just her mom and dad. So that was fine by me!

She was so excited when we got to Build-a-Bear. She loves elephants and that is exactly what she picked. She named her Abigail and Abigail and her were together all day long. She picked out a few outfits for her and all day long she kept changing her clothes! Anything Madeline did, Abigail did!

We went to lunch at Olive Garden (we all know I hated that!) and the waitress even asked Maddie if she wanted a booster seat for her elephant. Maddie just loved that!

We came home and she helped me make cupcakes with blue icing and yellow sprinkles! She also got a mini American Girl Doll Samantha and a Robe. Happy Birthday my Maddie Girl!!

Christmas Day!

Jared told the kids not to wake us up until 7:00 (which was good because Santa's elves were up until 4:30 helping him put together some last minute stuff!) He also told them that they couldn't go down the stairs and peek! They were so excited just waiting outside our door!
This was the only picture I got of everybody Christmas Day!

Santa brought Chloe a light up train you can ride. She learned to ride it in about 30 seconds and all day she would scoot it around the house! If you look really closely at Chloe's face she has chocolate all over her mouth. We quickly discovered she loved the Hershey Kisses from the stockings, foil and all!
Janie would get so excited every time she opened a present! Santa brought her a baby and a highchair for her dolly. And of course her babies name is "Gabriella." I think that's her 9th baby with that name!
Santa brought Megan her guitar! Do I really need to say she was excited? This was her reaction every present she opened!
Maddie finally got her desk! She's been asking Santa for about 3 years now to bring her one. This year we finally had room for a desk so she was pretty sure he'd bring it!And every year Maddie loves to line up everything she got so she can look at it. Even the candy in the stocking is lined up!
Santa brought Logan a gaming chair and some more games for his DS. He got the most excited when he opened his "Sword of Shannara Series" from Dad though!


We had breakfast at my parent's house which was fun and then that night we had Jared's family over for Christmas Dinner. The only pictures I got that night were of Tammy holding Chloe and Megan and Anna, but I was a little busy cooking dinner!
We had a lot of fun visiting and watching Christmas movies. After everybody left I pretty much passed out! I don't think Santa's elves will be up quite so late next year!

Twas the Night Before Christmas. . .

This post is a little like how Christmas Eve was for us. . . a little crazy.

We had so much fun during Christmas Eve! We spent the evening at my parents house. All 7 of us who live local were there (we missed you Shara and Adam)! And like I mentioned before it's crazy when we all get together, but it is so much fun!

My mom always prepares such a nice dinner and she also has such a fun Christmas Program prepared! She has costumes for the kids to act out the Christmas Story. All the little girls dress as the angels (we have so many), and this year Logan was Joseph and my darling niece Natalie was Mary. Logan wasn't too thrilled when my mom said, "Okay, Joseph-now take Mary by the hand and lead her to the stable!" (He later told me he just knew Megan would tell the kids at school he held a girls hand!)

It's our family tradition to do a reading of Twas the Night Before Christmas that has been specially tailored to fit our family. My sister Shara is a master at writing them, but this year she was far away in Nebraska. But right before I left for my parents she called me and told me she had written the poem and wanted me to read it to surprise everybody! So ONLY because I love my sister so much--and she wanted to see this-- and she's so talented when it comes to writing and rhyming (I still don't know how you fit in EVERYONE's name) --am I going to subject myself to being seen on video!

And if you don't belong to our family, you probably won't enjoy this!


We always sing (of course we do, we are Kathy's children) and the cousins exchange their presents. This year I don't think anyone was more excited to open presents than Janie! This year my mom made each child their own blanket and has written each one their own song! She's so amazing!

And I can't forget to mention my fabulous sister-in-law Damaris who made me STARKLES! And they even came in a red striped box!!

(Side note: Starkles are like Turtle candies that we used to eat growing up at Christmas Time, they don't make them anymore)

And of course we ended the night by opening some new PJ's. Chloe wasn't being too cooperative, so that is why she's holding the carrot meant for Santa's reindeer!

I'm Dreaming of a White Christmas

Actually I don't have to dream about a White Christmas this year! The snow has been pouring down all day here! In just a couple of hours we got at least 8 or 9 inches in the driveway! (And it's been snowing more since then!) I was headed out the door when Jared just looked at me and said I don't think you'll be able to get out of the driveway until I shovel it. I had no idea it had snowed that much! He was headed out to shovel so I could leave, but we both got side tracked with snowball fights, building a snowman, and just having fun with the kids. The snow was just right for making snowballs. It was such a memory making afternoon!
So let it snow, let it snow, let it snow!!!
(But please let up a little bit tomorrow because I do have some last minute Christmas stuff to do!)

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My Birthday Boys!

Well to catch you up on a few things, December 8th was Jared's Birthday. He turned 34!
I thought I'd just take this moment to tell everyone how much I love my husband! I know a lot of you have already read about the 50 things I love about Jared, but in case you missed it or just wanted to enjoy it again click here and read all about how fabulous he is!

I could write 100 more things about the amazing man I married! He is truly an incredible individual and I still can't believe I'm married to him. I just love this picture of Jared and Chloe, so since I didn't take any pictures of him on his birthday, I thought I'd put this in.

Also, this past Friday, our Logan turned 10! I told Jared, "Can you believe we are now the parents of a child in the double digits!"

It really does seem just like yesterday he was born! Logan brings so much to our family. Where would we be without our Logan who gets so excited just by mentioning Davy Crockett or the Alamo! He is such a good big brother to Chloe- he's one of her favorite people! And considering he's the only boy in a house full of girls, he does pretty well with his other 3 sisters too! And Logan is one smart kid! He wants to be a History Professor at BYU when he grows up! He is especially intelligent when it comes to the scriptures or Church History. He's even had to correct his mom on a few things! I can't wait to see what Logan's next 10 years are going to bring!

Christmas Music is in the Air!

At the beginning of the month Logan, Maddie, and Meg had their Christmas piano recital. They all did exceptionally well on their songs. After I looked at these pictures I thought how grown up they all looked!

Megan played "Silver Bells," Maddie played "Carol of the Bells," and Logan played "Jingle Bell Rock." They also had a Trio they did all together of "We Three Kings." I've been pretty impressed at how much they've already learned on the piano! I have to say I was holding my breath during their Trio. (Mostly that they wouldn't start fighting or hitting each other up there!) There were a few rough practice sessions!

MEGAN-Notice Her Quick Exit!

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MADDIE-It's all about the dynamics!

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Logan-Pure Concentration and a HUGE grin at the end!

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The Trio-One Miracle Coming Up! (No fighting)!

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My baby turned one!

On Saturday we celebrated Chloe's 1st birthday! I still can't believe she's already one!
She has added so much to our family I can't imagine what it would be like if she hadn't come! Here are just a few little facts about our little girl.

• She's been walking for a couple of months now and is pretty quick to get away if she wants to.
• She is definitely a mommas girl, but will go to her dad if she needs to.
• She loves to hold onto people's hair for comfort.
• Her vocabulary includes: MaMa, DaDa, BaBa, Uh-Oh, Ruf-Ruf (if you ask her what a dog says), and just recently Wha (for what I think!)
• She loves to give kisses right smack on the mouth
• She still doesn't sleep through the night! (Remember me in your prayers!)
• She is VERY BUSY and gets into just about EVERYTHING!
• She mastered the stairs the 2nd day in our new house (did I mention she's extremely smart!)
• She still loves her binky (I'm not complaining)
• She is a very sweet, but spunky girl and we feel so lucky to have her!
  

All day I was reliving the moments from one year ago. I actually started reminiscing the day before her birthday. At 8:00 Friday morning I asked the kids, "Who knows what mommy was doing exactly 1 year ago at this time?" In case some forgot, I was doing my leg lunges and jumping jacks in the doctors office trying to get my blood pressure to go up! And thank goodness it worked! Then Friday night at 9:00 I asked Jared if he remembered what we were doing a year ago at that time? Like he could forget about waiting for the call! I was at home waiting for the hospital to call already, I wasn't a very happy person. So finally on Saturday morning I told the kids, "Can you believe Chloe came to our family one year ago this morning?" I love thinking about the exact moment my babies were born! Nothing can ever quite compare to that amazing feeling.

Here's just a few pictures of my little baby girl!

A Utah Thanksgiving?

Yep, that's right! This was our first Thanksgiving back here in Utah in 7 years. It seemed a little strange when I woke up that morning that I wouldn't be heading over to the Nicholas house for our traditional Thanksgiving Feast! (What great memories we made over the years with Sheridan and Torrie!)

But we did have a great Thanksgiving Day at my parent's house! Jared's mom and sister Sarah came over to eat with us too, since Jared's dad was still recovering at the rehabilitation center after knee surgery.

This was Chloe's First Thanksgiving and I think she enjoyed herself!
I love it that the kids are spending Thanksgiving with their cousins and making those memories!

And I love adding to my memories of hanging out with my siblings and their spouses. Family is what it's all about!