New Years Eve '13

New Year's Eve at our house was a pizza dinner and a game of Apples to Apples Disney. This is my happy place--being with my family with my baby asleep on my leg. Love it!

We hope 2014 brings all good things your way!

Boxing day '13

Finally feeling better we started to play with our toys a bit more. Fibber is a new favorite game.

Christmas Day '13

After a nearly sleepless night, and with 4 out of 7 of us on the verge of puke at any moment, we wearily opened stockings or "our boots" as Sara called them.

 Luke's Christmas pajamas came fresh out of the dryer at 7am and he changed back into them for Christmas morning.

 Instead of bouncing up and down waiting for the 'go-ahead' on Christmas morning, 3 of our children were laying on the stairs.

 There was still plenty of excitement when everyone saw their gifts, but it made us sad that the kids were so under the weather.

 One second after I snapped the picture of the boys above, Luke ran to the toilet to throw up again. Our poor Mary wasn't well either.

 These throw blankets that the kids received were used more than the toys on Christmas Day.

 Sick or not, Michael was still able to get his Lego sets put together. 

After opening presents, some of us went back to bed. At 2 in the afternoon on Christmas, little Sara threw up. Only Todd and Benjamin escaped the bug this time. We still had a great Christmas together. We watched movies and those that could handle it had dry toast and Gatorade for Christmas dinner. The Christmas oven omelet and bread that was waiting in the fridge for Christmas brunch ended up being lunch on Boxing Day instead. Luckily it was only a 24 hour bug and we're all doing great now!

Christmas Eve '13

We had a perfectly lovely Christmas Eve. That is...until it turned nasty! But let me start from the beginning. We did some last minute shopping at City Creek mall and enjoyed the fountain water show.

 We ran into some dear friends from our church in England. It was wonderful to catch up with them.

 Then we had a lovely dinner at my aunt's house and we were able to visit with my grandma.

 On the way home we enjoyed the lights at temple square.

 Then we read from the scriptures and talked about the birth of Jesus.

 Our sweet little shepherds.

 This shepherd had to hold the baby Jesus and shh him.

 And finally, we opened new pajamas. Sounds like a great Christmas Eve right? It was! Until...

Todd and I finished our Christmas duties at midnight. I was just about to climb into bed when our little Mary threw up. She made it to the toilet and went back to bed. I went to bed only briefly because she threw up again and again until 2am. Then Michael started throwing up followed by Luke. At 3:30am, with 3 children barfing, I sent Benjamin to wake up Todd cause I couldn't keep up with it all. Around 5am, Luke and I shared the toilet when I finally lost it. I caught snippets of sleep on the couch in between throwing up episodes. Four of us sleepily wandered to the family room at 7:30 on Christmas morning after a harrowing night. Stay tuned for our Christmas day post...

Merry Christmas 2013

The Sunday before Christmas in our Christmas attire...

 Santa is a welcome visitor at grandpa and grandma's Christmas party.

 Sara was hesitant to be near Santa again this year, but when she saw the other kids getting M&M candy canes, she decided to be brave. She even lingered for a moment and told Santa she wanted "a baby and a Lego set" (the baby was her idea and the Lego set was what she had heard her siblings say).

6 badges & rank advancement

Michael received 6 merit badges;

American Heritage, Lifesaving, Archery, First Aid, Aviation and Citizenship in the World. In addition, he received his First Class rank advancement.

Way to go Michael! You rock!

December photos

We took our family to a live nativity this year. It was a wonderful opportunity for us to be together and reflect on the true meaning of Christmas. It was well worth the 2 hours we waited in the cold.

 Sara was bundled nice and cozy in her stroller and she slept through the whole thing--even the car ride home.

 Michael lost a molar. He's almost done loosing his baby teeth. And I'm almost positive he's going to be taller than me by next year. It's unbelievable how fast these kids are growing!

We had class parties and programs at school. Then we said good-bye to school until the end of January. We love being off-track!

Thanksgiving 2013

We ate a fantastic Thanksgiving dinner at my parents house this year. After the dinner, as we talked around the table, we heard an unbelievably loud crashing sound! The top shelf in my mom's dish cabinet gave way and all the Christmas Spode dishes on that shelf came crashing to the ground. Luckily no one was hurt but my mom's Spode collection was crushed to bits. It was an unexpected twist to an otherwise lovely Thanksgiving. New Spode dishes were added to my mom's Christmas list.

 Thanksgiving night I braved the long lines and went shopping with my mom and sister. The next day, we took our kids to see our new favorite movie, "Frozen". We love Olaf. We've seen it a second time since then and we bought the sound track. Our kids sing about snowmen in summer and Sara exclaims, "Happy Snowman!" in all the right pauses.

 Also the day after Thanksgiving, we started to decorate for Christmas.

Chelsey's wedding

Our niece on the Stepan side got married just before Thanksgiving. It was a beautiful wedding and a great opportunity to see family from out of state.

Luke skipped Kindergarten to be at the temple with us. If I had my way he wouldn't have to go to school at all. I could eat those cheeks!

I am very blessed with great 'in-laws'. Todd has a sister and a brother not pictured below, but they are just as good-looking as the rest, I assure you.

 Our family at the wedding reception. Our girls were enamored with Chelsey's wedding dress the whole evening. Sara loved that it touched the floor.

 I love this picture because Chelsey's little sister is holding her dress. The relationship between these girls is sweet.

Mary looks up to her darling older cousins so much. I am so grateful that they are such good examples for our kids.

Halloween '13

It's so annoying to see a Halloween post just before Christmas, but i'm determined to get caught up on  my blogging so here it goes...

Ironman, Belle, a U of U football player, Jack Sparrow and Minnie Mouse had a fantastic day!