Ward Christmas Party!

On December 12, was our ward's Christmas party. To start the party off, the ward broke up into groups and went caroling to the elderly and other members in the ward.

There was definitely a unique special spirit when we went out carolling. I was grateful for the opportunity I had to carol with Brandon.

After carolling, we went back to the Church and had hot chocolate and cookies and other yummy treats.

After a short wait, we were able to go in a room and meet Santa. Below are pictures of us waiting in line to see Santa. The kids did really well waiting in line to see Santa.Hyrum was so excited to jump on Santa's lap and tell him what he wanted for Christmas. The only thing he told Santa what he wanted was a dinosaur.

Ben you could tell was very nervous, but he went and sat on Santa's lap. He didn't sit there very long and just looked at the ground while Santa was talkin to him.

Emmy was terrified. She SCREAMED! We weren't surprised. There was no way we could get her to sit on Santa's lap. That is why Brandon is holding her in the picture.

The kids each got a bag of goodys from Santa. The kids loved them! Their favorite part of their goody bag were the oranges inside. They love oranges; espescially the little clementines! At the church, Ben and Emmy were throwing them around calling them balls. People got a kick out of that.

After we visited Santa, we went back in to the cultral hall and sang some Christmas carols together. The kids loved exploring their bags during the songs.

It was a great night. It was fun to see the kids and their reactions when they were talking to Santa. Loved it!

Three for Three!

Last Sunday, Hyrum was running to go put something away and he tripped and fell. He hit his head smack dab on a corner of a wall. Within a matter of seconds, he had a big goose egg on his head the size of a golf ball with a good size gash in it.

After sitting with Brandon for awhile, he was much better. While Hyrum was sitting with Brandon, he allowed Brandon to put a bag on ice on the big owie to bring down the swelling. The swelling did go down, but there was still a nasty bruise.

Now our family is three for three, all of my kids recently have had a pretty big owie experience. Hopefully we won't have any more "experiences" any time soon.

Also, this picture were taken with a disposable camera and the results didn't end up very good. This picture were taken three days after he hit his head. Even now, he has a green/grayish bruise on his head.

Mrs. Holiday 2008

To start off, I found my memory card for my camera on the floor with bite marks in it. As a result, I tried using a disposable camera for some pictures of this party and none of them turned out well. As a result, I stole all these photos from the host Emily.

Last week, on the 9th, my friend Emily had an Ugly Sweater and Ugly Ornament party. As you can tell by the title, everyone was supposed to dress up in an ugly sweater.

When I first heard of this party, I called my mom asking for some of her sweaters that I can totally recall that she wore 15 years ago. Yes, those sweaters definitely left an impression. She told me that she got rid of the sweater that I wanted her to send to me. I was so bummed.

In the time before the party, I thought about what I could wear. I thought about going to Goodwill, but I never made it there. In the end, I decided to wear a very old red sweater I had and put ornaments on it.


When we arrived at the party, each person who attended ended up getting their picture taken. I thought why not try to to do a silly look in the picture, since I was already looking like an idiot with the sweater. Hence, the very weird looking picture below.During the party we were told that there was going to be a contest for the ugliest sweater. Each person got to vote one person who they thought had the ugliest sweater.

Once the votes were calculated, the top three people with the most votes were announced. I was totally surprised that I was announced in the top three ugly sweaters. There were some pretty "interesting" sweaters/outfits at the party.

The top 3 had to walk the red-carpet and strut their stuff in their holiday attire. I was totally embarrassed acutally, but I figured since I had to do it I might as well ham it up.

After the top three walked the cat walk, then the the winners were announced or the 2nd runner up, 1st runner up and Mrs. Holiday 2008! Mrs. Holiday received a very special crown, a banner that said Mrs. Holiday and a great trophy.
I actually won the sweater contest! I was totally shocked because to be honest, I didn't think my outfit was that good; especially compared to some other outfits at the party. In my opinoin, the host, Emily, should have won, but she bowed out of the running.
It was a great night, with lots of fun and interesting ornaments that were unwrapped during the ugly ornament exchange.Yes, that was a homemade toilet paper roll ornament.

The ornament was on my hat.

One of my favorite ornaments was the one that Starla made. Her costume for Halloween was a "tired mom." She made a copy of that photo and framed it with Popsicle sticks and added noodles and glitter for accessories; it was perfect! Of course it was so beautiful because it had all the glitter.

It was so nice to get out of the house with out any kids and spend some time with very entertaining and fun ladies. Thanks again Em!
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Flashback Friday!- Bath Time December 2006

It is a tradition in my family that our first baths, after we are born, (besides the one at the hospital) are given to us by my grandma (on my father's side). If I remember correctly, her mother, my great-grandmother, did the same thing.

Ben and Emmy had a unique situation, since they spent their first month of life in the hospital. On December 15, 2006 we set-up an appointment with grandma for the kids to have their special bath. Of course, we were running late, so grandma didn't have as much time as she would have liked.

She bathes them in the sink in the bathroom. She gets the water just right, places the soaps and in easy reach. She takes time to coo and "talk" to the babies as she gets them ready and calm for their bath. Even with all of grandma's hard work to calm them, they still were a little fussy. Ben was bathed first and then taken to grandpa to be held while Emmy had her turn.

After the bath, each received lotion and baby powder. Then it is the favorite part, snuggling with a sweet clean smelling baby. However, this time was pretty special since their were two babies to love and give kisses and hugs to.

Christmas Lights

The Saturday after Thanksgiving, Hyrum helped Brandon put on the lights on the house. This was our very first Christmas of putting lights on our house. Hyrum was so cute! He was so excited he could hardly stand it. He would run in every few minutes with a big smile on his face telling me what they were doing. One time he ran in and said, "I am crazy mom!"When it came time for the big reveal, Hyrum could hardly wait to show me the lights. Hyrum had me close my eyes so it would be a big surprise.

Hyrum and Brandon were very proud of their finished product.
Hyrum is a light lover. Any room he is in, no matter what time of day, he will have all the lights on. He is in heaven with Christmas lights. We put a couple of strands of Christmas lights in his room for him and he loves it! He has the lights plugged in every minute of the day. I love the fact that he finds so much joy in a simple thing, such as having Christmas lights in his room.

Mr. Ben

I just love my "Ben Boo" (That is what Emmy calls him).

These top pictures were taken on Thanksgiving of this year. Ben was getting ready to take his nap. When I told Ben it was time for nap time, he ran to his room ahead of me. He was preparing his crib for nap time. He had all the basics covered, books, sippy cups, stacking cups (which he has loved since he was around nine months), cars, trains etc.

Usually he fights me as I am laying him down for a nap ( he still needs one, but he would rather stay up and play and play) but as I put him down for his nap he did not. He was quite disappointed when I started taking his stash of entertainment out.

Also, we have this pink chair in our house that was given to us by my parents a few years ago. I grew up with this chair. This is the chair that was mine when we laid out our stockings for Santa each Christmas.

Anyways, this is also the chair that my kids go and hide behind when they are doing something they don't want me to see them doing. For example, eating a treat without asking, playing with something they aren't supposed to play etc. you would find them behind the pink chair. If I can't find my kids it is a good guess that they are behind the chair.

It was so funny to see Ben behind the chair the other day with a pile of books...to cute! He is my book lover. He would be content all day to read books. I guess he wanted some peace and quiet.