Say Cheese

Every time I bring out a camera this is the face that Brice makes. He is such a good boy and is just like his brothers and sister, he loves being the center of attention and making people laugh.

I can do it myself

As Hayden sat watching Ethan get dressed for church this morning, he must have decided that he was just as big as his brother, because when it came time for me to get him dressed came the famous words "I can do it myself", "I don't need help mommy". Now normally this would be fine with me, but as I watch each of my babies get bigger, I am learning that the time flies way too fast and that they are only babies for such a short time. But I was a good mom and let my baby do it by himself this morning, even though I want to freeze time and keep him little forever, I know that he has to grow. I was proud of him too, because no matter how hard it got for him, he finally got his pants pulled up, all by himself.

Idaho

We were lucky to be able to go to Idaho to visit Jeremy's family for a couple of days. We had a great time and loved being with the family. The kids had a blast playing in the snow, and being with their cousins. We bundled them up and they played all afternoon most days. They even got to ride on some snowmobiles and sleds.













This is how we traveled through the airport. The kids loved the plane ride, and were really well behaved most of the time.













We are so thankful to have wonderful grandparents for our babies.














All bundled up and ready to play.






































































































McDonald's play time in the warm playground.




























































Cousin Fun!!!

































































































We wore them out!!

Big Shoes to Fill

We caught Brice playing in Jeremy's shoes this morning. We tried to get him to smile, but he has been sick and really didn't want to. Smile or no smile, he is as cute as can be!!! Maybe he was just a little overwhelmed, because his daddy has some pretty big shoes to fill.

out wih the Old in with the New

We spent our New Year's in an exciting way, we decided to take advantage of the year end sales at our local Toyota dealer. Mom and Dad were kind enough to watch the kids for us while we went car shopping. We ended up getting a great deal on a Sienna, but by the time we were done we were all tired, mom and dad from watching the kids and us from haggling with car sales men. We went to a nice dinner and rang in the New Year relaxing on the couch. We are really excited about our new car, especially since it sits 8 now and we can fit more than just our family.













It looks a lot like our old van, but is a bit nicer and a ton bigger, which is what our family needs!!





























Our old van, it was a good car and will be missed!

Grandma and Grandpa

Since we weren't able to spend Christmas with family, my mom and dad came to visit for a few days. We love it when they come to stay with us!!! We always have so much fun just being together.














While they were here, they were "lucky" enough to go to Sams with me for my monthly grocery shopping trip. That is a sight to see, two buggies with four kids full of food. I am sure that mom and dad won't forget it soon. We decided to get a poinsettia tree that was on clearance while we were there, but the problem was getting it into the car along with all of us and the grocery's. Lets just say that my 7 passenger van was packed to the max, with dad being the hero and helping it all fit.













Dad sat in the back seat holding the tree surrounded by all the babies for the 20min drive home. The kids loved it and he is now the person they always want to sit in the back with them.













Brice got a little bit of the tree on him as Grandma pulled it out of the car. Luckily he was sleeping and didn't even know it happened.

Short, Short, Short

Ashley has been growing her hair out for the past year, but right after Christmas she decided that she wanted to get her hair cut short. I told her that she would have to talk to her dad about it, because he loved her long hair, but he gave her the ok and off we went to the hair stylist. She loves it and I must say it does look cute, but anything would look cute on her beautiful little face.

Christmas Eve and Chistmas 2008

I love Christmas time!!! This year was different than any other year, it was the first year that we were all by ourselves. We missed all of our loved ones, but we enjoyed every minute of watching our kids excitement. It was such a great time, but as always nothing goes as planned when you have four kids.

Christmas eve started out with a trip to the doctor and 4 cases of Strep throat, (what a great gift for the mom) luckily we caught it early and the babies didn't show too many symptoms, so they all still felt ok. We were going to carol at a nursing home, but put that on the back burner for next year. Christmas Eve has always been my favorite part of Christmas and has been the time that my family takes to put the entire focus on Christ. I wanted to share this with my babies, so we did almost everything the same as we would have done if we were with family and added a coupled of our own traditions. We started the night by telling the story of Christ's birth and talking with the kids about it. It was such a good feeling to see Ashley and Ethan really understanding what happened and they were even able to retell the story to us.

Every Christmas Eve the kids get to open one present, and it is always pajamas. This year they got a robe to go along with it. They all looked so cute!! Brice looked like a little old man walking around.

































Then came the letters to Santa that they left by the fireplace with cookies.










































We sprinkled reindeer food on the lawn to help lead Santa's reindeer to our home, and so that they could have a snack while they waited for Santa.














Right before bed we looked to see where Santa was, and decided it was time for bed. They all went to bed fairly easy, except for Ashley. She was a little nervous about a strange man coming into the house. We had to keep reassuring her that he wouldn't come upstairs and that we were going to be right there if she needed us. She finally relaxed and we were able to get to bed at a decent time.














Christmas was great! We loved watching their little eyes light up at all of the goodies that they were spoiled with. We took they day easy, wearing our pajamas almost all day long and playing with toys. Jeremy would make fun of me because I would keep trying to pick up and stack the toys, and they would all find there way back out. It was like I was going in circles. Finally I gave up and it looked like a toy store had exploded in our house. Oh well, that is the fun of Christmas!!! Later that day we had some friends over for dinner. It was a perfect day,with only a few things or people should I say missing.