Christmas Eve

We have the tradition, as most of you probably do too, to act out the nativity on Christmas Eve. This year in addition to that we sat on a blanket in the living room around a lazy susan and enjoyed a dinner that Jesus might have eaten in his day (olives, bread, cheese, grapes, dates, etc). We ate by the light of my mother-in-laws Christmas tree and shared our favorite stories about Jesus. It was really fun. Then we acted out the nativity. I was going to describe it, but I'll let the pictures tell the story
.

This is Mary (Aunt Whitney--due in June), and Jovis (this is what Lanny called Joseph when he was a wee one). I can't figure out why Joseph can't just look normal...ever?!

These are the shepherds, abiding in the kitchen, they love chocolate!

The beautiful angels bringing glad tidings of joy! Just a note, Grandma came up with the beautiful costumes. I came up with the ones that aren't so great...yeah, not my forte!

This wiseman is actually scaring me, he's a bit too serious.

The three wisemen, gangstas, mafia, or rappers, you choose. But....they're bearing gifts!

My crew...a bit rag tag, but we still seek Him.

My little shepherd/gangsta was so exctied and just happy to be a part!

Christmas

Merry Christmas! Hope everyone had a great one. Join me now, for our Christmas. It's hard to believe that my two oldest are already on the naughty list for next year. They did it in record time too! At 3:28 on Christmas morning, Lanny and Louie came running into my room and woke me up. Now, just the day before Lanny and I had agreed that 8:00 am would be a good compromise for everyone to get up at. I didn't want to get up at 5:30 and he didn't want to get up at 10:00. So why, were they in my room at three...bleepity, bleep, bleep thirty? Lanny started speedily talking about how Santa had been there and left a note and that the apple we left made Rudolf's nose glow brighter and I couldn't figure out how he knew this since he wasn't suppose to go in until everyone was up and Aaron was sleeping right in the living room and apparently hadn't even noticed Lanny prancing in. Lanny had woken Louie up and then they had both come in to wake me up. Aaron and I hadn't gotten to bed until two, so I was a little cranky. Here is our conversation.
L-"Mom, get up!"
Me-"What time is it?...Grrrrrr!"
L-"It's three-twenty-eight!" Then he proceeded to speed through how he hadn't seen anything, but still managed to read the note from Santa.
Me-"Lanny, Louie, go back to bed...grrrrr!"
L&L-"Okay."
L&L-"Hey Mom....."
Me-"It's been six minutes, go away...grrrr!"
They left, then came back again and again and again.
L-"Mom, can I take a shower?"
Me;"Yes, go away."
I fell asleep....
Louie-"Mom, can I take a shower now?"
Me-"Yes, go away!"
I fell asleep and was rudely awakened by two quarreling children, "I didn't flood the bathroom, you got all the water on the floor." "No, you did, that's how my underwear got wet." "You need to clean it up." "Uh, uh, you do."
Me-"Go away...grrrrrrrr!" Are we seeing a pattern here?
L-"Hey Mom, it's five thirty!"
Me-"Lanny, what was our agreement? You and Louie need to go back to bed. You can read, you can sleep, you can talk to yourself, but stay in your bed and don't come back in this room until it is eight o'clock....got it?"
L&L-"Okay."
I fell asleep.
L-"Hey Mom, now don't get mad (probably not how you want to start a conversation) it's 7:30, and I know that we aren't getting up until eight, but.....I thought since it might take a while to wake some people up (he was talking about Kessie) we could start now and then she'd definitely be up by 8:00."
Me-"Lanny, it is not going to take a half hour to get your sister up."
L-"But, Mom...."
Me-"Okay, Lanny, give me until 7:45 and then you can wake your sister up."
L-"Okay."
I did not fall asleep again.
Louie-"Hey, Mom, it's time to get up!!!"
Me-"Louie, grrrrrrrrr, it is only 7:37. I said 7:45."
Louie-"Oh, sorry, my bad!" She ran from my room.
L-"Mom, I know your clock only says 7:44, but my clock said 7:45, so can I go wake up Kessie?"
Me-"Grrrrrr, fine (I was giggling by this point)."
So the two naughty children woke up their sister and then yelled for their Dad to get up and he woke up Kel....who is not a morning person, and did not enjoy Christmas at all until after she had taken her nap at 11:00.
Even with so much sleep, I was a bit tired Christmas day, but we did have a wonderful day. My favorite gifts were the homemade ones. All my children, except Kel, insisted on making gifts for each other. They were so thoughtful and giving and I love that about my kids. Santa was very good to us this year and now we just have to find places to put all the stuff. We're a bit crowded as it is.

I made them line up in the hallway for a pic before they went into the living room. As kids we always had to go in youngest to oldest, so that's how my kids have to do it to.

This is my absolute favorite picture from Christmas. All the kids were so excited because Aaron got pencil shavings in his stocking along with a note from Santa. Aaron called that jolly man fat on Christmas Eve no less, and that is unacceptable. Apparently, coal, is a hot commodity (no pun intended), and so Santa thought pencil shavings more appropriate to remind Aaron that he shouldn't slam Santa.

Although, not thrilled to be up before 10:00, Kel perked up a bit when she saw chocolate. She proceeded to help herself to whatever she wanted from her siblings stockings!

Lanny's in love! Wouldn't you be if you got live traps from Santa, yeah, me neither.

Kessie was sooooo cute! It wasn't really what she wanted, but she got ice skates from Santa. When she opened them she squealed..."I got skiiiiiis!" Yes, I love skiing on ponds too! Can't wait to try it out with her!

A cute moment I caught when Kel was stuffing her face with candy and Kessie was tickling her. They are so cute together. And if you look close, you'll see Kel is sitting on Kessie's saddle that she got from us. Aaron found a used one for her and one for Louie. 

Louie was thrilled to get a bunch of earrings from her Auntie. She never plans her outfits, but she has been planning what earrings she'll be wearing the next day every night before bed.

This is one of those homemade gifts I mentioned. Without my knowledge, Lanny made this cute snowman for Kel. He used glue dots, leather, and his brand new socks....aaaaargh! When I saw the new sock, I kind of choked a bit, and then had to control my seizure when he casually said, "It took quite a few socks to stuff it too!" No wonder my children can never find socks in the morning. It is such a thoughtful loving gift, and I am so proud of him for making it, but I told him I'd help him re-stuff it with stuffing. Sweet boy!

Hope you all got more sleep than me and were blessed to get to spend Christmas with the ones you love!

12-12-12

We hope everyone had a fabulouso, magniterrific 12-12-12. Personally it seemed like a regular day, but my kids were sure excited about it. How often does 12-12-12 come around?!? Since I'm terribly lazy, instead of making a cake or doing something fun, I made my kids write lists. I wanted to share them. I asked them to list:

12 Things You are Thankful For

12 Things You Want to Do by Next Christmas

12 Dreams (Big, Small, Outrageous, or Doable)

I will write their lists in the 12-12-12 order I listed and I will spell it how they did, because it is so cute. The bolded parts are my addtions.

First off, Lanny:

my Family

my gun

my fly rode

my tackle box

(yeah, we can see a theme, but wait, it gets better!)
my life

everything you chatch with a fishing pole (not people)

everything you shoot with guns (not people)

my knifes

Heveanly Father

Jesus Christ

Atonment

Santa

get my hunters saftey

earn over 100$

gain over 30 pounds of mucles everywear (I tried to tell him that this was a bit extreme, but he is determined)

catch a frog

kill a racoon
kill a coyote

catch a ten pound fish

catch a bull head

open bait shop (he's already made the sign, and it's pretty cool)

go on a diet

learn to do a flip

buy a trip to my grandmas (this is my Mom's in Maryland)

Have my dreams (I was a bit confused by this statement as well)

catch a big fish

win 1 million pounds of gold

win a car

get a paint horse

get a michine gun

live to 10,000

be an angle (angel....being so sarcastic, I asked him if he wanted to be a 30 or 90 degree angle)

be a electrician

never get in truble

never get arrested (I can't help but wondering if with these last two he's planning on robbing a bank?)

go to china

Here's Louie's:

my family

food

shelter

the church

the atonement

Jesus

snow

hevenly father

earth

love

school

the outdors

have fun

go to the park

watch tv 

play with Kel

go traveiling

go sleding

go keriling

go trik-or-treeting

go to school

go to church

go to grandmas

go to citer city (this is where my sister lives)

go to merilind (Maryland, where my parents live)

move to a grate home

see Santa

live to be 10,0004 (I think she stole this from Lanny and had to beat him on the age...but only by a little)

see Jesus

be a rodeo queen

have a grat family win I grow up

to to texis

go to new youk

go to florida

go to frans

go to indea

Kessie:

Before I list Kessie's let me explain that I wrote hers, so they are all spelled correctly, and she can't focus. It was all I could do to get this partial list. If she comes up with more I'll update, but when I asked her what her dreams were she'd say stuff like "I want a Christmas tree, and I want a lamp" Can you tell she was looking at the Christmas tree and lamp at the time. Yeah, I told her to think about it. She did come up with a few things though. 

Jesus

Family

Grandmas and Grandpas

Heavenly Father

The World

Food

Santa 

Birthday

Easter

Sunday

Outdoors

Kel-Kel

Have fun with family

Ride horses

Spend time with Grandma Marian

Go sledding

Take Pictures (Kessie got a camera for her birthday)

Go traveling

Go see baby Jace

See Uncle Dale's grave (this is Aaron's uncle who died in Vietnam)

Have a great birthday party

Go on a Mommy/Daddy daughter date

Play with Keladry

Sing Christmas songs

Kel's:

Here's Kel's list. I have no doubt that this little one is going places. I know that she can make all her dreams into reality!

Before I write Aaron and my own lists I have to tell you that Aaron looked at me and said, "Do you have any dreams?" I answered, "I thought the same thing, no, I don'.t." He replied, "Me neither." We still made a list, mine are a bit crazy since I said they could be outrageous, and I didn't get 12, oh well.

Aaron:

a beautiful and supportive wife (the liar, about the beautiful and supportive part. I'm sure he's glad he has a wife, at least I hope so.)

an incredibly creative son

an extremely bright daughter

a very lively and kind daughter

the cutest and best kissing and cuddling baby ever

the great job I held in Colorado for 10 years
the greater job I got here in Star Valley

our family's good health

the prosperity we have been blessed with

family and friends

the beautiful outdoors

that our family can be a forever family

sell our home in Cheyenne

hunt a mountain lion

sell our home in Cheyenne (yeah, he knows he repeated himself, he was actually going to list that all twelve times, but figured two would get the point across)

take Bri to the temple

take an affordable family vacation

get feeling better

magnify my church callings and prieshood

buy or begin building our family a home

take the family to Granite Hot Springs

take the family camping and fishing a lot!

get Lanny his hunters safety

take Bri and the girls horseback riding

Here he wrote over with an arrow on the paper, in case I didn't think to turn the paper over to find the rest of his list. Thanks, Honey!

own a small farm (well on his way!)

help other people (serve a couple mission)

hunt moose, dahl sheep and caribou in Alaska

build a shop/barn

build a meat processing room and a separate fur dressing room

get out of debt

become more self sufficient

see my children get married in the temple and raise families of their own

teach my grandchildren to hunt and fish
hunt a grizzly bear, mountain goat and bison
spend quality time with family and friends
go to conference at the conference center

Mine:
My children
My husband
Aaron's job
The Gospel
Butter
Hugs and Kisses
Modern Conveniences (i.e. telephones, the computer, cars, Walmart, online shopping...I really miss some modern conveniences, yeah, it's Walmart)
My camera
Books
Laughter
My family's health
Far away friends and family

Run (please note, I said run, not walk) in a race. (This race could be just to the mailbox and back, but I actually want to get my butt moving.)
Take a cake decorating class
Improve my photography
Listen to the Book of Mormon cover to cover (This is huge for me, I never seem to be able to get through it in a year.)
Sell our house in Cheyenne (see, sometimes Aaron and I are on the same wave length)
Be in our own home
Learn to ride a horse (not professionally, but I would like to not be afraid)
Make friends
Start the kids in piano lessons
Wean Kel
Be Nicer
Play (play with my kids, play with the dogs, play the piano...you get the idea)

Travel the world
Be in charge of storytime at the library
Go on a mission with Aaron
Hold babies all day long in a third world country orphanage (obviously, this is after my babies are grown and I miss having little ones around)
Eat dessert for every meal and never gain a pound, or get sick
Have a long lost relative give me 392 million dollars
Get published ( I don't even write, but wouldn't it be cool to publish a book!)
Stay out of jail (I stole this directly from Lanny, I figured it was a great goal. I want to pass GO, I want to collect two hundred dollars!)

We hope all of your dreams come true, and just know that you are all on our thankful llists! Happy 12-12-12!

)

Happenings...

This was the Saturday after Thanksgiving. It was the Parade of Lights in Afton to kick off the Christmas season. It was 41 degrees and there was no wind. I told the kids to enjoy it because we were never going again. It's pretty much impossible to ever watch the parade in above freezing temps. We lucked out. As with all parades here, we got to watch it twice because it goes down one side of the street and then turns around and comes back down the other side. The kids loved it!

Oooooh, pretty lights!

This was my favorite float. Poor Santa. They also had a float with Santa not stuck in a chimney. There was a bucket train that little kids were riding in and they decorated a school bus...the kids really like that one. My nephew was riding on his Dad's float (for his business) and he loaded us up with candy as they went by.

See that painted box, yep the one with duct tape all over it. It's not garbage, it's a live trap that Lanny made to catch a muskrat. He put it next to our neighbors pond over Thanksgiving. As of today, no luck, but he swears the carrot has been nibbled on. I wish him luck, but sure hope he doesn't catch anything, I'm selfish like that!

This is Floppy. Can you guess how she got that name? If I liked the chickens at all, she would be my favorite. But, I don't like them.

Thought you all might want to see where we live. Home, sweet home! I was taking this picture and didn't realize I had an audience. Look in the window on the right. Oh, she's so cute! And Aaron put that smoker (looks like an oven) out just to add to our "white trash" look. I think it's working!

There she is, peeking through the window to see what Mommy is doing! This picture goes with the picture above.

Lanny grabbed my nice, expensive camera and ran out of the house. He took this picture of the moon just coming up over the mountains. I thought he did a great job. But I did threaten him that if he dropped the camera, to not come back. He came back, so all is well!

Kel and I ran to Logan on the first. It was a dismal day, but the sun came out just long enough for us to visit my sister, Leah. Kel thought her headstone was a perfect seat. We had to leave when she started trying to sit on other peoples headstones. 

So I'm supposed to be working on Christmas gifts, but I saw this cool thing where you take your kids picture and then just paint the shadowy part. I had to try it. It was so much fun, so here are my finished products. I wanted black frames, but there were none, so I had to settle for white. Eventually, I'll probably paint them black, but I don't have the time right now.

Just so you all know, I'm at my mother-in-laws, the computer thing is still not going well. And now I'm headed home to make an eggnog cheesecake...be jealous...it will be divine! (I hope!)