A little braggin'

I just had to show off some of the things that Keith has been building lately.  We were blessed with a bunch of orders before Christmas including 10 doll houses.  Needless to say Keith was pretty busy over Christmas Break.  But I am so grateful that he is such a talented and hard worker! 

This is actually a shelf that he built for our boys.  My parents went to Kentucky and brought back Louisville bats for Sam and Trig so Keith just wipped them up a shelf to display their bats on.   

Hattie

This little girl is a whirlwind like I have never seen before!  She makes me giggle (because she is so dang cute) and pull my hair out all at the same time.  She is always on the go getting into or climbing on anything she can get to. If we don't push the chairs to the kitchen table in she will immediatly be on top of it.  She has even climbed on top of the piano sitting on it with her tiny feet on the keys.  And that was when she was only 11 months old.  She has the funnest personality.  Little Miss Spunky!  Don't try taking something away from her that she wants because she will let you have it with her baby screams all the while clenching her fists and wrinkling up her cute little nose.  Don't get me wrong she is a sweetie too. Always giving kisses and patting you on the back.  And she has turned into a little daddy's girl lately she loovvves her daddy!  If he is home she would be content to sit in his arms all day.  Oh, how we love this little girl but I think she is definitely going to give us a run for our money.

This bottom picture is not very clear but I just had to show her cute little teeth and beautiful blue grey eyes.

Going Private

Well, I know that if there were any readers to begin with you have probably given up on me but i have decided to make my blog private. So, if you would like to be invited then leave me your email address.  I am hoping to keep up on my blog better this year so that I can make it in to a book so...here's to goals.

Christmas Day

We had a fabulous Christmas Day!  The kids slept in until 6:00 and I was surprised that they didn't wake up at all through the night. They all slept together in Trig's room.  After we opened presents we went to church and then had breakfast with Keith's Mom and Step Dad.  We had corn beef hash and cinnamon rolls.  I had never tasted corn beef hash but it was really delicious!  After we ate breakfast the kids opened their gifts from Keith parents. Then we went home and my parents came over with more presents...needless to say the kids were SPOILED!! 

Here are a few of their favorites.

If you asked Trig what he wanted for Christmas he would say "A Giant".  We think that he got this from Mickey Mouse because he has a giant friend named Willie and Trig loves Mickey Mouse.  He also asked for a giant for his birthday but obviously he didn't get one.  Anyway, a few weeks before Christmas he decided that he would rather have a "Big Buzz."  We were glad since we didn't think that Santa had any Giants to deliver.

Sophie is obsessed with Dolphin Tale and Winter and Clear Water Aquarium and really anything Dolphin related so she was soooooo excited to get a few Dolphin things for Christmas.

Sam is our little baseball player and all he has wanted is a Texas Ranger Jersey and a hat.  This was actually from my parents.  He LOVES it!

Hattie loved sitting in her new big girl car seat.  I hate that she is old enough to be in a big seat!

Christmas Eve

On Christmas Eve day we always get up and get the house all spic and span and then the kids are able to open the presents that they got for each other. 

This year instead of drawing names they decided that boys should give to boys and girls to girls.  Sophie gave Hattie a leap frog cell phone, Hattie gave Sophie Scrabble Trig gave Sam a bay-blade (no idea on the spelling) and Sam gave Trig a transformer.

 At 3:00 we went to my parents house and had delicious appetizers.  My Aunt Lesa and Uncle David were there with their kids Kaitlyn and Parker and my Aunt Carol from Michigan was also there.  Every year we go to the Cemetery in Spanish Fork and Salem.  We decided to go to Spanish Fork while it was still light. I didn't get any pictures but I can't believe how warm it was.  I just had on a sweater and the kids were complaining that I made them wear their coats.  We didn't stay for too long but it is always nice to go there and remember those that have passed on.  My mom's parents and grandparents are burried there as well as my cousin. 

When we came back from the cemetery we had dinner and then the kids opened their Christmas Eve gift from Grandpa and Grandma... aka P.J's.  They loved them.  Sam and Trig's had the Elf on the Shelf on them.  Sam's were skin tight and Keith couldn't stop laughing but I thought that they looked so cute!!

This year about a week before Christmas, my Dad gave us each 2 envelopes.  One of them had our name on it and the other one was blank.  He told us, how many years ago when my mom and dad were really struggling financially my Aunt Lesa came up to my mom and gave her a hug and put a $100 bill in her pocket.  It had a big impact on my parents so they wanted to pay it forward.  Inside each envelope that my Dad gave us was a $100 bill ($50 for Sophie and Sam and $25 for Trig).  He told us that he wanted us to keep the one with our name on it and then find someone to give the other one to.  It was so fun trying to figure out who we should give our money to.  Everywhere we went we were on the look out to see if we could find someone that really needed it.  We decided on giving it to two people in our ward.  Sophie and Sam both have friends thats Dad has been out of work so they gave it to them and with Trig's money he bought his 2 best friends each a gift and took it to them.  He told us that he wanted to go up to the door all by himself and that he was going to tell them Merry Christmas.  We listened from the car and sure enough when they opened the door he said "Merry Christmas" and then took off towards the van. 

This Christmas has been a very memorable one.  I think mostly because we were able to think of others so much...with the help of my Dad.  But we were also able to donate things that we have been collecting throughout the year to Primary Children's.  And a tradition that we have kept going every year since Keith and I were married is doing the Twelve Days of Christmas to someone that needs a little cheering up.   

Ginger Bread Houses- A yearly tradition

Every year we get together with Keith's family and make ginger bread houses.  It is always something that the kids look forward to doing.  They were pretty creative this year making a car, a wreath for the front door a sled on top of the roof and even a fishing hole out back.

Tree time

  Talk about Griswalds!!  This is the car that we bought last year with our tax returns for $900.00 It is a gem!!  We lovingly call it the Junk Bucket but it has saved us from Keith having to drive his truck to work everyday.

Always the Big Helper!

This is the  "I'm up here to hurry and get this work done so stop taking pictures of me and hand me the things that you want up here" look.:)

This is the star that has been put on the top of our tree every year since Keith and I were married.  The star is cut out of a waffle box and covered with tinfoil. I guess we didn't have enough money to buy a real tree topper but this one sure has become sentimental! 

We decided that we are going to start giving the kids a snow globe every year after we get the tree up and the house all decorated.  They were actually a lot more excited than I thought that they would be about this.