Christmas 2009

I love these pictures of right before we opened our presents on Christmas Eve. I think they say so much about each kid and their personalities. Well, except for Kenz, I guess. She was on a little bit of a "really tired and a little too much sugar" high. Danny gave her a sucker to try to pacify her and get her to stop crying while we were getting ready to open presents. So it worked, but he forgot to think about how she would react when he took it away. She was pretty upset at the whole situation, but she got over it when the wrapping paper starting getting tossed around.

It was a fun Christmas and I got spoiled, as usual. Santa, or should I say Danny Claus, got me a sweet new sewing machine and a printer too. Now if I only had more time to use them. :)

It's tradition to spend Christmas Eve with the Neva side of the family at Grandma and Grandpa's house. It's always lots of crazy fun, and it feels good for me to be "home" for Christmas

Don't the girls look cute in our new furry vests?

Merry Wishes for a Joyful Christmas

Now that I am in my eighth year of being a mother, I finally understand why my mom:
-hid presents in random spots underneath a blanket
-was always wrapping presents at the last second while we anxiously waited to unwrap them, and
-would forget where she hid a present and couldn't find it when she needed it
Yep, I understand because I have done all of these this Christmas season. It kinda makes me laugh :) Anyway...

Merry wishes for a joyful Christmas and may we all take the time to enjoy the little things that bring that sparkle to our children's eyes as we celebrate the humble, yet glorious birth of our Savior, Jesus Christ.

Kambrie Claus

Since I have so much to do to get ready for Christmas, let me just post another picture to my blog!

Kenzlie

Our little baby girl is nine months old now. She's a little cutie. One of her fav things to do is stick her tounge out!


I was lucky enough to WIN a watermarking kit from RIta at the CoffeeShop Blog. Merry Christmas to me! Thanks Rita! Now I just have to design my own watermark :)

Memories of Days Gone By

Christmas time makes memories of my childhood days come to life. This picture captures those days for me. I love it.

It's Beginning to Look a Lot Like Christmas

The Montana girl in me doesn't let me truly feel like it's Christmas unless there's snow. So, thankfully we got some snow today :)

My Newest Addiction

Rita at Coffee Tea Photography is helping me learn all I've dreamed of knowing about Photoshop. The best part about it is that it's FREE!!! Really, I could be addicted to her blog if I wasn't careful. Well, for instance, it's 2:30 in the morning (I had to stay up late tonight to finally get my finishing touches done on my Christmas decorating) and I was on my computer for a quick second while I was waiting for Danny to get done playing with the kids' Christmas presents before we went to bed, and I thought, "I just have to check in on the coffeeshop and see what's brewing." Okay, okay, so I AM addicted. Honestly, I could spend all day, every day, learning and editing and creating. I guess my five kids will keep me from doing that though. Someday, someday, someday I will be a master of it all...someday ;) Anyway, if you are not already a master, then you too must become addicted to the coffee that Rita serves up daily. Seriously, check out her blog. It's the best thing I've ever discovered on the internet.

Something About the Rain

There's something about the rain that makes me want to get all organized and be cozy inside my house. So, I guess it's motivating me to get Christmas going. The decorations and tree are going up today. By this time tomorrow I'll be sipping hot chocolate in front of the fire, enjoying the peaceful, relaxing feelings of the holidays at home.

LOL!! Yeah right! Not if Karsten has anything to do with it. This kid is such a maniac. He has truly earned his nickname as the Destroyer (D2 after his cousin Jamin who was the first Destroyer in the family). Seriously, he is almost too much for a parent to handle. I won't even go into details on all the things he's done, and in the past two days alone. It's enough to make a person go crazy...



The Destroyer

Football and Turkey

Me and my sis-n-law Mindy...isn't this turkey a beaut?!?!



Well, the football season is officially over now. Ky's team lost out in the semi-finals and Kole's team lost in the championship game. Not totally the way we wanted to go out, but hey, it was a good season all in all. Good job boys.

Thanksgiving was fun this year. We hosted the Stuart family and my mom and dad came too. I cooked the turkey, waking up at 4 in the morning to get it in the oven to make sure it was done by noon. Well, it was done at 9:30, just a few hours early. lol I didn't know my convection oven would cook the 25 pound bird that fast!

Now it's time to get ready for Christmas. I kinda feel like the scruge this year. Why? Don't know. I just can't get into it. Sad. Maybe it's because I vowed to be completely ready for Christmas by December 1st and well, I haven't even started yet. Hopefully once I get the decorations out I will change my attitude, and I will start getting into it. I hope so, otherwise my poor kiddos won't be having much of a Christmas season.

Good Luck Boys!!

Well, the boys' teams finished up the season with only one loss each. Kolter's team, the Eagles, came in first place. Congratulations Kolter and Coach Danny! I have to say that Danny was more excited about this than Kolter was. It was his first coaching experience ever, so it was great to come in first. He has some fast little runneres on his team and they have fun.

Ky's team is really good. They finished second and they'll be contenders for the championship if all goes well. Kyler finished the season with two touchdowns in each game (except only one the first game). He had a couple interceptions as well. Hopefully he will have great games these next two games too, so they can bring home the championship. Go Bears! Go Eagles!






Ky running for a touchdown. I love this picture cause the temple is in the background. We're so lucky to be so close to a temple.



Kolter gettin some yardage.

Kolter pulling the flag...almost. :)

I Love the Fall

That's What Friends Are For

A BIG thank you to my friends that helped me get my BIG pictures. I wouldn't have been able to figure it out without you :)

So this is my little Kenz who is now almost 8 months old. I'm happy to announce that just in the last little while she is getting better about not crying in her car seat and she has even taken a nap for longer than a half hour. Yay! She also
-is officially ready to be done with baby food and move on to the real stuff
-has no teeth
-doesn't crawl yet, but spins around in a circle while sitting on her bum
-loves nursing at least twice in the night (nope, she doesn't sleep through the night)
-loves her kitty, Rookie and the dog, Iron Man
-still has blue eyes and her hair is getting even more red :)
-rips off her headbands with bows and flowers on them (so much for all those cute accessories)
-has a contagious smile that melts your heart

Photo by Elements Photography

American Pride

Happy Veterans Day Daddy! Thanks for being true to the red, white and blue.

A Chance at Fame

MTV Cribs is filming next door for an upcoming episode of Teen Cribs. I tried to let them park my pink jeep in the driveway so she could get a few seconds of fame. They denied her though. Dang it. Weird. Who wouldn't want to have a pink jeep, especially if you're a 13 year old boy? lol I mean, come on. Show She-J some love.

Happy Halloween

The SC Sliderzz had another great weekend of baseball, claiming the second place spot again. So far we've played in three tournaments and we've taken second all three times. They really are a good little team. Ky had his best showing pitching yet I think. He's getting better and better every game it seems, and I'm finally not quite so nervous when he's on the mound. Thanks to everyone that came and watched and showed the family support. We're so lucky to have lots of family so close. We love you. Hope you all had a Happy Halloween!

Kyler as a Ninja. I think he changed his mind six times before he finally settled on this costume. He looked good though. Good choice to end on.
Kambrie as a Princess. She only changed her mind once, but she waited to decide that she didn't want to be a pirate until after I made her pirate skirt. It all worked out though, because Olivia ended up wearing it. Kambrie had fun walking around in her long flowing dress. She didn't want to stop trick or treating until her bucket was full.
Kolter as Bumblebee the Transformer. He knew he wanted to be a tramsformer right from the start. Once he got his costume he wore it for two days straight and he even slept in it. He just couldn't wait for Halloween to come.
Karsten as Elmo.This was his second year in a row to wear a hand me down costume. I guess that's what happens when you're the fourth child. It worked out okay though. He was okay with it, as long as he got to have his sword too. He looked so cute walking from door to door. He wore his costume to the store with me early this morning. Everyone there loved it too.
Kenzlie as a"Ball"erina. I made her costume over a month ago, and then as Halloween got closer I wasn't really sure if I wanted her to be it. I finally decided that it didn't really matter and that she wouldn't care what she dressed up as. So she was a "ball"erina. This picture is before I remembered to put her black under her eyes. That added to the whole "ball" part of it. I guess she ended up pretty cute too.

Fall Sports

Even though we're getting ready for another fun weekend of baseball, it's football season around here too. Kyler's football team is undefeated and Ky has 9 touchdowns for the season so far. He's so into the games and I just love watching him play. Kolter's team has only lost one game (Go Coach Danny!) and my cute litttle Kolter has even scored a couple touchdowns too. I haven't brought my camera to even one game yet...I guess I'll have to do that. My friend took some pics of Ky though, so when she passes them on to me I'll have to post one or two.

Happy Kids

Here are some fun pictures from our UEA weekend getaway to the Zion Ponderosa Ranch Resort. I took way too many pictures and I'll have to post some more later, but I just wanted to get a few up for now.

Just to the right of this tree is Jolley's Gulch. Do you know the story of how this got it's name? I don't want to tell you right now, but man, what a crazy story...

Take a Few Minutes and Watch...

This was a highlight for me from General Conference. I LOVED Elder Holland's testimony of the Book of Mormon. The Book of Mormon is an amazingly, powerful book. I have experienced the greatness that comes into your life when you study and read it on a regular basis. Nothing compares. It is true, this I KNOW.

Cute Kenz

Check out my lil' cutie on Elements Photography's Blog
I'm lovin' her blue eyes!!

Sliderzz Take 2nd

We spent the weekend and Danny's birthday (Happy Birthday D!) at a baseball tourney for Ky. It was lots of fun and the whole family showed their support by wearing their Sliderzz apparel. The boys had a great tourney, winning three of their four games and bringing home 2nd place trophies. Not much can beat a weekend of baseball in Southern Utah...I already can't wait for the next tourney :)