Christmas with Grandma

The whole family decked out in red (and black).

Masen's party @ Chuck E. Cheese

Celebrating cousin Masen's birthday party with all the cousins at Chuck E. Cheese. They had a blast.

Christmas 2009

It's hard trying to use both a camcorder and a video camera. Usually I end up using one and not the other and that's what happened this Christmas. I was video taping and the digital photos didn't happen. We were able to spend a little time with each set of our parents. Unfortunately Sam was real sick and had been throwing up the previous night, so we weren't able to take him anywhere. We separated - thanks grandma for watching him for awhile. Not the ideal situation, but what can you do?

Girls night in

The girls (mostly Taylor) have been making plans for awhile now for when Grandma came to visit. Taylor found a recipe to make a mask and wanted to have a girls night where they put on masks, painted finger nails, did makeup, and put on a fashion show. Lucky grandma! They all had a great time (except Sam, who had to go to bed and miss out on most of the fun).

Taylor's reciting & school parties

The children in Taylor's class each memorized a portion to the poem "The Night Before Christmas" and they performed it at their class party. Taylor had the longest part and also memorized a missing students part the day before. She has very sharp memory skills. We were able to go to both Taylor and Dani's parties. Dani got a letter from an elf at Santa's workshop.

"Gingerbread" Houses

Taylor's class made Gingerbread houses out of graham crackers, so of course the other kids wanted to make one too. Since I already had all the supplies, it was easy to put together. The frosting wasn't the best choice we found out when the crackers kept sliding. I managed to get pictures before Sam's fell completely apart, but we put it back together.

Sledding

Snow! I don't have to be scared of it this year, because I don't have to drive anywhere in it if I don't want to. The kids are enjoying shoveling the driveway and going on sled rides.

Tree lighting

We went to the Nampa tree lighting a few weeks ago, but these pictures are from the tree lighting at the elementary school. It was very cold, but we had good friends to keep us company. I don't know why we bother to wait in line to see santa. Three of the children have no desire to sit on his lap (as you can tell by Joseph's face).

Mark's big day

Mark has been reminding me for some time now that we haven't been to a football game together since we were dating (as if I was only doing it to impress him or something). This year I decided to go for it and got tickets to the last BSU game for Mark's birthday. We had a good time and because we were prepared, weren't near as cold as many around us.

More Christmas Dresses

The girls have been blessed to have several Christmas dresses this year. They'll be lucky if they get to wear them once each this season, but that's okay because they love to wear them year round. And Mark got his calling already. He is now serving as the ward clerk.

Christmas Letter 2009

Dear Family and Friends,

Thanksgiving has just passed and we have much to be grateful for as we head into the remainder of the Christmas season.

Mark finished school about a year ago at this time and soon after began working at one of the local hospitals as a Psychiatric Nurse Practitioner. We feel very blessed to have had several job offers in such hard economic times. He enjoys his work and loves the new opportunities. He has been working diligently to catch up on everything that had to be neglected during his school years and has not experienced free time to start up any desired hobbies as of yet. His family has certainly enjoyed having him around more. Mark has served in the Elders quorum presidency for the majority of the year until recently when we were shifted to a new ward due to boundary changes. He eagerly awaits a new calling!

Stacey has been learning to coordinate the schedules of 4 young children. With 2 in school and 2 taking naps, the day to day routine can get pretty complicated. Stacey enjoyed a trip to Spokane in May for Mark’s graduation and another trip to Oregon with the whole family to visit her mother while spending time at the beach. She has served in the Primary Presidency at church and is now helping in the nursery.

Taylor turned 7 this year and entered the 1st grade. She enjoys being in school all day and informs us she is in the “popular” crowd. She loves to chase the boys at recess and spends just about every free minute reading. Taylor gets through a chapter book in about an hour. She has been introduced to Hannah Montana and hasn’t looked back since. Everything thing is Hannah Montana including Taylor who believes she is Hannah Montana Jr. and goes around the house rocking out. She has lost 5 teeth to date and is growing into an adult more each day.

Dani started Kindergarten this year and can’t get enough of it. She gets frustrated with the Wed/Fri and every other Mon schedule because she doesn’t feel like she’s in school enough and it’s too inconsistent. She has met a new friend that she wants to spend every waking minute with. Dani is learning and growing quickly trying to catch up with her sister. She is a great helper around the house and takes real good care of her younger brothers.

Sam has hit those fun toddler years at age 2 and is finding where his boundaries are. He has earned the nickname “Smiley Sam” because most of the time he is found with a big smile on his face. He loves people and is certainly not shy. His interests include Spiderman, cars, and most recently, trains. We are still trying to figure out what he says most of the time, but his talking is getting better every day.

Joseph is one already and growing too fast. He has been such a sweet addition to our family and none of us can get enough of him. The children adore him and want to be around him all the time. Jo Jo, as we call him, has just started walking across the room, but still being unsteady prefers to crawl. He likes to put up the front of being shy, but he’s such a lovable little guy.

Thanks for your continued love and friendship. We hope through this Christmas time, and beyond, your family is able to find happiness and joy in the little things.
Merry Christmas, Happy Holidays, and Happy New Year.

Love,

Mark, Stacey, Taylor, Dani, Samuel, and Joseph

Joe @ 1 year

Joe's walking

Joseph is walking before his first birthday. He's still real unsteady and prefers to crawl, but he'll be running with his siblings in no time. The girls wore one of their many Christmas dresses tonight. Somehow they got switched and wore each others dress. Joe wasn't in the mood for pictures. He threw up his birthday cake and had a fever the day after we celebrated. Not sure what brought that on. He's doing much better today, but is still not eating much. Guess he had a little too much cake.

Birthday celebration

We celebrated Joseph's 1st birthday with family. He has just started walking and was showing off for everyone. He loved opening some of the gifts, but was more interested in the camera. He ate every last piece of his cake and was begging for more.

Festival of trees

Our Thanksgiving tradition has been to go to the Festival of Trees. We enjoyed storybook characters,pretty trees, crafts,dancers, and fishing, but our favorite this year was the magic show that captivated the children. It was amusing to watch for us adults.

Thanksgiving time

First, Unfortunately I did not win the Harvest, but they were on sale, so my loving husband got me one for Christmas anyway - yeah! Can't wait to put it to use. We enjoyed a nice Thanksgiving at Stacey's dad's house this year. We didn't eat as much as we wanted too and didn't stay long enough for seconds, but I'm sure our stomachs thanked us. Black Friday treated us well. We were able to get what we wanted online so there was no early morning craziness for us. Hope you all got what you wanted and that it ended up being worth it.

Christmas present

We're not big on getting expensive Christmas gifts for each other. This year, however, there is only one thing I want (within reason) called the Harvest. It's a great product to conveniently store and rotate your canned goods. I dread putting my groceries away and I believe this would take the frustration out of it. Mark thinks he wants to get this for me, but I don't think he needs to spend the money. I'm posting this in hopes to win myself one instead. You can try to win too (or other great items)by going to www.shelfreliance.com. Good luck, and Merry Christmas.

Monkey Buziness again

The kids earned a trip to Monkey Business again. This time the rock wall was open and even Mark and I gave it a try. The climbing isn't bad, it's the repelling that's scary.

Halloween 2009

I don't think the costumes were a surprise this year. Taylor as Hannah Montana, Dani as Snow White, Sam as Spiderman, and Joe as a lion, long enough for the picture.

Our 7 year old