CHRISTMAS!!!

We enjoyed a beautiful Christmas Day this year!  After days and days of unrelenting rain and serious threat of flooding, the skies finally opened and the sun once again found its way to St. George!  Good thing too, since most of the kids got bikes this year!  

Christmas Eve Day was spent with all my family.  We went to visit my Dad's grave and everyone took a turn telling about their favorite memories of Dad.  It was very touching and a nice contrast to the usual frenzy surrounding Christmas.  We then went to Mom's for a talent show and Christmas Eve activities. At the end of the evening, Grandma surprised everyone with their Christmas present from her....she is taking all of us to see Wicked in California in March!!!  To celebrate, she served up 'Green' ice cream cones!  We can hardly wait! 

Merry Christmas!

Christmas Bookclub Party

Every Christmas our bookclub has a Christmas party and includes the husbands, but for one reason or another we have not been able to attend in the past.  This year finally worked out for us and we had a great time! I didn't bring my camera, so I am 'borrowing' the pictures from my ever reliable friend Allison - many past memories would have been lost if not for her ever ready camera!  Thanks Allison!

We had a great time.  Thanks to the McCune's for hosting a wonderful party!

We played some games and did an ornament exchange. We each brought an ornament that had to do with one of the books we read this past year. (As I was going through the list of books to figure out what to bring, I realized that Sky had actually read almost every book we had read for bookclub - I should have dragged him along to our monthly lunches!)

Mom and I both ended up with mementos from the book The Help.  I was lucky enough to get 'Hilly's SPECIAL Pie' (If you have read The Help you'll know what that is - if not, I will spare you the details!). Mom ended up with an ornament representing the pie!

 

 We had a great time and enjoyed the wonderful company (we missed all those who were not able to come!).  Bookclub is always one of the highlights of my month.  What a great group of ladies (and their supportive husbands!)

MERRY CHRISTMAS

A HUGE thank you to Tasha and Tim (infinity imagery) for our family pictures!  They did a fantastic job as always. How they get such great results with our troop of monkeys is beyond me.  That's true talent for you! (More pictures to come soon)Thanks to Tasha for her fantastic editing and putting together our Christmas cards - I love how they turned out!

Christmas in the Canyon

One of our families favorite things to do at Christmas time is to visit Tuacahn's 'Christmas in the Canyon'.  They put on a live Nativity show on their stage several evenings throughout December with the help of many volunteers from the community.  It is such a beautiful setting and having it be 'live' is so much more thrilling for the kids - they even have a real camel! They also deck the whole place out with beautiful lights and it looks amazing! McLane and Kim came from Vegas and joined us for the evening, the kids are always so excited to see them.

One of the highlights for the younger kids is seeing Santa! Mack, however, couldn't see what all the excitement was about - he wanted nothing to do with it! Bo was so keyed up that when Santa asked him what he wants for Christmas, Bo completely spaced what he wants this year (bike) and instead asked for the same thing he got last year! Oh well, I'm sure Santa will realize that one Handy Manny is enough and go for the bike instead!  

It seems like this is one of the only times that hats and gloves come out of the closet! Gotta love St. George weather! Grandma got everyone hot chocolate and the kids had a great time bundling up and taking in the beautiful sights.  

I love Christmas!

....did I mention I love Christmas....

Cort's Christmas Concert

Tonight we had the awesome opportunity to go hear Cort's Christmas band concert. He even got to decorate his trumpet! It never ceases to amaze me that they can take well over a hundred kids that 'don't know an oboe from an elbow - band humor', and at the end they put on a concert full of fun Christmas music!  Great job Cort!

Candy Houses

It was time once again for the kids annual 'Candy House' decorating fun!  The kids look forward to it all year.  Everyone gathers at Grandma's for a meal and a fun start to the Christmas season. We have finally discovered that Rice Krispie Treats are the way to go (far superior to gingerbread in our book)!

While the kids worked away, the men planted themselves in front of the BYU game - occasionally sneaking downstairs for a handful of candy!

We had a great time and the final results looked yummy!  I wonder how long they will last.....

Smart kid...

I had to take Mack out into the hall during Sacrament Meeting at church today, as usual (he's a fairly loud and active 22 month old). I was holding him and he desperately wanted to get down and run around. Since I wouldn't let him, he started calling "Daddy! Daddy!" as loud as he could - hoping Skyler would come save him.  Realizing that wasn't getting him anywhere, he paused.....and started calling, "Jesus! Jesus!"

Oh boy, I think I'm in trouble with this one!

Halloween Happenings

It always seems that from about the middle of October until the end of the year, life gets crazy. Good crazy. I love the holidays and all the fun activities they bring.  As usual, Halloween week was full of parties, friends, and fun.  We started out with the Fall Fest at my Mom's farm. (Sky and I went with a 'Nacho Libre' theme this year - sorry, no stretchy pants!)

 Cort was quite a 'chick magnet'!

 Taly made a beautiful Chinese Princess.

Who needs Mickey Mouse when 'Mackey Mouse' is so much cuter!

 Cowboy Bo and his friends enjoying the hayride.  I think Bo spent half the night on there.  We had a hard time getting him off!

We had perfect weather, and everyone had a great time!

Bo's preschool (Busy Beehive) did a trunk or treat.  Love Miss Megan's costume!

 Taly and her cousin Addie heading out the door for school!

 Taly and her cousin Sammi (witch) with some friends at the parade.

 Trey was so proud to be an 'Army Man'!

The kids had some friends over to decorate cookies and watch a movie. Cute Delaney decorated her face instead of her cookie!

On Saturday we went to Grandma's house to eat pizza and play before the kids went Trick or Treating.




 Grandma with several of the Grandkids.

Gavin (who can't keep on a pound!) was in his dream costume!

 Grandma, Mack and Izzy bouncing around.

 Fun with cousins - they have so much fun together, we love living by family!

 McLane and Kim came up from Vegas to spend the day with us and help take the kids Trick or Treating.  We loved having them there, and we sent them home with enough candy to last until next year!

Gotta Love Halloween.....

How else would you ever witness this sight at early morning scripture study....Love it!!

Conference Weekend

 We took the three oldest kids up to see Grandpa Lawrence speak at conference this past weekend. It's amazing how different it is traveling with only the three oldest.  Without the youngest three to be causing a ruckus, the drive was calm, the hotel room was relatively quiet...a preview of years to come, I guess!  We had a great few days spending time with Grandma and Grandpa, all of Sky's sibling, some of the in-laws, and a few cousins.  Sky's dad spoke at the Sunday afternoon session and we all went to the Conference Center to support him.  He did a fantastic job! He spoke about Courageous Parenting and gave wonderful advice directed toward raising teenagers.  Since we are just entering that phase in our lives, the message was perfect timing for us.
 
The grand kids were glued to his every word - they were so excited to see him up there speaking.

It was great to focus in on the older kids and spend some quality time with them.  They are growing up way too fast - wish I could slow time down.  I'm afraid they will be gone before I know it.

After conference we went back over to Mom and Dad's hotel.  I love this picture of Sky and his Dad.  Dad looks so relaxed - the talk was behind him and it was time to kick his feet up!  Being up in front of all those people has got to be nerve racking.  He was well prepared and he never seemed nervous, but I know I had butterflies just watching him!  Great job Dad, we love you!