Christmas Eve

Christmas Eve was an anticipated day.

The kids had one present under the tree with their name on it and it was their Christmas Eve present. {I will tell you about the names on the other presents later} We didn't have much going on for Christmas Eve and so we decided to host a party. We invited Grandparents and any Aunts and Uncles that didn't have anything else to do.

Before they all came we sat down to open our gifts.

But before we open the gifts there is a funny story. I needed a chair to sit in and so I asked Brinton to go and get me a folding chair. I got my camera and everyone had their present. I sat down and the chair under me broke. I ended up on the floor. Russell looked at me and said, "Are you ok because I really need to laugh!" I responded and said that I was ok and then everyone laughed. It was pretty funny. We took the folding chairs out to the garage so that no one else would have the opportunity have a chair break on them:)

Then we opened presents.

{It cracks me up that they are so excited to open a present, even when they know it is probably pajamas}

Youngest first...

Logan and Andrew got new pjs.

Now the girls turn: Hattie got a new robe.

And by the look on Breanna's face
you can see that she is shocked
and probably hopes that she gets a robe too.


Now the older boys.
The older boys also got new robes.
(and because I deleted Brock's picture--you'll have to believe me that he opened a present and it was a robe.)


Then it was time for everyone to come. We had Pizza and Salad for dinner and then spent the evening playing games, ping-pong, the wii, watching movies, and visiting.
It was a very enjoyable evening.

The little boys even got into playing games. :) {102 pick up domino game}

Then everyone left and the kids went to bed, in hopes that St. Nick would soon arrive.

Christmas Pictures

The Sunday before Christmas, everyone looked so good we had a little photo session.

A Couple Extracurricular Activities

Brock has been playing basketball.

I love watching his games.

They are doing great.

He will play another league in January.
Hattie has been taking dance.
She LOVES it.
She had a recital and did an awesome job.
She looks beautiful too!

PEEK A BOO

We were taking some snapshots of the kids for our Christmas Card.

Sometimes it is hard to get Andrew to focus.

So instead of smiling we played a little game of Peek a Boo

Enough Said

Happy Thanksgiving

We had HOMEMADE ROOTBEER for Thanksgiving. I think this was the highlight of my kids day. Watching the Rootbeer bubble over. It was magical :)
For the week of Thanksgiving, the kids had the week off of school.
It snowed alot.
We played alot of games.
We tried to go and see Tangled {at least 2 times} It was sold out both times.
I don't know why we weren't smart enough to pre order our tickets.
We went bowling instead.
We ate Thanksgiving Dinner at Grandma & Grandpa Anderson's
We ate Pie at Grandma & Grandpa Taylor's
We talked alot about being Thankful.
WE had a WONDERFUL Day !!

My Musical Children

I love FESTIVAL time. I love when the kids learn their new songs. I love when the sit down and play for fun because they have their songs memorized. {I remember being a kid when I had something memorized, I played it over and over and over...I do remember annoying my brothers because they just wanted me to stop} Breanna and Brinton did a fabulous job on their festival songs. Here they both are at their recital.

Brinton is also taking band at school. He is playing the trumpet. For their winter concert, Brinton had a solo. It was neat they started their song in the audience and then walked up to the front for the rest of the concert. He did GREAT job on his solo.

It is also fun for Brinton to be in band because his cousin and best friend Alli is in his class.

Breanna also had the opportunity to be in a little singing group. They met once a week and practiced. It was fun for her to come home--she would always be singing a warm up song or a fun song they had learned. They put on a Christmas concert.

Little Miss Bonneville

Breanna had a fun opportunity to be in the Miss Bonneville pageant this year as a "Little Miss Bonneville" A girl in our ward Kayla asked if Breanna would be interested----and she was.
Breanna was able to be in the opening number, she was Kayla's escort, and she was able to participate in a few ettiquette classes with Kayla. She was also able to spend some time with Kayla each week. It was fun for Breanna to have a "big" sister for a few weeks.

This is their opening dance: During the evening gown portion...

Some of the Miss Bonneville contestants {Kayla in black}

A little gift for the Little Miss Bonneville girls

The MC must have been saying something funny.

What a fun experience for Breanna and Kayla.

We were glad for the chance to do this and who knows maybe when Breanna is in highschool she will want to try for Miss Hillcrest or whatever highschool she is attending.

How could I not post this cute red-nosed boy.

He loves being outside.

I will have to be much more careful next year when he figures out how to

open the doors by himself.

Logan Turns 3

Logan was so excited for his birthday!!

He knew that it was after Halloween.

{and for me the mom it is really right after the Halloween celebrations!!}

He is figuring out how to let people know he is three!! This year the theme was Toy Story, and we went with the easy version of cake making.
Logan with his balloons.

Opening the presents

CAKE and Singing Time!!

Blowing out the candles

Logan is such a sweet little boy. He loves to snuggle. He also loves to tease and you will often hear him calling someone Paco or some other name {he has learned a few not so great names to call people and we are working on that} He tries his hardest to do the things the big kids do.

I can't believe how fast time has flown since he came to our family. He is growing up a little faster than I want--but what do I do??

Happy Birthday Logan.