Addison's Birthday!

Our little Addison turned 3 this January.  It is really amazing how time flies!  Addison has been such a blessing to our family.  She keeps us all smiling and is such a mild-mannered little girl.  Her are some pics from her birthday party.

For her birthday she received several new outfits, a backpack for preschool, a giggle doll with a wagon, play food to use in her play kitchen, and a stroller for her baby.  She was so meticulous about opening her gifts and it took her forever to open them all.  It was fun to watch her get excited about all her gifts.

Happy Birthday Addison!

Christmas Eve

Obviously, I am a little behind!  I am going to be playing catch-up!

For Christmas Eve, we always go out to my parents' house for our traditional steak dinner.  We had dinner and then had a nativity presentation done by the whole family.  My mom then put us all through a million pictures and then we opened our gifts.  Mom made every family a quilt this year.  They were all so beautiful and different.  I can't imagine how long it took her to do all of these, especially with there being nine of us!

James, Chelsea, and Turner

Emily, Nikolai, and Aleksi

All the siblings and the parents

Grandpa with all the grandkids (and yes, Turner and Addison are kissing!)

Andy's new do!

All the girls

All the boys
The girls are a little outnumbered!
(Caleb is wearing a suit jacket.  He was trying to embarass me.)

The boy cousins.  Grandma made them all jammies.

Emily and Mom with her quilt

Chelsea and Mom with her quilt.

Jamie, Ben, Elidh, and McKay

This is what the boys looked like on the way home.

And this is what their sister looked like on the way home!

Overall, it was a great Christmas Eve!

Christmas with Auntie

Every year we spend an evening with Aunty Karen exchanging gifts and enjoying each others company.  Auntie spoiled us, as usual, and we all left with all kinds of things.  Christina and I both received label makers which were a highlight of the evening.  Caleb was given tons of Denver Bronco and Boise State Bronco things.  I got this really cool cook book holder that I use every day.  Addison ended up with a couple pairs of new jammies, some books, hair things, and a nice big pillow.  The boys were given remote control cars that they played with the whole evening and for weeks on end!  We love our Auntie Karen and all the wonderful things she does for us.  She is a blessing to our lives.

Boys' Piano Recital

The boys have been taking piano lessons for a couple of months now.  They had their first recital the first of December.  They both did so great!  I think I was more nervous than they were!  It brought some tears to my eyes watching them perform so well on something they had worked so hard on.  I was one proud mommy!

December

 For the month of December, Caleb decided to "plan" out the month and do something Christmassy each night.  Our calendar has consisted of Christmas movie nights, game nights, plays, symphony, decorating, shopping for gifts, gingerbread houses, and so much more.  We are half way through the month and here are a few pics from our evenings.


At the first of the month, we decorated our home with all the Christmas decor.

This nativity was from my grandparents and it brings back great memories every year we put it up.

The kids with their favorite ornament

The 3 of them were just all sitting around the ornaments talking about each one and the memories they had.  It was pretty cute.

Dad putting up the angel

Trenton was very particular about where each ornament was hung.

Gavin kept getting irritated because his ornaments would fall off.

While decorating, we enjoyed some egg nog.  Addison enjoyed it a little too much.  It ended up all over her face and she loved it!

At the first of December the grandkids did gingerbread houses with my mom.  We had purchased a kit from Costco and so we did a family gingerbread house later that week. 

Addison helped by eating, and eating, and eating.

Gavin showed her how!

Trenton and Dad were the engineers and did a great job assembling everything.  They both were very precise!

We did suffer one casuality.  The poor gingerbread men were attacked by the big bad Addison.

The finished product.

Snow Day!!!

Oh what do you do on a snow day, when all the grass is white? Do you put on a coat, do you put on a scarf, or do you play in it all day? That is the song we made up when playing in the snow. This is what we did on our snow day!

We sat and watched a movie, took naps, built a snowman, made a slide, attempted to build a fort, and then finished our day with some hot chocolate. We didn't clean, do dishes, fold laundry, or anything else that should have been accomplished on a day off. It was the best day ever!