A Very Merry Christmas

It's Christmas time again,

and, as always,

my favorite moments come from

spending time with those we love most

and taking part in traditions

that have been a part of our family

for many years:

Christmas Eve always starts with a

Christmas Concert,

followed by the reading of the Nativity Story
and some favorite Christmas hymns.

There are special ornaments
chosen specifically for each person,
and then the stocking madness begins.
Over the years they've gotten so full
that we now have to resort to using
grocery sacks to contain all the goodness...
but there are still tiny treasures to be found
down deep in the toes.As soon as we get home from Grandma Great's
the kiddos pop into bed in anticipation
of the gloriousness of Christmas morning.
Okay, not so much anticipation this year...
they didn't rouse until 9:00!
But good ol' Santa came through again...
Bringing everyone "something they want"
(used to be "something to play,"but who "plays" with tennis shoes?)
followed by traditional gifts from Brad and I...

"something to share,"
"something to read,"
and "something to wear."

Same four kinds of things every year. (This is my attempt to keep my life and my budget under control at Christmas time!)

Every year on the morning of the 26th,
we trek on over to Grandma & Grandpa's house
so we can do it all again.
Here's how they looked 7 years ago
when we got our first digital camera...and here's how they look now.
(oh - they were so much cuter and
so much easier back then!)
Grandma is a master at picking great gifts, then...
and now.
Then...
and now.
Then...

and now.

But just like that First Christmas,

this year the best gift was the gift of life.

We're so grateful to have little Molly in our lives...

Just like we're grateful to have the Savior

each and every day.

We hope your Christmas was blessed-

full of family togetherness

and gratitude for the gift of God's Son.

A Broken Wii

What do you do when it's Christmas vacation

and the Wii is broken?

Well, you invite your oldest & best friend over,

you each build a catapult

defended by a mighty fortress,

and then you see who can break down

the other guy's block wall first.

I love a broken Wii!

Our Favorite Pioneer!

Our little girl takes her Halloween costumes very seriously.

Since she had just finished reading the entire

Little House on the Prairie series for the fourth time,

she decided that this year she would dress up as a pioneer.

And let me tell you... not just any pioneer costume would do

(that would be far too easy!),

so she special ordered one from Grandma in her favorite colors.

Doesn't she look beautiful!!

Just in case you're wondering, we did tell her that real pioneers wore earthy, muted colors. She didn't go for it.

Summer 2010 Top Ten

Aside from our little jaunt to beautiful Lake Tahoe,

summer around here was slow & easy.

Here are our top ten...

#10 - My First Ever Lemon Meringue Pie. Okay, so it doesn't seem like a big deal, but I'm not a baker, so this was quite the accomplishment. The best part was when Brad told me it was as good as his Mom used to make. Wow.


#9 - The Best Ward Party Ever. Seriously Fun. It was a luau and one of my beautiful young women danced - she's amazing! There were also a bunch of kids home from the Y that performed as well.


#8 - Swimming, swimming and more swimming. I love it! This year we bought a pop-up pool and the kids (especially Camille) lived in there - even though the water probably never got above 70 degrees!


#7 - Adam builds me some garden boxes. Gotta love that Family Life merit badge. Brad showed Adam how to build a basic box, and then he went to town. Can't wait for those homegrown tomatoes!

#6 - The boys go South. While I was at Girls' Camp, Brad and the boys snuck off for another trip to Magic Mountain. Oh, how they love that place!

#5 - A Long-Awaited Cousin Sleepover! Ana is one of our favorites, and this little slumber party was a much anticipated event. How fun that she showed up with the exact same jammies as Camille!

#4 - A visit from our favorite Arizona friends. Okay, so they're our only Arizona friends, but we do love them so. Seeing them was a highlight for me -- but you'll see shortly why I couldn't rate them as number one...

#3 - Matthew Turns 16,

#2- Gets his room T.P.ed by his friends,

#1 - and finally, and I mean FINALLY, gets a phone. He's still a great kid and we love him to death -- especially when he calls and lets us know where he is!

There you have it. Summer 2010 in a nutshell. Well, at least all the things I took pictures of are in a nutshell. Can't remember the rest...

Lake Tahoe 2010

This Summer's family trip was a relaxing getaway

to beautiful Lake Tahoe's North Shore

where we stayed for 3 fun days and

3 cozy nights in this quaint little condo.

Brad and I had our own suite downstairs,

and the kids shared this king-sized loft

up in the treetops.

Every morning the kids went swimming in

this beautiful, quiet, heated pool...

before we headed off for our daily adventures.

We spent the first day at King's Beach
taking turns with our kayak

and "swimming" in the frigid Tahoe waters.
(That snow on the mountains
should give you some indication of why
they were only waist deep!)


The second day we traveled to South Shore
where Camille, Adam and I went on a horseback ride
through the mountains (it was fabulous!!),

and then we headed to the beach for an afternoon of sun.

Brad rented a jet ski for a couple of hours

(his favorite part of the trip)

and took each of the kids out for a joy ride.

Two other highlights of our trip were discovering

this wonderful miniature golf course-

the best one you'll ever find anywhere-

and spending the third day at this small, isolated beach with the

best rock-hopping, crawdad catching and sunbathing

you'll ever find in Lake Tahoe anywhere!

(It was our favorite spot!)

It was such a wonderful week!

My favorite part was spending the evenings together

barbecuing our dinner on the porch

and watching World Cup Soccer matches as a family.

It was just perfect!

A Room for Camille...

Last year for Camille's birthday,

I bought her this yummy fabric that she

absolutely loved!

I promised her that I would

make her a quilt

(my first!),

and just one short year later,

I finally finished!

(Actually, as Camille is standing here reminding me,

Grandma and I finally finished...)

So for her birthday she got a new room -

not that yucky old pink room (ugh!),

but a joyous new ORANGE room!

She's so happy...

Just as a side note,

can you believe how much

she's grown up this year!

(look at the pictures below and

you'll see the amazing difference!)