Winter Break Getaway

While I'm working for Crystal Inn, I can get pretty good rates on rooms if the hotel I want to stay in isn't very busy.  So one Friday night I got adjoining rooms at the SLC location and it was a fantastic mini get away!  It was only $25/room!  

There is a Denny's right next to the hotel, and kids eat free!  We were able to get 2 free kids meal per paying adult, so our bill was only $26!  I love getting deals.  Can you tell?

I wanted to kids to see the candy window displays at Macy's, they were awesome!

While the kids were fascinated by the candy displays we got a few selfies in.

After we took all of the selfies above Casey said, we should turn around so it looks more Christmasy.

Casey wants the lights at Temple Square to be one of our Christmas traditions, which is fine, but I really hate people.  HA!  I'm thinking that this AFTER Christmas SLC trip might have to be one of our NEW family traditions.  We can enjoy the beautiful scenery and dodge the crazies!

Lexi's feet in this picture make me smile big time.

Kids and swimming pools.  They LOVE them.  Luke was so timid.  Alexa thinks she's a mermaid.  I know she'll be ready for swimming lessons this summer, and Luke won't.  And little Taylor bug.  She is so like me sometimes that it's crazy.  She stood and read the pool rules and made sure they were all being followed.  She said, "See Caleb...right there is says no rough play!"

Adjoining rooms=heaven.  Everyone slept really well.  I asked Caleb what was more fun, Christmas or the get away.  He said the get away.  I guess I'll tell Santa to tone it down a bit.

Christmas Day

Finally!!  It's here!!!  I had to work the graveyard shift on Christmas Eve, so coming home to see the piles of presents from Santa was so fun!

Casey & I got the big kids new bikes and the little kids new scooters.  We also got the big kids some cool bedding that zips up the sides like a sleeping bag and got Luke & Lex a fun little desk.

 My pictures didn't work very well on Christmas day.  Dang it!  Here is Rylee....taking it all in.  Just getting her morning cobwebs out before the craziness begins.

 Caleb was so excited about his football!  He said to me that when he asked Santa for a football, he wanted to ask him for a Panthers one and didn't dare.  He said it was like Santa read his mind.  That man is simply amazing.

 Luke got a new castle and a giant red Dragon!  Aren't 4 year olds the best??!!

 Boba Fett action figure.  Check.

 Little lady Lexi got her baby doll.  Her name is Trinity and she LOVES her so much!

 Taylor & Rylee both got TWIN hatchimals!

 When they hatched out of their eggs it was pretty amazing.

 My little mini me cracked me up and made me sad at the same time.  Her little twins were both needing something from her and she didn't know what to do and started crying.  "I don't know how I'm supposed to do this!  How do I make both of them happy!!??"  Oh sweet Taylor...story of my life dear.

 But her babies finally took a nap and she was able to enjoy her new swing!

 She even shared with her sister.  Love, love, love.

Christmas Eve

At the beginning of the month, Eddie brought a Christmas Lego advent calendar!  It was fun!  The kids all alternated days opening up a square and got to build something new for the Christmas scene.

Christmas Eve was on a Sunday this year and we needed to get to Sacrament meeting.  We woke up a litle early and got our Christmas cookies decorated and then the kids all ate one for breakfast!  Best mom ever!

I love watching these little people decorate their cookies.  Their creativity...their concentration...their cute smiles....I love it all!  They get their own knives and share small tubs of frosting.  There is a whole lot of finger licking fun going on and I make sure the finger licks stay on their side of the counter!

After church we went to Brad & Mona's house for a delicious late lunch.  Mona made a ton of treats!  Here are her words, "The "in honor of section". Fruitcake in honor of my mom. Divinity in honor of my mom and grandma sorensen. Toffee in honor of my uncle Jim. Shenkalies in honor of my grandma Aebischer. Carrot pudding in honor of my grandma Sorensen." 

 Can you see Rylee's roll?  Logan was grossing out his sister with his Jello eating etiquette and Brad read us the Christmas story.

We watched a cute video on YouTube that my mom had shown the Anderson family with kids talking about the birth of Christ.  It was pretty dang adorable.

This year we drew names as a family.  I think that I will make it a new tradition.  Then on Christmas Eve we will open pajama presents and the names that we drew from one another.  Taylor's gift from Alexa was a HIT!  We have had a rope hanging in the cherry tree for several months and she LOVES to swing on it every single day.  So Alexa got her a little disc swing.  Tears of joy were just streaming down her face.

Time to open Christmas Pajamas!  The girls were so excited, they were ready for bed and just had to change again.

All of the cuties got footie jammies this year.

 This was the first year that all of the kids got to sleep in the same room on Christmas Eve.  That one night ended up really being over a week that they slept that way! 

 Caleb gave Santa his gingerbread cookie that says St Nick, Taylor gave him her fanciest tree, and Rylee poured the milk.  Caleb made sure that there was enough carrots for each of the reindeer and left Santa a little note.

Deep Thoughts

I kept track of a few funny things that my kids have said or done over the past several months.  Things that I think are so adorable that I don't want to forget.  I don't want to jinx myself, but I have a stellar memory.  So good....that I imagine it'll be the first thing to go as I get older.  I remember the most weird things.  What song was playing at a certain time, what outfit I was wearing when something happened, the time my sister forgot my birthday, where I was standing at certain moments, seriously it's weird things to remember. 

CALEB
He asked the cutest question ever one day,  "What does curiosity mean?"  Just that buddy!  He also also started to say, "I love you mom"  quite a bit.  When he leaves for school, when I leave for work, or if he is just going outside to play.  As the parent, I'm supposed to be the role model.  But in this instance, he most definitely is.  I love yous should be said as often as possible.

TAYLOR
We were headed to Tremonton one day and Taylor said, "Is this road called the freeway or three-way?"  I laughed a little and said, "This is the freeway."  She said, "Oh...so like free ice cream or free slurpees or free swimming?"  Yes bug....something like that.

Another time we were getting gas and she said, "Are you down to a quarter of a tank?" (because that is when I usually like to fill up) and I said, "This time we have even less than that!"  She replied, "So we only have a dime of a tank?!"

I ordered the girls new leotards for dance class and they were trying them on.  The leotards snap at the crotch.  So, they learned a new word.  I was telling them that if they unsnap it at the crotch it might be easier to go to the bathroom.  A few moments later I could hear Taylor saying, "crotch.....crotch....crotch.....that is such a stupid word."  Isn't that the truth!!

Taylor says hookups instead of hiccups.  So dang cute!

RYLEE
At Halloween time I was telling Rylee a joke.  I asked her, "Why didn't the skeleton cross the road?"  She didn't hesitate and answered, "Because he didn't have any nuts!"  The punchline is really because he didn't have any guts, but I didn't corrected because really....she wasn't wrong!

When she was thinking about her Christmas list she said, "I think I'm going to ask Santa to give me a magic wand.  Then me and my sisters can turn into mermaids."

This girl can CRY.  She can turn on & off the tears like a switch.  It's quite amazing.  When we bought our camp trailer it brought her to tears.  I asked her why she was crying and she said, "Don't you know that these are happy tears??!!"  At the peach days parade our neighbor, Allie, was riding on a float with one of her friends and as she went by we waved and Rylee started to cry and I asked her why and she said, "I'm just so proud of Allie being in the parade.  She did such a good job!"

LUKE
When I'm not around and Luke is wanting something he'll say to Casey, "Can I have a snack?  Mom said yes."

One morning I dropped a new container of 18 eggs.  Almost all of them broke.  Luke came running over and picked up 2 that didn't break and as cute as can be he said, "Look mom!  These ones didn't hatch!"  Talk about Mr. Optimistic!

ALEXA
I've been trying to teach Luke & Lexi how to buckle.  One day we were getting out the door and I told them to get started buckling while I ran into the house to get something, when I came back out to the van Luke was in total meltdown mode and Lexi was laughing so hard that she was almost in tears.  I asked her what was so funny and she said, "Luke can't do his seatbelt!"

Alexa says wimsuit instead swimsuit.  Taylor was correcting her the other day and I told her, "Lexi can call it a wimsuit if she wants to!"

I had my drivers license out the other day and Lexi was looking at it and asked me, "Is this your mom card?"

Christmas Spirit

Kids and their Christmas lists!!  I love them.  Lexi said she wanted a baby doll, and Luke said that he wanted a castle with a knight.

Eddie was up to some shenanigans this year.  He is quite the fun little elf!  

We had something so fun this year!  We had a 'Secret Santa' deliver us something for the 12 Days of Christmas.  It was such a fun thing for the whole family.  I think that I will try to pay it forward and think of a family next year that we can give gifts to.  We got some fabulous things...a game, a beautiful Christmas book, cupcakes, soup & bread, ice cream, paper dishes, and more!!

One afternoon we busted out our sugar cookies.  I've started making them early in the month, and then freezing them until we need them.  They are still just as fabulous!

I happened to find a gingerbread house kit at Walmart that had 5 tiny houses!  It's like it was made for my little people!  Every year I think that I am going to like this activity and I end up quite cranky by the time we are done.  We figured out this year that we aren't going to us frosting to keep the houses together.  We are using hot glue from now on.  The frosting is going to be for decor purposes only!

The Anderson party was a fun time as always.  They kids told us the nativity story.  They are a bunch of cuties!

Grammy & Papa Don gave Caleb some laser tag guns!  I remember playing laser tag with my dad when I was younger.  It made me so mad whenever he would shoot me using my image in the mirror.  They gave all of my other kids really cute sequin pillows!  They love them.

My little helper was all up in my kitchen doing whatever he could to help me get some Christmas goodies ready.  My divinity FINALLY worked this year.  It is Caleb's favorite.

I asked my mom if she wanted to meet up with us one night at Christmas Village in Ogden this year.  It was a good time!  Not too cold and not too crowded.  Luke was Grammy's best friend all night long.  We went to Lucky Slice for a slice of pizza afterwards.  I loved it...but the kids never want to go again.  It's a really small space & our pizza took forever.  I guess I'll just have to go without them.  

We went to Willard Bay to see the lights and Santa Claus.  We timed it perfectly - there wasn't a line at all to see him!  Caleb asked for a football, Taylor & Rylee asked for guitars (random), Lexi asked for a baby doll, and Luke couldn't get away from him fast enough!

Caleb is 10

It's official!  Caleb is now in double digits!  I've had the privilege of being this little man's mother for 10 years now!  He is so smart.  He is always honest.  He is a fantastic helper.  He has given me the opportunity to practice a lot of patience....probably to prepare me for his siblings that came after him.  I hope that he had a great birthday. We all sure love him!

He has had the same birthday dinner for several years in a row now.  Kraft Macaroni & Cheese, garlic bread & apples.  He was lucky enough that Angela, Griffen & Blake showed up with a holiday mountain dew & a kitkat to go along with it!

He had the hardest time deciding what kind of dessert he wanted.  He loves cake and loves all the cakes that he has had over the years, but he REALLY loves marshmallow brownies.  So that is what he decided on this year.

Casey & I gave him a super soft queen sized blanket blanket to go on his bed.  It is so comfortable and this image of Boba Fett from Star Wars is on it.

This year we let Caleb have a birthday party with a few friends.  The invitation said that we would go to the Jump Zone in Logan, but it happened to be very foggy that night.  AND - Blue Steel was broken, so I had to borrow Toni's car to transport the kiddos.  So we ended up at the Adventure Zone in Brigham city.  It is a place with a bunch of different bouncy houses.  His party was Five Nights at Freddy's themed.  I don't understand FNAF at all.  Left to right we have, Lexi, Laynee, Addison, Taylor, Rylee, Allie, Luke, Caleb, Gavin, RJ & Dezman.

One of the toys that he was the most excited to get was the Zombie Lab Kit.