Christmas

Christmas Eve has arrived!!  Of course we have to open up some pajamas!  They all know that it's going to happen. 

Something fun about having kids this close in age is that I still get to do this kind of stuff and they don't care at all.  I think they all look so dang cute!

The annual new Christmas pajamas in front of the tree picture!

After we did our family gift exchange we got the cookies and carrots ready.  They kids all gave Eddie a hug & said their goodbyes.  And then it was off to bed!

These kids must've been so good!!!  Santa found each of them and they all got some amazing gifts.  I don't take many pictures on Christmas.  I like to enjoy the moment instead.

Caleb LOVES his sweets!  Luke asked for dinosaur stuff...and got a pretty awesome one!

I am so glad that our cameras captured these moments of shock & joy.  Christmas is so magical through the eyes of all of my cute kids.

Freeze Family Party

We got together with the Freeze's for an early Christmas Eve dinner.  Luke & Alexa enjoyed watching the digital picture frame in the front room.

 While we were waiting for everyone to arrive, this cute picture of Grandma & the first set of twinsies was captured!!

 Logan decided to use a seat cover for a bib.  That boy cracks me up sometimes.

 After dinner Mona had planned a cup relay race game to play.

 Uncle Colby read the Chrismtas story and then we opened our gifts!  Caleb got a Nerf Zombie survival kit/gun and was in heaven.  Taylor & Rylee were so excited to get Heelys!!

 This little boy loves me and I love him right back!  It isn't very often that he lets me get out of his sight.

 Brad & Mona gave Taylor, Rylee & McKenna the softest sweaters!  They all looked so cute & cozy.

 I'm not sure what Caleb loved more.  His Nerf gun or the tasty divinity.  

I consider myself pretty lucky.  Most people have nothing but complaints about their in laws.  My mother & father-in-law are pretty great.  

Anderson Family Party

The Saturday before Christmas we celebrated with the Anderson side of the family.  We had a yummy dinner, opened presents, had a talent show & played games!

Spot it is a game that seriously can be so easy & so hard at the same time!  The kids really liked playing Bingo & being able to pick a prize out of the basket.

Caleb was a happy boy!  He performed some magic tricks for his talent and then he got a cool toy army helicopter and watch tower. He even got a neat WW2 book from grammy & papa don.

One of the best things of the night was Jackson and his new camera!  He was hilarious.  I'm curious to know how many pictures he took that night.

 I am so that these cute cousins have each other.  They all got cute little Kitty Surprise dolls from Grammy & Papa Don.

 These littles were so fun to watch.  So much excitement!  I must have been to busy watching them because I didn't get many pictures.  Lexi was feeling a little under the weather and towards the end of the night she was sound asleep with her new present from Grammy & Papa Don.

For Taylor & Rylee's talent show contribution I joined each of them for a duet on the piano.  They did such a good job!  They got their first lego set as a gift too and could hardly wait to get home & get them put together.  Taylor got Frozen and Rylee got The Little Mermaid.

Each one of these cuties in this picture hold a place in my heart.  Each of them are different.  Each  of them are adorable. 

Traditions

One of the best traditions is EDDIE!  He showed up like clockwork on December 1st.  He had a trail of crepe paper from the kids rooms downstairs all the way up to the piano!  He left a little note & a fun lego type advent calendar!

 He was full of fun and shenanigans all month long.  He sure is lucky to be in a house full of good kids.

 No Christmas would be complete without Christmas cookies!  I like to make them early on in the month and then freeze them until closer to Christmas.   They stay just as delicious!

I had amazing helpers as always.

Casey & I attempted to do a glaze frosting on some of  the cookies.  We definitely need more practice, but it was still fun.  I love when the kids get their cookies all finished.  They all have their own style and I could never pick a favorite cookie!

Luke got a camera from Grammy & Papa Don  at their Christmas party & he has taken so many cute pictures!

I love that Wilton made a gingerbread set with exactly 7 miniature houses.  It was meant to find us!  I love looking at our little village throughout the month.  We used hot glue this time to keep the houses together.  The kids were upset that they couldn't eat them, but I think gingerbread is yucky.  And I KNOW that they got plenty of sweet things throughout the month.

The kids really lucked out this year!  My visiting teacher brought over an amazing homemade gingerbread house!  All of it was edible and the kids demolished it and ate it for a couple of days.

I don't think that Ogden's Christmas Village will be a yearly tradition, but every few years for sure!  They had tons of photo opportunities, and a cute little train ride around the block.  Monday night was the night to go!  It wasn't very crowded at all.

This is one of my favorite pictures ever.  Looking at my people being happy makes me happy!

 These kids.  I think that they were more excited to stop at a gas station to get hot chocolate than to see the lights.  It was a perfect way to end a chilly winter evening.

Happy Birthday Caleb

My Caleb had his crown birthday!!  He turned 11 on the 11th.  He was DYING to have a birthday party, so Casey & I let him choose if he wanted presents from us or a party.  Because seriously.....how do people afford both??!!

 We ended up planning his party at the trampoline park in Ogden.  The party included pizza, so with a bunch of hungry kids that was a bonus!  We did end up buying him two gifts.  The sweet shirt he is wearing (came with a camo jacket that you'll see in other pictures) and a framed picture with his name.

It was such a fun place!!  Basketball, dodge ball, slides, & obstacle courses.  Luke had a blast.  In fact, I'm pretty sure that everyone did!

 Since Caleb is still loving the WW2, we had a army/camouflage theme.  It turned out pretty cute considering there was a ton of green & brown.

 Josh Johns, Dreyson Dietrich (his bestie), Hector Villings, Taylor, Caleb, Ben Johns, Sophie Bywater, Allie Glenn & RJ Olsen.

 We didn't have enough room in the van & the truck to take everyone.  Angela was nice enough to host a girls night with Rylee & Alexa.  Nails, face masks,  dinner & a movie!  Self care at its finest.

He loved the play on words with his cake. BDay instead of DDay.

 Look at his smile.  I love it.  He is such a smart boy.  He doesn't like to read unless the book has pictures in it.  He also only likes books with nothing but facts and he retains the information that he reads.  I remember he was having a conversation with his Grandpa & Uncle about the war and they couldn't remember the Generals name and Caleb piped up, you mean General Douglas MacArthur?  He is doing great in school and his sense of humor right on point.  He asked Casey what time it was once and in classic dad joke fashion Casey replied, "Time for you to get a watch."  Caleb replied with, "Time for you to get a new joke."

 His favorite birthday meal hasn't changed in years!!  Kraft Macaroni & Cheese, garlic bread & apple slices.  Happy Birthday Boy!!!

Kitchen Makeover

Casey & I decided that the house was ready for some improvements.  We started in November with the kitchen and upstairs bathroom counter tops.  The bathrooms sink has always been badly chipped, so a new sink was definitely needed.  And look at that fancy new potty!!

Here is an after shot of the bathroom.  It turned out so pretty!!  (please note the floor in this picture)

 Here is a before shot of the kitchen.  I don't know why - and I know it seems weird - but I have always felt like I live in someone else's house.  It's never felt like mine.  Hopefully these improvements will help me with that weirdness.  We've only lived here for 13 years.

Along with the new counter tops, we were planning on getting new carpet throughout the house.  Then my brain went into overdrive and I asked Casey if he could tear out the kitchen floor, put down new floor and extend it all the way into the bathroom.  He really is super-man!  My wish was granted!  He had the best helpers tearing out nails and the old floor boards.

 Dinner on the floor during the craziness!

 I love how he is with all of our kids.  He always let's them be right up in his business.  

Casey is amazing when it comes to problem solving.  Our new sink is significantly deeper than the last one AND the disposal ended up on the opposite side than before.  After a few days he had it figured out and it works like a charm.  Luke was there every step of the way.

The after pictures of the counter tops & the subway tile back-splash.  Is it dumb that it makes me happy?  It is so pretty.  So new.  And I spend probably 3/4 of my day in this particular area and I absolutely love it.  Picking out a slab of granite was so hard!  The samples and the actual slabs don't even look the same.  I wanted one with flecks of brown to match the cabinets, but also wanted it to be light gray or white to brighten up the kitchen.  The old stuff was yellow and I really wanted to get away from that.  We decided on Colonial White.

The kitchen floor went in so smoothly!  But the bathroom was another story.  After several youtube videos and trips to Ace Casey figured it out.  It really does blow my mind how patient he is and how driven he is to figure things out.  Definitely something I should work on within myself.

The finished floors are amazing!!  They are perfection.  Casey did such a great job!  I know his knees were killing him, but man oh man.  It looks so nice.  It is easy to clean, and the color is so pretty.

 We had R&S marble in Brigham do our counter tops & back splash.  I WOULD NOT recommend giving them your business.  They were amazing to work with at the beginning,  but there was way too much crazy toward the end of it.  And I'm still not 100% satisfied with a couple of things.  We got our flooring through Hales Bros in Tremonton and they were great to work with.  We are planning on putting a fresh coat of paint on the walls and have them do our carpet this coming spring.