Christmas 2011: In One Long Post

 So, I thought about setting a new years resolution to blog every single day of 2012, but that's just not realistic for me...but I really want to be better!
Let me sum up our December for you. After heading up our ward Christmas party AND ward Christmas service project (which were both a complete joy to do...really!), we held up a life-long tradition and went to see "Scrooge"
Dinner before at Pizza Factory

I guess we bored the big boys

Classic girl picture (where's Cara?)

Oh! I love Todd and Lexi

This is seriously the best family picture we got

Always good times when I get to sit next to this man

The week before Christmas, between the older 3, there was some kind performance every single day...from dance to school sings...It started with Bailey's dance recital. Then my camera died and I kept forgetting to charge it (like all great mom's do) and only got pics of this cutie

Christmas Eve was a HOOT! After dinner we had a "variety show" (not enough talent in this family to call it a "talent show"). My camera was up and running, but everything was videoed, so pictures are few.

Todd and Lexi did a Bollywood dance from the Wii

Cami, Cara, and I did a silly little lip sync to "Sisters" from White Christmas

 Not pictured (but maybe we will get a video montage up here one day) was a lip sync by CarAndrew, Feliz Navidad by Tim, Shel and the chocolate babies, a game by Gma Juju, reading by the Hansen boys, and the nativity by the Jonas children. Check out the youngest Jonas...

...Gah...this girl...

 Christmas morning was truly perfect. Since Christmas was on Sunday this year, we got up and went to church! Not only did it set the tone for the day, but we all looked so cute in our Christmas morning pictures. We came home, got back in jammies and dove into presents, with peanut butter cups from our stockings for breakfast- first breakfast, that is.

 

Angry Birds!

Harry Potter!

This lady made my Christmas season so special!

I decided since my girls were wearing swim robes from 2 years ago, this would be a great gift

with matching slippers!

Alrighy, I am counting this as being officially caught up! Stick around, we're going on a cruise next week and you won't want to miss pictures of me in a bathing suit. Plus I want to throw in a couple other update posts.

Blessing Day

Although this happened on Oct. 8, it's too special to forget...

What a great day when a mother gets to watch her husband give her new baby a name and a blessing! It's always such a spiritual high for me (which is a good pick-me-up when you hit that 6 week mark and the sleepless nights are starting to pull you down)

What proud parents!
This is a few of the men that were in the circleAnd the whole group
How thankful I am for husband who is a worthy priesthood holder!

Arches

 We spent Fall Break in Arches National Park, near Moab Utah.

The weather was perfect.

The children hiked like champs.

 The baby slept soundly on the mama

 And the grandparents came along

 (How cute are they? Hiking holding hands- Do you love it Tim and Shel?)

 Smiles all around

 With a little silliness

Perfect quick trip!

Carmel Apples

 One of the traditions I'm trying to create for the ladies of the family is a carmel apple afternoon. We made an assembly line of washing, inserting sticks, dipping (first in carmel, then in chocolate- HELLO!), decorating, and bagging. Not only is it a blast to be with my sisters (and when I say sisters, can you all just know that includes my mom and sister-in-law. I won't even tell you who's who in the picture because they are all sisters to me)

It's also so invigorating to create something

(I find that using twigs instead of popsicle sticks makes them much more halloweeny. Keep your eyes open around town and you will find an empty lot with a fallen tree or a neighbor trimming one back and take all the twigs you can get!)

And at the end of the day we have yummy treats for our families and neighbors

(a hole punch and some ribbon transformed my boring paper plate into something much more fun to give. My homemade tag topped it off nicely, right?)

Another tradition I'd like to keep is the glitter pumpkins. Not pictured this year, but it did happen and I learned that glitter still makes me happy.

Oh so happy!

Moving Forward, Looking Back:Starting with Halloween

 I'm seriously going to catch up on my blog and become a regular again. So I've decided to start with the most recent and move back.

Happy Halloween!

This year was my very favorite Halloween of all time!
Check out my very own cast of WIZARD OF OZ:

 Adeline as The Wicked Witch of the West (or Elphaba)

 Bailey as Glinda the Good Witch (so popular!)

 Lila as Dorothy

 Complete with ruby slippers

Austin wouldn't play along with our theme, but was so thrilled to be a BYU football player with REAL football pads

 Even the newlyweds got dressed up!

BEST. HALLOWEEN. EVER!