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Matt helped the kids sled down the ramp in our backyard.JPG)
They LOVED it - in case you couldn't tell :).JPG)
For some reason my camera wasn't focusing, but we had to remember the fun time anyway!.JPG)
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The line was long, they could hardly wait!.JPG)
McKinley with Santa and the Mrs..JPG)
Mason was NOT Santa's biggest fan! :).jpg)
After a visit with the Big Man himself, the girls paid a visit to the reindeer, as well. Rudolph must have been sleeping in the barn that night :).JPG)
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But the moment you turn your head....JPG)
There are hardly words - those little stinkers! Mason and Carson are always up to some sort of mischief! At least we'll have good blackmale for them, someday! :)
CONGRATS to my sister Amy and her new fiance Brett! What better way to celebrate Valentine's Day than an engagement? We have been waiting for this day for a long time (we all knew it was coming, you only had to spend 5 minutes with them to know that they were meant to be), and we are so happy for them. Their love is the kind that love stories are made of, the kind that makes single people sick, the finish-your-sentences-for-you spend-every-moment-together you-complete-me kind, the kind that lasts forever. I am so glad that I found that, and now I am so happy that my cute sister has that love in her life for eternity. There is truly nothing like being married to your best friend. Happy Valentine's Day, and here's to many many more for Amy and Brett! We LOVE you guys!
Okay, no one probably actually cares that I haven't blogged, but did I mention that this month is SUPER crazy?!? We are still here, alive, and partially sane, but have had NO spare time for blogging! Here is a little Mason-ism to hold you over until I do my major blog catch-up! (I know you are all holding your breath in anxious anticipation ;)
The finished product :)
McKinley was very proud of her Christmas Star!
McKinley and her friend Marley were very excited to see Santa at Thanksgiving Point!
Mason was not so sure about the whole idea :) Santa told McKinley that she would get a doll for Christmas, and of course a truck for Mason!
A quick visit with Santa's reindeer - Rudolph was sleeping in the stables that night, he couldn't come out to play :)
I know that there are many 'non-believers' out there in this grown-up fast-paced cynical world, but as for me and my house, we believe. I ran across this short story several years ago, and have always liked it's meaning.
Yesterday in Relief Society we had a wonderful Christmas lesson. At one point during the lesson, we were asked to think about the best Christmas we ever had. I LOVE Christmas, and there have been many wonderful Christmases that I love to reflect on. I loved the magic of childhood Christmases, the intense awe of my first Christmas as a mother as I really felt what Mary felt as she held her newborn baby (and gave birth in a stable??? No epidural??? Pretty amazing! :). However, the Christmas that stands out from all the rest was a very simple one. There was nothing amazing, wonderful, or awe-inspiring about it - at least to anyone on the outside. It was my first year of college. I was in Provo, UT, experiencing my first actual winter (with SNOW!), I had no car, so I walked or took a bus everywhere that I went, I worked 3 jobs just to pay rent and save money for school, and I was far away from family or the traditions I had always known. I had no money to go home for Christmas, and besides I had to work on the 23rd and 26th, two days off was not enough time to go all the way home anyway. I had a wonderful room-mate from New York, who was in a similar situation and was not going home for Christmas. All of our other room-mates made their holiday plans and left for the Christmas break. So, it was my first time away from home and it was going to be just Shelly and I alone for Christmas. We decided that we didn't want to spend the holiday in our dirty old apartment, so we planned a quick (last-minute) camping trip to Moab. I had never been to Moab, but had heard it was a cool place to go. Shelly had been several times and just LOVED it. So, we loaded up our tent, Walmart sleeping bags, coats, Christmas Music tapes, and headed off to Moab early in the morning on December 24th. As we drove, we talked about everything under the sun, we listened to Christmas music (and some John Denver and The Eagles :), and began our adventure. I will admit that as we drove I couldn't help but think that this really wasn't Christmas at all. There were no presents (neither of us could afford to get each other gifts, we could barely afford the gas to get to Moab and back). There were no family parties. No lights, Christmas trees, sugar cookies, nothing that had always made Christmas seem, well, Christmasy. On the way down we stopped at a really cool frozen waterfall to climb around on it and take pictures (see photo below, sorry, these are old scanned photos, but you get the idea). 
Now, this should have been an indication that it was pretty cold, but we didn't really pick up on that. :) We arrived in Moab and went straight to the little market to buy food for our Christmas Eve dinner (the market was to be closed on Christmas Day, so we wanted to make sure that we could buy food and firewood). We walked the aisles planning our campfire delicacies - Mac & Cheese (the GOOD kind, we splurged and got the Velveeta rather than the usual Kraft Mac), cantaloupe, firewood, some Mrs. Fields' individually packaged chocolate chip cookies and oranges (we joked that this was so we would have something to open on Christmas), a bottle of Martinelli's, and of course some oatmeal for Christmas Morning breakfast. We made our purchases, loaded them into Shelly's little Toyota Corolla along with our meager camping gear, then headed to Arches National Park for a little bit of hiking. That Christmas Eve we hiked to the Delicate Arch (the famous one that is on the Utah license plates :) laughing and joking the whole way. When we arrived at the arch, there were (surprisingly :) not many people there, so we took our pictures, then found a quiet spot with a beautiful view of the landscape, and pulled out our scriptures and the oranges we had purchased that afternoon. In the solace of that quiet spot we read the Christmas story together. I have never before, and never since, felt the spirit of the Christmas story quite like that. I felt for Mary and Joseph, about to give birth to their first child on that Christmas Eve many centuries ago. They were in a strange place without the comforts of home, no friends or family to share the event, there were no twinkling lights save one special star to mark His birth, there were no ribbons, no Christmas parties, no shiny Christmas gifts. As I reflected then on all of the Christmases past, I realized that all of those things were wonderful, but also so distracting. The reason for the season IS the birth of the Savior of the World. He was born in a humble stable, with his loving parents and the guests' animals as the only witnesses to this miracle. We finished our orange slices and hiked back in silence as we pondered the events of the day. We arrived at our car near dark and began the drive out to Shelly's 'perfect spot' along the Green River. During our drive we began to realize just how cold it was, much colder that we had prepared for. We eventually decided to turn around and spend Christmas Eve in Moab's 'finest' (aka - cheapest) Super-8 Motel. We ate dinner at Denny's (since we didn't have a campfire) as we considered the situations of the families around us. We awoke Christmas Morning, wished each other a Merry Christmas, microwaved our oatmeal in the motel lobby, and headed out for a day of hiking. We hiked Canyonlands all Christmas Day together enjoying the beauty of nature and the wonderful gifts that have been put here on this earth for us to enjoy. Early that evening we drove out to our original camping spot, built a fire, and made our Mac & Cheese and cantaloupe Christmas Dinner - we opened our cookies for dessert - then drove home together to return to our usual routine of work, school, and sleep. There had been nothing that day to signify our traditional Christmases, but we both agreed that it had been the best Christmas ever. We have both gone on to have families, houses, and Christmas traditions of our own. I talked to her on the phone the other day for an hour as we discussed what we were planning to buy and do for Christmas this year. After we hung up, my mind wandered back to that Christmas that we spend together. I realized that I had again become distracted, that I often become consumed by the tree, decorations, lights, the perfect gift, treats, parties, and all of the traditions that - although wonderful - are not what Christmas is really about. When I really take the time to stop among the hustle and bustle of the season and reflect on what would make this Christmas perfect, I often wish that I could pack my family up without gifts, without distractions, and head to Moab for a simple Christmas together as a family to remember the birth of our Lord and Savior, Jesus Christ. To this day I can't remember what I received for Christmas on any given year, but I will never forget that Christmas that I truly felt the spirit of Christmas in my heart. To quote Dr. Seuss' the How the Grinch Stole Christmas, "And the Grinch, with his Grinch-feet ice cold in the snow, stood puzzling and puzzling, how could it be so? It came without ribbons. It came without tags. It came without packages, boxes or bags. And he puzzled and puzzled 'till his puzzler was sore. Then the Grinch thought of something he hadn't before. What if Christmas, he thought, doesn't come from a store? What if Christmas, perhaps, means a little bit more." 
The finished products - we can't wait to deliver them!
We had the wonderful opportunity this year to attend the BYU Folk Dance team's Christmas Around the World performance. My cute niece Amanda performed in a really cool dance from the Philippines. We had so much fun together enjoying celebrations from cultures around the world.
I tried to get a good photo of my favorite 'little' blessings, but this is the best we could manage!
The Girls
The Boys
Three generations of football fans - like fathers like sons!
By the way, it's just bottled Root Beer - I promise! Mason LOVES it! 
And of course, he LOVES hanging out with Grandpa!
McKinley loves to read stories with Grandma!
Mason and McKinley being super-silly with Grandma :)
They were so proud of their collages, they insisted on hanging them on the fridge right away! Hmmm... I wonder which one belongs to which child? :)
I just love that sweet little sleeping face!
We have a fun little date-night co-op (which if you haven't tried and you have kids, it's a MUST!). We rotate tending so that one couple tends all of the kids on a weekend night while all of the parents go out. We end up tending about once a month, but have all of the other weekends for a going-out night. We have LOVED it! Well, we decided to change up the usual dinner and a movie and go for something different. We do this now and then, and in the past is has been laser-tag (I know, we are boring parents trying to be 12-years-old!). This time we decided to go with bowling. Now, you must know that I haven't even attempted to bowl since college, and even then I was pretty pathetic at it. This night was no different, I didn't break 100 on either game, but it was a fun night! Hey, any night that ends in Cold Stone ice cream is okay with me! :) Thanks to the Bowen's and the Wright's for humoring us and joining in the fun! 
Yeah, that's my MAN!
YES! I finally hit one pin! (okay, just kidding, that was me, Janette did pretty well!)
Do you think I should have them lifted? :)
Happy 4th Birthday McKinley! Also, a very Happy Birthday to cousin Stephen (currently serving in Taiwan) and Grandpa (my dad)! McKinley is so lucky to share her birthday with such wonderful people! She had such a fun day! She really wanted to have a Barbie party this year, but I had sworn to take a break from big birthday parties (only every other year!). Last minute, I decided to throw a little party with some of her girl friends. They dressed up like Barbie pincesses, enjoyed pizza and giant cupcakes, decorated wooden dolls, and played together all afternoon. Unfortunately, I was so busy with the party that I forgot to take ANY pictures! UGH! After dinner and pj's, Kinley opened her presents - lots of Barbie stuff (go figure :), and headed off to bed with her cute little brother. It was the perfect birthday for a sweet little 4-year-old. We LOVE you McKinley!
It's Disney on Ice! A group of friends and I decided to take our kiddos to Disney on Ice while it was in SLC. We went in the spring with just our older girls, and they LOVED it! The younger ones are a little older now, so we decided to venture out with all of the kids to see the show (thanks to Kristin for getting tickets!). The girls were thrilled to dress up in their princess best and have a night out with their favorite Disney characters. Mason was the only boy, but I didn't want him to miss out, so he came too. I think he would have preferred to stay home with his Daddy :). As soon as the lights went out and the first characters appeared on the ice, he started screaming "I want to go home!" He's not a huge fan of costumed characters :). He buried his head in my shoulder and clung to me for dear life for the first half of the show, but then he relaxed a little and sort-of enjoyed it. I asked him later what he thought, and he said it was scary. He may be slightly traumatized by the experience, but the girls had a ball! We'll have to do it again next time Disney on Ice is in town - maybe girls only next time! 
Mason in his Mickey ears - before the trauma began :)
The kiddos after the show - Mason's still not sure what to think!
