Christmas, too.

Day after Christmas we headed outta town for more Christmas fun with family! First stop was my parents' home to see them, my sister and her family, some brothers, and my aunt. Aunt Sharon is in the gift rotation in my family and she had us this year and she spoiled us rotten. She got the kids new gloves which they needed badly! Plus, hats, sweatshirts, a darling Christmas storybook for Mack and pjs and a bath towel for Quinn. She gave Dax and me new phones and sheets for our new bed that we bought in July! Both of these items were desperately needed and much appreciated! She is such a sweetheart. I don't know of another family who has an aunt as close as she is to our family.

My brother Lance has a cool dog named Trooper and he (like many dogs) loves to play ball. He is very smart and will bring the ball to anyone he thinks might throw it for him. We had the best laugh when he brought the ball and dropped it next to Quinn, staring at her with his tail wagging!

The kids opened their new church clothes from Grandma and Grandpa and we gave our gifts to my sister Tisha and her family. I think they liked what we gave them. It was fun to think of things we thought they would like. I love that part of Christmas. I love my sis and her family! I wish so badly that we lived closer to them. Why don't I ever get a pic of her and me together? Phase Ten with the fam and after Christmas shopping with the girls was super fun.

The next day we went to see Dax's family. We met at Matt and Abbey's comfy new house and it was so fun to be there with everyone. Mya is talking so much and so cute. Abbey is so awesome; she bought the wii game Just Dance 2 so we could all play it together. She is the Queen of that game and we had a blast playing it. I want to get a wii now because I was sore the next day. Now that is the kind of video game playing I can handle...exercise and family fun rolled into one.


Dax's parents were great to watch the kids while the adult kids braved the snow storm to dine at Arella's. Super yummy and nice to hang out with Matt and Abbey. We need to see them more! We were blessed with a major snow storm that kept us at their house for another day. Dax barely got the car loaded with all the extra stuff we acquired while we were visiting and we headed back home. It is SO time for a bigger vehicle.

birthday and Christmas

Who in their right mind has a baby on Christmas Eve? I don't know; there is no one in their right mind around here...


Preslie is 9?! That sounds too grown up. She woke up and opened presents immediately and wore a new velour sweat outfit from Gram and Gramp M. She is such a jeans girl but there was enough peace signs on it to please her. Preslie and I took off for a bit and hit our new thrift store (Love!) and got a couple cute tops for us. Then to redbox to get Ramona and Beezus. Cute show. Dax smoked some ribs for dinner and we sang carols and drank hot chocolate out in the street with our many good neighbors by the warmth of a fire.

We tracked Santa online and the kids made their beds in Preslie's room for a slumber party. They were SOOOOO excited! Mack was adorable this year as he is old enough to know what is going on and what Santa is all about. It was hard for the kids to fall asleep and stay asleep. At 1:30am, I opened my eyes to excited voices and was like, NO! "Dax, the kids are awake!" He put them back to bed and I don't know how they fell asleep but at 6:30, I heard them again and knew it was time.

We had a blast. I love Christmas for many reasons, one being it is time to just sit and play. Everyone is happy, everyone is busy.



I finally surprised Dax this year. Finally! He is so hard to buy for because the stuff he wants for his hobbies is so expensive specialized that he usually just buys it for himself. Well, I really listened this year. I payed attention when he went on and on about this certain animal calling gismo called a FoxPro. I knew the one he wanted and how much it cost. Before I could get it, he and his Dad put in an order together and he bought it. What a stinker! So I had my brother in Salt Lake watch ksl for me and helped me pick up a utility trailer for Dax. He has wanted one for a year or so and I was excited to surprise him with one. I printed a picture of it from the internet and wrapped it tricky (since the trailer was in Salt Lake still). He was surprised. The funny part was my kids thought that the picture was the present. They wondered why I'd give him a picture of something he liked for Christmas. As if!

Dax got me a sweet pair of pink booties and a sexy pair of black heels for Christmas. It totally revived the vixen in me. Shoes are always a great gift.


I love this time of year and love having kids and a wonderful Man to share it with. I love the Savior and am grateful that He shares His birthday with the rest of us. We sure had fun and I hope He liked the gift I gave Him this year.

first day of winter

whoa, holy SNOW. It has been snowing non-stop for 2 days. So much fun for the kids...



not as much fun for the adults...

big update

It is Christmas time and there is little time to post but here is a brief summary of what's been going down, in no particular order. Ready?.. GO!

Dax and I got new church jobs. He is Elders Quorum Secretary, I'm Primary pianist. I played for the kids while they sang Christmas songs in sacrament meeting last Sunday. I believe this calling is the one of the best in the whole church.

It's beginning to look a lot like Christmas starting with our lights, 2 Christmas trees peeking out the front windows, and 18 inches of fresh snow!

Here is our second tree in the boys' room. We inherited the tree from Dax's Grandmother and are enjoying it!
Another pic of Dax and me...I could not get it to delete for some reason.
Here I am holding 2 hams. One that I won from the grocery store for answering 2 Christmas movie trivia questions at the service desk, and the other is perhaps even more edible. Just look at those cheeks!
Getting ready for church...fixing hair and applying makeup while holding Quinn. My left arm is strong!
Painting ornaments sent from Grandma M.
Quinn wearing her Christmas dress sent from Grandma and Grandpa W. My Mom couldn't wait to give it to her on Christmas. Look at the darling crocheted shoes. My Mom is so amazing!

Grandpa reading to the kids. They love it when he comes!
The 3 big kids wrestling Dax. They really wail on him but he laughs the whole time. So thankful for Dads!
We held our 2nd annual Thanksgiving Dinner with our good friends because a turkey dinner is too good to have only once a year. Only got a few pics but so glad they were able to come (and bring their assigned portion of the meal!). We love them.
And here we are enjoying the remaining pumpkin pie the next day.

Whew! And now we're up-to-date!

Yay for Christmas!

if you're bored, get a 3-year-old

The primary kids sang at our ward Christmas party and as they were going on the stage to sing, Mack begged to go too. We finally let him and he stood right in the front with the weirdest look on his face (bashful? never seen him do that one before). After it was over he wanted to go sing with each subsequent performance (whether it was a singing one or not). During a piano duet, he yelled, "Dad! You never let me sing!" for all to hear.

This is what I walked in on when Mack was supposed to be having a nap. I have a hard time keeping a box of band-aids in the house very long!


Last week Mack told me he was going to have a Christmas party and invite Bo and Kinzie. I said ok thinking he would forget about it but the next morning, he asked me if it was time for his party. I got on the phone and invited a few kids over and the next day we had Mack's Christmas party. What a cool kid.

(this particular batch of sugar cookies was so delish, they blew my mind)

Some funnies from the Mack himself:

Mack was looking in the fridge and I said, "Did you see that treat in the fridge?"
Mack: "Yes"
Me: "Those are called eclairs. Dad made them last night."
Mack: "He made them last night for humans?"
Me: "Yes."
Mack:"I'm a human, so I can have one."

"Mom, I don't have a long tongue, so I can't lick my whole body."

"Uh-oh! There's trouble! The popcorn is gone."

"Mom (naughty smile), I'm putting candles in my b- ... in the back of myself."
I look down his pants and sure enough, there is a fat birthday candle nestled perfectly between two soft butt cheeks.

santa baby (4 months old!)

Quinn has my heart. I just love that girl. Love her huge smile complete with dimples on both sides of her nose, body spasm, and if you're lucky a high-pitched squeal. Love those huge kissable soft cheeks. Love those baby blues.

She is 16 pounds of soft wonder. She frequently clasps her hands together. She can roll from her tummy to her back and from her back to her side. She really really wants to sit up. She reaches and grabs for things. She gets kissed hundreds of times per day. I love my baby!

Thanksgiving

My dad drew a tag to hunt Bison in the Henry Mountains over Thanksgiving so Dax left the Friday before and met my dad and brothers down there. It took the sting out of him being gone that he was helping my dad on his big hunt.

The kiddos and I did well; we were even on time to church Sunday which almost never happens. It was the Primary Sacrament Meeting Program and it was just so cute. I am so glad the Lord prompted me to grab an extra dress for Quinn on the way out the door; as soon as the Bishop stood up at the pulpit, I heard an explosion coming from her diaper. I changed Quinn and got back just in time to see Hunter sing in a trio the second verse of Come Follow Me. The whole thing was beautiful; always the best sacrament meeting of the year.



I planned to go to Rexburg with my Mom and spend T-giving with my sister's fam. Instead of leaving Tuesday like originally planned, my sis called me Monday and told me I'd better pack up and get to Salt Lake before the nasty storm hit on Tuesday. So I kicked it into high gear, packed like a mad woman, picked up the kids from school, dropped off Preslie's eBay sales at the post office, stopped at the bank, picked up a prescription and headed out of town just in time.

The next morning, Mom and I packed up everything and everyone and hit the road. As we were gassing up the car, my aunt called us from work and told us one of their delivery trucks was off the side of the road in Pocatello in a blizzard. We were heart broken! Instead of going on our much anticipated trip, we hit Macey's for some much needed groceries to last us through the week of Thanksgiving. The kids were crying terribly and we were really bummed, too. My sis and her family have never met Quinn and my kids and I were excited to see her new house.

We unloaded groceries back at Mom's and later received a call that my Dad had killed a buffalo! We were very excited for him as it had been a tough hunt with few animals and freezing temps.

They all made it home just before the blizzard hit S. Lake. Although we didn't get to see my sister and her family, it was a blessing in disguise so my Mom and I got to spend Thanksgiving with our sweethearts. Also I got to see my brother Matt from Oregon and he got to meet Quinn for the first time.

She got lots of love this visit.

We had a fun fun time being with my family and Mom put together a fab last-minute Thanksgiving dinner. The bummer part was she came down with stomach flu on Thanksgiving day! I have experienced that myself and can empathize with such a tragedy. It is so sad when the sight of turkey, gravy, and rolls turn your stomach!

We missed Tisha and her fam in Idaho, Trina and her Florida crew, my niece in Hawaii, and Natalie in Oregon. And of course our Tiphy. I found out this trip that she, (like me), thinks Neil Diamond's voice is annoying. That just warmed my heart! Also, my sister Trina told me she pulled out one of her games and there was a score card with my name, her name, and Tiphanie's name on it. I remember playing that game at Trina's house with the girls over 10 years ago. I am thankful for these little moments that are like a hug from the other side.

My dad was so worn out from his Buffalo hunt that we had a blast with him and a certain stuffed E.T. doll. Tyrel is so easily amused by that doll. The tears were rolling. Our guts were busting.

Good times.

TEN years!

"We've been a lot of places, done a lot of things, had a lot of babies."

We sure have, love. Read last year's anniversary post for a gripping recap of our marriage.

Our 10th anniversary consisted of a fast and furious trip to Salt Lake. We ate at Olive Garden and went to the Jazz game with our friends, Katie and Rob. Quinn had to tag along and shake things up but we had a fun night. Rob and Katie are fun to hang with and they even chauffeured us around Salt Lake. The Jazz were fun to watch and they even won for us!


One very special highlight was this guy...



The big lowlight of the evening was the food poisoning Dax and I got from some questionable roast beef we had for lunch. It was a miserable night's sleep and drive home the next day not to mention a lame way to end an anniversary. Luckily there will be next year. Until Forever.

Love you, Dax!

so thankful

I am thankful for this time of year. I have so many blessings. For one, I get to look at that cute face every day. My 2 school kids brought home awesome report cards this week. We are all getting over our colds and ear infections; we had 3 in one month (my eardrum actually burst!). My kitchen floor is clean for the next 5 minutes and my husband just made me dinner. Life is definitely good.

ten things i love about myself

My friend and blogging queen, Janet encouraged her readers to think of 10 things they love about themselves and post the list. That is probably a good thing to do every now and then- focus on some good qualities about me. I'm doin' it.

1. my curly hair
2. I am creative
3. I am a good baker
4. I am a hard worker

5. I get into holidays and birthdays

6. I have my own unique and colorful style

7. I am a thrifty girl with an eye for a bargain
8. I am a do-it-myself or make-it-myself kind of gal
9. I enjoy the luxuries of life but know the simple joys are where it's at
10. I love to hug people!

I took this challenge on Sept 14 and the only thing I thought of that day was that I like my curly hair. That isn't even a personality trait, but I left it anyway. How sad that it has taken me until November 4 to come up with 10 things I love or even like about myself. It tells me I need to take more time pat myself on the back. I need to take a little more time to think, to read, to write in my journal, to explore hobbies and new interests, to socialize and serve others. Since having my 4th child, the chaos level in our home has hit record proportions. But so has the love. Finding me time is important; I know that. It is all about keeping it in balance. That is always the tricky part. And probably always will be.

So now, I challenge anyone who reads this to take a second and list ten things you love about yourself. Do it. I hope it isn't as hard for you as it was for me.

halloweekend

Friday Hunter was super sick! It brought tears to my eyes to see him suffering so much. He stayed home from school; it was a bummer that he couldn't go to his Halloween party with Mack and Me.


Saturday I think we had around 300 trick-or-treaters. I wished the weather would have been nicer but it didn't keep the crowds away.

We had young and too-old alike walking our street for candy. Mack loved answering the door each and every time the doorbell rang!

Hunter stayed in this year; our kind neighbor dropped a bag of treats off to him though!

Can you spot the Mack-o-lantern?

Quinn and I never got a pic in our costumes. We were too busy answering the door, taking care of sick boys, and feeding.


Sunday - Mack woke up with a cold. So Dax and Preslie went to church together while I stayed home with the sickies and the baby. We had 4 trick-or-treaters come by. The kids' fish Spottie-Dottie died. That is probably from Mack dumping the whole container of fish food in the bowl a couple days ago and no one cleaning it out. (I finally cleaned the fish bowl...I can't believe we got the fish in March and we still have one left...oh and now the frog.) If only kids stayed excited about the animals that they begged to get!



I'm crackers about my Mackers!

incredible week

So much fun, we have had. (darn Clone Wars is rubbing off) We really enjoyed Preslie's 3rd grade program! A lady from Salt Lake came out for a week and taught the whole 3rd grade traditional Mexican folkloric dancing and costumed them beautifully. The dances were so fun. We were so focused on watching the beautiful dances, we didn't notice Mack run up on stage to dance with Preslie. How embarrassing for Dax that I made him go fetch our 3-year-old! I hope that taught Preslie a lesson about not planting funny ideas in her little brother's mind.


The Deer Hunt opening weekend took Dax from home for 3 long work days in a row (sun up to sun down). We were both trashed after that! Nice to have him back for 2 days to help whip the house and our kids back into shape. I tell you, I don't know how single parents do it. Raising a family and running a home was not meant to be done by one person. God Bless all the single parents out there.

Our fabulous friends Tina and Clint invited us to their house for a Halloween Party. I have always wanted my family to dress up as a theme but have never been able to talk everyone into it. The gang finally agreed to do it just for the party and I think we looked great!
Tina is an awesome hostess and we had a great time! Thanks, guys!

I have been gearing up for this weekend and all the Halloween parties and activities that go with it. I am in charge of Hunter's class party Friday and have been sewing costumes, making a bean bag toss game and calling Moms.

We also got everyone in for our flu shots. What a relief to get that done and over with. My big kids put up quite a fight. I am so glad Dax had the day off so he could hold Hunter down to get his. That kid is too strong for me now. Wow. Not a shot lover, that one. Hopefully our precautionary measures will keep us out of the hospital this year.

I don't know if it is from the shot, but Hunter was so tired today. His teacher called me and told me Hunter fell asleep at his desk during class. He came home from school and slept 2 hours and I
still put him to bed at his regular time.



I hope he will be well enough to make it to school tomorrow, especially for the Halloween party that I am going to help with! I love this time of year and I love going to the school to see all the hyper, dressed-up kids and playing games with them. One of these years I am going to throw a huge bash at my house but for now, I am just going to hit the parties everywhere else and save my sanity until I have a bit of it to spare.

My Dad came out last night and went to work in the field with Dax today. I hope they are having fun in the great outdoors!

Should be a fun weekend! Have a great Halloween!