Did Santa Visit?

Oh boy did he ever!

And now after wrapping all these

gifts, Santa has decided to purchase

some stock in the gift wrap & bow

industry!!

After seeing the mound of presents

under the tree, Ben still wasn't

convinced that Santa had come

until he saw that the cookies

he had laid out were gone,

the milk had been drunk and

a little thank you was left in it's place.

Those little fingers were

ITCHING

to rip open those presents!

Funniest thing ever?

This nothin' of a kid wearing

that huge helmet on his head!
("It's like an orange on a toothpick")

Keira insisted she was holding

this book the right direction

and could read it perfectly fine

the way it was.

I Spy Ben holding a book

in his "show it for the camera"

POSE.

Emma is the fastest unwrapper

in the West.

We have finally entered the stage in

our family where Larry and I can sit

on the couch while these two girls

hand out presents.

Keira inspects her new

sippy cup.

Dan has no clue what this is

but either way he's

DROOLING for it!!!

Keira shows off a new

set of bubbles for bath time fun.

 

Ben is doing his HAPPY DANCE

after opening 10,000

Star Wars presents.

Look at those dimples!
Don't they just scream,

I LOVE MY PRESENT!

 

This is one of Sydney's favorite internet

computer games.

I don't know who was more excited

for a new set of play dough,

Keira or all the other kids!

 

For a girl who is still a little hesitant

about riding a bike...

this is a perfect gift.

After all was said and done,

there was still plenty of love

going on in this family!

Merry Christmas

XOXO

Newspaper Ad

HELP WANTED:

A BABYSITTER THAT WILL CARE FOR

A 5 MONTH OLD BABY LIKE IT WAS

THEIR OWN.  THAT HAS EXTREMELY

LARGE MUSCLES TO CARRY A HEFTY

SLIGHTLY OVER-WEIGHT BABY.

ONE WHO IS QUICK ON THE CLEAN

UP OF PROJECTILE BURP.

AND OVER ZEALOUS ON THE

HUGS & KISSES.

This was the ad I posted when

these 3 applied for the position.

It's a three-way tie for,

EMPLOYEE OF THE MONTH!



Crazy Cousin Christmas Weekend

I've never heard such noise levels in my home

until this group of kids got together!!
But it is completely, totally and
absolutely without a doubt
WORTH EVERY MINUTE!!

(left: Ben, Grant, Eliza, Sydney

Sarah, Kayleigh & Emma)

We all really enjoy spending time together

laughing, talking and playing.

Plus we had to soak it all up

because our favorite cousins "The Mauk's"

are picking up roots and moving to Albuquerque!

Grandpa Jeff and Grant catch up!

Eliza and Kay are put to work

and help peel potatoes for dinner.

Chef Larry "tweaks" his famous chili

just one last time.



My sister-BFF & I goof around

in the kitchen while we prep dinner

to feed the hungry troops.

A picture of the mentioned

"hungry troops'!

I'll just say this now before you

all ask...

NO, I did not have a child at 18

before I got married!!

This is my niece,

although it's like looking in the mirror

20 years ago.

She's one good looking girl
if you ask me!

But before Grandma left she

whipped out her famous apron

with all the pockets

and let the kids open some

Christmas presents.

Sydney and her twin,
I mean her face....
a really big face...
on a pillow!!

Emma was overjoyed to have

a gigantic display of

her proclaimed "favorite picture"!!

Ben didn't miss a beat

when he noticed he was swimming

in the pool in his picture and wearing

his favorite floaty.

Keira spent the first 15 minutes

with her pillow by pointing out

all of it's body parts.

"Eyes, nose, hair, mouth, ears..."

Daddy lends Dan a hand with his gift.

Even though Dan is too young to enjoy

his pillow, Ben still made sure it

was placed in the correct spot.

On the top bunk of his bed!!



Christmas Card 2010

Create a free digital ecard

Sydney's Baptism

 It was a bright sunny cold December morning

on the 18th that friends and family came

to watch Sydney enter the waters

of Baptism.

 Sydney & Daddy

 Sydney & Mommy

I wish I would have remembered to take a photo

with all of the wonderful family that was there

to support us.

(The Mauk's, Gm & Gp Gurvine and

Kayleigh Gurvine)

Congratulations Sydney Lauren!!

Playing Favorites

Guess who is very happy that Grandma  (& Grandpa) are here for a visit????

Decisions

 When Larry and I first married,

I was naive.

I thought the decision of when to have

our first child would be the most

significant.

But then after Sydney was born,

the BIG decisions kept coming.

Like, when to have the next child?

How far apart in age should they be?

How many kids should we have?

It was like that 1st decision started

a domino affect.

Slapping me into reality,

parenting isn't for the birds.

It's hard.

 And now we have come to that

final question.

Deciding that Dan snuck into the family

just before the gates closed.

 We are happy with the 5 great kids

God has given us.

But I can't help to feel like

my heart is breaking

just a little tiny incy winsy bit.

 You see...

I'm a baby person.

I love them.

Wanna squeeze them,

smell them,

feel their soft skin.

So it's been a little difficult to

remind my heart what my body

and my brain have already discovered.

For now, I take a few extra rocks as I

put this little man to sleep.

I hug him just a little bit longer

than necessary.

And try to soak it all in.

*sigh*

It's time to move on.

Ho Ho Ho

 Look who we found!!

Santa came to visit our

ward Christmas party.

 Ben was the brave little soul

and sat on Santa's lap first.

I don't know why,

but our kids always have

amnesia when sitting with Santa.

Suddenly after months of telling us

what they want for Christmas

they draw a blank

when it comes time to fess up

to the big guy.

 Poor Sydney could have passed

on the whole experience.

 But we forced her for the

photo opportunity.

 But I think the reward was worth it!

 Even Emma was feeling a little

apprehensive.

She would barely sit all the

way down on Santa's knee.

I think my kids aren't

fans of people in costume.

 And as usual, gotta have a picture

of at least one of our kids

screaming!
I love it!!

 Little Miss Polar Opposite

changed her tune as soon as

she realized there was something

filled with sugar in her hands.

 Then Santa was a pretty cool guy!!

Why remove the wrapper

when you can suck the yummy

goodness right through it?