Friday, December 31, 2010

New Years Eve! Bye Bye 2010!

Well, I honestly can't believe that this DECADE is over! I remember ringing in the New Year in 2000 like it was yesterday! Our little family, me, Mike, Ty, along with my siblings and Nate and Dodie were all at my Dad's. We played games, ate food and watched as the world didn't end at midnight :). I can't believe all that has changed in the last decade. I've gained a lot. Like 4 more wonderful boys. A few lbs :( A LOT of wonderful life long friends. Nephews, and even a couple of nieces. SEVERAL sisters in law. Everyone but Jon is now married. Even MOM! I've also gained an even stronger testimony. It's amazing to me the way that the Lord blesses me each and every day. Mike's also experienced a lot. He's changed jobs, run for city council (and lost), been appointed to the planning commission.

I've also lost a lot in the last decade. The biggest loss was that of my Dad. It will be 10 years this April. That New Years Eve in 1999 was one of the last fun times we had with Dad. My heart still hurts daily when I think about him. I also lost Grandma Jeane. BUT then we gained Grandma Bev. We lost Mike's Grandma Lucille. And recently I've started to lose my beloved Great Uncles.

I've lost a lot, but gained so much more. I truly love my family and am so thankful for my wonderful life.

Now, as for this New Years Eve. I got to spend it with my family and friends. The Malan's, Neff's and Voigt's came over for dinner and games. I can't believe it but my kiddo's ALL made it to midnight! Honestly can't believe it! hehehe. I am thankful for my friends. They make for a good time :)














Christmas Vacation: Thursday!

Today Mike took the day off so that he could finish up some more orders, and so I took the boys to Mary's for a photo shoot. It kept us out of Mike's hair and we got to have fun with the Ovesons. I can't wait to see the finished product, but I know they 'll be great because Mary always does a great job!

Then we came home and got ready for the scout's video game night. Everyone who read their scriptures got to come for a night of home made yummy pizza and Wii!

They had fun and my head survived :)

Wednesday, December 29, 2010

Christmas Vacation: Wednesday

Today we woke up to MORE RAIN! I don't know if I have ever seen so much rain in December. I had big puddles in my back yard! All day I kept thanking Mike (in my head) for fixing the problem with the downspout in the back yard. No flooding basement! ANYWAY, I digress. The cousins were here until after lunch and everyone actually got along very well. EVEN the 2 year olds. Only a few minor issues :)

Mary and I decided to meet, with our families, at Toads tonight for a little laser tagging. Both of our families got unlimited season passes to Toads and we just HAD to break them in! Only one little problem.........the rain decided to turn into snow. AND all of that wonderful rain turned to ice! The drive was a little icky, BUT once we were there it was awesome! We had to get Tyler home for scouts so it wasn't a LONG stay but it was still a blast!

THEN I got to "brawl" with Tee and Melissa via the internet on the Wii. Not really my game, but we both had it! It was really a lot of fun :)













Tuesday, December 28, 2010

Christmas Vacation: Tuesday :) COUSIN SLEEPOVER!!

Today was a pretty relaxing day. We cleaned up Christmas presents and the house and then the boys just played all day! We just had to bide our time until COUSIN SLEEPOVER! There is nothing better than 8 little boys running around having a blast! They are watching Flight of the Navigator and eating brownies. Kyle and Nick are "racing" each other around the house. So cute! I just LOVE my cute nephews.

Christmas Vacation: Monday :)

I love having my kids home. They are just such amazing kids. That being said.... It's always an adventure:)

So yesterday Mike got up and got the kids eating and let me sleep in a bit. So nice. He left for work and told the kids to just be happy and let me sleep.......uh yeah. This is how I woke up...

POUND POUND POUND "NICK JUST THREW UP!!!"
*sigh*
Nick has a cold and had just coughed so hard that he threw up. SO we cleaned that up, quickly did chores and THEN started the fun parts of our day :)

We ran to Walmart to return a few things (Isaac is now trying to figure out what he can return to the store for money hahahahahaha) . As fabo as my kids are, all 5 with me at the store isn't so FABO! Especially when 2 are wearing Heely's . Ugh. We made it though and then were off to play with Logan. Yes all 4 boys went to play with Logan. They have adopted him as another brother. Nick was furious that I made him stay with me hehehehe. They played together all day. It's so much fun to NOT have school!

Then Mike and I surprised the boys and took them to see Narnia! I liked the movie a lot, HATED that it was 3D. UGH. Nick reminded me again why I don't like to take 2 year olds to movies :) Then it was off to spend our Cafe Rio gift card :) Dinner cost us $.34. AWESOME!

I love family time!

Monday, December 27, 2010

Snow :)

We haven't had a ton of snow so far this year, TONS of rain, but not so much snow. BUT we have made good use of what little we've gotten. My kids are so cute!

Oops.....Look, we Decorated a Tree!

I was just looking through pictures and realized that I never blogged our tree decorating escapades!

We were very excited to see that Burches Tree Lot had found a new home in Riverdale since the Cinedome (where Burches used to set up) had been torn down and a LHM car dealership is being built! Lucas had been very stressed about it actually. SO, we went and found ourselves the perfect tree, lugged it home, set it up and........decorated it the next day. Sometimes there is just way too much going on! The kids were all so excited and cute. They had seen/helped me with the Christmas Tree Jubilee tree and so they were all trying to be artistic as they put up their ornaments. Lucas even created an "icicle village" on the back of the tree :) Anyway, here are the pictures!



Sunday, December 26, 2010

Merry Merry Christmas!!!!

I love Christmas and this was another AMAZING wonderful day! My sweet & wonderful boys slept until 6am (which still amazes me) and then all piled into my bed. Then they all came out and knelt down by their stockings. The little ones were just copying the big ones, who knew they were waiting for our Christmas Morning family prayer, but it was still a great Mom moment. After a great prayer by Mike everyone started in on their stockings. The big hits were the year pass to TOADS fun zone, lotion and chap-stick......there was other stuff, but those made the top 3 list :)

Then it was into the living room to see what damage had been done. The boys of course were so excited to see the pile of presents. They're so funny. We went in youngest to oldest opening order and had a blast. Everyone was thrilled when it was all said and done! Tyler LOVED his Nerf machine gun and Rip stick. Matt LOVED his "Age of Empires" game, Heely's and Rip Stick. Isaac was very disappointed with every gift he opened UNTIL he opened his Wii game. THEN he loved EVERYTHING! Silly boy. Lucas was SO excited to open his "Cup Pong". He even hugged it. LOL. He also really liked his race track and Ahsoka toy. Nick just liked opening things. Eventually he realized that he could play with the things that he was opening hehehehehe. He loved his "bingo" track. Yeah for some reason he still thinks that a car is a "bingo". He also LOVED his playdoh toys. Mike got a new leather brief case and something so he could make a custom router table (yes I bought it but I still have no idea what it is). He also got a bunch of clothes and socks. Lucky guy Santa was so good to him :) I however got the best present. Mike got my Blog books. I have been wanting them for a while now, but didn't want to spend the money on them. Yes I cried. I'm not a crier, but this one made me cry. We started our Blog when Nick was born and in the NICU, and those pictures and stories about did me in. I got other stuff too (new phones, cute clothes, a cute CTR ring stuff like that) but the books were everything I could have hoped for.As in years past the boys all made their gifts for each other. This is one of my all time favorite parts of Christmas. They are always so much more excited about what they made than about what they want! SO, this year Lucas and I made fleece BYU hats. Matt made fleece BYU scarfs. Isaac and Mike made yo-yo's. Tyler and Mike made cool multiple shot rubber band rifles. They all are so stinkin cute!

After presents we had yummy sweet rolls for breakfast and then just.........enjoyed the day! I took a nap, the boys played, Mike read. Nick was running a fever but thankfully Ibuprofen is a miracle drug! He was happy most of the time anyway.We went to dinner at Mom and Don's. I got an amazing FHE board from the Ovesons. I was so excited! I've been wanting one ever since Mary made hers. It's so CUTE!!! I was so excited to give David and Sinda their snowmen. I LOVED the little fedora that I found for the boy snowman! We also got a family history binder from Mom and Don. It's full of histories and pictures for the Ridd/Davis families. Ty got a helicopter model, Matt a game, Isaac a remote control spider (ick), Lucas a helicopter, and Nick a Bullseye and Woody toy. Then we packed up and headed home. THankfully the kids were out by the time we got home......it made it so that we could sleep for a minute before Nick woke up again all raging hot. UGH. Oh well. At least he is a cute sick kiddo!
This is the gorgeous ornament that Mike made for my Mom for Christmas......isn't he awesome?Now I have to mention that while we weren't with the Staten clan ON Christmas (the whole St. George-Riverdale distance is a little too big:) the boys LOVED their Nerf shields and daggers that they received from them. Mike LOVES his new work bench that his Dad made for him for Christmas and I still get to go and spend my Christmas present!

I love Christmas and I love spending time with my wonderful kids and hubby. I love the traditions that we've established. I don't have a lot of traditions left from my childhood or with my siblings, but thankfully I have a hubby and kids that LOVE traditions!