Christmas

Well I am back. Since it has been a month since I have blogged I thought that I would blog the pictures for this last month except for these first one.

Well we had a great Christmas, we went up to my dad's for Christmas Eve and Christmas. The kids and I went up a couple of days early because my dad had hip replacement surgery so we went up to help. The kids love being up there and playing with their cousins.

So here are the pictures for the last month starting from the most recent thing. I wish that I could come up with some great stories that we did but this is all.

On the 2nd of January we went sledding up in the mountains, well we had a spot we wanted to go up at Snoqualmie pass, we went with the Bujnowski's and the Ashby's. So we stopped at the Shell gas station to get our pass that we needed to go sledding at the spot and we found out the place we wanted to go was closed for the week because of avalache warnings so we found a different spot not and there were other people sledding there so we stopped there and sled. We had a great time and the kids loved it. It was very wet though. It was raining but not hard.

Carson getting used to the snow.

Zach and Corbin coming back up the hill

Madison and Cait going down the hill.

Madison and Cait at the botton of the hill.

Clara going on the sled byherself

Carson and I

Aunna and I decided that we were going to go down the hill together it was actually fun. They weren't big hills but still fun.

Here we are going down the hill. Corbin pushed us.

Carson and Larry going down the hill. Carson would not go sledding with me he would only go with Larry.

This is how Carson says "cheese"

Madison gettng ready to leave.

So as I said before we went up to my dad's for Christmas we do a big Christmas Eve party with all of my cousins and my aunts and uncles. It is always alot of fun. The kids got some great things. Zach got a new bike from Santa and when he came out into the living he just walked right by it and didn't pay any attention to it, he was more interested in what was in his stocking then the bike. I was just amazed that he didn't notice the bike because he basically tripped right over it we had to ask him if he saw anything else.

Zach and his new Tony Hawk bike.

Santa brought them the new super mario brothers. Even Larry and I like it. We play it sometimes when the kids are asleep.

Carson showing us his new super hero monster truck.

So on Christmas Eve we always have a alot of people at my parents house and we have food and a program where people sing and play the piano or play an instrument and then we have a white elephant gift exchange and that is always fun because someone always brings pickled pigs feet. I don't know where they get them but they think it is funny, which it is, and then it is always there the next year. So we visit and do our thing and it is always fun.

Madison playing some songs ont eh piano.

















Carson having a blast.

My aunt Kay reading a Christmas story to everyone. This year it was called Penny's Christmas Jar. My aunt did it this year because my mom usually is the one that reads the story so my aunt took it over this year.

Everyone in the living room waiting to do the white elephant.

After the Christmas Eve party we went back to my dad's and sprinkled reindeer food for Santa's reindeer. Someone from the corporate office sent them to the kids.

Here is the reindeer food. Well it is inside.

On the 19th Madison had another informal piano recital and she did a great job. She played three songs. Good King Wensles, Jolly Old Saint Nicolas, and a song from the nutcracker that I don't remember the name of it, all I know is that it had the word flute in it.

She finished her songs and was so happy.

On the last day of School for winter break I promised Zach that I would be at his class holiday party. So I went to it and he was so happy. I had to take Carson which can sometimes be a problem because doesn't always cooperate with what i want him to do. He is a very independant person and doesn't like to be out of the loop on anything.

They played a game called in the hat on the snow man. The kids really liked that one.

And this is why it is hard to take Carson places because he gets into stuff. This is what he was doing while I was helping Zach.

They decorated cookies and then they got to eat them if they wanted to.

They made snowmen and then you could picture a picture of your face int he whole there so that it looked like you were the snowman.

So it has been a long time since I have blogged. I actually really enjoy sharing pictures of things that we have done but the only time I have to blog is at night and by that time I don't want to do anything, I just want to sit on the couch and watch my tv shows. So here I am back, and I have a whole lot of pictures on this one. I put pictures up here all the way back to when the kids started school. So we have the most recent pictures first and then the older ones that I should have blogged about a long time ago. So here we go.

Well our most recent thing that happned to us was that Madison turned 9 on the 2nd of November. I can not believe that she is 9 already. I sometimes can't believe that I have a 9 year old or even three kids for that matter. So for Madison's birthday we had went to Red Robin(her favorite restaurant, because they sing to you on your birthday) and invited Carlee and Jason and the girls and my dad and then Larry invited the missionaries to come with us because he invited them over to our house for dinner forgetting that we were going out for Madison's birthday, it was all good though. So we went and celebrated her birthday and she got some good toys, she got more later on but this is what she got at the restaurant.

She got an American Girl doll that she has been wanting for quite some time. This is the Carissa, well I think that is her name.

More Littlest pet shops.
And of course she got to be sung to and was so happy about.

This was her birthday cake that we got for her.

Madison has started piano lessons this year and she loves it. I am so glad that she is doing this. she has been asking me for quite some time and we found a great teacher and she loves it. I hope that she keeps going through out her life playing the piano. She had her first piano recital on Halloween. It was an official recital it was just something that her teacher does for people at a rest home. It was optional and they didn't have to do it if they didn't want to, it was just so the kids could get used to playing the piano in front of people. I thought that madison would get a little nervous but she didn't she did a great job. I did a video on my camera but I don't know how to download it on to my blog. So anyway because they had their recital on Halloween they played halloween songs and got to be in their costumes. Everyone had a good time.

Here she is at the piano. Madison was a butterfly fairy or something like that.

The week before Halloween Larry's dad and step mom came and stayed the night with us and so I thought that it would be a great opportunity to do pumpkins with the kids that night. Larry's dad and step mom hopefully had a good time doing it with the kids. Well it was really Larry and his dad that did the work on the pumpkins.

Here they are getting their designs ready on their pumpkins.

Madison got really into getting the guts out of the pumpkins. She thought it was the coolest thing.

Zach on the other had did not like the pumpkin guts getting all over his hands. He was not impressed by it at all.

Madison went with a traditional face and loved it.

Zach wanted something more difficult. He had wolverine on his. Larry did a really good job on this one.

In the middle of October I got to go and visit my very best friend Beth. Her and I have been friends since middle school. Beth lives in Arizona now we try to see each other as often as we can but now that we have kids and husbands it doesn't always work out. I had a great time visiting with her and just hanging out. We finished Zach's blanket that she was working on for him and we went to a dessert museum, and then her and I got to go and get pedicures and go and out for dinner, her husband was nice and watched all the kids for us. I took Zach and Carson with me because Larry had to work and he wouldn't have been able to make sure Zach got on the bus at noon, and well Carson he is a handful and Larry wounldn't get much done at work if he took him to the store with him. So it was nice that they got to come with me. Beth has four kids, Josh, Bailey, Jenni and Zane. Zach and Jenni are the same age just a couple of months apart. They got along so good and well all the kids got along good which was nice.

Here is Jenni and Zach playing with the Lego's, they played so well together.

This is what we were working on while the kids were playing. We were getting ready to tie Zach's quilt. It was fun trying to get it all organized. We had to move a few things but we got it done and Zach was so happy to have it. He kept on asking when it was going to be done. Unfortunately I didn't take a picture of the end result, so sorry you don't get to see what it looks like. It is a super hero blanket and it has the hulk and batman and spider man on it. It is really cute. I will have to take a picture of it so everyone can see it.

Here is Zach and Carson at the dessert museum. Zach was in his element in Arizona it was in the high 80's when we were there and so he got to be in his shorts and tank top. Zach would wear his shorts and tank top all year long it I let him.

The dessert museum is like a zoo kind of but it is for all the animals that are in the dessert in Arizona. So I bet you can guess what we saw alot of, except they were behind glass, thank goodness.

Here are all the kids except for the babies. Left to right. Josh, Jenni, Zach, and Bailey.

They got to dig for fossils as well.

I love this picture because it looks like a huge snake to me and it is just a piece of wood.

Here is Zane. Beth got his hair wet and made it go all crazy.

Carson got to hold his first ice cream cone all by himself. He has had ice cream before but I never let him hold it himself so i let him this time and I bet you can guess how it went by the way that he was holding it.

Beth and Carson with their ice cream faces.

At the begining of October we went to the pumpkin patch with our great friends and neighbors the Shevitz. The Conlins usually come with us but since they are in Colorado we have had to go the last couple of years with out them. We missed you Conlins. It just doesn't seem the same with out you.

We had a good time at the pumpkin patch and this was Carson's first time going and walking around. Last year he was being carried and wasn't old enough to really enjoy it and now I am glad that he was.

Here are the older kids out in the field. They just kind of took off and went and looked by themselves. They stuck together which was good.

Madison posing for her picture.

Zach found his pumpkin.

Carson saw everyone else picking up pumpkins so he wanted to try himself.

Can he get any cuter.

This guys too.

Unfortunately Larry wasn't able to come with us because he had to work due to the fact that he had some people call in sick which means he had to stay until close because they were short handed by alot so it was just me and the kids. We missed having Larry with us though.

Carson was wanting to push the wagon.

My kiddo's

In september we surprised the kids and took them out of school early and went to the Puyallup Fair. I don't have alot of pictures because I just didn't take alot of pictures while we were there.

They had a neat thing there at the fair where you could go fishing and actually catch a fish. So madison and Zach went fishing and thought that it was so cool how they each caught a fish and then they let it go.

He was so happy that he caught a fish.

Madison was happy as well.

Carson being Carson.

Well at the beining of September the kids started School. Madison is now in 3rd grade and Zach is in Kindergarten. Zach was so excited to start Kindergarten and Madison was excited to start third grade. Unfortunately I wasn't able to get Zach into Morning Kindergarten so he goes to school in the afternoon. I think that he was a little dissapointed at first that he was the only one on our street that was going in the afternoon but I told him that he gets to ride the bus home with his friends and he was o.k. with that. So here are some pictures of the kids on their first day of school.

Zach

Getting ready to catch the bus.

Zach in his class room. Do you think he is excited.

Madison and Carson waiting for the bus.

I get a picture of the kids every year in the same spot, to see how much they have changed each year.