Christmas

 Christmas morning, a little after 6:30 am we could hear the boys rustling about.  Chris had gotten the idea to use the extra Christmas lights for the barrier this year, and the boys enjoyed trying eagerly to peek around the corner.  Kenzie was a good sport and got up at about 7:00 so we could get opening.

 Cameron was just a little excited!

Kenzie was thrilled for all things warm and fuzzy this year.  She got everything from a new beanie to new sweaters, socks, sweatpants, blankets, pillows... She probably won't get out of bed the rest of Christmas break! 

 Parker was super excited, too.  He was amazed with everything he got!

 Kenzie lined up all her presents as she opened them, and then took them all off quickly to her room.

 Parker rushed right off to the kitchen to work on his Treasure X kit as his first item of business.

 Cameron assembled his Nerf gun and didn't put it down the rest of the morning.  He also helped himself to some candy before his cinnamon roll breakfast!

 Parker was already playing his new Wii game.

 Kenzie loved her new stuffed dinosaur - it is super soft, but had been taking up most of my closet for months, so it was great to finally give it to her!

 In the afternoon we headed to Grandma and Grandpa Arnold's, where Cameron played a game of Uno Attack with all his oldest cousins and their spouses.

 Present time!  Cameron was very, very happy to get a Nerf crossbow from Brilee and Nick.

 Daddy helped him assemble it, and Cameron carried around his crossbow and his Nerf gun that he'd brought and was well armed the entire day!

 Parker always loves to play a cooperative firefighter game with his uncles.

 Grandma and Grandpa bought some virtual reality headset thing, and all the kids took a turn using it.  Cameron made plenty of sound effects as he played, which was funny to watch!

And nothing new here, Kenzie and Annie being totally silly.  Kenzie had loved the new shirt I'd found for her that says "I'm Not Always Sarcastic.  Sometimes I'm Asleep."  She was quite proud to wear it.  We were all completely exhausted when we got home, but the kids all agreed it was a great Christmas!

Christmas Eve

 Christmas Eve!  We had an early dinner of "roast beast" complete with our own tiny bottles of sparkling cider.  Those were just too cute to pass up at the store, and the kids thought it was quite fun to drink directly out of the bottle!

 They were all quite eager for their annual sibling present exchange.

 Kenzie was very pleased with the donut pillow Cameron had picked out all on his own!

 Cameron was especially thrilled with the Star Wars micro machine set Parker had picked out for him, and thanked him repeatedly.  

Cameron was the only one making sure Santa had cookies, and he even put the treats in a smiley face on the plate!  Cameron was tired enough that he went right to bed.  Parker and Kenzie stayed up with us to watch A Christmas Story and just like that, the evening was over!

Christmas is Getting Closer!

 Pretty Kenzers as we were leaving for her band concert the other week.  They are being held at the high school this year, which is nice because we don't have to fight for a seat, but I don't appreciate the reminder that she'll be going there next year!

 The two of us went to the Tabernacle Choir Christmas Concert last Thursday.  Traffic was nuts (we went 20 mph the entire way there... and then 15 mph on the way home!), parking was enough to make me lose my faith in humanity, it rained and hailed on us, but still, I would say it was worth it.  The concert was beautiful and Kenzie had a big smile.  

 Hanging out at the gym in Tooele for Mille's second birthday party.  Cameron is quite good at doing a flip into the foam pit!

 Another tradition of sorts.  We drove through the Christmas in Color display again.  The lights are timed to the music, and the kids were all dancing in their seats.

 So far the kids haven't acted to big or too cool to watch the Christmas cartoon specials or see the lights with us, decorate cookies, etc. so I hope that trend continues!

 And finally, trying to get a nice picture before church last week.

 They are good sports.  I always remind them if they take enough posed pictures ahead of time, on Christmas morning I will only take in-action shots and let them get right to the presents!

Less than a week to go!

Happy Birthday, Little Brother

An excerpt from my journal, Jan. 4, 2016: "Today marks 10 years since I got the news that Kyle had died.  Back on Dec. 18 I was thinking about him on his birthday.  I remembered his silly artwork, usually featuring the dog, and wished I had saved more of it.  The next day, I was cleaning the kitchen floor and picked up a folded piece of paper.  I was going to throw it away but figured I'd check if it was a note of Kenzie's.  Instead, it was a random old drawing of Kyle's.  Geeb and I vaguely remembered it, but hadn't seen it in years and still have no clue how it wound up in the middle of the kitchen floor the day after Kyle's birthday."

 So you can see it was a build-your-spaceship type of paper, and then he drew our creations.

I did also get a kick out of Hubbard waiting out in space for us to pick her up.  She was notorious for standing outside her apartment up to an hour early when someone was picking her up, just so she'd be ready.  Anyways, the note itself was silly, but the timing of finding it again had been sweet.  We had moved several times since the note's creation and hadn't been going through old boxes recently or anything, so it's still a mystery as to how it wound up under the dining room table.  Kind of neat, though.  Happy Birthday, Kyle!

Gingerbread Houses

Saturday evening the kiddos made their annual graham cracker "gingerbread" houses.  I had everything prepped, but Kenzie was off at her friend's house.  Parker was so dejected when he went to take his nightly shower, thinking he'd have to wait.  Kenzie was a good sport and came home to put the houses together with her little brothers, and they were obviously quite pleased!

 Kenzie's good friend Kiera had given her a new shirt, which says, "Normal People Scare Me."  Kenzie thinks it's hilarious.

 Here's a close up of the yard on Kenzie's house - she had a snowball fight going on with two of the gummy bears, one behind a snow wall and the other is even holding a tiny snowball of frosting!  The other gummy bears are building a "snow bear" in the yard.  

 Parker was the last one finished with his creation, as usual.  He found a yellow candy to be a star above his door and everything.

 I liked the roof of Parker's - he had a white gumdrop chimney, and a red gummy bear Santa even holding an M & M "bag" of presents!

 Finally, our resident goofball, Cameron with his creation - 

- he proudly exclaimed, "The gummy bears are attacking through the roof!"  Then he said, "So when can I eat the candy?"

Thanksgiving Weekend

 This year Cameron decided he wanted to make the Oreo pie, so he rolled up his sleeves and got right to work!

 He was particularly eager to use the rolling pin to crush the Oreos.  Let's all take a moment to be grateful we aren't an Oreo, as it wasn't a kind end they met!

 He used his little spatula to fill the pie and then decorated it himself!

 Parker said he wanted to make the chocolate pudding pie.  He was not quite as neat as Cameron, interestingly enough, and we had pudding all down the cabinets and the floor!

 All cleaned up and finished!

 I forgot to take an in-action shot of Kenzers when she made her pumpkin pie, but here she is with the finished result!

 It snowed, then rained, then snowed again to start all over.

 Parker always offers to butter the rolls!

 Chris, Cameron, and I all had colds, so there was a lot of this all weekend!  We did not leave the house at all for several days!

 Kenzie sets up the nativity scene each year.  

 The kids all took turns putting ornaments up, too.  I find that extremely tedious, so I'm glad they enjoy helping decorate the tree!

And more snow!  The boys had a great time throwing snowballs each day, and then coming inside and having a mug of marshmallows with a little hot chocolate (at least, that's how it seems with how many marshmallows they add!).  It was a very low key weekend!

Turkey Trot

 Look at this cute little face!  Today was the 2nd grade Thanksgiving program.  It took Cameron a long time to spot me when he first came into the gym, but he was obviously looking around for a familiar face.  Since it hadn't started yet, I finally half stood up and waved at him.  He got a big smile on his face and waved back.  Those are the times I'm glad to work from home so he can always have somebody in the audience.  They sang some silly songs, recited some turkey-related poems, and then paraded around the school making turkey noises with a wet string and a sponge attached to a cup.  Cameron was just a tiny baby when Kenzie had her Thanksgiving program, so it was weird to come full circle and have it be Cameron's turn this time!

Cameron's part: "A is for Americans.  Some of the earliest Americans were the Pilgrims.  They wanted to be free to have their own religion."

As always, it was difficult to get a picture of my own kid with the sea of parents swarming about holding their devices up high, so here he was when he got home!  It's now Thanksgiving break!