I love Christmas time.  It is my favorite time of the year.  But one thing I don't particularly like is getting our family Christmas pictures.  It seems some one is always complaining (and Troy can be quite the offender), but this year our friend, Jeni, took the pictures and I loved how they turned out.

We could have chosen any of the five great choices to go out in our cards, but we chose the one with the kids hanging off the tree.  Not because the lighting was best, or even because we all looked the best, but because that is a true representation of our house.  A loud, crazy, fun place.  Although, Zach scratching his leg and looking like a crazy man were definite runner ups.

About a month after pictures Christmas was finally here.  Santa definitely spoiled everyone and the kids made great pipe cleaner crafts to put on the ornament hangers.  It was a great Christmas.

Halloween 2010

The elementary school the kids go to does something fun on Halloween.  Instead of dressing up in their costumes, the kids have crazy hair day.  You should see some of the things people come up with.  Here is our version for Josh and Matt.

Is it just me or does Matthew look a little like Ronald McDonald?

That evening the kids dressed in their finest and loaded up on candy.  I love this picture because it says so much about the kids at this age.  Zach (the preteen who is into being scary), Josh (who loves video games), Matthew (who wants to do anything Josh is doing) and Emma (the sweet preschooler who is an adorable lady bug if I do say so myself).  Sometimes I wish they would stop growing so I can keep them at this fun stage.  Other times......I don't!

BYU vs. TCU 2010

Every year that BYU plays TCU we have to make the trip up to Dallas.  I mean, you have to start them young, right?  The day was warmer than we would have liked, but the kids enjoyed themselves both by having their faces painted and eating all the junk you can buy at sporting events.  Each kid had their own style on the face painting.

Emma went for the subtle, don't-you-know-I'm-beautiful look.  By this point she had accidentally wiped away most of it.

Matthew went for the all blue face with just white BYU letters.

Josh went for just letter across his face.  If you can't tell that is a white Y across his forehead and nose.  He had sweated away quite a bit of it at this point.

Zach liked Matt's quite a bit, so he started doing his own version.  Only a slight difference being the flesh outline around the white letters.

Overall, it was a fun day spending time together.  We only wish that the team had been able to pull out a win.  Next time, for sure.

Little Girls!

Long ago, I had only three little boys.  Then I became pregnant with a fourth and wanted another little boy.  You see, I KNEW boys, I had everything I needed for boys, I lived, ate and breathed boys.  It seemed like the easiest thing.  Then I found out I was having a girl and, quite honestly, it made me quite nervous.  What was I going to do with a little girl?  And now I look back on all that and think, "What was I thinking?  I don't know what I would do without a little girl."

Who else would let/beg me to put pink curlers in her hair to sleep on so that she could wake up....

Like this?

Who else would take a dance class at the cute age of four?

  

Who else would want to take judo just like the rest of her brothers and then love it for the social aspect?

Who else would have so many cute little girlfriends and LOVE each and every one of them?

Josh's 9th Birthday

Just days after school let's back in, Josh has a birthday.  It happens this way every year and I'm sure he wishes his birthday came during the summer.  In my defense, his birthday was supposed to be towards the end of September, but he just couldn't wait.  Okay, that wouldn't really change his birthday being in the summer, but it would give him a month of school before his birthday.  This year he only wanted Heroscape and bakugan.

When we stayed with Rick and Sarah, their boys played Heroscape with my boys.  It was such a hit, that my boys came back talking about all these plans to get it.  Josh's birthday was a quick means to getting quite a bit.

Bakugan were still important to the boys, so Josh couldn't resist getting just a few more.

And with presents open it was time for the cake.  Notice how sweaty Josh is (did I mention August is hot here in Texas?) and not only that he is giving quite the look.  But, oh how I love this kid.  His sensitivity and fun loving nature are a joy to be around.

Rounding Out Summer 2010

The rest of our summer consisted of relaxing until the start of school.  We did our typical day trips once a week, but did I capture any of those moments with photos?  Of course not!  What I did capture was Emma doing her hair by herself.  Evidently the concept of "less is more" has not clicked yet.

I also captured the boys getting promoted up a level in Judo.  Every individual photo of them was blurry, but this one of the group turned out well.

After the vacation, I remember I did not want to cook (if I am completely honest, I only want to cook on rare occasions).  One day we headed to Applebees for their kids-eat-free day.  In the waiting area was a clown who painted each of the kids faces.  They were so excited and I thought, "Great!  Now we have to go home and take showers/baths before we go to bed."

It was a FUN summer!  A summer we still talk about two years later.  By the end, like always, I was ready for the kids to go back to school.  Ready for a little less noise, teaching preschool, teaching piano lessons, and a set schedule.  Reading that back, I can't understand why I would want school to start up again, but every year I do.

Summer Vacation 2010

After Mt. Timpanogos, we did a lot of other fun things. Besides hanging out at Rick and Sarah's while the boys played Heroscape, we headed to Thanksgiving Point. Everytime we have been out, this has been one of our destination spots. The kids love to see the dinosaurs and play in the sand/water portion.

After checking out all the fossils, we headed over to their gardens. It was so beautiful, and I must say that Utah summers are mild in comparison to our Texas ones. I think our favorite spot was the waterfall.

One of our days we hiked the Y. Evidently, Mt. Timpanogos was a good experience because none of us moaned when we headed out and everyone made it to the top.

After spending a little time at the top, we quickly realized that we needed to head down as it was getting late. By the time we made it down, it was getting dark. Sarah (who may be the smartest mom I know) had glow sticks for the kids and they all wanted a picture taken.

The rest of our BYU tour consisted of buying our entire family shirts at the Bookstore (and who can resist chocolate covered cinnamon bears). Then we headed down to the bowling alley for some fun.

Troy had been talking to the kids about King Kong cones all year, so there had to be a stop at Macy's. This was such a big hit that the kids have been talking about it again this year. I guess we have established a new tradition.

After a Winward week, we spent the next week with my parents, grandma, Janae and Chris' family. They were all great and came down to Utah so we didn't have to travel more. They rented a home and we had FUN! Unfortunately, we were having so much fun that pictures didn't get taken. We played lots of Wi, headed to Lagoon for the day, explored an abandoned gold mine searching for gold (we only found a tiny piece) and the adults played lots of pool.

Time went way too fast and it quickly was time for us to leave. We snapped this picture on the way home. We were tired, tired, tired. Tired of traveling, tired from playing and tired of being sad to leave, but we all agreed that we couldn't wait to do it again.

Hiking Mount Timpanogos

My parents were in town for a while and blogging took a back seat to having FUN. One day I'll get around to blogging about that, but for now I will continue to keep the chronological posts coming.

Two days after This is the Place, we headed to Mount Timpanogos. I'm not sure what we were thinking. Who thinks taking 14 kids all under the age of 14 on a good hike is a great idea? Actually the kids did really well. Sarah brought salt water taffy and that was a good enough bribe to get everyone there without too much complaining.

The rock arches along the way were the perfect opportunity for photo shoots. Some of us were much faster at making our way. These three photos pretty much show the groups that ended up sticking together. Good thing there were so many switchbacks, because this is where we always met up.

It was cool enough inside that everyone needed a jacket. We Texans didn't have any with us (after all it is a 100 degrees everyday of the summer here), but Sarah saved the day and kept us all comfortable.

Once we got to the cave, everyone enjoyed the sights inside. I think the best part was turning out the lights and seeing just how DARK it is there. And the hike back down was easy, but spending time with family was priceless.

Utah 2010! This is the Place

After the long drive and vision of the stadium, we got to play with family. Our first stop was at This is the Place Monument. There was plenty of fun to be had. For the longest time, everyone was happy just playing by the statue.

Until, eventually, they began to tire of it and it was time to move on.

There were small, replica houses to play in, animals to pet, small streams to get in, stick games to play, stilts to try walking on, blacksmiths to question and toys to be made.

We had only seen about half of what was there, but it was time for lunch. After filling our tummys, we had a very brief time to take a picture of all the cousins. By this time, Emma was tired and having nothing to do with pictures.

Perhaps my favorite memory was when we reached the fire station. We got to hear the history of fire-fighting long ago, but then we got to do a "bucket brigade" which actually ended up being a water fight. All the kids, young and old, had a fun time soaking each other. By this point, it was getting warm, and being wet was just what we needed. It was a fun day!

We Made It!

I so remember seeing the stadium. We had spend the last two days driving to Utah. After what seemed like forever, we were finally there and then Troy saw it...HIS stadium (and yes, I do think he is a little possessive about it). He could hardly contain his enthusiasm. He pointed it out to the kids, he took several photos of it, he probably would have giddily laughed, if he had been a girl. It was, as if, he finally knew he was home.

The Dinosaur Tracks 2010

So I have been EXTREMELY BAD with the blog, but this really is my journal, of sorts, and so I have resolved to try and be better. I know you have heard that before, so I won't bore you with all the apologies. Here's hoping things are much smoother. Also, I do want to catch up so the kids will have something to look back on. So, for the few who actually still keep up with us, here goes.

Every summer, I try to keep the kids from going crazy. Or maybe it is me I try to keep from going crazy. Either way, one thing I do is schedule a day-trip once a week. This was the first year we went to see the dinosaur tracks in the San Gabriel river. We had rain in spring, but not much since then so the water level was perfect. Just deep enough to get wet and play, but not so deep that anyone could drown.

It was June and it was warm, but I had come prepared with water bottles for everyone. And since the kids were playing in the water, it didn't seem near as hot.

I wasn't prepared for the kids trying to catch fish from the river, though. So when our water bottles were close to being emptied, the kids used them to try and catch fish. After a lot of patience on the kids part, they were rewarded with a fish swimming into one of the bottles. They were so thrilled. This is probably the one thing they remembered about this trip. Not the awesome tracks, or the lunch or play, but the fish!

It was a fun time. So fun (though you couldn't tell by Zach's face) that we have made this a yearly event. It never gets left out as one of our day trips.