Christmas Morning

Christmas morning was all that it is supposed to be (even if a few of the pictures are a little blurry). The kids were up early, but not too early. Sam was still sleeping so he joined us at his leisure. Once he was fully awake, he had a great time. He played with his new toys and growled with pleasure. Santa got everything just right. There were fun surprises for all, including the Wii game that both Mom and Dad got for the family. (Good thing we saved receipts.) I especially liked watching the kids get excited for their siblings to open the gifts they bought. They are catching on to the joy that comes from giving. Joy. That is a good word to describe our morning together. Later in the afternoon we headed to Grandma's for good food and time with the cousins. I am grateful we have family close by to share the holidays with because time with family is what it is all about.

Christmas Eve

Have I mentioned that I love traditions? Well, I do and we have a great one on Christmas Eve that we adopted from the Smiths. We started at the matinee movie. Carol and company met us there. In the lobby there was a Sesame Street poster with a cut out of Oscar's head. (Is there a special name for those?) Ally wanted her picture taken, but the others declined. This year we went to see Tangled. It was adorable. Sam was a perfect baby and let us stay in the theater for the entire movie! I went totally prepared to spend most of the movie in the lobby with him. Thanks for the fun surprise, buddy.

After the movie, we were off to dinner at the Brick Oven, yum. Don't let Sariah's face fool you. She was higher than a kite all day. We just happened to catch a rare "down moment."

Sam enjoyed himself at dinner. He had fun playing with the tablecloth and slobbering on the silverware. It was great food and even better company.

Once we were full, we made our last stop of the evening at the Smith's for the Nativity. Brook and Mariah were our angels. Not sure where that face came from.

Ally and Skyler were Mary and Joseph. Ally snuggled right up to her Joseph. It was fun to watch. Skyler was a great sport. Zac was a wiseman who somehow escaped Mom's camera. A cousin from the other side of the Smith family was visiting with them for Christmas. She and Easton were the other wisemen. They had Zac in stitches "off stage." Zac's giggle is contagious and I had a little trouble being a reverent audience member.

Sariah also opted to be in the audience. I was surprised since the Nativity is usually a highlight of Christmas Eve for her. But, as she told Carol, "Sometimes when you get older, you just want to sit and watch."

Sam was actually a shepherd with Emma and Hadley. He had his costume off before I could snap a picture. He was not too impressed but he sure looked cute. Missy played the piano and David assumed his traditional role of narrator. As I sat looking at the tree I felt the peace of the season in my heart, that special peace you feel when you think of the Savior. I thought of my family and the blessings we enjoy because Christ was born, lived on earth and completed his mission. I am grateful for that special Christmas moment. Our evening ended at home where we "hung" our stockings, left a treat for Santa (leftover pizza -- lucky Santa) and tucked the kids into bed in their Christmas jammies. A perfect ending to a perfect day.

Snow Day

December 21: 4 days before Christmas, piles of laundry to wash, last minute shopping to do, several projects to finish, presents to wrap, 2 ft. of snow overnight, and an unexpected day off of school . . . What's a busy mom to do? PLAY, OF COURSE. Tuesday morning we woke up to tons of snow and no power. Joseph had to dig his car out of the driveway to get to work. While using the flashlight to find the kids' school clothes, I seriously thought about just keeping them home, but I was supposed to help with Sariah's class party, so on we went. We were going through our morning routine when Joseph called from work to tell us school had been canceled. Since when has school been canceled in Utah because of snow? In our district it has actually been 25 years. The kids were ecstatic. And so was I. Joseph came home and we decided to play. Hence, Freddy the snowman was born.

Here is a look at the top of our shed.

Brook was excited to play in the snow and use her new pink gloves.

Sariah asks to play in the snow every time we get as much as a dusting. She was thrilled there was actually enough to do something with.

Ally kept getting stuck, but I don't think she minded too much.

Zac could not get enough. He kept jumping, diving, tackling, digging, rolling, etc. He came in wet from head to toe. He had barely dried off when he got an invitation to go sledding with a friend. They had a great first ride down the hill, but the second trip down, they went over a jump on accident and landed smack on their tailbones. Their sledding was cut short and they spent the rest of the day resting in their respective houses. I am happy to report they have both made a full recovery.

Brook was excited when Dad cleared a path to her playhouse.


And she was even more excited when Dad built her a baby snowman for her house. She and Ally named the snowbaby, Diamond and decked her out with a carrot nose, pretzel arms and Craisin eyes. They were both disappointed when Diamond melted. Freddy eventually did, too. But the memories will last. I am grateful for the chance to slow down and play with my family. Somehow most of the laundry, shopping and projects still got finished, and the stuff that didn't probably was not that important anyway.

Chirstmas Program

The second graders did a Christmas program at school. They did a great job. Zac practiced his sign language for "Jingle Bells" any chance he got. He was also part of a group that recited a poem about the meaning of Christmas. On the big day he told me he was excited and also glad to get all the practicing over with since they had to miss a few recesses to work on their program. I love watching the programs at school, even though it gets a little crowded in the lunch room. If I can figure out why my videos won't work, I will post some so you can enjoy the performance, too.

Thanksgiving

Thanksgiving is one of my favorite holidays and this year was extra special. All the Ansons were together and we soaked up every minute. Ally could hardly wait for her Thanksgiving feast at school. She dressed up like an Indian, sporting the necklace she made that she was particularly proud of.


The Sunday before Thanksgiving was Joseph's birthday. It was also the day David and Amy arrived from Missouri. Two perfect reasons to celebrate with good food and German chocolate cake.


Sam wanted in on the Thanksgiving dinner preparations. Actually, he just wanted to gnaw on the cream cheese. Do you think I could get anything out of this adorable product placement? I should mention that the cream cheese was for an amazingly delicious pumpkin cheesecake Grandma made for my birthday which landed on Thanksgiving this year. Thanks, Mom!

We decided to have a grand sleepover at Grandma's house the night before Thanksgiving. All the cousins slept together upstairs in the storage room, of all places. They loved it. Brook later commented, "That was funny that we slept in the storage room."

We use the term "slept" very loosely. Brook had to be removed from the room since she was keeping the others awake. She fell asleep on the couch downstairs. All the cousins were finally asleep by about 10:45. The adults stayed up playing games until almost 1 am. The first kids started waking up around 5:45 and they were all up by 6:30 or so. It was totally worth it, but we were all tired the next day. Poor Benjamin literally fell asleep in his mashed potatoes. That would have been an awesome picture.

Zac had some canker sores that kept him from fully enjoying his meal, but they did not get in the way of enjoying his time with Caleb. The two cousins had a grand time together. They are two peas in a pod. Both of them shed tears when it was time for Caleb to go home. It was a tender moment for all of us.


All in all, it was a great Thanksgiving. Thanks to the Missouri Ansons for making the long drive to share it with us. Family is one of our greatest blessings. Hopefully we can make it to your house this summer.

Great to be Eight!

Zac's birthday celebrations started a week early when Joseph took Zac to his first BYU football game. It was cold and rainy, but the cougars won. He loved it and can't wait to go again.

The Saturday before his birthday, we invited some friends for a pizza party. It was a little crazy; about what you would expect with six 8 year old boys and a few sisters running around. The energy level in our living room skyrocketed.

My favorite game was the cookie-0n-the-forehead game. Each boy got a vanilla wafer on his forehead. He had to manage to get the cookie in his mouth without using their hands. A few of them actually did it. It was hilarious to watch.

The boys really liked the unwrap-the-candy bar game. When they rolled doubles, they got a turn to unwrap the candy bar while wearing oven mitts. It was loud and wild and exactly what they wanted.

The day before his birthday, we had the family party. Grandpa, Grandma, Nicole, Emily and Chris all came to help us celebrate. Star Wars was the theme of the day. A little last minute coordination helped us all avoid duplicate gifts. He scored great Lego Star Wars stuff, including the Wii game he was hoping for. He campaigns to play it daily.

As you can tell, the Lego Star Wars shirt was a huge hit as well. Thanks, Aunt Nicole.

Zac wanted a chocolate layer cake with chocolate frosting. And that is what he got. I love that his cake requests are getting simpler.

We wore Sam right out. Good thing Uncle Chris was there to snuggle. I think Chris was ready for a nap, too.


As luck would have it, November Pack Night was the day after Zac's birthday so he got to go. He looked way too grown up in his Cub Scout shirt. They gave him all kinds of things including some neckerchief slides and a board to hang them on, an actual neckerchief and a plaque with the Cub Scout promise. He also got flipped upside down to remind him to do a good "turn" daily. I am so grateful that we have amazing Cub leaders in our pack. Zac loves scouts and has already earned his Bobcat.




And, of course, the best part of turning eight was Zac's baptism. He was baptized on Dec. 4th, the same day I was baptized (a few years ago). It was a special day for our whole family. I am proud of Zac for deciding to be baptized. Thanks for setting a good example, Zac. We love you!