Double Digits

Where did the time go? When I became a mother, I was told continually how fast time goes. I now believe it, because I blinked and my oldest child turned 10! Holy cow. If the next ten years goes by this quickly (which I have a sneaking suspicion it will) I will be a mother of an adult before I know it! I am so proud of my girl. I expect too much of her, don't tell her how much I appreciate her, and get frustrated about silly things far too often. But honestly, I don't know what I would do without her. She is such a big helper with her little brothers, makes us all laugh, and has lots of talents. She recently made a really big decision about school. She handled it so well, and as I watched her struggle to come to a conclusion, I grew more and more confident that she will be a responsible adult and a contributing member of society--which is my main goal as a parent.

We only do birthday parties with friends every other year, so this year was a family party. She opened one present before school (a new outfit), I packed one present in her lunch (jewelry), and the rest (more clothes, perler beads, and lip gloss from her brothers) were saved for after school. (David was still napping)

Darin adopted an idea from my friend, Christa, and takes flowers to Liv's school for her birthday. I think she felt pretty special! (How old is she again? Oh yeah, 10--thanks Darin)

After presents (I know we did it a little backwards, but we had a packed evening, and I wanted her to be able to enjoy her presents) Darin and I took the boys to Renae's house, then took Liv to Olive Garden for dinner.

(Here she is doing a move that her good friend, Brooklyn, does)After a yummy dinner we went back to Renae's to collect the boys and have cupcakes and ice cream.

Here is Darin attempting Brooklyn's move:

(She was holding her breath because she blew out a candle while she was laughing)

I hope she wished for time to slow down!
After cupcakes and ice cream we loaded the fam in the car and went to see "Bedtime Stories". We really liked it! On her way up to bed she got one more present...a new bike (which she will have to enjoy in a month or two).
Happy Birthday, Liv!

Back to Reality

Our Christmas break was filled with "nothing days". Nothing days are the days that the calendar is empty and you get to choose how to spend them. We loved staying up late, sleeping in, playing games, playing with friends and cousins, and celebrating the most wonderful time of the year. We are now attempting to get back on a schedule...a task that is made more difficult by the bone chilling weather that begs us to stay in bed on the early mornings. We are slowly getting back into the swing of things, and starting to appreciate a schedule again. Here are some highlights of our break:


A visit from Santa

Watching Livvy's presentation at school. Warren and David saw the snowmen and knew it was a perfect photo op (gotta love David's boots):

The candy windows in downtown Provo:





Seeing these guys (still loving the pj's, Megan)


LOTS and LOTS of sledding... (David didn't make it to this particular sledding trip. He was nice and warm at Grandma's house down the street. It is still unclear whether he likes it or hates it. Every time the kids got their snow clothes on he said, "and we're not going sledding, o.k?" A few times when he went down he said, "Let's do it again" but mostly he went down covering his eyes and saying "and now we're done". We'll see what next year brings.)




Capacity: 2 (or as many as you can squeeze on)





The record for distance had been set and remained in tact until this group went:

Gingerbread house fun. The artists and the finished product:

Christmas Eve brought dinner at Uncle Gordon's house,

new jammies:

Watching Elf and sleeping in the family room:


Anticipation of what would fill these:


A tree that finally had presents underneath:


Reading the Nativity story from the Bible, cookies for Santa, and very little sleep. Sean had heard that Santa comes at midnight no matter what, so he was determined to stay up. At about 1:30, and after many reminders that Santa certainly doesn't come while you're awake (I sang that line of "Santa Claus is Coming to Town" several times), sleep finally overcame his determination, and he fell asleep long enough for the big man to make his deliveries.
Christmas morning (at 5:14am) brought scooters from Santa (David also got a little potty. He's still un-enthused), board games, a few small things to open, then the big surprise...A Wii!!! To say that the kids were excited would be an understatement. We spent all day in our pj's, playing the Wii and board games, napping, snacking, and enjoying family togetherness. It was an amazing Christmas.

My family always has our family Christmas parties after Christmas, so we still had that to look forward to. My parents host a fun bowling party, followed by pizza and gift exchange. Our family is big enough now that we need larger facilities, so we have the party at a church. We played speed, did a relay race, played "Do you love your neighbor", and opened our gifts. This year the theme was "hats" (in years past we've done pajamas, socks, and sunglasses). Here is our little family with our new hats:


With almost everyone here (Rich's family was sorely missed), we spent lots of time with siblings and cousins. There is always a little bit of a let down when all the get-togethers are over, but all good things must come to an end, right? It was time for a schedule for our family. We sure enjoyed it while it lasted, though!

A Sneak Peek

Darin's nephew is an ultrasound tech, and said we could stop by sometime for a peek at our baby. We went last night, and the baby definitely cooperated....looks like Livvy will remain the lone princess at our house! She is handling it like a champ. It was so fun to see him wiggling all over the place, to see a strong heart, and an overall healthy baby. We are very grateful. We are now on the search for another boy name. Any suggestions?