Thursday, December 28, 2017

December 2016

I try to get Christmas card sent out at the beginning of December along with all my shopping so that I can enjoy the month and not feel so busy. This was our card for 2016.



Our ward Christmas party is always the first weekend of the month so that was our first Christmas activity of the season. This is Olivia right before we left. I always buy Olivia's clothes bigger so they last longer and as I went through pictures to blog I realized she wore the same snowflake sweater to the Christmas party this year too. Along with all her other Christmas clothes from last year. I don't mind though, the more use I can get out of clothes the better!

 December 2, 2016

She's always putting on jewelry and other accessories to dress up her outfit.

December 5, 2016

We have 2 Christmas trees, one "pretty" tree with all silver and white ornaments and the other is the kids tree. We collect an ornament from places we travel and it's the best part of putting up the tree is remembering each place we bought them from. I love sitting in the living room at night with the tree's lit up, it's one of my favorite things to do in December.

December 5, 2016


The first year dancers don't perform in the dance recital so they have a day that parents can come watch them to see what they've learned. She had the biggest smile on her face the whole time.

December 7, 2016




Kaleb's art teacher has an art show to display things the kids have done over the semester so we went to see the different projects he had done. He's always been a good artist and he definitely doesn't get it from his parents!

December 15, 2016

Olivia trying on a funny hat at the store.

December 17, 2016

Christmas baking is a lot of work but I also enjoy it. It's the one time of year I bake lots of yummy treats to share with friends, neighbors and coworkers. This time I made turtles, caramels and toffee. It was my first year using THIS recipe for caramels and I'll never try another recipe again. They are so good and so many people told me how amazing they were. I used the same caramel on the turtles too. And Matt is always awesome and helps me with all the baking and he goes out with the kids to deliver them too, I couldn't do it without their help!

December 18, 2016


Elsa still makes a regular appearance. :)

December 19, 2016

And Olivia is a good mom to her dolls.

December 20, 2016

I can't remember the last time we took the kids to see Santa so we went early to the mall before Santa started so we didn't have to wait in a huge line and saw him on Christmas Eve. The boys were playing with my phone while we were waiting.

December 24, 2016


I wasn't going to spend $35+ for the pictures so I asked if they would just sell the digital downloads to me for $15. She said it's all one package price but she ended up giving me everything for that price and said Merry Christmas. So I was thankful for her generosity and I think she knew I had no problem walking away without them. [I can't stand places like this that print the pictures out and then charge a ton for them. And then since I won't buy them they get thrown away. It's such a waste, if they'd just charge a reasonable amount more people would buy them.]



I asked the kids what Santa was telling them when he had them all lean in and he was telling them to tell their parents thanks for all they do. He was a good Santa and the kids really liked him.



That evening we had Christmas Eve dinner at my parents house. My sister always gets them new pajama's. I unfortunately was really sick over Christmas for the second year in a row so I sat in the corner and didn't get the best pictures but we had a fun evening.




And later that night it started snowing just in time for Christmas.


The kids were excited to start opening presents the next morning. Thankfully they don't wake up earlier than any other day so usually around 7 they come in to get us up.

December 25, 2016


The kids always act extra excited when they get things like bathroom stuff or clothes so Kaleb's really excited for his deodorant and body wash set.





As much as I don't want to post this flattering picture of me sick I have to document that I was actually there too!


My parents and sister came over for breakfast and to see what they kids got.


I took a nap that afternoon (which seems to be the normal lately for me on Christmas-oops!) and then we had a nice dinner at my aunt and uncles. Moana was there too!


One of the games Olivia got was a twister type Disney game. It was funny to watch the kids try to play it.

December 27, 2016

We try to go up to the cabin to celebrate New Year's and my parents, sister and brother's family all came up too. We first had to hike up to the cabin to get the snowmobile and I pulled Olivia on a sled.

December 31, 2016


That afternoon one of the neighbor's dogs came to play with us for awhile. Olivia loved him and followed him everywhere he went.



The little kids stayed closer to the cabin on the smaller hills but Kaleb and Ashton usually go to the big hill at the end of our road.


We usually leave as it's getting dark out. The day went by way to quick but we had a lot of fun and it's always pretty being in the mountains.


Someone had too much fun sledding and fell right asleep that night. And I can't get enough of her sleep mask that she's obsessed with.

December 31, 2016

Thursday, October 26, 2017

November 2016

Olivia was ready for school and wanted a picture with her Daisy Duck.

November 1, 2017

This girl just loves taking selfies with me. Most of the time she pulls crazy faces.


She was on a post Halloween sugar high that afternoon.


This girl always has plenty of accessories and jewelry on.

November 3, 2016

Another day, another dress for Olivia. The boys were enjoying ice cream. Kaleb won't ever just give me a normal face it's usually some scrunched up weird face that I'm sure one day he'll regret.

November 7, 2016

The field trip for November was to Harmon's to get a tour and have lots of samples. Olivia is a talker so she was sure to tell the lady giving the tour at the banana's that minions love banana's.

November 10, 2016

We took family pictures at Camera Shy again but this time went to the Gardner Village location to have different backdrops since they don't switch them out very often. The lady did a pretty good job, but she always had the light too far to one side so a lot of the pictures we had shadows on half of our faces. And sometimes I don't care for how far in they crop pictures because then certain shots you can't order any size prints or it cuts off parts of a person you don't want cut off. For the price though it's still worth it to me.

November 11, 2016















I didn't realize when she had them take this picture that they were in the same positions 3 years earlier at a different camera shy. I'll have to make sure every couple years to recreate this pose.


We had a luncheon at my aunt and uncles after my cousin blessed her baby. The weather was so nice for being November. I'll take 70 degrees in November anytime. The kids loved playing on the trampoline.

November 13, 2016





Kaleb was hiding from the camera again.


My cousin brought this game to play that the older kids and adults enjoyed playing.


I'm in the process (still) of trying to convert all of my parents VHS tapes before they go bad. Plus it's fun to have them in a digital format. This is me in 1985 just over a year old.

November 15, 2016

Olivia really gets into video games when she plays them with her brothers and is very loud and animated.

November 15, 2016

Playing games at Ashton's pack meeting.

November 17, 2016

We've done a Thanksgiving Dinner for the Elder's and their families at church and so this was our last one after Matt was released. I've learned over the years to always brine the turkey's and this time I was lazy and bought a brining mixture from Costco since it was cheap and easy.

November 18, 2016

We've always done 2 turkeys and I put them inside food grade buckets but it's easier to put them inside oven bags so that the turkey stays submerged in the brine instead of floating to the top. They taste so much better and are juicy when cooked right.


I love sunsets!

November 18, 2016

Since we were going to be in Colorado for Thanksgiving my mom did some crafts with the kids a couple days before. They made cookie turkey's and rice crispy turkey legs.

November 20, 2016


Then we had to play Pie Face. Olivia loved doing it but was always so nervous. 



It's normal to need sunglasses to take a bath right?

November 21, 2016

Olivia was playing with her kitchen and food and told me what to write down for her shopping list so she could go grocery shopping.

November 22, 2016 


We spent Thanksgiving weekend in Colorado at Matt's brother's. We took a quick selfie in the hotel lobby after breakfast before we left to their house.

 November 24, 2016

There was lots of visiting, playing games and cooking.


The next day we went to see Moana at the theaters and did a little shopping. Olivia and Brea enjoying playing the fishing game.

November 25, 2016

Saturday we went to walk around the Fort Collin's temple. A lady was working on the grounds and I can't remember how many exactly but she had so many THOUSAND'S of bulbs to plant. (Not just by herself but that's how many they were planting.)

November 26, 2017


That night before going to bed we took advantage of the hotel pool even though we had gone swimming at a local rec center early that day too. It was a fun trip and I'm glad we were able to get together.



I'm always trying different things with Olivia's hair. This time I had put her hair into 6 or 7 small braids after her bath but before bed and this is what it looked like when she woke up. It had lots of volume that's for sure.

November 29, 2016

Then after preschool she was playing in the snow and wanted to throw a snowball at me. I didn't let her so she had to throw it at a bush.



More tea parties. This time with Costco's pumpkin streusel muffins, so good! I wish they weren't a seasonal item.


That sums up our November. Yes, my posts tend to have lots of pictures of Olivia but the boys are both in school all day and Kaleb avoids the camera like the plague which doesn't help!