My Girls

Grandma Smith made the girls Christmas dresses and today was the first time they had a chance to wear them. They looked so pretty that I had to take a picture.

We had a nice Christmas, my Mom and Dad, Neal and Cory and Melissa and their cute kids, Hafen and Hudson came over for the afternoon and had dinner with us, played games and visited. The highlight for the kids' presents were a pogo stick for Veronica (which she has quickly mastered), a Skateboard with pads, etc. for Tyler and a Digital Littlest Pet Shop for Samantha. We even had a white Christmas which is always a little magical.

My mom and Neal were very kind and came over on the day after Christmas to watch all of the kids for a night, giving Joe and I a very much desired night away, the first since the twins were born. Thanks again!

Sledding

We finally have snow!!! We woke up on Friday to about 5 inches of snow. Bliss to the kids and I who have been anxiously awaiting it, not so much to Joe, who does not look forward to it as much as the rest of us.

We took advantage of it on Saturday and invited some friends to come sledding with us. We all had a good time. Tyler is a little daredevil who will try anything, it is a good thing that the hill we sled on is a small one! Even Brenna and Braelynn had a good time. I was nervous about letting them go down the hill, and even about bringing them. They love the snow but little ones get cold fast. Joe convinced me to let them ride down with him a few times and a few times with me. After one time, they were hooked! At the end, they were even going down the hill by themselves. When it was time to go, they tried everything to not have to get in the car but when Brenna finally realized that we were going to go no matter how much they fought, she resorted to pointing down the hill crying "please, please, please".

Fun, fun fun...

My side of the family is just getting too big to fit into anyones home and we wanted to have a little Christmas party since we wouldn't be together for any of the holidays this year my parents were kind enough to rent a vacation home in Parowan for two nights. We had a great time, I always have fun when the whole family is together. It is always entertaining to watch the cousins play together as well as the big boys (brothers and brothers-in law). Here are a few pictures!

Baptism Day

Tyler was baptised a member of the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter Day Saints and confirmed on Saturday, December 15. He was very lucky to have most of his uncles, aunts and cousins there, as well as his Grandpa and Grandma Haley and Smith and his great-Grandpa Smith. It was a special day for him and we appreciate the fact that he has such good examples all around him to look up to.

Tis the season

For FHE tonight we got together with our friends the Clarke's to make graham cracker "gingerbread" houses. Between our five kids and their two they made short work of a LOT of candy, both on the houses and in their bellies. We had a great time, it was fun to see the kids express their creativity in a different way, but next time maybe we shouldn't do the sugar rush thing so close to bedtime!

Breakfast with Santa

On Saturday I took the Tyler, Sam, Brenna and Braelynn to a local grocery store to have breakfast with Santa. They had fun eating doughnuts, drinking milk, sitting on Santa's lap and afterwards making snowmen out of cupcakes, marshmallows, frosting and candy. Nothing like a little sugar at 9:00 a.m. to start the day out right!

Veronica had an exciting day yesterday, she had the opportunity to meet the author of the Fablehaven series, Brandon Mull. She and her Grandma and Grandpa Haley have loved reading his series, so can you imagine their excitement when they found out that he was coming to Cedar City for a book signing? They waited in line for three hours to have their books signed and also were able to get some posters and stickers.
On another note, Samantha had her first big-stage clogging performance last Saturday. When I asked how it was performing in front of all those people on such a big stage, she said "Mom, I just loved it, it was the best thing ever!".