Christmas Eve Nativity

One of our family traditions is to act out the nativity on Christmas Eve. We all got in on the act this year. Erik was our director, stage manager, and cameraman, and the rest of us played multiple roles.

Olivia was Mary ("Mom, why do I have to be Mary every year?" "Uh, because you're the only girl."), an angel, and a wiseman.

Caleb was Joseph, a shepherd, and very convincing king Herod ("I wanna KILL someone!").

Ben was a shepherd and an angel's helper, and had an impressive knock-down of Joseph at the manger.

Mom played and angel and a wiseman.

I'm not sure if we'll win any Oscars any time soon, but we had a fun time. And it's always a good reminder of the real reason we celebrate Christmas. And I'm not talking about the treats, in case you were wondering. But that's a good guess, considering who you're talking to.

Blood is Thicker Than College Pride...Right?

While it's true that Erik and I both graduated from BYU, I wouldn't say we are devoted fans. Bacically, I would not consider myself a big sports fan in general. In fact, I will rarely watch a game that doesn't include one of my own children playing.

And while some of you may cringe at the fact that a few days ago we attended a University of Utah basketball game--AND wore red!--let me just explain that our little (read: 7 foot +) nephew David plays on the team. So, for the evening we were Ute fans.


We met up with David's family and were quite the RED cheering section. The only reason there is a white shirt in the group is that he shared his red shirt with his little brother who somehow got his shirt soaking wet.

David unfortunately hurt his ankle so he wasn't able to play in this game. But he was there, cheering on his team. He is the tallest one on the left, dressed all in black.


Here he is on the bench. Observation: these basketball arenas look much smaller in person than they do on TV.

Ben got wiggly, so he and I spent a good deal of the game doing laps up and down the halls. He mangaged to charm all the security people even though they were from the opposing school. He has a powerful smile, this one.

My kids loved playing with their cousins! We are so lucky to live close enough to see each other once in awhile.

To help you understand how tall this kid is, Erik is 6'3" tall, and he is just taller than David's shoulder. This is a guy you have to hug around the waist.

Even so, David's kindness and generosity outshine his extreme height. He is a great kid.... er, man now, I guess. It's weird to see neices and nephews grow up into adults! I am still getting used to that idea.

It was a fun evening, and we are looking forward to seeing him on the court in person one day soon! Go Utes! ...wait, did I just say that? Shhhh, don't tell my alma mater!

Merry Christmas!

From my family to yours, I hope this Christmas is your best ever!

Temple Lights

I'm alive! And cannot believe it's almost Christmas and I haven't done a single post in December! I've been having trouble uploading my pictures lately. I work on it for a bit, get frustrated, then give up. I'm hoping it will rectify itself soon--I miss blogging!

Well, let's start off with an activity we did a few weeks ago. Our ward's families met up at the Los Angeles temple for a nice evening of mingling and looking at the beautiful lights. Here is our cute (if I do say so myself) family. We were the only ones there not in jeans. Let's just say it wasn't my idea to dress up. I know, it was good to show the kids we dress up to go to the temple. But it was COLD! I am such a wimp.

They do such a wonderful job of lighting the temple grounds. Everything looked beautiful!

This huge tree on the temple grounds was covered with some sort of mesh net of lights. It looked amazing!

The Primary kids sang a few Christmas songs. They were so cute. This only about 1/4 of our Primary, that's why it looks so small. Afterwards we had doughnuts and hot chocolate, then walked around and looked at the lights. It was a fun evening!

Thanksgiving: The 3 F's

Thanksgiving weekend brings some fun times. We were lucky enough to spend some time on the three essential F's:

1. FAMILY

My sister Angela's family came for the day, and the cousins had so much fun together. They put on a Thanksgiving play (Ben was the turkey), played soccer in the backyard, and watched the movie "Up". We love cousins!! We are grateful they came to visit us for the day.

2. FOOD

We made way too much food (can you say 10 lbs. of mashed potatoes?!) which was absolutely delicious. We had leftovers for days. I love Thanksgiving food! Mmmm, stuffing and mashed potatoes smothered with homemade gravy. Delish!

3. FOOTBALL

Erik played in our ward's Turkey Bowl and was only sore for a couple of days. He did great. We also watched the local high school team play in the regional playoffs. It was exciting to watch. It was also exciting trying to keep Ben from tumbling head-first down the bleachers. I'm sure all the folks around us appreciated him walking back and forth behind them 47 times, patting their backs with his little hand each time. Don't worry, he granted them one of his signature grins so they couldn't get too upset.

...oh, and shopping. I won't post pics of the carnage, but I will tell you my sister and I spent 5 hours at the outlets on Black Friday. Let's just say we had success.

Soccer

This past Saturday concluded another soccer season. Soccer is big around here, and on any Saturday in the fall you can be guaranteed to run into various friends, neighbors, and acquaintances if you are at the soccer fields. You may have seen me pushing a red stroller and lugging various bags, a soccer banner, and sometimes a cooler. It was quite the juggling act.

This was Olivia's third year, and she did great. Every time she was on the field she gave 110%. She enjoyed playing all the positions. It was her lucky year! She made several goals this season, including a "hat trick" (3 goals) in the last game. The kids always love the tunnel at the end of the game. This was Caleb's first year, and he had a great time with the other silly boys on his team. Daddy was his coach, which made it even more fun.

Caleb did a great job focusing on the ball and not letting it get past him. Mr. Intensity:

Ben and I did lots of cheering for our favorite soccer stars. Hooray for a fun season! And hooray for some newly free Saturdays!

Way Back When-sday

She's always had great taste!

Happy Halloween

OK, so it's a week late, but we had a little, er, mishap on Halloween day. Let's just say,

adorable toddler trick-or-treating for the first time

+

dead camera battery

=

tragic :(

But, good mother that I am, I dressed the kids up a week later to recreate and photographically document. "It's for the blog!!"

And now, ladies and gentlemen, allow me to present....

Coming at you from a time long, long ago and a galaxy far, far away....

Princess Leia:
Obi-Wan Kenobi:and of course, Master Yoda:

Let's take a closer peek at this one, shall we? Once again, his size extra-large noggin doesn't quite accommodate the head gear. But, he's darn cute if I do say so myself.

The gang got all excited to have "matching" costumes this year. We borrowed Yoda's, bought Obi-Wan's (he was originally going to be Luke Skywalker but that costume was nowhere to be found), and my friend helped me make the Princess Leia costume. It was so much fun, and the kids loved it! I must admit, I thought they were adorable.

The big kids last a little longer with their trick-or-treating each year. They got quite the loot! When the handle on Caleb's pumpkin basket broke because it was so heavy, we took that as a sign it was time to go home.

We sorted it all into categories. Yes, I'm weird that way.

The hair's cute, right? I did it myself.

One last pic just because I couldn't leave it out. I love my cute Star Wars characters.

Way Back When-sday: Halloween Edition

It being Halloween and all, I figured it would be fun to peek at a photo from Halloweens past. This was three years ago, when Liv was 4 years old. She was in the midst of her Princess Stage--everything had to be pink and princess. She loved dressing up as Princess Aurora (Sleeping Beauty for you princess amateurs).

Two-year-old Caleb, on the other hand, wasn't as excited about costume. I'd bought him this adorable cow costume that was warm and snuggly and just so cute. Problem was, he would NOT let me put it on him. He threw a complete fit any time I tried to pull it over his head.

So, when trick-or-treating time came, we improvised. We dressed him in a white button-down shirt, socks, and sunglasses. Boom! Tom Cruise from Risky Business.

Disclaimer: not that I've seen the movie since it's rated R and I don't watch those. But, who hasn't seen the clip of Tom Cruise in that getup?

Quotable Caleb

This happened a few weeks ago, but it has definite application to post-Halloween week. Plus, I'm still giggling about it.

A few weeks ago I hosted a baby shower. I had bought a few different kinds of candy and set them in bowls around the living room for people to snack on. Hardly anyone ate the candy, so the next day there was quite a bit left over.

Caleb helped himself, and apparently he had been frequenting the candy bowls more often than I had thought, because in the afternoon he sauntered in to the family room and announced: “No more treats for me!”
If he had eaten enough to know that he’d had too much, he must have really overdone it!

I find myself repeating this phrase quite often the past few days. "No more treats, Cynthia. You've had enough."

Then I go sneak some more candy out of my kids' pumpkin baskets. Sigh. I'm hopeless.

Called to Serve

This past weekend I had the unique opportunity to go to my parents' missionary farewell. They are leaving in a couple of weeks to serve in the Family History Center in Salt Lake City for 18 months.

On Sunday, my parents' entire posterity (5 children, 5 children-in-law, and 16 grandchidren) gathered together to hear them speak in church, share a meal together, and see them set apart as missionaries by the stake president. It was wonderful.

I think it was my mom's idea of heaven, having all of her family together in one room. We took up three long pews at church, and the grandkids sang two of my brother-in-law Matt's songs, I Feel the Spirit and When I Hear the Prophet's Voice.

The cousins had a ball playing together. My parents have a large property, so the kids played a lot of soccer. My dad paid the kids 50 cents a lap to run the 1/4 mile lap he created. Olivia ran 7 laps. That's almost 2 miles!Caleb ran 5. After he ran 2 laps, he proclaimed he was tired and ready to stop. My dad handed over a dollar. Caleb immediately decided to run more laps.

My cousin Virginia, who lives in San Francisco, came up to spend the day with the family. It was so great to see her. When I was growing up, she was always the little kid with curly hair, but now she is a 24-year-old college graduate with confidence and personality to spare. What a great gal. Here she is (in front) with my siblings and me.
We went to my parents' ward, the ward I grew up in, and got to see tons of old friends. I skipped Sunday School (shhh, don't tell) and chatted in the foyer with three guys who I knew as little boys, but now they are all dads! It was strange but really cool to see them all grown up.

I will miss my parents' house since we won't be able to go there while they are gone. They live in such a beautiful area.

But, we will be able to visit my parents in Salt Lake, which I am excited about.

We'll miss you, Mom and Dad!!! We are so excited for you! You will be fabulous missionaries!!!

We've Come a Long Way, Baby

Eleven years ago today I made the best decision of my life.

Six addresses, 3 kids, and countless bouts of laughter later, I still believe it's the smartest thing I've ever done. Happy anniversary, Honey. I love you so much.

More Projects

With my older kids in school my brain can finally free up some space to think about projects. Now that we're about through the current wave of babies in the ward, I've been excited about doing some home improvement projects as well.

During a few of the many hours of general conference a couple of weeks ago, I recovered the kitchen chairs. It was time. They were looking pretty shabby. The plastic was ripping off of most of them, and the fabric was getting all dirty. The pictures don't really show how nasty they were in real life.

One of these days I'd like to do a larger-scale kitchen remodel, where we paint the cabinets and walls, get a new stove, and make curtains for the windows. Everything will be color-coordinated and look spiffy. Until then, I just decided to pick out a fabric I like for the kitchen chairs. I figure I can change them later if I really want a different color. For now, red's good. It's kinda fun and tropical-y, I think.

Another project I got excited about doing is putting blinds on all the windows in the living room. This one has had this ugly gray curtain since we've lived here, and the others were bare. When the afternoon sun beats in, our downstairs turns into an oven! So, now that summer is over and it's not as hot anymore, I decided it's finally time to get it done. Thus is the irony of my life.

After the gray curtain came off (you like our Halloween stickers?):
Erik was amazing and put up all the new blinds. I opened the first box and got intimidated. The box stayed there, opened, for a few days. Then Erik decided to take it over and got it all done in a day. Don't they look nice?
Here's another window:

It makes me so happy to have these "new" chairs and nicely covered windows! Every time I pass by them I smile. Next step: some curtains for these windows. But first, I really need to make curtains for my kids' rooms. I've had the fabric for at least 6 months now, after all. I need to just do it. Stay tuned.