Christmas Day

Here are a few pictures of Christmas day. We spent it in Morgan at my parents house. We went Christmas Eve and came home the evening of the 26th. My brother and his family were there too. The girls played so well with their cousins which made it a lot of fun for the adults.

My sweet neighbor, Janet, gave us a gingerbread house kit and a book. She is such a thoughtful neighbor. We put it together Christmas Eve. The girls all loved it.

We acted out the Christmas story on Christmas Eve. Aubree was excited to be Mary even if she thought her costume was a little weird. Syd got to be a shepherd which she was delighted about because she got to carry around Grandma's special sheep. Scott was a wise man and I was the audience and photographer. The kids all did well and actually listened/acted the story as it was read from the scriptures.

Later we called Santa and each of the kids got to talk to him. It was fun to watch the excitement on their faces as Santa talked with them. (Thanks Santa......if you read this, you're a great Santa!)

The girls actually did pretty good going to bed and we got to stay up and play games. Aubree was pretty excited about Santa coming so she woke up at 6 am but we made her stay in bed until 7.

Aubree got exactly what she asked for......a Swimming Doggy. She kept seeing the commercial on tv and told me it really swims and walks. She was pretty excited and took a bath asap to see this dog swim.

Syd got baby accessories for all of her babies. She loves to take care of her babies and she's still playing with it all today so you know that was a successful gift.
The girls got a toy box from Grandpa Stevens that we can use. They really thought it was fun to get inside. Scott got a BYU football book he saw on one of his favorite shows "Cougar Diaries". Just like Aubree, he fell for the commercial. Here his is cuddling his book as he sleeps.
Later in the day we sent the kids out to play in the snow with Grandma and Michael. They had fun and built a really big snowman.

I loved this picture of Michael and Rachel. It really captured the moment.

Here are a few more cute photos in the snow.

....until next year!

Merry Christmas

I've decided one of my favorite things about the Christmas season is the way people treat each other. It just seems everyone is a little friendlier, more helpful and caring towards each other. I noticed this especially in my neighborhood this year.

I wasn't able to make it to the neighborhood Christmas outing for 2 reasons, I was sick and my family was at my house that night but I love the fact that someone organized this and invited the neighborhood. Also a neighbor that I've really never met came and helped me shovel our driveway after one of those storms we had. He was really nice and I felt bad about not getting to know him before. (Scott went the next morning and bought us a new snow blower, I can't believe I can actually see the driveway. I'm not holding my breath, it is only December but it's a good start for us.)

I just love the Christmas spirit.

Tis the Season

Tis the Season for soooo many things. Probably too many things because every year during December I try and do to much and end up getting sick. This week is no exception. I've felt a cold coming on for the past week and it has finally hit. Today I am trying to take things a little easier.....though I still went out shopping at 3 different stores. If I get the change to go alone being sick won't even stop me.

Last Saturday we had our ward Temple Morning/Christmas Breakfast/Primary Activity. Aubree got to be a shepherd as the kids acted out the nativity. She was very proud of her role. She also got to sit on Santa's lap. She actually did it and asked for a dog that swims. She was sooo brave. Sydney on the other hand wasn't so brave. She didn't even want to get close to Santa. I tried to help her get close but as you can see in the picture she was not very happy about it.

Aubree has been bugging me about taking a picture of all of us by our stockings every since we hung them up. We set up the camera and she got to push the button and run. It's actually kinda a cute picture.
We had a nice family bring us the cutest hot chocolate mugs with marshmallows, hot chocolate mix, cookies, etc. Basically it was the works and very thoughtful. We had to have a hot chocolate party in the evening. It was very fun and warmed us right up.This week has been crazy!!!! On Monday during the day I watched 4 different kids throughout the day, had Ann over and we had about 7 kids here, made 2 batches of caramel and dipped 3 bags of pretzel rods in the caramel.....YUMMY! I also did laundry.....everything was folded/hung up and put away, cleaned my house and we had 18 people over for FHE. It was fun but yes, it was crazy.

On Tuesday I made 2 more batches of caramel, dipped 2 more bags of pretzels in caramel and then dipped all 120 pretzel rods in chocolate, 20 marshmallows dipped in caramel and chocolate and drizzled them all with white chocolate. I also did some shopping in the morning and stayed up until 2 am working on this. I should have taken a picture of all the goodies but I was too tired.

Wednesday I tried to work out but felt too sick after being on the treadmill for 20 minutes so I came home. I spent the afternoon and evening working on Primary stuff. I had no idea how much time it takes to be ready for a new year. We had a Presidency meeting that evening and finished up 20+ manuals to be given to Primary Teachers on Sunday. I also made another batch of caramels to be wrapped.

Thursday I put together 45 goodie bags with all the pretzels and caramels I made. I also recleaned the house because it doesn't stay clean for more than an hour or so and Kimmy (Scott's sister) was coming for the night. We went to Temple Square in the evening to leave a car for Kimmy to come home and we visited Temple Square.

It was great to spend some time looking the temple, lights, nativity and Christus on Temple Square. I felt it really helped me remember the reason for Christmas. It was great to talk about that with my girls and help them focus on that. Friday I woke up feeling ill but still had things to do. We drove Kim to the airport and went to Ann's house. After finishing up our quilt blocks, making another batch of caramels for a few more pretzels and marshmallows (because all the others are pretty much packaged up to give away) we decided to make Peanut Butter Truffle Centers. Once again....yummy! I wasn't feeling very good but I kept going. We made a stop at Costco on the way home to buy a dessert for a party Scott and I had later in the evening.

I got home and crashed. I was SICK!!! We decided to call and cancel because I wasn't going to be able to make it.....now I have a huge chocolate cream pie in the fridge to eat. We stayed home and watched a movie but I still stuffed all my Christmas letters and got them ready to go.

I woke up this morning and I'm trying to feel better but still have to do a few things. It just seems like it's impossible to take a day off this time of year. We have 2 different places we're suppose to be to tonight.....I don't know if either of those are going to happen. Hopefully I can be better by tomorrow because I really can't miss church tomorrow. Maybe next year I'll slow down a bit and not get sick.....but probably not.

Pics

I've been trying to update the pictures on my wall of my girls. Aubree is at the point where I can reason with her enough to get her to cooperate but Syd on the other hand isn't to that point yet. It's almost impossible to get a picture of her. This is what I've come up with:

Aubree had to take her turn with the camera. Her latest thing is using the timer. She must think it looks fun to push the button and run into the picture. This is usually what I have to do

to get into a picture. She did pretty good with this one:

After using our wood fence for a backdrop I was actually glad for a few minutes it was wood and not vinyl. That's probably the first time I was happy about the wood. (just a little random bit of info.)

For the record...

I can't believe yesterday was December 1st and I RAKED the leaves outside. This marks 2 monumental occasions....first of all the weather has been amazingly warm outside. I didn't even wear a coat or jacket, just the sweater I had been wearing. It was sooo warm for December.

The second thing is we have lived in our house now for 5 years. I think it was 4 years ago that we planted a tree in the front yard and we now have enough leaves that need to be raked. I didn't think it would ever get bigger than a twig but it's grown like crazy this year.

Happy Birthday Aubree

I cannot believe my little Aubree is 4 years old. I don't know where the past year has gone. She is growing up so quickly.

At the end of the day yesterday (Nov. 17th, 2008), I was extremely exhausted, had a cold and was just ready to go to bed even though it was 8:30pm. The phone rang and it was BreeAnn. She was calling to wish Aubree a happy birthday. As I talked with her for a few minutes it gave me time to reflect on the precious gift I have been given to be Aubree's Mom.

Rarely do I think about Aubree being adopted. My feelings toward her are no different than my feelings toward Sydney. Once in awhile though, I am reminded that very easily things could have been different. I can't imagine my life without my Aubree girl. She means so much to me. She is such a sweet girl and has brought so much happiness to Scott and I. She filled a void in my life when I ached to be a mom. She also brought new challenges but I wouldn't trade any of them to go back in time when I wanted her so bad.

I'm going to try and give a recap of Aubree's past year while adding some of the things that make Aubree who she is.

This picture was taken at the beginning of the year. I think Aubree is beautiful. She is becoming such a sensitive girl. We are worried about the teenage years because already she has a hard time making through a movie without crying. Recently she was tearing up at High School Musical when they Zack and Gabriella broke up for a little bit. She can't see someone else crying and not want to cry with them. We may have an emotional wreck on our hands just like her mom.

Aubree has loved holidays this year and just couldn't get enough of the festivities.

Playing outside has brought new meaning this year. It seems all we did all summer was go outside or to the park and play. She loves riding her "Pony Bike", jumping on trampolines going to the park (especially the Splash Pad) and playing with Sydney.

Aubree loves when I give her a job to do. She can swiffer-vac the floor, pick up her toys, make her bed, get dressed, put on her shoes, wipe up messes and many more things. She also loves to help out in the kitchen. One of her favorite things is pulling a chair up to the kitchen sink and rinsing dishes then loading them in the dishwasher.

She also like to help make dinner and treats. She loves when we make bread dough and she get to roll her own dough out and make into anything she wants.

When it comes time to eat she loves Macaroni and Cheese, breadsticks, apples, grapes, yogurt, McDonald's kids meals with chicken nuggets, apple dippers, chocolate milk and a toy. She likes steak and usually chicken. Her beverage of choice is chocolate milk. When it comes time to say a blessing on the food we have a fight on our hands. First of all, we always have at least 2 prayers on every meal and Aubree HAS to be first followed by Sydney who usually blesses all her toys and forgets to bless the food. Aubree never forgets to ask Heavenly Father for a new baby and a pet. (I sure hope a new baby gets her before a pet does.)

Aubree loves playing with her cousins. Aub and Ty act more like brother and sister than they do cousins. That's probably because they see each other and spend a lot of time together at least once a week. She really looks up to Abby and Kendall. Someday she wants to be just like them.


Aubree has started dance and preschool this year. I still can't believe she's old enough for either of these things. She loves letters and numbers and is always asking me what things say and finding different letters she is familiar with. She also loves going to the library and getting new books. It's great when Scott gets home and takes the time to read stories to Aub and Syd. Aubree will then do pretty good at remembering the story and "reading" it again later.

Aubree doesn't always like the spotlight and she gets a little shy but recently she'll ask me to say "Attention, Attention Everyone, Introducing Aubree doing _____" Then she'll run out and perform her little talent. It's pretty funny to watch her perform.

Aub thinks she can pull some pretty funny/scary faces. She'll do some face and then ask me if it's scary or not. It' always makes me laugh. This picture is her most famous scary face and Sydney is trying to copy everything her older sister does.

As cute as she can be, she can also be a stinker some times. This is her pouting/I'm not getting my way face. I've even heard her say...."If you don't do this then I won't play with you." Then she'll fold her arms and wait for you to do what she says. What a STINKER! Hopefully this is just a phase.

Poor Aubree has to put up with me taking her picture every chance I get. She gets really sick of the camera but will occasionally put up with me usually followed by her having a turn to take a few pictures. Luckily we have digital cameras now and we can delete most pictures.

One funny thing she did this past summer when I gave her my old digital camera was hold the picture and snap a shot of herself looking down at the camera. When we were looking through the pictures she came across a few of that particular angle and her nostrils were the most prominent thing in the picture and she asked in a very serious way, "Mom, am I a pig?" She didn't think it was funny that I laughed because she was a bit worried. I had to explain we all have nostrils and that's what they look like when you're looking up at them.

I wasn't planning on doing a "friend" party until Aubree announced on Friday (her b-day was Monday) that she really wanted her friends to come over for her birthday. I don't know what I was thinking but I quickly threw something together. Aubree loved delivering the invitations. For most of the houses I would just pull in the driveway and she jumped out of the car and delivered the invitations. She thought it was so much fun.

The party was full on dancing, balloons, playdough, ice-cream and games. I can't even remember but there were 12 or 13 three and four year olds. What was I thinking. They had a fun time and Aubree liked it. I guess that's what matters.

Aubree's cake this year was a princess castle cake. She loved it and couldn't wait for the princesses to come out.....too bad it was just cake on the inside. This morning as she woke up she was laying next to me then she sprang up and said I want to play with my presents. She had a fun day going from one new thing to the next. She's already talking about what she wants for her next birthday.

I love my Aubree girl so much and look forward to the next year to see what new things she discovers and learns.

Randomness

I don't even know if randomness is a word but this is a random post. My girls were playing the other day and I had to stop and take some pictures.

I remember a few years ago when I was watching a couple of my nieces for a few days. I realized how much they looked out for each other and were helping each other even though they were only 1 and 3 years old. Aubree was also 1 and I really wanted her to have a sister to play with.

I love it when they play and laugh together. There isn't anybody like a sister.

Don't the sweats look sooo comfy. You gotta love the $3.33 sale at Target.

And last but not least this picture cracks me up for a couple of reasons. First of all, they're both in a box. It amazes me how much kids like boxes. They can get hours of fun out of a box. Secondly, Sydney is wearing the little headlamp Scott used to use for reading but my girls think it is a camera. They carry it around, pretend to take pictures and then show me the pictures. They're funny little creatures and I sure love 'em!