Basketball Season

It's that time of year again...basketball time!  Spencer and Ethan both love to play Jr. Jazz basketball during the winter months.  And let's face it, if I didn't have an outlet for all that cooped up winter time energy they have...it could be ugly.  I love basketball because it gives the boys a chance to run and have some fun during the winter months.

Both Spencer and Ethan are really pretty great players.  They both usually score 1 or 2 baskets for their team at each game.  And that's a lot when sometimes there is only 5 baskets the entire game! 

I'm so proud of both of them for trying so hard and doing so great at every game!!!

Here's Ethan making a basket...goooo Ethan!

Ethan had a couple of steals this game...nice!

I happen to catch him at another attempt at a basket....this one rolled around the rim and then out.

Here is Spencer making the first basket of the game!  Woohoooo!

Spencer is AWESOME at defense.  He is the first one to hussle down to the other end of the court and he can put some serious pressure on his opponents!

I love watching the boys games and seeing how much they improve each game.  I'm one proud mama right now!

Spencer turns E-L-E-V-E-N !!!!

Wow, I'm really getting old.  I have an eleven year-old now!  On Spencer's birthday, his grandparents came over to help him celebrate.  I never thought it would happen, but my Mom played some Wii!  What a hip granny!  She's over 60 and she's got mad skills!  Seriously it was so fun to watch my own Mom play video games.

Spencer LOVES Transformers and everything about them.  So, this is his cake....

I'm definitely not skilled enough to make a cake in the shape of a Transformer...I think I tried last year and failed MISERABLY; so this year I got smart and printed some pictures to stick to the cake.  Spencer loved it!

So what's the best gift for an eleven year old?  Yep, you guessed it.  Cold, hard CASH.  The kid was beaming ear to ear after opening card after card filled with the green stuff!  Thank you Grandma's and Grandpa's for the mulah!  You sure made Spencer smile!!

Every other year, we allow the kids to have a friend party.  This was the year.  Since eleven year-olds are too cool for party games, it was a pizza and movie night...here's the invite:

Of course it was a Transformer's theme.  Pizza and the viewing of Transformers 2.  (the edited ClearPlay version of course!)

I was beginning to wonder what I had got myself into.  Fifteen eleven year-old boys pretending to be Transformers...wow.

I thought I was being a pretty cool Mom because I took the boys pictures as they arrived at the party.  Then while they watched the movie I edited their pictures to be in a Transformer's scene, then emailed the images to the printer and went and picked them up so they could take home their picture that night.  I thought it was cool anyway.

The boys were actually really well behaved.  I was so glad.  They all enjoyed the movie.  It was so great!

Thank you parents of eleven year-old boys for teaching them manners!  THANK YOU!  They were all so great!

All in all Spencer had a SUPER great birthday.  Still can't believe my baby is eleven, but I'm actually liking the fact that I can have a decent conversation with him.  Love you Spencer!  Happy Birthday!

Cousins, Parties, and more cousins!

So the week after Christmas is just my fave.  Wanna know why?  Cuz I usually get to see all of my family that lives out of state.  We get together, eat, laugh, open presents, eat, laugh and laugh some more.  It's just so much fun!

This year it was my side of the family first....so we packed up the car and headed up to Mountain Green in a major snow storm!  A normal trip up there would take about an hour, and because of the snow packed roads the entire way, the trip took 2 hours!  But it was worth it.

After eating yummy pizza, we sat in a huge circle and opened presents.  As you can see, we are a Nikon family...hehe.:)

The boys LOVED their new matching pajama pants Grandma gave them!  And they are even better when your cousins all get a matching pair!!

Sadie and Kenzee....the cutest cousins!!  They are pretty much inseperable from the moment they see each other.  They walk around holding hands and talking about bracelets and lip gloss.  It's just the cutest thing you've ever seen.  And Kenzee's little sister Amelia is just the icing on the cake.  She's got to be the happiest child ever!  Sadie already misses you both!!

We all slept over at Grandma's...cousin heaven!!  And then we woke up to 12 new inches of fresh snow!!  The boys couldn't wait to get out in it! 

Sadie couldn't wait either.  She LOVES to play in the snow.  Even though she didn't have any snow pants and ended up with snow down her pants, she kept playing and playing.

Unfortunately Kenzee wasn't quite as excited...she wanted to see the horses.  So after we walked down to the horses, her frown definitely turned upside down!  (don't you just love the pic of Sadie hugging Kenzee, trying to make her feel better?)

JUMPING.  Spencer and Ethan loved jumping off the snow covered wall to the snow below.  So fun!

This is Spencer taking flight.

This is Ethan's lift off...

Sadie loved throwing the snow up in the air and then burying herself in it.

The boys loved rolling down the snowy hill with their cousin Kelton.  And then my brother decided to come help shovel the walks....in his cute jammies..go Nate!

After a day of play, we headed home to get ready for the next party.  It was Matt's side of the family this time and again...cousins, cousins, cousins...SO FUN!!!  The kids were all in heaven!  Matt's family is getting bigger and bigger by the minute!  There are 19 grandkids with THREE more on the way!  Yikes!

And of course everyone has a favorite uncle, right?  That would be uncle Jake.  He's the youngest of Matt's siblings and is just cool.  He's active duty military and currently in helicopter pilot school.  All the boy cousins look up to their awesome uncle Jake.  I had to take some pictures of the boy cousins with their favorite uncle!

And then there's Rachel.  To say that Sadie loves her cousin Rachel is the understatement of the year.  The two of them are tied at the hip every second.  It's all about Tink and Cinderella and sweet aunt Carrie got them matching backpacks.  Really, seeing the two of them have so much fun together just melts my heart!

It was New Year's Eve, so later that evening we had a HUGE party.  Just kidding.  I put Sadie to bed and Matt, the boys and I watched a movie and waited for midnight.  At midnight I woke Matt up for a kiss and the boys thought it was so awesome to be able to stay up until midnight.

Welcome 2010!!

Can't wait to see what happens this year!!!  I'm sure grateful for my awesome hubby, great boys, and sweet daughter.  Love them all!

It's Here! It's Finally Here!!

Christmas morning has finally arrived!! I don't think Spencer could wait another second!!! He's been counting down the days since July! He's been planning and carefully preparing his list for Santa. Ethan has been excited as well. My rule is 8:00am. No earlier! Everyone is too grumpy if we start opening gifts any earlier. So both boys come in my room at 7:59..."Mom...Mom....it's time..." "Ok boys...just let me shower, dry my hair and do my make-up." You should have seen their faces..."WHAT???!!!!" "Boys! I'm just kidding!!" It was great.

So here they are ready to pounce down the stairs to see what Santa has delivered.

And then imagine running, jumping, and shouts of excitement. Pure joy!

Sadie's big gift was a giant castle that converts into a table and chairs. She's been talking about it for months and now sees it for the first time....

So this was the first gift that was opened....

I'm not sure what you think, you be the judge, but I think it was a hit.

I have about 5 more minutes of screaming, jumping, laughing on video. I guess they wanted a Wii and Wii games? Santa brought the right stuff this year!

Spencer has the most dramatic faces as he opens his gifts. It's a complete contrast to how he used to be when he was really little. I remember when he was about 2, he was opening gifts and didn't crack a smile, not a word, nothing, nada. The kid was a brick. We couldn't even get him to smile for the camera. You would never know it from these pictures!!

And Ethan had his freak out moments too....

I have to admit. It was one of the most fun Christmas mornings we've had. The sheer excitement and shouts of joy made opening gifts an absolute riot!!

Sadie also LOVED everything Santa brought for her. She wasn't quite as loud and animated as the boys, but she neatly stacked her gifts one by one in a pile and sat down by them to enjoy.

Then she started serving her new plastic food on her new princess table. Spencer and Ethan were both delighted...

And here's the traditional "hidden in the mess of wrapping paper" picture...

There is nothing better than spending an entire day in your pajamas, watching your kids experience sheer excitement and shouts of joy, and eating Victorian french toast all morning long. There's just nothing better!

By evening, we finally decided to get dressed since Grandma and Grandpa Gadd were coming for a visit. They of course came with awesome gifts! SNUGGIES!! Now I'm not sure about you, but "snuggie" has a COMPLETELY different meaning for Matt and I than it does for the kids. I asked Ethan a month ago if he would rather have a Snuggie for Christmas or a Wii. He sat for several minutes and thought about it. Then he said, " That's a tough one Mom. The snuggie is so convenient and it comes with fun socks." It was at that moment that I realized my kids watch WAY too much Qubo TV. We don't have cable or satelight, so our kids get their daily dose of cartoons from watching channel 16. Every commercial is an infomercial and it's sucking my kids in!!

Anyway, Grandma and Grandpa scored MAJOR points with the kids by getting them these great Snuggies...AND fun Socks!! Woohooo! Thanks so much Grandma and Grandpa! We love you!

All in all it was a wonderful Christmas day. It really couldn't have been any better.

Christmas Eve

Christmas Eve was so great this year.  Matt was able to get home from work by 4:00pm.  So the minute he walked in the door...you could feel it...Christmas was coming!

We invited my Dad to join us this year for the evening.  Here we are ready for dinner...

After dinner, the boys do the dishes, while the girls take a break!  It's tradition!  Then we all head into the front room with our scriptures and our flashlights for the telling of the Christmas story from the scriptures.

While we take turns reading the scriptures.....

We shine our flashlights on the parts of the nativity that are being read....

After the reading of the nativity, the kids get to open ONE gift.  And it's ALWAYS jammies!!  Of course!  What's Christmas Eve without new comfy jammies!  Well, this year was different, since Grandpa was visiting, he brought his presents, and we thought he would love to see the kids open them.  So they got to open TWO gifts this year.

Grandpa spoiled Sadie with an awesome princess coloring set and the boys got a $20 bill!!  They were VERY excited to say the least!!  Thank you Grandpa!!  Love you!

It's always fun to open gifts and get crazy with the wrapping paper!  Sadie loved her new princess night gown and the boys thought their transformers jammies were "cool".

After the opening of presents, it was back to the kitchen to make homemade donuts and hot chocolate.  Mmmmmmmmmmm.  I'd have to say that this tradition is one of my favorites, and yummiest.

Then after we're stuffed, we pile in the car and drive around to see all the Christmas lights.  This year, we found an awesome nativity display on a farm near our house.  There was a real donkey, a real sheep, horses and statues that looked very real.  We sat and enjoyed the beautiful nativity for a while...

And then it's perfect...by the time we're done looking at lights, the kids are getting pretty drowsy and are ready for bed.  We carried them into the house and put them to bed so Santa could come.

Christmas Eve is definitely my favorite.  This year seemed so busy and so stressful, but every year as we read the Christmas story, I'm reminded of the real reason for the season.  All the stress and hustle and bustle of the season disappear and I feel the love of our Savior.  I'm so grateful for His birth and for His atoning death.  I'm grateful to have this wonderful time of year that helps me stop and reflect.  May your homes be filled with the Christmas spirit this wonderful Christmas Eve.

Christmas Cookies

Christmas cookies at our house are a BIG deal.  It wasn't always this way.  Growing up my Mom always made cut out Christmas cookies and then we would frost them.  She also made delightful fudge, divinity, homemade caramels, and mint candies.  Then we would put a few of the treats on a plate and deliver them to all the neighbors.  We always delivered to our Primary teachers, and our best friends, and then the house with the scary dogs.  (honestly I don't think the people in that house ever ate their cookies...I'm confident the dogs got the treats every year)  But, it was tradition.

So, I decided to continue the tradition.  It's a nice way to say Merry Christmas to your neighbors at Christmas time.  One problem...we have  A LOT of neighbors!  Where I grew up, we didn't have a lot of neighbors because we all lived on 3 and 5 acre lots.  10 neighbors away was pretty far!!  Well here in our neighborhood now, 10 neighbors is a block!

I debated this year if I really had time to do the cookies.  I thought of other options...popcorn, store bought chocolate...and the closer it got to Christmas, the more neighbors asked about the cookies.  OK!! FINE!!  I'll do the cookies!  No really, I wanted to eat some. :)

So I spent 6 hours mixing dough, rolling, cutting and baking 186 cookies.  Then the following day I pipe frosted each of those 186 cookies.  I couldn't turn my head for a week afterwards! 

But really...it's all worth it.  I LOVE my neighbors.  And when I say LOVE, I really mean LOVE.  I wish I could afford to do more for them.  Really they are the best.  They are the ones that are helping me raise my children.  They teach them at church, they let them come over and play, and they are always looking out for them.  I feel sooo blessed to have such great friends and neighbors.  Every cookie was worth it!!  Love you neighbors!

Here's a sampling of a couple of them.  I don't know why I can't ever remember to take a picture of them!  Next year maybe...

Christmas Pictures

So as a photographer, you would think that I'd be all over taking family Christmas pictures.  Well it's true!  I was all over it!  Just not MY family!  Finally on Sunday, just before Christmas, I got the kids together for a quick shoot.

Spencer made me promise I could only take 5 pictures.  Only five??!!!  Does he know his own mother?  I don't think so!  I've never been known to only take 5 pictures...EVER!  I had to hurry before he started getting grouchy, but I only got 6 pics in before he said.."I counted 5 Mom!  That's enough!!"

Sadie was the exact opposite.  "Mom, take a picture of me doing this, take another one Mom!  That's not enough pictures Mom!  Take 20 more!"

And Ethan is pretty easy going.  He said he's game for how ever many pictures I want to take.  Thanks Ethan!

We're lucky to have 3 of the greatest kids EVER!  Really they are so great. Merry Christmas everyone!!