New Years Eve

Hard to believe it's already time to ring in the new year! Aside from being a little sleepy, we all had a great day! Joseph has taken quite the liking to his Grampa. His little personality is just exploding these days. He is such a clown and loves to laugh, babble, and act silly.

Just after lunch Grampa took the littles for a ride behind the quad. They have gotten braver since last year and like to yell, "Go FASTER!" while Grampa pulls them around the subdivision.

Grampa even managed to plow out the whole subdivision with the littles in tow. He would head out one side and come back on the other. They got a pretty long ride and were ready for some hot chocolate when they came in. Hyrum stuck around for one last ride though.

Mr. Stannix kept busy shoveling the walks. We seem to have more snow this Winter then I ever remember! It just keeps coming and coming. While I waited for the littles to return from their ride, I admired him from afar.

After naps were had we got busy on dinner. My Mum has been wanting to try homemade perogies for a while now, so we went to work. Joe even enjoyed watching from the top of the counter. My Mum used to do that with me when I was little.

I have to say though that my favorite moment of the day was when all three of my littles climbed up on my lap while I sat in the recliner. We rocked, snuggled, and spinned for a good ten minutes. I loved having their warm bodies so close. I loved squeezing them and kissing their heads over and over. Being a Mamma is the best!

Dinner was pretty epic. My Mum worked hard frying up the perogies, while my Dad worked hard at the BBQ.

Perogies

3 cups flour (1/2 cup reserved for counter)

1 tsp salt

1 egg

3/4 c water

2 TBSP oil

Knead until smooth, split in 1/2, rest 20 minutes

roll, cut, fill, fold



Our night was filled with Rook, homemade cheese cake, and some good laughs.

Happy New Year!!

Acreage Adventures

We've been lucky to have a few nice days while we are here visiting. The littles have enjoyed playing outside so much! Grampa has lots of nice mountains for them to climb from shoveling snow and plowing the driveway. They like to go on adventures and make their way around the yard, trudging through the deep snow in their winter gear. Because of the melting and freezing, some of the hills were slippery enough for them to slide down in just their snowpants!

 

 

My Mamma had a chicken who suddenly decided she wanted some chicks to care for. She sat on and successfully hatched three baby chicks. They are pretty stinkin' cute! I wish I was here when they would hide underneath her and peek out.

 

I put cute little curlers in Camilla's hair tonight and can't wait for those curly goldy locks of hers tomorrow morning. She had some fun with her brothers before bed time pulling them around Gramma's kitchen.



Bump Watch

I should probably be in bed. Joseph was awake from 2:00am onward. It was a rough night! Hyrum still has a nasty cough and I'm guessing by his sad little cries in his sleep that his throat might be sore. All of us adults have finally recovered from the flu and are enjoying holidays (which usually means staying up too late and eating lots of junk food). Anyways, it's not often I get fancied up for church, so I thought I'd take a quick shot of the growing bump to keep track.

 17 1/2 weeks and growing big!

Speaking of growing big, little Joseph is getting SO big! He loves toddling around the house, throwing and chasing balls, and has started saying "up" when he would like to be picked up. Sometimes I just wish he'd stop growing! I couldn't resist snapping a picture of him and his Auntie Emma today. They were dancing around the kitchen together and it was super cute!

G'Night!

Christmas Morning

By Christmas morning the flu had taken another victim. My poor little brother was feeling super yucky and my Mamma was wondering why she was cooking such a huge Turkey (22lbs) when we were all still recovering. Joseph woke up nice and early and he and I enjoyed the lights on the tree while we waited for everyone else. The other two littles didn't come upstairs until 8:00am! A Christmas Miracle! We all dove into our stockings while we waited for a few late sleepers.

 

 

Once everyone was there, we got to the gift opening. With the late night before and recovering from the flu, my morning sickness was terrible and I ended up missing half of the gift opening because I was in the bathroom. Thank-goodness my sister had her camera and captured a few things for me!
 

My Dad always passes out the gifts.

Oh my Joe!

This unicorn was a huge hit!

That princess outfit stayed on almost all day, until she changed into her new church dress.

Dad's turn!

My Mamma spent the year piecing together and hand quilting this quilt for my big brother.
AMAZING!

My handsome man and I!

The littles spent most of the day in their Jammies. The pool table was also put to good use by the four Missionaries who joined us for the day! It was just nice to relax. My Mamma is magic and always seems to put on an amazing dinner with the snap of her fingers and hardly any stress at all. I guess that comes with practice!

 

 I was so excited to eat, and everything tasted so great, especially the homegrown turkey and potatoes.

Me and my sibs, minus my biggest brother.

 

 

Christmas Eve

After tree decorating we were all feeling up to some partying at my Uncle Brent and Auntie Roxanne's. We headed over there for dinner (granted a lot of us ate light) and it was delicious! Snacks sat out on the island in the kitchen for the evening and we all had our fair share while playing Catch Phrase. I loved Aunties ginger snaps and my Gramma's white chocolate candy cane popcorn. Let it be noted that the girls won EVERY SINGLE GAME. "Team two has seven points and WINS!" My favorite part was watching my grandparents play together. We would always guess Gramma's word just as the timer was about to run out. She would quickly pass it to Grampa and without fail the timer would buzz (unless Grampa "accidentally" pushed the button and reset the timer). It always gave us a good chuckle. I am so glad to be able to spend time with family, and especially my grandparents. I love when they share their wisdom or tell me I have good kids. It makes me feel good about what I am doing each day. I love them so!

 

Part way through the night we had a special visitor. My Aunt got it all on video and I can't wait to watch it and hear all of the funny things the kids said.

 

Not long into the visit with Santa Camilla says, "Um...Santa? I think you look like my Uncle Brent..." And that was all she said. She played along well if she actually figured things out. We all got a good laugh out of it though! Santa brought each of the kids a little toy and of course their Christmas Jammies.

 

Hyrum loved his new Spiderman action figure and Camilla enjoyed her new little ponies. I never knew Spidey and my little pony were such great friends! The two of them played so well together with their new toys while the adults continued with Catch Phrase. When it got too late and the kids weren't getting along quite as well anymore, we headed out into the dark night. I loved watching the stars as we drove home to the Acreage. Once we got back, we tucked each of them in for the night (including Mr. Stannix who was still feeling under the weather), and then Mrs. Clause went to work wrapping and setting up for Christmas morning. 

Christmas Letter 2013

Dear Friends and Family,

It’s that time of year again! We wanted to wish you all a Merry Christmas! This year has been a year of difficult trials and incredible blessings. Most of our greatest joy comes from watching our little family learn and grow each day. 

In June we purchased our first home and said good-bye to our sweet little rental home with the cozy kitchen and creaky stairs. We still look back to our renting days with fond memories. We are enjoying the extra space, basement and fenced back yard. By the middle of next year we will have an even number of kids in each room! We found out we were expecting in October and are looking forward to the arrival of baby number four.

Joseph is now a whole year old! He has recently started walking, pointing and babbling. He loves to interact with his older siblings and get their attention. He is such a happy baby. The best part of his day though is when Daddy walks through the door from work!

Hyrum is two and busier than ever. He talks very well for two and comes up with the funniest things. Some of his highlights this year include dumping a jug of peanut oil all over the kitchen floor, shredding his good jeans with a pair of scissors, and throwing things in the toilet! Though he keeps us on our toes, we adore him and our life wouldn’t be complete without him!

Camilla is four and has a love for learning. She can write and recognize almost all of her letters and loves doing dot to dot and maze books. She is so good at taking care of her little brothers and sometimes even gets breakfast if they are up too early. She is a total social butterfly and loves to make friends and be out and about. She also has a few favorite teddies that seem to go everywhere with us. Camilla has also started learning piano from her Mom and is making great progress in her first book. She has a desire to practice each day and is really catching onto note reading and rhythm.

Addie has been busy at home, still loving her job! The children keep her on her toes, but she wouldn’t trade it for the world! It is such a joy to watch them grow. One of her highlights this year was being able to spend a week in Hawaii with Mike sans kiddos to celebrate Mike’s completion of the articling process.  While they were in Hawaii they ate great food, enjoyed sunsets on the beach, and tried some snorkeling. Addie was also able to cross surfing off her bucket list and enter her favorite LDS temple. Her parents were kind enough to keep all three of the littles for the week and they loved visiting the acreage!

Mike has been working hard at KPMG. They have treated him really well and we feel very fortunate that he has such great employment. He took the summer off work to study for his UFE exam to become a Chartered Accountant. He put a lot of difficult hours into studying and preparing for the three day exam. Though he spent majority of his summer working hard he was able to take some time to spend a week out East with his brother and catch up with his Dad. At the end of November results for his exam were finally released and we were excited to learn that all of his hard work had paid off! He spent a whole day celebrating with the firm. He is now part way through his first year of indepth tax training and continues to succeed in dividing his time between family, church and work. 

It is our hope that we can all remember the real meaning of Christmas and cherish the time that we get to spend with our loved ones and friends! Merry Christmas!

Love,

Tree Decorating

The flu has hit us just before Christmas. This is the second time in the last two weeks that we've had this nasty bug! Being sick while pregnant is the worst! Luckily, I'm at home and the few who are healthy are great at keeping an eye on the kiddos. We didn't get around to decorating until late this afternoon, and some of us were still feeling yucky and sidelined it. Luckily we had these two to save Christmas!

We still had some good times and some great laughs!

Hyrum picked out his shirt today and it read "tough like my dad". Mike read it and then had a cute little conversation with Camilla.

"Camilla, are you tough?"

"Likely. I CAN pick up my brother."

(lifts Hyrum up off the floor)

"Oh wow! You are strong!"

"Yeah, but my heart tells me to be careful, so I listen to my heart."

Merry Christmas!


Tree Hunting

The littles slept in until passed nine this morning (all except Joe that is). Mr. Stannix woke up at nine and had to check if Hyrum was still breathing. He has never slept that long in his entire life. The drive out was great, although it was late at night. Near the end Camilla was super helpful and said some pretty funny things.  

"Mom, we have two problems. Joe really wants my teddie, aaaand he's still hungry."

"Would you like some more baby treats for Joe?"

"I thought you'd NEVER ask!..."

Man, am I ever glad to be home! It's been far too long. Almost six months since Mr. Stannix was out here with me. The snow is beautiful, the air fresh, and the company good. 

Today we broke trail through the snow to cut down an unwanted pine in the yard to use for Christmas. We didn't have to go far at all! Hyrum and I were practically last to join the crew. We carefully navigated our way down the winding path, trying to keep our footing while following previous footprints. Just before we got to the end Mr. Stannix lovingly tackled me into the snow (and poor Hyrum who was holding my hand for balance). Boys are crazy.

Then we did some group shots with our soon-to-be Christmas tree.

One of the youngmen from my parent's home ward was out and lent a hand!

 Oh how these kids love their aunt and uncle! They also had to bring their little ponies out to play in the snow. The weather was just perfect!

 Victory! Mr. Stannix and Arland took turns cutting it down.

The two boys took the bottom and Mr. Stannix helped them out by pulling on the top. I love that guy!

Auntie snagged a picture with Cami girl. Both beauties.

 My siblings and I also grabbed some Winter portraits. Who can resist beautiful weather, sparkly snow and warm sunlight!? I am so grateful for these two!

Joe and Daddy also had some special time together. Daddy is a hit! The kids are loving having him around. Every morning Camilla will ask, "Daddy, today you don't have to go to your workshop right?" I'm not sure why it's become his workshop, but it's so sweet.