Ringin' In the New Year 2011!

The best part of having family in town after Christmas is that they get to be here for New Year's!  New Year's Eve is definitely a PARTY at our house.  Twelve kids, six adults, food, games, pinata, skits.  It doesn't get much better than that!

We always start the night off by breaking out all of the junk food and goodies so we can graze all night long....

Then the games begin.  Donuts on a string is a definite tradition now!  

Kids go first....

Then the adults...

Minute To Win It Games were a big hit this year...  

Then we break off into groups and make short videos.  Gotta love the costumes!  I'm so mad that I didn't get a picture of the adults in their costumes, but thankfully we have the videos that we get to keep forever!

                                                      Maddi, Ryan, Davis, and Reid

Gillian, Ali, Ginger, and Heidi

Lilia, Ethan, and Kandrea

Then comes the best part!  We get to watch the videos that everybody made.  They are always a riot!

Just before midnight we get out the pinata and the kids whack away and eat way too much candy!

The four big girls ended up staying up 'til 4:30 am playing games, making videos, and just giggling the night away.  It was definitely a P. A. R. T. Y!!

After Christmas Visitors!

The day after Christmas is usually a bummer day because all of the excitement and anticipation is over, and we realize that we have to wait another year for it to be Christmas again. Well, now with the new tradition of family visitors that is NOT the case! My brother, Trevor, and his family of 8 drive in from CA, and my sister, Brandi, and her husband and baby also come for a week! This was their 2nd time here for New Year's and we are hoping that this is truly "tradition!"

The kids get so excited for cousins!

My cute sister, Brandi, had surgery the day before she made the 12 hour drive to see us. She was determined to be here and that made us feel so loved!

Despite the recovery she was enduring, she was still eager and willing to be our hair stylist. She cut the girls hair and cut and high-lighted mine.

Natalie, Brandi and I love our special sister time and have a blast just relaxing while the kids play all day.  We even snuck away a few times for some serious shopping!

Uncle Alan took the boys on a tadpole hunting trip down the street and they loved it! All part of the adventure of having aunts, uncles, and cousins here!

One of the highlights this year was our night out as adults!  We left the big girls in charge of all the kids and we went to dinner at Blue Mesa, then headed over to play WhirlyBall!  If you've never played you have got to try it.  It's like basketball, but in bumper cars and with hi-li scoops and a ball that you have to throw at the back board for points.  It is a crack up and a lot of fun!

After Whirly Ball we went to Gold Class Cinemas which is the nicest movie theater you will ever see!  Every seat is a reclining chair, the waitress brings you popcorn and water, and you can order from the menu any time during the movie.  It was a treat!  We had a great night out.  

One of our most favorite parts of having family in town is gathering together at night for Scripture Study and prayer.  Don always leads us in a great discussion as we read The Book of Mormon and it invites a special Spirit into our home.  We love having a room full of family to join us for that!

Merry Christmas!

I love Christmas.  I love everything about it.  The music, the lights, the decorations, the baking, the time with family.  But, mostly I love how everyone's hearts are just a little softer.  Everybody seems to be a little nicer, a little slower to anger, quicker to forgive, more willing to love.  That's because it is a time when we remember the One who is the perfect example of all that is good.  

My sister, Wendy, had a baby boy just a few weeks before Christmas and 

took this precious picture.  I love it so much.  

Another thing I love about Christmas is all the parties and gatherings!  And I love it especially when our home is filled with people at Christmas.  We got to host quite a few activities this year and we had so much fun.  Here, the Young Women had a party for one of their Mutual activities....

Our Ward had a Christmas Breakfast one Saturday morning and it was a great event.   At the end the kids were thrilled to hear that Santa Claus had arrived!  Oh wait, my kids actually had no desire to sit on Santa's lap.  I think they were scared.  They finally did it just for the candy cane.  And I got my pictures!

Here are a few of Ginger and Gillian's good friends.  They were in a little skit together, thus the matching outfits!

I love Christmas Eve.  It is definitely different living so far from family but we have really enjoyed sharing the day with friends and having some special time with just our little family.  We had some friends over for food and games and re-enacting the Christmas story in Luke ( no pictures, aargh!).

Christmas morning was wonderful as always.  Our kids totally slept in which was fantastic since Don and I had been up waaaaay too late the night before.   Our kids must have been good because Santa definitely came through this year....

Ethan got an exercise ball and spent the entire day bouncing all around the house on it.

Ryan finally got her bitty baby from American Girl.  She takes such good care of it.

Davis was thrilled with his tether ball but couldn't play 'til it was moved outside and even then, it was too cold!  He can't wait for Spring.  

Gilli is our little actress and loves making videos and was ecstatic about her new Flip video camera.

Ginger has a knack for crafts and sewing and is excited to become an amazing seamstress with her new machine!

It was a wonderful day spent as a family and we all felt spoiled and very blessed.  Don surprised with an iPhone 4 and I love love love it!  The saddest part about Christmas Day is that we have to wait a whole year for it to be Christmas time again.  But, in just two days our extended family would be arriving from CA and KY and we could hardly wait for them to get here!

My baby is SIX!

Yes, Ethan turned six.  Sad day (for me)!  He is getting much too old for my liking.  His birthday was the very first day of Christmas break and he was quite pleased about that!  And the fact that he was exempt from Saturday jobs quite possibly could have made it his best birthday ever!  He was thrilled.    He picked blueberry muffins and scrambled eggs for his birthday breakfast, and a McDonald's Happy Meal for dinner.  A six year old's dream.  We went to see 'Megamind' as a family and just enjoyed the day playing with all of his new toys!  

Ethan got to go shopping with his gift card from Grandma and Grandpa Spangler and 

I think that might have been the highlight of his birthday!  

He was thrilled to find out that he could get THREE presents from ONE gift card!  :)  

This is what he picked...

Ethan is pure joy and all boy.  He is always going... and always hungry.  And very rarely will you see him without some sort of ball in his hand.    Thankfully he has a big brother who keeps him happy playing "ball" any time he wants.  We love you, Ethan!

Class Christmas Parties

One thing that's tricky about having three kids in Elementary School is that they all have their class parties at the same time!  I volunteered to help in Ryan's class this time, but was able to sneak into the other classes for a quick "hi" and to snap a picture.  :)  My kids so look forward to these parties.  And frankly, so do I!    Ryan was really really excited that I got to volunteer since I am usually with the Kindergarteners.  

Ryan with her friend Kaya in pajamas.   These girls crack me up when they're together!  

There weren't any parents in Davis' class so I hopped in for just a second to give him a big, juicy kiss and make sure I embarrassed him.    He was actually happy to see me.  :)  He loves his mama.  

Ethan's party was so PACKED full of parents that there was barely room to get around!  He was way too involved in making his reindeer and eating his goodies to care if I was there or not.   He sees me in class plenty and he was having fun!  

Winter break here we come!!