Merry Christmas

Well, It's been one busy year.  and as you can tell the blog has suffered for it.  It's not that I don't want to keep you up to date on what's going on, or that we haven't been doing anything, I just haven't had the time or energy to edit photos, think about what to say, etc, etc...
So hopefully this week I will have time.  But for now  Merry Christmas!

 We retold the Nativity for Christmas Eve.

 Santa came, and amazingly we managed to sleep in until 5:45.  That's saying something - although Dave was not the best sleeper last night (but I love how excited he still gets)

I hope you had a great Christmas too.
Jesus is the reason for the season and I'm so grateful that have a knowledge of His gospel.  It has blessed my life in more ways than I know.  May you Season be Bright with the Light of Christ and best wished for the New Year - may it be a Spectacular one.

something new and oh so sweet

I know that I usually post pictures with my posts, but I didn't take one for this.
Tonight as I was putting all the kids to bed little ladybug was just not going.  So after two hours of her being "ready" for bed I had read bedtime stories and tucked the other three in.  She finished her bottle and sat up as if to say "I'm still not going to sleep" she then looked right at me, smiled, and laid her head on my arm and grabbed my shoulder.  She then closed her eyes and fell asleep.
Many of you moms probably have experienced this, but for me - after 8.5 years of being a mom - it was a first.  My other kids would never let me rock them to sleep,  it was either nurse to sleep, just lay me in my bed already to sleep, bounce to sleep, or give me daddy.  So as I sat there looking at her precious little face, so sweetly drifted off to sleep, my heart about exploded.  So much love for this tiny person that I barely know.  My lack of vocabulary and expression make it difficult to describe.  I could have sat there forever just holding her.
Good Night precious baby - hopefully that bit of paradise will uphold me through this week.

wow - how time has flown by...

As January of the new year comes to a close I realize that I haven't touched the blog in a very long time.  It's amazing how one more child, a new church calling, and a part-time job can just soak up all your time.  So here are a few highlights from the last 4 months of 2011.

A new school year started.  W in Kindergarten and Big D in 3rd grade.  Little D just wanted his pic taken.

Little Ladybug turned 3 months and her sibling started dressing her up...

October came and brought our semi-annual conference camp-in. 

 Outside adventures discovering new bugs

 More traditional events like Sloppy Goblins...

 and decorating pumpkin cakes

 playing with friends

 and of course Halloween.

 November brought our first snowfall and then some nice warm weather perfect for...

 jumping in the leaves

 a birthday

 a 4month old discovering the dog and the dog discovering the baby

 first foods

 and a visit to Grandma and Grandpa's and some time with Great-Grandma.

December included another birthday and lots of Chritmas activities

 

And as I finish this post little ladybug is getting into mischief on the floor and little D is starting to jump on the couch - so until nextime..

Where did the summer go?

Well, most of the summer I have been doing this...

 Yep - sitting on my rear end.  hah j/k
We have been super busy - In Aug we went and saw Grandma K. 

 In July we saw my neice at her reception

 also had a family reunion and a trip with Grandma H.

 We had lots of fun making puppets and putting on a big puppet show.

 Painted faces...

 We went and saw the Angel Moroni getting put on the temple.

 and we've been having fun playing with and getting know our new baby sister.

 and we had the special priviledge of seeing Great-grandma F.

 and of course lots of swimming with friends and family...

 So there's a quick update of our summer.  And we also had a few special occasions in our family.  Our oldest got baptized and our youngest blessed.

We have had lots of fun this summer, and we sill have some time left before we get back to school and all the in-s and out that come with that.  We hope you all had a fantastic summer too.

Eight

Eight years ago I became a mom for the first time.  A beautiful baby girl with lots of attitude from the very begining.  Her bright (toothless) grin makes me smile and she is very caring and helpful.  Super bright, a great dancer, and has a love for gymnastics just like her mom.

 Eight days ago, I became a mom for the fourth time.  Each one has been different and so amazing in their own way.  This time it was another beautiful baby girl.  Unlike her siblings she is very calm, quiet, and sleeps; a blessing I think the whole family was in need of.  Her siblings adore her and fight over who gets to hold her. I've only included her big sister in this post because it's her birthday, and I'm celebrating 8's.  (8 years and 8 days)