Family Christmas Party

We had a great time at our Family Party this Christmas! Everyone came and it was a great night of being together!

Kids all waiting to EAT!

Now they are much happier! We had a fun taco bar!

Then it was off to go caroling to some of the ladies in our ward! It was much more fun than I had even hoped. Our kids are so great and make everything we do feel special! We had 6 ladies in our ward that are widowed or single and we were able to go and take a basket of goodies and sing to each one. Everyone came and participated and it was so fun! I was up on the stairs at Geri Peay's house and looked out at our family...and I couldn't believe - first...how many people there were that belonged to us... and then I was just overwhelmed with gratitude for each of them and their willingness to go and serve someone else! I feel so blessed to have the kids and grandkids we have! What a blessed mom and dad we are!

Everyone came and sang at the top of their lungs!

Kids and adults! Hal played the guitar and we all sang!

Thanks everyone for making it so special! We touched some lives that night! I love you!

Here are some random shots of the party...
Brigham -Always smiling!

Hal with Angie... We sure love this girl!

All of the girls in their new pj pants! Angie and Lizzy and I spent hours in Old Navy on Black Friday to get all of these! We finally gave up and just bought whatever we could find...and took them back later to change sizes and colors! Oh...and after standing in line for over an hour...and not moving... the guy told us if we opened a credit card we could go to the front of the line! So... I asked him if that applied to all of us in our group... Julie Us.. Lizzy Angie...and he said "Sure"...so I am now the proud owner of an Old Navy card.... dumb...but I would do it all over again so I didn't have to stand in that line! Then when Hal and I were in Seattle...we found the little boys pants that all matched too.... So it was hard to find but really fun when they opened them!

The little boys matched and the little girls... babies too~!

All the guys... Ryan hauled his to the car.... :(
Then it was on to opening gifts! The kids are the best to watch!

Everyone was thrilled with their gifts!

Dallas and Lizzy

Becca and Levi

Dallas gave Levi a membership to the ESPN Insider... He made a red E out of styrofoam..and painted it! Pretty creative Dal!

Amy and Brett

Matt and Angie in their BYU hats from Ryan...pretty funny!

Millie just loved the chocolate cake! She really really LOVED IT!

Matt showing off his hat??

The aftermath of gifts!

BYU snuggies for all the grandsons!

My pregnant Lizzy and Angie and not so pregnant Jenny!

Jenny and Nate heading home.

Cousins are best buddies! I Love it!

All the kids watching Mckay open his gift... they all Love Mckay!

My Favorite Things!

Once again it is time for "Our Favorite Things" Party! It was such a fun morning! I LOVE MY GIRLS! They make my life so happy!

Here is Amy with baby Jett... he is the first young man to attend our party! We were all fighting to hold him! What a darling baby!

Here is Angie's treat for us! She loves cucumbers with vinegar and so that is what we all got! She included her secret slicer for cutting those tiny cucumbers just perfectly! Adorable!

This is Becca's ornament! It opens up like an accordian to put pictures or special memories inside! It is a treasure! Thanks Becca!

Jenny gave everyone a wonderful binder for all of our recipes! Thanks Jen!

I didn't get pictures of everything else... Lizzy gave us some Victoria Secret's Lotion and Amy gave everyone a darling bird ornament and a yummy chocolate bar! Taylor gave us lotion for our purses! I found a perfect book for them called "A Mother's Book of Secrets" It is a darling book for mom's! All in all it was a perfect morning!

Jenny and Lizzy with Amy's cute bird

Me and Becca with Amy's darling ornaments!

Jenny did get to hold him for a minute!

Me with my beautiful Taylor! What a doll!

Here I am with my beautiful treasures! I am a blessed woman!

Build A Bear for Millie's 2nd Birthday!

Here we are arriving at Build A Bear! My favorite store ever!

Millie is so excited to get her first bear! Macie brought her pink one and then we decided she needed a new one too!

Millie is waiting to have her new bear stuffed! That is when the magic starts!

They are brushing and cleaning their bear and bunny!

Oh the accessories you can find! Now they have cars for the bears! (No I did not buy them-$30.00 was a bit steep!)

Here we are all done!

Here is daddy with his girls and their new friends!

Miss Millie would NOT let me help her in any way... She was determined to pack that bear all the way though the mall by herself! It was almost as big as she is! She dragged it the whole way to the food court. It was pretty funny!

Weekend in Seattle

This past weekend we went to Seattle for a quick trip. My mom is almost 91 and I don't get to see her often enough. We had so much fun. We stayed at Todd's and enjoyed every minute. His kids are amazing! We laughed and talked for hours!

Visiting with my mom. She is almost 91!

We had a good chat on her bed...just like we always did!

She is a champ! She is a determined woman!

Todd and some of his kids!

Chris and Nylah and Mack and Kelly!

We went to an awesome store with the most amazing decorations! It was a good thing it was closing! I could have spent a ton of money in there! It was a nursery and they change all the decorations every season! It really was amazing!

Todd with his grandson Mack!

Nylah ~ Mack and Christopher

Chris ~ Todd and Kelly

Nylah made us gingerbread men to decorate! It was hilarious! I do not have a talent for decorating!

Brett...

Brett and Kristen -

Hal's and my little guy... pretty pathetic!

Mack was having fun eating all the eyeballs! Yum!