Merry Christmas!!

The New kitchen...only took Scott until 11 pm to put it together, I don't think he realized how elaborate it is, but hopefully this will provide a lot of fun for a lot of years.

Ok-the thumbnail was too small so I picked the worst shot of us, but still, here is our pic with the girls in their Christmas dresses.

Opening the presents from Grandma and Grandpa on the 26th

The beautiful snow on top of our Christmas lights. This shot is up above our porch.

Christmas for our family went very well this year. All my shopping was pretty much done a month ahead, so just a little wrapping and a few other things and we were good to go. We kept things pretty low-key this year, with the kitchen being the main present. I also packed up one huge box of toys to make room for any of the new ones, and to help keep the basement under control.

Here is Abby (six-and-a-half):

"I like Christmas because it is when we celebrate when Jesus was born. And it is about giving to others. And spending lots of time with our family and give presents. This year I got a new little hamster that came with a bottle, I can't resist playing with it. and the night on Christmas eve before the day that was Chrsitmas we made placemats with my sisters and Mom and Dad. Yesterday my grandma and grandpa came over to my house. they stayed a little bit, but they had to leave this Sunday (which was today). This Christmas Day I found reindeer footprints by wher I left an apple outside. there was no core, but you know what was weird, I found tracks. Christmas is one of my most favorite time of the year."

So that pretty much sums it up. The girls played well Christmas day and the best part for me was getting to have an actual, semi-uninterrupted rest in my bed. It was nice. We cooked a turkey (thanks to Scott for doing the icky parts...touching it, taking out the neck, etc. I can make myself do it, but still love the help) Had dinner, watched a few Christmas movies on the DVR, it was really relaxing, which is not a word we use a lot around here. This week we will be headed up North to visit and do a little shopping. We have 2 birthdays in our family, and two cousins in the next two months, so I hope to get some gret bargains for all these girls! Also hoping to find some more items for my main present of bedroom decorating. Scott's parents brought down the headboard I found at Thanksgiving, so now I just have to spruce it up a little. We got a great deal on it, so that makes it all the better. i did find a fabulous little website with little butterflies, flowers, etc and the whole website was 40% off and free shipping. So cute and so cheap!! I love it! So Isabel and Sara's room will be complete soon, I am excited. Now if only I could get them to quit emptying their dresser on a daily basis, it would be perfect. I will post pics when I get it done.

Anyways, we wish all of you a happy New Year, I did not do Christmas cards, but hopefully you have been able to keep up on our doings through the blog.

It's beginning to look a lot like Christmas

Our house with Christmas lights on...I forced Scott but it turned out really nice

Whitney in Daddy's hat

Isabel in her dance outfit

Abby (left) at the recital

Isabel doing her dance "Love and Marriage" (second from the left)

The girls by the tree Scott chopped down for us.

Stripes I painted in Isabel and Sara's room...

Whitney LOVES oatmeal!

Abby's first lost tooth

December has been quite busy for us. I was able to get most of my Christmas shopping done while we were in Orem for Thanksgiving, so that was nice. We are keeping it pretty simple this year, and I already had some stuff put away, so I think we are set. We are looking forward to just hanging at home, and hopefully Scott gets a little time off. His schedule was supposed to slow down with the winter, but so far that has not been the case.

Abby lost her first tooth, we didn't notice it until she showed me that she already had her adult tooth half-way out behind it. She was so excited and told everyone we met. Now she claims to have five other loose teeth....

She and Isabel had their dance recital this week and both did really well, not too shy, and knew their dances well. Abby is also signed up for a little basketball class for first and second graders starting in January. it should be funny to watch, but I'm glad they have that here, so she can start getting some skills.

Isabel is doing well, excited for Christmas. It is so nice this year that the baby is not crawling into anything, and the older ones can actually leave things alone a little bit. Still, I am going to leave most of the presents away from the tree until a few days before Christmas.

Sara is finally potty trained!!! it was a long, messy process, but I am so glad it's pretty much over. As with my other girls, she is able to stay dry at night already, which is great. She does have a few accidents, and also loves playing with things in the bathroom now that she has access, but at least I am not scrubbing carpet every day anymore. She pretty much runs around in nothing but panties all day, purple feet and all. She is funny and smart, but also can be moody. She will be 3 in February.

Whitney has finally learned to roll!! yes, she's 6 months old and is a little slow. I think it is a combination of her being swaddled alot of the time (she still sleeps all wrapped up) and the fact that I am afraid to lay her on the floor with her sisters running all over the place. She is pretty close to sitting up, and has discovered her feet and hands. She can grab things now. She is still a pretty happy baby, but still gets up quite a bit at night. I don't know how I luck out with these babies who don't sleep, but oh well. She is a sweetheart and smiles and giggles a lot. She is very ticklish.

I have been busy painting our room and the girls' room. It was a lot of work, and I did a lot without Scott, which was crazy....the girls took full advantage of me not supervising them. Scott did help when he was around, I have to mention. Our bedroom is a dark blue color, I am getting to decorate it for my Christmas present. So I have a headboard I got on clearance sitting in Orem, waiting for the Watson delivery truck and I have some pictures I want to get up on the walls and I'm shopping around for other accessories. it should be pretty, and I'm excited. Then little by little we'll get to the rest of the house.

Scott has been busting lots of people without permits to cut Christmas trees and firewood. It is a $10-$20 permit or a $250 fine....people are not doing the math. But no one has been enforcing the rules around here for so long, I guess they don't think they'll get caught. He has also had a lot of meetings and other things around the state, so he has been gone a lot. Tonight is his work Christmas party, so that should be fun, and I will get to meet a few more people he works with. He is still loving the job, and will soon have a snowmobile he can ride around on for "work"

Anyways, we are all doing well, no major illnesses or anything here. We had a huge snowstorm which almsot blocked us in our house, but we love it, it is fun for me to see "real" snow after the northern Utah winters where it always melts away. Weird that I would enjoy seeing huge piles of snow in every parking lot, but it does reming me of home, Merry Christmas to all of you!!