Traditions

Writing letters to Santa has become one of our favorite traditions. The kids really enjoy letting him know that they've been "nice" and then listing a few gifts they would really appreciate getting on Christmas! :)

 Of course, we also love the tradition of visiting Santa every year. As much as they would love to go to the North Pole and meet all the elves and Mrs. Claus too. . .they understand that we're lucky to catch him where and when we can as he's so busy around Christmas! This was at a bookstore where Kyra performed in her choir:

Darci got lucky and got to see Santa again with her cousins at the library for preschool:

One tradition that we enjoy each year with Dave's cousins is making cookie trains. . .it's amazing the work parents will put into helping their kids have a great time! We do it because it's worth it, not because it's easy! :)

So Thankful. . .

We had such a great time celebrating Thanksgiving with my dad and many of my siblings. I LOVE having the cousins together and watching them have so much fun. We all gathered in Af and Chris's club house. It was perfect. The kids watched Toy Story 3, we played games, perused the sales, and of course ate lots of yummy food. :)

and, of course, I caught Hobie cheating!! hee hee

Family Pics. . .need I say more?!

I once got all my kids (back when I just had three) to Kiddie Kandids for pictures and by time we were called the kids were tired. . .I remember thinking, "this girl better be able to get a good picture because it was so hard getting here." When she couldn't easily, she just looked at me and calmly said, "maybe you should just come back tomorrow." I knew immediately that she didn't have kids. . .and I wanted to strangle her! It is nearly impossible to get all of the kids PLUS me AND Dave dressed somewhat similar, in clean clothes, with hair done, make-up on, faces/noses clean AND everyone happy at the same time. . .I decided the ONLY time that ever even ALMOST happens is on Sunday RIGHT before church! So, luckily I have a sister who could come over at that time and take a few pics for us last week. Then there's the big decision of WHERE to have the pic taken. This time we chose the center of our home. . .in front of the fireplace. Turned out you can see the pic of the temple in the back too--very cool! :) Anyway, YAY, we got a pretty good one, plus one of Dave and his boys and me with my girls. . .why do we do that? I don't know, I guess just because we can:

My sister Chrissy had the funniest post a couple years ago where she posted all the "out-takes" it took before getting a good picture. It made me laugh so hard, so I figured I'd copy her if I ever could. . .too bad I didn't remember until now because I've already gone through and deleted all the "bad" ones. But, believe me, we had Kaleb with his WHOLE fist in his mouth, Mark pouting with a frown because we made him take off his glasses (glare), Darci with a forced fake smile because we were yelling at her to "look at the CAMERA and SMILE", Kyra scrunching her face and looking away because Kaleb had her hair in his fist (and, yes, the one that was all the way in his mouth), and of course, me sweating to death because I've been running around trying to have everyone ready at the same time. Dave got to just get himself dressed, stand in for a few pics, and being the "guy" that he is, got to announce after about 10 snaps "we better have a good one, because this is the last one I'm standing here for!" :)

Weekend with my SISTERS!

I just LOVE sister time, friend time, family time, neighbor time. . .any time I can be with those I love and get to know them better, build connections, and engage in bonding time! In all reality, I think that IS what life is about! Well, ok, that AND proving ourselves, but our relationships we build and the help we give to one another is a major part of what we'll take with us to the next life! Can't you just imagine that someday we'll be looking back on our lives on Earth and wonder why we didn't spend more time helping others? I think you need to really know people to really be able to help them, and to really know people you have to really spend some time with them! Anyway, since I'm already all over the place, I'll just throw this in too: I was just telling Kyra this morning that we must've been such great friends in Heaven that we actually got to share our time on Earth together and in such a close way as mother and daughter! How blessed we are to have families, neighbors, wards, friends, etc. to help us through our time here and to make the ride so enjoyable! :):):) I know that where we are is no accident and we shouldn’t take anyone around us for granted! I understand there must be opposition in all things. . .for us to completely understand what we have, we must first go without. I've never been without my sisters and therefore have probably taken for granted their presence for much of my life. But, my SIL Michelle who has no sisters (although she gained 7+ when she married my brother!) reminded me once of how blessed I am and I've never forgotten it. I truly am blessed, and even more so that I actually get to live VERY close to many of them, in this way my children are blessed also to be able to grow up with their cousins! :) Anyway, to get to my point, I had the best weekend with my sisters and my moms! We got to spend two full days together talking, laughing (of course), playing games, going out, and pampering ourselves. Here are some pics: Oh, but first I want to write “anyway” one more time: Anyway, I think I have now achieved my goal of never making sense when I blog!

Zumba baby!

Trip to the temple

Out to lunch

Witches night at Gardner Village

Back massages!

Our new hair colors/styles, freshly manicured/pedicured nails, AND waxed brows/faces! hee hee

Do LESS?!

I just came across this talk again and would love to hear your views on it. What does this mean to YOU? Have you really done anything DIFFERENT since hearing this?

Excerpt from "Mothers Who Know" by Julie Beck (Relief Society General President):

Mothers Who Know Do Less


Mothers who know do less. They permit less of what will not bear good fruit eternally. They allow less media in their homes, less distraction, less activity that draws their children away from their home. Mothers who know are willing to live on less and consume less of the world’s goods in order to spend more time with their children—more time eating together, more time working together, more time reading together, more time talking, laughing, singing, and exemplifying. These mothers choose carefully and do not to choose it all. Their goal is to prepare a rising generation of children who will take the gospel of Jesus Christ into the entire world. Their goal is to prepare future fathers and mothers who will be builders of the Lord’s kingdom for the next 50 years. That is influence; that is power.

Please share your thoughts. . .

Round-brush of DEATH!

So, I got my hair cut again, and my awesome stylist told me for the third time that I need to buy a bigger round brush to style my hair. I had been looking at the stores I visit regularly, but to no avail. . .I already had one as big as their biggest. So, this time I took her more seriously and went to Sallys. This is what I ended up with:

It's the same brush she used. Here it is compared to my old one, and here's how my hair looked after she styled it:

Now if I could just get my bangs to be that cute again. . .

Look-Alike?!

Dave and I had been trying to figure out who we think Kaleb looks like. . .a Call (aka Kyra) or a Johnson (aka Mark and Darci). Well, when I came across this picture of Kaleb at 2.5 months old

I knew I'd pretty much seen it before. So, I went looking through some old photos and found this one of Kyra at 5 months old: 

I think our question has been answered!

Here is Mark and Darci, who I think have the same face:

What do you think?