Alex's Big Day

Yep that is Correct, Alex turned 8.  And that is great!

For his bday breakfast he asked for banana muffins (with the traditional money inside) with maple frosting, eggs, sausage, and cereal.  Hearty breakfast! That's my boy ;)

Alex is a sweetheart who is full of giving.  I love this boy.

Not only was it his birthday but he got to be baptized a member of the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-Day Saints on the same day! That's a rare one, but it made him feel pretty special :)

Grandma Elli gave him his first new suit.  He looks so handsome! Thank you Gail!

My 2 handsome men

It was a double baptism that day, so Alex and Sunday School friend, Tianna Munn, were baptized.

Jeremy and Alex all ready to go :)

After the baptism we had a luncheon for our extended family.  It was so fun to see all the cousins together... man it can get crazy with 14 kids in a gym ;)

Jess enjoying the grub

It was so wonderful of Josh, Jeremy's brother, and his wife Amie come from Boise and be there for Alex's baptism. What a treat!

It was fun to have so many there.  And thank you Aunt Kori for talking on Alex's request :)

Tyler, Crystal, and scowling Ella, lol... she's a hoot.

Grandma and Grandpa Christian gave Alex his very first set of scriptures with his name engraved one it.  Alex has already dived into the chapters and loves carrying his own to church.

Sure LOVE this boy of mine!

Craig... well I seriously do not know what was wrong with him that day.  He must of woken on the wrong side of the bed, because he was mister grump all the way until his #2 nap.  And Jeremy had to deal with him most, because Craig has nothing to do with me if Jer's around. Lol, little stinker!

He was such a happy boy on his special day, and I'm glad... because he is special!!

Before bed, he put on his new Seahawk jersey.  This kid loves football ;).  Can't say it enough, 

WE LOVE YOU ALEX!!!

Thank You to all who made his day so special!

Russian Birdies

No these aren't really Russian birds, still our little parakeets.  But I love this pic.  Craig get's a hoot out of the birds and they are so good with the kiddos.  I think I've come to realize... I'm kind of a bird person :)

Last Activity Day we did a Progressive Cultural Nite and one of the couples we visited went to Russia.  It was so cute, he had everyone try on the Ceremonial Russian hat, then asked to take a picture with me... thanks Moleff's for the Russian feast! We tried posies for the first time.  It's like a Russian hamburger potsticker, just shaped differently. (or in a nearby country it is called booze... guess what I tried that night! ;) 

YUM!

Livin' UP January

I can't believe it... January is almost over! Time flies when you're having fun...

Like playing Skip Bo. :) Carson LOVES this game.  And we play almost every day, no kidding.  He'll ask to play it all day, but I tell him... at nap time.  (so much easier to play card games without 18 month old's wanting to shuffle all the piles and spread cards all over the floor ;)

It's cute though... I never get tired playing with him.

The weather has had it's crazies, but recently it has been almost as warm as spring! Craig and I have been going on walks when kids are at school.  We hit the park for a moment one day.  He almost forgot what it was like to be on a swing!  He was nervous when I pushed him good, but the familiar long sway of the swing became a happy thrill instead of an unsure shrill. :)

Speaking of Craig, have I mentioned his busy body-ness... well out of all my kids, he has seemed the busiest.  Getting into everything. I can't seem to put anything out of his reach.  He just grabs a stool or chair and climbs like a money! Little stink ;)

The other night our ward had a Movie night at the church, 'Ephraims Rescue." LOVED it. 

Cami and Alex particularly liked the candy and popcorn.  2-3 bags each??!! (they confessed later) bleh, makes me sick ;)

And then our ritual bed time routine.  Rough housing with dad... it's my favorite thing to watch.  Sometimes I'll dog pile on too, just for kicks ;)

Just a little left of January... let's see what we fit into it next ;)

Starting off

Already half way through January and things keep moving fast paced.  I think that's just life as you get older, so I need to treasure the moments!

One of the things I enjoy doing when I have a moment is ready, as many of you! Well to all you who are looking for a good book, here's my recommendation.  The Guernsey Literary and Potato Peel Pie Society... what a mouthful!! But I loved the light, witty, intellectual, informational, and touching read.  So if you like Historical Fiction, here you go.

On another note, Happy Birthday to all you January Birthdays! My brother Zack has always been a huge Ninja Turtle fan, so for his bday he got just that :)  Loved the NT hat.

At the big family bday party, little Ella my niece, came and sat down between Kori and I.  At first I didn't realize what she was doing, but soon saw that she was mimicking us and it was adorable! Such a little lady :)

The weather has been so up and down here.  Right now it feels like spring. For a moment there we were having freezing rain.  Snow, fun... Rain, fun... both you can play in.  Freezing rain?.... bleh.  So I took Carson, Craig, William, and Ella (babysitting my niece and nephew), and we had a great time downing fries and enjoying the inside structure at BK.  Thank heavens for those simple pleasures :)

My kids are crazy... I say all the time, but I mean it in the most endearing way possible.  I love to see them happy and loving life.  But I do have to say... sometimes they are just plain CRAZY ;)

2014

HERE'S TO THE NEW 2014!!

Let's make it good

Decembry Christmas Birthdays

Christmas Eve is a double celebration in the Christian family :)

And since my dad doesn't like to mix his birthday celebrations with Christmas we do a breakfast feast! Crepes, scrambled eggs, specialty breads, egg nog, OJ, and Stuffed Apple Caramel Fresh Toast! Oh this was so yummy and thank you Lisa for sharing the recipe with me!

I love my dad... let me rephrase that, WE love our dad and grandpa! His loving nature is felt by many and I'm so grateful for him.  Happy 61 Dad!

I've seen cousins that are share a special kinship before and it's precious.  But I haven't seen one so young, and I adore these two's relationship.  At 18 months they are each other's shadow.  They make each other laugh, share food, rarely fight(which very well could change as they get older), follow each other around and instigate mischief all over the house... and it's obvious they love each other.  Crystal and I have yet to get one of their cute moments on video and curse ourselves when we aren't prepared and miss one.  One of these days we will! 

Christmas morning is always exciting.  Kids up before the sun even comes out... pestering us to get out of bed ;).  I don't have any unwrapping of the presents pictures except these because it took up most of our Christmas morning.  Putting together our new trampoline :).  These were one of those times when working together was fun.  Thank you to everyone who made our Christmas so special.

HULK-Thor.... love it Carson ;)  This little dog, Tia, is my brother's and we were babysitting her while they were away at a cabin as a family.

And off we go!!  I forewarned the kids about injuries... it's not if, but when.

MERRY CHRISTMAS TO ALL!

Three days later Cami turned 10.  Yes, 10! I still have a hard time realizing how big she's getting so fast.  You have to know one thing... all December, Cami checked the weather EVERY day to see if it was going to snow.  It didn't get here by Christmas, but a little bit of heavenly snow came on her birthday. :) She had fun playing in it with her friends, like Lindsey :). 

Happy Birthday Cami Lamb! You are beautiful

Here is the wall at the end of December... the kids worked hard and did good! Don't think I'm going to take them down until Spring :)

Now, I have to explain this picture a bit... it's Craig.  Need I say more? I probably shouldn't but I will.  He has a fetish with the toilets.  UGH!!!  Putting toilet paper in, taking it out when it's all soggy and piling it up on the bathroom mat.  Dipping toothbrushes in the water and yes.... sucking on it afterwards. SO Gross!!  I've thrown away so many toothbrushes recently.  I have seen people with toilet locks, and now I think I'm going to have to invest in one.  What a stinker Craig can be sometimes! I seriously, can't keep up with him.

It's funny though how life has it's roller coasters.  One minute I'm pulling my hair out trying to keep Craig from the toilet, and then the next thing I see is this out my window..... and I had to take a picture.

My heart melts and I can't help but think of God and his tender mercies in our lives.  Majestic scenes are healing to the soul and I loved this one.  I look at it over and over again, and it takes me back to what really matters. I thank God for his beautiful creations, especially my children.  Pure and innocent. White is Beautiful.

Waiting for snow

Some people dread it, some people love it, some people are indifferent.  But.. my kids are looking for snow every morning! Cami will even check the weather on the internet EVERY day to see if there will be a forecast of snow.  Haha.  So we decided to make our own this year... with paper any way.  The kids love doing it, even Carson.  So we started a snowflake wall in our kitchen.  The plan is to cover the whole kitchen by Christmas :)

The freezing cold has kept us inside more, so the kids have become quite creative.  Craig loves to stack things.  And destroy things... but we won't get into that.  But I love this picture.  He was in his bedroom for a good half hour lining up all these cars... so cute :)  This is what I call a TRAFFIC JAM.

Christmas Time!

This time of year is so fun :) The kids keep saying... "It's the best time of the year, hands down!"

There is so much that goes into this holiday and I hope to make the best of it.  Christmas music and movies, decorations galore, goodies to give, time to share, and snow to HOPEFULLY fall (my kids keep looking out the window every day... highly disappointed in only seeing frost ;).  Fa la la... Christmas is simply Merry :)

This last Tuesday we decorated Gingerbread houses for Activity Days.  I spent a whole day baking.. mmmmmm, man did the house smell ever so good!  I love being Cami's activity day leader :)

Sophie, Jenna, Kimmy, Cami, Kali, and Emily (friend).. they did great!

I made extra for the boys to do.

Craig is loving the excitement of Christmas too... although, I CAN NOT keep this kid away form the ornaments!  Haha... just an 18 month old thing ;)