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Wednesday, January 6, 2016

goodbye 2015...

we spent the last of our 2016 hanging out with family, chris went to work, we saw star wars, and had another party.  the star wars was tricky because we have so many babies and we all wanted to see it so we did it in shifts.   boys (chris, jack, will) went early in the morning while girls stayed home and watched babies and girls (mom, me, laura) went in the afternoon while the boys watched the babies.  it was fun! and an awesome movie.  chris and i had watched all the first ones in preparation.  we even watched this 3 hour making of the original 3.  we then had a party at mom for new years eve.  this time we had ribs and meatballs and other appetizers for dinner... and random junk food that was amazing for dessert.  mom had some games for the kids including cotton ball shooters (because she didn't want marshmallows all over the house) and candy ball where you unwrap this saran wrap ball while someone rolls the dice and you go till they roll doubles.  and you get to keep whatever you unroll.  daniel loved getting all the candy.  the parents sat around chatting while the kids were crazy and played... and we ate food... lots of it.  we watched the new york ball drop at 9pm and greg had some fireworks they set off... we made it home about 10pm.  put the boys to bed and went to bed ourselves.  it was a fun night and a good end to the year.

uncle sam was hilarious shooting his cotton balls from behind the couch...


chris and greg helped the kids unroll the plastic


these two.... has so much fun hitting each other with balloons... haha


and daniel really liked the count down and glow sticks....



2015 was a good year... we moved back to Las Vegas, welcomed baby david to the family, chris bought a dental practice, daniel started school, and i get to be around my family now... looking forward to 2016!! 

christmas eve and day....

i was really excited to be home for christmas eve this year.  growing up we always had a big party at my grandparents house... we did a nativity, played games, sang songs... santa came...  it was so fun with all my cousins there.... it was also a huge crowd.  but because we always did this i looked forward to this night even more than christmas itself.  our family has become crazy big so we have since split off into our own families... this year we had it at my moms house... we had soups... and appetizers and desserts.... all my siblings except emily came with their families, my dad came and brought his mom my grandma slade, and meeshas parents came.   after dinner we had our traditional white elephant gift exchange game... there  were some fun gifts... chris brought a whitening tray pack from work, jack brought a kindle!!! he had gotten it for free from a work party and didn't need it... and same brought a drone... i was excited to get a box of meesha's carmels!! and we came home with a little box of star wars toys and stickers.  my mom was really smart and had made up little bags of silly presents for each kid to open while we played our adult game.  they then just ran and played all over the house.  i also brought all the stuff from our work party hot chocolate bar and thats what we had for dessert (plus a bunch of other yummy things people brought!!)  it was such a fun night and perfectly wore out each kid to quickly fall asleep that night...



the kids were so cute putting on a little nativity...  daniel loved wearing this little purple wise men dress....


daniel and axel also enjoyed a bowl of whipped cream... haha


we also had our traditional christmas march with hats and sticks... jack wore this vern christensen special hat... he always loved the march... it was fun to have him there in spirit :)


we dressed up all cute for christmas eve so i made sure we got a picture together :) 


i loved how our tree glowed at night with all the lights off... so pretty!!! 


christmas day was fun... daniel loved playing with each toy for a while before opening the next.  he really loved this garbage truck and car hauler he got from my mom.  




i got this really hard maze ball from chris and was so excited when i passed it a few days after christmas :)


the best part of christmas morning for me was rolling out of bead and having my hair look this good...you know its going to be a good day... or it shows how big may hair was last night... or how much hairspray i used...


my favorite gifts from chris were these HUGE peanut butter cups... half pound each.... and this bathroom guestbook sign in.  its hilarious.  we cant wait to actually put it in our bathroom


chris loved this "duke silver band" sweater i got him... its a parks and rec thing.


he also got tired of holding the baby while we were at my moms house and instead of just handing him over decided to strap him on for a while... ha


christmas day was fun.  we spent it at my moms house after we finished opening presents at home... daniel played with cousins... we had good food... and just relaxed.  it was so nice.  


all things december...

december was a busy month... chris is busy and enjoying figuring out how to be a good business owner.  he's really enjoying it and working hard to do all he can to set things up just like he wants.  i have been busy being a mom to these 2 little guys... not crazy busy... good busy.  daniel really likes school and especially loves the bus.  i had parent teacher conference this month and he's doing well and is a good kid in class which is good to hear.  david is working hard at pushing out his first teeth.  he is a master at drooling and spitting and chewing his hands and my hands and anyone else who gets close enough.  here are a few things we did this month:

we went to our ward christmas party and i awesomely convinced chris to wear his ugly sweater with me... and put david in his elf pjs... it was a fun night with good food and little program... santa ended up being a bust as we (and most other kids under the age of 4) ended up being in the back of the line and it was taking too long so after 40 min daniel asked to leave... he didn't want to wait anymore... which was fine with me.  i felt bad since he was so excited to see him, but oh well :)


we went out to the motor speedway light show... you drive through in your car.  it was pretty fun.  this was my favorite driving through this tunnel...


we started off the month opening a present every night that was left under daniels tree in his room... they were all christmas books to read throughout the month... he really liked opening a present every night.. and still asks every once and a while for one before bed... haha 


daniel is still in love with all things legos... his creativity is amazing to me... the things he creates.  here is a train that can drive both directions and a school to go with his school bus.  


he also has this fascination with wearing my shoes lately... especially these boots... haha he also randomly came downstairs with my hair brush and started brushing my hair.  i was impressed with how gentle he was ... and how seriously random it was... the most girly thing he has ever done. haha


i love our time in the mornings while we wait for the bus... he usually wants to wait across the street in front of the neighbors where the bus stops... and he plays chase and tag with the neighbor boys.  its so cute to see this tiny boy climb on the bus.


daniel is generally always unclothed... he comes home from school and instantly undresses to his underwear.  so it shouldn't have been a total surprise to me when one afternoon while over at my mom's house i look out to see daniel and his favorite cousin axel completely naked jumping on the trampoline.  axel only gets naked when daniel is around so i have to take blame for this.... but the completely naked part was axels accidental fault... while he was undressing his diaper came off with his pants so then daniel had to join and take off his underwear as well...   these are the only shots i could post... hahaha love tiny boy bum...


we had amanda over one night to hang out and she brought this gingerbread house with her.  she and daniel had a good time decorating it... and daniel really enjoyed eating all the Chiclets off one side the next day... didn't want him to have a massive belly full of gum so i had to throw out the house... but glad they had fun decorating it. 


daniel reached a big milestone at church this month... he had his last sunday in nursery... the sunday school class for ages 18months to 3 years.... they change classes at the new year and daniel will be moving up into junior primary into the sunbeam class for those kids turning 4 in 2016.  he's so huge he really looks like he belongs in primary already... but yay!!! my boy is growing up!! 



david was teasing me one day and decided to hold his own bottle.. i was so excited and now he refuses to hold it... 


david and carmen had a fun little play date while my mom was babysitting her... we stopped by to say hi and they enjoyed watching each other jump.... 


this daddy is loving playing with his boys....


daniel is also getting better all the time at playing with his little brother...and david of course loves it! big smiles every time






he is also trying to hard to crawl... he spends half his time on the floor rocking like crazy and planking...


emily and greg blessed baby andrew this month so we all went to he ward... and grandma had a good time sitting with all her cute boys... 


i had a random accident while sweeping my house...  i was wearing socks and somehow my foot slipped off the step and landed face down and i hit the top of my foot really hard before the rest of me hit the floor... it hurt so bad.  daniel was hilarious...with a look of concern "mom! you fell! you ok?"  and then he went back to watching his show... the next week chris pulled out the broom to sweep and daniel told him "careful dad... dont fall".  its not broken but man... it was tough to wear any shoes and its still really tender 3 weeks later. 

little christmas elves...

my family has had 4 babies born within 5 months of each other... so my sister got these really cute little outfits for them and we decided to have a little photo shoot at my house and then give them to our parents for christmas... which i still owe a few parents copies... (sorry!)  it was truly hilarious trying to get a good picture of these 4 little babies... they all smile but never at the same time and non sit unsupported yet.... but we still got some really cute pics.... I feel like i'm getting better at my photography skills all the time... and my photoshop skills.  thankful for friends that have shown me how to shoot manual... :)

here are the group shots and the cards i made them into...




here are the cute individual shots.... emily wanted hers of andrew under the christmas tree.. i think it turned out really cute 


here are the twins:





and these ones of david "loving" on andrew