Christmas Cuties

Well...our 14th Christmas together just passed.

Christmas Eve was very uplifting. We ate a simple dinner followed by a fun (but disastrously messy...) Christmas cookie baking party. After baths, (and hosing down the kitchen,) Carl put together a little Christmas program where we read scriptures and sang hymns accompanied by his ever increasing guitar talent. The kids got their Famous Christmas Eve "jammies" and were all eager and pleasant about going to bed. Christmas morning was met with many thanks to Santa and his great taste...(whew!) The kids all played with their Santa gifts from 8:00 am until almost 5:00pm with no complaints or inquiries about the other wrapped presents. (Christmas miracle)...We threw together a simple meal of blueberry pancakes, bacon, sausage, Carl's famous eggs, and cold milk (yummm)---

well...then we opened the presents...and all I can remember is paper flying, screams of joy and terror mixed with "wow" and "that's awesome!" and a lot of..."who was that from?" and "uhhhh....I don't know..." Sort of a scary ending to a rather perfect 23 hours...(sigh) Silent Night it was not, but all is calm and all is bright.

December Delights

Well, the weather is hardly frightful, and a fire would be too hot to be delightful, and there's usually too many places to go, but that's okay, 'cause it won't snow, it won't snow, it won't snow...we're in Arizona.

Okay, that was a lame attempt at being clever...sorry. Just thought I'd throw a few pictures on "the blog" to show our fun holiday times. Life is too short to cry over spilled cocoa. (see photos at right...)

November News...

GO CHEETAHS! Lacey's soccer team finished an amazing season winning 10 games, tying 1 and "zero" losses! The girls had so much fun and really enjoyed each other. "Coach Carl" (aka "daddy") loved the experience and plans to coach again next year. We hope you like the updated slide show with the fun shots of the last game and the pizza party after to celebrate.

Luke and Christian were spoiled by Carl and each received super hero "jammies"---they are a BIG hit as you can see. Luke wants to wear his all day, we have to sneak them out of his room to wash them.

Also a few new shots of Cora and her new bouncy seat (courtesy of the Target gift cards from many of you--) She likes it and the twins and Christian get a kick out of her sitting in it. (and yes, Christian sits in it too when I'm not looking...)

We love you and hope you have a wonderful season! What a special time of year this is--we are trying to take President Monson's advice and enjoy life--NOW.

Fall has Fallen...

We have had an enjoyable October. Here are some slide shows that "are worth a thousand words"--or so it is said. I am not good at sharing my innermost thoughts, but I do like to share pictures of how cute our kids are! In the mix this month are Carl & Clay's trip to Salt Lake for General Conference, Halloween, Christian's 2nd birthday, Lacey's amazing soccer season, Clay's scouting, Catie's clarinet debut, and some fun antics with the 4 little ones and our fun times at home. Life is pretty darn good!