Too Funny To Be Offended

This morning, I was in the middle of my daily ritual. I was taking a shower, and as usual, Kate came in the bathroom to talk to me.

I always take the clothes I am going to wear for the day into the bathroom with me so I don't have to scare anyone while I run around deciding what to wear. Today was no exception.

Kate walks in, apparently gets bored with our conversation, and looks for something more interesting to do. She sees my bra sitting on the counter with the rest of my clothes. She proceeds to "try it on." She got it on, except doing up the back.

She looks at me and says, "Look, mom! It fits, just like you!"

Great. I have boobs the size of a 2-year-old.

Time to consult a surgeon, I think.

Catching Up..Again

I cannot seem to be able to find the time to blog consistently. I can't seem to be able to put the brakes on life for ten minutes.

We have been so busy! The kids have been sick with the stomach flu for the past two weeks. One gets over it, and another comes down with it. What a joke! But we will skip over the past two weeks because 1) I would really like to forget the past two weeks; and 2) I'm sure no one wants to hear the details of the past two weeks.:)

So fast forward to this past weekend. My first baby turned 9! How in the world did time pass so quickly?! She had a late night with her two cousins, her sister, and four friends on Friday night. What a fun bunch of girls!

There was pizza, a movie, popcorn, dancing, singing, balloon fights, and...

A humongous pillow fight. They had a blast!

Saturday was Rylee's birthday, so she couldn't wait to open her gifts as soon as she woke up.

She got some clothes, and a sewing machine.

I think her favorite gift was her roller blades though. She didn't want to take them off all day (and hasn't taken them off much since.) You gotta love the fashion statement she is making with the dress and the socks and roller-blades though. I think it's adorable.:)

She also loved her new birthday dress. She loves to get a new dress for her birthday. What a girly-girl!

Rylee wanted this cake for her birthday so bad. It was SO yummy!

She couldn't wait to dig in!!!

She loves it when family comes over for cake and ice cream! We have an awesome family!

Blow out those candles, Birthday Girl!!!

Daddy, trying to decide how to cut the cake.

He decided he didn't want to cut the cake, and turned the honors over to Tai. She is giggling trying to figure out how to cut it without causing an M&M avalanche.

These two girls love their daddy so much!

I couldn't resist taking this picture of Isaak. What a cutie pie!

While everyone else was enjoying their cake and ice cream, Kate was enjoying and apple. What the heck? I have no idea where she came from. Who picks apples over cake (with candy all over it, nonetheless) and ice cream? She will be the only healthy one in our family.:)

We snapped a picture of the three girls with my parents as the night was ending. They are the best grandparents, and we are all so lucky to have them so close by. My kids adore them. Hayden would have been right there with them, but still wasn't feeling top-notch after being sick all week. Poor dude.

It was such a nice weekend, and Rylee said her birthday was fabulous. We sure love her and she is turning in to such an amazing young lady. I can't believe it has been nine years since she was born. I don't know what I ever did to deserve such a sweet girl, but we are all so blessed to have her in our family. Her sense of humor is fantastic. She is kind and sensitive to those around her. She is artistic and loves to share her talents. Our family is so much richer with her in it, and we love her so much!

Happy Birthday, Sweetie! We love you!

Christmas '09

Christmas Eve was a blast. We got together with my family for our traditional Christmas Eve party.

The kids acted out the Nativity story the best they could. Did you know Luigi was a part of the Nativity story? I didn't either until that night.:) McKenzie was the angel telling Mary (Lana) that she was going to have a baby.


Bill was a good sport and played the part of Joseph. Here he is with Mary on the long journey around the island, finding that there is "no room at the inn."

Mike and Isaak enjoyed the show.

So did Andy and Danika...until it was time for Danika to play the adorable baby Jesus.

And Tai was also a good sport, and played a shepherd. She is obviously very excited about the news the angel, Kailie, had to share with her!

Then all gathered around Mary and the baby and sang a couple of Christmas songs.

What a cute baby, don't you think?!

Next it was time for some rip-roaring fun with the traditional pinata!

Every child got a turn to whack it, from the youngest, beginning with baby Danika...

..to the oldest. It finally ended with Aunt Brookie and uncle Mike finishing it off!!!

Rylee surprised everyone with some Christmas songs she had learned on the piano.

And Grandma took a turn sliding down the stairs in a sleeping bag, just to prove she is still cool. A bunch of kids joined her at the bottom, probably to make sure she didn't break a hip or something.;)

The festivities continued as the kids decorated sugar cookies for Santa. That's always a fun mess.

Brielle, cutie pie.

Rylee decorating hers ever so carefully.

Lana and Kailie, still inseparable.

McKenzie, probably trying to make sure the sprinkles at aunt Hilary's house aren't poisoned.

Isaak doing what the little ones do best when they decorate cookies.

And Kate attempting to be neat about the decorating.

Mike, Jordan, Nikole, and Andrew being entertained by the Wii and hot fudge brownies! YUM!

Time for Grandma's traditional Christmas Pie. This tradition is so much fun. Everyone grabs a string and pulls on the count of three. Then you get to open a present that is attached at the end of the string. It is definitely a favorite tradition. Thanks again for doing this, Mom.

Then we all opened our Christmas Eve gifts, A.K.A. pajamas. We hung out for a little bit. Rylee, of course wouldn't leave Andrew alone. Do you think she missed him just a little bit?

We asked all of the kids to pose for a picture in their new Christmas jammies. This is the best we could get. Hey, you get nine kids to all look at the camera at the same time at 10:00 on Christmas Eve.

Kate snuggling with Sara. She was definitely getting tired.

The girls were tracking Santa on the computer and were definitely starting to panic. They were anxious to get into bed before Santa got too close to us.

Jordan, Rylee, and Nikole posing for a darling picture.

Before the night was completely finished, Grandpa read a couple of Christmas stories to Hayden. Hayden loved it. Thanks Dad!

Andrew did some magic tricks for Rylee and Lana. They ate it up and were amazed!

Sara and Lana were both laughing hysterically at Andrew's tricks.

The kids all got to open one more gift on Christmas Eve. These were from Jordan and Nikole. They all got a book that goes with a stuffed animal. They were so excited. Thank you so much, Jordan and Nikole!

Lana thanking her super cool aunt and uncle.

The kids were finally able to crash at about midnight, and were so tired. Rylee was the only one who had a hard time going to sleep. She couldn't finally relax and go to sleep until about 1:30.

Time to rest and get ready for Christmas morning and the craziness that brings!!!

Christmas Day was wonderful. The kids loved their gifts and were so cute opening them.

We spent the day as a family, playing with the new toys and games. We had a visit from my parents and Andrew. The kids laughed a lot and had so much fun all day.

We were even able to have the Elders over for a turkey dinner that evening. These elders were so much fun to have in our home. They were fun to talk to and very sweet to the kids.

At the end of the day, we all put on pajamas, blew up a big air mattress, and watched "Night at the Museum 2" as a family. It was a perfect end to a perfect day. It couldn't have been a better Christmas.

By the end of the week, after all of our get-togethers and late nights, we all felt like this:


We hope you all had a fantastic Christmas, and that your New Year is wonderful! We are so grateful for the birth of our Savior and for the special time of year it brings to celebrate with those we love so much. We love you all!