It has taken me a while to gather up the motivation to get caught up on all the December happenings. I have been going through one of those "im so done with blogging" phases, and I just kind of stayed away for a bit-and im not gonna lie-it was quite nice. It was nice not worrying about what everyone was up to (besides the ones I REALLY care about). I actually did other things besides surf blogs-it was great!! But, now im soooo far behind that I feel overwhelmed and this has been such a task-but, im done and it feels great. Im ready for a new year. Im not one to make New Years resolutions, but this is the year I lose the baby weight. Im officially done, no more babies in this household-thus no more excuses to not get in shape. This is the year!!!
So anyway, enough of that. Here is what we have been up to this past month.

Caleb had a special visitor in his speech class. Santa couldnt make it as promised because he was so busy, but he didnt want us to be forgotten, so he sent his lovely wife. Suprisingly, it was a hit!!


Caleb has the funny nervous habit where he either sticks his hands down his pants or he lifts his shirt up. Im glad he chose the later.

The kids had a Christmas concert at school. They were nice enough to let the parents know when each grade would sing so they could come at the desired time and not have to sit through all the grades.

It went something like this. P, K, 3, 4, 5, 1, 6, 2.

We have a K, 4, and 2. We had to sit through the whole thing. When we walked out, there was a massive blizzard in the works. We drove half way home and realized that we should probably go back and pick up the kids so they dont get stuck at the school (a similar thing happend last year and the kids were stuck at school all night)We drove back and ended up with our 3 plus4 more from the neighborhood. It was crazy and it took us about 30 minutes to get home. Im glad we picked them up because busses and cars were stuck all over the place. Gotta love Utah!

All the second graders got the wear their PJ's to school for the last day. Lani was so excited and tried to talk me into getting her some new pjs for the occasion-but to no avail.

I really did comb Noahs hair that morning, but having to wear beanies to school kindof defeats the purpose.

Noahs class sang a cute song with lots of choreography. I was pretty proud of him for actually singing because he usually doesnt.

Tysons class wore white shirts and jeans with santa hats and scarfs. Not one note was sent home informing me of this, so I consider myself pretty lucky that he wore a white undershirt under his sweater, and that he wore jeans, and that Bill just bought him a santa hat from the dollar store the day before, and that he wore a scarf-which he never does. It was a Christmas miracle.

And didnt he look so cute??

After much thought, we decided to go home for Christmas. We havent been home since February, and we really needed to go home. Ok, so I really needed to go home. We were supposed to leave on Monday the 22nd, but after looking at the weather, we decided we needed to leave Sundday night. We had had a Christmas party planned with our family here, so we hurridly packed up our stuff and loaded the car, all while cooking a turkey, and stuffing and making a dessert and trying to clean the house as best I could-It was pure chaos. After our fun party, we headed out-it was 8:30. We decided to stop half way and stay in a hotel. Bill being the macho man he is kept going and we rolled into my parents driveway at 6am. It only took us 9 1/2 hours. Its amazing how fast you can drive when you dont have to stop every hour for potty breaks. We were so lucky we left when we did because the next day brought snow, snow and more snow. My sister in law Andrea called just to let me know that they were snowed in and the kids were sleding down the street-thats how bad it was. I love AZ!!

A family tradition of mine has been to make candy trains for out friends. I loved making them for all my friends and taking them to their houses-they were always a hit. I have missed doing this since we have lived away-so I was so excited to hear that we were going to do it this year. So were the kids!!!

Avery especially!! I think she ate more than she made!

Tysons just had to be perfect-he gets that from his Grandad!! Such concentration.

The finished product!!

Noah, the ever creative architect.

Lani was proud of herself a few days later for eating half of it in one day. Oh lani lou loves to eat!!

The next day was Calebs birthday. Since we already celebrated in Utah, we just had cake and opened a few presents. It was also Tylers birthday a few days after Christmas, so we just combined the 2. Caleb got a spider man costume which was quickly taken over by Tyson.

All the Grandkids (minus the malone boys and sweet mady) Its rare they are all looking at the camera at the same time!!

During the week we all got together and Barb and Blakes house for some yummy In-n-Out and guitar hero. Barb and Mary kicked some boo-tay!!

Noah and Lani took a turn-not so hot!!

I wanted to get some cute pictures of the Arizona kiddies that we never see so my kids will know their cousins when they see them.

Maile

Kate

Drew boy (bubba)

Sophie

Somehow we added an extra little person that looked just like Noah-crazy huh!!

Most of the Lomu(Moody, Taylor) grandkids (minus Daves 6 kids, Scotts 3 and Bens 2)

Ben and Michelle came down for a few days, so we all met up at Main St. The kids love main street-they love all the sculptors and the huge cookies at the bakery (which sadly was closed boo-hoo)

We ate lunch at this new little pizza place. It was good, but a little pricey.

We had such a fun trip with our families. We LOVED the weather and took full advantage of being outside. We had planned on staying until New Years Day, but this little monkey got super sick and we had to take her to the hospital for an IV because she wouldnt eat or drink and when she would she would either puke it up or poop it out. She was dehydrated, had a small bladder infection and brochitis. She was so sick-poor thing. We left the day before New Years Eve to get her home. We hadnt gotten passed Anthem before she threw up ALL over me and pooped all over her clothes. Fortunatly I foresaw this and put an extra set of clothes in the front-unfortunatly I didnt do the same for myself. I stunk like puke the whole way home.

She really enjoyed the rain!!

We cant wait to go home again-hopefully for good!!!

CHRISTMAS EVE

Christmas Eve is always a little hectic. We are usually running from my family to Bills. This year I thought it wouldnt be that way-but I was wrong. Again the times conflicted and back and forth we went.

My family party kicked off the night with the yummiest chicken pie that my Aunt Sandy makes every year-they are to die for.

I really didnt get too many good shots-sorry about this one Trent, or should I say Bishop Malone. Hows that for a Christmas present!!

My family party is always full of food, laughter, tears and more food. I dont get to see my Aunt or my cousins very often and I always look foward to this night. I just wish I had more time with them. All my little cousins arent so little anymore-they are married, one is in the Marines, and the little ones are in high school-its crazy. Im old. This year, I missed out on the talent show and the grateful circle. The grateful circle is something we have done since my grandparents were still alive. We light candles and go around the room saying what we are thankful for-it always ends up in tears. I really missed it this year.

We then headed over the Lomus.
The kids make gingerbread cookies

Ok, so some made them and others ate them.

This little cutie was running all over the place. She is the most smiley baby. My kids couldnt get enough of her.

We had a fun white elephant gift exchange all done by my mother in law. It was awesome!!

Then, Ana did a cute little nativity play and included all the kids. They loved it.

Avery even got in on the fun!

Avery loves dogs..from a far. When we came for Thanksgiving, she was terrified of Harry-this time, she couldnt get enough the dog.

Mary and Drew sang us some Christmas songs-ok so Drew sang us some songs. This kid just turned 2 and he can sing and hes got rythem. Kate got in on the action too!!

After that, we went back to my parents house for a scavanger hunt to find the Christmas jammies.

Then it was off to dreamland. They all fell asleep so fast, I was amazed.

Dreaming of Santa-well the ones that still believe were anyway!!

CHRISTMAS 2008

Another Christmas come and gone, way too fast for me. I feel like I didnt really get to enjoy all there is to do during Christmas time. It was hurried, it was cold and the next thing I knew, we were on our way to AZ. It was fun because my sister was also in town and we both stayed at my parents house. So we all got to be together on Christmas morning. That was fun!!

The kids so patiently waiting-playing with their stockings.

Avery opened the first gift since she was the youngest, and she got her baby. That was all she needed!!

Ty got a guitar and hasnt put it down since!!

Noah really didnt want much this year except some night vision goggles. Those things are pretty rad.

Caleb and guns just go together. (fake ones of course)

Tyson got a guitar lesson from Grandad and is now a pro. Everyone gathered to hear it

I thought this was so funny-all the girls got DS's and apparantly you can instant message on them-so that is what they did all morning-even though they were this close to each other.

And wouldnt you know it, my battery to my camera died and right before they started opening presents, my video camera said "out of tape." Yes, my stoneage camera still takes tapes and no one had one to spare. So this Christmas will have to be one of memory. Good memorys that is!!

After we opened presents, we ate breakfast and headed over to the Lomus. We lounged, ate some more and even broke out the guitar hero-so fun. After that, we headed back to my parents house for naps and more eating and we played games. Christmas night was pretty low key, we just relaxed and vegged. Perfect ending!!

CALEB IS 4

Now, dont be jealous of my baking and decorating skills. Now, I know what your thinking-isnt Caleb a boy? Why in the world is his cake pink. Well...I tried to write Happy Birthday in red and it was literally the worst thing I had ever seen, so I mixed it in with the white frosting and there you have it...pink. But to be honest, I dont even think he noticed.
I hadnt planned on having a party for Caleb because we were heading to Az and I figured we would do something there, but at the last moment, I changed my mind. He actually has some friends this year and I thought he would enjoy it. I am so glad I did it-he had a blast. We live in a circle and with in it are 5 boys all around the same age. Its so much fun for them.
We decided to do a make your own pizza thing and it was crazy messy but fun.

It took a little longer than I thought-trying to cook all these little pizzas with only one oven.

This is Caleb and his best little friend Pierce, who just moved, and Caleb is so sad.

After lunch, the kids went on a scavanger hunt to find the treat bags. They were ALL over the house, running and screaming from one clue to the next.

Finally, the prize. And wouldnt you know it, it was under the tree!!

Avery was just happy watching Dora

Even though we told the kids to wait and not go through their bags, they immediatly went to the table and emptyed the bags.

Next, Caleb opened his presents. I love that he sticks his tounge out when opening the presents.

This kid was all about Transformers this year...and boy did he score.

Then it was cake time!!

Nothing like sugar filled 4 and 5 year olds!!

It didnt take them long to break open these babies and start the gun fights

The party was a success and Caleb was so happy to have all the attention on him for once.

Caleb is the most sweet and loving little boy. He got RSV and pnemonia when he was only 11 days old and was in the hospital for a week. It was such a scary time, but it gave us a whole week, uninterupted , to bond and we still share that special bond today. He loves his favorite stuffed animal, pengi (a penguin-original name, I know) He is such a protector of his little sister and always makes to sure she has her blankie and her sippie cup before bed. This kid can fall asleep anywhere and he usually does. For some reason, he hates his bed and would rather fall asleep curled up on the floor behind the couch. He loves sports and has a natural talent for all things sports-he is his dads dream. He loves to cuddle and curl up with me still-I love it. He is the most tickelish boy in the world-all you have to do is touch him and he is dying on the floor. Im so proud of this kid and I just love him so much.

Happy Birthday Scrubs!!!

( In case your wondering about the nickname...it goes a little like this. It started out with Caleb, then ca-leb-a-dub, then scrub-a-dub (in the tub) then scrubs or scrubba. Wierd, I know)