Stop what you're doing...

You need to make these donuts . Okay so a little tradition we started tonight is making donuts. These seriously rival Krispie Kreme donuts. I wish I could say I made them, but I didn't. Josh was the mastermind behind these little morsels of heaven. Normally I would not be blogging on Christmas Eve, but I'm waiting for Whitney to give up and go to sleep. She's trying to hear Santa. I'm really trying hard to get her to believe in Santa for a long time- longer than I did. I remember not believing sometime before Kindergarten. That's what happens when you're the 5th of 6 kids and a born skeptic. Anyway, while I'm here, I guess I'll post more of our Christmas Eve. Whitney sang a few songs, I'll have to post the video one day. Pretty cute. She doesn't really know all the words, so it's fun to see what she comes up with instead of the right words. We also "summarized" the nativity story and read "'Twas the Night Before Christmas". Oh, and watched a Disney Christmas movie. It was pretty awesome, especially when the donuts were ready. Make this recipe- or just come over to my house and get one. I'm pretty sure Josh and I shouldn't be eating 18 donuts by ourselves (though we probably will:) The last time my family room will be semi- clean. I have a feeling tomorrow will create some clutter! Merry Christmas Everyone!

Tyler's 1st Birthday

One year ago today I got the best Christmas present I'll ever get. I can't believe Tyler came to our family just one year ago. He makes me so happy.

It's been a fun, sugar and toy filled day. It's kind of fun to have a party before Christmas- it's just too hard to wait for the big day, I need another big day in between- hard to explain. We were pretty low key this year. No friends, just our little family. Tyler loved every present. It was present overload. I can't believe we are going to do this again in a few days. Here's a little glimpse in to what we did today.And now for the cake... Tyler got a lion cake for his birthday. It was my first time working with fondant and let me tell you, it was a little tricky for me. Fondant is a sticky, fickle thing. It turned out okay though. Tyler mainly just went for the eyes. Once he sat down to eat, he couldn't get that chocolate cake into his mouth fast enough. After all was said and done, he was a little sugar shocked. It was into the bath with him and his sister and then off to sleepy town. This boy was TIRED! We all had a good time, especially Whitney. She enjoyed his toys more than him I think. Happy Birthday Ty-guy, baby love, sweet lamb, stinky bum, buggy, tyler byler wyler, we love you.

Traditions (pre the big day)...

So I've been thinking a lot about traditions lately and what one's I'd like to start with my own little family. Whitney is finally starting to buy all this Santa Clause mumbo jumbo so it's getting pretty fun to hype up Christmas for her. So far we don't have many traditions, but I'll just share what we do anyway (another post for my family history:) We do the 12 days of Christmas. My Mom sent us 12 little gifts to open up along with a scripture on each and Whitney LOVES opening them up. I love this tradition. Growing up, it was "pixies" that brought us the gifts and left them on our beds. I also want to make ornaments each year for my kids. At some point they will make their own, but this year I did them. If you want to know how to make them, let me know. They took about 3 minutes and cost about $1.50, if that! Another thing we do is go to see Santa Clause. I was pretty pumped not to have to drive 45 minutes to the Chevron to see him this year. We went 30 minutes and saw him at a library where we made cookies with literally ALL the toppings. Whitney actually sat on his (actually it was a woman!) lap, but didn't make eye contact. She sat down and just kept muttering, " I want a computer and a fan...I want a computer and a fan". It was priceless! She's so funny. Tyler calmed down and was just awestruck. Another tradition is Christmas lights. I wish I had the guts to get up on a ladder and put them up ALL OVER my house Griswold style, but I don't. I just put them on my banister. Maybe if I do it in September I won't be afraid of slipping off an icy ladder. (Sorry about the crazy picture, it was 20 degrees outside and my ears were icing up so I couldn't perfect this shot- no the house isn't on fire.) Of course the Christmas tree halfway decorated this year. I'm not in the mood to clean up broken ornaments. And another tradition has been to put up this cute little guy. A baby snow man pops out of his hat as he sways side to side. It has fiber optic(?) thingy's in it that change colors. I'm surprised it's still in one peace after 3 Christmases. Very cute. Whitney and Tyler love to just stare at it. Last year we put it up in October. Thanks GG and Yo Papa!
I'm sure I'll come up with more traditions between now and Christmas, these are just a few. What are YOUR pre Christmas traditions?

Thanksgiving 2008

I know this may seem like old news to blog about our Thanksgiving, but it's pretty much just for my benefit. One day I'll save this blog and it will be considered my family history right? (P.S. If anyone knows how to save a blog, please clue me in.)
This Thanksgiving we had the whole crew there. All my brothers and sisters and their families. There were about 40 of us there.There are 17 grandkids so we had a little kid table and then a Little little kid table. Patiently waiting to eat...

The next day we headed up to the cabin for a little four wheeling and just hanging out. Unfortunately there was a little plumbing issue so we had to leave early, but it was so fun to be at my parents cabin. It's been a dream of theirs to build this cabin and it's fun to finally see it come to fruition.Whitney was in heaven having a sleepover with her girl cousins. She adores them all. My BIG kid also had fun throwing kids around. What is it about a big empty room that makes kids just go berserk. They had so much fun tackling uncle Josh and Uncle Ryan. I guess Mom and Dad won't have to buy any more furniture. Anyway, it was a really fun time, even though it was cut short. We look forward to many more holidays up at Sunrise.

Disco Elf Family

Send your own ElfYourself eCards

Thanks to Jeni for making us laugh. Josh made our family into elves too. Whitney can't get enough of this stuff!

Dallas 2008

We recently got back from visiting family in Dallas. Taylor, Josh's brother, came home from his mission to Armenia and we went to welcome him home. We were able to do lots of fun stuff while we were there. I absolutely love Texas (well the part that I was in) and can't get over how beautiful it is- even though they don't have any mountains- It's pretty cool to just see sky everywhere. The first day, we did a little feeding of the ducks and played on a really cool playground, Whitney was in heaven with her cousins and cool slides. Unfortunately, Tyler was pretty sick and wasn't really himself the entire trip.But not so sick that he couldn't "ride the horsey" with Papa

A little scooter riding around the neighborhood...A little Rock Band action...

A little swim swim at the pool...We were even able to sneak a temple trip in. Whitney sure had fun with her cousins. We don't get to see them very much but she felt right at home with them. Whitney and Maddie are the only girl grandchildren on the Smith side. Maybe Caitlin will be able to help us out in that department :) She had a hard time leaving them and really wanted them to come and live with her...poor thing. Thanks to the Smith's for making it such an enjoyable trip. I really feel so blessed to have such great in-laws. Welcome home Taylor.

Halloween 2008

Well we made it through another year of trick or treating. My friends and I took our kids trick or treating during the day with the elementary kids through town to some of the businesses on Main Street. Whitney really enjoyed being pushed around in a stroller with her friends while people put candy in her pumpkin. That's called trick or treating in style! Tyler wasn't too stoked to wear this pumpkin costume. He warmed up to it though after awhile and just gave in to being uncomfortable. Then we went to the trunk or treat in the evening and got a pretty good wad of candy there too. Then on to a few neighborhood houses. We are pretty candied out around here. It's a good thing this only happens once a year, I'm in sugar shock! Whitney had a lot of fun and she already has her costume picked out for next year. She wants to be a ghost. Spooooooky...

addendum to post below...I'm obnoxious, I know.

I just put some pictures from my camera on to the computer and I couldn't resist posting these two. I know, I'm one of those Mom's who thinks everyone is as in love with her kids as she is. There's a good chance I'm border line "stage mom". But for real, how cute is this guy? I want to go wake him up and kiss his chubby little face! I can't get enough Ty-guy! Yes, he has a lot of scratches on his face. That's just how it is.

Ty @ 10

Okay so my absence was very short, but I may resume it at any time. I was lucky enough to be able to get a couple pictures of Ty-guy on here. He turned 10 months on the 21st and I really don't know where the time has gone. These are just a few pictures of him enjoying what good weather we have left of the fall. At 10 months, Tyler is somewhat "cruising" on furniture, squealing when he has anything to say, eating anything I give him (pico de gallo, bbq chicken, stew, etc) as long as it's not baby food. It's so nice having a baby that likes to eat! He cries when he sees an empty bowl of ice cream. He loves to exercise with me- his favorite move is downward dog, it's just a series of giggling, bouncing a little and then going into his downward dog pose- a yoga master in the making. He also really loves sit up time because I become a human jungle gym at that point for him and he thinks it's hilarious. He loves to "dance" to any music or sound, ie the rhythm of me brushing my teeth. He's just a happy kid, what more could we ask for?

adieu for now...

Well I'm officially leaving the blogger world. I can't upload any pictures anymore. Blogger hates me and I'm pretty ticked off right now. I also can't click on a lot of your pictures, due to their "pornographic nature". I am trying to get it figured out but Josh swears that pushing the keys down harder on the keyboard won't fix it. Our filtering service is jacked right now. I don't know how it all works together but I guess it just isn't meant to be for now. If I ever return, be ready for some super marathonic posts.

Play time for the Whit

Well we got a pretty big snowstorm last weekend. After much begging and pleading, I took Whitney outside to build a snowman and to play in the snow. She has no problem being cold, me on the other hand... I hate it. I did have fun throwing snowballs at her though, she thought it was the funniest thing, so of course I kept doing it. She got me a few times too. Here's another picture of Whitney, doing her other favorite thing, dressing up. She's just in her own little world when she puts this dress on. I have to call her Princess and everything. She calls me "giant" when she gets into Cinderella mode- not quite sure what that's all about, but maybe I'm the giant ogre in her little make believe world. Who knows. Oh to be a kid again...