Our Garden Valley Adventure

The day after Christmas our family decided to brave the snowy weather and take a weekend trip up to Grandma and Grandpa Andrews' cabin. We had a terrific time and I will treasure the memories, but we did end up having a bit more of an adventure than we'd bargained for.

We traveled carefully on slick, snow-packed roads to find around three feet of snow at the cabin. (That was in the level areas - MUCH more in the drifts). Luckily we'd brought sleds and we used them to get the little kids and the suitcase up to the house.





Next is Carter chasing the children with a dead mouse he was emptying from a trap. Nice, Dad. They really are loving it, as you can see. That's what dads are for.



We left all our Christmas gifts behind except for a couple new boardgames. So we spent the weekend out playing in the snow and playing games inside when we wanted to warm up. It was so nice. There was one memorable trip to the hotsprings pool, skipping barefoot through slush into the water, and soaking while snowflakes swirled around our heads. It was one of those things, like eating at McDonalds, that you only do because you have kids.

Here are some shots of the children playing in the snow and a few shots for Grandma and Grandpa to see how much snow was here. I think Grandpa will congratulate himself for deciding to stay in Arizona this Christmas.





This is the back end of Large Marge.


I took these pictures on Saturday. There were about two feet of additional snow Sunday, but I didn't get any more pictures because by then were trying to figure out how we were going to get home. Carter borrowed some chains from another vehicle and with some creativity and shoelaces (just kidding) he managed to make them work long enough to get us onto a plowed road. It ended just fine and it was a neat end to the Christmas holiday.

Kyler is Five!!

The last five years with Kyler have flown by! No longer my dimpled, grinning baby, he has grown into my active, smart, dimpled, grinning little boy. Carter has accused me of giving him anything he wants. That surely isn't true, but I have to admit there is something about that twinkle in his eyes and that little grin that melts my heart every time. I have worried about Kyler, being sandwiched in between the two "big kids" and the two "little kids." But his easy-going nature has allowed him to be flexible and find his own place in the family. And we couldn't do without him! Kyler is quick with a smile, quick to help, and quick with a hug. He is especially artistic with colors and he has picked up reading in a flash.

We celebrated his birthday at Grandma and Grandpa Andrews' cabin in Garden Valley right after Christmas. (I have some fun pictures of that trip I will post later) It was quiet with just our family, but he had cake and presents and I hope Kyler felt how much we love him.

A Beautiful Christmas Morning

We hope everyone out there had a terrific Christmas! We loved every minute of ours. We've spent the last several Christmas holidays together at the cabin with lots of family, which is completely wonderful. This year seemed awfully quiet and mellow compared to what we are used to. It is nice both ways.

Here are the things I will remember about this year. In times past I was disappointed when the kids managed to arrive at the Christmas tree and see what Santa brought them before I could be there to see their reactions. So I engineered things differently this year. The kids had a "sleep-over" in the family room downstairs, which they think is really exciting. I put the baby monitor in with them. They talked into it to wake us up in the morning (early!), and then we all arrived together at the tree. I was bleary-eyed, but ready with cam-corder in hand. I liked that. Maybe a new tradition in the making.





Brennan was happy about his cool new firetruck. Notice the chocolate all over his face. While everyone else was enjoying their presents, Brennan quietly raided all their stockings.


A blurry shot - sorry. Shaylie is in little girl dress up Heaven.
Now she's a High School Musical cheerleader. Oh, my.


We woke up to quite a bit of new snow Christmas morning, and I'll always remember Jayden and Makenna spending two hours shoveling and clearing the driveway so they could test- drive their new wheels.




This year I was especially excited to send out Christmas cards and bake, bake, bake! Last year I missed those things because we moved two days before Christmas. (I wouldn't recommend doing that, by the way). The whole month of December was a blur. So this year I had an extra appreciation for all the little things, like reading Christmas books and stories with the kids, eating too much fudge and toffee, and special family home evenings. My favorite was the evening we spent with Grandma and Grandpa Robinson and Grandpa Mawson. Grandma taught a nice lesson and then we all acted out the nativity. That was a first for us. I loved the ice and snow melting off the Baby Jesus during our performance because we'd just brought Him in from Grandpa's nativity scene outside. And my cute little sheppherd carrying a llama. And my angel breaking out in a ballet dance followed by curtsies and applause. Good times...

Jayden's Arrow of Light!!

After three years of hard work, Jayden has earned the Arrow of Light Award! In case you aren't familiar with Cub Scouts, that is the highest award you can get. Kind of like graduating. Jayden, you are a good boy and we are so proud of your dedication to accomplishing good goals! His friends Mason (above) and Jared also received the award. Good job, guys!
Jayden is very lucky to have lots of family support close by, and his grandparents and great-grandpa also participated in the ceremony. Grandpa Robinson is in the picture above and Great Grandpa Mawson is below. It was wonderful to have them there for his special day.







I hope you stay at it, Jayden, I really look forward to seeing you earn your EAGLE!

How I love being a mother! I can't even express how blessed I feel to share my life with these angels. Earlier this fall I had our pictures taken by my sister-in-law, Lynette Thueson. I was excited about how they turned out and I wanted to share some of my favorites. We are lucky enough to have two really talented photographers in the family. Carter's other sister Ginger Allen also does beautiful work. If you are interested, check out their photography blogs. You can find Lynette at http://sawtoothproductions.blogspot.com/ and Ginger's address is http://gaphotography.blogspot.com/ In fact, I think I'll put their links in my blog roll. Thanks so much Lynette!

First Snowball Fight of theYear!

I'm posting this for our Arizona family... I called down there yesterday just as the snow was starting to fall and all our cousins were out in the back yard eating ice cream! We came home from church today and I asked Jayden to change clothes and shovel the walk. Being that this is the first snow-fall, he was excited. In fact, all the kids piled on the snow clothes and went out to "help."
Then Carter came home from his meetings and joined them for a quick snowball fight.

Life Insurance is Current, Right?

Carter is a good sport, but he does not love putting up Christmas lights. Every year he accuses me of secretly scheming to make a claim on his life insurance policy by making him climb on the icy roof. Sorry, Honey, but you'd have to have a lot bigger policy for that to be tempting. Right now you're worth much more to us alive than dead. Besides, we like having you around, so be careful!













But I was starting to wonder about HIS motives when I discovered him taking the children out for walks on the roof! Do we have policies on the kids that I didn't know about?



Our roof drops off three stories in the back. Hey, let's walk up here kids!

Hug a Tree Day!

The Perfect Tree!!
I'll bet you never guessed we were tree-huggers! On the first Monday night in December we traditionally pick out our Christmas tree. When I was a kid in Nevada we went out and cut one every year. (And yes, Carter, there ARE pine trees in Nevada.) We couldn't imagine buying a boring tree from a tree lot. Times have changed some and I am now happy to buy our tree. My poor kids don't know what they are missing. But it still feels like a big deal and I ceremoniously make treats and hot cocoa for the occasion.



Daddy is in charge of lighting the tree. I oversee decorations. Next to Christmas morning, my favorite part of Christmas is when I carefully unwrap each ornament and hand them to the kids to put on the tree. There are so many stories and memories. I have ornaments made of shells from our time in the Caribbean and each of the kids have an ornament from their first Christmas. Then the kids go to bed and I rearrange the ornaments. hee hee.

It's a Marshmallow War in the Winter

Do you know that song "It's a marshmallow world in the winter?" Any-hoo...

For Jayden's birthday party this year Carter made a bunch of marshmallow guns with PVC pipe. The boys spent the evening playing a sticky version of capture the flag. They all had a blast. Here are the marshmallow warriors.



They all came in hungry for pizza and cake.




Happy Birthday Kiddo. I can't believe my baby is eleven years old!

Happy Thanksgiving!

We hope you all had a wonderful Thanksgiving. Our family talked a lot and ate a lot, which makes it a perfect day in my book. We shared the day with Grandma and Grandpa Robinson, Great-Grandpa Mawson, Aunt Karla and Uncle Glenn, and their boys Jeremy and Brice. We hosted the affair at our house, which was a first for me. I learned a few things. For instance, next time I won't wait until Thanksgiving Day to discover that the 20 pound turkey won't fit into any pan that I own. I will also remember that it is better to trust the little pop-up meat thermometer than to take the turkey out of the oven because it looks done to me. (That will save having to secretly carve around the still-pink parts of the turkey). Ah, well. It was still a very fun day. Here are some shots of our group.


One special thing was that I got to use the beautiful dishes Grandma Mawson gave me before she passed away. There weren't enough for everyone so I had to alternate with other dishes, but the table still came out looking pretty. These are a few more pictures I liked of the guys playing some pool before dinner, the kids helping set the table, Makenna with the napkin rings she helped me make (aren't we fancy! :) and one happy pumpkin pie face.





And last, but not least, Jayden's birthday fell right on Thanksgiving Day this year. (He was actually born on Thanksgiving Day.) So he got to blow out his candles in a coconut cream pie and open some gifts after dinner. By the way, Jayden, you can thank your dad for that gift. You can be sure it wasn't my idea. He got a real cake at his birthday party later on.
Jayden, we love you!! Happy Birthday!!