Sneaking a sip of mom's soda...

So, this is what happens when Asher decides to try and get mom's drink down off the counter. I was upstairs and hear the ice bouncing across the floor and then the shrieking of an unhappy Asher. These pictures don't really do it justice because I think most of it went down the back of him. I came down to find him standing in a puddle of soda, covered from head to toe with it dripping down his face, holding an empty cup and looking very sad. I don't think this is quite what he had in mind when he tried to sneak my drink!

The girl's new haircuts – Rhyan's 1st

So Mayson's been telling us for the last year that she wants her hair short like Julie's. Last year we compromised & cut it to her shoulders but told her to try that before we went any shorter. Well, in the last year it has grown a lot, and she once again started in on the short hair discussion. My only concern with it is that with the curl in her hair, I thought it sounded like a lot of maintenance to keep it styled. She also asked if she can dye her hair brown like Julie (Julie went from a blond to having brown hair last year) but we told her no, most people pay good money to have blond hair like hers and we weren't going to dye it! I have been really tempted to cut Rhyan's hair short for a while now, because hers doesn't have the curl that Mayson's has. So, we decided to go to Julie and have her give Mayson "hair like Julie's" and get Rhyan her first haircut. They were both very excited and all I heard for about a week prior is "when are we getting our haircut?" Rhyan was a little nervous too, but it was pretty funny because she ran around the house all week yelling "no haircutting me!" Anyway, as you can see, they both got their hair cut into cute, preppy little blond A-Line cuts and they look adorable!

Cute Kids

I want to be like my daddy! Here's Asher running around in one of Larry's surgical caps thinking that he is just too cool!

Here's Rhyan with curlers in her hair for the first time. She decided she wanted them and then thought they were great. As you can see, all the kids are into making faces for the camera right now.

Here's Rhyan with her curlers taken out. I think she looks just like a little Shirley Temple in this first one before we fluffed it. Once we did she was hillarious. She ran around the house all day bouncing around with this big grin on her face swinging her head back and forth. She loved the fact that they were bouncy!! When we went to Julie's house & she showed Julie her curls she was skipping up and down her hall to make them bounce. Julie decided she looks like a little beauty queen contestant with her hair curled up!

The Very Hungry Caterpillar

Rhyan's Christmas tickets were to go see the Very Hungry Caterpillar down at playhouse square. Her and dad had date and went to McDonald's for dinner before their evening at the theatre.

Flowers for his girls

Every time we go to Costco the girls want to get flowers. So, Larry decided to send his girls flowers. Mayson, Rhyan & I got a beautiful bouquet of tulips and irises from the special guy in our life. He's such a sweetheart!

Our little ballerina...

The beginning of the year Mayson started to take dance at a new dance studio with her friend Brooklyn. She does a half hour of tap and a half hour of ballet each week. Apparently this day before they went to dace they got the camera and decided to get some pictures of themselves.

New Year's 2010

This year for New Years Eve we stayed home, went up to the attic and played corn hole with the two older kids until about 10:30. For anyone who doesn't know what corn hole is, you're missing out! Anyway, Larry and I stayed up and watched the ball drop and that was the excitement of our evening. On new years day we went to New Years at Noon at the zoo with our friend Sunny & Jeremy & their kids. They had a ball drop at noon, lots of booths and radio Disney was there, and most exciting of all was that Dora was there. Don't mind Rhyan's grumpy face... we're not sure why she wasn't jumping up and down that here favorite cartoon hero was there? It was very crowded but the kids have a lot of fun. It was cold though, so a good portion of our time was spent inside the balmy, 85º rain forest, where the two older kids obviously felt a special kinship with the monkeys. We had fun, and it was a good way to do the new years ball drop with the kids without having to let them stay up until midnight.

The Harlem Globetrotters

Every year for Christmas the kids get tickets to something for a special date night with mom or dad. This year Kaleb got tickets to see the harlem Globetrotters and he loved it. All you have to do is look at the picture of him that's the close up and you can see how much fun he had. He was telling me about the game for days to follow.

Sisters...

Okay, so Asher has no chance. Not only so they dress him up like Tinkerbell, but they started to put bows in his hair, and he loves it!! He goes and picks them out now and makes you them put them in. And he leaves them there too. Right now he thinks his big sisters are amazing... one day he might be a little bitter!

Christmas Eve

So, for anyone we talked to around Christmas, you know this was not our gold standard for how a Christmas eve would turn out. We always have to missionaries over for Christmas eve, have dinner and read the Christmas story from the bible while the kids use the nativities to act it out. We this year, things did not go quite as planned... So, the Elders show up as expected, and as usual, my kids were going crazy, because that's what they do when the Elders come. They get so excited and want to play with the Elders. Well, Larry & I were finishing getting the ham and stuff ready, and had gone out more than once to tell the kids to calm down before someone got hurt. We had just hauled the ham and everything to the table and I told everyone in the front room to come sit down. I turned around to get Asher's drink filled up, and all we hear from the front room is a deafening thud, and then silence. Of course, Larry & I run over, and there is Kaleb, out cold on the front room floor with everyone just staring down at him. Larry & I were kneeling next to him trying to get him to respond and nothing. His poor little body was twitching and jerking like in a mild seizure, and other than that, nothing. I can't even tell you how terrified I was. When he finally responded at all, all he would do was grunt, and after a few minutes of that, with this blank, glazed look on his face, he said his head hurt. So after a few minutes of deliberation of what to do in this situation, we called the neighbors. Our friend Josh came over so the Elders could stay and eat dinner and not have to spend Christmas eve in their apartment, and Larry took Kaleb to the emergency room. About 9:45 that night, Kaleb and Larry returned home. Thankfully, after whatever neurological test they did and his exam, the doctors decided he would be okay. He just had to take it easy and we had to keep a close eye on him for the next day. I have to think that the very heartfelt prayer at dinner from one of our wonderful Elders on Kaleb's behalf may have had some impact on this outcome. He left the house with a totally dazed look on his face, wobbling around as he tried to walk, and returned home a little subdued, but other than that fairly normal. I have to say, this night made me realize how quickly something could happen, and how easily someone you love could just not be there anymore. I am so grateful for my family and their good health, and I'm grateful to the Lord for blessing me with them!

Christmas

So, Christmas morning, due to our eventful Christmas eve, started a little later than normal at our house. The kids all slept in, and we didn't actually make downstairs until somewhere around 9am. Hallelujah!! I don't want to have to go through the traumatic evening again, but I could sure use a few more mornings of the kids staying in bed past 7am! Anyway, so we all came down and of course, had a wonderful day. Everyone opened their presents and were in heaven playing with their new things. The pictures of Asher speak for themselves... he loved his ball pit Santa left for him. Between that and the new cars her got, what more could a boy want?! Kaleb loves to read, and he got the entire Harry Potter series, a couple of Wimpy Kid books and Santa left him a video game for his DS. I can hear you now, books for Christmas, how lame! Well, if you notice in the picture of Kaleb, taken in the middle of trying to open presents, he loves to read. He was very excited. Rhyan got a new stroller and a princess outfit for her baby doll, Mayson got a VTech learning computer and thinks she's very grownup. Everyone got matching pajamas, and all the kids got robes and slippers, which is another not so exciting thing, but they asked for them over and over before Christmas, so I was just trying to please! We didn't get the Christmas story and our nativities done on Christmas eve, so we did it late and had a good time. It's always nice to help remind the kids of what Christmas is really about.

Santa's Imaginarium

We took the kids down to Tower City right before Christmas to visit with Santa and go through Santa's Imaginarium. What is Santa's Imaginarium you ask?? It is his invention workshop where all of his elves work to invent new toys and such. You can get your own personal tour with some of Santa's elves, and even help with their inventions while you are there. It was so much fun for everyone, and we will definitely go back next year!!

Our Last One...

We have now sent our last child to nursery at church. It was a great day for all... and I mean everyone, including all the other women that go to relief society. He has mixed emotions right now about wether or not he wants to be there, but he seems to do better when dad drops him off. These were taken of him on his first day in nursery, isn't he a handsome boy!!