Happy New Year!

Good bye 2013- we are ready for 2014.

Mixed emotions for this last year. Lots of happy times  and many sad times. Looking forward to seeing what 2014 will bring.
We spent the evening with Jeff & Kristen's family, playing games & eating good food. The kids had a great time playing together. We went out front & did sparklers & all the kids stayed up until midnight- yawn!

Cousin Fun

Bob & Debbie arrived from Arizona today so the kids have been having so much fun playing with their cousins!

Scotland Yard

When I was a kid my brother had a board game called Scotland Yard. We haven't seen the game in years, but I came across an updated version of it on Amazon, so we bought it for Carter for Christmas. We played it this evening with my Mom. It was fun, but I think I'm still as clueless as I was as a kid!

Happily Ever Crafter

Claire received a craft set from Santa for Christmas yesterday. She has been asking to open every few hours so this afternoon we finally took the time to look inside. Santa must not have know that I am not very skilled in stitching (except for cross stitch). Inside the box we found lots of different projects that require a needle & thread; and not many instructions. Claire picked out a little stuffed puppy to make first. I started working with her at home & then we went over to Grandma's to get help with the rest of it. Claire enjoyed doing it but was pretty distracted so Grandma & I did most of it.

Her puppy turned out really cute & she is so happy with it!

My (cub scout) Gift From Carter

Carter gave me a cute recipe holder & ornament for Christmas that he made at cub scouts. Love homemade gifts!

Mom's Christmas

Mom came over for breakfast this morning & opened a few of her gifts here & then the rest she opened at her house later in the day when more family was there. I was really pleased with how nice the canvas print that I had made of mom & dad turned out. The picture was taken at Rianne's wedding in July, so it's pretty recent & I love it!

I also love the picture that Marci made for Mom that says "all is merry & bright." Each of the Christmas lights is one of the grand kids finger prints. Cute!

All of us siblings went in on Mom's gifts so we were able to get her a bunch of stuff. She now has a kindle fire so she can read books & her scriptures on it, a new doorbell, a willow tree statue & perfume. 

Merry Christmas Mom!

Christmas Morning

Santa Was Here!

Santa came & brought some fun things for the kids! Carter received a snap circuit jr., slippers, jenga, Lego minifigure sticker book, a joke book, a wimpy kid book, wii epic mickey 2, epic mickey 2 controller.
Claire received a pink razor scooter, craft kid, lego friends, art set, slippers & a coloring book.
Kate received a convertible car for her dollhouse, doc mcstuffins puzzle, button art, slippers & coloring books.

Christmas Eve Dinner

We enjoyed Christmas Eve at Mom's house with our extended family. Lots of good food & games & we ended the night with the kids putting on the nativity for us, all on their own. It was so cute to see them all dressed up & hearing the words they spoke & listening to them sing Silent Night. Jack made a cute baby Jesus!!

Claire's Christmas List

Claire was writing out her Christmas list & wrote down 3 things:

1. A walking horse 

2. A small trampoline

3. A paint set

I asked her if that was all she wanted & she said there is one more thing

4. To be with my family

 I love this sweet girl!

Christmas Eve Day

We stayed home during the day on Christmas Eve. I've had a cold since Sunday, so I tried to rest as much as I could. Cory, Carter & Claire played a board game while Kate took her nap. Before we headed to Mom's house the kids watched a movie while Cory took a nap. It's almost time for Santa to visit!