Christmas Eve Afternoon

This year on Christmas Eve, we took the kids to big hollow to go sledding. Aaron's sister, Carrie, is visiting from Chicago so she came with us. It was a lot of fun!! And it wore out the kids. Which is a good thing on Christmas Eve so that maybe they will go to bed early. Tessa was like the Energizer Bunny. She was unstoppable on those hills until she took her gloves off and got her hands cold from touching the snow. We had a lot of fun and ended the outing with a great snowball fight complete with snow down the front and back of my clothes--and then down Nathan & Kielle's backs!

Spark!

Last night Aaron and I went out for our anniversary dinner. I was in the mood for something new and had heard of a new restaurant called Spark in Provo that I've been dying to try! I read about it from the Your Heart Out blog . They have never steered me wrong. So we figured why not? I am so glad we went. Aaron kept thanking me for bringing him here, so naturally I played it off as my anniversary gift to him--see previous post. We laughed over that, but seriously, this restaurant NEEDS to be on your list of Top Ten places to go and SOON! The food was amazingly delicious, the service incredible! The chef whipped us up a special anniversary treat--not on the menu-- which they dubbed "chicken nuggets" which was anything but. The chicken was so flavorful and juicy. and the light crust on the outside was perfect on a bed of carmelized onions served with cranberry sauce. MMM. I was wishing I had brought my camera (along with my new macro lens) to photograph every dish that arrived at our table! We had their homemade pasta as well as their scallop with creamy rice which Aaron repeatedly said was "off the charts." That one I was very close to not sharing at all. Oh. They also brought us "a sampling from the kitchen" of the best creamy mushroom soup I have EVER tasted. For dessert I had almond coated fried pudding with orange coriander ice cream. It was devoine. Aaron's dessert was the cream of Hazelnut soup which our server described as Christmas in a bowl. Yep. It was delish. The finishing touch was not an after dinner mint but an after dinner marshmallow. Even Aaron who hates marshmallows was willing to give this gourmet one a try and again it did not disappoint. Our server said they change the marshmallow flavoring daily last night it was a flavor they use in Japanese candies. I can't remember the name. The ambience was hip and modern. Honestly, I forgot I was in Provo for a little while. It has the feel of something that belongs in downtown Chicago, LA, or NYC. Next time you are going out to dinner give Spark a try. I'm going back as soon as I can!

One Short Day...

Today, I have been married for 13 years. It has gone by so quickly. I am so glad I made the decision to marry Aaron. He is such a wonderful and loving husband. Being married to him has been so easy for me. Many people go through the "adjustment phase" when they are first married--y'know just getting used to eachother's habits and whatnot, but for me it was the most natural step. There was no adjustment. It was just right and it still is even more than ever. Aaron is a born romantic and he is always surprising me with what he has come up with. He will often bring home flowers "Just Because." Well, once again he has outdone himself and completely surprised me with my anniversary gift (which by the way--I am always totally lame with the anniversary gift thing. This year I didn't even come up with one, but he told me that he took care of it for both of us.)

There were some tickets to a show that I really wanted to go to. In fact they were really the ONLY thing I really wanted for Chrstmas, but after a morning on the phone and internet with NO LUCK, I figured that I was out of luck and would have to live with the disappointment of not getting them. So imagine my surprise when I opened my anniversary gift from Aaron and found this:

Click on picture to read

I was amazed and so excited. My kids still don't know because they wanted to go to but, unless we got the cheapest tickets we wouldn't be abe to take them too. So we might let them know closer to ther actual event which is still 5 months away, but EEEEEEE! I am so excited! And my husband ROCKS! Love ya babe!
Happy Anniversary!

The Morning of Christmas Eve

This morning when I woke up Ada was up and laying on the couch so we started cuddling and were soon joined by Ryan, then Kielle, and Nathan. Tessa was somewhat of a sleepy head today. It was fun to cuddle together this morning. (Why is it that the kids look so well-rested and I look so sleepy?)

Santa's Lap

At the Career Step Christmas Party, the kids had the opportunity to sit on Santa's lap. Nathan didn't want to and Ada sat on his lap after the photographer had left.

Family Portraits

I just got my pictures from my Work Christmas Party. My company said they would print one photo for me. Help me choose. What's your opinion? Which one do you like best? (If you click on them they'll get larger.)

#1
#2

#3
#4

Grandmas Never Run out of Hugs or Cookies

About the last month before my parents left for their mission to Switzerland, Ryan started a speech preschool where I had to attend to learn how to help him form his words properly and other children were not invited. So Tessa would go to my parents home and make cookies with Grandma once a week. The whole time they were gone she would talk about making cookies with Grandma and couldn't wait for her to get home so they could do it again. Well, they got back right before Thanksgiving and are starting to get "settled back in" so Tessa called the other day to ask Grandma when they could bake cookies together again. She went over yesterday and had a GREAT time. She told me that she baked cookies and did a little coloring over there. She also had lunch and then Grandma and Grandpa droppped her off at school. They also brought us a big bag of cookies (which are gone now) They were delicious! Grandma took these pictures of her baking! (Maybe next time Grandma will get in the picture:)) Mine and Tessa's favorite is where her tongue is sticking out.

A Very Important Question-- About Fudge

I am following Heidi's example and asking about your sweet tooth preferences. Do you prefer fudge with or without nuts? Or is there another special way you like you fudge? I NEED to know.

Boots

I had all these great plans for the week-end. First I was going to paint the Family Room. It is way overdue, but then I decided that my kids needed a little help from their Mama if they were going to have any semblance of clean rooms by the time Santa comes, but finally I made the decision to take everyone boot shopping. The reason being--The forecast for the weekend was snow. After the first BIG snow of the season boots are generally difficult to come by and 3 of my 5 kids have no boots, so I gathered all my coupons and kiddies and took them shopping. We first went to Kohl's because I had a $20 coupon there. We found boots for Nathan and Ryan there. Tessa also found some adorable pink boots that she HAD to have, but she already had boots, so I told her she had to use her own money to buy them if she really wanted them. She LOVED that idea even though Nathan was trying to talk her out of it saying it was a waste of her money to spend it on footwear instead of toys. Her response? "I don't need more toys junking up my room!" AMEN SISTER! (Can you tell that Mommy has been drilling that thought into her head for the last several months? I ought to post a picture of the mess she and Ada call a room before I roll my sleeves up and go help them find them room again.)

When I got to the Cashier, she informed me that my $20 coupon expired LAST WEEK! NOOOOOOOOOO! I was so visibly downtrodden that she told me she'd give me the discount anyway if I filled out a comment card for her. I gave her the most gushing glowing review I could possibly think of because that $20 off was a huge factor in my decision to go to Kohl's. (Not that the prices weren't fabulous without the discount mind you.)

We still needed to get boots for Kielle and while we were at it we decided to buy Ada some shoes because the ones we bought her at the start of the school year have big holes in them. She is officially no longer allowed to own Skechers. Two years in a row within 2-3 months she has killed her Skechers. Tessa always keeps hers in tact, but not Ada. We found Kielle and Ada's shoes at Famous footwear, but we had stopped at 3 other stores before getting there and by the time we reached FF I was one of those moms you shake your head at--whether feeling sorry for them that they have so many children, or thinking they are crazy because they CHOSE to bring SO many children with them or "I wouldn't lose my cool and discipline MY children in a public place like that." They were just getting bored, I get it. But did they really have to chase eachother up and down the aisles. Did #1 have to threaten #4 to the point where he cowered in front of him? NO. Now that I look back it was the BOYS who had such a hard time! Tessa happily tried on more shoes "for fun" while I helped Kielle and Ada find the appropriate footwear, the boys were the ones I wished I could duct tape in place.

As we were standing in the longest line EVER! (It was really only long because certain children couldn't stand still) I suppose the manager sensed my complete sense of "losing it" and handed me (and only me) a coupon for 10% off my order. So then Kielle and I talked about the bright side of waiting in line so long. At least we get a discount on our purchase! Woo Hoo.

And yes it did snow, in fact it started while we were shopping and the kids broke in their boots immediately! I was more than happy to allow them to go out and play in the snow.

So no rooms got painted or cleaned, but we did get warmth for their feet-- and just in the nick of time.

The Grotto

So, I started a new blog last night and named it the "The Grotto"--like Ariel's Grotto in The Little Mermaid where she kept all her human treasures. I love blog giveaways and I find so many I like that I have created a blog for them. I hope you will subscribe to its feed and it enjoy it! I already have a handful posted and hope to add more today. Since it is the holiday season so many places are doing awesome giveaways! Enjoy! You can click on the above link or put the following address in your browser!
http://buttercups-grotto.blogspot.com/

Face Paint

When we got home from the Christmas party I took some photos of Ada's fac e painting. She was the only one in the family who got her face painted. Ada was telling me al about the elf who painted her face. She's one of Santa's elves who paints the toys in Santa's workshop at the north pole and she came to the party to paint the kids' faces. She was a very talented elf. I think Ada said she was painted to be like a doll. and she had glitter all over her face. It was very cute!

Career Step Christmas Party

This year's Christmas Party was much more humble than last years'. This year we did a service for the national guard. Each of the employees chose a name of a child and provided needs and wants for them. It was so much fun to go shopping for the little 2-year-old girl my family had. At the party we presented the gifts and food baskets to the Guard . We helped out 13 families! So cool.

At the party there was ice skating, billiards, Santa and dinner. We also got family portraits taken by a professional photographer. I hope they turned out good. I'll post them when we get them back. I forgot to bring my camera but have lots of camera phone pictures!

Tessa's first time on ice




This skating rink was on the roof of the building. Aaron and the kids skated while I was given the assignment of completing the get to know you game (that I won last year--Andrea kept giving me a hard time about not winning--but last year I didn't have kids with me and I didn't have my arms loaded down with teddy bears and candy canes, that my kids handed to me after getting them from Santa.)
Ryan was the first on Santa's lap.

I love how Tessa is looking up at Santa.
Too bad I had just my cell phone on this photo.

Kielle wasn't sure she wanted to sit on Santa's lap but did anyway.
(Nathan didn't and I didn't get a chance to take Ada's photo.)

Nathan has no tolerance for not following ALL the rules when playing chess
(unless your name is Tessa and are his baby sister)

Aaron helping his little girls with their pool shots:

While the rest of us went into the kids playroom, Aaron and Ada played their own round of pool. He said she was really awesome and sunk all her balls! She's turning into a regular pool shark. It is time to clear out our garage again so we can play on our table!
The kids decorated their own cookies...

Kielle was so good. She let me put her in a shirt with little ruffles and pigtails in her hair for our family photo and didn't complain about it once.
She looked so cute and this hat and pig tail combo was the cutest!

Kielle ended up leaving the party early for a birthday party that was 5 minutes away from our venue. She went to a space center party and they got to simulate a space flight. She sat us all down afterward and explained in detail all the cool things they did there.

We had a really fun and late night!

Advent

Holly got me thinking about advent calendars and what our traditions are as a family. We now do 5 advents. One for each of the children to rotate through. I have a calendar and everything that rotaes year to year as to who starts which advent calendar etc. It can get complicated with 5 children!

Our very first advent calendar was from a traition that Aaron had growing up. It is a bell poem and every year we tie a string of candies to the poem for the kids to untie.

We have since added a nativity advent that my oldest sister Chantalle made for us. It is Mary and Joseph on their way to Bethlehem and on Cristmas Eve you put baby Jesus in the manger.

We have two trees that have magnetic ornaments we put up evey day. One is Hallmark's the other is Mary Englebreits.

This year for advent #5 we are light a candle ever night. untilo we have 24 lit.

Tonight we started reading The best Christmas Pagaent ever. The kids love that book.

I am looking forward to a great Christmas season.

Thanksgiving Weekend

My Goodness! I can't believe it has been so long since my last post. We had a really great Thanksgiving weekend. We got to host dinner this year and I think it turned out really great. My mantra when I am in charge is to stay calm and relaxed and everything will turn out fine. I figure what's the point of having people over if you are just going to be stressed out the whole time.

I didn't get the room downstairs painted like I had wanted to, but we did move the TV and Wii downstairs so that the kids and noise could be downstairs and we could actually have conversation without having to yell to hear eachother.

We had quite a houseful. My parents who just got home from their mission were there along with my brother Paul and his family. Teresa's (my sil) little brother and wife, Tasha came, Aaron's cousin Daniel and his wife Kenan were there and My niece Amanda. We had 20 people in all. I loved it! It was fun to have everyone over. One great little tip that I read somewhere was to get those cute little chinese take out containers to send leftovers home with your guests--They are inexpensive and disposable! They were awesome! I highly reccommend getting them whenever you plan n sending food home with somebody. I bought mine at Xpedx, which is a paper shop.

Paul and Teresa brought a game called Squint. It was a lot of fun to play with (They forgot to take it home and my kids continued to play until we saw them again on Sunday to give it back.) Also Aunt Jackie, Uncle George & Cindy showed up near the end of the evening. It was really nice to sit and chat with them.

Friday morning I hit the sales, got exactly what I wanted and then took the kids out to do some of their own shopping. I also got a really great deal on a desk for Aaron to study at. It is called a transitional desk. It is beautiful. It folds up small when not in use and then opens up as a huge desk. We are hoping this will be a good location for him to be able to study for school.

Sunday was my parents' homecoming talks. We learned things we didn't know about their mission from their talk and of course there were things we did know too. We got to sing a French Hymn called Au Jardin. That song always makes me think of Elder Mark Wilson from my mission.

All in all a great and enjoyable weekend. I was glad to be able to spend it with my family and friends.

Tagged

Amy tagged me a while ago and I need to follow through. I'm supposed to post the 4th picture from the 4th file on my computer's photos. So here you go:

Such great quality.  This is one of our favorite activities.  Art City Days Hot Air Balloons in 2006.  

Tag you're it.

Getaway!

This weekend Aaron "surprised" me by taking me away overnight. He sprung the surprise part on me about a week ago but all I knew was that we were going to the Zermatt and he had taken care of all the babysitting arrangements and had special things planned. Remember last December when I won the kitchen stuff at my work party? Well, as part of that party I also received a free night stay at the Zermatt, the catch being that it expires this December so we needed to be sure to use it up this year. Aaron kept asking me where the coupon was and I thought I knew where it was but when I went to look for it finally it wasn't there and I was kind of freaked out and not sure whether I should bring it up right away or look for it some more, it turns out he got tired of waiting for me and got it himself because he had plans...! So he whisked me off Friday afternoon. We arrived at the hotel around 3pm and he surprised me with an hour long massage at the hotel's spa. It was divine. I was so totally relaxed after that and ready to just drift off to sleep. My massage therapist there gave me a nice deep and relaxing massage. Perfect!

Then Aaron had made reservations for dinner at The Grub Steak Restaurant in Park City. If you've never been, I highly reccommend it. The food there is DELICIOUS. We went back to the hotel and watched Get Smart, well, Aaron watched it, I fell asleep less than halfway through it. I think I actually might have slept for at least 10 hours straight that night. I'm not sure I can remember the last time that happened! Absolutely Heavenly!

In the morning we just slept in and took our time getting out. We had breakfast from the pastry shop at the Zermatt which is the closest to the real thing I've had since I was last in France. The pastries were Devoine! It is worth the drive to get an authentic french pastry.
We then went to the BYU/SDSU football game. And afterwards met up with Mark and his wife Lori, who are visiting from Tenessee and Christine who is here at BYU for dinner at Bajio.

When we got home I was expecting the kids to be overly clingy and needy but they had a GREAT time with Aaron's cousin Daiel and his wife Kenan. They totally played hard with the kids and so when we got home they were in great moods too. I would say it was a great weekend all around for everyone.

I am so glad that Aaron planned this weekend getaway for us. It was so great and definitely something that we should do more often. I think he has a free night at a Hilton or something so we have to take advantage of that in a few months. He is the sweetest and most thoughtful husband!

Pumpkin Patch

We have a place nestled up against the mountains that we usually go to every year to pick pumpkins. To our dismay it was closed due to deer ruining their crop. So we went the one by Wal*Mart with the cars zipping past, which loses the idyllic nature of the outing. But that didn't stop us from having fun! And for all the pumpkins we picked up we ended up paying HALF of what we would have paid at our regular spot! Awesome!

Kids Costumes

I read somewhere that it is best to take your kids pictures early in the day, as soon as they have their costumes on--that way they are tired or their makeup hasn't worn off etc. (usually I take their pics at the end of the evening.) This year we did a photo shoot before school. I am so glad I did, because it was one less thing to worry about. And the pictures turned out great!




Nathan was Anakin Sky Walker from the Clone Wars, to begin the day, he brought a Darth Vader Mask with him to school and he also was telling people he was Count Dooku at some point. Is he obsessed with Star Wars? Maybe....

Kielle was going to be Lord Sparr from a book series "the Secrets of Droon" but she didn't want to do the parts of the costume that would make her actually look like him so the night before halloween we went on a different costume search and she came up with baseball player. PERFECT!

Ada started off wanting to be a scarecrow, which we tried out a Nathan's fencing competition (which was also a costume party.) She was cute but not lovin it, So she thought about changing to a cowgirl but I had this indian dress laying around from my Peter Pan play when I was in 5th grade and she liked the idea of being an indian.


Ryan has wanted to be Alvin from Alvin and the Chipmunks since he saw the movie last winter! He has stuck with this idea. Can I tell you how difficult it is to find a red hoodie without some kind of graphic on it?! Near impossible. I finally had to settle for a zippered hoodie intsead of an over the head one! I thought he made a very cute Alvin and he is no where near as mischievous!

Tessa just wanted to be a kitty. very simple. She found all of her costume stuff on her own. I love it when they make it easy on Mom.

Halloween Sunrise

As we were getting ready for school this morning the kids noticed this beautiful sunrise. Isn't it GORGEOUS?!

Happy Halloween!

Now what are you going to do?

That was the subject line of the email I received yesterday from the CEO where I work. The indisputable answer to that question of course is "I'm going to Disneyland!" Our company shattered all of our sales records last month and now we are all going be flown out to California for a day to party at Disneyland! How cool is that!?