Christmas Day

 Christmas Day!  Well, what can be said.  We had a good time.  The kids all got some nice presents.  Emily - a bike, Rachel - a skateboard, Ben - Ski and Golf fun.  Sarah - ummm...she got a bunch of less expensive stuff.  Dave - a big car ramp and a scooter.  One of the super fun things about this year was that my mom and dad have been staying in their motor home in our drive way.  :)  So, they came in and enjoyed Christmas morning with us.  I haven't had a Christmas morning with my parents for a long time.  It was great.

 The kids were very good at helping Dave open his presents.  LOL.

 We got these kid kayaks.  We can't wait to use them in the spring...but for now they sit in our garage waiting for their day to come.  :)  Dave and Sarah enjoyed pretending.  Dave was a bit dangerous with the paddles though. 

 Grandpa is one of Dave's new best friends.  He took to shaking Grandpa's hand while they were here and learned how to say Grandpa...which made my Dad very happy. :)

 After staying in our jammies all day we decided it was time for some outdoor fun.  O.K. Ben decided it was time...he wanted to try out some of his new ski clothes  So, the Baxter family snowball fight began.  They had some good fun out there beating each other down.  I hid...ummm...I mean, I protected Dave. :) And took some pics. 

 Dad and Emily made a pretty good team.  Rachel and Ben teamed up...and Sarah floated back and forth. 

 It was a great day.  I am always glad for the memories.  Having a family is pure joy sometimes.  I am very humbled and grateful to have the privelage of raising these kids.  :)   Merry Christmas to all.  :) 

Christmas Eve with the Stalker Family

I love the laid back attitude of my family.  We shared Christmas Eve with fun at the bowling ally, dinner and gifts.  It was perfect and low stress.  I love how each of the families I have contribute a different thing to my life that makes me happy.  Thanks to the wonderful Stalker/Snowden clan for making my Christmas Eve just right.

Festival of Trees 2014

The tradition of Festival of Trees continues for our families.  Thankfully, my wonderful sister, Sandi, got me hooked on this.  It's a fun excuse to get the kids out of school for the day and just have a good time.  This year was even funner.   Emily's 2nd grade made a tree for the festival...which turned out adorable and sold for over $1,000 at auction.  Go 2nd grade.  

We also had the chance to watch Ben and Rachel perform with the school choir again.  Then, of course, the kids went to the craft area and made fun ornaments and little things while the big girls walked around and saw the trees. 

Can't wait for next year.  :)

Giggling and Joyful Children = Trouble

Hmmm.  Dave and Sarah were just giggling like crazy.  Having a wonderful time.  I was sitting innocently in some other part of the house...just thinking about how fun it is when they play.  Then I wanted to see them in action.  So, I rounded the corner just in time to seeing them throwing clean laundry down the stairs and laughing as they went. 

Sigh...But, I know one day I will laugh about it so I snapped a picture to remind me.  :)

Temple Square 2014

 It's rare that we don't make the effort to get to Temple Square for Christmas.  This year was the best though.  We went early because the kids sang with the Eaglecrest School Choir at the Joseph Smith building.  The concert ended around 4:30 and we headed over to Temple Square just in time to see the lights go on.  Unlike the last several years when it has been pretty busy...the square was nearly empty.  It was so awesome.  We wandered around slowly and just really enjoyed our time there.  Grandma and Grandpa Stalker were with us. 

 We had such a fun time all around.  Rachel and Ben did a great job with the choir.  It was quite the time commitment.  They practiced after school once a week for an hour and a half, starting in September. 

 It was a good experience for them and us.  I watched them perform several times through December and loved it every time.

 Lots of pics have to be taken at temple square.  Ben gets an A++++ for the perfect photo bomb in this one.  HAHA.  Nate and I just wanted a nice little pic of the two of us.  Sheesh.  LOL.

I loved this picture of the girls...Sarah gazing up at Jesus is just a perfect reminder of the awe I feel for my Savior and all he has done and does for us.  Fun times at Temple Square.  So thankful for these memories. 

Christmas Choir and Temple Square

This year Rachel and Ben participated in the Eaglecrest school choir.  Starting in September they stayed after school every Wednesday to practice for an hour and a half.  The culmination was 4 performances at the beginning of December.  This was so fun. 

The first performance was at the Joseph Smith building.  Nate was able to get out of work a bit early and meet us there.  The Stalker Grandparents happened to be in SLC that day as well, hanging out with Lance and Melissa.  So, all of them showed up too.  It was really fun to watch the kids perform. 

Afterwards, we took advantage of being on Temple Square and went ahead and enjoyed the lights with Grandma and Grandpa.  This was awesome.  Usually we have been there when it is very busy.  Maybe because it was early in December and early in the afternoon...it was still a little light when we started...we had the whole place practically to ourselves.  We enjoyed wandering around temple square in the unseasonably warm weather and no crowds.  LOVED it.  I am planning to go for the same scenario next year. :)

Ben managed this photo bomb at the perfect moment.  Nate and I never get a moments peace...even for a picture.  LOL.

I love how Sarah is gazing up at Jesus in this photo op...and then Dave is screaming his little heart out in the next.  HAHA.  Overall, it was such a great night and a perfect start to our Holiday Season.  :)

Decorating the Tree! Yippee!

 We generally can't wait to decorate our tree...and this year was no different.  Thanksgiving evening...we were on it.  We had a great time.  I always love pulling out all those decorations and remembering my sweet kids.  Their handmade decorations are priceless.  Especially as I see them grow older. 

 Dad and Ben are showing off the first Christmas ornament we bought for Ben as a baby.  :)  A snowman daddy holding his son. 

 Now that the tree is done..we will see what happens to it with Dave and Sarah around.  HAHAHA

Just Because

Sometimes there are picture that I just take..for no reason.  Just because the kids look cute and I want to be able to flash back to that moment someday.

 Artic Circle night. Sometimes we take the kids to artic circle for a treat.  They have a play land and it's usually not busy at the hours we choose to go so it is a fun place to escape to for our kids.  You can see how Dave is loving his ice cream cone.  Yummy!  The static hair just gives it some extra flair.

 Sarah has loved preschool this year.  And who wouldn't with projects like this Thanksgiving Turkey hat she made. 

 It stayed warm outside well into November this year.  So, in the spririt of milking the weather for everything it was going to give us, we visited a park and played.  Sand is just a joy. :)

Mowin' the Lawn with Dad

Dad's and their sons.  Who can say how they build their relationship.  David loves to rid the lawn mower with Nate.  His ears are fine tuned to the special roar of the driving lawn mower.  As soon as it comes on he is out the door to locate the source.   Those boys are just so darn cute. 

Hmmmm.

Emily ran  upstairs around 11:30pm in a panic.  She said she couldn't breathe.  She was crying and coughing...and well...Nate and I were worried.  So, off to the emergency room we went.  By the time we arrived she was much calmer.  In the end...after an hour of sitting in the room and going through the steps of seeing the doctor...all was well.  Perhaps we all panicked a little bit.  I think we will try to keep our heads next time.  Weeks later we received our bill from the emergency room.  $500 after insurance.  ;(  boohoo.  But glad Emily just had a bad cold.  Sweet girl. 

BYU Scout Pow Wow and Prayer

Ben had the opportunity to attend the BYU Scout Pow Wow for a couple of Saturdays.  First off, he loved BYU campus and it stoked his fire about going to college.  I loved that.  :)  He loved being independent, attending his classes and grabbing a Subway sandwich on his own.  He is a good kid.  I just love Ben's pure heart and the way that he is honest with how he feels, whatever it is. 

Anyway, I was reminded of an experience he had this morning as I read over some past blogs.  On the second week, at the end of the day, he had to run to the other side of campus to finish his merit badge.  He became a bit disoriented and lost.  We got a call from the car pool to tell us he hadn't shown up for pick up. They waited about 45 minutes but in the end we told them to head on home and we would drive over to BYU.  

Well, in the mean time, Ben found his was back to the pick up spot.  He arrived to no one there.  A little time passed and he wondered what he should do.  He said he sat down on a little hill to think about it.  Then he said he realized he should pray.  He sat on that little hill and prayed that we would come get him.  That was right as I was sitting in the parking lot praying that I would be able to find Ben.  I started walking toward the pick up spot and Ben got up from his spot on the hill.  Really, just seconds later, I saw him and yelled his name.  :)  We both had our prayers answered.  And with such sweet timing.  I am so grateful for Heavenly Father and Jesus Christ.  Prayers are powerful.  Sometimes I let that slip from my mind but little events like this remind me that our loving Heavenly Father is constantly watchful and waiting to answer our prayers. 

Little Buddies

This picture is so sweet and reminds me that Sarah is not always a bully.  :)  She has actually gotten much better lately and her and Dave and starting to develop a fun relationship.  Sarah still likes her space and struggles to share but Dave doesn't even know what sharing is so I guess they are even.  :)  I am just grateful for moments like this when Sarah is loving Dave.  Moments when they chase each other around the house.  And for the other day when Dave was whining at my leg and Sarah came up and said "Dave, do you want to have fun with me?"  To which he immediately ran off after her. 

This Is Halloween!

The much anticipated night of Halloween has come and gone.  The kids had a great year trick or treating with friends.  Parents are no longer invited for the older kids.  That's just not cool.  :)

 Dave was our cutey pie "swashbuckler"  probably stuck swabbing the deck. 

 Rachel and Emily were the first to decide that they wanted to be pirates.  Apparently I live with a family of thieves.  LOL.  They went trick or treating with Taylee and Sophie and friends. 

 Ben took the original route with the Pirate Ship costume.  Yes, this took many hours of combined effort to create but it was a fun and unique costume.  And, it bounced when he walked like it was hitting waves. Surprisingly, it took quite a bit of ingenuity to make it balance properly after it was finished.

 Then there was Sarah.  We bought this fairy princess costume at Costco at the beginning of October.  She wore it every day for a couple weeks...then suddenly, she informed me she no longer wanted to be a fairy princess.  She wanted to be a skater and I needed to buy her some rollerskates.  HAHA.  She had a tough lesson in, you get what you get and you don't throw a fit.  In the end, she chose to be the fairy princess.  She loves Halloween.  She and David went trick or treating with DAD and had a great time.

So, another Halloween has come and gone.   Sarah has thought of 10 costumes that she needs for next year.  The older kids have almost exhausted their candy supply after a week+.  On to Thanksgiving...

Fall Leaves Falling All Around

We had such a lovely fall this year.  After a very wet August we had a very warm September and October.  As we tried to enjoy the last of the good weather we took a couple of Fieldtrips as a family. 

 This was Silver Lake up big cottonwood canyon.  Unfortunately, we left a little late in the day and the sun was own by the time we arrived.  This made it fairly chilly.  Not ideal conditions for a fun time with kids.  But, we did do a little walking around until we all decided we were too cold.

 It's quite a trick to get five kids to pose for a picture.  Oh well, a good one of the big kids.  :) They had to be coaxed to sit for 4 or 5 pictures and I still couldn't get the perfect one. 

 Yep, we are all cold, as you can see. 

 Next event, I took the kids to Corn Belly's because I had a work activity there.  The big kids did a little babysitting until I rescued them.  Funny thing, they did a good job keeping track of the babies.  Once they left, I lost Sarah.  She wasn't far but had just located an adult who was helping her find her mommy. 

 Dave and Sarah loved playing in the giant corn sand box.  Me, not so much.  Allergies and corn dust are not friendly to eachother. 

 We also went and enjoyed the Thanksgiving point Gardens.  This is a giant hill that the kids loved rolling down.  Yehaa!

 Dave managed to face plant in this tall grass.  I'm not sure how...but it was kind of funny.  Flop. 

 And these are just a couple cute pictures of the babies because I love to take pictures of their cute faces. 

For some reason we have been really busy this year.  We haven't done any hiking which is pitiful.  We will have to change that when spring comes.  At least we go to enjoy a couple outdoor activities.  Loved this fall.