My Last Post of 2012

Signing off for 2012.  We have had a good year.  I am looking forward to next year with excitement and a bit of anxiety.  2013 will bring the last little bundle to our family.  We have plans to finish the basement so that baby boy Baxter can have a home of his own upstairs and Ben can move downstairs.  It will be a big project and I hope we can pull it off as soon as possible. 

I have personal plans to find some time to take care of myself better.  I know, it sounds a bit selfish.  But, this pregnancy has made me realize that I am not as young anymore and I need to start taking care of my health.  I will have 5 kids to keep up with and I don't want to be a stick in the mud.  I want to get my kids out and doing lots of things.  And..really...after a while you just start to realize that it's ok to find a bit of yourself again.  Life keeps changing.  I am ready to change with it a bit.  :)

Can't wait for all the experiences of 2013.  Happy New Year!!

Having Fun in Spite of it All.

 We have been planning to take the Front Runner to Temple square with Grandma and Grandpa for a couple of months.  Our last chance came a couple of days after Christmas so we decided to seize the opportunity...sick kids and all.  They were getting a little better by then.  :)  The train is always a good time.  We will be excited to use it again.  That was always something we loved about living in Ogden.  Now we can enjoy it here. 

 We made it to Temple square.  I think we spent more time inside the visitor's centers then actually walking around...but we did it.  By the time we went to eat the kids were pretty spent.  We made it back on the train around 9pm.  Then...we managed to miss the American Fork stop.  We took too long to gather our stuff.  Word to the wise when you ride the train.  Be waiting by the door.  :)  It still worked out.  We rode to the Orem stop and we were able to catch the train going back the other direction.  It only set us back 20 more minutes.  And, I kept telling the tired and sick kids how they would never forget the trip because of our little mishap. 

 My parents were good sports being patient with the sick kids and sharing the experience with us.  We were all happy to get into bed that night. 

Good bye to Temple lights until next year when we will do it all again. 

Have a Very Contagious Christmas!

Well, I have never had a year of complete and utter sickness for the entire holiday...but I guess everyone has to have it some time. I think this year a lot of people were hit hard over the holidays. Our kids all woke up a couple days before Christmas sick with something. They spent the next four days downing tylenol, sleeping, and watching TV. They did manage to open their Christmas gifts but it wasn't with as much excitement as we would usually see. Christmas Eve we debated...but finally decided to go ahead and participate in the Stalker Family Christmas Eve Party. Most of them were already exposed to the sickness anyway since it was going around at the grand kid party. Nate and I were glad we went even though the kids didn't do much more than sit on the couch and sip little bits of sprite. It would have been lonely to miss the party and the family.

Christmas morning we had to bring everything to Ben and Rachel on the couch. Sad kids. Emily is always our little trooper and she seems to keep her cheer despite most things.  So around 9pm we all made it downstairs to celebrate Christmas. 

Sarah is always such a sweet heart and due to the fact that she had a flu shot, she only ended up with a runny nose during the entire sickness saga.  I was so glad.  I don't know if Nate and I could have handled another sick kiddo.  We really had our hands full.  I felt bad for Nathan dealing with all this sickness for his big vacation but I was so glad he was there to help out. 

I know...the barbie house is gigantic.  It may have been a bit of an extravagant purchase but I just couldn't resist.  Besides, I have three girls who can enjoy it for years to come.  Sarah can use it as a playhouse.  ;)

So, Christmas was a bit of a challenge.  I am kind of relieved it is over.  Nate and I go back to work tomorrow.  The kids go back to school the next day.  For the most part our sicknesses are winding down.  Nate and I still have colds but the kids are definitely better.  And really, despite everything, we still enjoyed our time together. 

Party at Grandma's!!!

 Grandparents are great.  I missed out on the joys of having a grandmother around when I was growing up.  Both of my Grandmother's passed away long before I was born.  I never realized how neat it is to have them.  They love their grand kids and want their grand kids to love them back...so they do crazy stuff.  Like inviting them to all sleep over and have a party at Grandma's house.  I think the count was 10 kids this year.  We dropped the kids off at Grandma's Friday night and then went out to finish our Christmas shopping.  I was so grateful.  Nate and I were able to finish up everything and still have a little quiet time when we got home.  The kids went to Mcdonald's with Grandma and Grandpa.  80 Chicken nuggets, 4 large fries and 10 drinks later they were full and ready for a movie and bedtime. 

 Now you would think that was enough but there was more.  Each of them got a gift card to Build a Bear.  Ok...these older boys actually just got treated to something from toys r us...but the little kids all got to go to Build a Bear and enjoy.  So, after a night of kids and chaos my parents woke up and did it again the next morning.  And, despite all the work that it was, I know that each kid felt loved and special. 

 They do all kinds of unusual things there to make sure your bear has everything it needs to be a happy loved little animal. 

 Then they fill your animal up with stuffing and tie them up good in the back so it doesn't fall out.  All the while they kids are just happy.  After naming their new animals, dressing them, and making sure they have a good bath you can finally take you new pet home. 

 All the kids had fun and of course, ice cream at the end was a big plus. 

 I am so grateful my kids have two loveing and fabulous sets of grandparents in their lives.  It is special and wonderful and I know that my kids really love them.  HIP-HIP-HOORAY for grandparents.  :)

Christmas is Coming

 A lot happens during the month leading up to Christmas.  We decorated the tree on Thanksgiving weekend.  It's always a fun activity and I love getting out the ornaments and remembering where we got them or why they were given to us.  Nate is a decorating fool during Halloween and Christmas.  We had our lights up that weekend too...but we were not the first on our street so he was disappointed.  We were among the first though.  He was also excited because we got some of those new fangled LED lights for the house.  It's been his dream several years in a row.  The kids had a great time climbing on the roof and helping him out while I stood down below biting my nails and yelling at them to be careful. 

 

We also had a fun cousin get together for a Monday night treat.  We all climbed into my parents old motor home and had a party while driving to the Spanish Fork lights.  Oh my.  That was crazy.  Very, very loud.  Sarah did not want to sit down and was a little bit of a pill during the ride.  However, the kids all loved it and the lights were awesome.  Spanish Fork had great lights.  It was worth the effort and loss of hearing due to the extreme decibel level in that motor home.   I always love to see the kids have a great time together and make memories.

We got the tiniest amount of snow a couple of weeks before Christmas so the cute people got on their snow gear and headed out to play.  This was really Sarah's first time in the snow.  She loved it.  Mostly, she loved eating it.  The girls had a good time until Ben brought his buddy over to through snowballs at them.  Poor little girls with big brothers.  Teasing is just part of the life. :)

I also had the chance to watch Rachel put on a little play for her class.  My pregnancy brain put me there a day early...I thought it was the 18th but it was the 19th.  However, they were practicing anyway so I got to watch the entire thing start to finish 3 times.  I loved it every time.  They learned several songs and had parts to say.  It was a lot of work for Rachel's teacher and I was really impressed. 

It has been a fun month.  We still have more to come. 

My Brag Blog

So, this month included a couple of things that I wanted to lay down and remember for myself.  First off, I finished a blanket for Sarah.  I have been meaning to do this for awhile but just haven't gotten around to it.  Then my sister-in-law, Allyson, suggested we have a girls night and tie quilts for our babies.  Once the ball was really rolling in my mind I had a great time planning out and putting together Sarah's quilt.  I shopped several hours and several fabric stores to find just what I wanted.  Nate helped my lay out the design and dimensions for it.  I told him what I wanted to do and he helped me make it work within the space I was going to have.

 

I was really happy with how it turned out.  Instead of tying the quilt I tried ditch stitching.  My stitches are definitely not as straight and nice as they could be but no one can tell unless you really look close.  Anyway, I gave Sarah her quilt for Christmas.  She loves the doggies and chants doggies, doggies whenever she sees it. 

My other claim to fame this month is that I sang a solo in sacrament meeting.  No, it was not perfect.  I did not sing like an angel.  I am hardly anywhere near professional.  However, I conquered.  I had several bouts of anxiety before hand.  I almost backed out a couple of times.  The night before I had a wonderful dream that the talks went to long and there was no time left for me to sing.  At last, the time came.  I walked up on the stand and sang that darn song.  I am more proud of the fact that I conquered my fear than anything else.  And, I wasn't that nervous while I was actually up there.  The pre-anxiety was one hundred times worse then actually carrying out the duty.  Thanks to my husband for telling me I could do it and putting up with my middle of the night fears.  Thanks to my sister in law's good advice to her children that I just happened to read on her blog the day before I was going to call up the choir director and back out. "If you start something you should stick to it all the way until you are done."  Thanks to my little primary kiddos that I lead in music each week.  I thought about them and there courage to do things in the sacrament meeting program.  One little girl played the violin.  Emily, my own little girl, sang a solo at the mic with the senior primary singing behind her.  My little neighbor who was so scared to do her part she didn't even go through with it at the practice.  But, on the day of the program she did it.  They all gave me a reason to follow through.  And, of course, Thanks to Heavenly Father who listened and answered my prayers.  Glad it is done.  :)

Thanks for Family!

This year it was a Baxter Thanksgiving.  With Nate's parents on a mission the bulk of the job fell on Heather, Nate's oldest sister.  She set up an awesome dinner.  Lots of Cousins, lots of family and lots of food.  What could be better. 

Nate even carved the turkey.  Look at how proud he is.  The Turkey King.  :)

Sarah and I enjoyed for a couple hours...until the inevitable nap time hit and I had to take her home for a snooze.  I have to admit...I enjoyed her snooze time since it meant quiet time for me with no work to do.  We happily joined everyone else after her nap.  The kids and Nate stayed and partied it up.  We all laughed when we were all gathered around the black Friday paper looking at deals.  We were just to relaxed to get out the games or make any other exciting thing happen.  Looking through the paper and talking was good entertainment. 

On a side note, my sister and I did make it out to Black Friday...on Friday...at 8am.  To say the least, there were no deals.  We tried to avoid advocating the Black Friday on Thursday night but apparently everyone else partook and we were just way to late.  HAHA.  We had a nice breakfast and drove up to the new outlets at Traverse Mountain.  We had a nice time but we did miss seeing all the crazy people.  I guess next year we will have to give in and see the crowds on Thursday night.  Boo.