Tuesday, January 4, 2011

Christmas in a NUTSHELL

Well now that Deceber has come and gone...I guess it's time to update the blog. Briynn and Maycie were anxious for Snowflake (their Elf) to return this year. Maycie was so worried that Santa would send a different elf. One night when the girls came down from taking their bath, Snowflake had come to visit. She just had a hard time figuring out how to get "OUT" of the fireplace. Brilynn quickly took on the task of helping Snowflake come to the West home.So Maycie is seriously obsessed with Snowflake. She had her by her side the whole month of Deceber. She would seriously have an emotional melt down when she would have to leave snowflake at home. Was this a good idea???? Snowflake is supposed to go back to the North Pole right after Chrismtas but everytime I even mention this to her she starts to sob. I guess I am a little softy because I just don't have the heart to send her back yet. Any suggetions would be much appreciated:)Snowflake arrived with her magic dust. Each night the girls would sprinkle her in hopes of her doing a funny trick. Sometimes she would just hide and other times she was mischivious and turned the milk green, dumped out the fish food, and many other different tricks. We continued with the 12 memories this year. This is the 3rd year we have done this tradition and it is something that helps us celebrate all month long. I don't have pictures of all the memories we did but here are a few. Last year we skipped the trek down to SLC to see the lights but this year Maycie really wanted to see them. So we went!!!Can't you tell Payge and Preslee were so impressed!!!One morning the twins woke up and snowflake had put little green dots all over their faces. They weren't quite sure what to think:)One morning Snowfloke woke up in Preslee's bed with a diaper on. One memory was watching a christmas movie. The girls snuggled up in the basement with their blankets and ate bowls of popcorn while watching the movie.Another memory was making gingerbread houses. We went a little low key this year on the houses but the girls still enjoyed making them. This year my philosphy was the more simple the better!!!
A trip to Layton pack was also a memory. This one is close to home and a short stroll through the park. My type of Christmas lights!Afterward we headed to Barnes and Noble. I remember when I was in high school we spent many afternoons at a little coffee shop called "Spoofs" We would have what they called steamers. Which is just hot milk with different flavors. My kids had never had them and I had heard that Barnes and Noble did a similar drink. So we decided to try them. Brilynn didn't care for them and Maycie thought it was an absolute treat. We had hazelnut carmel and raspberry vanilla. I didn't care for the raspberry one but the hazelnut carmel was to die for. The perfect christmas drink!John thought I was nuts taking all 4 kids into Barnes and Noble. He was on edge the whole time trying to keep them all quite. I finally had to tell him to settle down and that this wasn't a library...it's a book STORE! He finally started to enjoy the memory. hahaWe did other memories through out the month that included a trip to Vernal, a trip to see Santa (still getting the pictures of this one), playing Chrismtas chimes, a night of hot chocolate, a shopping trip to buy gifts for siblings, an email from Santa, and I am sure I have forgotten a few but you get the idea right???
The last memory of christmas was opening their PJ's on Christmas eve. These are the most snuggliest pj's ever. I love when they wear them and I can snuggle up in a chair with one of them.Christmas morning we got up around 9:00 and finally woke the twins up. Payge wasn't happy one bit. Preslee wasn anxious to see what Santa brought her though.When Brilynn and Maycie came downstairs they were so sad. They knew that they had argued one too many times with each other and Snowflake had reported that to Santa. However Santa was kind enought to send them on a scavenger hunt. Looks at the change on their face once they found their stockings. They got automatic umbrellas...and their much wanted ipod touches. We then went to the basement to see the train set that Santa had brought to the twins.

It was the perfect Chrismtas day. We spent most the afternoon setting up the ipods and playting with all the new toys. Around 4:00 we went to see the movie Tangled. Such a cute show. So I know I have forgotten lots of other things that we did this year but when I don't have a picture...out of sight out of mind. We were very blessed this year and enjoyed spending time together with all our friends and family. We say goodbye to a happy 2010 and hope for the best in 2011.

Maycie Turns the big S.I.X.

Okay, I was really bad this year at taking pictures. Not quite sure what happened. Maybe it was the 20 girls (and Colt) that we invited to Maycie's party. Anywho...we had her friend party the weekend before her party since we were going to Vernal on her actual birthday. We played, pin the star on the christmas tree, musical chairs with candy, bingo, a piniata, and rootbeer floats since Maycie isn't a fan of cake. She got some really fun gifts and loved having all her friends. The following Friday we loaded up and headed to boondocks after school. We played tons of arcade games and won lots of tickets. We spent way to much time and new we needed to get on our way to Vernal. Once we got to my parents Maycie opened her birthday gifts. On Saturday we did one final party at Pizza hut with all her cousins. So even though I don't have a lot of pictures (Misti, do you have the ones from Mom's) she still was completely spoiled and loved ALL her gifts.

Happy Turkey Day!!!

This year we had quite a crowd for thanksgiving. My mom and dad, oldest brother dale and his family, sister Misti and her family, brother Dan and his family and his wife's parents as well. So that made a total of 12 adults and 11 kids for a grand total of 23 people!!! We were only missing my youngest bro. Ben and his family. Maybe next year??? A big thanks to everyone who helped with the food. We had so much food and dessert...it was DELICIOUS. It included: ham, turkey, stuffing, mashed potatoes, gravy, shredded potatoes, roles, jello, jello jigglers, relish tray, chinese noodle salad, pasta salad, sweet potatoe casserole, grape salad, puppy chow, pumpkin pie, cherry pie, blueberry pie, pumpkin roles, oreo balls, icecream, limeade slush, soda, and I am sure I have forgotten a few items:)



Preslee and Payge had their own little table



Preslee LUVED all the food


Nikki and my nephew Wakefield



My niece Tommi

My nephew CasonMy nephew LukenBribriand my nephew Jett. (I didn't do a very good job of getting pictures of everyone though:(After dinner we did a gift exchange with all the adults. We each had to bring a $5.oo gift and then we played the steal the present game. This was a big hit with all of the adults and the best thing was that all of the gifts were really good!!!I had a small gift for each of the kids and then my mom made the cutest aprons (pictures to come later) for all the girls and then the boys got some pj's. I almost made Cason cry when he was the last one to recieve a gift and I told him that I must have forgotten his gift. It was actually really sad. Guess I can't tease about such serious business:)Dustin was one of the first to get his gift and then there weren't any more pictures taken of the adult gift exchange. It got a little to instense to stop and take pics.Maycie wearing Bompa's hatand then we have Payge imitating Bompa in his hat!!!! I couldn't help but post all the different facial expressions. This girl is full of them!These twins seriously love their BompaPreslee didn't want to sport Bompa's hat...only her princess jewelry.My dad thought he was so funny when he brought in my cheerleading mega phone. Guess he was sick of storing it for me. Do I just throw that thing away??????Bompa finally remembered to bring Brilynn's shell that he had promised to her awhile ago. One time while we were in Vernal, Brilynn became fascinated with this shell that I think was my great grandma's. My dad promised Brilynn that when she was baptized she could have it. However, he forgot to bring it out for her baptism so she recieved it on Thanksgiving instead.

We wanted to go see a movie but we lost track of time and realized that we needed to start getting ready for the annual black friday shopping. This was my brother Dale's first time shopping in the city for black friday and he was hilarious. He was seriously so stressed about being able to find the items that Shannon wanted him to get. Anyway, about 8:00 we left the house for Toys R Us, which is always crazy. It was absolutely freezing outside but that didn't stop the crowd. Everyone had their assignments and once we got in the store we divided and conquered. Great team work!!! My sister and friend Rhonda had headed over to Walmart instead of waiting at Toys R Us with us because people were already getting in line. So after Toys R Us, we all headed over to Walmart. I went and got in line with Misti and Rhonda for the ipod touches and the ds's while everyone else did the midnight shopping. Now that was a sight to behold. I actually climbed up on the shelves so I had a bird's eye view of everyone seriously chucking stuff up in the air and throwing it every which way. It was a serious tornado!!! My mom brought me all of their items so they didn't have to wait in line. While waiting in line we were able to get Misti's TV online thanks to John getting up at 3:00 a.m. to do this for us. What a guy!!! Shannon went back to the house and handed off to my brother Dale. Dale, Dan and my mom headed to Target while the rest of us remained at Walmart. At 5:00 a.m. we got the ipods and ds's and checked out with a few cartloads of stuff. Wahooooo for us!!!! With great team work...we were able to get all our wants and needs with major overall savings!!! We were completely exhausted by this time but still had a few places we wanted to hit. We went to Old Navy, back to Toys R Us for the items that started at 5:00 and then to the mall. At 9:00 a.m. we were all done and tired. We headed back to the house just in time for all the kids to be waking up. We had to corral all of them in the basement while we sorted and hid all the items. This is seriously a highlight for me every year and something I get absolutely giddy for. Thanks everyone for being a sport and having the best Black Friday Shopping so far!!!

Tuesday, November 2, 2010

Fall is coming to an end

I know there won't be to many warm fall days like today. As soon as the girls got home from school we spent the rest of the afternoon outside. We live for these kind of days! I love any pictures of the twins that show their interaction. As soon as I told Payge to come here so I could take her picture, Preslee quickly stepped in front of her so she couldn't move. Such a little stink, lolAs soon as she got Pres out of her way she was on a role. Maycie on her motor scooter. These have been an excellent purchase and well used!!! Don't you luv the boots and jeans?????So Preslee loves to ride her scooter even though it goes much slower than the big girls. I normally don't let the girls go out without their hair being done, but today was an exception. Yup, she's sporting a mullet. Didn't realize it until I looked at this picture, must get haircut:)Brilynn came up with a new "invention" She loved giving the girls rides with her scooter. Kids have it so ruff these days!Goofy little girl...and that hair!!!Where's Preslee???? Hiding because I want to take her picture!
I do love all 4 season's that we have but truely appreciated the days like we had today.

and this is why the girls luv their dad SO MUCHES!!!

Priceless:)