Christmas 2009

I better hurry and get this post in before the new year. We had a wonderful Christmas this year. Our tradition is to go to our hometown of Thatcher and spend it with both of our families...(Did you know Doug and I grew up right down the street from each other?)

We love being at both Grandma's houses and spending time with cousins. We are quite the load with all of our clothes, presents and food and I can't thank my mom enough for hosting all the madness.

Doug and the girls, along with my sister, brother and newphew, headed to the mountains to play in the snow. There had been a storm earlier that week and the mountain was full of fresh snow. I stayed home with the boys while they napped. And the girls only lasted about 15 minutes...little desert rats don't you think?




Also Christmas Eve we went and delieverd goodies on the riding lawn mower(it has a trailer) and spent the evening giving the boys their first hair cuts and getting ready for Santa. I can't even stand it...don't they look like little boys now?







Here are the Christmas morning festivities. The girls were up right at 7 and were so happy that Santa brought them thier bikes. They promptly took a ride around the house. Also they loved passing out everyone's presents and where patient while everyone opened their gifts. At the end Audree said "That's it? No more presents?" It's sad that the excitment has to end.


Here they are with their Christmas spoils. We had a tradition growing up that you took a picture by all of your gifts...



Here are the girls riding their brand new big girl bikes! Hallejuah! We have had small little bikes for a while and Audree bonks her knees on the handles. They love them....it's so fun to watch their joy.








We also spent Christmas Day with the Davis family...I swear I am a dork and never remember to take my camera there. We had yummy hero sandwiches, played games and opened presents. We love the Davis family.

The next day we gathered all of my family that was together for a new family pic...cute huh!



We feel so very blessed to have all of you in our lives...we hope your holidays were wonderful!

We Believe....

This Christma was magical. The girls were so excited to be at Grandma's house and were even more excited that Grandma has a chimney! What a special time of year. Here is our cute Christmas card...sorry if I didn't send you one! And I don't have a letter....I was just glad to get cards out. But you know about us, you read the blog!

The girls wrote letters to Santa with the help of their preschool teacher.

Dear Santa,
I like presents. I like to eat peaches and oranges. How do your reindeer fly? I want to ride on one someday. Please bring me a Princess bike.
Love Olivia

Dear Santa,
I love you so much. You are so sweet and kind. Do you love me Santa? Please bring me a Barbie bike present.
Love Audree


These letters are just the way they talk in real life...cute things.

Oh and Olivia told me that she wants to have a Birthday party with her friends this year. She asked if Santa and his reindeer and Jesus could attend....she makes me smile!

Merry Christmas everyone....another post soon with our Christmas fun!

The Brothers Outside....

Lately this is where this little dude likes to be. For a while there I couldn't go to the bathroom with out hearing screaming. He is just a momma's boy. I will try to set him down and he will stiffen his legs and start to fuss... Enduring, and hard at the same time....


This little guy is the exact opposite. Content wherever he is. He hardly ever cries and is the most go with the flow dude you have ever seen. And he is silly...don't you love it?




Somedays I feel guilty for not giving Grant enough attention. Heck do I give the girls enough attention. I then I think, Heavenly Father knew that these brothers were supposed to come together. He knew that I could handle this. I am sure that there will be days ahead where Grant is harder than Clark.

The motto in our home is "Someone always has to wait...."

Christmas Bells are Ringing.....

The holiday bug has hit our house....we have our charlie brown tree that has been pulled over twice. The girls play with the ornaments all day long, my yummy christmas candle is burning and all the shopping is done! WHOO! It really is a magical time of year....These past few weeks we attended our ward party and went to the temple lights with our Regiane.
Here we are at the temple. I wish we took our girls here more. We need to plan some fhe's here. Olivia has been very interested in Christ recently. She wants to look at Jesus on the Cross picture and talk about seeing him again. What a blessing our children are.
They wanted to touch the nailprints in his feet....what sweet faith they have.




Here are the girls with Santa....a 2 second photo op...I'm glad we got in line early...the boys were tired!




And just because...here are the boys that melt my heart...My joy boys. Grant is so sweet smiley and easy going. Mr. Clark is a little momma's boy and is sad if I am not holding him or within 2 feet of him. Kind of endearing but hard with 3 other ones around. I know I need to cherish this time because they are all growing up too quickly!

It's A Miracle....Our family pics

Being a photographer and having your family photographed is not easy. Especially when you have 4 children under 3. My amazing and talented friend Micaela http://www.yourphotosbyme.blogspot.com/ took on the task of taking our family pictures. Little did she know what she was in for. Getting twin 8 month olds to look your way is quite a feat. And then add in some sassy have a mind of their own 3 year olds and it is an absolute nightmare. Oh and don't forget the pycho mother who told my friend exactly how to shoot. I was every photographers worst nightmare (It's something I am not proud of)
In hindsight I don't know why I didn't just bring a helper along....duh! By the end Micaela and I were both done and of course so were the kids. Sorting through them the first time all I saw was this.....








But upon further looking I found so many sweet little gems that I can't wait to hang big on my wall.

Micaela...thank you for putting up with this crazy overwhelmed twin mom. We got so many cute ones and I will always be grateful to you for your talent and patience. I love that you captured my family and it's insanity.


So here you go...these are my favorites out of the 800+ pictures. I am saving the best one for the Christmas cards....oh the suspense!! It is seriously lovely and I just ordered a huge canvas for my wall...

All Photos Copyright Miceala Anderson.

Thanksgiving Traditions

Thanksgiving is always spent in Thatcher with our families. This year we had steak, ribs and potatoes for our Thanksgiving feast...it was awesome! Friday was spent with Doug's family for their Thanksgiving dinner. We sure do love all of our families. We feel so blessed to be close enough to visit both sides.

Can you believe I didn't take picture until the last day? Here are the kiddos putting up the tree. It has always been a tradition in our house to listen to the "Avon Classics Christmas" and hang our ornaments on the tree. Everytime you hang an ornament you have to say something that you are thankful for. The girls listed off some cute things. Audree kept saying "I am thankful for my mom and dad who love me so much"....little sweetie. The boys loved all the attention and new toys.
We can't wait to go back for Christmas!