Braces

The poor kids in our family have big teeth and small mouths. What does that mean? It means Tyler (9 1/2) needs braces already. Luckily for him his best friend has them too so he actually was excited about them. Until day two... OUCH!

Before and after shots.

I might also throw in the rubber band colors he chose were pink and black. He says pink is the new manly color. :)

Forgot one...

I forgot to put the video clip of the ward talent show. McKenna sang with her friend and played the piano, but that video didn't turn out. Tyler and his friend, however, did a light saber duel. Enjoy.

A-maz-ing things here...

Ellie lost her (first) two bottom teeth. Very exciting stuff for this kid. No tooth fairy sightings, but at least she remembered to come!

Carter looks amazingly like Homer Simpson.

And occasionally acts like him too.

It snowed at our house New Year's Day. Did I mention AMAZING? The irony is that was the day we got home from Christmas vacation and were joking how warm it was. Woke up to snow. Ha. ha. ha. It was gone in about 2 hours, though. Phew.

Dee started playing soccer for a rec league. Love it! It's fun to watch and he's loving playing again.

Ty and Dee put together a Christmas gift model helicopter (thanks J&A!). Fun afternoon together plus passed off a Bear requirement. Bonus!

The weather here has been AMAZING too. We had the windows in the car rolled down. Ellie was cupping her hands out the window then putting them on her face and inhaling. I asked her what she was doing and she said, "Catching the wind. It smells like sunshine!"

We went hiking yesterday around the Castle Crags area. We walked on part of the Pacific Crest Trail and as I was explaining to the kids what that was and why it's significant Tyler shouted, "You mean we have to hike all the way to Mexico?!" I think he was mostly concerned about the lack of snacks for that sort of hike.

Amazingly only one kid fell in the water (Ellie) and it was just one foot.

This is Mt. Shasta from the Crags viewpoint.

This is the Castle Crags. It surprises you as you come around the corner on I-5. We live in such an amazing place!

The crew at the view-point. The telescopes were a big hit as you can tell.

A-MAZ-ING!

Christmas Blessings

Christmas time this year was filled with a flurry of emotions. The good ones are what I'll blog about today. :)

First and foremost, my brother came home safely from Iraq. Last Thanksgiving was the last time I saw him and since that time a rock of worry had planted itself in my heart for him and his family. It was always there in the back of my mind and would surface at unexpected times. Having said that, he is home. They are reunited. What a Christmas blessing!

Now onto travels...

We went over the river and through the woods and stayed at Aunt Heaffy's big beautiful house. The kids were sad there was no snow at first, but there will be more on that momentarily. We had a great time making cookies (pictures above), eating everything and anything, playing with the big cousins and Revis. Santa even came the night before Christmas Eve to warn the kids to GET TO SLEEP. But that is a story for another time. Heaffy spoiled us rotten and made us laugh (wrapping a ladder for Bert and watching her do a headstand...) Thank you Heather and Andy!!!

We shuffled back and forth between family activities and had lots of fun playing with the cousins. Besides having a huge sleep-over Christmas Eve (Christmas morning was a blur... 11 adults and 9 kids under 12), we also had Leki's birthday party, a trip skiing, Treadway Christmas party and the seeing everybody in-between. It was so much fun and there was very little "quiet as a mouse."

Remember how I said there was no snow? Well, "luckily" for us that changed. There was a lot of snow. Enough I remember that I like snow and then like to come home where there is no snow. The kids built a snowman the first chance they got. They got all dressed up and played until their cheeks were red and they needed hot chocolate.

We were also fortunate enough the day after Christmas to visit Temple Square. This is something we haven't done in years and the beauty of it always astounds me. Christmas was fun and there was lots of joy but I was thankful to be able to spend some time contemplating Christmas. To take time to remember my Savior even while the world rushes around/through me was terribly important.

We are at a crossroads in life and those moments of peace and reassurance are most precious. With all the preparation and thought and worry that went into gifts I am thankful to remember the greatest gift given to me. I can not imagine a heaven without family - even with the craziness that accompanies it - and that was made possible by my Savior Jesus Christ.

I hope your holidays were also joyous and let's see where 2011 leads!!!