Christmas Festivities

It has been a fun year for Christmas. This year we celebrated Christmas with my mom and Step dad. They came in on Thursday to start the fun. Friday, Christmas Eve, we had a yummy waffle breakfast, got dressed, and then had lunch at Arby's. (yes it took us that long to get everyone dressed!) Then we came home, built gingerbread houses, made TONS of snowflakes, baked cookies for Santa, opened Christmas PJs, and made our annual pizza for Christmas Eve dinner. Yum! Since we don't have snow here, we made lots of snowflakes and draped them around the house from string....it actually looked so pretty...I can't quite take them down yet. :0) After dinner, we had a talent show, played a pass the present game, to the story of "Twas the Night RIGHT before Christmas," and then had a program about The Savior, with stories and songs. It was a fun Christmas Eve. The kids went to bed leaving Santa some yummy m&m cookies and egg nog (yuck)...good thing Santa likes it, and of course some water out the front door for Rudolph.
Christmas Morning, my mom woke us up with her excitement...yes, woke all of us up, even Ryder...at 6am. (I was letting her open the envelope on the tree.....telling the sex of our next baby)...I guess she was too excited! So we got up, and after the kids saw what Santa saw...we found out we were having another boy! So excited and glad to have a little buddy for Ryder. Not sure of any names, but have a few possibilities.....nothing we can't live without.



The kids opened the rest of their presents and just played around all day. We had a fun relaxed day hanging out at home.....Nana and Pappa Bill brought their Wii, so the girls (and Nelson) have been very busy playing all weekend! :) This year for Christmas dinner, instead of the usual "ham, potatoes, etc" I decided last year, no more Thanksgiving dinners for Christmas...so we had steak, salad, baked potatoes, and rolls...yum. It was good.



Besides all the fun times, we have had a few hurdles. A few kids have been sick, Ryder has an ingrown toenail that we've been soaking, and Nelson even has been pretty sick. But we are pulling through!

We had such a great Christmas and are so blessed for everything little thing we have. We are blessed with such a wonderful family to help and support us.

Merry Christmas to all!
If you would like to see our pictures, here is the link to check us out!

http://photo.walgreens.com/walgreens/thumbnailshare/AlbumID=10872599007/a=2860068007_2860068007/otsc=SHR/otsi=SALBlink/COBRAND_NAME=walgreens/

(Sorry, you may have to copy and paste into your browser!)

Merry Christmas!!!

Instead of giving our neighbors and loved ones near us treats, we decided to do something a little different this year. And Since we can't hand deliver one to each of our loved ones, I have posted it so you can enjoy! Merry Christmas!
(If you click on it, you can enlarge it!)

One Big Mama

Well, here is a pic of me today, yikes. I know. I am HUGE. I swear I look 25 weeks instead of 17! But what can you do? I remember my sister in law, Trina, who with her last (also 6th) pregnancy, said she was a lot bigger that time. I guess the body just goes into maternity mode after so many.....

And although Trina is a tiny little stick and only grew an enormous belly, I seem to be growing an enormous everything. Oh what fun.

Granted different clothes make me look bigger and smaller, but this dress is the most comfortable and lets just say it "all hangs out." Oh the joys of having babies. :)

At least it will be a healthy one right?

Thanksgiving

My Great Aunt Oddlee, Me, Angie, Dawn (cousin), Mom, Janet (cousin)



Ryder, Sienna, Lainey (Dawn's daughter), Mia, Halle, Jayda



Angie, My mom, Me



Angie & the girls (Ryder never wants to participate!)


Laura, Angie, Ryder, Me, Renata, Nelson, Sienna
My Dad, Jayda, Halle, Mia


I don't even know where to start. Thursday, my sister came in, so we picked her up at the airport in Houston and drove all the way to my mom's house for Thanksgiving. It wasn't too bad of a drive and it was fun to all be together. We had yummy food, a hay ride, and visited with my side of the family. Friday, some of my other cousins drove up to my mom's to see us and my sister, so we visited with them all day, took another hay ride :), ate some more and played my mom's new Wii. It was a fun couple of days. Saturday we drove home, to wash some laundry and get ready for school Monday. Sunday was a day at my dad's house, so my sister could visit with him and his family. Also, we had our two best friends from High School and their kids there to eat and visit. We did a lot of eating and visiting...and DRIVING. But it was fun. Now we are going to rest for a week.

There are way too many pics, so I only post a few! Sorry!!!

Grandparent's Day

Today was Grandparents day at school. Luckily, Grandma wasn't leaving for Utah until tomorrow so she could make it. The girls' classes had Thanksgiving programs and songs and Grandma got to eat lunch with them in the cafeteria!

Happy Grandparents Day! The girls are blessed to have 6 Grandparents!!!!! Too bad they all couldn't come!

Happy Birthday to Ben!

Although my father-in-law's birthday isn't until Wednesday, we celebrated it today. For many reasons. This past weekend, our ward split. Our previous 2 wards in College Station became 3. People in all wards were realigned and moved around. My father in law was made a Bishop in one of the wards, so his oldest son (my brother in law, Casey) flew in to surprise him Saturday, to be here for his setting apart on Sunday. It was a fun surprise for all of us. :) The girls have loved having "Uncle Casey" here and barely gave him a seconds rest when we were around him. :) So today, we had dinner at the Roadhouse (where else?) for Ben's birthday celebration. ( on wed, he will be busy at church with Bishop duties...and Casey will be gone). So we went out tonight and it was lots of fun. We hope Grandpa had a great birthday and we will miss Uncle Casey.
Here are a few pics of the fun. (In this pic, Ryder's mouth is full of a roll! :)



PS. We are now in a different ward than my in-laws. :( Pooper!

Happy Sunday Halloween!

After going to church, we had my dad and Laura, and Grandpa and Grandma Cluff over for some fun Halloween games! :) It was a fun day!

Here are some treats I made for Young Women. ( Too cute not to post!) They were Rice Krispy treats dipped in chocolate. Yummy.


Our first game was "Tragic Sam." We believe the parts in these brown bags were what is left of his body. (Everyone guess what was really the body parts....) Priceless!
Then we had a race to "mummify" the "Grandpas!" And of course Halloween is not complete without a doughnut eating contest! :)

Too Many pictures, so enjoy the slide show! :)

Trunk or Treat

Oh what fun!

This was our trunk:




And these were our treats!!! :)

The Carnival

When did carnivals become soooo expensive????? Well, we couldn't drive past it a hundred times and not stop. So as part of our Halloween fun weekend, we took the kids and let them all ride a few rides! They had fun. Even Ryder loved it! :)

Angie & Her Hubby

My friend Angie, from Arizona, is moving with her new hubby, Jason, to Virginia. She stopped through College Station so we could meet him. They came over for dinner and we played games! Super fun!!!!!

A Halloween Tradition

A New Haircut

She has been begging me, so we cut off her long beautiful hair....well, it really needed a trimming...so we trimmed off about 5 inches! It looks much healthier!

Family Home Evening w/ Friends

Today we had family home evening at a friend's house. The kids made and decorated sugar cookies for Halloween and just played with their friends! It was lots of fun! We were so glad they invited us over!

More cousins!

Today, my cousin, Becky and her family (Jim, Sydney, Emmerson, & Anniston) came to visit her grandfather who is turning 90! Becky & Jim live in Indiana, and were heading to Orange, Texas for the big 90th birthday party. We couldn't go to Orange to see them, so instead, we just met them by the airport for a yummy Mexican lunch and to say hi. It was so fun to see them, even if for a little bit. We do not get to see them often enough!!!!! I wish they lived closer.



Today, my cousin, Becky and her family (Jim, Sydney, Emmerson, & Anniston) came to visit her grandfather who is turning 90! Becky & Jim live in Indiana, and were heading to Orange, Texas for the big 90th birthday party. We couldn't go to Orange to see them, so instead, we just met them by the airport for a yummy Mexican lunch and to say hi. It was so fun to see them, even if for a little bit. We do not get to see them often enough!!!!! I wish they lived closer.