It's snow time! This is the first of the year!
Brr...it's cold!
Snow Fort Time!
Ashleigh did a candy bar exchange at school and this is the one she got!
Connor loved this pink barbie car while we stayed with Kary and Emmy in Wisconsin. It was a fun 4 1/2 day trip.
Off to sled in the freezing 7 degree weather! I didn't last very long.
Aaron and Kimberly were so sweet to play games with the kids.
Andrew bonding with his cousin Faye. He is so used to playing with his sisters that it was easy to play with Faye.
Sister in Law Megan did the fun photo shoot while Sister in Law Kristi made the best Christmas meal!
Kam loves pics! Can't you tell? While driving over to Aunt Kristi's house all the kids say she makes the best treats. It's true! I put on a few extra pounds that weekend.
Andrew got a cape and mask made by his cousin Faye. Kevin is posing for this gift:)
Brynn made this infinity scraf for Kimberly. She looked beautiful in it and it matched perfect with the outfit she was wearing. She is the oldest cousin. She is our BYU girl.
After the Christmas gathering we took some of the cousins shopping to the outlets. The cold doesn't stop us from shopping!
Brynn and Audrey had fun making cows from the busy box. I think they tried every craft that is sold at Michaels.
More snow time with cousins. Building forts are so much fun.
Kam and Kimo had fun playing Monopoly with Uncle Kary. I can't believe I loved playing Monopoly as a kid.
We had a fun nail party!
Andrew loved playing with the Lincoln logs. He's our builder.
Lexi, Ash and Andrew had fun sledding.
Kimo and Kam really bonded.
These boys are so sweet toether. I didn't understand why Andrew's shirt looked so small. He was wearing Connor's shirt. Oops!
Ashleigh made this infinity scarf for Lexi.
The kids loved going to Chuck E. Cheese after Christmas.
One weekend we got to do game night with our friends. Its our favorite thing to do in the Winter.
We were sad that church was cancelled because of the snow storm. We didn't get to go with our cousins but we got to spend some time with Kristi and Rich and the kids one more night. We love being with them. We even got more treats:)
Sweet Connor is cuddling with Uncle Kody! It's so great to be with family.
We were in charge of making the name tags for the Christmas party. Ashleigh and I made them!
What a reunion it was to have four of Kevin's siblings together for the Christmas season. I was in charge of the Nativity and I used the material my friend gave me and made the costumes!
Here are the three kings.
The sweet angels!
Wise Wise Shepherds that will not be separated.
Mary, Joseph, Mary and the great donkey
Acting out the Nativity. This was one of my favorite moments with family.
All the cousins exchanged presents. They had to give something from their home or make it.
Lexi and Ash had a blast sewing pillows for their sisters. Shh, it's a surprise.
Kary and Emmy were kind to put up with our chaos of five children. I feel overjoyed with how well the cousins bonded.
I love this pic. This was taken at a park near our home when there was a freeze. So beautiful
We got to have Christmas eve with Kody and Megan. all the kids got to open up their pajamas.
Merry Christmas!
Good Morning! It's Christmas Day. All the kids are ready to walk down and see what they got from Santa.
Connor just needed oreos. He is super happy for treats.
Ash was so nice to make bacon to go with our eggs for our breakfast.
Kam found the pickle this year on the tree which is our tradition but Andrew cried so much that Kam said Andrew found it. What a nice bro.
Brynn loved her art easel she got. She hasn't stopped playing with it yet.
Connor is waiting his turn to open his presents.
Andrew loved putting together his puzzle he got from Kam. The kids each drew a name to give a sibling a present.
Here is the pillow Ashleigh made Brynn. It matches their room perfectly.
Skis, Skis! Ashleigh gets to do her first year of skiing.
Every year I wrap the kids presents in a different wrapping paper. Here is what I wrapped the presents in this year.
Ashleigh is our singer and is enjoying her new karaoke machine.
Grammy and Grampy Staples gave them all Hawaii shirts. They love wearing them. It reminds them that there really is sun out there somewhere.
The boys love their sea turtle shirts. Look at those cute feet.
Kam got risk and ticket to ride game. He can't stop thinking about playing. It's been a fun Christmas break playing with him.
This is the first time Kevin got to be home for most of the Christmas break. This is a new tradition. We loved having him home. We rode the trolly.
It was so cold outside but Brynn still insisted on riding the trolley outside. She didn't mind the weather one bit.
Connor loved the trolly too.
Happy Trolly Riding.
Having fun walking the park downtown. We love all the decorations.
Here are the boys Christmas outfits.
The girls Christmas outfits and Kam wouldn't pose. I'll have to get him another time.
I hit a curb last Sunday and I made it home. Kevin said it was a miracle. I had no idea it sliced the tire and should've flatted instantly. I know it's God's tender mercy. I thought for sure we had to pay for a new tire and they replaced it for free. I'm so grateful.
All the kids got to choose something to do during the break. Brynn chose to bowl.
Kam played the games while they waited for the girls to finish up bowling. These boys won 5,600 tickets.
Ashleigh chose to go out to a restaurant so we had her favorite, spaghetti and meatballs. I loved how everything was decorated. Very Italian.
We took the kids ice skating at our local University.
It was so much fun to have time with Ashleigh. Brynn was at a birthday party and Kevin stayed home with the boys while they napped.
Ben and Kam forgot how to ice skate. They needed some with the ice walkers. Not really, but it looked fun for them.
Happy New Year! We went to our friends house to play games on New Year's Eve. We loved it.
They had a dress up parade at the party. Ashleigh was a clown, hula dancer fighter. Very creative.
Our new tradition is serving the homeless on New Year's Day.
My new year's goal is to have a green smoothie a day for 30 days and to not eat sugar for 21 days. I have to get off all the Christmas pounds.
Andrew and connor got this castle for Christmas. They loved watching a movie in it for Friday movie night.
Brynn is ready to go down the hill. This is our third time sledding. We've had a lot of snow already this year.
Connor insisted on going down the hill all by himself for a full hour and he was in charge of taking up his sled. He did great. He was the smallest sledder there!
I wanted to swim at the Y so after we swam the kids played raquetball.
We have two little heaters that we love to use at night time before we go to bed. The kids love to read books by the heater to get warm.
So warm. It's perfect to get them ready for bed.
When Kevin is out of town the kids each get to take a turn to sleep with me. Ash got the first night. The simple things are so exciting for kids.
Yummy chocolate chip pancakes made by Ashleigh.
Snow, snow, snow and more snow. We don't even have school for a day because there is so much snow.
One more photo shot of all my wonderful sister in laws! They all made us feel so welcomed.
