Christmas Afternoon 2009

Christmas afternoon at Grammy and Grandpa B's is always a blast. Lots of cousins, yummy food and more presents:

Grandpa oversees all the action:

Tani got a Nerf gun:

Owen got a very cool train:

We are really blessed to have such great family!

Christmas Morning 2009

Santa came! Christmas morning left everyone happy:

Even Hank had a present:Merry Christmas!

Christmas Eve 2009

We always have a Christmas Pageant on Christmas Eve. The wise man brought the frankincense: Mary, Joseph, the Baby and the Shepherd were all excellent in the pageant:

We then got to open one present. It is always new jammies:

Daddy set up the train around the tree. He said it was one of his favorite traditions growing up:

Anna and Tani put out cookies for Santa. They always include carrots for the reindeer. There is some debate over whether Santa likes chocolate or pink milk the best.

Christmas Eve is so fun and exciting! The work is done. So much anticipation for morning. After the children were in bed we hung a sheet across the hallway to work on some final surprises without being seen. After a time Owen started crying in his room. He just couldn't go to sleep and was worried Santa wouldn't come because he wasn't asleep yet! We reassured him that Santa was still on the East coast and he had plenty of time. This year was really wonderful with the ages of the children: 8, 6, 4, and 2. I loved every minute!

Sweet 16

Can you believe it has been 16 years already? I can't. I am thankful every day that Rod chose me. He is an incredibly loving, generous, kind, hard-working man. He is also an amazing father. I don't know anyone better. I think most importantly, he is still my best friend! I sure love him! (besides...he is pretty sexy too)

(banner by Anna and her two friends Kaylee and Kelsie Mena)

Kindergarten Christmas Program

Tanielu's kindergarten class performed a cute Grinch play for Christmas:Grandma and Grandpa Bergeson came to see the show:I think Tanielu was the cutest Who in the program!

Owen's First Primary Talk

Owen gave his very first talk in Primary! He helped me write it. It was about his "two Dads". He talked about his earthly father and his Father in Heaven. Owen had never spoken a word during Primary sharing time. He never comes up to help with the singing when it is his turn. He always gets too nervous even when it is a fun game. I really wondered if he would be able to do it. He was amazing! He did great! Very cute and obviously loves his Dad. Does it matter that the way we got him to do it was by bribing him with a trip to the "treat store"? I don't think so. I am very proud of him!

Tani's black eye

He didn't remember how he got it...but it looked pretty tough:

Christmas Card 2009

I sent out about 125 cards this year. It is so fun to receive them from all our friends and family. Zoie designed the card and Amy took the picture. I am lucky I have such talented family:

Freeze!

Do not grow up anymore! You are so cute right now! Honestly, it is almost more than I can take:

Rub a Dub Dub...

...3 boys in a tub, and who do you think they be? I don't think they will all fit much longer!

Cowboy Poetry with Grandad

We had another great night in Midway at the Cowboy Poetry Festival with Grandad! It was the horse show which was a lot of fun. Grandad always plans such fun activities. The kids love him!

Kylie and Halie are wonderful girls. Anna is lucky to have such wonderful cousins to look up to:

My cowboys (and cowgirl) watching the action from above:

We were so excited to meet Dave Stamey after the show. We listen to his music all the time. The kids were singing loudly along with him during his songs. It was pretty fun to get an autographed CD from him:

Halloween 2009

Halloween was a bit crazy this year. William's diagnosis left us all upside down. Then Rod came down with strep throat the night before Halloween. I continued on and somehow the kids had a great time.Our "Anna Rose Princess" was really beautiful. She fell in love with this costume and I was very grateful (everything else she had liked looked too old/teenage). We braided rosebuds into a crown on her head. Quite lovely!Tanielu was a ninja. I tried to dye his karate uniform but it came out gray. He liked it though. Pretty stealth!
Owen wanted to wear "something cool". None of our costumes on hand would do. I wasn't in the mind frame to make something so I took him to the costume store and this is what he picked: Optimus Prime Transformer. Very cool!William was dressed as an "el-fun". I thought he was adorable! He really got the hang of trick-or-treating quickly and wanted to pick his candy at every door. Love him!

William update

Just an update for our friends who live far away. My cutest, joy of my life, William was diagnosed with diabetes on October 23, 2009. He is doing really well. Rod and I are trying to adjust. We are so very sad that his future will include that awful disease. It is overwhelming to care for a two-year-old with diabetes. Anna has been a big help. When she was diagnosed three years ago she could understand. Now, she tries to help with all the pokes. William can't really tell us how he is feeling. It is a challenge to say the least. We caught it really early though. He never got sick. Those first few days were pretty emotional. William kept asking to have a party. He wouldn't let it go. So, despite feeling nothing like a party, we had one. We made a "lellow" cake, bought "lellow balloons" and Rod brought all the kids presents. Yellow is William's favorite color. We even sang "yellow submarine"! I think somehow in his two-year-old mind a party would bring happiness to our emotional home. Sweet boy.

The best part of Halloween!

I make sugar cookies twice a year: for Halloween and Valentine's Day. I love sugar cookies. Love, love, love them. I think I eat most of them...but the kids like them too:

Hank's new crate

Hank got a new crate. Very necessary as he had outgrown the cat crate. Look closely and you can see all the kids inside. Is this a problem? I think it might be my new babysitter. (totally kidding! I think.)

Cornbelly's

We spent a wonderful Fall afternoon at Cornbelly's by Thanksgiving Point. It was a gorgeous, warm day and really put me in the mood for fall.Jill was in town visiting with her girls so we wrangled the kids together.
We went and watched the pig races. The kids were excited:
The announcer asked who had the "prettiest Mom" and the kids went nuts. Bless their hearts! As a result I was roped into kissing a pig. Let me just say...not much upsets me. In general I am pretty confident. I thought...no big deal just get it over with quickly. Then "Bujo" brought out the pig. It was squealing like crazy and absolutely filthy! The smell was overwhelming and I panicked. Swine Flu! It took me WAY too long to kiss that darn pig and I was so embarrassed. The kids thought it was pretty funny. I won this for my efforts:The kids all took a ride on the cow train:We also jumped on the huge air pillows. Wouldn't it be so fun to have one of these in the backyard?I got Tani to sit still long enough to have a picture with his Mom:Everyone had a ton of fun and I got to spend time with the kids and my sister!