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!

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!

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:

Memorial Day '09

What a fun day! I love my country and I love my family! We started the day with a ward breakfast and parade. First they had a flag raising ceremony. Then the kids had fun decorating their bikes. However, right before the parade Owen went missing. He had come home and locked himself in the house. I guess all the people and activity became a bit overwhelming for him. Luckily the breakfast was right across the street from our house. With a bit of reassurance he came out and rode in the trailer Rod was pulling and joined the parade.

Owen and Tani wore capes. Tani looked pretty cool riding his bike with the cape flowing behind. William was so cute. Could I just freeze him in his little Superman cape?
We spent the afternoon eating fried chicken and hiking in the canyon with our good friends and neighbors, the Pearts. What a blast! Tracy and Sean are hilarious and their kids are a lot of fun. I love holidays and spending time with people I care about.

White Christmas!!!

Two days until Christmas and this morning our yard looks like this. It really feels like Christmas. This morning the kids were outside first thing:
This is the first snowman they have ever made without any help. Kind of a cute little guy:There has been no time for blogging lately...I will catch up soon! Until then, Merry Christmas!

Decorating the tree

Decorating the tree is always a big job...even with a small tree. We found a beautiful little tree at Baum's again this year. It sprouted new growth it was so fresh. William helped me with the lights. A few days later we put the ornaments on. It is always a trick to try to get the four kids to smile in a picture. This was the best of about ten pictures that Rod tried to take. It tells a story in itself though.

William loved playing with all the fun new toys...I mean ornaments on the tree. By the time Christmas was over I think he had broken more than his fair share of decorations.

Somehow though it is all worth it. The beauty and wonder of the Christmas tree really is special.

Visiting Santa

We visited Santa at the annual Kids Village Christmas party again this year. He was in great spirits and ready for Christmas. Tanielu was excited to see him and tell him of his wish for a hotwheels race track. Anna wasn't nervous at all...very sure she had been good and would get the "girl crush hair extensions" set she was wishing for.
Owen and William wanted nothing to do with the stranger in the red suit.

I tried to help them relax but it didn't work. I just love having a picture every year with Santa...even if they are screaming. Is that wrong?
William quickly recovered when I let him have his candy cane. What a mess but a fun, festive night.

Thanksgiving Feast

I cooked again this year for Thanksgiving. My second time roasting a turkey. It was all good though because I had a lot of help. Anna woke up early (about 6am) and sat reading on the couch so she "would be ready when I needed her." Anna, Tani and Owen all helped me make the traditional Yugoslavian stuffing: The turkey came out perfectly. Thankfully.

A lot rides on that bird.
We had Aunt Zoie and Uncle Jefferson and their family over for dinner. A small party but great company and tons of delicious food.

Happy Thanksgiving 2008!

Halloween Fun

Halloween this year was a lot of things: spooky, messy, funny, silly, sad and crazy. For the sake of my blog-journal I must start out by mentioning the D&C I had to have on the 30th. Miscarriage number 5 for me. It was sad and frustrating and emotional to say the least. Rod took over the pumpkin carving while I recovered. It was warm enough to carve them outside on the back deck. Owen didn't want to carve his and just colored it.

However, after the surgery I felt better than I had in weeks and was ready for all the Halloween fun! The day started with getting Anna dressed up for school. She looked adorable in a Tinkerbell costume made by her talented Aunt Sundee. We made sure to put some pixie dust and a little bit of mascara (that she begged for) on her face.

We then hurried to get the boys ready for their preschool programs at Kid's Village. I was wondering what Tani would choose to dress up as. He had already worn a few different combinations for other parties. He decided on a cowboy for school and Owen was an elephant.

Owen really wasn't too happy about the idea of singing with his class. It is pretty cute how he covers up his shyness with attitude.

He hid behind a pillar for a while. It was all just too much!Finally, he started to come around and smiled a bit.Tanielu had no problem being right in the center. He sang loudly every word. Very cute. Grandma B. brought over a big pot of homemade chili for dinner and I made some yummy cornbread to go with it. Grandad and JoAnn, Grandma and Grandpa Bergeson, Aunt Zoie and Uncle Jefferson, Hyrum and Emilee all came to eat and go trick-or-treating with us. Tani changed his costume again and came up with his idea of a pirate. He was happy with the end result. This group was definitely ready to go!

We lost Tani for a little while. Luckily Nonna witch found him for us! She was very in character and scared the kids a bit with her threats to take their candy. I am not sure she was entirely joking! William quickly got the hang of holding out his bucket and saying "trick-or-treat" in his own little way. What a cute litte monkey! Seeing him in this costume (also made by Aunt Sundee) brought back memories of my other kids. They have all worn it for Halloween.Towards the end of the night Tani decided it was pretty fun to hand out candy too and took over the bowl from Grandpa at the door. It was so warm out that we just left the door open and waited for trick-or-treaters to come. Anna even wore flip flops and no coats over the costumes this year!When everything had finally calmed down the kids had fun counting and sorting their candy. I can't believe the things they got. Several full size candy bars each and lots of chocolate! We got mostly hard candy when I was little. Overall, I think Halloween turned out to be a lot of fun!