Christmas 2008

Isn't it funny how we are so excited for a nice break from work and then don't get half the things done we hoped to? I thoroughly enjoyed my Christmas break but it went way too fast! We had lots of parties and activities and we are all completely worn out. We started out the season at the Wilder Christmas party with all of Damon's cousins and aunt's and uncle's on his Dad's side of the family. It is always chaotic but the kids really enjoyed the marshmallow snowball fight. We then had the Christmas party with Damon's siblings and Mom at Tani's house. It is always lots of fun and the kids love seeing Santa. Santa gave the kids a warning that we are in a recession this year so they might not get exactly what they wanted. He was really funny this year! This year Grandma Janet made each of her granddaughters a nightgown. The girls were so cute in their matching nightgowns. Ellee loves hers and hates it when it is not clean for bedtime.
Damon had to work Christmas Eve this year so we were all pretty bummed out. We decided that it would be a fun tradition to start going to Temple Square on Christmas Eve. Mama, Papa, Ashley, Jed, Ruby and Emma all went with us. It was lots of fun. The kids loved riding on trax and seeing all the fun lights at Temple Square. We were also able to stop at the courthouse to see Damon and visit for a little while. The kids love going to Damon's work and made themselves right at home-asking for drinks and wanting to look at all the tv/computer screens in the control room. It was good to be able to stop and see him since he was stuck at work on Christmas Eve.
Christmas morning was lots of fun! Damon woke the kids up when he got home from work and they were so excited to see if Santa brought them anything. They came running down the stairs and didn't look back. It was so fun to watch them get excited over everything-whether it was new underwear or a new toy. Luke loved that he has started getting some of the same big boy toys as Cole and Ellee just squealed every time she opened a present.
We went to Papa Larry's for Christmas morning breakfast and to see the cousins and family. I was so surprised that the kids weren't tired. They were wired pretty much all day long. After Papa Larry's we headed to Papa and Mama's house for the Romig Christmas party-where the kids got loaded up on even more sugar and toys-and enjoyed every moment!
Needless to say-the kids slept like rocks Christmas night! We had a great Christmas season.

Picture Time

I hate getting family pictures taken. It is always such a long process and usually ends up bad. We haven't had professional family pics done since the twins were born so we felt it was about time to attempt it. Unfortunately-we had to go two different times since the first time was horrible!!! Our photographer was horrible, our kids didn't cooperate and we were trying to force it, so we walked away and said we'll try this again in a year or two. I don't know what we were thinking but we decided to attempt the picture thing again. I was prepared this time though. I requested a photographer that I worked with when I worked at Kiddie Kandids and I knew she was good-we had everything ready, we didn't go during or immediately after nap time and it was so much better. We love the pictures!!!

Thanksgiving and more

We had a super busy Thanksgiving holiday. We went to my parents for a Thanksgiving at 1:00. It was fun-and very busy-we played games, colored, made turkeys-played basketball. We were so worn out!

Thank you Grandma Ruth for the matching Hawaiian shirts. So fun! I'm just glad they were for the guys this year!

All of our activities burned off enough calories so that we were ready for our next Thanksgiving dinner at 6:00 at Damon's dad. We did a lot of visiting and hanging out while the kids ran around with their cousins-plus lots more yummy turkey.

We then went back over to my parents church for Emma's first birthday party. Needless to say, the kids slept so well that night!

We also celebrated Thanksgiving with Damon's mom that weekend. We had the traditional Thanksgiving meal-plus a little karaoke as dessert-it was so much fun watching Damon, Cole and Ellee(who mostly danced) doing the karaoke thing. Luke would dance every once in awhile but really just wanted to run around playing with the toys.

We had a fun Saturday today. Cole started Jr. Jazz. He is in the kindergarten league. That means the teams practice for about 30 minutes right before each game to help the kids learn the skills. He was so excited choosing out his jersey-he's # 34. I was so proud of him. He listened to the coach and shadowed what the coach was telling them to do so when it was his turn he knew exactly how to do it. It was fun watching Luke and Ellee cheering him on from the side. Every time he'd run past they'd yell "Go COLEY!" He would just grin at them and give us a little smirk. So fun!

The Christmas break countdown has begun! Can't wait---I love being home with my family!

Slowing Down

Volleyball is over and I can't believe how much slower the pace is around our house. We are still busy with the normal stuff-Damon still watches the kids in the morning while I'm at work and I watch them in the evenings while he's at work. I just don't have to stay late for practices and games anymore. I'm usually home by about 2:30 every day. It's nice being able to take the kids to the park and really enjoy the time with them. Damon is still not getting lots of sleep but more than he was. It is so nice! We've just been enjoying the time together.

Last weekend, Sarah and Adam watched the kids overnight so Damon and I could head up to Park City for a little time away. It was good to have some time just the two of us. Thanks Sarah and Adam!!!

We also had some of Damon's work friends and Sarah and Adam over for the Utah-BYU game on Saturday. We were stressed when we turned on the t.v. and no cable. I guess someone had cut the main cable to Riverton and Herriman so nobody was able to get the game. We turned the radio on and listened to the first quarter-they got it fixed and back on a few seconds into the second quarter. Go Utes! It was lots of fun having friends over-I told Damon we'd have to have another party soon. Who knew? I like having people over. I certainly didn't realize how much fun it could be. Maybe again for a BCS bowl game?

Happy Halloween!

The kids were so grossed out carving pumpkins. Cole actually dry-heaved a little bit at first when he had to grab the pumpkin guts. Ellee daintily touched the pumpkin with her spoon and thought she was done. Luke actually started crying when we told him to scoop the insides out. It ended up taking a little longer than we had planned since Damon and I got to clean everyone's pumpkins out and carve them. Cole did his and then drew a picture on it so we could cut it out for him. Ellee just kept telling us that she wanted a princess pumpkin and Luke wanted a Shrek pumpkin. We finally just asked them which shapes they wanted on the pumpkin. It was crazy, but lots of fun.

Halloween was tons of fun this year. Cole wanted to be a mummy so bad-I am still impressed with what Damon and I came up with for a costume-even if it was a pain in the butt. Luke was so excited to be a ghost. He kept walking around with his arms out saying "ooooooooooo". He had lots of fun trying to scare people. Ellee was a black cat. She loved meowing and crawling around like a kitty.

I took the day off at West. Our volleyball season ended on Thursday night and so I was ready for a break, plus I wanted to watch Cole in his kindergarten Halloween parade. It was fun. All the kids came into the gym and walked around it twice, proud as can be. We were all there cheering on Cole. Mama surprised him and came over from work to watch. He thought that was pretty cool.

When Cole got home from school we started getting ready for our Halloween night. Damon's dad and Tonya stopped by to see the kids and visit. After they left we went to make the rounds. We stopped at my parents' first. Some of the cousins were there. It was fun to watch them play with each other and giggle at each other's costumes. Ellee immediately began following Whitney (Belle) and Ruby (Cinderella) around. She thought they were so pretty. She wouldn't let us call Whitney or Ruby by their names-they were Belle and Cinderella. Luke and Cole just got a kick out of roaming around and trying to scare everyone. Luke and Ellee were both a little scared of Courtney's scary costume. All the cousins trick-or-treated around the circle before we headed out.

After visiting Mama and Papa, we headed up to the Bell's home. We got there and immediately headed out the door to go trick or treating. Ellee latched on to Teagan, wanting only her. Cole and Luke were all about the candy. They ran from door to door. Poor Luke kept tripping over his ghost costume on all the big steps, so I ended up tying knots in it to help hold it up a little higher. They were doing great until the rain started, so I headed back to the Bell's house while Damon finished up with Cole. We now have so much candy I get sick just looking at it. It was a fun Halloween and the kids were so worn out they didn't even fight us at bed time.

A couple weeks ago we decided to go up Big Cottonwood Canyon for a picnic and some outdoor time. It was so much fun. The kids had a blast. We barbecued hot dogs and chicken and then went exploring. It was fun watching the kids trying to climb trees and getting dirty. They loved running through the tall grass and playing hide and seek.

Daddy, Daddy, Hi Daddy!

I got pulled over tonight. When the officer walked up to the window Ellee immediately started saying "Daddy? Daddy? Is that Daddy? Hi Daddy!" The officer couldn't help but hear her and started smiling. I told her "No, it's not Daddy." The officer then asked "Who's her dad?" I explained that he's an officer at the courthouse. Needless to say, I was able to get a "Professional Courtesy". Thank you Ellee! I think I'm going to train all the kids to start talking about Daddy whenever a police officer wants to give me a ticket.