Christmas Morning.....

Chad made me these nifty ski hooks.

Chad pretty much stayed on the couch assembling and untying toys all morning. What a great dad.

Christmas morning was magical as it is every year. I love having kids. It makes everything extra special all over again. They were so thankful for everything which was my main goal this year. I hate it when kids just expect things. Chad got me a Kindle which I am not sure is a good thing because I have already read five books! I have no self control and this instant gratification movement we have going on is terrible for my personality. A great learning opportunity I guess. We had a relaxing day at home and Chad made me my favorite dinner- why? Because he loves me so very much! Chicken fried steak, Chad's signature Magic Mashed Potatoes and green beans (we are talking the kind drowned in butter with no nutrients left what soever) just like I love them. I had a great nap and the kids played on their "ripsticks" all through the house. I will have to video them and their mad skillz and post it.

North Pole Experience

For Christmas this year Chad's parents rented us a cabin up in the White Mountains so we could take advantage of the "North Pole Experience". It was a funfilled adventure- we were able to eat dinner with Mrs. Clause and travel through a portal to the North Pole on a christmas trolly. While at the North Pole we toured a classic toy museum made toys with the elves, attended elf university, ate yummy cookies and hot chocolate, and of course sat with Santa himself! But that was not the end of our adventure- we got to read bedtime stories with Mrs. Clause and the next morning we ate breakfast with Santa. It was jam packed full of christmas excitement and truly was magical. Thank you Andrea and Darwin for an amazing Christmas memory! The cabin was a really spacious place for the kids to run. They especially loved their cowbay room that had two sets of bunkbeds in it. Livia and Abbie had to share a bed of course. We made gingerbread houses at the cabin and visited with Grandma Great. She was such a trooper hanging out with the crazies! Chad and I picked her up on our way to Eagar and the kids were so excited to have her join us. We sure do love that special lady.

{nutcracker}

This year was the real deal! After attending the lollipop ballet each year with Livs she finally got to be one of the dancers! A Chinese dancer to be exact! Pappa and Grandma made it through the two hour performance and I was amazed that Chad and I did as well. I was so worried with how shy Livy is that she would freeze up on stage (it was a real ballet company performance) She lit up the stage and stole my heart! She loved being a part of it all. It was really a fun beginning to the Christmas season.

the tree...........

The tree this year was quite the experience. Chad was determined to go chop down our tree and in true Griswald fashion we picked the hugest one we could find (remember they always look smaller out in the wilderness!) we would finally hike up to a tree we thought was just perfect and then we would glance behind us and find one that was even better! this went on for some time and all I could think of was my perfect fake one at home under the house. I was trying to be a good sport but it just so happened that I was quite sick with this third pregnancy and kept sitting down and chad thought i was not getting excited enough for this amazing family experience. Why can't men be pregnant just for one day?

baby turns 7!

Livia turned 7 on Friday and we are so happy to have her little witty self in our family.............She still has not lost one single tooth or gained one single pound believe it or not! I know these are older pictures but honestly she looks pretty much the same. All she wanted for her birthday was a new bike with a big basket and mom and dad delivered. She was ecstatic and rode for most of the day. She helped in making her birthday cake and we waited for our dad to return from an elk hunt so we could really celebrate later that night. Livia has turned out to have such a strong little moral compass. She is known for her quiet leadership skills and her big heart. She is about as shy as can be but we get the privilege of seeing her corky sense of humor at home each day. I love having a daughter to share with. She is a blessing.

dysfunctinal dinner story

Liv and Tater in the rain

So Chad and I took the little squirts to dinner at Cocoa's on Thursday and it was quite a little experience. We were all in kind of a bad mood and I threw a fit because by Thursday I am just tired of planning and executing meals and I refused to cook. Chad was kind enough to take pity on me and since it is hunting season I pretty much get what I want (love it). Everything was going o.k. until Chad decided that Livia needed to spell all of her words for her test the next day right then and there. He does this every now and then- picks a ridiculous battle that is not necessary but then will let the kids destroy the house while I am away with out even batting an eye. Livia was exhausted and just wanted to eat her stinkin' pancakes but Chad was determined I tell you. He kept saying (loudly) "Livia- spell HAM!" and then she would reply "I just don't want to right now." this would only frustrate him further and he would say: "you better spell HAM right now young lady- when a parent asks you to do something you do it- now spell HAM!" I was soooo embarrassed because the whole restaurant including the waitress were so disturbed. I kept trying so hard not to laugh because I kept thinking of Napoleon Dynamite when he would say " Tina! Eat your ham!" only it was "Livia spell HAM!" it ended with Chad taking Livia to the car crying and me being left with putting all of our food in boxes without making eye contact with the other patrons. it was just a night of dysfunction. Today I keep texting Chad- " SPELL HAM!" It was so unnecessary and luckily we can get a laugh from it now. Sometimes you have to just laugh or you will cry....................................

{tate moments}

So little man Tate has had some funnies the past few weeks and because I want to remind him of these when he is older and dating, getting married etc. I decided I needed to record this little bit of his history. He cracks me up every day with the way he sees the world. First off he has decided to roll all of his R's. He says he now is speaking only in Spanish but really what he has done is replaced all of the R sounds with the rolled R. "Mom, will you excuse me? I will be RRRRRRRight back." It is hilarious only now I am hoping we have not created a speech impediment seeing as how he does it now out of habit without any awareness whatsoever. The other thing that broke my heart is when he had the realization the other day that he will never be pregnant. It is true- he was talking about how it is only girls that seem to get pregnant and why is it he has never seen a pregnant boy. I explained that Heavenly Father just designed it that way and he got really quiet and then began to cry. Chad was beyond disturbed but I thought it was cute. He really felt jipped. Don't worry Tate, some day you will be really grateful! I will remind you however of that cute little memory- you can count on it. Livia, Chad and I are always in stitches with this little guy around. We love his quick retorts and seeing the world through his perspective. If he wants something really bad he says "oh mom, PLEASE with cheese on my knees can I have that?" he is a complete crack up...................