'Tis The Season for Perfoming!

Okay so the kids have each had some sort of performance this month. It started off with the Kids Village Christmas Celebration where Liberty sang some darling songs. Here she is singing Santa Claus is Coming to Town with actions of course.

I guess I missed the actions. But she looked really cute doing all of them.

Zach came next and his class did an entire play that they have been working on for months. He and his cousin Stockton who happen to be in the same class were both Fireflies. They look so cute in thier costumes. Craig and I had a work Christmas party the night of the performance so Grandma had to go and take photos. Zach sang us some of the songs. That boy has the cutest voice. I love to listen to him sing.

Seriously have you seen any cuter Fireflies in all your life?

Then Caleb and the rest of the young men and women were asked to sing at the Ward Christmas party. Craig and I got the best photo of Caleb up close...we totally embarassed him by doing so. But the kid got hold of the camera and deleted it...I was so mad. It was a darling photo...so I tried to crop one of the whole group, and got one, but not nearly as good as the original.

I think they were singing Deck the Halls...the enthusiasm was incredible!!! Just kidding. Can't you see how excited Caleb looks to be up there.

I love this time of year. We are as busy as ever running from party to party, trying to get everything ready for Christmas and trying to spend time with the family. There is just something about the season I love!

WHAT'S NEXT?

Many of you know (and if you don't I am not sure where you have been hiding!!) that our household bleeds BLUE for BYU. I will say that this is mainly because Craig has always been a big fan for as long as he can remember. The girls in the family just go along with it...we aren't as die hard as the boys. Let me show you what has been happening over the last little while...I guess you can say our true colors are showing.

Once again this year Craig made a wood sign that has the BYU football team motto "QUEST" on it. This isn't your ordinary sign. NO WAY! It holds 237 white lights. It lights us the neighborhood! Everyone can see it, there is not getting past it.

Here is the sign in the day time

Here it is at night...my camera doesn't take great photos at night...you don't get the full effect of how bright it is.

This year more things have been showing up...like this for instance. Not one flag for our family...gotta have one on each side of the vehicle.

It doesn't stop there...last week Craig took the boys to work and made a stencil. Me being the crazy lady I am asked what kind of stencil. Silly me! My boys made a huge stencil of the Y logo to spray paint it in the front yard. This thing is massive! Our front yard is large and once it was finished it doesn't look so huge. But lots of drive-by's and crazy looks that's for sure.

Here is the process of the stencil.

Craig spraying the white Y section

After removing the first section...the boys lifted the Y part and covered the white paint job.

The quickly they painted the blue section. This part took the longest. I kept wondering what this was going to do to my grass.

The finished product. It turned out pretty good. They were happy with it. Every morning when we look outside that is certainally the first thing we see. I need to get a photo of the yard so you can see how big it is.

My real worry is...what is going to be next? Our Christmas lights on the outside of our house are now Blue & White. Not exactly the normal. I can't think of what it will be but I am sure my boys will come up with something very exciting. Just another thing for people to come by and either honk cause they love it or honk and wave their Utah flags at us. I guess we will just have to wait and see what will come. Heaven help us!

I know the suspense is killing you!

For those who were on the edge of your seat waiting to hear what Zach picked for his family night activity...wait no longer!!!

He decided it would be fun to do Gingerbread Houses. Okay, this isn't a tradition in our home at all...I honestly don't think we have ever done one together. I know we are pathetic. But what a fun night we had. The boys vs. girls which was unfair from the beginning because they have one more set of hands, but us girls we handled ourselves great. We laughed alot and yes there was some playful trash talk going on but all in good humor.

Caleb and Zach thinking they are done...but end up making a few changes.

Cricket & Liberty working really hard trying to keep everything we do a secret

Boy Team seems very proud of their accomplishment!

Girls Team happy with thier completed house.

You be the judge...which do you think is the best one. We said that no one won of course but secretly each team thinks their house is best. Check out the photos.

The finished houses...Boys on left & Girls on Right

St. Nick Tradition

Filled shoes by St. Nick!

This is a tradition that I brought from my side of the family. On the night of Dec. 4th the kids put out their wooden shoes and in the morning St. Nick has come and filled them with gifts. I remember as a kids loving this tradition we were the only family that I knew who celebrate the Dutch Christmas holiday. As with my children. In fact yesterday Liberty was telling one of her teachers about it and the teacher was trying to tell her she didn't know what she was talking about. I assured her that St. Nick would come to our house but he doesn't come to everyone. So the kids put out their shoes...well, Zach and Caleb put out real wooden shoes but Libby put out one of her own. By the morning the kids were up early and excited to see what was left. They were loving their treats.

Zach is showing off his new socks, Libby her new shirt, and Caleb has his arm up because he got some Tag deodor (as Libby calls it) and body wash. They had a great morning. Fun family tradition.

What the Singlet!!!

Here he is at the start of his match


Okay so Thursday night was Caleb's first wrestling match. I am sure that I had a look of disgust on my face while watching. No offense but it is just uncomfortable to watch this sport. And a SINGLET?

sin⋅glet  /ˈsɪŋglɪt/ –noun

a sleeveless athletic jersey, esp. a loose-fitting top worn by runners, joggers, etc.

I looked up the definition of this just cause I think it is a funny word. Well, the singlets I saw last night were in no way loose-fitting. YIKES! When I walked in my poor son was standing there waiting until the very last moment to take off his shorts and t-shirt. He was embarassed. Not to mention nervous. This was his first match and he didn't know what to expect. Being the mom I am I wanted to cheer him on but had no idea what to yell out...I felt stupid. But Caleb pulled it off and won! We were all shocked. I don't understand how he won and I don't know if Caleb knows how he did it. But hey a win is a win. After it was all said and done... we got a great laugh out of it. Just look at these great shots of Caleb in his lovely singlet!!! These photos will be great to show his future wife. I am sure she will love them!!!

Sorry but how can he be taken seriously in this outfit!

Nice one Caleb! I must say I laughed my head off at this one!

Okay this is just the first match...I don't know if I can handle it. But it was fun to watch him win. Even though we have not a clue how the scoring is done or how you win. Caleb is still learning and wearing a singlet! YUCK!!

From Me to You

For as long as we have lived here in Pleasant Grove, I have driven by this each year and wanted to take a photo. So finally I did tonight while checking out the Christmas lights with the family. Just wanted to wish you all a great season. Love to you all.

Family Home Evening

Craig had an idea to let the children pick and plan what we did for Family Home Evening for the month of December. At least the first 3 weeks. Tonight it was Liberty's turn to choose...she came up with eating out at Panda Express (a favorite place of the entire family) and going to see the lights around town. Especially at the "gymnastics house" as she calls it, the place she takes gymnastics. So after picking Caleb up from wrestling we took off for some yummy orange chicken and some time to just enjoy each other. As you can see on everyone's faces....

So this photo is very dark but I hope you can see their faces. They crack me up.

We had a great time looking at the lights and just being together as a family. There's nothing better than hanging out as a family. Can't wait to see where and what we do for the next two weeks. Zach had some dandy ideas tonight we'll see what he comes up with. Watch for further posts.