Christmas 2009

Christmas Eve dinner! We do our big meal on Christmas Eve, so we don't have to do much cooking on Christmas, but we have plenty of yummy leftovers. We always have an open invitation to Uncle Tyler. Jared made a delicious turkey, mashed potatoes, gravy, cheesy broccoli, pasta salad, rolls, and a couple different pies! It was soooo good. After dinner the kids open their first gift...Christmas pj's. Then we watch "Santa Claus: The Movie" (old xmas movie Jared LOVES....with Dudley Moore and John Lithgow) and have egg nogg (diluted with milk!). The kids are usually in bed by ten. This year we had NO WRAPPING to do on Christmas Eve....yay! We told the kids they weren't allowed out of their rooms until 7, and they had to make their beds before they came out.

The picture above and below are of Kelsey & Emma opening their cellphones....yes, cellphones. I am one of those parents. Kelsey got one last year, and as you can tell from the picture, she didn't think she'd be getting a new phone this year, but boy was she excited! Why wouldn't she be, it was pink!! And it had flowers!
In this day and age, I LOVE that my girls have phones. Kelsey is old enough to tend (not Sophie, of course) so it's nice when Jared and I are out that she and I can text each other. She also had her first slumber party a few weeks ago and was able to text me all night, even at 2AM to let me know she was still up. Emma, on the other hand, had asked Santa for a phone. I was a little hesitant, but we got a great deal, so we did it.

Ashton with his "Star Wars: The Clone Wars" turbo tank...this was high on the list for Santa.

Oh, these two little ones are SO easy to shop for! Conner & Mallory got plenty of new coloring books, markers, crayons and puzzles. Mallory also got new Barbies, Cabbage Patch baby twins, and My Little Pony stuff. Conner increased his collection of "Star Wars: Galactic Heroes" toys with two new ships and new characters.

We started to loose Jared by 8:30, but he snapped out of it.

If you look closely at the picture below, you can see Mallory has a tear on her cheek. My 3 older kids had purchased gifts for everyone at their school's "Santa's Workshop". Ashton bought Conner a fake spider. I HATE spiders and some of my kids have inherited that (or have seen me freak out so now they freak out). Jared and I got worried when he was opening it because Kelsey (who helped wrap it) kept saying, "Don't be scared, ok? It's not real". Conner didn't freak out, but I wish I had video of Mallory when she saw it. She wouldn't leave Jared's lap the rest of the morning. We ended up throwing it away the next day after Conner realized it was fun to terrorize his sister.

Another fun story this Christmas: Jared found some great recipes for breakfast, that he put together the night before and then we baked it in the morning. One of them bubbled over and the oven started to fill with smoke. When Jared opened the door to slide a cookie sheet under it, it set off our smoke alarm, which is wired to our security system. LOUD beeping filled the house, Jared silenced it & the security company called to ask if they needed to send the fire dept. Ooops!
We hope you all had a great Christmas like we did! With a new baby, it was a great excuse to stay home and have visitors come to us. We got to visit with both of our parents, two of Jared's aunts, and have brothers, sisters and cousins come visit. We love this time of year!

More Sophie

Looking through my photos of her so far, and knowing how she looks today...her color is a lot better. She had her check-up yesterday and everything looks good, though her pediatrician thinks she may have fractured her clavicle during delivery. Her left shoulder got stuck under my pubic bone, and when her head came out her right shoulder came with it, which shouldn't really happen. My doctor had the NICU nurses come down and check her, and they said she seemed fine. But after we came home Jared & I both noticed that she didn't move her left arm much, and it seemed to hurt her when we moved it. So, we have to take her for an xray, but it will fix itself.
The kids love her, but they are driving us crazy. I think it's a combination of having a new baby in the house, christmas, christmas vacation and sugar. Conner & Mallory are the hardest. Today Mal kept taking toys from Conner & even Ashton, then she'd run around the house so they couldn't get it. I got after her and I said (mostly to myself), "I don't even know who you are...." But she heard me and with the saddest look on her face said, "I'm Mallory". I felt so bad....but seriously...what happened to my kids?! I'm ready for school to start....

Sophie Lin...December 17th

Here are a few pictures we took at the hospital of Sophie. Everything went well. We were all surprised by her size (even my doctor) at 8 lbs, 11 oz. and 19 inches long. She shares a birthday with Papa Kim, on December 17th, born at 6:15 pm. She's still not my biggest baby! Ashton holds that title. The kids all love her & were so anxious for us to get home so they could hold her. They were only allowed to see her thru the nursery windows at the hospital because of new visitor restrictions. We are so glad to be home!

Ko nichi wa

A couple of weeks ago we all went into a Salt Lake health clinic to get our H1N1 flu shots. We told the kids we'd go somewhere fun to eat afterward. To my kids, anywhere is fun for dinner. But they all particularly like Asian food, so we took them to a restaurant close by called "Asian Star". We were early, about 5:00, so we got an "early-bird" special. The funniest thing....the whole time Conner kept saying "Ko nichi wa" to everything. It was a "ko nichi wa" place, they were playing a "ko nichi wa" song, he kept saying "Ko nichi wa" to the waitress and the nice lady that would fill our water glasses. It made Jared and I laugh....and it was a little embarrassing.

Fun times around the dinner table

Dinner yesterday started with an irreverent prayer. Jared didn't mean for it to be, here's what happened......
(Jared saying prayer)"...blah, blah...we're thankful that we can be here together as a family...."
Ashton immediately chimes in with....."Mmm-hmm"....which made us all laugh and Jared started over. I don't know what made him think to chime in, but it was so funny.

While we were eating the conversation turned to Jared's childhood, the kids love to hear about the Smart dairy farm. At one point Jared mentioned his step-grandma, Devean. We don't see her a lot anymore, but a week ago we went to a party for her 80th birthday. So he says her name and Mallory sitting next to him at the table says, "I don't like her." Honestly, I really don't think she knew who he was talking about. But she was so serious and just kept right on eating, staring at her plate. Jared and I just looked at each other and laughed....which always makes Mallory mad. She crosses her arms and says, "It's not funny!!" She doesn't like to be laughed at, but she's just so stinking cute.

Mallory's trouble with "boots"

There are a few words that tie up Mallory's tongue. She says "pup-cakes" for cupcakes, and "slip-slops" for flip-flops....but the funniest is her "boobs" for boots. I've worked on the pronunciation with her, trying to get that "t" in there, but she can't get it. I bought her a pair of black boots (not snow boots) that are just like a pair Kelsey & Emma both have. She loves to wear them, and she talks about them a lot (such a girl). Here are some phrases we've enjoyed lately: "I got new boobs"....."I have boobs like Kelsey"....."I put my boobs on"....."My boobs are stuck"....."There's my boobs".

Halloween 2009

This year we had two Utes, a princess, and two pirates. Kelsey really wanted to be a vampire, but most of the vampire costumes we found were pretty inappropriate, so we nixed that idea & went with the same one we got for Emma. The boys didn't have a choice. I saw the Ute costumes at Tai Pan Trading and bought them, but they were very excited. Mallory was SO cute as Snow White, and everyone commented on what a cute costume it was. Another great creation from Aunt Amy....

Kelsey's sarcophagus

This was Kelsey's first big school project for the year, besides book reports. We couldn't have done it without help from Grandma Linda. I knew when she came home with it that I would love to get her help....it would look good and I thought it would be so fun for my kids to see what a great artist their Grandma is. She really helped us get everything sketched in, then Kelsey and I drew our "final lines" and painted it. I didn't realize how long the painting would take. Nearly the whole time from when she got home from school at about 3:00 until 9:00 she and I were at the counter painting it all in. My feet were so swollen from standing in one place for so long & being 36 wks prego....Jared called them "Fred Flinstone" feet.
Thanks Mom!

One Year Anniversary....

I try to avoid thinking about our 1+ year of construction. I took so many pictures as we went along so we could document it all. We'll probably make a book one day, but right now looking at the pictures brings up so many stressful feelings. Jared and I react the same way when we see the photos, we shake our head and roll our eyes. Here are a few....

THE BEGINNING.....
The two big pine trees we had out front had to come down, also five trees along the north side of our driveway, plus our driveway and carport. Sadly, some trees we wanted to keep got knocked down by various trucks. This part was exciting! We thought at the time that we would be done by Christmas.....ah, yeah right. Part wishful thinking, part inexperience.

This part was SCARY! Jared's brother Todd, and his maintenance guy, Jack, took out our porch. We made all the kids get out of the house. I was sure something was going to go wrong and the walls would fall in. I didn't trust that Todd or Jack knew what they were doing, and I didn't trust our old house! I went inside through the back door for something (can't remember what) just as they were taking the cement steps out. It made the loudest, most awful cracking noise, I thought my roof was about to fall in! I ran out fast.... I will never forget that sound.

That's Mallory's little head poking out, looking at what was going on. We lived with that ramp for quite a while. It was sure fun lugging groceries in. I'm surprised none of us ever fell off, especially when it would get wet or frost over. The foundation took a while to put in. While they were getting ready to pour we had to climb in & out a window for a couple days, the one that's in our dining room now. After that Jim (Jared's uncle who did the remodel) made a ramp down from the front door to the dirt, then another ramp from the dirt up over the foundation wall, then back down to the grass until they got the sub-floor in. The sub-floor was done by Halloween of 2007, then Jim left until after the new year. Anytime it snowed, we had to shovel it. We had no sidewalks or driveway to shovel, so I guess it was kind of a trade off. How many people can say they shoveled their bedroom?

Little did I know that we wouldn't be done until Halloween of 2008. I've been thinking a lot about it, now that we have been HOME for a year. I will never, ever want to move or remodel again.....heck, I don't ever want to even paint my walls!

Ashton turns 8!

Ashton's birthday was Sept. 12th, a Saturday! I love it when birthdays fall on the weekend, makes things so much easier. He opened his presents early and played with them all day. He got one Indiana Jones lego that took me a few hours to put together, but I love it. Besides Kelsey & Emma's soccer game, we were home all day. Grandma Hibbert came over with gifts and a cake, and Papa Brent took him to Target to pick out whatever he wanted (that's how he got the $90 Indiana Jones lego that I put together!). Jared told him dinner was his choice, whatever he wanted him to make. Jared is an excellent cook, so I was surprised that the chicken he wanted was one that I make. But since I was busy building Legos, Jared made dinner (as always) and it was yummy. Very easy, just season salt & flour in a bag, throw chicken in it & shake it around. The kids love it! His baptism will be after conference weekend, so I'll let everyone know the date when we do!

I was surprised by Mallory's excitement with every gift, she was enjoying it as much as Ashton....go figure

He wanted GI Joe's, and he got them. This one is 'Snake Eyes', one of his favorite good guys.

I love Mallory's face here....why is she so excited? I'm glad that she was happy for her brother and not crying that she didn't have any gifts.

Birthday cake from Grandma Hibbert

Conner & Mallory start school

We are back with the fabulous Teacher Pat! All my kids have gone to her, and she is the best! Mallory will go every Tuesday and Thursday morning, and Conner will go Monday, Wednesday and Friday afternoon. I was SO ready for them to start! They really need the break from each other. This is Conner's 2nd year, so he was excited. I wasn't sure how Mallory would be. We talked about it a lot, got new clothes, backpack, etc. But she loves it and they are still learning that they each have a different day that it is their turn for school.....they both want to be the one to go everyday.Conner ready for his first day! He started on Wednesday Sept. 9th.

Mallory on her first day, Tuesday Sept. 8th
I think she could fit easily inside her backpack, she's so small.

This was yesterday, Thursday the 10th, and Mallory's second day. She looked so cute I had to take another picture! I think it's hilarious how she turns her foot like that....where do they pick something like that up? If you look closely at her toenails we painted them blue to match her outfit. She's so stinkin' cute! (and she knows it!)

Pigs at the trough

Jared is always cooking! He made cookies on Labor Day & he always offers the bowl to the kids after. He's such a good husband and father! I would have just put it in the sink & filled it up with water to soak & ruined all the fun. But aren't Daddy's more fun anyway?

Conner is 5!

Conner was very excited for his birthday! We decided to let him open his gifts first thing in the morning so the big kids could join in before they left for school, and I was hoping he would be occupied with his new toys for the rest of the day. It worked! He had a great birthday, and at his soccer game that night his team sang to him, which he loved.

Grandma Hibbert always comes with goodies for birthdays! Conner and Mallory enjoyed it very much! I was surprised he shared so nicely with her.

I think his favorite gift was his puzzles. He got a couple from us and a box of 8 different Disney puzzles from Grandma, they kept us occupied over the holiday weekend! He also got a race track from Papa Brent & Grandma Denise, he loved that one too.

A 6th grader, 4th grader & 2nd grader

Kelsey, Emma & Ashton went back to school on August 26th. I thought it was very weird to start on a Wednesday, but oh well. They were very excited! Jared & I had tickets to the Depeche Mode concert the night before, luckily Denise came to take care of the kids and make sure they showered and were in bed at a decent time. Although, putting them to bed didn't mean they fell asleep quickly. It took them quite a while to relax and go to sleep. But they had no problem getting up and were ready with plenty of time to spare. The nice father that Jared is, even though we went to bed at 2AM, he got up and made the kids waffles from scratch. I have to say that the concert was worth the lack of sleep....it was very good!



Ashton and Conner had their first soccer game of the season Wednesday night also! It was tricky to try and watch two games at once, but it worked out. Jared has pics on his camera, so once I have access to those I'll post them.

Playing in the Sprinklers

When my kids have the choice of sprinklers or the pool, it will always be the pool. But I was busy last week, and this day was hot & breezy, so to get the kids out doing something fun I had Jared turn on the sprinklers. They loved it!