Christmas Celebrations

Christmas of 2008 our remodel was done, so we went party crazy.  Christmas of 2009 we did practically NOTHING because of a brand new baby.  This year we wanted to host some festivities, but tried to keep it easy.  We had the Smarts over for dinner Dec. 12th. Jared made the food and everyone enjoyed visiting.  We are looking forward to having a holiday party of sorts with the Hibberts on the 29th - pics to come later!

from L to R - Bree, Kelsey, Kendyle, Jaicee and Emma

Buddies Jaxon and Conner.  Those two can be trouble sometimes!
Ask Carrie or me about "The Sleepover".

Chef Boss (aka Jared - or Jerry)  was giving everyone the 411 on the food he prepared.
WTG babe!

Brandon & Carrie with Kadee's boy Zander.  Denise & Grandma Smart

Chow Time! Jared amazes me.  He absolutely LOVES to cook and never tires of cooking for friends and family.

Santa Claus - aka Brent - getting a "kiss" from Zander.  That was as close as he got!

 

Kendyle and Kelsey, Tyler with Zander

Grandma Devean, Denise, Tyler being completely natural, and Kadee!

Ashton, Brandon and Tyler

Conner and Mallory with "The Nutcracker".  They couldn't read it, but enjoyed looking at the pictures.  I loved that they were getting along!  Definitely a "Kodak" moment :o)

Kelsey and Emma helping with the toffee

Jared looks thrilled - but he was having fun, I promise!  Conner is wearing a chinese new year hat, a white elephant from the Bergmans, among other things!

Oh, Jason.  The Jason - as Jamie and I call him.  We told him to go try on his new jammies and he did!

 

Seth with his "Shake-weight".  He's trying to bulk up.

Monica and Seth with their gifts.  They are great friends & neighbors, we always have fun together!

As everyone was leaving a snowball fight started - kids without coats, or proper shoes, and no gloves.  Everyone was freezing!  But look at Conner's face - you can tell it wasn't bothering him! Throwing a snowball at Seth - one of his favorite people.  Mallory and Conner love that guy.

Emma & Rylee, I think they were getting Seth too!

Jared told the kids he'd pay $10 to whoever got Seth in the face.  I think Seth kinda got hit, but Jared never paid up.

Sure, they don't wear gloves or scarves outside for a snowball fight, but they'll wear them inside!  And they haven't heard and wouldn't care about it being "bad luck" to open an umbrella inside, it's too much fun.

This is Christmas Eve!  Kids opening their pj's.  Notice the Chinese New Year hat from 3 nights before?  I think my kids got it out because Seth was there.  We had the Bergmans and Seth's parents over for dinner on Christmas Eve.  His parents were visiting from Colorado and Jared wanted to cook for them.  I wish I had taken a picture of all the food!  There is always great conversation and good times with the Bergmans!

Conner and Ashton ready for bed.....not quite!

Jared and I got to bed about midnight or so.  The kids (except Sophie) all slept in Kelsey & Emma's room.  We woke up before they did!  At 7:30 Jared rolled over & nudged me, "Are the kids alive?  How are we up before them?"  It doesn't surprise me that Jared would be up before them, he is as excited as they are on Christmas morning.  

Dancing Machine

Sophie has always loved music.  As soon as she hears it, it catches her attention.  Now that she's getting bigger she's starting to move more to it.  She is such a funny girl!

Sophie turns ONE!

Sophie turned 1 year old on Friday, December 17th!  She (or Conner & Mal) opened her gifts before the kids left for school that morning.  That night we had the Bergmans and Whetmans (or the 'Mans', as Kelsey calls them) over for dinner.  I would say dinner & cake, but the adults left for a movie before it was cut, and when we came back the kids had helped themselves!

Mal and Conner are so helpful, whether you ask for it or not.

Who's having more fun?

Opening Grandma & Grandpa Hibbert's gifts.  It was Grandpa's bday that day also!

She was so funny with the cake, wouldn't touch it until I had cut it into small pieces.   

Jared made her a chocolate cake.  The kids loved it.

Trying to put on her new jammies. Thanks Bergmans!

Look at my new jammies, Mom!

Six Blessings that call us Mom & Dad

Jared loves photography.  He loves taking photos of anything, and then playing with it in Photoshop.  He's getting really, really good at it.  Plus, for this photo-session, he had some fabulous subjects =o)

Ashton Brent - 9 years old.  He's a good kid.  Always making us laugh.  He loves to watch and play sports - any sport.  He's a sweetheart too, very thoughtful and sensitive, but don't tell him I said that.  He always wants a kiss goodnight, and I know that soon he won't be doing that anymore.  Can't time slow down?

Mallory Alice  - 4 years old.  Mal is full of fun, and questions.  Like today for example, when I burped & she said, "Mom, how come you burp all day?" It made me laugh.  And at the bank today she rolled her window down and said to the teller (who didn't hear it), "Do you have a sucker for my little girl? She really wants one." I call her Miss Mallory.  She loves to do puzzles, color & cut out papers, and do anything girlie.

Mallory and Conner Julian - 6 years old.  They used to be best friends and play together all the time, but not as much anymore.  Sometimes people ask me if they are twins.  Conner always has the funniest smiles, it just doesn't come natural for him!  He loves to wrestle and play rough.  He can be so whiney and so sweet.  Sometimes Jared and I will look at each other and say, "He's just so darn cute!"  He loves puzzles, the Wii, and Star Wars.

The whole lot of 'em.  I can't believe how fast the time goes by.

Emma LaRee - 11 years old.  Emma can be pretty quiet.  She loves to read, and when she was finishing Harry Potter, would read for hours!  If she has a good book, she can't put it down.  She is a good student and a good friend.  She loves to help Jared cook, we call her his "Sous chef".  She is patient with (most of) her little brothers and sisters.  She's very artistic too - something she gets from the Hibbert side.

I had to put this one in too, just because it's so cute.  My little Miss Mallory.

Ashton and Conner - our 2 boys.  They love to do things with Jared, "boy time" they call it.  I wish they could have been closer in age, so they could be as good of friends as Kelsey and Emma.  But I'm certain one day they will be.  

Sophie Lin - 1 year (almost!).  What an addition she is to our family!  A surprise pregnancy, and boy is she worth it (but they are always worth it!)!  The kids all adore her, everything she does makes us all smile and laugh.  She's starting to play peek-a-boo, and she babbles a lot.  She also is crawling all over the place, so we have to keep an eye on her.  She's just starting to pull herself up to furniture, and the tub. She loves bathtime!

Kelsey Anne - 12 years.  My first baby.  Always my baby.  When she was new, I couldn't put her down -ever. Not even to eat or clean or sleep for that matter!  I hate to say it, but she was an awful 3 year old - so challenging!  It's been amazing to see her grow, and become a young woman.  You always hear people say that, and it's true.  It seemed like overnight she went from being a little girl to a young woman.  She's so responsible, smart, helpful.  Sure do love her....and all my kids.  We are blessed!

Kelsey and Emma.  Only 18 months apart.  I still remember when Kelsey was only 9 months old - still a baby! - and I knew that it was time for another.  They share everything: a room, clothes, books, stories at night.  Talking to each other and giggling until it's so late.  I'm glad they goof-off and can be silly with each other.  XO

Emma's 11th Birthday

Emma turned 11 on November 26th!  Unfortunately for her, we decided to drive home that day.  We were ready for a vacation from our vacation, plus we heard another storm was coming.  Before we left California we took the kids to the AMC Theatre in Downtown Disney to see "Tangled" in 3D.  We all loved this movie!  I can't wait to see it again.

She had to keep these 2 bday gifts with her for the ride home.

Waiting for "Tangled" and for Uncle Tyler & Liz

I told her several times that her glasses were upside down.
She didn't seem to care - and it's pretty cute.

Cute pose Kels! 

Theatre floor - yuck. Not a place for a baby.
But we were going to be in the car for 11 hours!

Hey Tiff - she and Lily have the same silly smile!

Jared made her a birthday dinner on Sunday.  She chose lemon rice, salmon,
green beans, salad and carrot cake.  What is it with my kids & carrot cake?

We had the Whetmans and the Bergmans over too.  They are great friends and we are glad they came over!

Don't look so excited Emma!

Playing "Glee" on the Wii - Emma's new game

Happy Birthday my cute Emma! We sure do love you!

World of Color

In California Adventure park, Disney recently opened a new 30 minute water show, called "World of Color".  This was my favorite thing of our whole trip.  The show is over a huge area, with over a thousand fountains, each with their own light source.With our dinner purchase in Ariel's Grotto we received tickets for a premier spot to sit (stand) for the show.  It was awesome!  I wish the video quality was better - I just used my camera.  I would have liked to use our digital video camera, but I couldn't get to it.  They had us packed  in pretty tight, and I couldn't get to the camera bag.  There was just one section of people in front of us - and that was the "wet zone".  It was already cold, I didn't want my kids getting wet.  But I wish now that we would have moved up there, because they didn't get very wet.  They have two showings every night, so if you or someone you know is going, I HIGHLY recommend this show.  I absolutely loved it!

My favorite parts of the above video: 0:35 - UP and 2:48 - Genie

This one was Kelsey's favorite: at 0:52 Pirates of the Caribbean!

There was another video I wanted to post, but I guess it's too big.  It's the end of the show, and then an extra 3 minutes of show promoting "Tron".  I'll put it on Facebook instead!  My little videos don't do justice to what it's like seeing it there live.  I'm such a nerd, even when I watch the videos now I get chills - it was that cool!