Christmas 2009

Our Christmas was very busy, but enjoyable. We began the season with a new tradition taken from Germany. Don and I made an adventskranz, which is a wreath with 4 candles in it. This became the centerpiece of our table. Every Sunday before Christmas we would light a new candle. We enjoyed the centerpiece and this new tradition. By the fourth Sunday all the candles were lit and it was so pretty. The candles represent the light of Christ and as I contemplated this idea of more light coming into our home the closer we got to Christmas I was really touched. The more we think about the Savior the more we feel his love and light in our life and the brighter that light becomes. I really fell in love with our adventskranz. I will miss it during the rest of the year, but look forward to pulling it out after Thanksgiving. It doesn't look like a traditional German one, but we like it and here is a picture of our adventskranz:


On December 3rd Morgan was in a 1st grade presentation of "The Nutcracker". She was one of the narrators and did a great job. The whole presentation was very cute. We really enjoyed it. I was very proud of Morgan because she said all her lines clearly and loud. I could understand every word.
Our ward Christmas brunch on the 12th was really fun. The primary did a presentation of the nativity. Sierra was a narrator, Caden a shepherd, and Morgan was the lead angel that spoke to the shepherds (she was very excited about this). All of them did a very good job. The whole presentation was well done. Yeah for Primary!
On the 19th Sierra had her Christmas piano recital. I took video, but no pictures. Sorry. Sierra played 3 Christmas Carols: Stars Were Gleaming, Happy Holidays, and Joy to the World. She did them perfectly. We were very proud of her. She is excelling with this talent and expanding others. On the 20th she sang a duet with John Gonzales in Sacrament Meeting. They sang "What Child is This?" and did it beautifully. We were so proud of her! She truly sang like an angel.

On the 21st we went out to look at Christmas light displays and to do some caroling. The kids were very helpful with the baking this year. Everyone helped me make at least one different candy or cookie. It was really fun to have them in the kitchen to help me. They really enjoyed making the goody plates and delivering them to our friends along with the carols.

On the 23rd we had a Christmas dinner with Grandma and Grandpa. Thelma really outdid herself again. Dinner was fabulous! She wouldn't let me do anything for the dinner so the kids and I cleaned up. Then we shared gifts. We gave them a scrapbook of our camping trip to Bishop. I think they were really pleased. And the kids sure did make out! They were very excited about all their gifts.

Christmas day was filled with excitement, fun, and lots of laughter. Surprisingly the kids did not wake up until 7:00 am! They made their beds and came into our room to watch TV while they waited for Mom and Dad to get up and ready. Here they are waiting to go see if Santa came:
Sorry these pictures are blurry. Don't know what happened.

Yay! Santa came!

Here's the kids in front of their loot.

Our little chefs.

Ironman!

Our little magician.
Dress up clothes were the hit this year.

Jen was very busy this month. I decided to make a gift for each of the kids for Christmas. The boys each got a pair of pajama pants.

And the majority of the time was spent making dresses for the girls.

Here are the girls in their fancy satin dresses. I was so glad they fit and the girls liked them. My friend Stacy makes beautiful bead necklaces and I asked her if she would make the girls a necklace that would go with their dresses. You can't see them real well in the picture, but the girls are wearing them. They really like them.

The aftermath!

We spent Christmas evening at Nana and Papa's house. There were 26 people there. A little crowded, but fun. The Wittenbergs were here from Louisiana and Joy and Harry Klein came from San Diego. Katy had invited a friend and his wife. It was fun to see everyone although at times it was a bit chaotic. I didn't take a ton of pictures but I did take some.

Jaren and Becca finishing dinner preparations.

Getting the table ready.

Paul, Harry, and David enjoying doing nothing.

Connor taking a nap while Don studies something, probably German. It was a bit shocking to Don and I that we actually got to take a nap before going to the Vlk's home. I think it is the first Christmas that this has ever happened. The kids were playing well and we slept for an hour or so.

The gift exchange was pretty busy and chaotic. Sierra, Morgan, and I made a scrapbook for Nana and Papa which they thought was really cool.

The kids all had a blast opening their gifts.

Sierra made all the gifts for her cousins. Journals for Shyla and Amy, a bingo game for Olivia, and Sacrament quiet books for Aaron and Lonnie. Sierra was such a big help in preparing for Christmas. I would never have finished if it wasn't for her. I am so grateful for her and her willingness to help me.

And a little bonus gift for the nieces: Stacy Poulsen bead necklaces. They seemed to be a big hit with the girls.

Christmas was really fun, but seemed to come and go so quickly. I was very happy at the end of the day. It was fun to be with family. I especially enjoyed the time I had with Don and the children. How very grateful I am for them. I am also very grateful for the birth of the Savior and the opportunity that Christmas brings to reflect on his life. I was very sad when it was time to take down all the Christmas decorations and put them away. I truly felt like that Michael McLean song, "I Cry the Day that I Take the Tree Down". My goal for this year is to try to think of things to give as gifts throughout the year so that hopefully I will be done or almost done with Christmas preparations long before Christmas. Maybe then I can enjoy the holiday with the children a little more.

Thanksgiving

The whole gang!

After we bought our house, we decided that we would host Thanksgiving so we didn't have to divide our day and go anywhere. We have had Thanksgiving at our place for the last 9 years (except we missed one when Don was sick). We love it! It was a really relaxing day. No one came over until 4:30 pm so we had all day to hang out together. I managed get all my laundry washed, folded, and put away as well as roast the turkey and do a large part of the dinner. And I felt little stress and managed not to raise my voice to a single person during all the preparations. Of course it helped that everyone was out of school on Wednesday this year. Don and Sierra were great helps to me in getting the house cleaned and all the food preparations done. Thanks guys. We were 15 in all for dinner (yes, we were half of the whole group!). Dinner was yummy and the company was great. Our guests were: Thelma and Kenny, Mike and Jean, Jaren and Becca, and Mary and Noah. Thanks to both my moms for all their help cleaning up after dinner. I sure appreciated it!

Getting punch -- Yum!

Carson cuddled up with Grandpa after dinner and went to sleep.

We spent the rest of the weekend just relaxing. Caden played in the Turkey tournament so we watched 3 soccer games. His team took 2nd place. I had a cold so didn't feel like doing much. We watched the first "Lord of the Rings" movie along with some other TV and movies. Jen did a little shopping Friday morning spending $46 and saving $75. Woo Hoo! That made me happy. We also started putting all the Christmas decorations up. I love this time of year.

Happy Hauntings

Halloween afternoon and evening was very busy for us, but a whole lot of fun. It began at 2:00 pm with Caden's soccer game. Don and I left Sierra at home to baby-sit the younger kids while we went to the game. It was great! She is so responsible. When we got home at 4:00 all of them had eaten dinner and were in their costumes. Half my work was done. The rest of us got ready and then we headed to Don's Uncle Earl's home for a family Halloween party. Amber Cambridge organized this and even though we were a little late (soccer game) we had a lot of fun. Earl gave the kids a hay ride to some different houses where they went trick or treating. They had so much fun! Back at the house they decorated caramel apples and played with the other kids that were there. Then we headed out to our ward Halloween Trunk-or-treat. Adam and Amber brought little Ava and came with us. It was so good to spend time with them and Ava is such a doll. The kids enjoyed the trunk or treat bringing home more candy than we need. They especially enjoyed seeing their friends and all the different costumes. After the trunk or treat we headed to Grandma and Grandpa Culbertson's house for the final trick or treat. We were all very tired when we got home. The kids literally fell into bed and were asleep by the time their heads hit the pillow. A very fun Halloween!!

Jim and Pam from the Office

Little Miss Smarty Pants

G.I. Joe Caden

Glinda the Good Witch

Train Conductor--Choo! Choo!

Mickey Mouse

The Cambridge Clan

Hay ride

While on the hay ride, Connor started singing,
"We're on an Adventure!"
He sang this over and over. He was so excited, it was very cute.

Trick-or-Treat

Check out these cupcakes! I love them.
I wish I could take credit for them, but the credit all goes to Amber.
Thanks Amber!

Trunk-or-Treat

Someone had a laser light that made patterns on the ground. They also had music going. Both Connor and Ava loved this. They kept standing on the moving lights and dancing to the music. Very cute!

Crazy Hair Day

Yes, I sent Sierra to school looking like this on Oct. 30th. It was crazy hair day and she wanted something crazy. Of course she also took her brush, just in case she felt too stupid at school. She kept it in all day. Fun, fun!

Sierra is SOO silly.

Calico

During our Fall Break we spent a lot of time around the house. We got a couple of projects done like pruning the rose bushes, pulling out a tree, weeding, and painting a porch swing. Towards the end of the break we decided it was time to get out of the house and go do something. So we went to Calico Ghost Town. We spent an enjoyable afternoon there together. There wasn't a lot to see, but we enjoyed looking at what there was. Don overheard a few people speaking German and began talking to them. They were actually from Germany and Austria and were here touring the US. It was fun to use a little bit of the German we have learned. Carson even spoke a whole sentence in German to them. They were impressed that the kids were learning it too. Don said that everytime he began to speak German it came out in Spanish. We were laughing that he needs to unlearn Spanish so he can learn German. :) The kids really enjoyed going into the candy store where they could buy candy for 10 cents. I was amazed that a place like that existed! It was a fun afternoon.

In front of the bottle house.

Caden--always photogenic.

Sierra and Connor

Here's the group watching the train.

Rub-a-dub-dub 5 kids in a tub.

Oooh, la, la! Be still my heart!
"I'm walking like a dead guy."

"I'm doing my hot dog dance!"

Morgan wishing it was a real carriage ride.

Uh, oh!

Look what's happened to Dad!