Last pics from Firestone

 Well, here a few last pictures from Colorado:

The day after Christmas it snowed and the kids had a lot of fun playing in it.  It was powdery so we couldn't make a snow man or fort, but we could shovel it all into a pile and make a small hill to slide down.  Doug was on the ball and made the "Last Snow" sign.  I was glad that they got to play in the snow one last time before the move to Texas.

 New sweaters that they wore to church.

 Cute girls!

 Our neighbors threw a going away open house for us on the Saturday after Christmas.  It was nice to visit with friends and eat some yummy food.  Thanks Ben and Claudia.

 I knew I wouldn't get this project done for a long time unless I did it before the move.  I managed to put together some dresses for these dolls.  The fabric was stretchy so I didn't have to deal with button or any type of fastener.  The sleeves were a pain though :).  I really don't know how you would make Barbie clothes, they are just too little.

Christmas!

It was a great Christmas - everyone liked their presents and we were able to just relax and spend time together as a family.  

I spent 3 days wrapping presents - staying up late, in order to get everything done.  I had bought the presents from both grandparents so I had to wrap those as well.  And when you have 5 kids - that adds up to a lot of presents.  I had to wait on a few presents until Christmas Eve because they weren't ready yet.  I learned a lesson with buying things on Ebay.  I forgot to ask if it came from a non-smoking house and the LOTR figures that I bought for the boys smelled so bad.  I washed them, sprayed them with Fabreeze, let them air out outside for a day and then let them sit in kitty-litter for a day.  The kitty-litter I think worked the best, but some of them still smell.  Oh well, live and learn.  

Damon woke up early - 6:00, and then the girls were up around 6:30 and so we woke up Tyler and Chris around then. 

 Santa brought Lego sets and Damon and Tyler got right to work on those - the rest of the presents waited.

 Santa brought some Little People and My Little Pony stuff for the girls.

 The girls opened some new shoes and these strollers at the beginning and they raced back and forth for quite awhile having a blast.

 Chris got this cool transforming dinosaur and a small Lego set from Santa.

 In Damon's stocking was the 'one ring,' he was pretty excited about it and wore it all day and kept it in his pocket for the next few days.  Now he has it sealed in an envelope with wax - keeping it secret and safe. :)

 Kaylee couldn't stay away from the candy - we finally had to move everything up.  She definitely has a sweet tooth.

 The girls got some dolls that came with bunk beds and rocking horses from us.  It was fun to see them rock them, feed them, and put them to bed.

 Dressing up was also fun. Kaylee loved the new plastic heel shoes - she wore them all day.

 They were so tired around 9:00, I thought Kaylee was going to fall asleep.  They caught their second wind, but they were cute to cuddle on the couch and look at some books together.

 Kaylee and Jenna's loot.

 Doug's - we kept things small this year since our main present is our new house and new furniture that we will probably buy.  (FYI, he got a lantern, car towel, book, shirt, Piano Guys CD, magnets, muscle relaxing thing, and a new family game.)

 This is my pile with some of the family things.  I got new shoes, a necklace and ring, cookie cutters, socks, gloves, dish towels and a sandwich maker.  Tyler got me the pink mom measuring tape.  New games this year were Q-bitz, Telestrations, Snorta, and Who Will Win.

 Chris: Dinosaur, Lego Batman, LOTR figures, books, Monsters Inc game similar to Guess Who?, clothes, and an umbrella.

 Damon: LOTR Lego Ship, LOTR figures, clothes, Tetris bopit, books, umbrella, coat, and skylander figure.

 Tyler: Ninjago Lego car, LOTR figures, crayola projector, bounce game, umbrella, clothes, books, and new coat.

 Chris built his Lego set all by himself - he was pretty excited about it.

 Cai's cool car.

 The cool ship of the dead.

We had an easy lunch and then I made a nice Turkey dinner.   I did a brine and it turned out so juicy and yummy.  It was nice to just be with family and not have to hurry off to go anywhere.  We opened presents on and off all morning which was nice.

I am so thankful for the Christmas season.  We had a nice meeting on Christmas Eve, but it was pretty short since Doug had just gotten home from Texas.  He was a big present this year - we had all missed our dad.  I am thankful for our Savior Jesus Christ and for everything He did for us.  Merry Christmas everyone, and have a happy New Year.

Gingerbread

I was feeling kind of worn out and I wasn't sure if we would get to the gingerbread house this year, but on Monday afternoon I made the dough and we threw an idea together.  We did a Lord of the Rings theme this year.  We had planned on making the 'one ring' and that was pretty easy.  Then as we were rolling out the rest of the dough I thought it would be fun to make a hobbit house.  So we kind of just estimated on the walls and I think it turned out great.  Damon did all the candy decorating on Bag End.  Jenna and Kaylee loved playing with a bit of dough and ate a lot of it. (So excited to roll out things on my new counter - no more tile for me:)  ) 

 We decorated on Tuesday.  Some of the Reynolds came over as well with graham crackers and candy so Tyler and Chris made their own little houses.

Tyler made a tower from the Mines of Moria - with Gandalf defeating the blue cave troll.

 Chris made a small hobbit home for Merry and Pippin.

 Bag End

 The One Ring to Rule Them All!

 And Damon made a fun sign out of Legos.

Christmas Sunday

This morning went fairly well.  We had time to take a picture before church. I have such good looking kids.

I taught in primary today, I made a little ornament for my students and then had them make a little box to give to someone in their family.  It was a good lesson.  I hope we can always be looking to give more than receive.  I focused on our Savior and how He is the gift that our Heavenly Father gave to us.  I think it is an amazing gift, one that can never be repaid.  I am grateful for this Christmas season and the time it gives us the think about our Savior.  Merry Christmas everyone.

Being a mom

So the rest of the week was pretty normal mom duties.  Lots of laundry - the girls like to change clothes during the day and they are messy along with occasional accidents.  I watched my friends kids on friday for quite awhile.  They played together really well though and had a fun time.  I have had my kids do some Yoga to help them calm down in the evening.  I put it on for the girls.  The boy cartoon that is the instructor is shirtless, so the girls had to match - too funny.  When the boys came home from school we watched How to Train Your Dragon 2.

Saturday was busy with cleaning and other things.  I went to a baby shower in the morning and had a final choir practice.  Then I cut the boys' hair, provided dinner, and then played Settler's with Damon and Tyler while bathing the girls.  They are really getting into the game now.  

The girls napped horribly - they were very grouchy.  I had them skype with Doug so they could cry to him for awhile. :)  Grateful for technology.  

Tuesday December the 16th

Tuesday was a busy day.

I ran into town in the morning to run errands.  I will miss my friend who switches with me so we can do thing without kids.  I went to switch something at Kohls that was the wrong size - they didn't have the right thing to switch, so I just returned it.  I also went to use some Kohls cash, but I found out as the checkout that it was no longer valid because I had returned something that I had bought to get the Kohls cash, so it was kind of a bummer trip.  I did go over the JCPenny though and use a $10 coupon there to get a nutcracker that was originally $34, on sale for $14 so I got it for $4.  That is always fun.  I was hurrying so fast to get a few things at the dollar store and some craft things at Hobby Lobby for my primary lesson - it takes me so long to decide sometimes.  I made an ornament for my class today and I had a hard time figuring out what I wanted to do.

The afternoon was normal, but I was buy getting things ready for the evening.  Damon had his choir concert.  We left a bit early and delivered the last of our treats.  I made dinner for a family in the ward and delivered that.  Damon did such a great job.  The choir director was very good and the songs she picked were very fun.  The rest of the crew listened pretty well - the girls kept crawling all over me and Chris made Kaylee upset during one of the songs and cried loud enough that everyone who was recording the concert will have her documented :(

Then as soon as we got back home I left for a concert with a friend.  We went to the So You Think You Can Dance Tour.  It was AMAZING!  We had so much fun.  We left a bit late because of Damon's concert but it ended up being ok, we literally had been in our seats for less than a minute before it started.  It was so fun to see the dancers in person.  All of their talent was so much more impressive to see it in person.  It was awesome to watch some of the best numbers from the season and see some new ones.  It was interesting that the top two winners didn't dance the most.  The girl from Utah, Natasha actually looked like the star.  She had some of the quickest costume changes that I have ever seen.

I am so glad that I was able to go.   We had found out that we were moving right after we bought the tickets, so I thought that we would be gone before the concert, so I'm kind of glad that things took so long so that I could go - and that the boys could finish karate and that Damon could perform at his choir concert.

It was a fabulous night, and I was so thankful that a friend of mine was willing to come over and put the kids to bed and stay late.  It saved a lot of baby sitting money.  (I made her dinner though)

Karate awards night

Damon and Tyler did so well.  It is fun to see what they have learned.  This was Damon's first class and he caught onto everything very quickly.  

Damon received the yellow with black stripe belt level.

Tyler went up to a orange with blue stripe.