*Christmas Overload*

We had a WONDERFUL Christmas this year! It was fun to see all of the kids wake up and be SOOO excited to go downstairs and see what they got. Hunter asked for a Big Boy Bike, a succor, and a candy cane...of course he got everything he asked for and more. Chris built him and Skyla a beautiful kitchen (the saw broke the day before Christmas so it's not quiet finished) They both got a lot of fun little things.

We woke Skyla up about 1/2 hour after the other kids and she was so happy opening gifts.

When everybody started clearing out we decided to go upstairs to our living room and have another round of gifts, these are the gifts the kids got for each other.Later that day we went over to Provo Town Centre and watched the movie "The Blind Side" and loved it. After that we went to the Festival of Lights. What a wonderful Christmas. I can't believe it has come and gone...here's for next year!:)

*Christmas Eve*

It was sooo fun to be with my whole family. Christmas Eve is usually even bigger than Christmas for us... that's when we have the big family dinner and program. It was a blast this year, we had Grandma and Grandpa Mike come and Lorrin and I 'm so glad they were able to make it!

When dinner was over and cleaned up we had our program. Me and Mom were in charge of the Nativity (we even held practices:) and the kids did such a great job!

Skyla was our little angel.

Sadie Madie played Mary and Hunter played Joseph. Hunter was being shy and reserved and when he says to Mary "Will you marry me?" Nobody could hear him so I whispered in his ear to say it loud so everyone could hear, he yells "MARRY ME!" It was so funny!

At the end of the play the kids sang Silent Night and they did such a good job!

Me, Mom, and Jess sang a song after called "A Baby Changes Everything" and I bawled through it so Jess helped me out. Then it is our tradition to go around the room and tell each other what we were most grateful for that year. It was touching to hear what everybody had to say. When that was done Santa came and gave all of the kids a gift, they all got Christmas PJ's, we got them dressed and took ALL of the kids upstairs to Hunters room where they all slept (except the babies) and they so good and didn't wake up til like 7:00! What a fun Christmas Eve!

*Santa*

My Mom got a call from a lady that was in charge of one of her scholarships and asked if she could come to this little function that had Santa (they were afraid nobody would show up) So we went with her and Sean, Tori, and Averi met us there. Hunter was so excited to finally see the man himself.

These pictures make me laugh...we are totally crowding him.Wow Hunter...can you say Fake Smile!

It was Skyla's bedtime when we got there and it shows. She was a little nervous around Santa but she did just fine.
This picture is Classic!

Look how sweet that little face is...she is completely terrified. What mean parents we all are for making our kids see Santa:)

Safe in her Daddy's arms.They had refreshments and Hunter helped himself and got comfy!

After that we went all around Orem to look at Christmas light...a little disappointing, not many people had lights up this year, but it was still a blast!

*Good Times with Grandma's & Grandpa*

A couple of weeks before Christmas we got the chance to see Chris' parents. They had to come to St. George to take care of a few things and came up North to see us...we were SOO excited! When they walked into the door Skyla was eating and was soo happy to see them...then about 3 minutes later Chris and Hunter walked in and Hunter went crazy! He was totally beside himself, it was so cute!

The night they came is the same night we had our Nielsen Family Group Date and so they watched the kids. They ended up roasting Hot Dogs on the fire and both loved it! Then Hunter showed Grandpa how to play the Wii.

These are out of order but the next day we were all going to go to temple square and meet Jen and James up there but they ended up being so late that Chris and I decided to stay home so that Lala could get a good nights rest, but Hunter was able to go and they said they had a really good time. They didn't get home until around midnight.

That morning was a Ward Christmas Party. We weren't going to go but when we woke up it was like, why not get some free breakfast, you know? Anyway, we ended up having a really fun time.

How cute is this girl! (and her outfit!:)

Hunter went up and sang with the Primary (even though he wasn't technically in Primary)

Not sure why this picture is sideways...weird!

Sunday Morning

Grandma and Grandpa had to head back to St. George after sacrament meeting. We already miss them so much...It's hard when your used to seeing them EVERYDAY to never seeing them...it's really sad! We love you guys and thanks for visiting! After church my kids decided they wanted to wrestle. They are so funny to watch. Hunter is very patient with his little sister and lets her tackle him.

So ticklish!

I had to throw this one in...gosh I love those kids of mine! They both have such personalities!

We weren't able to do Christmas Cards this year so this will have to do. We love you all and hope you have a very Merry Christmas!

*Family Christmas Date Night*

So every year for the last several years my awesome Mom, instead of buying us a Christmas Gift for Christmas Day, she takes all of the adults out for a Date Night. This is the first year that we have been able to go out with the WHOLE family... usually she would come down to St. George and the three of us would go out...We went to Red Lobster and can I just say STUFFED! We all ate SOOO much it makes me sick to even think about...I had 5 Root Beers, how disgusting is that! Anyway, we had the best time just talking and laughing.
Then we went to a play at the SERRA SHELL called the "NUNCRACKERS" and it was hilarious...I wont even try to explain it because I'll sound like an idiot but just so I remember:
"So are you Catholic? uhhhhhh..... "NO!"
"I've got the tinsel" "And I've got the balls!"

Mom, thanks again for the memory...we had a blast!

*mY gIrLy GiRl*

Man, I love this girl! She makes my day everyday! The other day she came and brought me one pink mitten then she left and came back with the other to put on, then brought her hat in for me to put on... when I went to go see what she was up to this is what I saw:She looked like she was ready to go shopping... LOVE HER! Her mittens were a little slippery so she kept dropping her baby and when she would go to pick her up she would drop everything else. CUTE GIRL!

*Here we go a Caroling....*

So for Family Home Evening we had all the family that could come over and have some Hot Soup and then we went around to our neighbors caroling. It was sooo much fun!
The kids loved sliding down every body's front yards.

*BIG NEWS!*

Well...... Um....

I'M PREGNANT!

I know, I know it's crazy right? We were trying to get pregnant at the beginning of the year but have been preventing that from happening for several months with the knowledge that Chris was going back to school and we should wait AT LEAST until he got into the Nursing Program. Well, Heavenly Father had DIFFERENT plans for us. We are super excited because we know this baby is supposed to be with us. Because we were "preventing" I didn't really keep track of my cycle but when I went to the Dr. he told me, for now at least, that my due date is Aug.2, which puts me at almost 8 weeks. I have not felt that great, you know the usual, nauseous, dizzy, that kind of stuff. Anyway, we are excited and we will keep you updated.
This was our beautiful sunset the night we found out we were pregnant. I have not touched these pictures this was the true colors, isn't it beautiful!

HOLY COW... THREE KIDS! AHHHHHHHH!:)

*Yay For Snow!*

It FINALLY snowed! (O.k. it was a while ago:) But Hunter LOVED it! He played out there until we forced him to come in. I love living here... my Mom has the best sledding hill in her back yard and my kids have all the freedom in the world back there. I'm hoping it will snow again really soon!

(Hunter had no idea I was taking pictures of him:)

He definitely has some Nielsen in him with that tongue sticking out!

*The Angel Tree*

Last Monday for Family Home Evening my Mom wanted to take the kids to the mall and have them pick a name of a little boy or girl their age from the Angel Tree. It was so much fun! This was our first time ever doing this but it was such a good experience knowing that we have so much to be grateful for. We feel picked on because we can't afford to get the kids EVERYTHING they want for Christmas. These kids that we picked from the tree were wishing for a coat and shoes. It's amazing how much we truly do have. I feel so blessed to have a roof over my head, food to eat and everything we need to keep warm in the winter. This is something we will continue to do every year. I think the kids (and adults) can learn A LOT from this.