December

So I don't even know what to say since it has been so long so I will just go by the pictures I have. There were a lot of times I didn't have my camera, but I will hopefully remember. :) I tried to put them in order the best I could. All I know is that we were busy every night it seemed. But tis' the season to be busy. :)

Danny came down and helped us paint an accent wall in our house on put the Christmas lights on the house outside. It was the first year Matt let me do it and I was like a little kid in a candy shop... or as excited as I would be now to be in a candy shop. :) Thanks Danny. He also got the privilege of helping us take them down.

Beau would go for the coke every chance he got... and only the coke. He spent forever this night got one out of the box and persisted to try and get me to let him have it... and NO he has never had any, but for some reason is always drawn to it.

We celebrated Matt and Ryan's birthdays together with a fabulous cake made by Cristina!!

Happy Birthday Boys!!

~We went to the OrthoPro Christmas party at Log Haven in Mill Creek canyon. It was fun and the food was good, but of course Matt told me it was a jeans apparel... and yes we were the only ones in jeans and everyone else was dressed all nice... thanks a lot Matt. He knows he will never live that one down. I should get used to it though, part of me knew it was going to happen.

Unfortunately Beau got away with a lot more than normal while I was shopping online. This is him eating my plant dirt and playing in all the boxes and yes I still made sure he didn't choke on the plastic.

He kept trying to get his presents every chance he got.

He quite enjoyed getting into all the Christmas stuff, and loved unwrapping what I was in the process of wrapping.

~We went to Kathy's to do an early Christmas with her. We had a three course fondue dinner and it was tasty. Then we hung out and opened our gifts. Yet again I forgot the camera, but Beau did a pretty good job opening his presents it was cute. I think he was shocked that I was actually letting him open some finally.

Matt's brother Brett and wife Christy took a night and brought their family out to visit us. They live in TX and we only get to see them once a year, so it was awesome to have them over. Thanks so much for coming all the way out to see us, guys, it really meant a lot!!!

~Then we went to the Jackson family Christmas party... and PARTY it always is. They are all so funny and it never ceases to amaze me at how loud it can get, it is awesome. I of course forgot the camera and was sad cuz they were getting family pictures since everyone was there, so if anyone wants to send me some that would be wonderful!! :)

~Lindsay left the next day and went back to Africa to help at an orphanage for the second time. What a stud and we wish you well it is such a wonderful thing you are doing. Don't let the bed bugs bite... ha ha.

~Then we went down to my parents in Hyde Park and spent Christmas with them. I guess we didn't get enough chaos so we went for more.

Christmas day was actually pretty quiet... except for Beau he was screaming and could care less about opening his presents so I put him to bed, so I could open mine. :) That was probably a good thing cuz I forgot all his presents. I am a bad mom!!!

Beau started walking a little while we were there and I finally got a video of it when we were back at our house. He thinks he is so cool. He looks so cute it cracks me up.

This is our annual "Battle of the Sexes" volleyball game. In Shanna and Emily's honor the women WON!!!! Both are pregnant and couldn't attend. Also not present are Mike and Travis. Poor Shanna even had to watch all our other kids with the Grandparents while we played. It was a ton of fun and if you know anything about our family it is that we LOVE volleyball. It is just too bad that we don't get to play more often.

This was our family Christmas dinner. I only put a few pictures on but you get the drift. There is always a ton of food and gaining weight is only inevitable. Also there is a picture of our version of the Nativity with the grandkids. There wasn't quite the right spirit. It was thrown together quickly and was a little... ok extremely crazy. Shaylah baa-ed through the whole story and Jake in his cow costume scurried in and out. Then Kennedy's (Mary) outfit kept getting shorter and shorter and she kept spreading her legs apart, and of course the peanut gallery didn't make the situation any better. Oh well... it was cute.

My parents had their 40 year anniversary... and we finally did something for it. We surprised them and took them to dinner. We had a bunch of other plans but they didn't quite work out. So I just wanted to say congrats on 40 years, and thanks for being such amazing parents. We are all so blessed to be your children. You both are wonderful examples to us and we hope we can be like you someday. LOVE YOU!!!!!!!

We got a picture of all the girls... even though we all look a little rough and weren't planning on taking pictures and remember Shanna is eight months pregnant. :) Travis we missed you so much that I tried to add you in for all the kids pic but didn't do a very good job I was in a hurry.

~Then I stayed on Monday and we all went bowling. That was also Beau's birthday. I made a cake for it and of course it is the only cake I baked and had the entire center fall. So I still have no pictures of Beau turning 1. Sorry little man. I am yet again a bad mom. He liked eating the cake though.

~Then for New Years Kathy took Beau over night and we went to Wendi's new house for a party. She just bought it and did a ton of work on it and it looks awesome. It was fun even though it was weird to go home and not have Beau. But we got a lot done the next day and it was quite nice not having to drag him around.

Well that about sums it up for us. Last year was pretty good compared to the others we have had. So hopefully 2009 will just keep getting better!!