Happy Birtday To Chris!!

Christmas day in our home is always a very special day because it is Chris' birthday too! Chris is always so gracious to make the day more about Christmas for the children than about his birthday. I try very hard to make it a special day all around, but I know that I seem to fall short on the birthday celebration part. Sorry sweet heart!

This year, the kids all helped decorate the house in a Spider Man party. Rather than the traditional birthday cake, Chris prefers a nice pecan pie. I have to say, I like his taste!

This is always such a fun way to end Christmas day. We love Chris and appreciate the hard work and attention he gives our family. This year was extra special and we defiantly appreciated the opportunity to be together as a family. We all love and adore Chris. At this time of hardship and turmoil for so many, we are grateful every day for the Lord's hand in our lives and the rich blessings he sends our way.
Love you Chris! Happy Birthday!

Merry Christmas!

We enjoyed a very nice Christmas at home, just the family. We like to stay home and keep Christmas simple. We enjoy just going at our own pace and spending time together with the children.
This year, to get Christmas eve started, the children got a surprise visit from Santa! The look of surprise on their faces when they opened the door to the big red guy standing outside was priceless! Santa delivered their Christmas pajamas and a very sweet book about the nativity to remind the children of the true meaning of Christmas. We read the book for family home evening that night.

We always act out the nativity with the children. And because we have so many children, we almost have all the parts covered! ;)

The boys, of course, are the wise men bearing gifts. They also subed in for the shepards.

Ethan was our naked Shepard dressed in pink. :) Both of the girls insisted on being Mary. I know that at some point Sarah will have to relinquish the role of the beautiful and kind Mary every once in a while to dear Addie Grace, but for now, peace was better kept just letting Sarah and Addison share the role. (But both of them were absolutely positive that there was only one Mary, we had to get kind of creative to pull that off...)

OUR CHRISTMAS DAY SCHEDULE:

Christmas Eve:

Midnight: Mom and Dad still feverishly putting the last stitches into the final home made gifts for the girls while the children slept with visions of sugar plums.

Christmas Day:

4:30 am: Mom and Dad are awakened to the excited giggles and eager voices of small children. (Our children are notoriously early risers, and this was no exception. How can we send them back to bed when they are so excited?)

6:00 am: Presents have all been opened.

6:30 am: The family sits down for breakfast.

7:00 am: Exhausted, mom and dad head back to bed while the children watch a movie.

9:00 am: The day is much better now that sane amounts of sleep have now been obtained. Ahhh, much better.

We were so tired on Christmas morning, this is the only picture that got taken. (I know, we are horrible) Ethan was so excited to see his gift from Santa, and I was SOOOO excited to see his reaction when he saw it, I knew it was going to be a good one!

We hope everyone had a wonderful Christmas!

Happy Birthday Ethan!!!

Our little Ethan is getting bigger! He turned 2 years old on Dec. 10. He is such a fun boy, he keeps us laughing all the time. We are so happy to have him with us. Our family would certainly be missing out without our Effers! Ethan is continually reminding us that making the decision to have a big family was absolutly one of the best decisions we have ever made. Thanks for being with us sweet boy!!! We love you!

It's Been A While...

It has been a while since we have posted, so just a quick catch up. We have been busy getting through school and getting ready for the holidays. Thanksgiving was wonderful. We spent the day with the Horton family in Idaho Falls, and had a great weekend to follow filled with more family parties and great times.
Recently, the kids were all invited to a Birthday party at a great tumbling gym here in Pocatello. They all had a great time and it was fun to watch all of them play.
Ryan pretty much spent the whole time up on this ledge that dropped off into a sponge pit. It was a pretty big jump, and Ryan could never quite get up the guts to take the leap. He was pretty sad when it was time to go and he realized he had wasted all of his play time. Poor guy. :) In Ryan's defense, Chirs got up there to help talk Ryan into jumping, and even Chris admitted that it was actually scarier to jump off that ledge than it looked.

All the kids had a great time. However, because Ethan had the cast on his arm removed only a week before the party, I was super watchful of Ethan and his still fragile forearm. The boy rarely shows any fear, and in a room full of trampolines, jumping toys, and a plethera of other rumble and tumble toys - this day was certainly no exception. I think he was a little irritated by me by the time the party was over. ;)