Rowan and Jenny

Jessie and Bella

Dale and Jessie

I dont' know how to rotate this picture, so you'll have to turn your head sideways. We went to dinner with 12 kids and were totally outnumbered. My kids were having meltdowns and wouldn't eat anything it was really fun...Next year lets just plan pizza for all of our sanities okay?

my babies

Leah and Mason in the tub

Jenny

Sammy just being cute

This is what happens when you let John babysit....they were earning stripes for good behavior and teamwork, it was cute and the kids loved it. When Tj and Jenny got home they had a good laugh.

Lake Cushman, Washington

What amazing place Washington is. We love it so much and enjoy going up every year to visit our friends. This trip it snowed the whole time which kindof limited our activities since it was so cold, but we did what we set out to do and that was to hang out with our friends, they are all so great and we had such an awesome time, except for the driving.

Gingerbread Houses

This is my first gingerbread house of the season. This year Tina wouldn't let me cheat and I had to make it all stick together with icing, can you imagine not using hot glue it was crazy, but very fun to make with the company of family.

This is Tina constructing her masterpiece.

Our Christmas Tree hunt

Our friends came up and we went out to cut the tree down...John was a little ambitious this year and our tree is resting on the ceiling which is vaulted and that's after he cut about 4 feet off the bottom...it is very beautiful though and I think we put about 2500 lights on it...I'll post a picture of it in our house when i'm not snowed out.

Getting to Know Your Friends, Christmas Edition
1. Wrapping paper or gift bags?
both, if it's to ambitious to wrap it goes in a bag.

2. Real tree or Artificial?
up here it's real all the way

3. When do you put up the tree?
it's different every year. just depends on when our friends come up.

4. When do you take the tree down?
sometime before the new year

5. Do you like eggnog?
yuck, John loves it though

6. Favorite gift received as a child?
I can't remember

7. Hardest person to buy for?
this year, Sam.

8. Easiest person to buy for?
Leah

9. Do you have a nativity scene?
no

10. Mail or email Christmas cards?
Mail, is there any other way to do it.

11.Worst Christmas gift you ever received?
bless John's heart he meant well but a guitar and he was so excited about giving it to me in front of his entire family and everyone was looking at my face and not the present it was horrible...

12. Favorite Christmas Movie?
Christmas Vacation - i love the end where he goes off on his cursing tangent it cracks me up. or the part where he can't get the lights to work.

13. When do you start shopping for Christmas?
I am one of those crazy people who get up at 4 am and go shopping on black friday...i love it.. it is the start of Christmas for me.

14. Have you ever recycled a Christmas present?
No

15. Favorite thing to eat at Christmas?
We do the whole feast at John's parents because we don't do a big thanksgiving and i love all of it...

16. Lights on the tree?
absolutely.

17. Favorite Christmas song?
kindof like them all but i'm not one of those people who goes around listening to it in the car.

18.Travel at Christmas or stay home?
both, we like to be home on christmas then to john's parents, my mom's on the eve and washington there after or maybe before this year.

19. Can you name all of Santa's reindeer's?
maybe i'm not sure. how many are there?

20. Angel on the tree top or a star?
Angel

21. Open the presents Christmas Eve or morning?
definitely morning at our house. i'm not even ready on the eve...i am usually up late on the eve wrapping for the morning.

22. Most annoying thing about this time of the year?
something annoying about christmas i'm not sure about that.

23. Favorite ornament theme or color?
well until last year it was white lights and clear and gold ornaments it was so pretty then the cat got in the tree and knocked it over on Leah and this was no small tree. so all the ornaments broke all over the living room. Lindsey saved my christmas because she made me a whole bunch of ornaments for my tree. thanks again. so now my theme is non breakable items until the kids get older.

24. Favorite for Christmas dinner?
i love all of it.

25. What do you want for Christmas this year?
hhhmmm. an ipod and a plane ticket home to see my grandmother. i really want to go home and see her and it's been more than a year and i hate that but can't afford the cost of flights.

26. Who is most likely to respond to this?
Not sending it through the email circuit.

Christmas pictures

All in all the pictures turned out pretty good. The kids were being brats and John and I were out numbered by kids and dogs. talk about hectic. good thing we didn't bring the cats. I think to get great pictures of my kids you really have to capture their attention by acting like a total fool, which i am usually good at but i had my hands full of the dogs too...oh well at least we got some good ones.