Merry Christmas!

We had a very nice Christmas.  Christmas eve started with out favorite Turkey and Rice and then the kids put on the Christmas play for us.  Hayden was the 3 wise-man, the shepherds, and the innkeeper!  Kelton was Joseph, Kara was Marry, and Halle was the very Hungry Angel.  Our costumes looked a lot like Aunt Natalie's Family Snuggie picture.  I was the narrator and Brent was the video-grapher. I should have taken a picture.  I think we got a pretty good video though, and thank goodness for Halle's overly expressive personality the play was quite entertaining. 

 Then we opened our traditional P.J present!  Halle was so excited about everything.

 Kelton and Kara were a little sick!

 The kids slept in until 7:30!  YEAH!  Halle saw this picture and said,"My hair is crazy!"

 We sang down the stairs!

 Santa brought a Barbie house for the girls which was a huge hit, and is in constant use!

 Kelton got the biggest remote control Truck!  He loves anything that is the "biggest"!  The bigger the better!  Hayden got some legos and another nerf gun!  I'm surprised Santa thought we needed another nerf gun!  I think he thinks were going to have some cousins visit or something for a nerf war.

 For some reason this year I did not have any boxes to wrap anything in.  This should have been the year that I had tons of boxes, right?  I mean we just moved here and I packed over 200 boxes!  Of course I unpacked everything and got rid of every single box!

 With my kids being such big eaters I decided to wrap up some of their favorite snacks!

 I didn't realize I wrapped so many things in snack boxes!

 Actually it was kind of funny opening up all the presents and finding garbage bags and snacks, and I wasn't even trying to be funny!

 We saw our Santa gifts and opened one present and then headed off to church!  It was actually  fun to go to church and get all ready and be reminded again of the birth of our Savior.   It also prolonged the gift opening.  Hayden thought we should do it like that every year, because then it feels like your opening presents all day long!  Plus the kids look better with their hair all did up!

 Some presents from Nanny.

 Some presents from Manny!

 Halle saw this and said, "How did you take that picture of me with out me even knowing it?"

 Hayden is ready for WAR!!!  He really wants some cousins to come!!! 

 Some presents from Grandma and Grandpa!

 This is how she was about everything!  How fun is that?

 Hayden getting in on the action!

 Kara gives me a little smile too!  It's hard when you have two girls that want the same things to make sure you please them both!

Kelton had a super hero/lego Christmas and he went right to work!  I think he put everything together!  He was way too fast.  I thought all those legos would last at least a couple of weeks!  I got a bunch from dirt cheap for good prices and then realized that they might actually be missing pieces!  Lucky for us only one set was really missing lots of pieces!

We feel very blessed this year.  I am so grateful for a happy healthy family that loves each other.  I am so grateful for the birth of our savior and the hope he brings into my life.  I can't imagine my life with out that hope and guidance.  

I also hope that 2012 goes just a little slower!  2011 seemed to just fly by.  

HALLE'S 6th Birthday!!!

Happy Birthday to one of my favorite Girls!  

 Halle decided on a Barbie cake!  With a few set-backs we finally came up with the finished product.  Everyone helped me make the cake.  I think they did pretty good.  When I watch Cake Boss I think to myself maybe I should be a baker that looks fun, and then I make a cake and half way through it I want to quit.  Then I think I don't want to be a Cake Maker.  I actually don't even like cake.  I think only a quarter of the back of her dress was actually eaten.  I made a yellow cake with butter cream frosting so I think it probably tasted good.  I wouldn't know though because I didn't taste it.  

 Halle trying to hold the cake up.  It was really heavy with all that frosting on it.  See how her face is turning kind of red.  She was trying so hard to keep from dropping it!  

 This girl was so excited for her Birthday she couldn't even sleep the night before!  She has so much personality.  She can be the sweetest thing but she also has a firey temper.  The funny thing is even when she is getting so mad (stomping her foot, furrowing her brow, or sticking her tongue out)  I just can't help but just love her.  She loves anything pink and sparkly.  She loves make-up and pretty dresses.  She loves dressing up, playing barbies, playing babies, coloring, friends, and singing.  She has a contagious laugh.  She loves to be chased and tickled.  She loves when Hayden chases her, when Kelton plays with her, and she worships everything Kara does. We love love love love our little Halle!

 We went to the Gulfport chidren's Museum for her birthday!  I went crazy taking tons of pictures, because it was such a cool place!  I kept thinking how much fun all the cousins would have here!

 Kelton tried to look like he wasn't having fun!

 Kara was hilarious!  She put on all the costumes and acted everything out.  Then after she was done she would put everything neatly back where it went.  It was really fun to watch her.  She was kind of a spazz too shaking her hands and talking to herself and to Halle!

 Hayden was kind of wandering around wondering if he was too old for this place, even though deep inside I know he just wanted to play!  I mean come on I wanted to play!

 Letting loose a little Kelton gets into it!

Cool climbing gym in the middle of the Museum!

 Girls at the Mexican Restaurant 

 The Hotel

Wheel Chair!

 Pretending to be deaf

 Tea time at the Hotel

 The grocery store!

 Outside playing!

The outdoor kitchen

 Cool Forts!

 Hayden really wanted to play tag!

 Cute little Houses for the kids to play in!

 Outside the Museum!

 Finally Birthday Candles and presents!  It was a very long day and this girl was pooped!

 She had asthma and had the hardest time blowing out her candles.

 Keep trying!

 Get a little closer!

 Finally we turned the cake around and she still couldn't blow the candles out!

 I didn't have any boxes and so I wrapped one of the presents in a cereal box.  She was so cute about getting cereal as a present.  She really thought we go her cereal for her Birthday.  

 All clean in her new PJ's from Grandma and Grandpa!

 A few more pictures of the museum!

 Hats from the hat shop! 

 Wheel chair basketball!

 Finally we made it to Roller Skating!  Halle's Birthday Wish!

 She really wanted to go roller skating and she loved it!

 The roller rink with my phone.  Kelton is in the left corner. Kara is in the left corner going the wrong way.  Halle and Daddy, and then Hayden in the green shirt.

 The girls loved skating!  Reminded me a little of when I was a kid and we used to dress up and roller skate around our drive way in our dress up clothes.  I only fell twice and I have a huge bruise on my rump to prove it!  Kara and I were holding hands skating and she lost her balance.  I was a little in front of her so as she went down her skates flew up in the air hitting my backside.  She kept a tight grip on my hand which caused me to fall right on top of her with her skate hitting me right in the buttocks!  Ouch!

 Halle was very proud of herself, she could do it all by herself by the end.  Everyone is now begging to go roller skating again!

 Kara was so funny and she kept going the wrong way!

 Kelton was not perfect, so of course the sour face and the I hate roller skating pout!  Funny part is he now wants to go back and do it again!

Hayden had already braved the elements during his band trip and so of course was a pro (well compared to the rest of us).  He was too fast for my camera!  Brent on the other hand wanted to kill all the kids that kept running into him!