Christmas 2008

Decorating the Tree

The kids always have so much fun decorating the tree. Here are some more pics of the kids. They have so much fun looking at all the old ornaments that they made at school throughout the years.

Our First ER trip with Abigail

Yesterday the kids were goofing around and Abigail was sitting on my lap while Jacob was throwing a blanket over us. He threw the blanket to high and it hit a picture of Jesus from off a shelf that was above us and the picture came crashing down onto Abby's head. I rushed her to the bathroom and saw the large gash on top of her head. I yelled at Zach that we needed to take her to the ER and off we went. When we got there they put a numbing solution on the gash so that when they stiched her up she wouldn't feel it. She was such a tough girl. She only cried for a few minutes and that was right after it had happened. She didn't even feel them pulling the tape out of her hair and if you know Abby she cries whenever you touch her hair with a hairbrush. She received 8 stiches and has to have them for 1 week. Jacob felt so bad he cried all the way to the hospital. Abigail told Jacob this morning," Jacob, it's ok. It was an accident." She knew that her brother felt bad for what happened and she wanted to let him know that she was ok. Today, Abby was fine, it was as if nothing had happened. What a trooper!!!

O Christmas Tree

Over the years we have gone out as a family and cut down our own Christmas tree at the tree farm. Last year we bought our tree from a lot and it was the last year we will ever do that because it was dead before Christmas even got here. This year we went to a tree farm and Jacob helped pick out the tree and helped cut it down. He thought that he was so cool. MaKayla found a rabbit home and was trying to fix it because it had been stepped on and Abigail was looking at all the little trees that were her size. We had to defrost the tree overnight and then decorated it the next day. The kids have so much fun looking through the ornaments and finding the ones that they had made in previous years. I was the lucky one to put on the lights. My hands were so sticky from sap and had red dots all over them from the needles but I got it done. Thank goodness the tree will only be up for a couple of weeks because it takes up a huge portion of our family room. I like big trees.

Santa Clause Parade

Today was the Santa Clause Parade in Grand Rapids. For the past 3 years we have been able to walk in the parade and pass out candy and foam Statue of Liberty crowns. It is always cold but once you get walking you warm up pretty fast. This was the coldest year. We layered on the clothes. The twins had a great time, but Abby wasn't too sure about it. She kept crying and saying that she was cold even though she had a bunch of clothes and blankets to keep her warm in her stroller. She finally was ok when I let her throw candy. She thought that was pretty fun. I had to get pretty close to the kids so that she could get it to them. She doesn't have much of a throwing arm yet. It was cute to see the twins wave at all the people at the parade. They thought that they were pretty cool.

Kirtland, Ohio

The kids had a couple of days off from school so we decided to get out of town. We had originally planned to go to Illinois to visit Zach's sister Mariah and her family, but her kids were sick. So we called up Andrew and Steph (Zach's brother) and asked if we could crash at their house for a few days. We had a great time as always. Our kids love to play with their cousins. Abigail loves her boy cousins because they don't have a sister so they pay alot of attention to her. On Monday we went to Kirtland. While driving we ran into a snow storm and there was about 3 inches of snow on the ground. We went to downtown Kirtland to see the early Mormon settlement. We then went to the Kirtland Temple, but it was closed. After we had left I realized that I hadn't taken any pictures of the Temple. I was so mad at myself. I guess there is always next time. We then went to the Johnson farm. That is where the mob pulled Joseph Smith from his bed and took him outside and tared and feathered him. It was a neat experience being in the same place that a Prophet of God had lived and also where God the Father and Jesus visited. It's amazing the spirit you feel in these places.

This is the Newel K. Whitney Store. Joseph had lived here for a time.
This is in the Johnson Farm. This was possibly the bedroom where Joseph and Emma slept with the Murdock twins. Where Joseph was sleeping when the mob came to tar and feather him. This is where they held the School of Prophets in the Johnson Farm

I wish I had a pantry like this.

This is the fireplace that I needed last night while I was freezing in the basement.

Happy Halloween!!

This year I didn't do much as far as costumes go. I have made the kids costumes in the past and I am usually a wreck by the time Halloween comes around. This year I purchased Jacob's Red Ninja costume and MaKayla's costume was really easy, I just sewed pink fleece onto the front of her sweat shirt. Abigail's costume was the easiest because it was one that MaKayla wore a few years ago. We were invited to go the the Bishop and Suzanne's house and trick or treat and after we sat around the bonfire and chatted with some friends. We had a great time. Now it's on to the next holiday.

What a goof ball!!!

This is what I live with. One minute he has a go-tee then the next he looks like this.



I asked him where his cowboy hat and Wranglers were. He then proceeds to shave it into a mustache and says "I'm going to bring back the mustache" He said that if everyone sees that he has one all the men will want one. I don't know who he thinks he is but I don't think it is going to work. What do you think?

"Where's Abby?"

Can you find Abby? This is what we get to deal with every fall. We have huge cottonwood trees in our front yard and they all fall off and into our yard. Zach is so tired of raking up leaves. The kids love it because they get to play in them while Zach cleans them up. The only reason why I am anxious for winter is because then all the leaves will be gone, but then we have to deal with the snow. Maybe the leaves aren't so bad after all.

All caught up!!!

I know, I know I have been a very bad girl when it comes to updating my blog. But have had such a busy summer as you will be able to see in the next hundred posts. I also had a problem with my camera and thought that I would have to buy another one but I finally got it to work. Dang it. I was hoping I would be able to buy a new one. Oh well. I hope that you will all forgive me for my negligence. I will hopefully do better from now on. Enjoy!!

Beehive Slumber Party

I am 2nd Councilor in the Young Womens at my church which means that I am in charge of all the girls that are between the ages of 12-14. We have been planning to have a slumber party for a few months and we finally pulled it off. I had 5 girls and the Bishops wife over. We did makeovers, manicures and pedicures. The girls looked fabulous after their makeover. Check out the before and after pics. MaKayla was so excited to be involved. She got a makeover too. The girls also raided the dress up box and my closet and came up with some pretty creative combinations. Future fashionistas? Maybe. We were up till 2 am. I know that I am old when I have a hard time staying up till 2am.

First Day of Pre-School

A couple of moms from church decided that they wanted to do a pre-school co-op. We have 6 kids and they meet every Tues for an hour and a half. Each mom takes turns teaching in their home every 6th Tuesday. They are learning their alphabet, numbers, shapes and a specific theme for the month. Abigail loves the songs that they sing and also loves being with her friends. I will be teaching the Tuesday before Halloween so I have alot of fun things planned to do. I think it will be fun.

Dutch Village

Our good friends Jesse and Allison and their twins Max and Mallory came to visit us. We always have fun when they visit. We were able to visit Dutch Village. It is a small little village that has a lot of items dating back to the early settlers. We have lived here for almost 5 years and have never been. The entrance looks like a castle and whenever we drove past it the kids would say that they wanted to go to the castle. Abigail would say that that is where Grandma and Grandpa Manley lived. I don't know where she came up with that but she said it when we would drive past.