sounds of Christmas

The sounds of Christmas have been all around me. . .
music on the radio (since early November),
hustle and bustle at every store in town,
jingling bells on my front door,
crunchy snow and ice on the sidewalk...
But nothing sounds as much like Christmas
as hearing children singing.

If you didn't notice, there is a serious hole up top!

Jace didn't want a picture with his just-pulled-out-tooth hole...
I think he looks perfect!

Carter before the singing began...

Carter during the song....
he could not have been less interested in singing...
it was more mumbling the words this year.

Laityn's my-front-tooth-already-needs-braces smile...
we're in trouble!

Happy Maddy

I didn't catch a shot as they ended...
but the moment the song was over,
Maddy looked extremely annoyed about something.
I asked her about it later...
"Yep, I was annoyed. Can't remember why or who."
Typical twelve year old.

the giRLs
heading to Salt Lake to see
the Tabernacle Choir and David Archuletta
Lady was sure we were famous after
sitting through the performance and seeing all the cameras.

Love, love, love all this stuff!

you can see it on her face!

Concert #2 tonight....
Maddy sang along with somewhere between
120-150 kiddos in the 5th/6th grade chorus.
Needless to say, it was cRaZy, lOUd,
full of moms/dads/siblings/grandparents
and loads of hOlidaY sPiriT!

...have to admit, I'm sad knowing this is her
last year as a Legacy Lion...
beAutiFuL mAddY

As you can see from the above pics,
Maddy absolutely loved every minute!
You can see the JoY written on her face!

took these while trying to get the right settings in the gym...
not too shabby...of course, it's hard to get a bad picture
of these two cuties!

Only one more week until Christmas Break...
and yes, I am counting!

5 + 1 makes Jace 6 !

We celebrated Jace's almost 6 birthday tonight. The real day is on the 8th, but we had everyone here tonight for a little party. Ya know all those yummy holiday foods that you don't usually have the time to make. . . We made them all tonight! It was sooo yummy! Jace was thrilled with all of his presents, in fact, he had to sleep with some of them in his bed tonight.

my little man lookin' way too big!

Yes! Star Wars!

Airbender Sword... not quite like the one in the movie,
but close enough.

wishin' and hopin' for somethin' good!

It was a great night to spend with my whole family. I did realize that the time is fast approaching that I am going to need a double oven... too much food that all needs to be in the oven at the same time. The night was perfect...good food, family, and fun...yay!

it's December!

When I look around, there are signs everywhere that it is December.... Christmas lights & decorations, parking lots that are always full, every check stand at every store has a line, snow and freezing temps, the background on my blog.... but one of the biggest signs is that the choir concerts have officially begun. Kenzie performed last night. Maddy is next week, and then the big school-wide sing is the week after that. Because Kenzie is in 8th grade choir, we were lucky enough to get to purchase "the dress". Mind you, it's a $65 dress, that will never be worn again once choir is over. Kenzie looked beautiful, but I just cringe at spending so much on something that will be used so little. The concert was all about Christmas and the girls sounded awesome.

Told ya she was beautiful...that straight hair
took us over an hour...her curls are stubborn!

The kids' favorite song of the night was called "Fum, fum, fum".
It's a Spanish Dance Carol, but it's hard not to giggle when 70 girls
are all singing fum, fum, fum...yep, still giggling.

cranberry soaked

Thanksgiving....we ate all the usual stuff...turkey, stuffing, yams, rolls, potatoes, veggie trays, pie, and of most importance: cranberry sauce. Of course, I left the cranberry sauce in the fridge at my house and remembered it just as we were ready to bless the food. Tim made what should have been a quick drive home for the cranberries. We all waited...waited...and waited...and then started making up ideas of what could be taking him so long. We were guessing he had been pulled over for speeding. Kelly was guessing Tim was just backing in and out of the garage... something he hasn't done for several weeks while we stored Nicole's stuff in our garage. As it turned out, we were all wrong. On the way back to my mom's, Tim was crossing 100 East in AF (his light being green), while the girl coming the other way plowed right through her red light. Tim barely made it out of the way. When both cars stopped, Tim got out to check things out. He could just fit his finger in between the two cars....really, could not have been any closer. After trying to calm the hysterical girl driving the other car, Tim climbed back in the mini and realized the cranberries were face down, soaking into the seat. He made it back, we saved enough sauce for dinner, and spent our after dinner time bissel-ing out the seat. Guess it couldn't be Thanksgiving without a real reason to be thankful!

pre-dinner pics

pictures of my kids would be so easy if they could always
just be completely insane!

Lindsey came up with a make-your-own turkey craft which
entertained the 16 year old down to the 3 year old
for a good part of the afternoon.

All you Argyle cousins, doesn't this remind you of
the crafty stuff Aunt Bambie used to have us make
every year at Thanksgiving?
One of my personal favorites were the marble/bead/bandana
necklaces.... yep, I wore those proudly!

I am thankful for so many things:
my entirely awesome family,
wonderful friends/neighbors,
bissel vacuums (to clean up cranberries),
my warm bed (especially with winter upon us),
my mini (that somehow just keeps holding together),
and most importantly: the blessings,
big and small, that I see everyday in my life.
Hope you all had a very thankful day!

the farmer and the turkey

I'm sitting here in disbelief that it is already Thanksgiving weekend. For those of you in Utah, or those hearing the weather reports, last nights "Utah Blizzard of 2010" was more like lots of wind and a skiff of snow. The temperature has dropped into the teens...I think I'll take fluffy snow over the sub zero temps that are on the way. The last few weeks have been packed with the usual craziness, and a few added surprises. Kelly and Nicole sold their house, bought a new house in AF, and just signed the closing papers yesterday. Lindsey and Tim had a foundation sinking issue, and got to have 5 massive pillars drilled into their foundation and pushed 100 feet down into the bedrock. Messy, messy, messy.... So we've all spent the last few weeks packing, moving, cleaning, and all that stuff. We're hoping December will be less eventful. Jace's kindergarten class put on a Thanksgiving program yesterday. I pulled out my camera and found these gems on the memory card....bored and babysitting....with a camera

Jace played the part of the farmer
looking for his three Thanksgiving turkeys

The night before Thanksgiving, when I had gone to bed
I heard 3 turkeys talking and this is what they said.
The 1st turkey said, I think it would be nice
to sleep behind the haystack and stay warm and dry.
The 2nd turkey said I think I'll find a tree
and hide up in the branches where no one will see.
The 3rd turkey said I think it will be fun
to hide the farmer's hatchet and run, run, run, run.

farmer Jace...asleep...sort of

Then on Thanksgiving morning when the farmer came around
those 3 turkey gobblers could not be found!

Bowing to the audience

The perfect way to start our Thanksgiving break!

turning twelve

That's right...our little Maddy turned twelve on Friday.
Although you wouldn't know it by her size,
she is all growin' up and becoming a young lady.
She is one of those rare 12 year olds
that still loves to play polly pockets and barbies with her little sister.
And her bookshelf is still full of books on fairies,
and she can read your palms and tell you
exactly what type of fairy you would be....
and we love her for that!
Maddy is already hard at work on her
personal progress for young women's.
She is determined to earn her recognition award
before she leaves Beehives....and knowing her, she will.
Tim took her to the temple on her birthday
to do baptisms for the dead.
Maddy words when she bore her testimony about it today
"it was the most spiritual experience I think I've ever had,
since my baptism day". Such a sweet girl!

...ever wonder what you feed 12 year old girls...
tiny little finger foods....LOTS of tiny finger foods...

all the BFF's

our family party was tonight

...ahh the keyboard...she's been waiting and wanting
this since last Christmas

yep...12 candles...

If I know Maddy, she probably wished that fairies were real...for sure real.
Happy Birthday Mads! We love you!