Bowling

Being cooped up all winter is hard on everyone. Last Saturday we decided to kick our winter blues at the bowling alley. It was the kids' first time and they had a blast! They loved the funky shoes, picking out their ball, and watching it get sucked back up and rolled through the ball retriever.
Lola was a happy camper when we started... but nap time was soon approaching.

Wyatt pushing his ball down the lane with a little direction guidance from daddy

Hoping for a strike. With the helper both Wyatt and Evan were able to aim and shoot pretty well.

Having a great time. Mommy getting ready to help Wyatt, all he wanted was to get his ball from the machine.

All day we told him he could have a treat at the bowling alley. All he wanted was a coke. We don't let him drink coke at home but his Nali's and Uncles let him have a sip or two. Apparently he loves it because when I asked him what he wanted from the snack bar he loudly said a coke!He thought it was the best treat.

Evan wanted to do it all by himself. He loved bowling and he was really good too.

Pushing his ball down the lane.

Lola about 5 frames into it. She was so tired and couldn't get comfy enough to go to sleep. She fussed most of the time but was a good sport in waiting for us to finish our game.

Russell won the game, I came in second but not by much, Evan was close on my tail. Wyatt drank all of his coke, ate most of the nachos, and contently came in last. Lola fell asleep about 5 minutes after we started on our way home.

The Next Mozart?

I LOVE sharing music with my kids.

Lola will sit on my lap and listen to me play or she'll lay on the floor and watch, listen, and talk as I play music. Plunking out chopsticks
Music makes her happy too! I'm glad that all of my kids love music. Evan is our singer, Wyatt is our mover and shaker ( I think he might be the drums and guitar kind of guy), and Lola loves sounds and playing the piano.

Christmas

We had a great Christmas this year. As the kids get older, and they can be more involved Christmas becomes bigger and more exciting each year. This year especially I feel like we really connected and grew closer over the season which is always great. I love celebrating the birth of our Savior. This year it really felt like a joyous celebration all month long. I loved it. Evan and his Sis. He takes such good care of her and they are getting to be better and better friends each day. Evan hates these photos but there my favorite. Evan always says the flash is too bright, which is true at 7:00 am.
Wyatt didn't care about the flash and refused to wake up. Russ finally carried him out to the tree and once he saw what was going on he was more than willing to wake up.

Uncle Jason with baby Lola. She woke up at 6:30am to eat and I tried to lay her back down but she was up and ready for Christmas day. This was her first Christmas. She had a lot of fun, and we had a lot of fun introducing her to all of our Christmas traditions.

Wyatt's wake up look. He always cracks me up!

Evan's wake up look. He did not want to have pictures taken but we told him he had to before presents. So he sported a pouty look for most of the Christmas photos. This year was the best for him because he was so excited for Santa and had a blast with our Christmas countdown banner. He helped with lots of projects and helped teach Wyatt and Lola the true meaning of Christmas.

Opening presents is always fun, but goes faster than I can take pictures of.

Evan and Wyatt got a V-motion from Santa and they love it. They have enjoyed learning to play it and Mom loves it because the games are educational.

I love this kid. He always has the best looks! Wyatt discovered Toy Story this year and that was all he wanted to do. If he wasn't watching toy story, he was playing toy story. My favorite memory is when he climbs up on the couch and yells "yippie skipity and beyond" (to infinity and beyond) then he jumps off the couch.

Uncle Jordan helping Lola open her presents. She liked the tissue paper the most I think. Although one of her favorite toys is an octopus that Grandma got for her. She loves to play with it, and it is super entertaining for her while mom helps the boys, does dishes, or whatever needs to be done.

This year we tried to focus on service and being kind to others. Evan loved making cookies and cinnamon rolls for his friends and families we thought would like it. He had a blast doing neighbor gifts. When he went and dropped off the first plate of cookies, I let him do it himself while I watched from the car, he didn't really say anything so I coached him to say Merry Christmas. At the next house he got out of the car and took the plate of cookies up to the house knocked and said "here are some cookies and they are soooo good!" then he left. I'm so proud to be his mom!

I love these kids. They are my greatest blessing, Being their mom has made my life so crazy, but a lot more great.

Fun Lola Pic's

I love this little girl! Cheese! Notice she's sporting 2 teeth on the bottom
Her hair is so fun. This was the first time I tried to pull it up. I think her pig tails turned out so cute. Russ thinks they look like radish tops; there is no denying she's beautiful.

I don't know why this picture didn't turn. She is truly a happy baby

Waiting for her hair to dry with curlers in. Oh to be a girl!

Ready for church and gorgeous as ever!

Snowman

We got lots of snow this year, and Evan was super excited to build a snowman. Evan and Daddy spent part of the morning putting together their snowman. Daddy working on packing down the snow.
Evan trying to make a ball for his "head"

About half way through the gut and legs fell out of the snowman. Evan quickly tried to pack the snow back together to fix it.

Working to pack in the snow and keep it from falling apart. Unfortunately the next week was fairly warm and our snowman only lasted a few days; but Evan had a blast building him so that is what counts!

Tree Hunting

My favorite holiday tradition is quickly becoming our annual Christmas tree hunt. This year we went out near Devil's canyon to cut our tree. It was a warm day but had snowed a few days before, making it wet and muddy but at least it wasn't freezing. The boys love helping every year. This year it was Evan's turn to pick out the tree. Wyatt as always was just happy to be there. This, we thought, was going to be our tree so we took pictures and then Evan choose another one. Lola was asleep in the truck so Mom stayed behind with her so these are the only pictures we got.This is Russ getting ready to cut down the first tree but Evan quickly choose another one and the "men" relocated while mom stayed behind.This is the actual tree that went in our house after they cut it down and brought it back. Wyatt was a little cold because he couldn't keep his hands out of the snow.Russ putting on the lights. Evan and Wyatt got to decorate the tree all by themselves this year. Mom and Dad had minimal input which was scary, uplifting, and a little liberating for mom. The final product. The kids did a great job this year as they do every year. I love getting our tree each year. One fun thing about our tree this year is that the tree itself was crooked so no matter which way the tree sat in the holder it was always tipsy. It did make it through the holiday season without tipping over so we couldn't ask for more.