Our very own Four Christmases

WARNING! An abundance of pictures follow!

(the next 5 entries are of Christmas.. You've been warned)

Post-Christmas

Christmas at Brando&Carlie's again. This time my Dad is there and alls well.. Time for another Christmas!

This is my only pic with all three kids.

Daddy helping Spencer.

Brando giving Hyrum a big kiss. hehe, I didn't include it but the next pic is of Hyrum crying. --Don't worry, bud I would too.

Grandpa and Grandma got the boys this RAD chess set. I love it! Good pick, good pick!

They're both in chess club at school. This set is awesome!

Grandma Ofelia made Syd this BEAUTIFUL Snow White dress! Syd wouldn't take it off. :)

Dress up time!

Hope Everyone's Christmas was MERRY

The big day. Love, Mr. Bowl full of Jelly

Oh traditions. Every Christmas morning, the kids have to drag Daddy out of bed to open the presents. So much fun to watch!

Rolling Dad out of bed. hehe

He resists, but always loses!

I included a few pictures of each kid opening presents or hamming it up to the camera :) I'm such a pest for these kind of events! We are at Brandon's house for Christmas Day.. I have to admit.. I never got out of my jammies. :)

Buzz is the word.

Someone is excited

ooh. I think I caught him mid-sentence. I just love these pics, showing off the missing teeth :)

And here is Spence's tongue. You've seen it before.

Deer stuck in the headlights pic.

Grandparents are awesome!

presents

And more presents!

I didn't include pics of Syd opening her gifts, but here are some of her wearing them.. Almost every single one. :)

Note: necklace and purse

Boots/Princess Slippers

tutu (she looks like a teenager having an identity crisis, except cuter and not so scary)

Christmas' Eve

Christmas' Eve was with my family. We had .. uh.. fun :) Anyway. Ofelia made the cutest little Santa outfits for the two youngest grandkiddies: Sydney and Hyrum. Enjoy the pics!

This is before they got er, REALLY bored and upset

"Rah"

"Look at me, I'm cute"

"No more pictures!"

Don't smile.. don't smile.. Oh I see one coming

HYRUM

Ok. Is this not absolutely adorable?!? Seriously

And the cuteness continues

Love this little guy! He's the cutest little Santa's helper.

Santa Clause is coming to TOWN

SANTA CLAUSE took time out of his busy elf drill-sergeant schedule to visit my in-laws house! We must be special!! The following pictures are of Santa and my kids + niece/nephew..

Hadley is forever cute. Strangely familiar with Santa already..

Spence was thrilled. SANTA BEFORE CHRISTMAS, WOW!

Braden kept telling us Santa gave him a sneak peek of whats in store for Christmas! hehe

Syd wasn't quite sure, but since everyone else was doing it, why not?

Talon thought Santa was his Grandpa. Silly Talon!

pre-Christmas.. pre-Santa

This year I was off work for Christmas AND Christmas Eve (AMAZING), so we called and invited ourselves to St. George for Christmas in the Desert. These pics are from Christmas at home, pre-Christmas and pre-Santa. (I refrained from posting every one, so here is alittle taste of pre-Christmas instead)

Spence is an old pro at unwrapping presents, and certainly not sad to do it 3days in advance.. As you can tell :)

My awesome Braden, with his missing teeth, loves opening presents. Who can blame him? He too is a pro. Something about boys and destruction.. I should've taken a picture of my family room after!

Sydney's gift wrapping talents are a tad more delicate.. Even being a toddler, she was careful to find the tape and peel it off, then hand the paper to the closest grownup that she designated be wrapping paper keeper.. haha.

The entry I wish I didn't have to write

Hey all. Its been forever since I blogged. So sorry. I wish I could say that it was because I have been vacationing and too busy! Or shopping! How fun that would have been! Instead, I have some unfun, unfortunate news.. In the 18th week of my pregnancy, I went in for an ultrasound expecting to see the gender of my baby, but instead got my heart broke! I lost the baby. My baby wasn't moving, and we were informed that it passed away at 14wks... I miscarried the next day. I still don't know what happened, but the doctor is running blood tests to determine if I contracted a virus that infected my babe, causing fetal demise.

I am coping surprisingly well, although I have to admit I have a tender spot in my heart that is going to take some time to heal. On the up side, I have more energy, fat to burn and am back to work, busying myself on all occasions.

I am thankful for my great hubby, who has been loving and compassionate as his heart was broke too. It is comforting to have such wonderful little munchkins who make me smile by patting my head and telling me everything is ok when I'm sad. And I know that despite my loss, I am blessed. And in ending, I want to share this poem that I have found to be beautiful:

The Pillar of Cloud

LEAD, kindly Light, amid the encircling gloom,
Lead thou me on!
The night is dark, and I am far from home,—
Lead thou me on!
Keep thou my feet! I do not ask to see
The distant scene—one step enough for me.

I was not ever thus, nor prayed that thou
Shouldst lead me on;
I loved to choose and see my path; but now
Lead thou me on!
I loved the garish day, and, spite of fears,
Pride ruled my will: remember not past years!

So long thy power hath blest me, sure it still
Will lead me on,
O’er moor and fen, o’er crag and torrent, till
The night is gone,
And with the morn those angel faces smile
Which I have loved long since, and lost awhile.

by John Henry Newman.

Family Reunion 2009

Uncle Danny being his "special" self.

My Braden. Outside. With Rockets. Can we say.. fun?

Spencer thinks they'll launch if he positions the pvc just right..

Ok. I'm not one to encourage the riding of atv vehicles and toddlers.. But she is just so. so. cute.

Cousin Talan gathering supplies. They actually tried to use these bigger pvc's as marshmallow guns. HaHa. You should've seen it. I wonder why it didn't work? Curious.

All in all, we had a very lazy weekend at PineValley. The snacks were good, added adipose was not, but all was made up in games and good times. Ah, family. Gotta love 'em!

Four

So um. Blog followers. I have an announcement! On April 22 my family will no longer consist of 5 people, but SIX. I am expecting my 4th and final bundle of joy. :)

Bear Lake

Our car is was only 5ft away and Syd decided she had found an optimal sand spot. She sat there all by herself and played.. Then screamed like a banshee when I put her in the car.

Bruno and I had fun running through the shallow water. Haha. Brandon and I walked him into deeper water and he can swim, but unfortunately hated it.

Insisted on wearing the Braden's life vest. Cute, huh. I caught a Daddy moment!

Check out the pot belly.

No smiles out of Braden, which is odd. I think he wanted to experiment on his poses. Sweety, I wouldn't recommend this one for your next shoot. :)

As always, its a chore to get Spence to look at the camera. Oh well.

Bear Lake was fun. Haha. I got wrong directions for the campsite, so on the way there we travelled like 30 min past our destination (Brandon will tell you it was 2hrs but don't believe him). Then the night we camped, it rained. It was only like 65 degrees on the beach here. But we played anyway, and I waded through the water. Sorry no pics of me. I wouldn't hear of it. :)

Minnetonka Cave

The cave was awesome. There was a section with very steep stairs that you could see through the slots.. I had completely forgotten how much I am scared of heights! Imagine.. in a cave being scared of heights. I was literally forcing myself to descend. Oh my gosh it was petrifying! But I did it, and I may have bruises on my knees from the knocking, but I did it by golly!

However, I wish I could've hiked without a tour-guide and group..

And while we're wishing.. a tripod would've been nice too. (Note the blurriness)

Spencer decided that needed to leave his mark in the cave.. A pee puddle. We toileted the animals before we descended into the cave, and Syd held it.. However my wonderful Spence filled his shoes and spilled the rest onto the cave floor. So much for maintaining a fragile ecosystem. Joys of children. (Can you see his pee trail on his pants?)!