Spring

Now that fall is approaching, I guess I better finish blogging about last spring!  We headed to St. George over spring break in early April to see Grandma and Grandpa Bergin.  We enjoyed all of the red rock, Zion National Park, swimming and hanging out with Grandma and Grandpa. Sadly, Grandma was very sick and couldn't do much with us. Next time, Grandma!

 Emma got a haircut!  She'd been wanting short hair for awhile and we finally did it.  She was so happy!  It looked so cute on her too.  

 Emma turned 10 (!).  Grandma cooked her a delicious roast beef dinner for her birthday.  Oh, how we have missed Grandma's cooking!  It was an even bigger deal because Grandma was sick and she still managed to wow us!  This is one happy girl.

 We let her pick out a pie from Croshaw's pies.  She chose sour cream lemon and it was delicious.  

 May brought some hikes with dad.

 And the school carnival--with a reptile show, games, and treats.  Get a load of this guy!

 Rachel had her end of year choir concert. They sang Mothers' Day and Father's Day songs and it was so great.  She learned a lot in choir this year!

 Grandma and Papa came too!

 Emma being a goofball.

 We got our garden in.  The boys loved helping to plant and water the seeds and plants.  

 Another school year in the books!  We adored Mrs. Stewart and was sad to learn that she would be leaving to pursue an administrative degree.

 Emma was sad to leave 4th grade as well. Miss Bateman was such a cute teacher!  She got married over the summer and we got to go to the reception.  It was a lot of fun!

March

We continue to get together with Ben's relatives most Sundays--whoever can make it.  Sometimes it's just us and Sue and other times, there are more.  It's fun to enjoy good food together and hang out.  

"dress like a cowboy" day at school.  Rachel looked pretty darn adorable!

 The end of March was a difficult time.  Ben's brother, Danny, passed away.  The one positive outcome of funerals is the increased family time.  It was wonderful to see a few of Ben's siblings that we rarely see.  Here are the serious boys at a dinner at Sue's house.  

 Reading with Mariesa at a dinner at our house

 My sweet girl

 My kids love Uncle David and Aunt Christi!  We only see them once or twice a year and it is fun to catch up when they're in town.

 Luke is always doing some sort of crazy trick!

 The funeral services were beautiful.  We all miss Danny so much!

February

Emma decorated our driveway with chalk hearts for Valentine's Day.  Each had a message.  Super cute! 

 Oobleck time.  We try to make this stuff a few times a year.  I love playing with it as much as the kids.  It's like a solid AND a liquid!

 Cute brothers in their hats

 My parents got Ben and the boys matching red ties for Christmas.  Max's is way too long right now, but the others fit just right.  So handsome!

 Lego time!

Sadly, I didn't take any pictures of our annual Valentine's Day dinner!  I make a fancy dinner and break out the nice china and the candles.  We eat by candlelight and linger around the table talking--something about dim candlelight makes kids eat more slowly and calmly.  I love it.  Ben and I always have a nice date too, but not on V-day.  This year, we ate out at LaJolla Groves, which was super elegant and delicious, and shopped together.  

January

SNOW! We didn't get too much of it this winter, but the kids loved playing in it when the storms came.

We went up to Heber on New Years Day. We loved getting out of the bad inversion here in the valley, seeing some new wintery scenery, and sledding in the warm sun and clean air. We spent the majority of the day there, sledding, eating out, and doing a bit of shopping. It was a fun day trip.

Winter also means lots of indoor crafts.  This minion one was pretty fun.  

And we made peppermint-smelling snow dough!  

My parents and sister came for a long weekend in late January.  On Saturday, we tried something new and let each child have one full hour of uninterrupted "Granby" time.  They LOVED it!  Emma played Bananagrams and talked with her; Rachel chose to read stories, draw and paint nails together; and Luke played games and toys with Granby.  It was so fun for each of them to choose what they wanted to do with Granby and have one-on-one time with her.  We also ordered pizza, made cookies, and watched Despicable Me that afternoon.  What a fun day!

Alexandra spent one night with us and the kids were THRILLED to have a guest sleep over!  She went to church with us the next day and we had some good playtime with her Sunday afternoon.  We are so excited to have Alexandra here next fall when she begins her schooling at BYU!  

January was a rather "blah" month otherwise.  We're always happy when it's over.  :)

December

Annual visit to see the Thanksgiving Point holiday lights and visit the reindeer--kids love it!

Rachel's choir held their Christmas concert on a Monday evening--perfect FHE! She was so cute. There were only four little girls in the choir (it is a new activity Lindon added). Rachel loves to sing!

Emma participates in her school's drama club. Their play was held in December--"Yes, Virginia." Emma played different roles, including a pigeon (my favorite). She's the pigeon on the far left.

Here she is as a townsperson in the brown dress.

After the play. They also performed the play at the mall in front of Macy's department store. It was cute to see our little girl up on stage!

I took the kids up to see the Festival of Trees. Always amazing to see the designs creative people come up with.

We have so many Christmas books and I love to see the kids cuddling up by the tree reading them.

The Familias came over for our annual Christmas dinner. The girls had fun playing in the empty remote control car box. They are such crazy girls together!

Luke's drawing of our Elf on the Shelf--I love it!

Our little Nativity pageant. It never really works out so well--we just don't have enough people to play all the parts and usually Max does something funny or crazy to mess everything up. But we try and it's still fun.

Christmas Eve was held at our house. Some of Ben's family came over and we had a nice soup and bread dinner with pumpkin pie for dessert (my favorite!). Kathy and Emma with the yummy pie.

Kathy took this fun picture of us on the stairs--family pictures with everyone are rare these days!

We have a real live elf on the shelf! Ben perched little Max up there and he was so happy. Adorable!

Time with Grandma

Santa just arrived! Look at the cool new kitchen set!

Christmas morning! Waiting anxiously on the stairs.

Emma drew a very detailed fishing picture for her dad. We were both amazed at her ability! What a special present.

Love Rachel's face in this one. Pure Christmas joy!

Luke's cool dragon!

After opening gifts on Christmas morning, we had some of my relatives over for Christmas brunch. It was so nice. We ate a sausage-egg casserole, hash browns, fruit, cranberry bread, apple cider and hot cocoa. Delicious. I think I want to make it a tradition! I loved hosting people earlier in the day--they got to participate in the kids' excitement of their new gifts, breakfast is pretty easy to prepare, and after everyone left, I could just relax with the kids for the rest of the day and not worry about hosting people for a big Christmas dinner that evening.

Rachel showing off her new art supplies to papa.

Luke driving his new cars with Uncle Dave.

The girls' new Christmas dresses. These outfits were gifts from my mom. So pretty!

Emma got hair chalk as a gift and she enjoyed chalking everyone's hair--and I do mean, everyone--all day. Even Sue didn't escape the chalk! We went over to Sue's house later in the day to eat leftover soup and bread there and exchange gifts with relatives. It was a lovely day!

This picture was too cute not to post. Back in their jammies before bed on Christmas night. I love these boys!

December is always so busy and filled to the brim with activities. We loved it, even though it got crazy at times. It is such a wonderful time of year!