Christmas Fun

What a fun Christmas we had. The kids, especially the boys, were so fun to watch. This is the first year that they really enjoyed the whole experience.

On Christmas Eve we had my Mom, Dad and sister, Jenna, over for Pizza. Then we did the annual Christmas Eve gift, jammies. That was fun. Then we watched "The Christmas Carol" with the girls. They were willing and ready to go to bed on time, because they knew the sooner they went to bed, the sooner Santa would come.

Christmas morning arrived and all the kids loved what they got. The big surprise was for the girls. Matt and I are taking them to Disneyland in February and they were so excited for that. So am I. Here are their favorite gifts that they received.

Paige: lego castle and trip to Disneyland

Kayla: Tangled castle and trip to Disneyland

Aiden: Remote control train and Cars book

Brock: Leapster of his own, which he calls "gamey" and remote control train

Collin: Little People Wheelies ramp and Cars book

We spent most of the day at home, and then we went to my parents for dinner and a party. My sister was able to come in the afternoon and so we were able to spend some time with them.

The kids got some new church clothes for Christmas and I think they are so stinking cute. Starting Sunday, we go to church at 8:30 a.m. Yes, you read that correctly. 8:30 a.m. That means get up early and get everybody ready and out the door by 8:10 a.m. I have to be to church early to get the Primary room set up. This could be interesting to see how it goes. Wish me luck.

My birthday was on Tuesday, and my Mom made lunch and birthday cake for all of us. It was really nice. It was a nice day and although I am a year older, I sure don't feel it.

Wednesday, I took Paige to Idaho Falls and she got braces on. She just had to get braces on her top teeth to fix her underbite and to straighten her teeth out. She has done really well with them and hasn't complained about to much.

Before:

And After:

I can't believe that it is the New Year already. 2010 has been a fun and crazy year and I am sure 2011 will be as crazy and fun. I am definately ready for the girls to head back to school on Monday and get our lives back on schedule. It has been fun having them home for 2 weeks, but I am one for routine and schedule.

Whirlwind December

I can't believe how busy this month has been. I feel like we have been going nonstop. Between getting things done for Christmas, Primary, orthodontist appointments, school programs, and Christmas parties, there hasn't been much down time.

The girls, Matt and I had fun doing our annual gingerbread houses. This year was nice because the girls could mostly decorate their houses all by themselves. Kayla used more icing than anything else on hers and Paige was very meticulous and neat on decorating hers. It was a lot of fun.

Last week we took the kids to the Carousel to see Santa Clause. This is the first time the boys have sat on Santa's lap. They all did well, except for Collin. He wasn't too sure about Santa, but he did sit long enough for a picture. The favorite thing about seeing Santa, was that they got to ride the Carousel. So that was a big highlight.

Paige had a Christmas program at school last week. They sang alot of fun Christmas songs and it was fun to go and see her perform.

This last weekend we went down to Utah. On Friday night Matt and I were able to go with my mom and dad to the Mormon Tabernacle Choir with David Archuletta concert. It was so good. I loved the whole evening. Afterwards, we were able to walk through Temple Square and see the lights.

On Saturday we had the Nielson Family Christmas Party. It was a fun filled day full of food, pinata, Santa, gift exchanges and the Nativity. We had a really fun time and it was fun being Matt's entire family.

Now the girls are done with school, Matt is finished with school until January, the wrapping of presents is all done, the parties are over and we can enjoy the holidays and our time together as a family. We wish all of you a Merry Christmas.

Cute Bags

If any of you are interested in purchasing some darling bags of any sort, diaper bags, purses, dolly diaper bags, etc., check out this link.

I am a little biased on these bags, because they are made by my sister Liz. I also am the tester for her diaper bag and I must say it works really well.

http://bagsbylizzylou.blogspot.com/

Busy November

Wow. Where has November gone? I can't believe today is the last day of the month and only 25 more days until Christmas.

The boys are super busy lately and are really in the terrible twos, times three. They are always climbing and getting into trouble. They are really starting to say alot of words. Some of them I understand, others I can't translate. We'll figure it soon, I hope. This is them the other day eating their snacks. They always copy one another, so when one went and sat on the steps, the other two followed.

Two weeks ago, I was able to get away for 4 days. I went to St. George and Las Vegas and just shopped and did whatever I wanted. I was also able to go to the show "Mystere." It was incredible and something I would definately do again. It was a nice break from the kids, but I was glad to see them again. Grandma and Grandpa Nielson watched the boys and Matt and my mom watched the girls. I was a little delayed getting back to Rexburg because of the bad weather, but we made it home. I was really glad to arrive safely.

The kids got two extra days out of school last week because of the awful weather. The wind and blowing snow, cold temperatures and blizzard like conditions were to thank for that. It was nice having a couple of extra lazy days to enjoy with the kids before we headed to Utah for Thanksgiving.

We left on Thanksgiving morning and had Thanksgiving with Matt's family. We were able to spend a couple of days with them and then we made it back home before any more storms hit. Matt and I hit some of the Black Friday sales and I am glad to say that I am nearing the end of my shopping. Only a few more gifts to go. Yeah!!

Driving to Utah, Brock (middle) fells asleep, Collin (left) was faking sleep, and Aiden (right) didn't want his picture taken.

Thanksgiving dinner with some of the Nielson cousins

Sunday night the kids were building tall Lego towers. They do this quite often and it is something they all do well together. The challenge is keeping the boys away from it, so they won't knock it down once it is built. When Matt got home, he helped them put the final touches on and this is the end result.

We put up all of our Christmas decorations and tree yesterday and I must say that it is really "beginning to look a lot like Christmas." I am starting to feel more in the holiday mood and am feeling the excitement of the kids.

Happy B-day Matt

I am a day late posting this, but as my motto goes, "Better Late Than Never." Matt turned the big 33 yesterday. We didn't do much exciting since he had to work all day and then go to school last night. He got home earlier than normal and we did presents and cake. Hopefully he had a good day.

The boys and I did go and get him balloons yesterday morning and then we went to his work and the boys each carried a balloon into his office to give to him. That was fun for the boys.

We love you Matt and hope you had a fun birthday.

Halloween

What a fun Halloween we had this year. On Friday night we went to the Spookfest at the girl's school. This was the first year we took the boys. I wasn't quite sure how it would work out, but they did super. After an hour and a half, I don't know who was more ready to be done, the boys or me. We had fun though.

For the Spookfest Brock was a Policeman, Paige was a pirate, Aiden was a pirate, Kayla was a pirate and Collin was a Fireman.

Saturday morning was Paige's last soccer game of the season. She had a lot of fun playing and learning the game and it was fun for her to have her Dad as the coach.

That night the kids were so excited to get all dressed up to go Trick-or-Treating. We took all the kids around our neighborhood and then the four boys stayed home and I took the girls to fill up their baskets. Then we went to see Grandma and Grandpa. The weather was great and the rain held off until later that night. I was so glad, because there is nothing worse than getting soaking wet on Halloween.

For Halloween, Kayla changed into a princess and Collin was a Dragon, Brock was a Monkey and Aiden was a Tiger, Paige stuck with being a Pirate. If you are thinking the boy's costumes look familiar, well you're right. I recycled them from last year, because they still fit and they don't care or remember what went on last year.

Carving Pumpkins

Last night for Family Home Evening we carved our pumpkins. It was a lot of fun. The girls even helped clean the inside of their pumpkins out. That was a first. There were a lot of gross and sick comments, but they survived. Here are the finished products.

The girls spent a lot of time arguing over this giant pumpkin, so in the end we gave it to all three boys to share.

The girls thought it would be fun to put some of their Sunday shoes on the boys and dance with them. The boys thought this was super fun and were dancing and having a good time. The only one who didn't like it was their dad. Oh well, get used to it Matt. I'm sure there will be many more of these girly moments to come.

Brock, Collin & Aiden

Karate Video

The movie I was going to upload for my previous post is being stubborn. I will try to get it on some other way.

I love Fall!!

Fall this year has been incredible. The weather has been so nice and I am keeping my fingers crossed that it lasts for a couple of more weeks. I was thinking yesterday how nice it would be to not have to wear a winter coat Trick-or-Treating.

Paige is playing fall soccer. Matt had asked her if she wanted to do this and she was hesitant at first, but now that she is actually playing and learning the ropes, she is really enjoying it. It might help a little that Matt is her coach. She has a couple of more games left and then hopefully she will have liked it so much that she will want to play again next summer.

Kayla, Aiden, Brock and Collin watching Paige play soccer.

Kayla has been loving Kindergarten. She loves learning and it is just the right length of time for her. A half a day is ideal for any 5 year old. After school she comes home, eats lunch and then plays outside all afternoon with the neighbors. I don't know who loves this more, me or Kayla. I think I am going to die when it is cold and snowy and I have to entertain her all afternoon. We will have to get creative and come up with some entertainment.

The boys are such characters. Last weekend we watched "The Karate Kid" for movie night. Afterwards, Matt decided that he needed to show the boys how to do karate. It was quite humorous and thought I would share the humor with you. They just continue to grow and change all the time. Some days it is really hard to think that they started out so little and are now in the 90th percentile for their age. Amazing.

Harvest Break

Last Friday was the 1st day for Harvest Break for the girls. We headed down to Logan to stay with my sister for the night. She had kindly agreed to watch all of our kids while Matt and I went to the BYU vs. Utah State game. We wore our BYU shirts and my sister, who is an Aggies fan, decided to dress our boys in Aggies t-shirts she bought for them. It was pretty cute. We had a fun time, although Utah State beat BYU.

Aiden, Collin and Brock sporting their Aggie shirts.

Saturday morning we woke up and headed to Willard Bay. Matt's brother called and they were going water skiing. Matt was so excited. He had waited all summer for a chance to go, and here it was the 1st of October, 90 degrees, and we were boating. We took all the kids, and Brock and Collin absolutely hated it. I think they cried 75% of the time. Aiden on the other hand just sat and enjoyed the ride.

Aiden, me, Collin and Paige

Paige, Brock and Kayla

After water skiing we headed to Bountiful to stay and Matt's mom and dad's. We had a fun weekend and the kids were glad because they got to play with several of their cousins.

Sunday after we got home, the kids were running around the kitchen having races and we had a casulty. Collin ran right into the counter. At first I thought he might need stitches, but after a few minutes we decided to let it go. His eye was all puffy and sad looking, but it is looking pretty good now.

Collin showing off his owie.

Brock, Aiden, and Collin

Luckily the weather has been cooperating so the kids have been able to spend time playing outside. We have all enjoyed that. I'm sure our days are few, so we will take advantage of what we have left.

Luckily we only have a few more days left until Monday. Hopefully we will all survive.

Family Pictures

We got new family pictures taken last weekend and I am so pleased with how they turned out. It is really hard to get a good picture with so many little 2 year olds, so I was just happy that they were all looking at the camera. Here are a few and then check out the sidebar for the individuals of the kids.

Weekend Wrapup

What a fun weekend we had. On Friday the girls had a Boot Camp Field Day at school. I was able to go over and watch them for awhile in the morning, and then I took the boys and we had a picnic at the school with the girls. It was a lot of fun and the girls had a fun time.

Also on Friday we got new family pictures taken. They turned out really good if I do say so myself and I will post some of those as soon as I get them back. Then we had our weekly Friday movie night. It was a busy but fun day.

Saturday we got up and ready and headed out for Yellowstone. It was a gorgeous day and the weather couldn't have been more perfect. The kids were great and we were able to see buffalo, elk, deer, antelope and chipmunks. We had a picnic with some really annoying birds that just waited for the kids to drop food and then they would fly under the table and snatch it up. The girls finally got freaked out enough that they finished eating in the car. Aiden loved the birds, and Collin kept saying "no" every time they came near.

We saw lots of hot pots, the Upper Falls and Lewis Falls. The scenery was breathtaking. The leaves were changing and I can't remember a time when I have seen such beautiful colors. We drove home through Jackson Hole and ate at our favorite restaurant, Bubba's. It was a long day, but worth every minute.

I am glad we finally found the time to take the kids. We talked about going all summer and we finally made it. The only disappointment was that we didn't go see the up and down thing, as Kayla would call it. (aka Old Faithful) We promised her that it would be number 1 on the list next year.