Playing Catch-Up...

The end and beginning of each year always seem a little crazy.  Needless to say, I've fallen behind on my blog posts.  Here's a little update....

Christmas was fun!  Everyone was healthy this year {until the day after when I came down with the plague...ok, maybe that's a bit of an exaggeration.}  Whatever it was, it wasn't fun.  Here's a cute pic of the kids in front of the tree.  I can't believe how big they're all getting.

Next on the list of exciting events....Mason's 12th birthday {and maybe even more noteworthy - We celebrated one whole year of no diapers in this house!!!!}

Mason's brothers definitely made him feel loved on his special day!

He had a few friends over for pizza and video games.  Easiest. Party. Ever!!!

The next weekend, Grandma Weez and Papa D came for a visit and for Mason's ordination.

It was such a special day.

We also got to celebrate Scott and Grandma Weez's birthdays!  January is quite the birthday month around here!

We had a great time with Scott's parents and were so sad to see them leave.  They helped out with so many little projects {and must have been tidying up all the time because our house is way messier now that they're gone.} 

Brady also played in his very first basketball game....

If you are unfamiliar with his personality, these pictures are a pretty good representation.  :) 

Christmas Town @ Busch Gardens

After a first failed attempt to enjoy the festivities at Christmas Town, we decided to try again.  We tried to go a couple weekends ago, but got turned away when we were just seven cars from the gate.  Apparently, the park was filled to capacity and there were no more parking spaces.  I've never heard of an amusement park running out of parking, but it was just our luck.  

We invited my mom to go with us this time and had no trouble getting in....it probably had something to do with the fact that it was FREEZING and WINDY!  We came prepared with hats, scarves & gloves and were excited to see what all the fuss was about.

The kids were a bit naughty, so we stuck them in the pillory....

I think they learned their lesson.  ;-)

The decorations were amazing, and each country was decorated with different colors/types of lights.  My phone camera doesn't quite do it justice.

Here we are in Germany, celebrating our family heritage.....

The lights were so amazing!

The kids rode some rides and loved it.  Their tolerance for the cold was substantially higher than ours. 

Here are some of the lights in Italy.  It was truly amazing....every branch was lit!

I wish the pictures of these lights captured how spectacular they were in person.

This was Pompeii.  I can't imagine how long it must have taken to put all these lights up.

Here's Logan getting a ride from Dad.  His hip (torn hip flexor) was bothering him from all the walking.

Here are some of the kids just being silly.  They loved the giant candy canes.  We were go grateful Logan wore that crazy hat.  It made it a lot easier to keep an eye on him.

One of the highlights of the evening was Scott surprising us with funnel cakes.  And not just your ordinary funnel cakes....these were topped with ice cream, hot fudge and whipped cream.  Yum!

We had a great time!  What a fun way to start Christmas break!

Claire's 1st Dance Recital

This is Claire posing for a picture before her very first dance recital.  She's been taking dance classes at the gym {which works out perfectly for me!} and has been loving every minute of it.  The whole recital was about 2 minutes long, so they performed it 3 times.  The little girls were so cute dancing to music from The Nutcracker.....easily distracted, but so cute!     

And for your viewing pleasure, here's the video.....

The Princess Turns 4!

It's so hard to believe our baby is FOUR!  Where has the time gone???  

Claire requested a princess party and invited two of her cute little girlfriends over for an afternoon of fairy-tale fun.  

The party started with a Chick-fil-a lunch picked up by none other than Prince Daddy himself....

Then the girls decorated their own tiaras.  Scott wanted to get in on the action but they insisted that he was NOT a princess.  They did, however, tell him that he could be a guard....

Next was frosting/decorating their own cupcakes.  The more icing, the better....

The little princesses also made their own bracelets and necklaces to perfectly accessorize their gowns....

Claire got some cute princess gifts.....

and after her friends left, she sat down and gave herself a much needed pedicure, princess style....

Happy Birthday to our sweet little princess!  We love you!!!

HALLOWEEN!!!

I was determined to spend as little money as possible on our kids' costumes this year.  Mason decided he wanted to be the same thing he was last year, Logan and Brady wanted to be zombies and Claire wanted to be Rapunzel.  EASY!  The only thing we ended up purchasing was wig for Claire.  This year marks our most budget-friendly Halloween ever!  I hope the kids will be this easy to please next year.

This picture was taken before our ward Trunk or Treat......

and this one on Halloween night....

Mason as the scary Scream guy (again).....

Logan as a nasty-looking zombie (Scott was the makeup artist)....

Brady as a creepy zombie (He wasn't interested in the extensive makeup procedures)....

Claire as a sweet little princess (The wig was driving her crazy so I had to pull it back).....

Me as one lucky mama.....

A Momentous Occasion...

Our ward had its Primary program a few weeks ago.  I just had to snap a picture to document this very special day.....the only time EVER that all of our kids would be participating.  It was so strange for me and Scott to sit all by ourselves during sacrament meeting {and we enjoyed every moment!}.  

Blast from the past....

We were at my parents' house last night for a fun birthday celebration and my mom gave each of us a copy of this picture.  We must have been on our way to my dance recital (Don't you love the outfit?).  If I remember correctly, I was chit-chatting backstage (I would never do something like that) and missed my cue to go out for our performance.  I was so upset.  My mom was so sweet and got me a 7-Up from the vending machine to boost my spirits.  I'm sure she told me that everything was okay, but to me it wasn't.  I was mortified and wanted no part of dance after that.  Thus ended my young career as a dancer.  Who knows what would have happened if I'd stayed with it......I could have been a world-renowned dancer.  Those of you who've seen me play "Just Dance" know nothing could be further from the truth!