Christmas morning!

The night before Christmas we started a new tradition letting the children open one gift picked out by mom. They all got pjs, big surprise huh. It was fun though. New PJs!

The children were so excited Santa came! We took turns opening gifts (well, at least for awhile.) Stockings!
The first thing Benjamin did was break into a stocking and start munching on a candy cane! Smart kid!


Sorry these videos are sideways. I'll have to remember to not turn my camera in the future. On Tyler's if you listen closely you can hear him saying "This is Awesome!" two times.

Then we ate breakfast and played with our toys, and then got ready and went to Pa and Nana's home. There we ate and opened more presents and had a good time visiting. I forgot my camera, so the only pictures I have are on Josh's cell phone. Maybe I'll add those later to the slide show. BTW, Make sure you check out the slide shows! We ended the night watching Santa Clause 3. It was a nice way to end the day. I can't believe it's over! Now what are we doing for New Year's?

Before I go, here are some of my favorite Christmas memories of 2007:

• Dancing in the kitchen with the girls to The Nutcracker music

• Receiving and Opening Christmas cards. Although I sent a lot of mine electronically this year, there is definitely something to getting a "real" one in the mail.

• Wrapping presents

• Preparing to sing and singing in the sacrament meeting Christmas program

• Food, Food, Food!

• Playing with the children and their new toys
  

King Kong!

Benjamin climbed up on the train table. We thought he would make a pretty good Godzilla or King Kong. Scary!


We went to my nephew Aiden's 1st Birthday party the Sunday before Christmas. We tried to get pictures of Benjamin walking by himself, but he would not do it when the camera was rolling! He takes 4 steps all the time! But of course not when we want to show others. Oh well, maybe next time. Here he is pushing a stroller. He had fun playing ball there too.
I thought this picture of Cassidy eating cake was cute.

Stewart Christmas Party.

We had our traditional Stewart family Christmas brunch/party (the Utah version) the Saturday before Christmas. Check out the slide show to the left. It was at my church building but we all helped plan it. After we set up we ate from a table filled with yummy food, including Eggo Waffles cooked with a toaster, Great idea Jerry. Then we played a Christmas Cranium game I made up. It had three categories: Charades, Name that tune, and Trivia. It was fun. We also listened to performances on the piano from Danielle, Rachel, David, Lori and on the flute, Victoria. Then as tradition dictates, we acted out the Nativity. The older girls all love to be angels, so Cassidy got to be Mary. She did such a good job. So sweet. We had a Joseph, but at the last minute he decided to be a donkey. :) We roped Josh into being a shepherd with Tyler and Benjamin as a little sheep. It was nice to sing some Christmas hymns and hear the reading of the events around Christ's birth. There always seems to be such a nice spirit while acting out nativities.
Cassidy happy to be the mother of baby Jesus.
Tyler as a shepherd.
Mary checking on the baby Jesus.
Danielle as an angel appearing to Cassidy as Mary.
Worshiping the new born babe.


We ended the afternoon with the traditional white elephant game. We always have a fun time opening the gag gifts. Josh ended up with a bag of Rocks! Cassidy got a nativity scene. What a crazy range of gifts! We always have a good time together as a family and wish we all the family could attend.

Sledding 2007

We finally got to go sledding! We went to a park near Jennifer's and took Lori, David, and Rachel. There was only two other people there until we were almost ready to leave and then a few other people showed up. It was cold, but once we got sledding and running back up the hill we forgot all about the chilly air. Cassidy and I rode down a lot together. It was so fun! She loved it, and wanted to go again and again. I'm sure it helped that she didn't have to walk up the hill because I would pull her up in the sled.



Our neighbors invited us to a posada. When they described it to me they said they went to the door to sing Christmas songs, so I thought it was caroling. I was wrong. When everybody started to go outside the dad told me that we could stay inside. Okay. He said some people stay inside and some go outside. Then they turned off the lights and the people outside knocked. The mother and father of the house opened the door a crack and most people outside had candles and they sang a prayer and then the mom and dad at the door sang a prayer back. This went on for about 7 minutes and then they let in the people outside. There were about 30 of them. Some of them were carrying a nicely sized manger scene. They all walked upstairs to the living room and set the manger scene down and then for 10 more minutes they sang more prayers. It was like chanting. The mother of the house would lead and everyone else would repeat what she said and then they would do the catholic sign of the cross. Then everybody went outside to do piñatas! The children loved that! They even had songs they sang while they tried to hit the pinata! Then we all went in and had tamales (one of my favorite dishes) and a corn flour-milk-chocolate drink. They called it chocolate milk. It was not the chocolate milk I am accustom to, but I got use to it and had 2nds. It was a fun night and cool to see their different Christmas traditions. They said they had a lot of posada's (about 8) to attend, and invited us to come a few more times, but we had other Christmas plans already scheduled.

Tagged!

Thanks Meg for the tag. :p Here is my version of the rules. I'm supposed to tell you 6 things about myself. Which was hard at first, but I ended up with a list of more than 6 (thanks, Josh.) I guess I'll just save the others for if I'm ever tagged again. I tagged 6 people at the end and will leave a comment on their blog, so they know they are tagged. Here we go.

1. This might surprise some of you, maybe not, but I love listening to talk radio. I guess it started when I was living at home and forced to listen to it when I was with my dad in the car, and then later on when I lived and drove around with Mark and Jennifer. I was always amused by my Uncle's discussions on politics and news when I was growing up. I guess some of it rubbed off on me. So now I fill up what little silence I have in my home with Dr. Laura, Sean Hannity, El Rush-bo, Glenn Beck,Bob Lonsberry. I love how it gets me thinking about what I believe and helps improve my talking points for those discussions I so love to be involved in. In fact, I have a draft in my lists of posts right now titled "political rants." I am debating whether or not to ever post it. hmmmm, we'll see.

2. I love singing. In the car, in the shower, around the house, at church, in choirs, and of course next to a Karaoke machine. My ultimate semi-secret dream is to sing in the Mormon Tabernacle Choir. I basically just love music. All types. My stress relief is playing the piano. I wish I took the time to play more. Can I squeeze one more in this one? It's related? Thanks. I really like dancing too.

3. Although reading is my first love, I honestly have to say that lately, I watch more TV and movies than I read. I have picked up a few good books in the past few years. My sister in law gave me the first Stephenie Meyers' book, Twilight, for Christmas, so I'll probably start reading that soon. Back to the TV and movies, I love Lost, and 24 , oh and the Office. Pretty much anything that will make me laugh or be in suspense. My favorite movie right now is "Bridge to Terabithia" Hey, that was a book I read when I was younger! So there!

4. Thank you to my friend Becky who invited me to my first Creative Memories Party 9 years ago. I have loved and spent many, many hours scrapbooking since that beautiful day.

5. Along with number 4 , I am a night owl and have been known to pull an all-nighter scrapbooking all by my self. ohhh, that's sad. :( It can get me into some trouble. I remember my dad waking up at 1 am (maybe even 2 am sometimes) and coming in to my room saying "What are you still doing up?" I would reply "I'm cleaning, Dad!" He would say something like, "Get to bed." or "Get these lights out." I would usually say, "Ok, I'm almost done." When Josh and I were first married and lived in an apartment we got a complaint one time because I was vacuuming at midnight. After that I just did quieter things. My goal when I grow up is to go to bed early and wake up early. Just like Mom and Dad!

6. Cooking. I feel like I'm copying other's tags about this, but it's nice to know there are others out there like me. We should have a support group. I could just cut and paste Meg's post. I don't like cleaning much either, but I do love laundry. How you throw in the clothes, and out they come fresh and ready to be folded (while I watch tv or listen to radio) and put away.

I tag: Stephanie, Maria, Brianne, Jen Majors, Heather,Melody

Come on Gals! It'll be Fun!

Merry Christmas Everyone!

Here is our annual Merry-Christmas-to-you-and-here's-how-we're-doing-letter! We've had some excitement this year. During the winter, at the beginning of the year, paramedics made a visit to our home (more about that later.) In spring, we set up a trampoline in our back yard. This summer, we had a great time at the Stewart reunion (Porcupine Reservoir, UT) and McCleve reunion (Yuba Lake, UT.) This fall, we bravely dealt with an infestation of hobo spiders in and around our home. Who are we kidding, we were scared stiff! Danielle and Tyler played on T-ball teams, and this fall we also became owners of two kittens who are sisters. Each one of the children loves playing with them. This winter, and throughout the past year, we have enjoyed watching our children grow and learn, and we have enjoyed spending what time we do have together.

Benjamin has gone from being a tiny infant into a cruising little boy! He just turned one and we love to hear him say Ma-ma, Da-da, and Hi! He is a fun little boy and he loves to throw objects down the stairs! He is fascinated with our new kittens and he wants to be like them so much, he eats their food. He also loves feeding himself baby food. He just sticks his fingers in and goes for it! His smile lights up our souls with love. He just took his first steps last week! All the children love playing with him and making him laugh and smile.



Cassidy, our sweet little, almost 3 year old--her life is 'a musical.' She will actually break out in song and sing about what is happening! Making up her own tune or putting new words to a familiar tune. She loves pushing the beat keys on our keyboard and will yell, (because she turns it all the way up), " Dance mommy!" or "Sing mommy!"
She likes to say."I make mucus (music)!" She likes to make people happy. She keeps us on our toes, or rather, our hands and knees. She loves to hide things under beds so she can go back and get them later. Then she can also play with them where we can't see her. She loves to wear lip gloss and she has become quite proficient at applying it. She is at the phase where she wants books read over and over. The other day she said,"I like TV." We've known that for awhile now. She has become quite well spoken in the past year. We love her cute little voice! All the helpers in the nursery just love her and think she is so cute.

Tyler, 5, is loving preschool and he spent a lot of time this year drawing amazing pictures of pirates, ghosts, skeletons, army battlefields, and every now and then a church-themed picture, I'm grateful for those. We love his amateur opera singing and awesome sound effects he uses when he is pretend fighting. He also likes to spend his time playing with his dad's old star wars action figures and his pirate ship. He learned to ride a bike (with training wheels) this year. His deep, thought out questions bring up many spiritual discussions in our home. Tyler likes to dream about what he will be when he grows up. Right now he wants to be a policeman. The other day he said, "I'm going to have a mustache when I grow up into a policeman!" Later he said, "I will come see you when I'm a policeman, and have a mustache so you can see it." I told him "You better, I'm your mother!" He is really interested in how our bodies work. He really looks up to his big sister Danielle.


Danielle, 7 1/2, started 2nd grade this fall and she is reading like a pro! Her favorite subject (besides recess) is math. She also started piano lessons this year. She did a phenomenal job at her recital! She is such a wonderful first child, so willing to help and mediate problems between the siblings. She gets up every morning on her own at the same time. She is an amazing example to me! She still loves playing outside (especially jumping on the trampoline) and riding her bike. She loves playing with friends and cousins. She is recently obsessed with ‘High School Musical’ and she loves singing and dancing along with the movie. The other day she said, "I have a good singing voice!" I already knew that, but it's nice that she is discovering herself and what she enjoys doing.

I had a health scare at the beginning of the year when a kidney infection got out of hand, but thanks to Josh's quick arrival and all the help of the paramedics, neighbors, and family I was fine in no time! I have never been so grateful to be alive, as I was after that! I love teaching the Beehives on Sunday and helping with their activities. I got a lot of scrapbooking done this year! I'm still adjusting to having 4 little ones. It seems like I get behind faster, but I have a patient husband who works so hard, so I can stay at home with them. It was fun for me to go to a taping of ‘Good Things Utah.’ I even made it on tv twice when they did an audience sweep. Now I can cross "be on tv" off my list of things to do. My newest love is blogging. I spend way to much time doing it. But, I heard a while ago that how many friends and family around you affect your physical and mental health for the better. Anyway, it's a spiritual boost for me to see how old friends and family are doing.

Josh has kept busy this year with three jobs at the same time for these last four months of the year and numerous other projects, like developing real estate, putting up shelves, and yard repairs. At Datamark they got a ping pong table, and Josh had a fun time dominating most of his fellow employees. So, naturally for his birthday he bought himself a ping pong table to get even more advantage from practicing at home. Josh and I have enjoyed playing it together and teaching Danielle and Tyler. He also played on a softball team again this year. The children love having him around. He is a wonderful husband and father.

We hope you all have a peaceful, Merry Christmas and a Happy New Year!

Love,
the Josh Dalton Family

Basketball Boy

When I went to young women's last night, Grandma Dalton (Nana) was watching the children and she said that Benjamin was in his crib bouncing the basketball! So, later on that night I put a basketball in the crib with him to see what he would do, and this is what I caught on tape! His crib is elevated on one side from when he had ear infections. I haven't taken the pillow out from under the mattress yet, so when he throws the ball it comes right back to him!



Another note on Benjamin, he took his first step the other day, and took 3 steps last night! I will get a picture or video of it soon!

Cool Clouds

Yesterday, when I was almost home, I noticed the clouds in the sky. I thought it looked awesome. Almost the whole sky was covered with clouds like this! I'm pretty sure they are Altocumulus Mackerel clouds. They usually precede snowstorms or flurries. Sure enough, flurries started falling today!

Happy 1st Birthday Benjamin!

Saturday was Benjamin's 1st Birthday!!! So, we celebrated on Sunday night with Double Birthday Bash with his cousin Liberty(she turned 2.) Family came over to our house for dinner and cake! Lindsey (Liberty's mommy) brought the cake and I made the dinner. We had a great time eating, opening presents, visiting and laughing.Decor by Skyler Cassidy with Nana

Nana holding Benjamin and Liberty with Pa (and Cassidy) joining in the picture.

Cassidy &Jerzi

Daddy and Benny-boy

Tyler fell asleep on the kitchen chair right after dinner!

Benjamin was obsessed with this balloon. We could hardly get him to open any presents! Here he is crawling over one of his presents to get to the balloon!

Mommy helps Benjamin open his

new refrigerator farm animal toy.

Aunt Lindsey holding Aiden and Benjamin, Benjamin was crying because we took the balloon away from him for the picture, but when I started playing with him with the balloon he snapped right out of it!














Cake! Liberty, Danielle and Cassidy

Smile! You're 1 year old!

Benjamin in his giraffe pjs and his new giraffe that came with his new animal train from Pa and Nana.


















"Now, this what I'm talking about!"




We love you Benjamin!

Busy Day

What a busy Saturday! It started out with cleaning up milk/stomach acid that Benjamin threw up when he coughed, (he's not sick, just getting over a cough), then I got all the children and myself ready to go because we had to make copies for the ward party. Josh couldn't help out because of a business meeting. In the mean time Danielle got a call from a friend to go sledding, so I ran her over there and then made copies. I knew it would take awhile because we needed a lot of copies. About 2/3 of the way through the copy machine ran out of toner, so I had to go down the street to the ups store and finish. Since we were running around, we went to Artic Circle's drive thru for some lunch. A wonderful thing happened, they were very slow. It was snowing again, and as I was sitting there waiting I noticed the snowflakes falling and landing on my car window. They were so beautiful. Miniature, crystal, lace masterpieces. I was amazed by Heavenly Father's attention to detail and how it made me feel His love for me. I was grateful for the small moment of beauty in what I knew would be a crazy day! So we got our food and we ran the copies over to the church. By then it was 2:30, so we went and picked up Danielle and then headed home to load up the Christmas tree and put the potatoes in the oven. We had signed up to bring baked potatoes and a decorated Christmas tree for the ward party. Danielle had the idea to make it a family tree, so earlier in the week we had made paper snowflake decorations and sprayed them with glitter and put pictures of us and our parents, and grandparents, and great grandparents on them. They turned out really nice. Danielle helped me wash and wrap the potatoes, and I was able to leave the children at home at this point because Josh was home. I just took Danielle with me and we set up the tree and decorated it and helped organize the young women so they would know what to do. By that point the potatoes were done, so I ran home and brought them back and went home again. When I got back there was just enough time to put a few last minute things together for the Ward Christmas program (that I was in charge of) and get all of us looking a little bit nicer for the party. Josh couldn't come because of work, so I headed over to the party with all four children. I was feeling pretty frazzled (like you probably are trying to read this) and just praying that the program would be ok. I only had 2 1/2 weeks to put it together. I did some deep breathes and tried to relax, it was difficult! After the dinner the program started. I had asked some ward member to read some stories and a poem, and then we sang carols as ward in between the readings (I lead the music.) I love singing and the spirit you can feel with it! We also had performances by our ward orchestra and the primary children. The last part was the bishopric dress up as the three wise men and read a skit about them and then handed out candy canes to the children. I think it went ok. It was nice to visit with people and the children had fun. Then there was clean up, and heading home for baths. I also had to finish preparing my Young Women lesson that night. It was on optimism, so it wasn't too hard. :) It was a crazy day, but I think it was worth it. I knew Sunday wouldn't be anymore relaxed, we had company coming over for a Double Birthday Bash for Libery and Benjamin! BTW, Happy 1st Birthday Benjamin!

Four Reasons I Love This Time of Year!

1. When I start singing carols, my children are more likely to join in, and don't look at me, as much, like I'm weird.
2. Wearing my hubby's big bulky sweaters, and red and green clothing together, are not total fashion faux pas.
3. I have a perfect excuse to buy extra things at the store. As long as it has the word Christmas in it, I'm good. e.g. "It's a Christmas gift." "We need it for Christmas." "It's Christmas Time!"
4. And finally, the Christmas kitchen towels I've been using all year finally match the home decor.

Vist from Grandpa and Grandma Stewart

Thursday night Grandpa and Grandma Stewart came to visit. We always love to have them come. Grandma and Danielle painted some ornaments and Grandpa watched Pollyanna with Tyler and Cassidy. They came back Sunday afternoon. Danielle and Grandma made beautiful snowflakes for us to decorate with. Grandma and Benjamin had a great time walking around together. Tyler played with his new pirate skull he earned. He is excited to have an addition to the POTC ship he got for his birthday. Benjamin was being so snuggily! He loves his daddy!That night we had our monthly family dinner/get together with all the Utah siblings. So much good food and laughs! We started a puzzle while the boys played nerf guns (look out girls!)The older cousins played games, and the girls played little pet shop. We are so glad to have cousins around! I got one last picture of Grandpa and Grandma with the children before they left. We will miss them!