A little bit crazy

I wrote this post several weeks ago but had problems uploading the video's so never published it. I decided to publish it anyway and I will keep working on the video's.

I have one of my New Years resolutions: TO BE DONE WITH CHRISTMAS PRESENTS BEFORE HALLOWEEN!!! This year has been so crazy. I have a million things to do and I'm so behind in everything. A few years ago, I did my shopping all year long and had everything ready by Thanksgiving and it was so nice to just enjoy December instead of STRESS! stress! STRESS! I want Christmas to be a time of reflection and enjoyment. Not a season of the kids wondering if their mom is going crazy.
Here is the scoop. I have started teaching a ballet/tap/jazz class for little girls. I have 3 cute classes and the girls are wonderful. Last night was our Christmas recital, and I was crazy enough to make all the tutu's for it to save on money. They turned out cute but I'm glad they are done. The girls did so well. Here are a couple of videos
Addie is on the back, second from the left. She did so great. I wish Ammon could have recorded more of the dance but a little girl/tornado wanted to be in the dance class too. Recording in one hand and holding a tornado in your other arm is a little difficult as you can imagine.

Tonight was our ward Christmas party which the primary was in charge of. I'm in the presidency so Ammon got nominated to be a Roman Soldier for a small part at the beginning and he was suppose to be in costume. Well you know me, always pinching penny's. On top of making all the tutu's, I made Ammon a Roman soldier costume as well. cardboard, pleather, and a hot-glue gun have become my best friends. Would you believe that after I went to all that work, I forgot my camera so the only picture I have is from my phone? I might have to make Ammon get dressed back up to take a better picture because you cannot see all the detail in this picture. Would you believe that his helmet is made of a bucket? Today I was searching the house for something I could use and saw some buckets I use for storage. Cut it up and add some cardboard and pleather....ta-da.

Well Welcome to Nauvoo

Nauvoo has always held a special place in my heart since my first trip there when I was 14. I have always dreamed of one day owning a Bed & Breakfast there. One of the things I was so excited for when I found out we were moving to Omaha was that it was only 5 hours away from Nauvoo. Even though we had been there a few months ago, we decided to meet up with my sister Valerie and her family since they were flying out to Chicago to visit family. It's ironic that 5 years ago almost to the exact day, we flew out to Chicago to visit them and spent a few days with them in Nauvoo. It was wonderful re-living the memories and make some new ones. We stayed in the same little Bed and Breakfast we stayed at last time and went hot-tubing in the FREEZING cold just like last time. We made banana pancakes for breakfast just like last time.

Here were all our kids last time (TJ and Addie)

and here they are now

and here are all our kids now

(Avonlea, Kimball, Addie, TJ, Cooper, Eliza)

Val and Matt then

Val and Matt now (sorry Val, I had to do it)

There, that's better

Our little family freezing last time

Our little family freezing this time

Did I mention that it was freezing and Ammon didn't bring a jacket...or a hat. But he did bring a scarf :-)

Then (I love the gloves on TJ's feet to keep him warm

Now

Then

Now

ThenNow
Eating banana pancakes last time

The kids built a fort out back with sticks and had so much fun
I think we all had fun. I love self timer pictures

Addie then

Avonlea now

Avolea and Eliza
TJ and Addie checking out the wagons

Ahhh sisterly love. This picture would have never happened in high school

visiting Carthage our last day there.

I think we will need to do this every five years...or maybe every year :-)

Oh Tannenbaum

I love traditions! I think one of the things that is so wonderful about Christmas is looking forward to the things you love to do together. One of those things growing up was our annual Christmas tree hunt. On the Friday or Saturday after Thanksgiving, my mom would make her cinnamon rolls and hot chocolate and we would all get bundled up in our snow clothes and drive up to the "5 mile". Now if your not from Parowan, the 5 mile is 5 miles up the canyon. Pretty complex but that's how we roll. We would stomp through the snow up the mountain, over the river, searching for the perfect Christmas tree. Who cares about frostbitten fingers, who cares about cold wet feet, we were on a mission. After finding the perfect tree, we would drag it back to the truck and devour the Cinnamon rolls and hot chocolate. Our family always use to attempt to sing the song "Oh Shenandoah" but we could never get the harmony's right and we would always bust out laughing. I remember one time up the canyon singing while hunting and we actually sang it all the way through. That is just ONE of the wonderful memories I have Christmas tree hunting. I just CAN'T get a fake tree yet. Therefore, my NOW family has our tradition of Christmas tree hunting.

It is a little different here in Nebraska. The only place you can go Christmas tree hunting is on a tree farm. It sure beats going to Lowes or Home Depot though. Off we went, the day after Thanksgiving. They give you this tall stick so you can see how tall your tree is. Once you have found the tree you want, you stick the red part up and the cutters are driving around and come cut it down for you.

We brought Chloe along of course and she was LOVING it. She was so excited and sniffing everything. The kids loved wandering through the trees and finding plenty of holes.

Here they are sitting in one of the holes they found. Avonlea thought that every time they saw a hole, they were supposed to sit in it. They had so much fun. After a while, Kimball got a little sick of us wandering around only to look at trees but don't worry, I'm sure he will start to see the fun in it someday.

We found our perfect Christmas tree and up goes the red stick and down goes the tree. Thank you Mr. Sawman

We got to ride in the wagon back to the barn.

ooooooh free hot coca? Don't mind if we do.....it's a good thing to, cause I forgot to make my mom's cinnamon rolls and hot coca.

They even netted it and roped it to the top of our car for us. Nice, real nice....although it does take some of the fun out of it.

We got it up that night but put the lights on and decorated it the next day. That's another thing I love. Getting all the ornaments out and remembering where we got them all. We give the kids an ornament each year to symbolize what they enjoy or something new in their lives.

What a cool chick huh
Speaking of cool, check our Zorrow...in the bathroom...filling up his tea cup. I love that kid

The next week, we took the kids to see Santa over at Outdoor World. It was Awesome. They turned it into a little wonderland for kids. They can play with remote controlled cars and make tree ornaments, and play at the shooting range and write letters to Santa...all while waiting in line to see the Jolly old Elf.

Avonlea doesn't look too sure about all this but she sat there...which is much more than Addie did at her age. That was also a precious picture but I like this one more.

That day was the first real snow so after we came home, the kids and I went outside and played and threw snowballs at daddy's window. It was such a memorable day. One of those that I always want to remember. If for no other reason than that, I am so glad I have a blog. I love going back and reading and looking at the pictures of our life. I know this is probably pretty boring for most people to read, but it is my journal....and I'm sharing it with the world.