Church Christmas Party and SANTA

Ya gotta start out right.  All the kids gathered around to hear Luke 2, and talk about that sacred night.

But that would only last so long, they all were anxiously waiting!

This was the first year that all my kids were excited to see Santa. No one was nervous or scared.  They were all excited.

Z

Monkey

Chunk

JellyBean

They all told Santa that they were good, and they were for the most part.  They all also said they each wanted an iPad..... *insert eye roll* But they we happy and excited to see him!

They were also happy and excited to clean up afterwards!

We have great kids!

Dancer of the Month!!!

This happened!!

WAHOO!!!!  Go JellyeBean!!!!!!

Thanksgiving at school

Each year the schools do a HUGE Thanksgiving lunch with family and parents.  It is fun to go eat with your kids.

Next year I will get to go to 3 lunch instead of just 2!  

Z has never been a huge fan of the meals but he likes to eat the cranberry sauce and the vanilla milk.  He also LOVES that he gets to see his brother!

Jerra loves getting to show off her brother and he loves to sit next to her and eat with her.  She loves when we come.

It's awesome to see my kids and see their friends- putting faces to the names sometimes!  It's also nice to be able to see them!

Love my babies!

9!! 9!! 9!! 9!! 9!!

I say it every time.  How could they have grown-up on me so fast?!?!  I mean good gravy, she turned nine years old!!!!!!!  That is nearly a whole decade!

Oi.

But here we are, another year older and wiser!

But she still totally reminds me of a baby girl in an incubator in the NICU.  She still makes me stop and say a prayer that although she was a little preemie that came a bit too early- she is fabulous in so man y ways.

Yep.  Definitely blessed.

She loves everything she got.

She did ask for owl cupcakes.  So I made her some owls.

I loved them!

She loved them!

Top 9 things we love about Jerra:

9.  She is smart.

8.  She LOVES animals.

7.  She tries to make everyone feel good.

6.  She is thoughtful.

5.  Jerra is honest- to a fault sometimes.

4.  She LOVES her family.

3.  She always does her best.

2.  She LOVES everyone.

1.  She is our darling sweet tender-hearted doll face that you can't help but love!

Homecoming 2013

So Miss JellyBean had the chance to cheer at the homecoming football game because she had cheer camp this summer.

Her little bestie got her a Mum.  (HUGE thing down south- and like a true texas thing- the bigger the better)

And then they cheered!!  And my camera battery died.  And they LOVED it.  

She decided that she wanted to be a cheerleader.  We will see how long this lasts.

Halloween 2013

I don't know why holidays sneak up on me.  I know they are coming.  It's not like it sneaks up on me, and suddenly Halloween decides to be on the 31st.  I think it makes it a little weirder when Joseph is gone so much.  He was gone for all but 15 days in October, and one of those trips he got home just 4 days before Halloween, so it made preparing for it just a little more difficult.  Having said all that, it was still a blast.

Staff Sargent Chunk

Dr. JellyBean

Spider-Monkey

Dragon Z

The whole crew!

Mr. Fire-Dancer

And a CowGirl

Here they are (plus a friend) Trunk Or Treating

This is one of the resident Dragon's favorite games!  He probably played it over twenty times!

Staff Sargent Chunk loved the cake walk.  He played this more than any other game!

At the end of the night, they came home happy, tired, and well sugared.  So it was a successful Halloween I'd say!  And when we got home, they picked their 10 pieces, put the rest in a bowl and rushed to bed for the arrival of The Great Pumpkin!

They all thought that the exchange went well when he left these Lego toys.

It was a great Halloween!  I love the element of make believe, I love learning the histories of why we celebrate.  I love seeing the kids eyes light up with the different costumes.

I love holidays- even if they are sneaky.

A Baptism for Her

So my sweet little darling turned 8 years old.  She made the choice to ask her daddy to baptize her to become a member of The Church Of Jesus Christ Of Latter Day Saints on January 5, 2013.  It was such a special day filled with love, family and friends.

We have such a supportive ward family and family family and friends family.  On the way home, JellyBean looked at me and said, "WOW!!!  I really can't believe all those people wanted to watch me get baptized!  That was so fantastic!!"  

Proud Parents

Proud Extended Family

Afterwards, we had a small lunch for the family at our house.  It was filled to the max and we loved every second of it!

All the kids, all the grown-up.  I was just trying not to burst being surrounded by everyone! (Yes, I know how cheesy it sounds, but it truly was awesome!)

Here we will have just some snap shots of those I could catch randomly.

Mom and Mallory

Chris and Mom

Sisters!!! (Me, Diana, and Mallory)

Cousins!! ((l-r) Anisley, Chunk, Dylan, Makenna, JellyBean, Z, and Monkey)

Dia, Daddy, and Mom

Pa and Z (he would let Pa zip him around all day if we let him!)

We are all so glad that everyone to the time and effort to come down!  It was so great to sit around late at night and talk.  We are so blessed!

My Beautiful Dancer

So I really have a hard time every year at recital time.  Not only is it a crazy schedule, but it really shows me how much she is growing up!

And it kills me a little each time.

And to make matters worse, I think time is moving faster.  Such a bitter sweet reality!

Dress rehearsals are the times when moms can become the paparazzi and take endless pictures of their girls.  And it is definitely taken advantage of.  They have backdrops up to take pictures with, and by the end of the long night of pictures and dances.  The girls are done.

We start out happy!

We like posing. 

We even get asked to take more pictures in different poses! 

We get an awesome end pose with the whole class! 

Then they dance the same dance again and mom's go crazy taking pictures of the darlings dancing!

It is after that first dance most of them decide they are done.  They don't like 'mommy-razzi', and they don't like the make-up.  One is lucky to get any happy pictures after that.  And, most of the next dance is halfway done. 

And the group smile are forced.  But still adorable. 

But after some loud music and dancing in the car- we get a real smile.  And a precious fleeting moment that was gone too soon.  But a glimpse of more of what was to come.

Then come the day of the recital show.  Jerra's friend Lucy came over so they could get ready together.  They thought they were so grown up getting their hair and make-up done together! 

Then before the show, we again, get to take pictures with the backdrop. 

This time there are big smiles fueled by nerves and excitement. 

And you are again floored by how big she has gotten in the past year. 

And you are so happy to see her so happy. 

And back stage it is all you can do to sit back and watch as she needs you a little less each time, but when she asks for a picture with you, you can't help but beam with her and squeeze her just bit to much. 

And then you see another glimpse of her in 8 years. 

And as you watch her float through her dances she has practiced so hard on from back stage, you are just glad that your baby girl is so happy, and talented, and sweet, and extra glad she's beaming on stage while you watch on the wings trying not to cry because you are just so glad about who she is growing up to be, and glad to part of it.

Love you JellyBean!