I meant "POPPING in"

for those of you who receive the email updates, so sorry for the hilarious typo of "pooping in" instead of "popping in"  oops! :)

Loves to you all!!

Just popping in to say HI!

We are still here, and doing well.  Lots of things going on (I do intend to catch you all up), but for today I will just leave you with these photos...

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We have hit the "lots of loose teeth around here" for this girl phase!!  :)  She makes me smile!

Christmas...from my girl's point of view...

So, dd-A got a camera for Christmas.  She was so excited, but I guess I didn't think much about how it would affect me.  Let's just say that I had more pictures taken of me on Christmas day than probably the whole two years prior.  HAHA!  I thought I'd share her pictures of the day, too.  These are just some of them, but it definitely is a different perspective than I am used to. :)

There is another post before this one with my recollections of the day.

A's Christmas pictures....

This is where I am thinking, "Uh oh, I now have no control over what I look like and when my picture will get taken. NOT good!" hahaa!

D and his very chocolate mouth.

The boys and the video game.

Me opening presents...

The older three kids really wanted to get presents for Mike, D, and I this year.  So I sent them off with their babysitter to do a little Christmas shopping.  They did a great job. This is my willow tree statue from A (still unopened).  In addition, they got me a shirt, and a necklace. 

And Mike got a tie, some socks, and a blackberry phone cover.

A super great shot of Mike!

Mike and I chilling post present opening, as the kids are all still playing.

and smooching..."eeew!" the kids say, but A still gets a picture of it!

and a very flattering close up of me putting Laney's (S's doll) shoes back on.

and the usual view of me. :)

a self portrait of A and I. :)

Christmas...finally

We had a great Christmas...very low key and simple. It was a great day.

Over the last few years we have tried really hard to keep the focus of Christmas on the Savior and giving.  With four children and the influence of the world around us, that can be a hard task.  But I am so proud of my kids and the kind hearts they have.  They really did remember the true meaning of the holiday... and individually each of them donated a big chunk of their allowance for the year (some of them it was about 50% of what they had left over after tithing and savings) to pay for a darling little child in need of a cleft palette surgery.  They had this goal from about July, and worked towards it.  Even though it was hard to actually hand the cash over to me to put it in the donation envelope, they each did it and they each felt the Spirit as they did.  I just love them.

So here is our Christmas morning...

the hallway line up

some of the presents

digging through the stocking to find candy... mmmm

The much anticipated and begged for Dolphin pillow pet... he had been asking me for one for months...he loves it.

and quickly moved to the floor so he could try it out.  As he laid his head down he sighed, "AHHHHHH!"  He still uses it every night.

S's pet cat, Praline.  This is about as close to a real cat as we will get.

This is actually for her birthday, but since it was coming from the American girl store, with her REAL Christmas present she got them at the same time. 

Yes, she thinks she is adorable...

and the American girl doll, Laney. Another toy that had been planned for for about 6 months.

Mike loves Laney, too! hahaaa! NOT!

Just a little extra something to encourage A to sew more...I need to get a permanent place for her sewing machine.  She would use it SO much more if it was up all the time.

And the awesome and over used camera, which she refers to as her "canon".  I had no idea how much this would change things at our house. hahahaha.  (See future post for further explanation: in short, WAY too many pictures of me.)

And it begins

J digging into his gift...

"What, Mom, I had no idea you were getting me a hunting video game!  Oh wait, I showed it to you on the internet, I guess I did know, but I am still excited!"

 and more pictures of A and her "canon"

saving the world...

one little super hero at a time!

SUPER D!!

Pre Christmas fun!!

W love the holiday season and are grateful that we were able to spend a decent amount of time with those we love, and we missed the rest of our family that we were unable to see and visit with.

here are some of our pre Christmas day holiday photos and events:

making candy trains, although this year a mishap in communication with D led to a candy "plane" (our substitute for gingerbread houses):

the candy...

sorting it out

Mike to the rescue...he made an awesome candy PLANE!

and D LOVED it!!

S's lovely candy train...

A's candy train...

J's train with lots of canons and...

rotator guns (whatever those are)... this is a shot of them...

and the one big casualty--Mike totally glue gun burned his hand. OUCH!!

getting the tree:

it was raining most of the time we were there, but it stopped briefly, so I grabbed my camera and got this shot. These three kiddos standing by the tree, then what to my wondering eyes should appear...the forth one, running away from his Dad (in the background) as they were "hunting" one another in the Christmas tree farm... the NERDS!

Making sugar cookies:

This is one of Mike's family traditions that we have a love/hate relationship with. He loves it and I hate it. hahaaaa! (alright, hate is a really strong word) but I dislike the mess, confusion, and chaos, that comes when trying to make, decorate, and eat sugar cookies with four kids. But once we decided to join our forces with one of our favorite families here, every year it is a success and we LOVE it! Yes, even me.

a few cute pictures of the kiddos:

our little nativity play:

some of our holiday decor: photo overload. :)

Love you all,
and more Christmas pictures to follow.