Saying Goodbye to 2013

2013 was a good year for us.  We welcomed Logan into the world as the newest member of our family.  He is such a joy to have in our family.  It definitely took some time to get used to having three kids but I wouldn't change it for anything.  It has been fun watching Logan grow and seeing his personality develop.  He is such a funny boy.  During the year, Logan has learned so much like sitting up, rolling over, and crawling.  He also loves doing whatever he sees his brother and sister do.

Colby has also grown a lot this year.  He loves playing cowboys, superheros, pirates, and cars.  He also has such a funny personality.  He makes me laugh all the time with the funny things he says.  Colby loves playing outside in the dirt and riding his scooter.  Colby was potty trained one month before Logan was born and also celebrated his second birthday one month after Logan was born.  Colby loves having a brother and likes to play cars with him.  Colby also loves to color and draw.  He will sit quietly for a while just coloring.  It is so nice!

Emily also had a big year.  She turned five this year and she thinks she is so big.  Because her birthday is late in the year, she missed the deadline for kindergarten so we did preschool one more year.  She started preschool at Sunset Elementary in September and she absolutely loves it.  She looks forward to going to school each day.  Emily is learning so much and this summer, she started reading.  She can read Dick & Jane books, Biscuit books, BOB books, Margaret Hillert books and really anything along that level.  Her preschool teacher has started her on the Leveled reading program that the elementary school kids use. She loves reading and is getting better each day.  Emily still loves everything princess or Barbie.  She has also started liking to make crafts and bead necklaces.  She is a big help around the house and loves playing with her brothers.

Russell and I have just been doing the same old thing of working and living life.  Russell has enjoyed being a volunteer fire fighter and started to do a few part-time shifts there as well.  After testing for a few agencies this year and coming up unsuccessful, he decided he needed to go back to school and get his RN.  By doing this, he will be able to have a better paying job but still be able to do the fire/medic stuff that he loves.  He will start school again in January.  Russell also got a new calling this year.  He was released from the Elders Quorum presidency and put in as Cub Master in scouts.  He is having a good time as Cub Master and loves teasing and having fun with the boys.

I have enjoyed the year and am learning a lot about enjoying three kids while juggling work, Primary, and home responsibilities.  I have also been learning different ways to save money and stretch our budget.  I have started making my own baby wipes, laundry soap, even started making my own bread when we run out before it is time for the new budget.  I have tried a lot of new recipes this year and found new meals that my family loves.  In July, we bought a mini van to haul our brood around in.  It has been so nice to have and the kids love it.  

Our extended family also welcomed a new nephew into the family.  Jessica and Danny had their first baby in February.  Cole is also a joy to have around.  Logan and Cole like to play together and baby wrestle.  They are only 3 week apart in age.  It is fun to watch them play.

We have had a great year in 2013 and are looking forward to new adventures in 2014.

Children's Museum

The city just put in a new Children's Museum in the old community arts building near the St. George library and Town Square.  It is free to go to so during our Christmas break, we went a couple of times.  The first time we went was with the Stewart's and Farnsworth's.  Emily and Colby had a blast running from room to room with their cousins, Paul and Alex.  The second time we went was with my childhood friends, Trista and Heidi, and their kids.  Trista and Heidi were here visiting family during the holidays so we decided to have a little reunion and hang out.  It was fun to see each other and see all of our kids play together like we used to.

Each room in the Museum has a different theme.  Emily's favorite room is the princess room where she can dress up like a princess.  Here she is showing off her beautiful gown with Alex as her king:

The next room we went into was the music room.  This room is really cool and had actual instruments that the kids (and parents) can play.  Colby, Logan and Alex loved playing on the drums.  There are also steel drums, a laser harp, and more.  This is a very noisy room.

In between the princess room and the music room is a little room under the castle tower that is full of puppets.  The room is the perfect size for the kids to get in and do a puppet show.  Logan loved watching the puppets and laughed each time the puppets tickled him.

Another fun room was the science room.  In this room, we got to be inside a bubble!  Tyler was the only one that was able to get the bubble big enough to cover his body but the kids had fun trying. Also in this room we learned about battery power, solar power, and how a tornado works.  Another cool thing in this room was the frozen shadows booth.  This was awesome because in this dark booth you stand up against a wall made with phosphorus (or the stuff used in x-rays) and then a light flashes and when you move you can see your shadow on the wall under the black light.  It was really fun to make cool or funny poses and then see what our shadows looked like.

The other two rooms in this area of the Museum were the basketball room and the desert room.  The basketball room was decorated like the Utah Jazz locker room and basketball court.  There is a basketball hoop and wheelchairs so you could play basketball in the wheelchairs. On the walls were descriptions about John Stockton and Karl Malone.

The desert room described the desert reserve around St. George as well as the fish and animals found there and the Virgin River.  In this room is a little mine like Silver Reef, a pulley system were the kids could haul items from one side of the room to the other, and a little "pond" area for the little kids to play in like Logan is doing in the picture above.

Next we went upstairs to more fun rooms.  Upstairs was decorated like the St. George Boulevard with signs and all.  Logan's favorite room was the farm room.  He loved playing with the chicken eggs:

Colby and Logan loved riding in the truck in the farm room.  Also in the farm room is a life-sized cow that we could actually milk!  There is also a garden area that we could pick toy vegetables out of.  This room also had a post office with mail boxes and slots.  There is also a kitchen in this room too with play food and appliances.  Emily liked this room too.  

Also upstairs is a grocery store with cash registers, money, food and little shopping carts.  This room was so busy because it seemed like it was every one's favorite room.  Next to the grocery store is a Zions Bank and a patriotic room decorated like the an office in the White House.  The patriotic room also explained about the flag and voting; there is even a voting booth.

Outside the grocery store/bank/patriotic room, is a fire department area.  This area is decorated just like the St. George Fire Department and actually has pictures of the real St. George fire trucks and firefighters.  Colby loved dressing up like a fire fighter and holding the hose: 

Emily's favorite room upstairs in the Museum was the performance room.  This room had a stage with curtains and all.  There was also a karaoke machine playing music.  There were a lot of different outfits to dress up in and "perform."  Emily loved dressing up and dancing on stage.  Colby and Logan liked it too.  On the day we went, Emily's friend from school, Brinley, was there.  Emily and Brinley had a great time dancing and performing for us.

The last room in the Museum was the Skywest airport.  In this room there is an airplane model that the kids could actually get in and ride or drive.  Inside was a screen that made it feel like you were actually flying the plane.  Also in this room was an automotive  shop were the kids could pretend to change tires on a car and look under the hood and fix the car.  This was a favorite room for Colby.

After playing at the Children's Museum for a while, Trista and I took our kids to the park for a picnic and playing.  Here is a picture of Trista's daughter, Jaydee, pushing Colby in the swing.  Trista's other daughter, Kaycie is swinging in the other swing.  It was nice to get together with Trista and her girls again and hang out and see how they are doing.  Emily had a blast playing with the girls and making new friends.

We loved playing at the Children's Museum.  The kids keep asking when we can go back.  We will definitely be going back soon.  

Our Crafty Side

Every year we make homemade gifts for each other.  I think they are more thoughtful than just buying something at the store.  Here are the gifts we made this year:

First is this Family Birthdays plaque I made for my mom.  I have seen these all over Pinterest and wanted to make one myself.  I had my neighbor, Bonnie Thompson, cut the vinyl lettering for me and Russell cut and sanded the board.  The hardest part about it was finding the little wooden discs and the links to link them together.  I think it turned out really good. (Except for getting Drew's birthday wrong...Sorry Drew I'll fix it...)

Next of course are our Christmas pajamas.  I found this awesome superhero flannel material at Joann's and had to get it.  The material was perfect for pajamas and the boys (well Colby) loved it.  Emily's nightgown is actually made out of a pillowcase!  This made it really easy to make because I didn't have to hem.  (I hate hemming.)  She loves nightgowns.

Next are the dress up clothes.  Emily wanted an Ariel dress/tail.  To construct this took a little bit of brain power.  She wanted it to look like a mermaid tail but still be able to walk in it.  She loves it.  The only thing Santa should have done different was use a different material for the waistband.  The seams popped after Emily had put it on and off a few times so we had to find a different material and fix the waistband.

Colby loves playing cowboys in his chaps and vest.  Santa did a great job on these too!  The chaps and vest are made out of upholstery vinyl so they should last a long time.

No Christmas would be complete without some new dolls.  These little dolls of Emily's are only about 3 inches tall and their little carrying case makes them perfect for church or travel.  And Logan got a Joseph doll like Colby's.  We need to find a new name for Logan's doll though so they done get confused.

Then, I made Colby a travel art kit complete with crayons and a notebook.  He is starting to love to color and draw so it was time he had his own art supplies.  He has had fun drawing in his book.  Best of all, the material the tote is made out of is Pirates! (Also one I found at Joann's and had to buy.)  

Last but definitely not least, Russell made these awesome stools for the boys.  They letters in their names come out and they are a puzzle.  Logan especially loves the stools and is always taking the letters out and then trying to put them back in.

So there you have it, the 2013 edition of homemade Christmas gifts.  I love how all of them turned out.  

Christmas 2013

Christmas at our house was so fun this year.  Our kids are at that age where they are so excited for everything that has to do with Christmas and so excited for every gift they receive.  We started off our Christmas celebrations on Christmas Eve at my parents' house.  We did a little skit we found in the Friend this month.  The skit spelled out Merry Christmas and told the meaning of each letter.

Emily was "M" for manger.  We dressed her up like Mary and her baby like Baby Jesus and she laid Him in the manger.

Colby was "T" for three wise men.  He brought his "treasures" from home to give Baby Jesus.  We also had a crown for him to wear but he wouldn't wear it:

And Logan was just his cute self.  He did not want to hold still.  He is crawling everywhere now and just wanted to play.

After the Christmas Eve dinner/party, we headed home to do some our own traditions.  First, we wrote our letter to Santa and set out the cookies, eggnog, and carrots:

Then we opened our Christmas Eve present, new pajamas!  I made these cute pajamas and I love how they turned out.  The kids loved them too.  Afterward, we headed to bed.

The next morning was Christmas!  The kids amazingly slept in until 8:30!  That never happens but Russell and I were not complaining.  Colby woke up first and we had to tell him to come into our room first instead of the kitchen like he usually does.  He came into our room but it was after he had already sneaked a peek into the front room.  He was so excited, he did not want to wait until we woke up Emily.  Finally everyone was awake and we all went into the front room to see what had happened:

Look at all that good stuff.  These kids must have been good this year.  They loved everything the received too which made it all worth it.

From Santa Emily asked for an Ariel dress/tail to play dress up with and Barbie Lego's.  She also got a couple of new dolls and a scooter.

Colby also got a scooter and loves riding it around.  Colby loves his Thomas the Train set and especially his cowboy chaps.  He was not too sure about the vest because he said cowboys don't wear vests.

Logan's favorite thing about Christmas was his apple!  H also loved the candy.  Logan got some Little People toys, a doll and a book to read.  After opening all the gifts from Santa, Logan was worn out and fell asleep.

After our traditional breakfast of scrambled eggs and cinnamon rolls, it was time to open the presents under the tree.  The looks on Emily and Colby's faces were priceless and made Christmas so fun.  They loved everything they opened.

Emily loved the Barbies she got from her brothers and the beads and necklace kit she got from us.  When Colby opened his Nerf gun from Emily he yelled, "This is just what I wanted!!!"  We all laughed and Emily was so happy too.  Colby also loved his Jake and the Neverland Pirates treasure chest of pirate stuff.  Logan loved to just rip the paper.  He was so funny to watch.  When he opened the present from the Hughes' later that day, he just smiled so big and got all excited and hugged the present.  That reaction it just what Christmas is all about.  From the kids Russell got his favorite things, Peanut Butter M & M's and an Angry Birds game.  From all of us he got a new backpack and school supplies because he will be going back to school in January.  We also got a new computer for him to use for school.  Our laptop is just about on its last leg so I can't wait to get the new computer up and running.  I got some new jewelry from the kids and a new lamp for the front room.  Now I can read my book at night while rocking Logan to sleep and not have to have the main light on.  Russell also got me something I have been wanting for a long time... A picnic table!  This is a way nice 6 foot picnic table from the Lifetime Store that is very sturdy and can fold down so we can take it camping too.  I am so excited.

Russell also made the boys stools for their room.  These stools are like the one he made for Emily before.  The letters in their names come out so it is like a puzzle.  Logan loves it and is always standing up to the stools and taking the letters out.  The stools turned out really nice.

After opening presents we headed out the extended family to see how their Christmas was.  Finally we ended at Grandma Morwood's house for Janet's traditional Taco Soup.  Let me tell you, I have made taco soup a few times but it never seems to turn out as good as Janet's.  I need to get her recipe I guess.  We had a great Christmas this year.  Merry Christmas everyone.

A Month of Christmas Parties

We have had a lot of fun Christmas parties this month.  The first one was the Morwood family party on December 7.  This was the day that the blizzard hit St. George so we were worried that we wouldn't make it out to Ivins to the party.  But the mini van made it through the snow to get there even though it took us an hour to do so.  Clay's family was in charge of the party this year and it was so fun.

First we had dinner of pizza and salads. It was good and the kids especially loved it.  Then we split into five different groups based on age and played a bunch of fun games.  The dads were assigned to help the little kid group so Russell got all three kids and I got to have fun in my own group.  Russell, Klint, and Danny had fun with the kids.

While the kids were upstairs, the rest of the groups were downstairs playing wild Minute to Win it games.  The games were so funny to watch.  It was especially funny to watch Roy and my dad try and get an Oreo off the top of their head into their mouths.  It was also funny to watch Clint try and get a red pom pom to stick to his nose.  We also played the Candy Bar game and we raced down the hall and unwrapped Hershey's Kisses with snow gloves on.  The girls in my group dominated at that game!

Upstairs the kids played pictionary and made this way cute snowman craft out of a light bulb.  The craft was so simple to make but so cute.  None of the snowmen turned out the same; they all showed the personalities of the creators.

The kids also got to play all of the Minute To Win It games.  They all did really well and had a lot of fun stacking cups, making Christmas trees out of nuts, and trying to get the red pom pom on their nose.

This was a really fun party.  We also played a really fun game called Telestrations.  It is similar to the telephone game we played as kids but you draw pictures instead.  I have never laughed so hard in my life as I did while playing this game.  I am definitely going to see if I can find this game and buy it.

Our next Christmas party was our ward Christmas party on December 14.  The theme of the party was "Fiesta!"  Paula, who owns Paula's Mexican Restaurant,  is in our ward so she catered and cooked the meal.  The food was so good.  We sang "Feliz Navidad" and some other Christmas songs and then at the end, the Primary kids got to break open a Pinata:

Emily and Colby loved hitting the pinata and especially loved getting the candy and prizes when it opened.  This was also a fun party.

For my work party we went to Las Vegas and saw the show called Le Reve at the Wynn resort.

That is probably the worst picture I have ever taken!  Any way, the show was AMAZING!!!  The show was similar to Cirque du Soleil shows with acrobats and amazingly strong people.  The show also had synchronized swimming and awesome divers.  I was on the edge of my seat the whole time just watching all of the stunts and things the actors were doing. I could not believe some of the things I was seeing!   I think it was one of the best shows I have seen in Vegas.  So if you are feeling rich one day, this is a must see.

Outside the theater, there were these giant "Tulips."  I thought they looked like giant balloons so I took a picture of them for Emily and Colby.

And here is the night view of the Strip through our hotel window.  We stayed at Treasure Island on the 26th floor.  Yeah we were a little spoiled.  This year I didn't know what to do with Logan while we were at Las Vegas because he is still nursing.  So we decided to bring down all of the kids with us.  Russell's aunt, Jeanmarie, lives in Las Vegas and she was willing to watch all three for us while we went to the show.  They loved playing with Jeanmarie and ask all the time when they can go back and visit.  Even Logan did okay.  He cried for a bit but then fell asleep until we got back.  Thanks Jeanmarie!  The kids also loved spending the night in the hotel and loved looking out the window and seeing all of the lights.

The next morning, we met my mom, Lacie and Tami at the Las Vegas temple.  My cousin was getting married so we went to the sealing while Russell played with the kids on the temple grounds.  It was fun to go inside the Las Vegas temple.  I had never been inside it before.  After the sealing, we headed home to make it in time for the next Christmas party, the big Morwood family party.

At the party the kids participated in the Nativity story.  Colby was a Shepard and Emily was an Angel.  Then it was time for Santa to bring everyone a gift.

This was Logan's first experience with Santa.  He did pretty good at first.  He just looked at Santa and then started screaming!  Colby wasn't too sure if he wanted to go up and get his gift.  Finally with Russell's help he did it.  Emily was worried the whole night that she wouldn't get a present.  She kept asking me if she had been good enough to get a present. I told her we would see if Santa brought he one or not.  She was so happy when her name got called.

As you can see they all loved their gifts.  Emily was so excited when she got a new Dick and Jane book to read.  Colby liked his truck and trailer.  Logan loved his ball and chased it around the whole place.  I think Colby liked Logan's ball the best because he played with it more than anything.  This was also a fun party and it was nice to see all of my extended family and cousins again.

Finally, the Farnsworth Christmas party was on December 22.  Jen and Rick and their kids came down from Salt Lake for the weekend.  At the party we had a blast making Nativity sets out of graham crackers and candy.

Going clockwise in the picture above: this is a picture of all four of the Nativities, then ours, under ours is the Stewart's, next is the Keith Farnsworth family's, and finally the Ron Farnsworth family's.  We had fun making these and even though they had all of the same components, they were all different.  

We also played some fun games too.  We played "Spit on your Neighbor" and a fun spelling game Jen brought down.  (I can't remember its name.)  We also gained 5 pounds each by eating chocolate fondue and cheese fondue but boy was it good!

That night Emily and Colby had a sleepover at Grandma and Grandpa Farnsworth's with Paul and Alex.  They had so much fun with their cousins.  The next morning we had an early Christmas and opened presents.

Emily and Colby got so spoiled with presents from Grandma and Grandpa.  They loved ever minute of it.  

Our food budget really benefited from the parties because we had dinner at each one!  We also had a Christmas party/dinner with the Fire Department and the Hospital ER Department for Russell's work.    

We have had a great month full of parties every weekend.