New Years

After our trip to Oregon we headed back down to San Ramon for New Years to be with all the Teares. Everyone was there and we had a blast. A few highlights were all the Teare boys computing - it's what they love to do! Hanging out with Uncle Josh, Grandpa's donuts - always a huge hit, and cousins, cousins, cousins! There are 15 all together now!

Our tall boy

During our trip to Oregon we realized that Brayton is now as tall as my two little sisters Jandi and Tess! Can you believe?

Baird reunion

The day after Christmas we set out for Portland to gather with all the Bairds. I LOVED seeing all my family. We were all there and it made me so happy. We even got to be there for our newest nephew's blessing - Jandi and Kenny's little Myles. He is so adorable, I couldn't hold him enough. The kids had a grand time with all their cousins. There are 17 grandkids in all now. Below is a picture of all of them, Jandi and Kenny and Myles, My mom with our nephew Kurt, and my sister Tess with Meri, Jess, and neice Lauren.

Our Nativity

Some of my favorite pictures from when I was a kid is our live nativity we did almost every year. Here's a few of ours this year. Jessi was the angel, Meri - a sheperd, the boys - the wisemen. Shawn was Joseph and me, Mary. Needless to say I was not up for a picture of me being "great with child".

Secret Santas

Christmas

Okay, so our pictures are finally working again and it's Sunday afternoon - a pretty mellow time here. So I just wanted to put a few pictures on of what we've been up to.

My favorite thing about Christmas this year was the kids "gifts of love". In the past they usually draw a name and buy a gift for that sibling, but this year thanks to my sister Krystal doing this, we decided to make the gift instead. We decided that they would open their "secret Santa" gifts on Christmas Eve. I really wanted them to appreciate them and not get overlooked on Christmas morning. I really loved it. It gave me that wonderful warm fuzzy Christmas spirit feeling to see them open their gifts and appreciate what their sibling had taken the time to make for them. Brayton painted a little doll house for Jessi and picked out some little animals to go inside it, Jessi painted a box for Meri and picked out horses to go in it. Ethan gave Orion his drawing of a storm trooper that took him a really long time to draw. It was his favorite drawing - Orion knew this and felt really special that Ethan gave it to him. Orion (it was his idea) made a periscope with Shawn for Brayton which Brayt loved. And Meri painted a picture of Yoda and R2D2 for Ethan. It really was my favorite Christmas moment this year. We'll definitely do the gift making again in years to come.

Snow Day!

As you can see we haven't posted in awhile. Partly because our computer is having trouble and we can't get to our photos easily and partly because I've been konked out on the couch as soon as the kids are in bed. But our lives continue to be lively. Over Christmas and New Years we got to see all the Bairds and all the Teares. I'm so grateful to have such a fun family and that my kids adore their cousins. It's whole lot of fun and a whole lot of people when we all get together. We got to go out to Alcatraz while we were visiting in San Ramon. We went with Josh and Sarah. It was so interesting and a bit creepy to think of all the stuff that went on there. We took a picture of the kids in one of the solitary confinement cells. Maybe we'll use it for our Christmas card next year. :)

In January Orion turned 8 and he just got baptized this past Saturday. It is just pure joy to see your child standing in the baptismal font - a precious moment. He is a ball of energy and emotions and sweetness. I just love him so much and I'm so happy he came to us. It was so nice that a lot of our family and some friends came to be with Orion on his special day. Thanks so much to everyone who came. We just love having you all around.

Also in January our cub scout pack had it's pine wood derby. It was one to remember. It was Orion's first derby, Ethan's 2nd, Brayton's last. For 2 weeks they were cub scouts together. I felt kind of teary watching all 3 of our boys get excited over the races and seeing them build their cars with Shawn. All three cars really held their own this year and Ethan's got 3rd place! It was a pine wood derby to be remembered.

Yesterday Brayton turned 11. Is it really possible that we have an 11 year old? How can this be? Where have the years gone? It's hard to believe that Brayton has been with us almost as long as we have been married. I'm so glad he came to us. Our family was still here (from Orion's baptism) when we had cake after church and he loved having a bunch of cousins and family to celebrate with.

And finally, today. It was supposed to be the science fair at school so we got the boys projects all finished up last night and then it snow like crazy last night. So school was cancelled today and will likely be tomorrow as it is still coming down. So it has been a day of sledding, hot chocolate, snow cones, and naps for me. Shawn even got to come home early and took a nap too. It was such a nice lazy day.

8 weeks til baby.

Christmas Recital

Last night was our Christmas piano recital. My kids have settled into the idea of mom being their teacher and they are progressing really nicely on the piano. I also have 6 other students right now too. So the last couple days Shawn cleared out all the furniture from the family room and rolled the piano out of the spare room. He brought 50 chairs from the church and built a fire to create the mood. Brayton, Ethan, and Meri's school teachers, Jessi's primary teacher, and Orion's best friend came which really made it special for the kids since our family lives too far to come. The other students brought families and friends too and it was really a special night. I'm so grateful for Shawn for helping me get it all to turn out nicely. It was really fun to hear all the Christmas music. I loved it! (and I'm also glad it's over.) :)

welcome to the zoo

Our home is never very quiet, but the last few days I have been wondering if we have 5 kids or 5 animals. Wait, we do have 5 animals too, but anyway, our kids have had major ants in the pants issues lately. No matter what I do they seem to be constantly rough housing. Today before church, I got after them because we were trying to get everyone ready - not to mention they were just being so darn loud, and pregnant momma is very easily annoyed as of late. So we went to church -Orion having a tantrum and Brayton giving me dirty looks and saying how I always ruin all their fun. So we made it through church, although sacrament meeting was more irreverent than our normal irreverance. Then even though I have a hard time going to Gospel Doctrine class - I was greatful for an hour of sitting in peace and quiet. Then on to Young Women's which I am finding that I quite enjoy. It took me awhile to adjust from primary these last several months, but I can honestly say now that I LOVE working with the Young Women! So then back home, and the kids have been and still are in rough housing mode. For awhile I hid in my room and read and then I realized - I hadn't been hearing any fighting or calling names -all I am hearing is happy squeals of laughter and my kids enjoying each other. Yes, occasionally I would hear someone cry for a few minutes because of a bonked head or something, but mostly all the sounds were happy ones. So I came out to the family room and took a picture of them and decided to just enjoy them enjoying each other no matter how loud or wild they get - or no matter how many times one of them yells "someone farted!". The only thing I can think is that maybe they are so excited about Christmas and that it's supposed to snow tonight so they are anticipating a snow day tomorrow. We'll see if I'm so happy with all the rough housing after a joyous snow day tomorrow! But anyhow, I just love my kids. They each are such a treasure. I'm so proud of them how hard they work at school and they did so well at the piano recital last night. I'll have to post about that next.

Christmas at Disney!

Last Wednesday we decided to use our Disney passes again. We pulled the kids out of school and went to see Christmas as Disneyland for our first time. It was amazing. The decorations were beautiful and the best part was that it was not crowded and it was a cool day. Turns out, Wednesday is a perfect day to go to Disneyland. We had very little wait time or just walked on all the rides we wanted to. It was such a pleasant day. Meri was even brave enough to get her picture with Mickey and Minnie and get their autographs. Our kids have always been to nervous about people in costumes to get near them, but finally Meri decided it would be a fun thing to do. The only thing we missed was the snow at the end of the day. We saw the Christmas parade and then we were just too tired to stay for the fireworks and snow. But really, it was such a perfect day.

Thanksgiving

We had a terrific time up in San Ramon with the Teares for Thanksgiving. The boys loved picking apples out of Grandpa's apple tree, cutting and drying them with him. We also enjoyed an amazing train show and all had a great time there. But mostly it was just nice to be with our family. 1. Brayton excited about his Thanksgiving dinner 2. apples with Grandpa 3. train show with Grandpa and cousins 4. Meri and Mady playing uno

It's a Boy!

Today we had our ultra-sound. It's a boy! Hooray!

A Magical Halloween

For halloween this year I got my dream come true- the Harry Potter gang. Ethan was Harry, Orion was his best friend Ron Weasley, and Meri was his other best friend Hermione Granger. Meri has been wanting to be Hermione for awhile and we talked the boys into completing the group. The night before we had a night of hair dying. I think my favorite costume turned out to be Ron's because of how great the red hair turned out. Orion was also really excited to carry the broken wand and that he has a rat just like Ron does. Brayton was Ash Ketchum with his pal Pikachu played by Jessi. They were really cute too. That night instead of trick-or-treating we went to Disneyland. We got alot of great comments from people about the Hogwarts friends and people even recognized Ash and Pikachu! We met up with our Larson cousins there and had a ball (and a very late night) at Disneyland. The kids had so much fun riding rides and hanging out with their cousins. Happy Halloween everyone!

Shawn's Birthday

Last Sunday was Shawn's birthday. We had cake after church and then headed to Disneyland for 2 days! We had a fabulous time! Highlights of the trip were swimming at the hotel, Brayton fighting Darth Maul, Splash Mountain, the carousels, Soarin' California, the Toy Story ride, the rafting ride, the parades, and the "screamin" roller coaster. We had the best time and hope to go back soon! We have only been once before 3 years ago so the girls don't remember so much. It was so fun to be a part of the magic!

Happiness Slide Show on Earth