Happy Birthday to our big 9 year old!! ...and Happy New Year!

I can't believe this kid is 9!! Happy Birthday to our New Year's Eve baby Zach Attack!  This year was a "no party" year so we spent the day as a family and headed up to play in the snow and then to Grandma and Grandpa's house for some yummy steak and potatoes by Zach's request. There was tons of snow and the kids had a blast for the hour or so that we stayed and played. Lilly even seemed to really enjoy it too!

We love you so much Zach!! And we are so proud of what an amazing son you are and such an awesome big brother to your three sisters! They are so lucky to have you!! We hope you have the best year ahead and look forward to another year watching you learn and grow!! Happy 9th Birthday!

 



 



 

We headed home and put the girls to bed and let Zach stay up and ring in the New Year with us and Dave and Ali. Dave and Zach share the same birthday. We had fun playing games and staying up late and drinking a little too much Martinelli's!

(sorry the pics are so bad. These are the only ones we took on my phone :))

 

Goodbye 2012!! Looking forward to a much better 2013!!!

HAPPY NEW YEAR!!!!!!!!!!!

Christmas Day 2012

 Our cuties excitedly waiting at the top of the stairs for Mom and Dad to hurry up and get the fire started so they can go see what Santa brought them.

 Love everything about this picture. Haha! Thanks Aunt Kelli for such a cool gift! "Family is everything"!

 

 And a big thanks to Mema and Grandpa for our new Michael Jackson Dance Wii game! We are all going to be professional dancers before you know it.

 New PJ's picture that we forgot to take the night before...and Lilly wouldn't stand there unless I was next to her...Thank you Mark for making sure my no makeup face was in the picture. Nice.

Lilly's favorite present was from Grandma & Grandpa Stacy...four pairs of princess shoes! The girl is already a shoe addict. haha!!

Mark and Zach got nerf guns from me and Grandma. Looks like this is going to be fun :)

Zach thought he should be prepared and wear some protection. Those nerf darts hurt!!

 

We had a very nice quiet Chirstmas morning with just our little family and then Grandma and Grandpa joined us later that morning and spent the rest of the day with us. Great-Grandpa Hobbs and Estella joined us too for an amazing yummy prime rib dinner and twice baked potatoes and a celebration of Grandpa Hobbs 82nd birthday! We are so grateful for all our many blessings and especially for the wonderful spirit that the Christmas season brings into our home. We love our Savior and hope that we can continue to always have His Spirit of love and joy with us always and not just during the holidays.



Christmas Eve at the Capell's

We went to Sheila and Jeff's for Christmas Eve and spent the day and evening there with cousins and Sheila, Jeff, and Grandma and Grandpa. Grandma of course had the sugar cookies all ready for us to frost and decorate...always a favorite tradition for the kids!! :)

Not sure how much frosting actually made it on the cookies by this little girl :)

 

A little cookie with your sprinkles?! Jordan decided to slurp up the "extra" sprinkles. Funny kid.

After a nice day of fun and play and a very yummy tri-tip steak dinner we gathered the kids to act out the Nativity. Madelyn was Mary, Grandpa was Joseph, and Kali wanted to be the donkey, of course.

 



 The Nativity cast.

 

Since we weren't all able to be together on Christmas day we opened presents that evening together. Grandma surprised all the kids with homemade warm fleece blankets with crocheted edges. The kids LOVE them and my kids use those blankets all the time!! Thanks so much Grandma!! Such a fun snuggly gift!!

 

It's not very often that I get a picture with my man...thought it was time for an update :)

We are so grateful for such wonderful family to spend the holidays with and although our hearts were missing sweet Uncle Jeremy a lot this Christmas we made sure to keep his memory alive in our home and with the children. Auntie Sheila had a beautiful "Jeremy" Christmas ornament made for every family and Grandma has been working on another big project of converting old home videos to DVD's for all the families to have. Such an awesome gift and it was so fun watching the videos together and for Mark and his family to reminisce together!