December happenings

Cute Bradley all wrapped up before bed.

Bradley found a kazoo that Grandpa and Grandma Adamson gave to him while in Corcoran.  Bradley and I were having fun with Jingle Bells then Camille came home and joined us on the guitar.

Emily Beck gave us all of their left over candy and supplies from making gingerbread houses.  We had so much fun one evening making a really cool house.  Luckily my parents were there to help with the construction using graham crackers for the structure part.  We have been lazy the past couple of years buying the gingerbread kits.  I was so glad my dad knew how to get the walls to become really strong by reinforcing them with a small piece of graham cracker.  The kids all helped decorate a part of the house.  Johnathan and Tanner chose to make their own with what was left over.  It was definitely a fun family activity and even more fun one week later to eat it.

 

Camille, Tanner, Parker, Carter, Bradley, Tricia and Johnathan

 

Family Pictures - Dec. 1, 2012

Family pictures are usually something I get so stressed over.  This year we had Charis take them again - she took my kids last year.  I really didn't want to stress about these so just went down to each kids closet to see what they already had.  Luckily I only had to buy 2 new shirts to complete our theme.  We met up with Charis in Pleasant Grove and seriously were with her for one hour before we were done.  We went to two locations and the kids were so great to work with.  Charis kept on saying how she wishes all of the kids were as well behaved as mine and so photogenic.  I was glad we didn't have any melt downs.  Byron and I did tell our kids that we would go out to eat after so maybe this was all they needed to hear to get them done quickly.  After getting them back, I seriously couldn't pick which one I liked as they all turned out so great.  I ended up compromising with Byron and picking the picture with the mountains in the background as our main picture.  Carter is wearing yellow and Parker is wearing blue.

 

 Eating at Wingers afterwards.

 

Interfaith Celebration

Carter, Parker and Camille all performed at the Interfaith Celebration which was held at our Stake Center for all of Lehi.  There were nativities displayed from all over the world along with different singing groups. Carter and Parker sang with the 4th graders.  They sang some really fun songs they have been learning in school.  They are directly in front of the podium.  Camille was able to also sing with Encore.  They were the very last group to perform and since most of the groups performed way longer than they were given, it was a very long evening.  The kids all held out very well, though.  We had Michael and Genevieve's children for this and they did great for how long we were waiting.  Britta ended up crashing towards the end.  Camille sang some really fun songs with her group and even performed a solo, "Who Would Imagine A King."  She did an amazing job!  Outside was a live nativity where the kids could go and see the real animals with Mary and Joseph.  It was pouring outside, so we quickly went out to see and then came back in.

 Carter, green - Parker, red

 Camille walking in with Tanner Perelle as her escort.

 She is second from left.

Camille singing her solo.

 

Fun happenings

Bradley is such a creative little guy.  He rarely will actually sit and watch a show when we gather together to see one with the family.  This particular night he has being creative as usual coming up with something more fun than watching TV - what a character!

Bradley absolutely hates having a room all to himself.  He usually finds a spot in a sibling's bed or ropes one of them into coming into his bed.  This particular night I found him in bed with Carter and Parker.  Not sure why all 3 are in the same bed, but lately Carter and Parker have been doing that during the night.  Love seeing pictures like this.  Parker is closest to wall.

After school we decided to head over to Emmetts and Ethels to have some yummy scones.  We cannot pass up the $.99 for 2.  My kids are in complete heaven especially with the yummy honey butter.

Since last year Byron has talked about possibly putting Christmas lights on our house.  We finally bought the lights and both Tanner and Byron went up onto the roof to put them on.  It was late  at night during this fun activity.  I wish I had taken some pictures.  Tanner got closest to the eaves of the house to put on the lights as Byron helped hold him and direct him where to put them.  They looked awesome after they were done.  I am so excited that Byron wanted to put them up and look forward to every year having a more festive house.

 

We watched Michael and Genevieve's sweet children while they were able to get away.  We had the kids for one day and two nights.  I was a little nervous how the nights would go with a little one that wakes up still, but it actually went great.  These three kids are so cute!  They really were very well mannered.  Sweet little Spencer was so fun to have.  He was around 7 months old at the time and just a delight.  He is just a cute little guy that was constantly getting fought over by my other children.  I had a little photo session with them.  It was really hard to get some good ones with Britta and Timothy, but Spencer was the perfect model.  He is such a cute little guy. 

 

Christmas Decorations

After Thanksgiving I am always anxious to get our Christmas decorations out.  My goal was to get the lights on during the day on Monday, Nov. 26, then we could decorate for FHE.  It is a long process to add the lights, but finally finished after about 7 strands were on.  The decorating is always so fun to sit and watch these kids putting one decoration after another onto the tree.  They did a fabulous job.  They weren't so excited to be photographed, but were so great to let me have fun photographing them. 

 Parker - blue, Carter - red

Let the fun festivities begin!!!  Love this time of year.

Camera - dream come true!

I have been wanting a DSLR camera for many years now but knew that it just wasn't something that I could justify buying due to the cost.  I did, however, keep wanting, wishing, searching on the Internet for the best deals, and finding out which camera would be the best for me almost weekly.  I wanted to get one to take pictures of my children playing soccer, while on stage - anything that required a quick response compared to my current one that would take blurry in action most of the time.  I wanted something reliable that when I pushed down the button it would actually take a picture right then.  I finally decided that I wanted to buy a Nikon D5100.  I started looking almost daily at deals at the beginning of October.  A fabulous one came on at Costco, but it soon passed.  After returning home from California, I went with Byron to Costco.  We happened to stop at the cameras and were looking at them for a short time.  Byron told me I should just get one, but still wasn't sure we had the money to spend on such an expensive piece of equipment.  I soon gave in and came home with my dream camera which would also be my birthday, Christmas, Valentines, Mother's Day, next birthday, and next Christmas present :).  I was in a state of complete happiness as I started figuring it out.   I spent the next couple of hours taking pictures of my children through out the house in awe at the clarity and quickness.  My kids were so great to allow my craziness.  I am still learning and working on figuring it out, but have fallen in love.  Still not sure what to do on a trip or vacation as it is a little larger than I have had in the past, but excited to have the option of taking it with me.  Below are some of my first attempts.

Johnathan got this kit during the summer at scout camp and decided to finish it today.  I was impressed at how he was able to do this all on his own without any help.

Bradley decided to make a mailbox.  He spent so much time coloring and writing on it to make it just right.

I went into Tanner's room where he was reading on his bed - the bottom bunk.  The lighing was actually horrible and I got a really great shot - so excited how clear and light it was.

 My cute turtle - so excited how clear through the tank this picture was.

 Had to take some head shots - love these kids and my husband!!! (Carter, red - Parker, blue)

Yeah for some great action shots - My kids indulged me to go outside and play a quick game of soccer so I could practice some action shots.  So excited for soccer to start to enjoy some great pictures.

Parker spent most of his time after school completing this school project.  He had to take a cereal box and cover it with paper then write all about a book he had read including pictures and summary.  He is so great to start way before the deadline and complete things.  Hopefully he sticks with this behavior all through his school years.

Bradley's finished project with his mailbox.  Byron helped him get a PVC pipe for a stand.  I love how he wrote our address.  Such a cute and creative little guy.