Ornaments 2010...

It is pretty close to impossible to get all 3 kids to look at the camera and when we do, it isn't always great.  Jenna will look at Lydia to make sure she is doing what she is supposed to and Anthony just looks away.  But, they are so cute anyway! 

I loved the tradition Jake's Mom did with giving the kids ornaments each year to remember their year, so we have kept that tradition alive.  This year Anthony got a boy sleeping in a camo sleeping bag since this was the first year he had his own sleeping bag.  Jenna got a little girl sitting criss-cross applesauce (as she would say) and coloring because she is ALWAYS doing some sort of art.  Lydia got a little girl in a stroller because she has been pushed around a lot in a stroller going everywhere we go.  Jake also mentioned that she loves to push around the little doll stroller we have at our house.

Live Nativity...

 On a night so long ago, by the light of one bright star....

What a night. It was beautiful, the spirit was strong and everything went beautifully.  I cannot help but think that the day so long ago was that way as well.  Jake's Dad decided to try to put together a live nativity for the community again this year.  Before, they have always been on a little smaller scale, but this year he talked to the right people.  It ended up being a HUGE success with many, many people enjoying the Christmas spirit.  The nativity story was narrated along with a few songs mixed in and the story acted out by live animals and willing people!  It was such a beautiful night to remember how things would have been when Christ was born.

Oh Christmas Tree...

We had such a great time going to get our Christmas tree this year!!  Yes, it was on the 18th of December, but the wait was worth it.  We went up by Warm River and had the best day. The weather was perfect, the place we found was great and the tree turned out to be a great tree for a 'home grown' tree.  The kids had fun (mostly) and were just so cute. When we pulled off the main road and Jake told the kids to start looking for a Christmas tree...Jenna started saying "Christmas tree, where are you?  Christmas tree?"  It made us giggle!

We got this first picture of all of them smiling and didn't get a single more with Lydia smiling...it was mostly this next picture.  She was tired.

We found it!!

I wish I had an audio clip for this one.  Jenna was telling Anthony "You can do it!  Good job NeNe!"  It was so cute.  I love these kids.

They each took a turn using the saw to cut down the tree.  They enjoyed it so much!

This sums up Lydia's attitude the whole time.  I'm not liking this, but I will tolerate it :).

On the way back, Jake pulled me pulling the tree, Lydia and Anthony on the toboggan and put Jenna on his shoulders.  Thank goodness for the snowmobile trail that helped us along or we might have had to put Jake on the toboggan and pull him out.  It was fun though!

 

This was Lydia about 30 seconds after the suburban started down the road.

We stopped at the big fish on the Warm River and feed them crackers and watched them jump out of the water.  The kids really enjoyed it and giggled each time the fish jumped out of the water.

After that, we stopped at Big Judd's in Ashton and shared a Big Judd with the kids.  It was such a great day spent together as a family after such a long absence of that.  Wrestling season is fun and enjoyable, but when it is over we all enjoy the time we have together!

Gingerbread houses...

 We love making Gingerbread (graham cracker) houses at our house each year.  It is fun to see the kids get into their creations!  Jake constructed the houses and then the kids went to work.Jenna ate her candy as fast as she could put it on her house, but she still had fun.   Anthony really gets into decorating his in as many ways as he can.  Its fun to watch.  I told Jake to surprise me with a creation this year and he came up with some tree houses that we decorated together.  It was a fun night!

Ward Christmas Party...

We got to see Santa at our ward's Christmas party. None of the kids were afraid of him at all and it was fun to see them get excited over it. This is the first time they have really seen Santa.  He gave them candy canes and they decided that they LOVE them. Anthony asked for a football helmet and Jenna wanted a baby doll with a binkie and bottle.  Cute!

Idaho State FolkstyleTournament...

 State Champ!!

 His first match with Sione.  He pinned him in the 1st period.

 We do a lot of snacking and coloring in between matches.  The girls do so well!  They put up with a lot during these long tournaments!

 Wrestling Xander.  He won by points in the 3rd period and did really well turning him each time Xander got away.

 I was trying to take another picture or Anthony and Xander and Lydia walked in front of the camera right as it went off and I got a fantastic picture of her!

He was so excited to stand on the podium in the #1 spot.  He was really proud of his new singlet too.  I think he will remember this day for quite a while!  So will we, we were so proud of him!  

State Champion as a Kindergarten Pre-Bantum 40 pounder!!

The first snow fall...

 We got a huge down-pouring of snow the week before Thanksgiving after a beautiful fall. Promptly after the snow fell, the cold weather set in so it wasn't very much fun to go outside but the kids were itching to go play in the snow.  When we got home from Thanksgiving in Logan, Jake took the kids out in the snow on the four-wheeler and they all had a blast. They came in with very cold fingers and noses, but they couldn't wait to go out again!  I enjoyed the quiet house for a little while and made sure there was hot chocolate for them when they came in :)!!!