Ringin' in the New Year

It is tradition for my family to have a Rockin' Eve of their own in Idaho.  We haven't been in attendance for 3 years now, and I was missing the food, the fun, and the celebratory mood.  So I pinterested my way into an exciting night for the Summers' Family.  We filled 6 balloons with confetti and the name of a game we would play each hour until midnight.  It turned out great, and the kids loved popping the balloons and dancing around in the confetti.  We made Cafe Rio pork, and feasted on brownies and coconut cream pie.  Jack the master of drinks sipped the wassle and the Party Punch (Sprite/CranRaspberry Juice). 2012 was a great year full of really excited and memorable events and adventures.  I am so grateful for a year of blessings, and I'm excited for the new adventures and experiences 2013 will bring to our family.

Games included - Just Dance, Candyland, Disney Scene It, Yahtzee, 

Scategories, Charades, & Uno!

 

 This is Shawn contemplating why his wife insists that he wear "clothes".  That doesn't sound right.  As of late, he has been coming home and changing right into comfy clothes.  I'm a lover of comfy clothes, but if I always wore my pjs and sweats - wouldn't he get sick of seeing me in them? (okay maybe Shawn wouldn't care...but) So I made a comment on him changing into real clothes.  To be a smart A** - he broke out his most hated sweater.  He calls it the gay sweater, but I think he looks nice.  So I snapped a shot of him in his Big Boy clothes, sipping his wassle!

Sam is the only child survivor until midnight.  At 10:30 Lyv got up and announced she was going to bed, and crawled in all by herself.  Jack tried his darndest....but alas, succumbed to sleep at 11:30.  Sam stayed awake until 1:00, at which point Shawn told him to go to bed!  WooHoo to the New Year!

Sumo Wrestlers Eat Your Heart Out...

Max is the master of chunk!  You know if you have a roll on the back of your neck that it is GOOD  Eating! We just can't believe how quickly he is growing.  He is 7 weeks, and has no doubt put on a few more pounds since his last doctors visit.  We can't get enough of his rolls and chubby cheeks.  This balloon effect is characteristic of all of my kids - they all explode in the first 5-6 months and then level out. For now we are taking advantage of all his sweetness, it just goes by too quickly.

A White Christmas

Christmas Eve was spent at home, eating a traditional ham dinner, reading the Christmas Story from Luke, and watching a movie in our new Christmas jammies.  I love the feel of Christmas Eve night.  With the anticipation of Christmas morning, and the feelings of peace and joy at celebrating our Savior's birth, it creates a majestic and warm spirit throughout the day.

 Max's 1st Christmas pjs - already into 3-6 month clothes.  He is a chubby boy!

 Christmas morning started at 6:30 with Sam.  He came down and scouted out his gifts and then woke up Jack, who you can tell by the look on his face was THRILLED!!!!  We let the Queen of Sheba (A.K.A. Olyvia) sleep in until she had sufficient rest (she's a bear otherwise).  She woke up at 7:15 and she too was overcome with excitement at all the "pretty" things she received.  All the kids got everything on their list, and were so happy with each gift.  It was a perfect Christmas morning, complete with a snow! I love a white Christmas. Santa's sleigh and the reindeer even left tracks in the driveway.....

 Jack - wall track, attendance board, easel, beyblade, and Dennis the Menace.

 Sam - skylander's giants, beyblade, baseball bag, live butterfly kit and golf clubs.

 Lyv - dollhouse, baby high chair and car seat, Doc McStuffin's, tutu

Lyv gave Max the gift he had been dying for...toy rattle cars.  Can't you see the excitement in his face? (more like snore.....)

 My Christmas gift was Max's smiles...they've been coming on que all day

 Lyv wanted to show me what she had been working on this morning. She was so proud, I couldn't help but laugh that they were color coordinated, and that she did it all by herself. Can you say OCD? I have NO CLUE where she gets that from?

The kids had to have their first taste of winter fun and bundled up to play in the snow, or what was left by mid morning.  2012 Christmas was a success!

Their Christmas Best

Christmas' Sunday is always a one I look forward to.  I love getting the kids in their Christmas dress clothes, and being surrounded by the songs and words of Christmas.  Our ward read the Christmas story from Luke and we sang congregational Christmas hymns.  One part of the Christmas story in particular stood out this year.  "Fear not I give you tidings of great joy, which shall be to ALL men." The gift of our Savior continues to provide tidings of great joy for me, for my family, and for ALL men.  It didn't start and end in Bethlehem, it continues today. Here is a look at 4 of my greatest joys.

Disney on Ice - Rockin' Ever After

Friday after school we surprised the kids by taking them to Albany to see Disney on Ice.  We decided to make a trip out of it and stayed in a hotel, of course, this was the highlight because they got to go swimming!  They were so excited and I think it was a great way for Shawn and I to spend our 10th anniversary.  (At midnight - and the kids still bouncing off the walls - I might have not had that thought.) But it was a really fun weekend, and we got a chance to spoil the kids a little and just do something FUN!  

Saturday before heading to the show, we went to the mall to visit Santa.  We weren't allowed to take pictures, but the kids were able to tell them what they wanted. The show was awesome!  Lyvie was in HEAVEN... there couldn't have been a happier girl.  She was so pleased that she wanted to go and dance on the ice.  We tried to convince her that she couldn't and that it would be super cold, but she was not to be deterred.  We had to literally rip her away from the ice rink.  After some dramatic crocodile tears, she recovered enough to enjoy the rest of the show.  The boys weren't as thrilled as Lyv, but Jack managed to make it through with the help of his sno cone (the food and merchandise there is highway robbery - $10 for cotton candy and sno-cones. They better come in gold plated packages right?) Sam liked the Brave part because Merida shot her bow and arrow. We saw Ariel, Rupunzel, Merida, and Belle.  To complete the perfect night, our parking spot was right out in front! No waiting forever in a parking garage. 

Max Melts My Heart

We just can't get enough of this boy!  The instant he arrived, Max has been the center of attention and all of us ooh, ahh, and coo at him constantly trying to get the following reaction:

 SMILE

 Smile

 Smile

No matter how much he's been up during the night, he gives me one of his smiles and I have mother amnesia....oh, how I love this sweet boy.

Big Book of What?

Lyv LOVES Disney Jr. (as I've already stated about a million times).  She especially likes Doc McStuffins.  Yesterday she was pretending to be Doc, and did a check up on the toy tiger.  She did a diagnosis, sang the check up song, and then turned to me and asked for the "Big Book of Boobies!"  That is right - it should be "boo-boo's"....needless to say I had a good laugh over that.



Here are some other Lyv moments:

In her new Christmas dress, she thinks she is princess!

Feeding her baby just like mom.....