Our January

It's nearly February so I thought I'd document a few of the fun things we did this month. We started out the month playing with leftover Christmas boxes. I feel like I've taken SO many pictures of my kids in boxes... but the joy that boxes hold never gets old for them. Ezra has been really into books, especially his "David" books that he got for Christmas. They love the picture of David running down the street with no clothes. Okay, I love it, too. There's just somethin' about a little bare bum. If you haven't read these books, they are so cute! And to sum up the other pictures below, Ez still makes lots of silly faces and Nolan captured a picture of me in deep thought (not really, probably just planning the weekly menu or something) at the computer - it's kind of a typical pose when I get a spare second.

Grandpa John and Grandma Sherri came for a visit. We went with Lacey and the kids to the new children's area of the Church History Museum near temple square. The kids had a great time! Afterward, we got stuck on a hill of ice and slipped around and spun for a good 5 minutes. After some maneuvering, my driving skills got us out (okay, I was nervous there for a bit, though).
We also went swimming at the indoor pool with our cousins last week. I was tired of the kids being bored. I really don't love swimming, but the kids love it and they eat and sleep well afterward. It's worth it! They also had so much fun going down the waterslide.

For family home evening one night, went out to a new yogurt and smoothie shop that opened recently. So yummy! Smoothies are the one thing I can count on Ezra to eat. Too bad he spilled the last bit on the carpet.

The boys love to help me cook. Don't worry, I wasn't using that colander!

When Ezra dozes off to sleep, it's Nolan's chance to love on him. Ezra likes his personal space and gets mad when Nolan tries to give him hugs, so Nolan takes advantage of when Ez won't fight back. He really is a loving big brother (but sometimes a tease).

And I thought this was a funny way to find Ez asleep in his crib... barely clinging to his greatest love in life. What would we do if we lost his blanket?!

We also had a visit to the Utah Firefighter's Memorial Museum. There were 6 moms (myself, Kimbrey, Brianne, Amber, Marilee, and Rachelle) and our 11 boys! One of the moms has older daughters... it's nice to know that one of us is capable of having girls! The boys loved climbing all over this fire truck and checking out the many others that are there. What a perfect outing for little boys. The best part for me was going to Taco Tuesday afterward at Cafe Rio.

I hope all of you are coping with winter time okay. We're so glad to have lots of friends to help these long afternoons indoors to pass quickly.

Cookie Monster

Grandma Petersen sent us home from Logan with a big tin of chocolate cookies. Ezra loves to help himself to the cookies by pushing a chair or stool up to the counter. But he won't finish them... I'm constantly finding the remnants of his munchie moments. So I'm eating lots of cookies, too, because I don't want them to go to waste after he's only taken one nibble! He's such a terrible eater that he can't even finish a treat!

New cousin!

We're so excited to welcome little Ryan Sorenson into the family. He's so precious. He was named after Ryan Andrews, one of Justin's cousins. And now our boys have two cousins named Ryan! (My niece is also named Ryan; she's nearly 9 years old.) There will be several "Ryans" to keep track of. Jodi seems to be recovering well after her c-section. I enjoyed holding a tiny baby. I love to hold other babies and then give them back to their rightful owners when they squirt their pants or need feeding. Ezra wanted baby Ryan to see the Elmo toy.

Grandma K. now has 5 grandsons age 6 and under: Ezra, Jack, Nolan, David, and Ryan.

We spent two nights at Grandma Petersen's house. We had several visits with Grandma K., Jodi, and our fun cousins (David and Jack). We even spent the afternoon with Grandma and Grandpa Moulton. We had plenty of time to visit by their fireplace since both of our boys fell asleep. It had been 7 months since we'd seen them so it was good to have some quiet time to catch up on all that's been going on. That last evening, Conner and Courtney Petersen hung out with us. Conner was teaching Nolan all about fishing.

It was a quick trip to Logan since we were home in time for church. Our boys always have trouble going to sleep when we're away from home but luckily Grandma Petersen has a king size guest bed that we could all fall asleep in together. Nolan and Ezra sure are cuddlers! After they doze off we take them to their own bed, but it makes for a long bedtime routine. It's always nice to get back to our own house where they fall asleep easier. Hopefully, though, it won't be as long before we get up to see the grandparents again.

Just thought I'd give an update on our boys really quick:

Nolan's favorite thing to do is play Zelda with Dad (still, after 4 weeks since Dad got it for Christmas). He has started playing with friends more often, and is beginning to learn some sight words at preschool. His most common phrase lately is, "I just don't wanna talk about it!" or "I just don't want to hear it!" I'm working on lecturing less so that he doesn't have the need to say that all the time.

Ezra's most common phrase is "You idiot!" I think he heard it on a show I was watching (of course he wouldn't learn it from Mom or Dad). We've really tried to put a stop to it (soap in his mouth and time out) but I think our only choice now is to try to ignore it. Hopefully he'll stop when he doesn't get attention for it. But the rest of the time he talks so cute. People are always commenting that he talks so well for how tiny he is.

One more present

Our kids are getting easier and easier to travel with. The ride home from St. George went really well. Justin got the idea in his head that he could hook up the Wii and play from the backseat of the van. I wasn't sure that sounded fair since I'd be doing most of the driving. But he pulled it off and the kids were so entertained with him playing the new Zelda (his favorite Christmas present this year). They beg for him to turn it on all the time.

We stopped in Beaver... my boys love this giant rocking chair. Even Justin joined in the fun!

The day we arrived home, we told the boys we had one last Christmas present for them. We had taken it to the cabin but decided it would be a pain to set up and then take it down again. They were so excited for their new mini trampoline! It's a great way to get their energy out during these long winter months.

Geocaching

I think we've found a great new hobby! We tried out my Dad's new geocaching GPS and had a really fun time "treasure" hunting. We found 3 within a mile or two of Grandma and Grandpa's house. Nolan even found one of them... the rest of us couldn't see it! The GPS seemed pretty easy to use and recorded all of our findings. I think that one of these days I'm going to have to get Justin a unit so that we can go geocaching when we hike. But for now it's a great thing to do when we see Grandpa John!

The weather at our home is pretty warm for January, but I'm already missing the gorgeous 60-degree weather we had while visiting my parents in St. George. Too bad Justin came down with a cold... we would have been outside a lot more!

We spent New Year's Eve at Keeley and Bryan's house. It was such a yummy feast of our favorite foods (shrimp, pasta salad, hot wings, spinach artichoke and 7-layer dips, etc.). My nephew, Blake, dressed up for the stake dance. He's so smooth!

While in St. George, Justin and I celebrated our 8th anniversary. We had a yummy dinner out while my parents watched the boys. I can't believe it's been 8 years already! Here we are, fresh from the temple ceremony. It's always fun to go out and reflect on our special wedding day.

Winter Fun

The cabin didn't have much snow to speak of this year, but after Christmas we headed to Brian Head for pizza and then over to Strawberry on Cedar Mtn. for some sledding. We all had a fun time, except when Ez and I crashed and I landed on him, squishing his little face into the snow. Poor guy. He went up again, though, and was happy as long as he was on the reindeer. It felt good to be out in crisp, clean air.

The Big Day

Santa came a day early at the cabin. The Rignell family had to head home on the 26th and so this made it so that they could enjoy a relaxing day after Christmas. Sometimes the day after is the best! None of the kids complained. We started our morning at nearly 7 a.m. with a glass of orange juice (another family tradition). I was grateful for the extra hour of sleep... usually we wake up at 6.

I'll let the pictures do the talking and just mention some of the memorable gifts and moments.

The little boys were quite fascinated with Uncle Bryan's new train whistle. Keeley received a framed baseball picture that Bryson had drawn in his art class. It was taken from a photo of himself. It looked really great! And all of us siblings went in on a Geocaching GPS for my Dad. We later used it in St. George and it was really fun.

It was so fun to spend Christmas with all the cousins. All the big kids are really patient to let my boys try their new gadgets and put up with Nolan's tackle loves.

It was a wonderful time! It's always a relief, and a bit of a let-down when it's all over.

Christmas Anticipation

It was our turn to spend the holidays with Justin's family, but his Mom was heading to Guatamala on Christmas Day. So instead, we were very excited to pack up and head to Alton, UT. The cabin is the perfect place for a big family to spend the holidays! We were only missing Grady and Darian this year, but we still had seventeen people. You can imagine the stack of presents for that crowd. They didn't really fit under our little forest of trees. Nolan had a great time using them as giant blocks and making tunnels and pathways.

Christmas Eve started with a scare. Uncle Bryan was adding a log to the fire when a large metal bar from the back of the fireplace came loose and tumbled to the floor, scraping Bryan's shins on the way down. Ez was nearby, but luckily not in the way. Unfortunately, it landed on Ezra's dear blanket. It immediately burned a hole through it and melted through a rug. Bryan grabbed the closest thing he could find, our stockings, to quickly pick it up and put it back on the granite hearth. The stockings survived and thankfully no one was burned. Bryan's nylon pants had several melted spots. Ez was sad about his blanket but took it well. He would carry it around and sometimes he'd quickly throw it down and say, "I touched that hole!" He didn't like the feel of the black melted part. Luckily Grandma Sherri cut off the burn and sewed it up nicely once we got to St. George. I'm so glad that Bryan was careful that kids were out of the way!

Last year we enjoyed a family talent show, but we didn't feel like anyone was especially talented this year so we tried something new. It was a fun game similar to white elephants that we've played with Justin's family in the past. Here we are setting out the gifts and planning what we'd try to win.

Christmas Eve wouldn't be complete without making gingerbread houses, or in our case, a gingerbread train. There was actually a lot of whining and complaining during this activity, however, so maybe next year we'll have to make Christmas Eve complete without it! If you're wondering why Nolan has a mustache and goatee, it's because we spent much of the day filming a new edition of the Ligtermoet family nativity. Nolan was a shepherd and I was too lazy to scrub off his facial hair. It had been 7 years since we made the first movie, so some of the grandkids were wanting to do a remake. Hopefully it will be at least half as good as volume one, which was pretty amazing.

Yeah, Nolan was sucking on the red icing. Gross, but it's Christmas, right? When else would I let him do that? Some of the kids started asking around 2 p.m. to open their Christmas Eve p.j.'s. They said, "I just want to wear them all day!" Nope... we didn't allow it. They had to wait for our traditional Chinese dinner of homemade egg rolls, orange chicken, and fried rice. It was delicious, as always. There was some griping that we should have made Grandma Lillian's chop suey instead. I won't name any names (Bryan). After that, the kids could finally open their pajamas.

As the evening was winding down, Grandma Sherri made her hot wassail. I've loved this drink since I was a kid. It just tastes like Christmas! This would have been a better picture if I hadn't changed halfway into my pajamas. I guess I was just as excited as the kids!

I love Christmas Eve because kids are so eager to go to bed. And luckily our kids are still young enough that they still go to sleep easily without lying in bed with too much anticipation. Wasn't Christmas Eve the worst night's sleep as a kid? It was rough.