Ogden Christmas Parade

It seemed like it took us forever to get through town to find a parking spot. We never seem to park in the same spot each year either. We did finally find a spot close to where we like to stand for the parade. We finally found a business parking lot that had plenty of parking spaces. We were a little worried of being towed, but since it was after business hours, Ben said we would be fine. 

Once we had parked the car, Ben and I got dressed in our warm weather gear and then pulled the kids out of the car to finish putting them in their's. When we were all covered from head to toe, we walked towards our usual spot. We haven't set a blanket out for years now since someone has always moved it or people crowd around us that it doesn't even seem like we had a spot to begin with. Sadly this year we were father back from the curb then usual. I was surprised how many people were there. Normally they're aren't that many people who brave the cold. However, it was warmer this year then in years past, so I guess it doesn't really surprise me a whole ton.

Since we were back so far, the kids had a hard time seeing. They all sat on shoulders or were held in order to see the parade. That however didn't last long with some of them, since they were so big. We tried to find a spot where Gabbi could see through the people, but people kept moving and getting in front of her. Luckily it wasn't a long parade and she didn't miss much. Owen on the other hand didn't really care either way until the fire truck and the train came by. He was also pretty fascinated by the motorcycles. He told Ben that they looked like his. That was pretty cute. 

Gabbi, Grandma Annie, and Grandpa Greg

Owen and Daddy

Owen and Aunt Megan

Gabbi and Daddy

Train

Harley Davidson Float

The end of the parade brought Santa and Mrs. Clause, which the kids were really excited to see. Gabbi screamed "Hi" hoping that he could hear her. I told her that he knew she was there and that she had said "Hi" to him. She smiled. 

Once Santa's float had passed we raced up to the parking garage for our usual spots to watch the fireworks. We were the first ones up there. Last year their was hardly anyone up there with us. This year it was crowded. Oh it bugged me too. We stand where there's an opening in the concrete wall, it has bars there instead. Its the perfect spot for the little ones who can't see over the wall. Some lady and her kids came over and literally nudged there way through and pushed our kids out of the way. It bugged me. I, as the competitive parent that I am, pushed my kids back in their spots and made them stay there. Besides, I didn't want them to get lost among the crowd.

The firework show was great. I love watching fireworks and from a distance the light of Christmas Village are very pretty. Another reason we love this tradition. We don't however stay to walk through Christmas village, its too crowded the first night. If we go at all, it will be much later.  

Thanksgiving with Annie

The Saturday after Thanksgiving brought a tradition that we both look forward to every year. Its when we get together with Ben's mom for Thanksgiving and we go to the Ogden Parade.

Its always fun to get together with Ben's family. We don't get to see them very often due to the differences in everyone's schedules. To get together with them and to have awesome food, is even better. Everyone brought a side to go with our traditional Thanksgiving dinner. Annie and Greg did the turkey and the stuffing. All in all, everything together was really yummy. I really do love this time of year. You have an excuse to eat whatever you want and blame it on the holiday's.

After we were done eating, Grandma Annie had provided coloring contest pages for the kids. The older ones sat down and carefully colored their pages while the younger ones quickly scribbled and were done. I think all together Gabbi colored 4 different pictures, all targeted for different age groups. She did a pretty good job, if I can say that as a bragging mother. She has done much better on her coloring. She is now cautious of staying in the lines and wanting it to look nice. 

When they were done coloring the kids each raided the toy cupboard and got what they wanted to play with. Owen of course went for the cars. That kid is pretty possessive too. If any of the other kids wanted to play with what he had, he would throw a fit. I guess that is normal for some kids though and for his age. The girls on the other hand played house or whatever they called it. It was cute to watch them. The rest of us (adults) visited or slept while we waited for the time to pass.  

Gabbi coloring her pages

Owen playing with the cars all about the house

Cami and Cloie playing with the blocks

Gabbi, McKell, and Cloie playing house. The stairs was their dining room and Cloie was making them their dinner. Owen was just on the stairs rolling his cars down the banister. He did a photo bomb. I think that's what its called.

After a while, when most of the adult were asleep, Annie had a great idea to take all the kids for a walk. So Annie, Regina, Megan, Mark, Ben, and Myself took all the kids around the block. When we got back it was time to break out the pies. The kids chowed down on those as fast as they could. You would think that they were under the impression that if they didn't eat it fast enough, it would get up and walk away or something. 

When we were done eating pies and cleaning up we got things ready to go to the Ogden Christmas festivities. In other words, we were pulling out all the winter clothes, getting the kids dressed in them and making hot cocoa to go. Once we were all ready, we hit the road.

Feeding Cars

It is hard to get to stay in one place while eating his breakfast. It tend to walk around and it takes him a while to finish. I've tried to fight him on this, but I have given up. 

We found him in the front room the other day with his cars while still eating breakfast. Then he happily showed us that he was sharing his breakfast with his cars. 

Too cute

I'm happy to report, he did finally finish his breakfast. He even finished what he cars couldn't :)

Kids tree

Last year at the after Christmas sales, we bought a small Christmas tree that the kids could decorate with their Christmas ornaments that they get from Nana and Papa each year. We got it for a steal and I could wait for the kids to get to decorate their own tree. More so, so they wouldn't touch my tree. 

When it came time to pull the decorations out, they were both very excited. They each had their own bag of ornaments to hang up. Because they are both so short, I had to help them place their ornaments higher on the tree. Overall, they did a great job and had a blast doing it.  

William of course slept in Daddy's lap while the other two decorated the tree.

Thanksgiving with Nelson and Deann

After leaving Grandma's house we headed for Nelson and Deann's. We were afraid that we were going to be late because it took us longer to round up our stuff and get going then we thought. We got there just a few minutes late and we were surprised to see that we were the first ones there. Shortly after we arrived, the rest of the family got there and it was time to party.

We had only planned to do munchies, but Deann surprised us with some Sloppy Joe's as well. That was nice, because the "pig of ours children" complained about being hungry and I didn't want to just feed them junk food. I was hoping there huge/late lunch would have lasted them longer. I was apparently wrong. Once the kids were sitting down and taken care of it was the adults turn to get some goodies. Everything tasted great. 

Karen had brought different variations of cheese balls. I hate cheese balls, but these were very yummy. I would dare say that I would eat them again and it may have changed my feelings towards all cheese balls. It would be safe to say that's all I ate that night. 

After we were done eating, we all sat down to play games. We first played Buzz Word, a new favorite of the whole family. Its funny to hear the different guesses for each clue. Some were pretty off your rockers answers. Then we played the board game Draw Something. Its fashioned after the game you download on your phone. Basically a glorified picitionary. We had enough players that we had four teams of 2. I knew it would be an interesting game with Ben and Brian being teamed together. I was right. I don't think a round went by were those 2 weren't busting a gut laughing. I do admit, it made the game more fun.

While we were playing, the kids were having a blast too. Gabbi and Ellie were playing dress up. It was so funny to see the different combinations of outfits. Kids have quite an imagination. Cami and Owen played pretty much on there own, doing their own thing. At least they all had fun doing whatever it was they were doing. 

After a while of visiting, munching, playing games, and busting a gut it was time to go. We had so much fun, it was hard to leave. We wanted to continuing playing, but it was getting late. So we all pitched in to clean up the mess and then we all headed for home. 

Ben snuck a picture of me holding William. I'm not a huge fan of having my picture taken. He at least warned me enough that I could smile for the snapshot.

Since he took one of me, I had to do the same. The first one I took he wouldn't even look at me. I finally got him to cooperate so I could take a nice picture of him :)

Thanksgiving with Mom and Dad

Thanksgiving brought many activities. The first of which was a trip down to Orem. 

We alternate each year between in laws in my family. Since last year was mom's Thanksgiving, this year belonged to the in laws. Ben and I however do Thanksgiving with mom and dad every year just because it works out that way. 

Mom and Dad planned on going down to Orem this year to spend Thanksgiving with Grandma. It worked out great because they were also able to celebrate Grandma's birthday with her as well.

Mom, William, and I went down on Wednesday to get a few of the food items ready while Ben, Gabbi, Owen, and Dad came down on Thursday. Dad ended up having to work Wednesday night and couldn't come down til Thursday anyhow. 

When the boys finally got there, dad went downstairs to sleep while Mom, Ben, and I finished up with the food. Mom made her Cranberry turkey along with all the Thanksgiving fixings. All homemade. I love my mom's cooking. The best part is her pies. She says every year that she isn't going to make as many and this year she actually stuck to it. She only made 3 types of pies, all of which were very yummy.

When everything was ready, we sat down to eat. It was small, there weren't very many of us; just Grandma, Mom, Dad, and our family. It was sad not to have everyone there, but it was also nice at the same time. 

After we were done eating, we cleaned up while the kids played. It took a while to clean up and even more so to find room in Grandma's fridge for all of the leftovers. When we were done cleaning up we were able to relax for a little bit. A very small little bit before it was then time to go. We had to head to another Thanksgiving party. 

Gabbi and Grandma playing Tic Tac Toe. It took a while for Grandma to explain to Gabbi how to play, but once she got the hang of it, she didn't want to stop. She played a few rounds with everyone.

The kids love to play with the toys at Grandma's house. They are new and awesome to them. They played the whole time and like any child, didn't want to clean them up either.

While we were cleaning dad took William because he was getting a little fussy. Dad rocked him back to sleep and ended up falling asleep himself. It was too cute.

These little cars were the toy that Owen played with the most. He has cars just like it at home. He got them for his birthday. These however had lights on them and even worked on the floor. Owen's only works on his track. The best part about them, they could go under the couch and come back out on their own. He thought that was pretty cool. After a while he wanted to play with someone, so he got down on the floor and play with Ben. They played for a while. That doesn't happen very often. Owen is still very much a Mama's boy.

J.D.'s Birthday

J.D. turned 7 this year. It's easy to remember how long we have been married by how old J.D. is. He was born a week and a half after our wedding. 

J.D. is such a fun kid, and it was a blast to celebrate his birthday. 

We had dinner at Jenny and Brian's place. J.D. had requested a turkey dinner with all the fixings. They did a great job with it. Very yummy. The turkey was amazing. A good jump start for the up coming holiday.

When we were done eating we played the Wii for a little bit. They got a new game that they wanted us all to try. Even mom and dad got into it. It was a hid and seek game where one player hides and the remaining 4 players try to find the one. It was a lot of fun.

After we were done playing it was time for gifts. Mom and Dad gave him a cross bow toy made out of wood. Mom got it at Swiss Days. The Arrows are made out of dowels tipped with erasers. A very clever idea. Dad also made him a target board, like the one we saw up there. It was soda cans strung together and hooked to a board. J.D. was so excited about it along with Jeff. This is something that I'm sure Jeff would love to play with J.D. with.    

The rest of us got him Skylandder toys. Jeff and Tiffany bought him the gaming system that works with the Xbox and then Jenny and I got him characters to use with the game. He was excited for the game as well. He wanted to hook it up, but was told that he had to wait until he got home.

From the look on his face after opening all his gifts, you could tell that he had a great birthday dinner.

Kids

I almost forgot.

While picking up the kids at Jeff and Tiffany's the day of our anniversary date, Tiffany had a funny story to tell us.

She had told me that during lunch Gabbi was talking about how many kids she wanted. From a previous post I had mentioned that one day Gabbi told me that she wanted 5 kids in the family. I told her that she could have 5, not me. She strongly said that I needed to have another baby in my tummy now. I laughed and told her that 3 was my number for now. She was sad and still said that we had to have 5 kids.

Tiffany was telling me that Gabbi again was talking about how many kids she wanted. She told Tiffany that she didn't want any more kids because Ben and I spend all of our time with William. She also told Tiffany that she thought that we loved William more then her and Owen. Tiffany then told me that she explained to Gabbi that babies take a lot of attention because they can't take care of themselves and older children can. She told her that Mom's and Dad's love all of their children equally. Tiffany said she smiled, but still replied that she didn't want any more kids.

When Tiffany told us that, at first it made me laugh and then it made me a little sad. If that's how she sees it, that't not good. We thought we were doing all we could to make each of them feel included. We've tried not to spend more time with one then another. We definitely don't treat them any differently since Williams been born, but we obviously need to make a better effort to make them feel more loved.

Anniversary

Ben and I have been married for 7 years now. I can't believe how quickly it has gone by. We have been very blessed in these 7 years as well. We have 3 beautiful children, a cozy home to live in, a good job that supports us, and many other things. It has been a great 7 years and I can't wait to see what the future brings.

For our anniversary we decided to got to a movie and a late lunch. Looking back at the years, it seems that's all we do. There always seems to be a big screen blockbuster the weekend of our anniversary. This year was The Hunger Games Catching Fire. To prepare ourselves for the show we watched The Hunger Games before leaving for the show. We dropped the kids off at Jeff and Tiffany's and then headed to the theater. 

When we got to the theater we settled in for the show. It was packed seeing how it was opening weekend. The show was good. Very entertaining. The book of course was better, but overall a good movie. 

When the show was over we went to historic 25th street to the Bistro for lunch. We had never been there before and thought it would be fun to go somewhere new. We both enjoyed our lunch and even more so, enjoyed walking up and down the street, window shopping.

When we were done with Lunch we headed back to pick up the kids and then headed for home. 

That night we gave each other our gifts. Ben of course had already given me mine, getting my hair done. He apologized that it wasn't something I could open. I told him that it would be hard to wrap my hair. He so nicely showed me how I was wrong by putting a bow around his head and said Happy Anniversary. It was funny. He took the bow off his gift, just to show me.

Then it was time for him to open his gift. I got him a box of hot and spicy Cheezits and a grooming kit. He has wanted one for a while now. Its not the funniest gift, more of a need then a want, but he seemed very excited for it.

Side note for our anniversary:

On the actual day of our anniversary Ben tried to surprise me. After we had dinner I took the kids downstairs so Ben could take his quiz for class. While I was downstairs I fed William and was getting ready to change him. I yelled upstairs to see if Ben had started his quiz yet. He yelled that he had, so I headed upstairs to change his diaper instead. When I got upstairs Ben was standing over the oven cooking something. I was a little confused because he said he had started his quiz. When I was done changing William I went back in the kitchen and he showed me what he was doing. He had made me chocolate covered marshmallows and strawberries from scratch. It was quite the process he said. It looked like it, but the taste was worth it. They were so good. 

Family funnies

While we were at the Rodeo we decided to take a few snap shots of the family. It took a few times before we got a good one. 

We of course had to do a funny one as well. Ben made the comment after taking and seeing the picture that a funny picture obviously meant that you stuck your tongue out.

Winter Rodeo

The changing of the seasons brings the Winter Rodeo season as well. We go each year because as a member of the Military, Ben gets tickets for free. So its a fun activity, we as a family can do and not break the bank. 

We were able to invite the Long's to go with us. We got there early enough to get our favorite seats in the front row. Its enough room for the kids to move around and close enough to be in the action. The kids had so much fun playing together while watching the Rodeo. They even got to pet a few of the horses that stopped by to say Hello. 

The Rodeo clown was amazing. He's the best Rodeo clown I have seen in a long time. He was at one of the Rodeos this summer as well. He put on quit a show. He had funny jokes and a sew segments that just had a rolling in our seats. At one point he was in a blow up suit and was dancing to song. I can't remember the song, but it mentioned the words, "buggy buggy" and he shock that inflatable costume in perfect time of the music. He also did a segments where he wore many different outfits that went with different songs. As he went through his songs he slowly took off layers of clothes. It was so funny. If we didn't like watching the events in the Rodeo, we would have gone just to see the Clown. He was hilarious.

It was a great night with friends, however not a great night for those in the Rodeo. In all the events there was only one or two that scored points. It was kind of disappointing. It was still a fun night though.

This was Williams first trip to the Rodeo. When we got there he was asleep. I knew that he would wake while we were there, so he made sure to bring the diaper bag with his stuff. About 40 minutes into the Rodeo he started to get fussy. So I went to make him a bottle and I sadly realized that I got every thing in the diaper bag that I needed except his bottle. I couldn't believe it. So much for feeding him. We took him out of his car seat and I held him with the blanket positioned to keep his binki in his mouth and he slept for the remainder of the Rodeo. It couldn't believe. You would not believe how fast he drank his bottle once we got home.