Merry Chistmas! (Part 1)

It really is the most wonderful time of the year! Especially when you can celebrate the holiday not once but THREE times in one month! The first celebration we headed up to Salt Lake to see the Lewis family and have Christmas with them.

W started the festivities with a walk around Temple Square to see the Christmas lights. It was snowing and raining but that did not dampen the Christmas spirit! We enjoyed a nice Christmas concert in the Assembly Hall, and a yummy dinner at the City Center. We were super cold by the end of the night and sopping wet, but it was a great evening with family!

All aboard the Christmas Express! All the kids loved playing in the boxes and lining them all up like a train!

The next morning we celebrated Christmas morning with the Lewis family! All the grand kids got Alaska shirts from Grandma Lewis!

Mara loves her new red and white Christmas outfit!

You would have thought Caleb went to heaven with his new Star Wars toy from Grandma Lewis! When he opened this present his whole face lit up he was so excited! 

Caleb was one happy kid after this Christmas morning!

Speaking of happy kids...Ty was extremely happy with his new air hockey toy! Thanks Grandma Lewis!

Two cute boys and one silly poopy face!! Don't know how we captured that one! What a cutie that Carder!

Grandma Lewis made each of the kids one of these neck pillows. Caleb's is a cute dog!

Ty has a lion and loves it!

Ok is this not the cutest thing in the world?! My sweet baby boy with mistletoe! Thanks Beanie for the darling headband mistletoe!

All the grandkids (but one) in their Alaska shirts!! What a great family to belong to! It was a wonderful celebration. We celebrated early since Grandma and Grandpa Lewis will be in Alaska for Christmas and we will be in California!

Toothless Sweetie!

Mara must be six years old if she lost a tooth!! It's sad but true, my little girl lost her first baby tooth!

There we were at Ty's Jr. Jazz game when I said to Mara Lew, "Let me see your loose tooth!" I touched it with my finger and POP! out came her tooth! She couldn't believe it! We couldn't believe it! Her tooth jumped right out of her mouth! Mara was so excited to put her tooth under her pillow for the tooth fairy! In the morning she found $1 under her pillow!

4 month check up!

Carder is growing so quickly! He is such a happy easy going little guy, or as Caleb says "Widdle-duy"!! We are so excited and in love with this baby and glad Carder is in our family!

Carder had another great check up! He is perfect in every way!! He was so cute with the doctor, he just cooed, and laughed, and smiled and giggled the entire checkup! He just made the doctor's day!
Although Carder might look like he has some chubs on him he is only 15 lbs 14 oz and is in the 69% for weight! No fat kids around here!! He is 26 inches long and is in the 83% for height. I am so grateful for a healthy baby!!

Carder loves to smile and laugh. He sure makes my little heart melt!

Carder doesn't have too many tricks yet, which is good, I don't want my baby growing up so fast! He is practicing rolling over and is close but hasn't quite mastered it! 

 Carder also started putting his binki in his mouth by himself! Still needs a little practice!

Carder enjoys his johnny-jump-up, but I think his siblings love him in it more than he likes being in it!! They are always asking to put him in it!

I just love hearing these giggles!!

A Christmas Miracle!

The story you are about to read is a true story based on actual events! It may not be completely accurate since I was not there to witness what actually happened so I am retelling the story as it was told to me by my husband and children. 

It has become a tradition in our family to cut down a Christmas tree from the forest. This has happened for many years now and it seems as if each year it becomes harder to accomplish this task! This year with a new baby I thought it wise to stay home and let Nate take the other three kids and find a tree. They set out in search of the perfect tree close by in the desert by our house. No pine trees around here, juniper and sage brush! 

As they got out of the car and started hiking around Mara tripped and hit her knee right on a rock. She was unable to walk and had to be carried as they searched for a tree. With not a lot of options and daylight running out they quickly searched for the best tree they could find.

They found a tree, cut it down and headed back to the car. Nate carrying Mara in one arm and draggin a tree in the other! Nate put the kids in the car and began tying the tree to the top of the car. When it was time to head home Nate went to get his keys out of his pocket and couldn't find them anywhere. They searched and searched. They went back to where they cut down the tree but couldn't not find the keys. They looked in sage brush, and behind rocks. No where. They said a prayer and asked Heavenly Father to help them find the keys. They were desperate for heavenly help. Nate left the kids in the car and went back one more time to see if he had dropped them somewhere along the way. While he was gone Ty said to Caleb and Mara "Let's say one more prayer and ask Heavenly Father again for help." It was now dark and a couple hours had passed since they had left. When Nate got back to the car he said to the kids they would have to walk home. It was quite a long distance back to our house, it would have taken them several (3-4) hours to walk home. Ty said to his dad "Daddy I think we should look in the Christmas tree." They began searching all through the tree and there in the Christmas tree were the car keys!!!

Coincidence? I think not! I truly believe this was a Christmas Miracle! How grateful I am that prayers are answered. I am so thankful my kids know they can pray to God and that they know He is mindful of them and will hear and answer their prayers. When Ty got home and told me the story I asked him how he knew to look in the tree. He answered "I prayed and the Holy Ghost told me to look there!" 

Grateful for tender mercies from the Lord that he is aware of us at all times! I am grateful he was watching out for my family that night!

Birthday Bash!!

Wow! The BIG 32! Where does the time go? I still think of myself as 23 sometimes! Another year has gone by, and I must say I feel great! I am thankful for my sweet family who made me feel so special and loved on my birthday! We celebrated the night before with a delicious steak and potato dinner and the most delicious chocolate cake! On my birthday Nate took us all out to eat. It's bitter-sweet getting older: sad to see another year of my life pass by, but exciting to see what adventures the future holds!!

My three sons wishing me a very Happy Birthday! My sweet daughter was laying on the couch sick as could be...strep! Yuck! To celebrate my birthday we went to the doctor and got some antibiotics! Grateful Mara is feeling better, and although I was sad she was sick on my birthday I was happy to have her home and spend time with her!!

Adrenaline!!

Mara is part of the Adrenaline cheer leading group! She loves it! She had a second performance at a craft fair at CEU. I love watching her dance and cheer! It brings me joy to see her perform!

Little Swimmer!

Carder LOVES bath time!  This baby could swim all day! The other day he was in the tub splishing and splashing, going wild and having a great time so I pull out the camera to get a video of him and he stops!! He is going to be a great swimmer lie his brothers and sister!

Thanksgiving Part 2

What could be better than a delicious Thanksgiving dinner? How about 2 delicious Thanksgiving dinners? That's right! We were lucky to be able to celebrate Thanksgiving on Thursday with the Lewis Family and Friday with the Lowry Family!

 Mimi & Papa fixed a fabulous feast. It was nice to gather around the table and celebrate with them.

 

 Anna and Mara waiting to eat! The girls love to put on Grandma's accessories!

 

 Caleb chowing down on the drumstick!! Ty said he wanted one and Caleb said he wanted the other one! He looks like a caveman eating that huge thing!

 Two baby cousins!! Carder is 3 months and Clara is 7 months! They both weigh about the same! 

 

Usually every year I take a picture of my dinner plate of food...but this year I had to take a picture of my pie plate!! Wow! Talk about delicious pies!! We have here the usual pumpkin, but have you ever heard of an eclair pie?! It was to die for! So dang delicious! Next we have Dutch apple, and finally a triple berry tart. All delicious and yes I did eat every bite! 

 Caleb liked the berry pie the best! Can  you tell!!

We had a fun day at Mimi's making Oreo turkeys!

We also made a Thankful tree and traced our hands and wrote what we were thankful for and glued them to a paoper tree trunk. The hand prints were the leaves. It turned out really cute!

We all enjoyed watching the movie Brave together and we had fun playing games and eating more food!

Carder hung out with Mickey and enjoyed all the loves from Mimi and Papa! He slept through both Thanksgiving dinners (which I was grateful for!)

Saturday we woke up with no plans for the day and we were just going  to hang around and chill with Mimi and Papa when all of a sudden Papa said "Let's go to Logan and watch the Aggie football game!" And just like that Papa, Nate, and Ty headed out the door to a football game!! GO AGGIES!

What handsome boys I have! Carder is all dressed up like a little man!

We had a wonderful time with Mimi and Papa! Glad they would wait for us for Thanksgiving dinner! 

Happy Thanksgiving!!

I love Thanksgiving! What a great holiday to remember what we are grateful for and to eat (*tons) of delicious food!! The Sunday before Thanksgiving we had a great Family Home Evening about being thankful. We went around the room and each said things we were thankful for. It was neat to hear the ideas the kids came up with! I actually typed them up as they were said and throughout the week we added more to our list!
Here is the Thanksgiving List 2012:

Blankets and stuffed animals to cuddle with when we are scared (Ty)

Temples and eternal families (Grandma Lewis)

Grandma & Grandpa (Caleb)

Families—uncles, aunts, to play with and have fun with (Ty)

Aunts and cousins and uncles (Mara)

Modern conveniences (Mommy)

Carder (Daddy)

Super-Hero that is Jesus Christ (Ty)

The churches and temples (Mara)

Prophets (Grandma Lewis)

Cars (Mommy)

Glasses (Ty)

Lights (Mommy)

Trees (Ty)

Houses because they keep us safe  (Mara)

For a job that allows me to be home in the mornings and at nights and that mommy can stay home (daddy)

The church and the gospel because when you learn more it helps so Satan can’t tempt you (Ty)

The Book of Mormon and that we can follow Nephi and not Laman and Lemuel (Mara)

All of us are healthy (Grandma Lewis)

Laughter (mommy)

Binkies (Ty)

Delicious Food (Grandma Lewis)

Dinosaurs because they make gas for us (Ty)

Memories (Daddy)

Sunshine (Erica)

Snowplows (Ty)

Rain (Mara)

Vacations (Daddy)

Animals  (Ty)

School (Mara)

Exercise (Ty and Mommy)

Colors (Caleb)

Turkey (Caleb)

Fruits & Veggies

Easter and Christmas (Ty)

All you have testimonies (Grandma Lewis)

Clothes (Mara)

Cows & Bees & Sheep (Ty)

Sewing Machine (Grandma Lewis)

Bedtime (Daddy)

Cold Cereal (Daddy)

Football (Daddy)

Family (Daddy)

My kids (Mommy)

My parents & in-laws (mommy)

Beautiful grandchildren (Grandma Lewis)

Scouts (Ty)

Bibs (Ty)

Computers (Grandma Lewis)

My bed (Mommy)

Sunrises (Mara)

 
 Thanksgiving day was celebrated with Nate's family and all the Card's in Alpine at Uncle Mike's. Nate's cousin Jazmyn made this cute and awesome video of our Thanksgiving day! I had to post it on the blog, she did a great job to capture all the wonderful memories! Thanks Jazzy!!

Creating Family Memories!

The week of Thanksgiving we headed up to Salt Lake to see family, celebrate a special day, and enjoy Thanksgiving with both families! On Tuesday November 20, 2012 Nate and I celebrated our 11 year anniversary of eternal marriage!  It has really been the best 11 years of my life! I am always grateful at this time of year for the  choices I made that led me to Nate! I am so grateful we could be married in the temple and live together forever! He is the greatest man I know and the world's best father! We were definitely MFEO (Made For Each Other!!) To celebrate our special day we went out to eat at Rodizios. It was delicious! Nate has promised to take me there for many years!

The other fun activities we did were art and craft projects! I took several crafts to keep the kiddos busy. Mara is painting a tree ornament for Grandma Lewis's tree.

 

 Lincoln loved painting! He did a great job!

Although I think he got more paint on his aunt Chelsie and his own hands then on the ornament!

Ty took his time and was very careful painting his ornament!

 

 The other fun activity we did was ride a Ferris wheel at the new sporting goods store Scheel's. Caleb loved the ride, and although it took forever to wait our turn it was worth the wait!

 

Mara riding with her aunts!

 Me and my little buddy--look no hands!

'T-whistle' (Ty's name from Uncle Colin), Garrett, and Uncle Quonin(Uncle Colin's name from Ty!)

 Scheel's is a lot like Cabella's. It had different activities around the store like bowling, golf, shooting, basketball, and different scenery spots to get your photo. Cute picture but I can't see Caleb and Garrett!! It was a HUGE store and we would definitely go back again!

Go Mara Go!!

Mara is our little cheerleader! She loves doing cheer, especially with all her friends! She had her first cheer performance last week. Mara did great! It was sure fun to watch her! She not only does cheer, but tumbling also! Way to go Mara Lew! We are sure proud of you!

 Mara's favorite part of her performance is wearing make up! I keep reminding her she is beautiful without make-up!

Mara's daddy calls her "Mara long legs!" It's true...she does have long legs!

Mara with her friend Alena!

 

 She is so pretty! I just love this girl!

What a great group of girls! So fun to be a cheerleader!

It was hard getting cute photos with the girls moving and cheering, and I didn't get a video this time so I will next performance!

Mara waiting for her turn in the routine!

 I love her smile! It's awesome to watch Mara having so much fun!

Mara's other new trick she learned is how to snap her fingers! She loves to snap, all the time!