And a Very Merry Christmas to You

My delightful friend Amy designed these for us.  She is unbelievable when it comes to . . . well, pretty much anything she puts her hand to.  Anyway, I ran out of time a little bit and just had to give myself permission to not send Christmas cards this year.  I have them printed, though.  They are sitting on my kitchen counter.

So . . . maybe you'll see a New Year's card from us in a week or two.  Or perhaps even a Valentine's Day Card?  Who knows?  It'll be a surprise for everyone involved.  Just know that we had a lot of experiences this year, the kids are all alive and well, I survived another pregnancy and baby, Zach worked and worked, and that we love you all.  And I'll definitely get to a top ten for 2011--if I get around to it:-)

I would feel ungrateful if I didn't take a minute to recognize and thank all those around me for the service we received throughout the year during our bed rest, NICU, newborn, moving, broken bones, and surgery experiences.  President  Spencer W. Kimball said, “God does notice us, and he watches over us. But it is usually through another person that he meets our needs.”  This, my friends, is sooooo true.

I have had a few experiences this past year that have solidified my knowledge that our Heavenly Father is very aware of each of us and our circumstances.  He loves me and He loves you.  He sent His Son for our benefit. Of this I am sure.  Merry Christmas!

Annnnnnd this is as close as we got for a family picture this year.

For some awesome Christmas cheer, check out some new Bible videos here.

15 Minutes of Conversation

If I'm going to be perfectly honest, and I am, I have to admit I tune out most of what comes out of Adam's mouth.  I shouldn't.  I know this.  But he just talks ALL of the time.  Still, in a 15 minute time span, he produced these gems:

1) Jesus is TOTALLY awesome!
2) I want to punch Isaac in the face.
3) I just can't stand it, that Eli because he's just so cute.

I should really run a wire on that kid.  I'd have blackmailing material for the rest of his life.

Lost in Translation

What I said: Isaac, please get your pj's so you can take a shower.

What he heard: Please sit on the couch reading the Pokemon book from the library and ignore your mother completely.

What I said: Isaac, please get off the couch and into the shower.

What he heard: Please keep sitting there reading the Pokemon book.

What I said: Isaac, you've now lost your opportunity to read Pokemon today.  Thank you for the book.

What he heard: Your mean, mean mother is going to ruin the rest of your life by taking your book from you.  It's time to get angry, stamp your feet all the way down the hallway while balling your hands into tight little fists, and holding your breath till your face gets red and you almost pass out.

Awesome.

One of Those Things I Never Thought I'd Hear Myself Say

Isaac, please get that pie dough off the wall!!

My Very First Blog Tutorial

I'm not much of a tutorial kind of person.  At least giving them.  I follow them often.  Or pretend that I'm going to.  So I decided if I was going to do a tutorial on my blog, it would need to be something near and dear to my heart.

Please note that I did NOT come up with this on my own.  It was shared with me by a fabulously creative Kathy Gardner.  But that's just between you and me.  I have assumed creative license here because well, I sadly do this so very often it has become mine.  And I'm tricky like that.  So, sit back, enjoy, and try it out for yourself.  You can thank me later.

The perfect way to enjoy a cup of hot chocolate

You must start out with a cookie.  (HaHA!  I bet you thought I was going to say hot chocolate there.  Unless you cheated and looked at the very obvious picture of the cookie below.)  Anyway, it's got to be a certain kind of a cookie:  Keebler's Grasshopper cookies, to be exact.

 Then you take a very small nibble out of one side, like so:

 Make a matching nibble on the other side directly across from the first nibble:

 Put it in your mouth so that one of the nibbles is between your lips, in this very attractive and specific position:

 Bring your hot chocolate to your mouth and use the cookie as a straw to suck it up.  The hot chocolate moves through the cookie and becomes delightfully minty when you taste it.

 Eventually you will notice the cookie start to implode a little bit with hot chocolatey goodness.  When you hit this stage, open your mouth and take the cookie in before it crumbles into your mug.

 As you can see, the whole process is a real winner.  It should have two thumbs up, but it is notoriously hard to give two thumbs up when you are holding a mug of hot chocolate.  So enjoy the cheesy photo, pausing to note that I apparently have a crooked smile.  Who knew?

You're welcome.

Pears

The first fruit I've given all of my kids is pears.  They have all loved it . . . until Eli:

 Try #2:

 Try #3:

 Swallowing:

 Whew!  It's gone.  He wouldn't take another bite after that.

 Deer in the headlights:

 Notice the yarfies on his sleeve.  It's a constant state of being for this kid.

All Hallow's Eve 2011

 One of the kids asked me why we celebrate Halloween.  Honestly, I had no clear answer for that.  I tried to explain that it was a combination of a couple of different holidays--Hallow's Eve and All Saints Day-- but we all know it really just boils down to kids wanting candy.  Whatever.

The kids' school allows them to dress up as a storybook character--which pretty much means whatever they want.  We had us a pirate, Darth Vader, and . . . 3 points if you can figure out who Isaac is.  The pictures further below may help.  So might the fact that I put his alter ego name right above those pictures.  You're welcome.

 ILE had trick or treating at the office in the afternoon.  The kids totally raked it in.  It was kind of ridiculous. 

 Li'l Pumpkin Man Eli:

 Darth Kye, sans mask:

 Pirate Lulu (argh!):

 TMNT Adam:  (As cool as he thought he looked, the costume was trashed and I threw it out as soon as he took it off.)

 Isaac, in true Calvin character:

 Couldn't resist another one of the Pumpkin head:

I'm definitely not a costume maker, so when Halloween rolls around, I tell the kids they can dress up as absolutely whatever they want . . . as long as it's in our dress-up box.  (I pushed it to the limits this year by adding black electrical tape stripes to Isaac's red shirt.)  Everyone seems fine with it, so I won't be changing it any time soon.  My favorite part of the evening this year was the headless horseman who trotted down our street and threw candy at the kids.  They loved it.  And they were also a little freaked out.  He looked very real.

Thank Goodness for Kids with Low Expectations

Odd numbered birthdays around here are celebrated with family birthday parties.  (Though I promised Lucy awhile ago that if she read the first four Harry Potter books before her birthday, I would give her an awesome HP 11th bday party, it wasn't enough to motivate her to do it.)   Her BFF Kaitlyn came for the evening as well. 

We took Lulu to see Mary Poppins in SLC in September for her bday present, so she knew she would have very little to open on the actual day.  She did however get one of Audrey's favorite dolls from Audrey herself:

Gma D. got Lucy another Kidz Bop CD, she got a little mula from Gpa R and Gma T, Kaitlyn gave her pictures from their Wyoming trip over Labor Day weekend, and we gave her a scripture tote.  She was thrilled.

Isaac made Lucy her very own picture book:

The only request Lucy had for her birthday were apple cider donuts.  So I made them.  Oh, they were terrible.  I don't think the recipe called for enough flour because the dough was so soft and sticky, when I sunk it into the oil, they just fell right apart.  (Yes, it was my first time making donuts.)  You know it's not a good sign when your kids walk into the kitchen and say, "It smells like fish" when you are making your daughter's birthday treat.  Ah, well.  Lucy still appreciated the effort.

Despite not having a friend party, and very few gifts, and the big donut fail, Lucy handed me a note when I went down to give her a hug before she fell asleep.  It said, "Thanks for the best birthday a gal could have."  And I went upstairs and thanked the heavens for kids with extremely low expectations.

Dear Mom and Dad (from Kye)

Thanksgiving 2011

Dear Mom and Dad

Thank you for Food, Fun, Wii, money, and Games.  First, I like food.  The foods I'm most thankful for is candy examples Mike and Ikes, choclate, Skittles, M&M's, and ice cream.  Another food I'm thankful for is deserts examples cake; brownies, and cupcakes.  The last food I'm most thankful for is pizza.  I'm thankful for fun.  Like trips to South Dakota, Disneyland, Idaho, and Arizona.  Next, I like water parks like Provo, Payson, and Spanish Fork.  continued on next page------>

Page 2

Then I'm thankful for Wii and Wii games like New Super Mario Bros, Lego Starwars, Lego Indiana Jones, Lego Batman, Lego Pirates of the Carabein, and Donky Kong Country Returns.  Next I'm thankful for games like Wits and Wagers, Sorry, Clue, Monoply (jr), and cards.  Last I am grateful for money to buy Wii, Wii games, games, trips, and food.  These are the things I am thankful for.

Sincerely your son,

kyebradshaw

Weekend Trip

Zach and I planned on having a wonderful, longish drive up the California coast for our 15th wedding anniversary.  We planned it for the fall so we could leave Eli and just be together.  A few weeks later we decided to go down to L.A. for some family events and just do a short drive up the coast for a day or two. Then Zach ended up in Korea the week we were going to go and we decided to spend a day together (with Eli) on the beach before all the family stuff went down.  What really happened was that Zach was so tired from the jet lag that he stayed at Erin and Stu's apartment and slept while Eli napped and I took a book and read on the beach.  I figured it was close enough to a vacation to count.  We'll have to do the anniversary trip another time, I guess.

 Eli and Mom at Manhattan Beach:

 

Eli's first handful of sand:

 At the Los Angeles temple for Jacob and Melanie's sealing (And proof that Zach was, indeed, with us):

 Grandma D being so brave by holding Eli facing her.  Luckily he didn't puke until she had turned him around.