More Christmas Eve

I need help! My program will not let me, no matter how many times I have tried, to post more than 4 pictures at once! So Sorry it is like a ton of different entries! Plus there is some computer garbage from the pictures that won't come off.
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We finally got a picture where Grandma Porter's eyes are open!!! Yea! She usually blinks!

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Jeff's Sister Sherlene with her friend Micah, we all think he is cute!

 

Bruce ( Jeff's brother) and his wife Sandra

 

Christmas Eve at Porter's

 
After the Nativity, we headed over to Jeff's parents for some dinner & goodies.
 
The Kids had a good time frosting some sugar cookies and packing them away in their tummies.
 
Look what Tanner got for Christmas! New braces! It is called flex money that needed to be used or lose.
 
I dragged the family around the Christmas tree for our annual photo. I always get complaints...Mom we take this picture every year! I always respond, IT'S TRADITION!

Christmas Eve Nativity 2008

 
It has become a family tradition that on Christmas Eve we visit the "Live" Nativity program near Jeff's parents home. The family who puts it on does a great job and involves many people in the community. They put on the 30 minute production, three times a night the three days before Christmas. Every year it is freezing, and more and more people attend.


 

The Kids always try and bundle up, but it is sooooo cold.
 

It is fun to see all the "actors", some even are on top of the roof representing the angels. We have tried to make it to the production every year, we only miss when the weather is so bad.
 

Ya all Twins?

 

I have some sisters that looked alike growing up, and sometimes people would say...Ya all Twins? We get some of the same comments with Tucker & Tommy. We are lucky enough to receive some hand me downs from my sister Annalee. She has a set of twins, Cameron & Christian who are a little older than my boys. So when my boys wear those matching clothes, they really do look like twins!

Let It Snow

 
 
 
 

The past few days we have really been hit with the big winter storms. It is usually pretty dry or melts quickly out by us. So when these storms hit us back to back to back the kids take advantage of it. They turn the dirt bike hills they made during the summer into the sledding hills to see who can go the farthest. We have a ditch next to the road and that is their ultimate goal- SLIDE TO THE DITCH.

Tanner has the responsibility in YM of making sure two senior citizen neighbors, who live near us, that their driveways are shoveled after each storm. So he and Tate took the wagon with them and shoveled their driveway snow into the wagon, then hauled it back to our house to be used on our sledding course. These are some of the pictures of them packing down the neighbors snow.

Every time it snows, they are way excited to add more "base" to their course and have even gone out to pour water on it so it can freeze overnight to make for faster conditions.

I will keep you posted and take more pictures when their course is done to see who can go the farthest!

Gingerbread Houses

 
 
 
 

Some times I feel like I am not a very fun Mom. I think many times the kids feel like I am on them all the time about homework, chores, or to hurry out the door because we are late for something. Sometimes I think many of us say... I will be happy when.....my house is clean, when I have more money, when I have more time and so on. So I am trying to make an effort to do little things to "live & enjoy the moment", not wait for when it is more convenient.

So after school when the kids wanted to know what were their choices for a snack, I said, Why don't we make ginger bread houses out of graham crackers? They were so excited! So we looked through the pantry to see what "supplies" we had to decorate the houses with. We only had pink frosting, so we just made do. Many of the mini houses stayed up for a few minutes, but quickly fell with the weight of the treats, and were eaten right up.

Everything wasn't perfect, but the pictures show the boys seamed to enjoy themselves as we "lived in the moment", especially Tucker with his funny looks.

Tis the Season

 

This time of year is filled with Christmas Cheer, however it is also filled with sickness. It is the season for visiting the doctor at least once a week with a member of our family. I told him that as many times as we have been to his office this month, we probably made his house payment. Strep throat seams to be the gift that keeps on giving this season. We have had it go through most of the kids. We have changed sheets, disinfected door knobs and light switches and thrown away tooth brushes, and we hope it is gone for good.

The difficult thing is not having them get reinfected from someone at school or on the bus. One of my biggest pet peeves is when parents send their kids to school sick! I could really get on my soap box about that. I had Tate out two different times this past month, as he got reinfected from someone else at school. SO wash your hands, pretty please!

Head in the Game

 

In the movie High School Musical, they sing a song about, "Head in the game" and it reminded me of Tanner's basketball team. Tanner has been playing on a competitive traveling basketball team this season,where they play in tournaments on the weekends. It is a brand new team, where we are learning a lot about the league and all that goes on at this level.

I love my camera but it really doesn't take very good "action" shots. This picture I loved,even though it is a little blurry, you can see Tanner jumping up, spread eagle, trying to keep the guy from getting it bounds. He is fun to watch!

Twilight Addictions

I had been avoiding the Twilight books for years and then this past summer I was hooked. My sister in law Sherlene had purchased the books and said YOU HAVE TO READ THESE!



I have had a love for reading in the past, but I put it on the back burner to take care of kids, do research for building the house, church callings and all the other stuff that just happens in life. I had really not read a series of books since the Work and the Glory came out over a decade ago. So I told myself I would take 15-30 mins a day to read something that I didn't HAVE to read, that I wanted to read.



So I sat down to read my 15-30 min. with Twilight. An hour past and I was still reading. Two hours past and the kids are saying "When's dinner?" I said,"Eat a cracker, I will be there in a minute!" Needless to say my family was not thrilled with my new hobby. However, I finished the first book in record time, less than 24 hours. Then I was on to the second book. See a pattern here?

Anyway, needless to say I am a fan, have read all the books, saw the movie on opening night with my cute sister in law, have seen all the interviews of the cast and Stephanie Meyers, and have really liked it.



My sister in law Kimi had a link on her blog where you can see which characture you are most like by taking a little test. So I did, just for fun and I am ........


Take the Quiz and Share Your Results!





I think being a Mom makes you more likely to lean toward her as a character.

You can link to see who you are. Anyway it is all just for fun, and now I am starting to read all the Jane Austen novels as I am a hopeless romantic. I am just not reading as fast.

Tucker's Day Out

This time of year I take Tucker down to PCMC for his yearly cardiology check up. We have made it a fun time with just the two of us, where we throw pennies in the fountain see all the fun Christmas decorations and have lunch in the cafeteria. We pack plenty of activities for Tucker to do, because you never know how long the wait time will be.










This year we knew that he had some extra tests, just to see how he is doing. He had to have a 45 minute echo cardiogram to measure some of his progress since his surgeries. It is like an ultra sound, just of the heart. He had to hold very still and I was so proud of him. We were just about done when all of the sudden the power went out! The machine had back up power to last another few minutes to save all the data. The technician said, "Wow we were lucky that we were near the end of the test". They brought a little lantern in so that we had light after the computer shut down. We then had to wait another hour for the doctor to look at the data on the only computer that was running by the generator emergency power.





All the tests came back GREAT, telling us that his heart is doing amazingly well. In fact they told us that he doesn't need to come back for his next check up for another two years! That is huge!

Since the cafeteria was closed from the power outage. I let him choose where ever he wanted to go for lunch. He chose one of his favorites, Chuck a rama, where he can have as many drinks and different types of food that he wants. He was pretty pumped!









Over all it was a pretty good day! We are so grateful for his good health and all the blessing we have received for him being a part of our family. He is a character that is for sure. The other night I was singing to him, his bed time songs, and he piped up and said, " Do you know that song you sung has 64 words in it?" I was shocked and had to sing the song again while I counted the words, and he was right! He is a little ball of fire and a smart whipper snapper!
We sure love you Tucker!

Thanksgiving 2008

I am a little slow to post, but wanted to share pictures of our Thanksgiving. We take turns each year with both sides of the family to celebrate on Thanksgiving day. The Guses came over to our house the Sunday before and we had a grand time! We have pie contest that is pretty intense with competition. For more info on that click on any of my siblings blogs to see the winners, I forgot to get my camera out that day. This year it was our turn to go to Jeff''s Parents home for dinner.

Everyone was so nice to wait for us as Tanner had a football tournament that weekend and played on Thanksgiving day! Who schedules these things on a holiday? Jeff does say that Thanksgiving is all about football or at least that is his favorite part.

After dinner Jeff''s Mom, Karen, wanted to take some family photos as I had my camera. We took a ton of pictures and Karen has her eyes closed in every single family picture. I wish there was something on photo shop for that, just like there is for red eyes. I was able to get at least one of her and Rey with her eyes open!

We also took pictures of the grand kids that were present. A picture with Jeff , his parents, and siblings Sherlene, Darin & Bruce. Then one of us sister in laws with the hubbies. Over all a good day to fill our tummies and watch some football.