Christmas in pictures (otherwise entitled "oh I give up")

It's already the middle of February. I think it's about time for a Christmas recap, don't you? Here are some of our favourite pictures of this Christmas (which we spent in Wyoming, at the ranch)

Play time!

A Christmas dress, made by nana

Presents! Luke was so cute. He showed us every present he opened, by holding it up over his forehead :-)


Lainey got some My Little Ponies from mummy and daddy.

The days were long and tiring. Thank goodness for grandma's hugs!

Grandma made each of the grandchildren a horsey. The boys loved them, but imagine the pandemonium with six broomsticks being flung around the room.Yes it was chaos!

We did a candy-bar exchange instead of everyone buying big gifts for each other. Lainey received a sweety necklace, and loved it.

Trev and I had a little time together without the babies- we decided to go for a ride on the snow machine, and then ice-fishing. It was my first time doing both of these things. It was loads of fun.

Going to see the cows and horses.



Christmas dinner :-) Luke sat with cousin Braylen and they had lots of fun. Braylen is four and it seems that Luke really looks up to him.

We had a lovely time!

Thanksgiving 2009

We spent thanksgiving at the ranch. All of Trevor's siblings were there with their families so there was quite a crowd. We had to use three tables joined together to eat dinner. I think there were about 25 people at least! I forgot to take pictures of the actual thanksgiving meal, but it was so yummy. Why do we only eat roast turkey a few times a year? We should have it at least weekly, I think :-)

Luke and Lainey got to play with their cousins. I always feel bad when we have to go home because Luke especially loves to have other boys to play with, and playing with grandma's toys is a treat too.

Here's Lainey and Taven-



Luke and Corben...

Luke checking out grandma's chickens...

Sledding...

And looking at a fox that uncle Sharden caught in his trap...

So much for the kids to do and explore. Whereas the adults are, of course, content to just relax...

It is lovely to have a special time to think of all that we are grateful for. I know there is the list of things that everyone comes up with. You know- health, family, the gospel, a home, food etc. But it is so true. These things truly are blessings that we sometimes fail to acknowledge. And on top of these 'basics', there are so many other things... books to read, a comfortable mattress, a sewing machine, entertainment, beautiful children, the internet and other resources, education, friends, mobile phones, a fridge, skype, and much more. Wow!

Camping

We finally had our first camping-as-a-family-of-four experience. It was fun. We camped on the ranch, on one of the meadows that is quite close to the houses, just in case. Trev's parents, and several of his siblings were camping out too. We camped for two nights.

Our tent is tiny. (see pic below- ours is the little red one) But how much room do you really need for sleeping, anyway? Probably a tinsy bit more than we had, but we all slept fine.

Here's Trev with our nephew, Taven. The babies sure seem to have a thing for his chest hair.

There was plenty of delicious food to eat. Luke kept on going back to the grapes :-)



Lainey and her little rug-buddy Taven. The babies were really so good, I was quite amazed. I think that even the little ones like to be outside, and there's always plenty going on to look at.

Trev's youngest siblings, Annie, Jessie and Zack. To be fair to them, I did take this picture first thing in the morning.

The yummy dutch-oven peach cobbler made by Trev's dad, Kelly. It really tasted delicious.


Whereas Luke is happy with just a simple tomato.

It's a shame the summer is drawing to a close, so there won't be many more trips like this. But when they do happen, they really are fun. I just love to relax with my little family, enjoy good company, great food and beautiful surroundings. That's when life feels complete.

Girls' weekend

Each year, the men in Trev's family (his dad, brothers and brothers-in-law) go on a trip of some sort. Last year it was a pack trip up in the mountains, this year it was Lake Powell. Since they are men, we don't get to see many pictures of what they get up to- they are having way too much fun to remember to document it. But while they're gone, us girls get together (with the kids of course) and have some fun too.

Day one-swimming.

Luke and his cousin Braylen are all ready to go.



Grandma watches over some of the little boys.



Trev's sister Katie with baby Quigley.



This is my nephew Corben. I love this little guy!



Luke had a blast.



That night, we bathed the older boys together. If you look closely at Luke's face, you'll see that he really didn't enjoy sharing his bathtub! That night, we all slept at my apartment. Six women and 6 kids in our little apartment. Luckily, we were all pretty tired and slept well.



Day two- Bear Lake.

Quigley and Lainey at the start of our outing.



Luke and Corben enjoyed the water.



And we all took rides in the little inflatable boat.



Lainey likes the feel of the sand between her toes, and watching the boys having fun.



Corben catching some rays.



Day Three and Four- chilling at the ranch.

After two fun days out with the kids, we were ready for some downtime. So we went out to the ranch and just hung out. We baked, talked, played, slept, ate and just enjoyed one another's company.

Luke has decided that he likes wrestling. Corben is the cousin who is closest in age to him. Corben is two and Luke is 18 months, but Corben is a little bit smaller, and doesn't like to wrestle. We had to assign Braylen to play with Luke, because Luke can't really hurt him (he's 4)


And in the babies' corner, we have Lainey and Taven. Taven is just one month older than Lainey.

Lainey got to spend a little time with her great-grandma.

We all ate crackers, cheese, meat and fruit for every lunch. Luke tried cherries for the first time and they were a big hit!

And of course, the boys had to have several rides on the four-wheeler.