Thoughtful Mommy

This morning, Lynn and I were lying in bed and overheard Madi playing in her room. She had turned on her Baby Alive doll and the doll said "Hi Mommy, I'm hungry." In a pretty angry voice, Madi yelled at her doll and said, "NO! NOT HUNGRY! YOU'LL GO PEE IN YOUR DIAPER OUT YOUR HOLE!" I know that sounds terrible, but it made us laugh pretty hard. It's a good thing she still has quite a few years before she starts baby sitting or has real children of her own.

Myles 3 Months

Myles is now 3 months old and again I say, where does the time go? He is such a cute baby. I love the dimple in his chin and he is smiling all the time now. Madi has decided she can now carry him which keeps us on our toes, but she is doing a great job. Both Parker and Madi keep him entertained all the time and are always willing to help in any way they can except for changing diapers. Myles, we are so glad you are a part of our family!

I love how this one looks like his head is floating. :)

Christmas 2009

CHRISTMAS IS HERE!!!! After much anticipation and preparation, Christmas finally arrived. Luckily the kids slept in until about 8:00, which was very nice, however once they were awake it was hard to keep them contained until we could have everything ready. As you can tell from the picture below, they were sprinting down the hallway. Except for the funny thing is that they sprinted right to the empty cookie plate and milk glass first to make sure Santa had his treat. It took a while for them to realize there were presents for them on the couch. Parker and Madi sprinting down the hallway.

Aha! They finally found the presents!

Myles with his haul from Santa

Parker and Madi were more than willing to help Myles open his gifts.

The happy little baby!

Oh look! They can now be twinners with their dad. It's a blanket with sleeves!

This was such a fun year for gifts from the kids. Parker made us a 2010 calendar at school, bought Lynn a basketball clapper and he bought me a little tea cup that says Mom on it and has a kitty inside (priceless when it is coming from your child). Myles got a little football from Parker and Madi got a multi-colored marker. He picked them out all by himself at a little Christmas store they have at the school and he was so excited for us to open them. Madilyn made a Christmas ornament for us at preschool with her picture on it. Thanks kids, those were all my favorite gifts!!

Do you think this is a hint that I need to clean the house? Actually, I did ask for a small vacuum so I was very excited to get one. Lynn also gave us scuba diving lessons. I am sooooo excited to learn to scuba. Too bad we don't live closer to the ocean, but at least it will give us an excuse to go on some exciting vacations. Thanks babe for the awesome surprise!

Lynn got a new fly rod. At first he thought I just gave him a new case. It was pretty funny.

A nice stocking stuffer from Santa! Aren't they adorable?

Myles amongst the Christmas morning chaos!

The three monkeys in their Christmas pajamas.

We are so blessed. It was a wonderful Christmas for us all and we had such a wonderful relaxing day as a family. I think we were all in our pajamas until Grandpa Dahle (Grandma Dahle was sick), Kevin and Candace came over for dinner.

The only thing Madi asked for from Santa was a doll that has diapers she can change. Well, sure enough, she got a Baby Alive doll from Santa and immediately wanted to feed it some of the food it came with. After she fed it, she was in her room playing and all the sudden she was saying "Mooooom, come here." As I entered her room, she pointed to her doll and whispered "Look!" The doll had messed her pants and Madi wanted me to bring her a wash cloth. She was very embarrassed by it and told me "Don't tell dad, it's a secret." Later that day, after the embarrassment wore off a little, she finally told Lynn and pointed to her doll and said "She poops out that hole." Needless to say, she has refused to feed it any food since because she doesn't want to have to change her diaper. If only real babies were that easy.

Madi and her precious new baby that has diapers she doesn't want to change.

Our Lego master. Parker's favorite toys has to be Lego's. He does such a good job building with them and following the instructions. He had this ship completed by the end of the day.

Christmas Eve

The morning of Christmas Eve began with one of favorite traditions. Bowling with the family! Todd and Mick and my parents were still in town so we were all able to go bowling together. However, we missed having Jim and Kris and the kids there. Of course there was a little competition going on for the best score as a couple and Todd and Mick ended up as the winners. Apparently Todd had a lot of practice bowling during his college days at SUU :) At least that is what we will blame it on. It couldn't be because of all the gutter balls I had.

Madi lining up her ball.

Parker after his first strike!!!

Parker lending a hand.

All of the bowling cousins... Madi, Isabelle, Pace, Briggs, Lillian, Parker, Myles and Jaygen

The rest of the day was very nice and relaxing. Lynn and I both did some separate shopping trips for some last minute things and the kids just played. Then we baked and frosted cookies for Santa. A few ended up with a pile of beautiful candy decorations and the kids were positive those would be Santa's favorites!

The cookies and chocolate milk for Santa. We also left some reindeer food and carrots on the front porch for Rudolph and clan.

After the kids opened one present from us and were all ready for bed, we did one of my favorite traditions of all...Lynn read the story of Christ's birth from the Bible. Each year when we do this tradition, I always think of my Grandpa Mullen and the times they would spend Christmas Eve at our house. I remember Grandpa reading the story of Christ's birth from the Bible as well, and then we would look out the window to try and find the brightest star in the sky. Oh, the memories....

I love the spirit of Christmas and the joy it brings each year. It is always such a stressful time with all the preparation, parties, shopping and such, however I love the feeling of peace I get each time we are reminded of the true meaning of Christmas and the greatest gift we ever received. I love my savior and am so grateful for the spirit He brings into my life. I hope my children will always know of my love for Jesus and strive to have a relationship with Him as well.

Mullen Christmas Party

The annual Mullen Christmas party was held at Kevin and Candace's house this year and as always, we had a great time. They did a great job hosting and even sponsored the 2nd annual Amazing Race event. It was a lot of fun, they spent a ton of time setting up all the clues and activities and all of them had something to do with our childhood. For example, we went to Sky View for a few of the clues which is where my dad taught for 30 years, then we headed out to Newton and did some sleigh riding on the hill by our old house, clay pigeon shooting at Newton Dam and even went to the first house my parents lived in when they were married. It was a lot of fun to see all the old places and think of all the memories. Jim's family ended up being the winners of the race, I still can't believe he could remember the words to Sky View's school song. After the race, we ate a delicious dinner of my Dad's Chile Verde, opened presents and had a great hot chocolate bar and cinnamon rolls for dessert. Thanks Kevin and Candace for all the work you did in hosting the party. We had a great time! The kids spent most of the night sliding down the stairs. It was noisy, but they had fun and surprisingly, there weren't many bonked heads. Myles managed to sleep through most of it. Getting ready for the main event - PRESENTS! Myles and his new duck from Grandma and Grandpa.

Audrey, Lillian and Isabelle patiently waiting for their gift. Yeah!!! More Lego's!!

Myles checking out another one of his gifts from Grandma and Grandpa.

All the shopping accessories. I can't wait to go shopping!

Parker and his new hat from Claire

Grandma and Grandpa with Lillian.

Thanks to Jim for the gift Lynn has always wanted. It's a blanket with Sleeves!!! What will they think of next? And the gift that Jim has always dreamed of... a new welding helmet from Lynn! Awesome!!