Ending 2013 in style

We celebrated New Years' Eve in style with Tyler and Kelsey at BlueHour.

We had some memorable meals, including a good steak for Dani and scallops and 'forbidden rice' for Jared.  We felt so grown up being able to spend a holiday evening without the kids!

And then Jared found some ground lights that gave a scary effect with the tophat!

Memorable quotes

2013 was a year with some memorable quotes from our kids.  Below is a sample of some of the most funny.

Jacob

Jacob: "Brussels sprouts... yuck"

Dani: "you mean, brussels sprouts, yum?

<this repeats itself 2 more times>

Jacob: "Mamma, you're being like Satan, trying to force people to do things."

- 1/13 at dinner

"I don't think this is very good."

- 6/1 at Mo's.  Jacob had decided to get Tofu as his protein (despite Jared's warnings)

"Mommy, I still think you look young.  Can I have some chips?"

- 8/10 as Dani was stating that she felt like she was looking older.

Jared: "How do you think the kitchen looks?"
Jacob, excitedly: "Do you really want me to decide if we can be all done cleaning?"
-8/25 as Jared and the kids were cleaning the house.

"Daddy, when we talk about Star Wars, it makes me like you even more."

- 8/31 hiking back to the car from Mirror Lake

"Bless that Claire's voice can get better so she doesn't talk funny at school."
- 9/9 in Jacob's family prayer.

"Not counting the lunch and recess? ... It would be PE if there's PE, music if there's music, or library if there's library."
- 11/29 during Amber's interviews with a 2nd grader series.  The question was, "what is your favorite subject in school?"

"Daddy, is milk cow pee?
- 12/8 while drinking his glass of milk.

Claire

"Is Sausage made from a dog's tail?"

- 4/18, while eating sausage as part of a special birthday breakfast

"Daddy, you shouldn't be driving... Mom should be!  It's Father's Day!"

- 6/16 as we pulled out of the garage on our way to church

Kate

"Where Mama go?"

- 2/5 at 2:30 AM.  Kate's first 3-word sentence.

"I'm a pretty Ariel... I'm a pretty Ariel... I'm a pretty Ariel"

- 7/28 while spinning around after getting her dress on.

"Can I have a penis... CAN I HAVE A PENIS!?"
- 8/13 while Jared was talking through putting cream on Liam.  Liam had a bad rash, so Jared was putting cream on his rash, identifying body parts as he did so.  After Jared told him he was going to put some on his penis, he realized Kate was listening.

"What's in there?  What's in there?  It's a boogie!"
- 9/8 while Kate was on Jared's lap in the middle of church.  Jared, trying to keep Kate quiet, whispered, "where's daddy's nose?"  Kate proceeded to point it out, then start trying to put her fingers in his nostril.  She then grabbed his cheeks and pushed his head back as she examined the contents of Jared's nostrils.

"Poopoo da Poopoo"
- 11/17 sung to the tune of "Follow the Prophet."

"My Family.  And my other family, like you guys."
- 11/25.  The first 2 things Kate said she's grateful for in our FHE activity.

Jared: "Kate, are you stinky?"
Kate: "No."
Jared: "Then what's that poopoo doing in your diaper?"
Kate: "Having a wonderful day!"
- 11/28

"Look, it's Jesus and Beebunzle!"
- 11/29, in reference to the olive wood nativity (Beebunzle = Repunzle)

"A hiking I will go" and "That's MY special song!!!" and "Mom, get off daddy's lap.  I need him to read me a book.  I need him to read about YODA!"  and "May the force be with me!"
- 12/1, all within about 5 minutes.  Kate started by claiming exclusive rights to Old McDonald Had a Farm when Liam wanted to sing it.  She then decided that she was going hiking since she was wearing a backpack.  Then, she marched in with a book and demanded that Dani move so Jared could read a Star Wars book to her.


"I'm on the happy list."
- 12/17 a bedtime conversation, where Jared asked if Kate was on the naughty or nice list.

Liam
"Too Tight!!!"
- a lot.  Typically when getting shoes on, shirts over his head, shorts/pants on, getting strapped into his car seat, getting a diaper change, or other times when he feels uncomfortable and doesn't know what to say.

"Oh Yeah"
- a lot.

"It's my job to say Oh Yeah"
- December.  Whenever anyone else in the family says, "oh yeah."

Kate and Liam
"Uh Oh baseball... Uh Oh baseball" (Liam)
"It's not looking good!  It's not looking good!" (Kate)
- 9/27 while Jared was watching some BYU football highlights from a game that was going on.

Holiday break

Christmas brings a lot of time at home for the kids.  Sometimes, we find activities to keep everyone busy.  Sometimes, the kids find their own activities.

We got out our gingerbread cookie kits right after Christmas and decorated them.  The cookies really don't taste that good, but it didn't stop the kids from eating quite a bit of them.

The kids played dress up one day.  Liam chose his own costume.

For a couple days, Kate decided she was really into licking.  She seemed to be especially into licking mommy and daddy.

The kids all had a midday indoor campout in their new tent with their new Star Wars flash lights and reading new books.

We spent a night at John's Incredible Pizza where apparently the only good pictures we got were of Kate riding the train and riding the dinosaur.

Kate and Liam enjoyed serving some meals using their new kitchen and dishes.  They feed their animals, dolls, parents, and siblings.

Part of Jacob's Christmas present was a few packets of baseball cards.  Jacob spent lots of time looking at the cards, reading the backs, and sorting them.

He had some help as Liam joined in the game.

Claire and Dani used Claire's new silicon muffin forms and cookbook to make personal calzones for everyone.

Happy birthday Dani!

Dani turned 31 today - and got to be surrounded by her biggest little admirers!

I love Kate's faces in the sequence of pictures below to get a picture.  First it was Kate defending her Cinderella.  Then she looks completely uninterested in being part of the cute girls picture.  Then we add the funny boys into the picture

We celebrated with birthday ice cream cones - perfect for making messes!

Happy Birthday Dani!

Christmas Day!

Christmas morning started with a whole lot of people in the parents' bed reading the Christmas story.  It is a wonderful way to start a special holiday, and we are very proud of our children for their knowledge  and understanding of Christ.

Of course, they were also full of anticipation of for what was downstairs.  We continued the long tradition of making them wait for daddy to go downstairs first to video.

The babies came downstairs and were a little bit overwhelmed and weren't sure what to do because they didn't go straight to the new play kitchen.

Once they did, they played together very well for quite a while.

Later in the morning, they opened some new dishes which sent them right back to the kitchen

Kate opened up a new Cinderella and immediately ran off.  We wondered why, but she came back with scissors to get her out of the box as fast as possible, sat patiently while Cinderella was freed, and then immediately snuggled with her new princess with a look of joy on her face.

Liam got a lawn mower and spent some time running around the house with it.  It's a little bit anti-climatic getting an outdoor toy like this during the winter time, especially when he doesn't have daddy to follow around while he mows.

Claire got a Rainbow Loom and has made lots of bracelets for everyone.  She loves making different color patterns.

Jacob got a sweatshirt that he really really LOVES!  He wears it all the time!

Jacob and Claire both got legos and spent hours on Christmas putting together their new Lego sets.  They are very good at following all the directions very closely and making exactly what the directions say.

Kate got a box of princess books, which she was very excited for.  She spent lots of time carrying the box around and reading with mama and daddy.

It was a very busy day for everyone!

Christmas Eve

After bowling, we had some time with the bells.  We made our way through a couple of songs and got them to sound somewhat like they were supposed to.  Kate and Liam were pretty excited to play the bells!

We celebrated Christmas Eve with our family this year, so we decided to have an extra fancy meal.  We discovered that all of the children have expensive taste!

We had bacon-wrapped filet mignons, king crab legs, roasted brussels sprouts with bacon, and a smashed roasted potato medley.  Everything was delicious!

Claire and Jacob enjoyed cracking the crab legs.  Kate and Liam ate their crab so quickly that it was hard to keep up!

After dinner, it was time for the first present of Christmas 

PAJAMAS!!!