': December 2016

Saturday, December 31, 2016

2016 Quotes

2016 quotes

Claire:
"You're funny. You're not hilarious. Hilarious is an overstatement."
- Claire's response to Jared's proclamation that Claire thinks he's hilarious. Thanks Claire

Jacob:
"Could we go to the Korean War Memorial Park? Or is that offensive to you?"
- Jacob to Kaci when she was staying with the kids while Jared and Dani were in Cancun

"Maybe you should try parking in 2 spots ... just in case."
- Jacob to Kaci as she was parking the Yukon at the Korean War Memorial Park. She parked in 1, which Jacob expressed that he was impressed!

Kate:
"you mean, vacay?"
- Jared was talking about the upcoming vacation to Costa Rica - fortunately, Kate was around to keep him up to date on the current lingo

"Fingernail polish!!!"
- Kate was so excited about Amber's gorgeous nails that she missed the glittering rock on her finger!

"Torpedo chips"
- 3/6 - Pita Chips

"This is CWAZY!!!"
- 3/28 - Dani hears this, and then walks in the bathroom to see Kate sitting the other direction on the toilet!

"Rollercoasters, lollipops, and candy"
- 10/9 - Kate's vision of paradise

"I am grateful for Nana because the food she makes tastes so good. And ... this one is funny ... because she farts a lot"
- 10/9 - Kate's describing what she's thankful for Nana for.

Liam:
"Maybe? ... but maybe not?"
- Liam's response, 1 finger raised, as Jared and Dani were heading out the door to Costa Rica, to the question, "Liam, are you going to throw a fit when the Wii gets turned off?

"How do armpits get stinky?
- the questions you ask your aunt Kaci!!!

"We'll see..."
- Liam's response to Kaci when she asked him if he would listen next time (so he didn't lose another treat). He tells the truth at least!!!

"Daddy... I can't find my undies!!!"
- 5/1, in the bathroom in the church! Fortunately, Dani was prepared to help little commando Liam!

"De [buckle] [tie] [lock]" - as in, "Daddy, I de-locked the door for you!"
- June - Liam's variations of words instead of "un"

"I love you mamma"
- summer and beyond. Liam says it all the time, sometimes when he's just sitting next to her at dinner, sometimes when he's in trouble, sometimes in the middle of a conversation, sometimes from across the house. We LOVE it!

"I brushed my teeth twice. It can last me 2 days!"
- 12/22

Torin:
"Light!!!"
- Torin wants all the lights on in the entire house - including the one in the oven, under the microwave, and the plug-in candle.

"Taco Bell! Taco Bell!"
- May/June - When Torin hears we are going to get dinner (whether on bike or in the car), he starts a chant for what he wants.

"No Mom, Daddy do it!"
- All.Year.Long

"Sonk" "Sink" "FinG"
- Torin's "ing" and "ong" end in hard consonants - like the words, Song, Sing, and Find.

"It's for my birfday" and "It's for my Christmas"
- End of the year - Torin is claiming that everything is his. He's now come up with an excuse

Dani:
"I LOVE these Mother's Day coupons - and so far, they're reusable!"
- 2 days of coupon use, 2 days of NO KIDS out after bedtime!!!

Jared:
too many to list because he's hilarious!

New Years Eve - saying good bye to a great 2016

This year, we celebrated New Years with the Jensen and the Smiths and all the kids. To celebrate, we watched the ball drop - in the East Coast - and on Dani's computer!

We celebrated with sparkling cider and sparkly hats

Dani and I found ourselves in the middle of a board game (TransAmerica) as the clock struck midnight.

2016 was a great year, and we're looking forward to 2017

Friday, December 30, 2016

Sledding on Mt Hood

We love living in Oregon because we can drive to the mountains to enjoy the snow. Today, we had a beautiful day to go play in the snow. Went to the White River snowpark and found a great spot to play.

The kids spent a while digging in the snow, digging out a tunnel to crawl back and forth through.

With 5 kids, 2 parents, and only a single tube, a single sled, and a snowboard (that didn't really work all that well), sometimes, it was easier to just slide down on your belly - with a push from dad.

Sunday, December 25, 2016

Christmas Day

One of the traditions we love is wrapping our kids into their rooms.

The Christmas tree looked beautiful - even with its crooked star!

At 8:00 on the dot (because the parents don't allow kids in earlier), the kids come running into the room and pile into the bed so we can read the Christmas story together.

Once we made our way downstairs, the kids were all very excited for stuffed animals, candy, and other things. They give books to one another and are always excited for their sibling to open their gifts.

The gift Dani and I were most excited for the kids to open came floating out of the biggest box. It took the kids a while to realize that it was going to be a trip to Orlando to go to Disney World and Universal (to the Wizarding World of Harry Potter).

Sometimes, after all the gifts are opened, we ask ourselves if we should just get our kids boxes to play with!

This year, Jared decided to become a bells player and was playing Harry Potter, Star Wars, and other Christmas songs by lining up the bells and hitting the buttons on the top.

Torin was given another stuffed animal to add to his growing collection. He loved his monkey from the moment he saw him.

When he goes to bed for naps and at night, he has to have every one of his stuffed animals piled on top of him and in his arms, then covered with his blanket. It's getting to be quite a large pile under that blanket!

One cool new toy this year is the Osmo. Kate loves the interactive drawing game. There are other games that the kids are discovering as well that are interactive and educational (mostly!)

Birthday girl

My favorite person turned another year older (34) today! She is strong, caring, inspiring, an incredible partner and mother, loves good food, and takes a great mirror selfie!