Five Cute Kids

Five Cute Kids

Tuesday, January 27, 2015

FIVE

Levi had a birthday! He was super excited to turn five this year and told everyone for days before. He wanted donut holes and yogurt for breakfast. He opened presents and got money from Nonnie, cousins and Grandparents, a scooby doo game from Spencer, color book from Sarah, a book and stuffed dog from Benjamin, another book and Trap team guy from Andrew, more Trap Team guys and a mini trampoline from mom and dad.

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We needed to pick up his cupcakes (he wanted store-bought this year) so we headed to the store where he bought new Trap Team guys and a new shirt with his birthday money.

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He invited some fun friends to go to Jumptime with him for his birthday and they had a SUPER fun time jumping into the foam pit and throwing balls at each other.

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After getting lots of energy out, we headed home for lunch, opening gifts and eating cupcakes.

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Levi got to celebrate his birthday with his friends at school the day before.

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Five things about Levi....

1. He LOVES anything involved with Skylanders and Scooby Doo.

2. He loves to be in charge of the activity for our Family Home Evenings.

3. He enjoys preschool and all his friends there.

4. He's really good at riding his bike.

5. He loves for mom to read to him.

Happiest of Birthdays Levi!!! We love you!!

Monday, January 5, 2015

THIRTEEN

Andrew had a birthday! He's the BIG 13 now and that means in our family that he can watch PG-13 movies. He decided to stay up until midnight and then start watching PG-13 movies. He watched them all night long until the rest of us woke up the morning of his birthday. He chose waffles and eggs for breakfast and then he opened presents. He got an iTunes gift card from Sarah, a hat from Spencer, a movie from Benjamin, a kendama from Levi and money from Grandparents, Nonnie and mom and dad.

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Andrew wanted to spend his day at the mall shopping and having Panda Express for lunch. He bought a new plaid jacket, Vans and a couple of pairs of Stance socks with his birthday money. He was amazingly alert and happy considering he'd been awake since the day before but after a full day of shopping, we went home for a bit of down time. This is when Andrew crashed and when I say crashed, he really crashed. He fell asleep on our bed and was out cold for several hours. We tried to wake him up for his birthday dinner, but he wandered around not making any sense and then crashed on the couch. We tried waking him up later to eat his birthday treat of donut holes but he just mumbled a bunch of nonsense and rolled over. We were all pretty disappointed with not being able to celebrate him but when we asked him the next day, he said it was the best birthday ever. He loved watching movies all night long and didn't care that he slept through the evening of his birthday.

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Two days later, he had four friends over for pizza from Guido's. They played ping-pong and the WiiU and watched Teenage Mutant Turtles with lots of popcorn and candy. He got many nice gifts and enjoyed finally blowing out those 13 candles.

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Thirteen things about Andrew...

1. He plays the piano really well.

2. He has a great sense of humor.

3. He's working on getting his Life in scouts.

4. He's really good at the kendama.

5. He loves teasing his brothers.

6. He's a very hard worker!!

7. He loves jerky and candy. Too things he's not supposed to eat with braces.

8. He's serving as 1st counselor in the Deacon's quorum.

9. He's a great student...straight A's!!

10. He loved playing football in the Fall and can't wait to play lacrosse this Spring.

11. He really likes the show Domesday Preppers and likes to tell us about it.

12. He is tender-hearted and kind.

13. He is really fun to hang out with!

Happiest of Birthdays, Andrew! We love you!!

Friday, January 2, 2015

Christmas Eve and Christmas Day

Our Christmas Eve started with us going to a homeless shelter as we had been asked to bring a Christmas tree for their celebration. We were given a tour of the facility and told how and who they help.

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Then we headed to The Village where we visited the new candy store and then to see the movie, Night at the Museum 3.

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Later that evening, the kids opened a present of new pajamas and put out cookies for Santa. We read in Luke 2 about the birth of our Savior. The kids were actually really tired, so they all went to sleep early.

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This is how our house looked when we woke up EARLY Christmas morning.

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Grandma came over later in the day to see what everyone got and to enjoy dinner with us. (Grandpa was with Aunt Katie and Uncle Rob in Disneyworld.)

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It was a wonderful day as we watched several movies, played games, played on the new WiiU and enjoyed time together. We were all completely SPOILED!! Love, love this time of year!!!

Thursday, January 1, 2015

December Festivities

We got a live tree and wreath to begin the festivities of the month. I love for the house to smell like pine. It's one of my favorite things about the holidays.

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Our dad decorated our home and as you can see everything looked beautiful!

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One of our advent activities and traditions is the kids getting new ornaments.

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Another one of our advents was to make bird feeders. I think it's important for our kids to think of others at this time of year...even the little birds.

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Spencer had a Choir concert at school and another performance at the Capitol. He did a great job!

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I took Benjamin and Levi to Home Depot for their kids building program. The boys really enjoyed the gluing, hammering and painting.

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Another advent was to go to the mall to see Santa and while we were there the three youngest got to go to Build-A-Bear and create a new friend.

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Benjamin had a Christmas Music program at school. It was darling and he did a great job!

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Nathan and I got to go out for dinner for his work party to Berryhill. We'd never been and it was definitely some of the best food we've ever eaten. The whole evening was completely enjoyable.

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Sarah and I went to see the Nutcracker. Her good friend was performing in it and we both absolutely loved it! We hope to go every year!

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Levi's school had a Christmas music program. He had a staring part as the Farmer and did a fabulous job! He loves Miss Erin!

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Nathan decorated the barn for another St. Al's party and did a wonderful job! It was especially nice since we were able to use the barn that evening for our Annual Smith Family party. It was a fun evening full of delicious food, super fun games and wonderful conversation.

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Since Aunt Nip was in town for the Smith Christmas party she asked if she could come over and make Brown Cream Candy with us. It's a Smith family tradition that the family has been making for at least five generations. It's tricky to make so it was great that she wanted to teach us how to make it. She also brought a special decoration that was Grandma Smith's that she gave to us. We have loved seeing this Disney bell ringer every time we go see Grandma Smith on her birthday. It was a wonderful visit!

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This was our Christmas card for the year. My niece took this picture on Thanksgiving day and I love how the card turned out that Nathan created.

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Our Ward decided to do a Live Nativity for our Ward Activity. We had it at the Whiting's farm which really added to it's authenticity. Nathan did the costumes for it and our three oldest kids had parts in the Nativity. Spencer and Andrew were shepards and Sarah was Mary. Everyone did an amazing job and it was a very spiritual evening. We invited the whole neighborhood and we couldn't believe how many people came. We hope to do it again next year as it was so well attended and we received so many compliments.

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Sister Bennett, one of our sister missionaries sang "O Little Town of Bethlehem" at the first area.

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Our three wise men sang, "We Three Kings".

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The shepards spoke and the angels sang, "Joy to the World".

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In the stable, Lexie Cole played the cello and Lily Archibald played the violin. They played several different Christmas songs.

We used two real babies for baby Jesus that were truly angelic and added such a wonderful spirit to the evening.

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After the kids had a piano recital (which we didn't take one picture-bummer!) one evening, we went and looked at Christmas lights. This is our only picture but it's worth adding - isn't he cute!!

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Some fun things we did after Christmas was to go bowling, we went to see several movies, Planet Kid, the Aquarium, on a long, cold hike and then had hot cocoa to warm up. It was so cold it was the perfect time to try something on we found on Pinterest - frozen, colored water balloons.

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We had a wonderful December full of fun and spiritual activities! I love this time of year!
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