Hailey's Birthday

Hailey had a birthday while we were up in gatlinburg.  We had planned to go to Dollywood that day, go on some rides and see some shows, but it turned out the be the coldest day up there.  It only got up to 32', not warm enough to spend most of the day outside, so we left the decision up to her.  She decided to forgo Dollywood and find other things to do.  We ended up shopping and the kids did indoor skydiving and gocart racing.  She had a fun filled birthday.

 Eating the "best burger in Gatlinburg" at the Blue Moose

 I can't believe my baby girl is already 7!  These kids grow way too fast!  She is such a sweet addition to our family.  She is very loving and cares for her brothers.  She loves to play with Logan.  When he is napping she will constantly ask if she can get him up to play with him.  She is very creative.  Her room is filled with pictures she's drawn and taped onto the walls.  She will always ask me if there is something she can make.  She loves to laugh!  Braxton is apparently very entertaining to her, cause that's all she does when they are together.  We are very greatful to have her  be a part of our family.

Happy Birthday!

Christmas....Hillbilly style!

When I was in highschool my parents purchased a log cabin up by Park City, Utah.  We spent every Christmas there.  I loved going up with the family and staying there, usually snowed in, for a few days, playing games, playing in the snow, etc...  My parents sold the cabin a couple of years after Mike and I got married, so my kids never got to experience a Christmas there.  I've told Mike, I'm sure way too many times, how I'd love to go and stay in a cabin, where there is snow, for Christmas, so the kids can experience it.  This year he wanted to surprise me with just that.  However, Christmas in the mountains, is apparently very popular down here and places to stay were hard to find.  We didn't want to go too far, just far enough for there to be snow.  He found a place in the Tennessee, Smokey mountains, called Gatlinburg.  The area had a ski resort, so there had to be snow, right?  A place to actually stay was hard to come by.  He was able to get a condo, right by Dollywood.  Ok, not quite a cabin, but there would be snow, the kids could learn to ski and we could sled and play in the snow.  I was excited.  As it got closer to Christmas, about a week away, I decided to see if I could find some pictures of the place we were staying, to get an idea of decorations to bring.  Why I didn't do this sooner, I don't know.  I found some on the website and let's just say it was pretty much nothing like I was expecting.  The place was pretty old, which was fine, but it was tight quarters and there was no way for Santa to come without getting caught by the kids.  There was no fireplace and really no place to put a Christmas tree.  Now, I don't see myself as very princessy, when it comes to things like this.  You can't be when you come from a family of 8, but you know when you have an image of something in your head and when it turns out to be NOTHING like you'd hoped it's just disappointing.  I expressed my concerns to Mike, probably not in the best way, but I just couldn't see it working out.  After a long conversation, I concluded that I would just try to make the best out of what we had, not wanting to cancel our plans, especially since my mother-in-law had gone to such lengths to get us this place.  Well, my sweet husband, not wanting me to be unhappy, spent the evening trying to find other arrangements, without my knowing.  The next day he surprised me with a cabin that he had found.  Thanks to him and Cheryl, I got the "cabin Christmas" I've always talked about.  Unfortunately, this year had been unseasonabley warm, so the ski resort was closed, but we found other things to keep ourselves busy.  It was a lot of fun, and a Christmas I won't soon forget!

 The fireplace!!

          We went and ate breakfast at the "Log Cabin".  They are known for the best french toast.  It was pretty darn good.              Hailey and Logan on the tram going up to do some ice skating

 Well, this was a snowy as it got up there.

 This cabin had 3 hot tubs...overkill!  But everyone enjoyed sitting in them at night and relaxing.

 Our meager Christmas decorations.  We did go to the local walmart and purchase one of their last trees, brought it back and decorated it.  Hailey spent the week before making ornaments.

 Hailey and Logan with Aunt Kerri, Christmas Eve.

 In our new pj's Christmas eve night.

 Logan going through his stocking Christmas morning.

Cheryl looking at her gift from the kids.

 Playing games

 Lovin the box

 like father, like son....

 it was quite painful to watch Logan up presents....I thought he'd tear into it...nope, he pulled a little piece off at a time.

 another hot tub

 There was a pool table there too, a favorite with the kids.

going ice skating at "Ober-gatlinburg"

 Iceskating!  I thought Hailey would love it, but she absolutely HATED it!  She get's embarassed when she can't do something well.  After going around the rink about 10 times it started to get easier and she loved it.  Braxton was a weapon out there..he'd skate like a crazy person until he either fell or found a spot on the wall to grab onto.

Indoor skydiving.

Christmas Season!

....The most wonderful time of the year!  I look forward to this holiday season all year long!  Every year I say I'm going to get all of the busy stuff (ie shopping) done early so I can relax and enjoy it more, it never happens, but It's a nice thought.  I love traditions, Mike not so much, but I feel they are important, so I try to carry them on best I can.  Two of my favorite traditions growing up was making graham cracker houses and going to see the lights at temple square. These are the ones that I try to keep going.  We usually make graham cracker houses with Kris and her family, but this year her kids were sick so we weren't able to do it.  Trying to see the lights at Temple Square is a bit of a challenge since we live in Georgia. So we do the best thing we have out here, which is the lights at Lake Lanier Islands.  We try to go every year, but this year the dad's aka, Mike and Mike didn't want to pay the money to go see them, so no lights!  Do you think that stopped me?  Nope, we were doing our stinkin traditions!  I remembered that Grandma Cheryl had bought ginger bread kits from the craft store last year, so I dug those out of the pantry and we made our houses!  Tradition #1 down....Mike had heard about a little neighborhood, close by that was doing Christmas lights choreographed to music, for charity, so we went.  It was a small street, but still  neat to see.  Tradition #2, DOWN!

 I LOVE to decorate!!  It's fun for me to take a plain tree and make it into something beautiful to look at.  I have 4 tree's that I decorate every year, a 12 foot tree in our keeping room, our "real" tree in our family room, a tree in our dining room and a tree at the top of our stairs.  Last year after taking down the decorations and almost killing myself, falling off the ladder, trying to take the lights off of our tall tree, I decided it was time to scale down a bit, so we got rid of it.  We are down to a 9 foot tree in that room.  I'm sure as I get older I'll scale back even more, but for now I love it!  Every year I talk about getting a flocked tree.  When I was young, there was a neighbor who had a flocked tree and I always thought it was so beautiful!  We never could find a place the sold "real" flocked trees.  I even tryed to flock our tree last year, myself....bad idea!  But this year, Mike found a place that sold flocked trees.  YAY!  It was awesome!!!  Eventhough it was a beast to clean up, after I took it down, it was totally worth it!!  A new tradition.

 The kids....and the FLOCKED TREE!!

Making gingerbread houses.

Thanksgiving

 Happy Thanksgiving!!!  One of my favorite holidays...and not because of the food.  It's true what they say, food doesn't taste quite as good when you make it yourself.  I started cooking at about 9 that morning and had time to sit for about 10 minutes until we ate at 4 that afternoon.  I now know why my mom's back was hurting, every year. :)  However, it's all worth it!  I love having family over and being able to spend time with them.  Van, Patti and, Kerri came along with Jarom, Liina and Hanele, and of course Kristine and Mike wtih their kids.  We feasted (is that a word?) visited and watched movies.  Mike deep fried a turkey and I baked one, a long with lots of sides.  Mike Crosby brought the other half of dinner a long with desserts.

Mike carving the turkey....look how happy he is to do it!   Our feast!

 Just before the Thanksgiving break, Haileys class put on a play about the first Thanksgiving.  Hailey was a pilgrim and she even had a part..... "Mercy Me!"

#1!

Well, our #3 had his #1....and I forgot to blog about it!  Probably because it was pretty uneventful.  Braxton's football season has pretty much taken over our lives leaving little room for anything else.  So, we didn't even celebrate on his actual birthday, we did it about 5 days later.  We had a small cake and he got a couple of toys.  Nothing too exciting.  He was very unsure of the cake at first, as he is with all food, but once he tasted it, he couldn't get enough. 

 Not quite sure what's going on, why we are singing to him and why this flame is coming towards him.  (Yes that was a tea light candle, we were very unprepared)

 This is stinkin good!!

More please...

Didn't you hear me? MORE!!

 This was his main gift. 

 Not quite sure what to do with it, but he loves the sound effects it makes.

 Braxton takes him for a spin and it's pretty fun.....

Whoa...too fast! 

We are very blessed to have this funny kid in our family.  He truly is such a joy to have around.

Trick or Treat

October just flew by this year!  I had good intentions of doing fun things with the kids, but there just was never any time.  We didn't even carve pumpkins until the night before Halloween.  My parents came out and we made it up to Burt's Pumpkin farm, our annual tradition.  Then the trunk or treat/chili cook off with our ward.

 Choosing a costume for Hailey is always such an ordeal.  My idea of what she should be and her idea are never even in the same category as each other, so we end up compromising.  She always wants to be something flashy, usually immodest and I want her to be something cute.  So we settle on flashy and modest.  This year she had seen a "miss America" costume in a catalogue and was fixated on getting that costume.  I tried to convince her to get a cute witch costume that I had seen and she refused...finally out of frustration she says, "Mom, you just want me to be UGLY!"  It was hard not to laugh.  We ended up agreeing on this Spider countess costume.  I put flashy makeup on her and she was modest, win win.

 Logan's second Halloween.  I realize he's only one and he could careless, but he looked cute non the less.  He kept the hat on for about 2 seconds.

 Braxton picks his costumes based on the accessories that come with it.  This one had a cool machete so he was sold!

 Logan practicing for trick or treating.

 Playing while the kids carve pumpkins.

 Braxton's masterpiece

 Hailey's ghost

 We went to the Crosby's again for dinner and trick or treating.

CANDY!!!  Once Logan figured out what people were putting in his pumpkin he was loving it!  He ate so much candy.