Christmas Morning

I have to admit that I was really excited for Christmas morning. Emily had asked for a few things like a new trumpet case, and a Dragonology book, and a few other things, but I knew that what she really wanted was a cell phone. She had been hinting for one since school started, but when we would ask her what she wanted for Christmas, it was never on her list. I think because we had convinced her that she would never get one.

In October Ryan and I upgraded our phones and changed carriers. When we did this we also added Emily to our plan. We thought about just giving it to her right away, but after about a minute of thinking that, we decided it would be more fun to torment her a little more with our new phones first. So we did.

We also decided that it would be more fun if we didn't just hand her the phone Christmas morning. So Santa wrote a note and wrapped it up in a pretty box. The note said, "Do you hear what I hear?"

Emily opened the package read the note, and did not really respond to it. I asked her what the note said, and she read it to me just as a Transibirian Christmas tune started playing from somewhere. Emily just sat there and said "That sounds nice." I told her she should go see where it was coming from. She found it pretty quickly tucked in the branches of the tree.

I don't think I have seen Emily that surprised and that excited for a long time. Josh was pretty surprised too.

I am not sure that Emily really knows what happened the rest of the morning, but the rest of the kids all had a good Christmas too.

I was excited for Josh to get his gift, even though I knew he was "planning" on it. I was happy he was getting a DS to replace the pink hand me down DS he had been happily using the last couple of years, and I knew he would be excited.


I was really excited to see Joe open his present. His was the hardest for me not to get out and play with myself prior to Christmas. I am sad I was not in a better place to get a picture of his face when he opened his gift.

This Fall Joe was not sure what he wanted for Christmas and I really didn't have a good idea, so We started looking for ideas together. One day I took him to a toy store near our house (not toys-r-us) and we found the perfect thing. He got a bad guy castle a couple of Christmases ago, and he loves to play with it. But he needed a good guy castle to make the playing even better. The store we went to had a few different castles, and we had fun looking at all of the possibilities.

Joe was a little disappointed when he saw how much things cost, but he didn't realize that Santa has the internet to shop on and can find deals. I told Joe we would keep looking for things he wanted, and maybe we would find something in our price range.

Christmas morning when he found the Castle he was so excited. I think he will have fun with this for a long time.

Last but not least. Little Miss Pink. All Valerie asked for this Christmas was a pink present. Just after Thanksgiving, Grandma Bolander surprised Valerie with a little pink tree she had found while she was out shopping. Valerie loved it. In the day she had it out in the front room, and at night she took it into her room. When we set up our tree and got out the decorations, every decoration that was handed to Valerie went on the little pink tree. After that it stayed in the front room, because when she tried to move it the ornaments fell off.

Santa brought Valerie a present wrapped in pink, and a new pink stroller for her baby. He put her gifts under her pink tree, so she would know they were for her.


Valerie was the hardest for Santa this year, not because he didn't know waht to giver, but because there were so many things he thought she would like. He decided Valerie would enjoy her own castle to play with when Joe got his out. She loves it, and does like to get it out to play castles with her brothers. They don't seem to mind it either. Secretly I think they like having a princess castle in their game.

I think I had the most fun Christmas morning watching the excitement on the kids faces. I am grateful for all that we have been blessed with this year.

Merry Christmas!

Temple Lights

I love the tradition of going to see the lights at Temple Square. Grandpa Bolander also enjoys going, and we were glad he could join us.

This red tree is Grandpa's favorite.

He loves to stand under it and look at all the lights, because it looks like it goes on forever.

When Valerie saw the pink lights she lit up and said, "Oh look at the pink lights! Pink lights are my favorite!"

The kids really liked the nativities, and they loved the lights. It was pretty crowded, and I was a little worried about loosing one of the kids, but it turned out the only one we lost was Grandpa. Thanks goodness for cell phones so we were able to get back together quickly.


After Temple Square we took Trax over to the Gateway Mall, because Grandpa wanted to show the kids the tree they had there. The tree at the Gateway was very cool. The lights were constantly changing, and the kids loved running around the big tree.


Valerie loved riding the train and cried when we got off. So she was very happy when we got to ride it a second time back to the car.



Temple Square is a cold tradition, but it is always a nice way to stop and think of Christ during the holiday season.

Do You Believe?

I don't remember exactly when I learned about the "Real Santa," but I do remember that it didn't really change what I thought of Christmas that much. The Christmases where I knew, I just remember feeling loved by my parents, and just as excited Christmas morning to see what was under the tree.

I love Christmas. I love the music, the spirit and the love that comes with it. One of the activities I love the most about Christmas now, is finding the perfect gifts for the people I love, and getting to help Santa out a little.

As a parent I try to keep the fun of Christmas alive for my Children.

When I told my kids that we were going to see Santa, they were all excited. All except Emily who asked in her teenage tone, 'Do I have to go?" Of course I made her come, and once we got there she did not complain too much.

I always look forward to this day. I never feel like I can wrap anything until after we have talked to Santa. Usually the kids have figured out what they are going to ask Santa for pretty early, but I always like to get it set in stone. Usually they stick to the item they have told me about, but you never know.

Valerie was more than willing to sit on Santa's lap, but once she got there, she was not sure she liked it. She did however tell him that she wants a pink present for Christmas. I hope she likes what Santa puts inside the pink package.

Josh was very anxious to tell Santa what he wanted, but was a little shy when it came to actually telling him. He did work up the courage though and asked for a D.S.

Joe had a couple of ideas for things to ask for, but in the end I guess he decided having Santa surprise them last year worked out pretty well. So when Santa asked Joe what he wants for Christmas, Joe just said, "Surprise Me!"

Emily really did not want to sit on Santa's lap, and I really only made her come for pictures. We agreed that as long as she smiled in the pictures, she did not have to sit on his lap. He still gave her a candy cane and she happily took it.

I left feeling very pleased with the requests and happy that three of my four children still believe in the magic of Santa. (I really thought Joe had figured it out last year. and maybe he just goes along with it for my sake, but if that is the case he is really good.) Then again a few days later this discussion occurred between the boys.

Josh: Joe do you think Rudolf is real?

Joe: Why Josh?

Josh: Well I think someone just made up the story of Rudolf.

Joe: I think Rudolf is real.

Josh: How come?

Joe: Well Rudolf is in all of the Santa stories, so if Rudolf isn't real, then Santa isn't real.

Josh: Mom is Rudolf real?

The truth is, I do believe in Santa. I believe he is a symbol of hope, love, and generosity. I hope that when my kids discover the "Real Santa" they will feel loved just like I did as a kid.

Halloween 2011

By 5:00pm the kids were ready to go out for the evening.

Well.......almost all of the kids.

Around noon Valerie was hit with the stomach flu, so our little princess had to stay home.

She was not at all interested in the people coming to the door, or the candy I was handing out. When the kids came home I thought she would perk up a little..........


But not even the piles of candy being dumped on the floor interested her. The kids made a good haul this year, and when Valerie started to feel better the next day, they were nice enough to share with her.

Pumpkin Carving

Sunday, we only had one more thing to do to be ready for Halloween. We needed to carve our pumpkins. So after dinner we got to work. Once we get the guts cleaned out, Emily and the boys can pretty much do the rest on their own. Valerie thinks she can too, but she was willing to let me help.
Grandma and Grandpa Bolander stopped by, and Joe recruited them to help him get his just right.

In the end I think we got some great looking Jack-o-lanterns

Emily made sure that the seeds were saved for roasting.

With the Jack-o-lanterns on the porch we are now ready for some Halloween fun.

Boo at the Zoo

Saturday we decided to go back to the zoo for their annual "Boo At The Zoo."

Cooper, Addie and their cousins Beckham and Easton joined us.

All around the zoo there were booths set up with candy for the kids to Trick-or-treat. We were not sure how long the kids would last waiting in line, but they seemed entertained watching the animals while we waited, and I think the incentive of candy at the end was good too.


To be honest the lines really were not bad at all, and they moved quickly. Because we had just been to the zoo, this time we really just came for the Boo at the Zoo activities, but we had fun seeing the sites too.

And Valerie really enjoyed the candy.

We ended our day with a Halloween train ride.

It was great to have one more place to wear the costumes. The kids all seemed to have a lot of fun too.

Cornbelly's Corn Maze

When we lived in Sand Diego, one of the only signs that fall was here was the pumpkin patches that started popping up everywhere. I loved taking Emily to them. Some patches were very simple with a hayride and piles of pumpkins. Others had mazes and bounce houses. I have missed going to them every fall, so when my friend Laura invited us to go to Corn Belly's with them, I was very excited to go.

We had so much fun.

Bouncing on the pillows

and the bounce houses

riding horses

and tractor trains.

(Valerie wanted to ride the cow train over and over again.)

These bikes were a little tricky, but all of Valerie's trike riding has paid off and she did pretty well.

There were a few scary things there.

(my kids would not stand with this guy for a picture. So I did.)

This maze kind of freaked me out a little.

And walking around in the belly of a creature was a little crazy too.

The kids loved all of the mazes

they were most excited about the big corn maze. They liked finding the old pieces of corn on the stalks.

It took us quite a while to get through, and about halfway Valerie decided to take a nap. (she would not let go of her piece of corn though)

This was the half way point. They had these platforms so you can look out and see where you are.

I think the boys two favorite activities were the duck races.

and the destruction zone where they got to shoot corn at the junk pile.

Valerie loved playing in the box of old corn. After the corn maze she insisted on going back.

It was then that I understood why she wanted to bring the corn from the maze. She helped restock the kernels.

We had so much fun at Corn Belly's. We will have to come again next year!