Speaking of Shoes

Kari outgrew her Sunday shoes, so I went to find her some more.  Since she is growing up, I wanted to find her some short heels.  Which, I suppose is not her style so much as mine and Kaitlyn's....  But...  Eh.  Oh well.  I finally found some plain black heels at Target.  I ended up spending $20 smackeroos for them, which I find semi difficult to swallow, because that is about what I spend on my own shoes!

But, they make her happy, and they fit, and she is growing up, so...  

That is what is important right?  Not the socks.  Definitely not the socks.

Happy Birthday Kari Reese!  Glad you have been here for the last 9 years!

Boots

Before we went out to Utah, I broke out Kelsey's boots, to make sure they fit.

What followed ended up being a super cute photo shoot.

Disregard the bruise on her forehead....  Falls happen to babies, ya know.

And this one just might be my favorite.

Love this sweet girl!

Vacation, The End. That's how we roll.

Monday afternoon, we loaded up into cars and headed to the airport, only managing to leave our stroller behind this time.  Yeah... we are great with airports.  Again, the kids did really well.  Before take off on all 4 flights, this was how you could regularly find our children: studying the safety instructions.

And since I had my camera, I turned around got a few cool shots out of the window.  Look at those low clouds!

And such pretty mountains.

We had a 3 hour layover in Vegas, which amused me because everywhere there was any space, they put slot machines.

Kelsey didn't fall asleep on the first flight (again), but fell asleep after eating dinner on my lap.  I carried her onto the plane, and she slept through take off and a tiny bit of turbulence.  I had an empty seat beside me, and almost as soon as the seatbelt sign went off, I gently laid the sleeping baby down (as she had been sleeping in my arms for around 45 minutes by that point).  Guess what she did?  Yup!  Wake up.  Of course.  So, while the girls had a row to themselves (one extra seat between them), and hubby had 2 seats to lay a sleeping Dylan in, I had one extra seat, and a wallowing baby to hold onto.  Thankfully, there was no screaming involved, but there was also no resting for me.  I had two magazines to browse, and didn't even make it through one.

We touched down in ATL at midnight, and waited almost an hour for our bags.  By the time we got in the car, and drove home, we unloaded 4 sleeping children into their beds a little after 3am.  Poor hubby had to shower and pack up, as he was flying out again and had to be at the airport by 5 for a 24 hour trip.  After a mere 3 hours of sleep, I got the girls ready for school that day.  But don't feel too badly for them.  It was only a half day before they got out for the Thanksgiving holidays, so we all took naps that afternoon.

In summation to these long, and extended posts, which most of you care nothing about, it was great to be around family.  There are few things better.  So, for this Christmas Season, Merry Christmas to you all.  And may your days be filled with family, fun, and presents!

Vacation, Kinect

The other special thing the kids did on Sunday and Monday morning was play uncle Jonoman's XBox.  Most of the time it was the Kinect, but there was the occasional controller game as well.  McKenna looks really confident about this particular game, no?

She was playing against an especially difficult opponent: Dylan.  Kari looks particularly concerned about the outcome of the game.  I think she is rooting for McKenna, which is a shame, since she should be on her brother's side.  Editors note: I love how happy uncle Jonoman looks to be sharing his toys.

In the end, it was McKenna who claimed victory.

I think we may have a gamer on our hands.  Oh dear.

Kelsey was playing games too.  On Piko's phone.

"Thank Heavens someone is finally paying attention to me" is what Kelsey was saying.  She regularly got ignored this trip.  Oh don't worry.  She has an "ignoring alarm".  Whenever no one was paying attention to her, it went off.... :p

We had so many little ninjas around!

When it was Kelsey's turn, we asked her what game she would like to play.  This was what she picked out.

Sorry Kelsey.  Not today.

Vacation, Hanging with my Peeps

As I mentioned, we did quite a bit of just "hanging out".  Also, can I just say I think this may be my first "selfie".  Although, since there is more than one person in the picture, and I didn't push the button, does this count?

Thankfully, the babies got along most of the time.

Model pose!

And there were so many toys to play with!  Other people's toys are always more fun than your own!

Cousin McKenna was a gracious host!

This is what two boys look like when they are playing.  Sometimes, I am quite glad that I only have one boy, as well as the fact that there is quite a bit of difference in age between him and Kelsey.

Unfortunately, Dylan and Ben bumped heads the most I think.  Probably because they were fighting over the same toys.

But there was always something to do.

Pictures to be drawn.

Popcorn to eat.

See?  WhadItellya?  Mooch!  "Hello?  Anymore down there?"

And baby holding to do!

I am so glad all the cousins were able to spend some time together!  The sad thing is we need to do it more often....

Vacation, Cheek Eating

Chronologically, here we should have a post about Sunday, but it was church and German Pancake making.  We did our own "Christmas" while we were out there, and since apple cider syrup is an integral part of the tradition, we had a lot of pancakes to make.  This year we also included some buttermilk syrup, which was much sweeter, but also delicious.  Not a lot of pictures of us eating (thankfully), but we did do a lot of hanging out and eating of the babies.

Which caused them great joy!

There might have even been some brain sucking...  although I think she maybe picked the smallest buffet :)

I mean, just look at those cheeks on baby Anna! 

They are just begging for some chomping!

Good thing her daddy is always happy to oblige.

Oops!  How did that get in there?  Next slide!  Next slide!

We also snacked on some yummy cinnamon and sugar "chips".  We had to be super careful eating them, as they tended to be messy, and my little sister might be a little bit of a clean freak.

I hear fingers are quite yummy also.

Speaking of eating fingers and cheeks, my little mooch begged most of the trip.  Anytime anyone had any food, she was right there with them.

The problem is: I think we ALL gained a few pounds on this trip :p  Boo.

Vacation, Saturday

So cereal and packing on Saturday morning.  Then, we lucked out and borrowed a four wheel drive vehicle to take the majority of our stuff, and people, down the hill.  It was nice.  We had to make a few trips, but, much nicer to do it with a vehicle than on foot.  We also borrowed a sled and hubby was nice enough to show the kids how to use it.  He looks a bit cold, doesn't he?  You should have seen his back.  Twas covered in snow.

I just love the snow as a backdrop!  It makes the picture so crisp, and the colors so bright.  Kaitlyn went down once, and that was enough. Kari and Dylan took multiple trips.

Starting to lose control!

Just look at the joy on their faces!

Always the adventurous one!

Poor kid was covered in snow.  I love the fluffy coat and pink cheeks!  Not to mention the boots!

Sometimes she is so grown up!

I came down in time to take a few pictures, but not much else.  Kelsey stayed in the car.

At one point she wanted to get out of the car.

Grandpa wanted to be sympathetic...

... but in the end, there was very little he could do for her.

We returned to my sister's house in Bountiful, and put everyone down for a nap.  That night, we found a babysitter to watch over 6 sleeping children (I know, hard job, right?) and went to the movies.  My big sister is a huge fan of the Hunger Games, and the second movie (Catching Fire) happened to come out while we were on vacation.  The movie was pretty good, and the company was great :)  (Hubby and Danny Boy came too, but declined to be in the picture)

Then it was home again home again, jiggity jig for a night of beauty rest.