Christmas 2014

The week of Christmas is so magical:

It starts off with Christmas Sunday

 

Then skating on Christmas Eve...which wasn't so magical this year due to skates that didn't fit!

 

  New jammies brought by the elves on Christmas Eve

 And nothing can really compare to the magic that is Christmas MORNING!!  

Look at that expression on Tyson's face--priceless!

Oh, and we can't forget the turkey dinner:)  

See Summer in the back with her apple slices--poor girl--no turkey this year!

Nutcracker 2014

We had a great Nutcracker weekend!!  Jordan danced beautifully and we hope she does it again next year:)  She was in three dances; Snow, Arabian and Flowers.

 Snow Costume:

 Arabian Costume:

Somehow we have no pictures of Jordan in her Flowers costume!

 Sheri and Brooke came to watch the Saturday show:

Ginny, Vienna and Max came to the Sunday show:

O Tannenbaum

We just had to get a real tree despite what happened last year!  

 

Home Depot was out of 7-8 foot Noble Firs, so they said they would give us the 8-9 foot tree for the same price...they ended up giving us a $90 tree for $30!!  It is the perfect tree!!!

The kids always do a fantastic job decorating (Tyson always without a shirt!!).

I searched everywhere for the perfect "first Christmas" ornament for Summer.  Didn't find exactly what I wanted, but this was was close.

Now this is my favorite room in the house!!!

And look at this gem I took this morning....

I love Christmas!!

Santa Baby

Since this is Summer's first Christmas, I am trying not to forget to do every single tradition.  When I started talking about going to see Santa, I realized we don't have any of the other kids' pictures with Santa on their very first Christmas.

Jordan was already scared of Santa when Christmas time came around (she was almost 11 months)

I think Jordan was still scared of Santa on Kya's first Christmas, so we still didn't go.

Tyson was too new on his first Christmas...and let's face it, I did not have it together enough to get a picture with all those three little ones!

Tyson's second Christmas was where it began...and as you can see, he didn't much like it!

The next year everyone looked pretty happy...except Santa.

 

And the next one was pretty cute...

 

And even the next one...

 

Then there were a couple years where nobody wanted to sit on Santa's lap.

 

This year I thought I'd get all the kids dressed up nice and do it right.  Summer has never cried when a stranger has held her, and all the other kids are old enough to cooperate right?

Wrong.

This is what happened when I handed Summer to Santa:

  

Then Tyson was the only one who wanted to join in...

 

And Santa didn't even ask anyone what they wanted for Christmas or even hand out candy canes!!!  LAME!!

Oh well, at least we made some memories...and got a pretty cute picture of the two little ones...for only $29.99:)

Half of a Year

Summer is officially half a year old!!  SIX whole months!!  I can't believe it!

She sits up in her bath now:

 She rides in the shopping cart:

 She doesn't really need her bumbo anymore:

 She looks so sophisticated at church:

 She has witnessed the first signs of winter:

 And just a couple days ago...she started eating REAL food--if you can call rice cereal real food:)

Can't wait to see what the next six months bring!!

Good Bye Sweet Kitty

There is so much about Miley we are going to miss.  It makes me so sad that Summer will never know her:(  She was such a blessing to our little family.  The night before we took Miley to the vet, we took some pictures.  I am sad that I didn't get one of me with her, but Moms are needed behind the camera, right?

Miley was Tyson's wrestling buddy when she was a kitten, then she turned into his head bonking buddy.  Every single time Tyson cried, she came running to comfort him.  Even when she was so sick just a couple weeks ago, Tyson fell off his scooter and she raced across the street to comfort him.  Such a sweet kitty.

  

  

Jordan kind of considered Miley her very own cat.  Since Jordan was the oldest, she picked Miley out and named her and carried her on the car ride home.  She and Miley loved playing rough together...probably because Jordan would take the scratches and bites and keep on going:)  She came up with all Miley's nicknames Mys, Bays, Bays Mys, Miwey.

 

Kya was Miley's sleeping buddy.  Miley preferred Kya's bed over any other place in the house.  She also snuggled on Kya's lap more than any of the other kids...but not more than Mom:)

 

Daddy was Miley's "birdie, birdie" favorite.  He would just call "Birdie Birdie" and she would come running and chase the stuffed bird that he whipped around for her.  Mike spent countless hours researching what could be wrong and how to fix Miley.  He took over with the vet, as I was busy with Summer (have you ever tried to take a baby and a cat to the vet?  Not an easy task) and he fought so hard to get her better until the very end.

 

 I was Miley's favorite to snuggle with.  Every time I sat down, she was on my lap.  When I was pregnant with Summer, she would sleep on my belly even when she had a hard time finding room.  She really felt like my fourth baby, while I waited those 8 years for Summer.

(Here she is sleeping on my pregnant belly)

We will forever think of Miley as part of our family!
Good bye sweet little Kitty:(

It's only been 14 and a half months!

This weekend we finally took a trip to Microsoft to see where Mike spends most of his time!  After seeing the enormous fridge packed with every kind of juice/soda/chocolate milk and white boards and computers everywhere, I think the kids wondered why dad ever comes home:) 

This picture is in Mike's office...I think we need to get him some office decor for Christmas:)

 There are some pretty high end shops on the Microsoft lot, but we stopped at this super fancy cupcake shop instead.

Summer is VERY anxious to start solid foods...maybe we'll start with cupcakes:)

 

After dragging the kids out of Microsoft (seriously they did NOT want to leave), we headed down to Snoqualmie Falls (something I've been wanting to do since we moved here).  It was so beautiful!!

 

This happened....

Anyone who knows my cell phone history, knows that I have always been WAY behind the curve when it comes to updating my device.  Not anymore!! (and I even have a cute case too!)