My helper

Over the weekend when Josh was out of town, Emma was my big helper! She made a big breakfast for dinner including fried eggs, pancakes and yogurt with fruit. She also took Claire outside to play in the snow, and made everyone hot choclate. She is growing up so fast! I can't believe she will be 12 this year! We are so blessed to have such a good helper!

I can only laugh at these moments when we find Claire doing things we never thought she would do. She thought that it would be fun to climb in Luke's sink and try out his toothbrush.(Luke was not too happy about that) She also tried climbing out of the crib but got stuck instead. This was the second time she had tried. Luckily Emma grabbed the camera and took a picture. She looked pretty scared so hopefully it scared her enough to not try again.

Time Capsule

Every year our family has a tradition of opening up our "Time Capsule" box. At the beginning of January the kids have to answer questions about the previous year. We also trace their hands, draw pictures, and make a list of goals we would like to achieve as a family. The kids love to look at past years and see what they liked to do. We also like to see if we achieved any of our goals. It's a good way to start a new year thinking about what we could all improve on as a family and think about all the positive things we achieved in 2009.

Merry Christmas!

My parents stayed with us for Christmas and we had a wonderful time with them!

We had a brunch with Grandma & Grandpa Lytle on Christmas Day! Claire wasn't too happy when we took a picture because she wanted to play with her new toy!

Claire's new toy! She was really having a great time with her toy! It was fun to watch her giggle as she hammered the balls down.

We love Christmas!

Malissa and Emma were excited to give my mom their homemade gifts they made for her!

This toy is perfect for Claire because she is so active!

Christmas Eve Pajamas

Getting ready for the Nativity Program

The Nativity Program with cousins.

Christmas Eve dinner with twenty-six people. It's great to be with family!

Bears, a recital,and Baking Day with Grandma

We had a very busy week! The girls had a violin recital that went well. They also had a bear day at their school. Every year all the kids at the school donate a bear to give to homeless kids in Salt Lake City. On the last day of school before Christmas break all the classes line up and hug the bears as they go down the line of kids. It's a fun tradition! I think they said there were 450 bears this year. We also went to Grandma Lytle's for Baking Day. Malissa and Claire were sick so it was only Luke and Emma along with their cousins. They decorated cookies, made candy necklaces and the highlight for them was decorating a gingerbread house. Unfortunately their house fell because of too much frosting. They had such a fun time! Thanks for a wonderful day Grandma!!! (By the way Luke commented to me before Baking Day that he wanted me to let Grandma know that he's not too old for Baking Day.) I'm so grateful that Luke is not too old!

Traditions

Every year we make a CD of the kids singing and playing their instruments. It's a lot of fun but it takes a lot of work to get it together. It has been a fun tradition! The CD is in the works. Stay tuned!

Claire LOVES my nutcrackers! She's been climbing onto a chair to hug them! Very cute!
Claire LOVED the snow! We took her outside on Monday (before it got to be 10 degrees) and she was running around having a great time! She especially loved chasing after our cat (much to Eve's dismay) I didn't have a chance to take pictures of our other kids because they were in school but I'm sure we will be getting another storm soon.

Thanksgiving in California

We went to California for Thanksgiving and had a great time! Our girls went to the best Santa! He actually took his time with them and read them a story. Their cousin and Grandma also went with us to see Santa.

Emma had a great time with her cousins especially doing tumbling and a sleep over.
I've been wanting to take the kids (especially Luke) to Legoland for a long time. What a fun place! Of course it's not Disneyland but it's still very fun! We were so amazed at all the Legos everywhere and the rides. Luke was in Lego heaven! It's really a very creative place.

We also went to a few San Diego beaches. Very beautiful! We love San Diego! After we stayed in San Diego we stayed at my parents house and had a very nice Thanksgiving dinner with them! It was also fun to see the kids' cousins and other family members! We are so thankful for family!