Decking the Halls

After all of the birthday madness, it was time for...Christmas madness!  Christian and I went out and picked out our tree (he was a very good and opinionated helper!).  And, after the tradition lights debacle (no matter what I do, one strand always refuses to light up...even if it's brand new), we were ready to put on the ornaments!   

 I love bringing out our ornaments.  Each one is special, many have stories behind them.  It's like a trip down Memory Lane.  The children all had fun "helping" to hang their ornaments. We danced to Christmas music.  Kari had on her Christmas tights.  We were very festive.

 Christian kept working hard at hanging until the last ornament was hung and, appropriately, he was allowed to hang the Christmas star.

 We also were very busy bakers this season!  Christian and Kari were huge helpers with the peanut butter blossoms, unwrapping all of the hersey kisses!

 The kids all painted magnets to give to select family members...

 Christian got very painty--ears and all.

 Finally, on Christmas Eve day, we frosted cut-out cookies. 

 They took their frosting duties very seriously, indeed.

 Kari, contemplating what color to paint her gingerbread man.  Not-suprisingly, she chose pink.

 Christian, enjoyed eating the frosting more than putting it on the cookies.

 And, Emily's cookies were very thought out and there was not a sprinkle in sight on hers.

And where was Juliana during these festvities??  Well, she was awake during the ornament hanging, but otherwise, she felt like playing the role of "Sleeping Beauty."

Happy Holidays!

Sledding!!!

The first big snow of the season was awesome.  Not only did they cancel school, but it landed on the day before Christmas break (giving the kids an early start to vacation), AND Cubby had the day off!  (This, of course, is the real reason why it was awesome.)  It was pretty cold, but we got all bundled up and joined our friends up at the school for some sledding!  (Cubby had been out shoveling in the a.m, so he elected to stay home with Juliana while I got to take the big kids up!)

It was so.much.fun!  It had been a few years since I'd been sledding (either been preggers or nursing a small baby) and so I'd kind of forgotten how much fun racing down a hill can be!  It was also Kari's first time sledding and she loved it too!

 Emily also had a great time!

 Of course, once you get to the bottom of the hill, you have to make the trek back up to the top!

 Three little girls, piled on a sled!

 And, here they are at the bottom!  (Christian and Henry are also just beyond them.  Those boys were fast and fearless!)

 Ready to brave it herself!

 And here are those crazy boys!  Ready for more!

Afterward, we were all pretty frozen and so we all just piled into Mandi's van for the short ride home down the hill.  It was like a clown car!

Such a fun time!  Hopefully it'll "warm up" enough for us all to go out again soon!

Ear Piercing!

I told Emily that once she turned eight, she would be able to choose whether or not to get her ears pierced.  (That's when I was allowed to get mine pierced and also b/c she's old enough to take care of them herself.  One less thing for me to do!)  I guess I shouldn't be too surprised that she remembered!  So, a couple of weeks ago, we did it!  I'm still in shock that Emily actually went through with it...and very bravely too!  (Em's never been one to endure discomfort or pain very well...the nurses used to triage her in the waiting room b/c she hated the dr's office so much she'd make herself throw up every time we'd go.)

So, here is the during...

 ...And the after shot!

 Emily did tell me afterward that her ears were a little sore.  But, honestly, that was all the complaining I heard!  Truly amazing if you know Emily at all.

Of course, to commemorate this milestone we had to hit up Orange Leaf!  Yummo.  It was so much fun to hang out with my big(gest) girl!  Emily has really grown and matured so much this year.  So grateful for her.

Birthday Breakfast

 This year, we dialed it back a bit for Emily's birthday party.  Her baptism was the biggest focus and so  we kept it simple with a birthday breakfast!  We invited her closest friends from school and picked them up bright and early.  We told the girls to come in their pjs and to come hungry! 

Now, true to form, there was not a bowl of cereal in sight. (Emily has this irrational fear of all cereal, Cheerios in particular, if you remember...)  We did serve up all her of breakfast favorites:  french toast, bacon, sausage, strawberries, bananas, and juice.  And, rather than cake, we made Emily's favorite chocolate chip muffins (which, as far as I'm concerned, are a messier equal to cupcakes).

Christian enjoyed all of the breakfast yummies

As did our pickiest eater yet, Kari!  (French toast is the ONLY food that all three of the kids will eat.)

Juliana, not quite ready for french toast, had fun watching all of the commotion (and the extra attention from the little girls!)

After breakfast, we let the girls all go downstairs and just play for a bit while we cleaned up(they dressed up and played "pirate princesses" with Kari).  Then, they came back up, Emily opened her gifts, and Cubby showed everyone how to play "Apples to Apples."

Even though it was simple, it was a lot of fun!  Oh, and Cubby said the funniest thing he heard all weekend was when he was driving and picking up Emily's friends and the three little girls were all singing Taylor Swift's "We Are Never Getting Back Together" at the top of their lungs.

Good stuff.

Emily's Baptism

 As luck (or providence!) would have it, Emily's 8th birthday fell on a Saturday and we were able to hold her baptism on her birthday!  Grandma and Grandpa Lindseth drove down from Michigan for this milestone.  Aside from getting to the church with just minutes to spare, everything ran very smoothly!

Emily was such a big girl.  She was very gracious to everyone who wished her happy birthday or gave her their congratulations on her baptism.  She also told me she was very glad that she got baptized and that she felt very good inside.

It was a big day for Cubby and I as parents as well.  Our first born made such an important decision.  It seemed not so long ago that we brought her to church (in a much smaller white dress) for her blessing day.  She has set such a good example for her younger siblings and we couldn't be prouder!

Here are a couple of other people who were very happy to come and support Emily:

 Some very proud grandparents!

 Grandma Beckie and Grandpa Chris

 Grandma Karen and Grandpa Harvey

 We also had other special guests!  Emily's teacher, Mrs. Svehla, came for the occasion.  (Emily was beyond thrilled!)

 Our sweet neighbor from across the street, Ms. Marcia, also came to support our girl.

 And here are the proud Great-Grandparents!  Great-gma Carolyn and Gpa Stan

 Here's Baby J and Gma Karen!

 And here's Christian, all smiles with the refreshments, of course!

Our friends, the Hofer family, also came to support Emily.  They all had a great time playing in the gym afterwards :-).  (Emily's friend, Louisa, and her father, also came.  However, they had to leave shortly after the baptism bc it was Louisa's brother's birthday that day too and they had to get back to his party!)

It was such a wonderful day for our big girl.  Congratulations, Emily!

She's EIGHT!?!

 Eight years ago, Emily Louise Lindseth came into our lives.  Today, we celebrated with family and friends as Emily was baptized.  It was an amazing day and my heart is very full.  Looking back through the years, I am just so grateful to have this little girl in my life.  She is kind, intelligent, insightful, thoughtful, beautiful, loving, and so much more.  I will do separate posts on both her birthday and her baptism, but this post will take a look at Emily through the years!  Here goes...

Emily, just a few days old!

Loving her swing!

More swing time fun!

First Halloween...notice the cow costume :-)

Tea time!

Looking so sweet (in a dress Ggma Carolyn made for Gma Karen!)

Such a pretty little girl!

First pony ride

Baking (and reading) with Mommy

Preschool picture day

A day at the park

Among the flowers at the temple

Goooo Cougars!!



Starting piano, age 6



Playing "Baby Binkie" with her best friends!  (Remind me to do a post on the whole Baby Binkie phenomenon sometime!)

Again, I feel so priviledged to have been chosen to be Emily's mother.  Although the early days (weeks, months, years) were challenging, she has brought such joy and pride into my heart.  I love Emily so much.

Happy Birthday, Sweetheart!